Create! Evolute?

Monday, September 15, 2008

#15

Harvard Evolutionary Biologist Asks: Are There Hidden Benefits to Superstitions?
Superstitions have long been a part of human culture. From the extreme ones, like never crossing a black cat, shattering a mirror, or walking under a ladder, to the minor ones, like my necessity to wear my special beanie when I need help writing. There are superstitions for everything. But could superstition be linked to Charles Darwin’s famous theory of natural selection? Could there be a hidden benefit to superstition?

Deaf people feel their way to speech - health - 14 September 2008 - New Scientist
"One of the real mysteries of human language is that people who become deaf as adults remain capable of producing intelligible speech for years in the complete absence of any auditory input," says David Ostry, a neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, who led the new study along with colleague Sazzad Nasir.

Faux Superconductors Pass a Key Milestone -- Cho 2008 (912): 1 -- ScienceNOW
Twenty-two years ago, physicists discovered that certain materials containing copper and oxygen could carry electricity without any resistance at inexplicably high temperatures--well above absolute zero although still far colder than winter in Fargo, North Dakota. Such "high-temperature superconductivity" remains the biggest mystery in the physics of materials, and some scientists are trying to solve it in an unusual way, by simulating the crystals with patterns of laser light and puffs of ultracold atoms. Now, a team in Switzerland has taken a key step in that effort by replicating the basic starting point from which the superconductivity is thought to emerge--a sort of traffic jam in which nothing moves.

Physicists Harness Effects Of Disorder In Magnetic Sensors
University of Chicago scientists have discovered how to make magnetic sensors capable of operating at the high temperatures that ceramic engines in cars and aircraft of the future will require.

Accurate Speedometer For Astronomy: Determining Velocities Of Stars And Other Celestial Bodies
Events on a cosmic scale are often barely discernable on Earth. This explains why astronomers are currently not able to prove directly that the universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate, nor can they search for planets that are roughly the same size as Earth and revolve around a sun-like star.

Seeing Through The Skin: Optic-less Imaging Technology Could Beat Lens-based Imaging Devices
Skin vision is not uncommon in nature. Plants orient themselves to light, and some animals -- such as pit vipers, who use infrared vision, and reptiles, who possess skin sensors -- can “see” without the use of eyes. Skin vision in humans is likely a natural atavistic ability involving light-sensitive cells in our skin connected to neuro-machinery in the body and in the brain, explains Prof. Yaroslavsky.

1843 Eta Carinae Stellar Show Could Have Been Mini-Supernova
... University of California, Berkeley, astronomer Nathan Smith puts forth a new idea; that Eta Carinae did in fact explode, but managed to survive.

BBC NEWS : UK : Education : Call for creationism in science
"Some of my comments about the teaching of creationism have been misinterpreted as suggesting that creationism should be taught in science classes. Creationism has no scientific basis. However, when young people ask questions about creationism in science classes, teachers need to be able to explain to them why evolution and the Big Bang are scientific theories but they should also take the time to explain how science works and why creationism has no scientific basis. I have referred to science teachers discussing creationism as a worldview'; this is not the same as lending it any scientific credibility."

The premier of a Soladiesel^TM powered vehicle at the Sundance Film
Soladiesel exceeds both the requirements of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) biodiesel standard D6751 and EN 14214, the European standard, which ensures that biodiesel can safely run any existing diesel engine.

Hawking vs Higgs: Heavyweight Bout at CERN's LHC
Professor Hawking's comments are entirely valid from a scientific point of view - the true mission of science is not to be right, but to find out what we don't know. Discovering a lack of Higgs boson will be just as exciting as its presence - solid information about a previously untapped region and further evidence for theories. Just different theories from the ones currently favored.

The Way S/he Moves -- Zelkowitz 2008 (909): 1 -- ScienceNOW
How someone walks can reveal their feelings.

Mammoths: Made in America -- Gibbons 2008 (904): 2 -- ScienceNOW
mammoths sorted into three main groups: one that was exclusively Asian, one that was exclusively American, and one that lived in both places.

Jet fuel from algae passes first test: Scientific American Blog
Solazyme—the mavericks who make their algal oil in the dark—have produced a jet fuel that passes the ASTM's standards for "Aviation Turbine Fuel," otherwise known as jet fuel.

Upper Mass Limit For Black Holes?
even the biggest of these gravitational monsters can't keep growing forever. Instead, they appear to curb their own growth - once they accumulate about 10 billion times the mass of the Sun.

[0808.3268] Minimal Energy Transfer of Solid Material Between Planetary Systems
The exchange of meteorites among the terrestrial planets of our Solar System is a well established phenomenon that has triggered discussion of lithopanspermia within the Solar System. Similarly, could solid material be transferred across planetary systems?

NASA - NASA to Explore "Secret Layer" of the Sun
"Early next year, we're going to launch an experimental telescope that can measure vector magnetic fields in the transition region," explains Jonathan Cirtain of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Previous studies have measured these fields above and below the transition region—but never inside it. "We hope to be the first."

UK digs deep for secrets of cosmos : Science : The Observer
At the bottom of Britain's deepest mine, scientists are putting their finishing touches to a device that could solve one of astronomy's most baffling mysteries: the location of the universe's missing matter. If they succeed, the group will snatch some of the glory from one of the most prestigious scientific projects undertaken in recent years: the ?3.5bn Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is to be opened officially in Geneva this week.

Interstellar 'slowball' could have carried seeds of life - space - 04 September 2008 - New Scientist
Now Edward Belbruno and colleagues at Princeton University have shown that planetary systems in young, densely packed star clusters could throw out rocks at a slower pace. They showed that for rocks in certain orbital positions, the gravitational pull of the central star is equal to the pull of other stars in the cluster. This sends the rocks into chaotic orbits that eventually allow them to wander off at about 0.1 kilometres per second - slow enough for other stars to catch them

ET could 'tickle' stars to create galactic internet - space - 08 September 2008 - New Scientist
"But I'm inclined to think that positing the Cepheid scheme is like someone in Marconi's time predicting future radio broadcasters will use giant spark-gap transmitters to reach audiences in large cities," he says. "Better technology means higher efficiency, so using an entire star as the 'carrier' seems unlikely to me."

'Water bears' are first animal to survive vacuum of space - space - 08 September 2008 - New
Tiny invertebrates called 'water bears' can survive in the vacuum of space, a European Space Agency experiment has shown. They are the first animals known to be able to survive the harsh combination of low pressure and intense radiation found in space.

Did we out-breed slow-maturing Neanderthals? - being-human - 08 September 2008 - New Scientist
Neanderthal women had just as much trouble in childbirth as modern women – and their kids took just as long to grow up.

Melting Swiss Glacier Yields Neolithic Trove
Some 5,000 years ago, a prehistoric person trod high up in what is now the Swiss Alps, wearing goat leather pants, leather shoes and armed with a bow and arrows.

Hubble Mission Faces Higher Risk From Space Debris : Discovery News
Next month's shuttle flight to the Hubble Space Telescope faces an increased risk of getting hit by space junk because it will be in a higher, more littered orbit than usual, NASA said Monday.

Giant sleeping Buddha found in Afghanistan - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Archaeologists in Afghanistan have discovered a giant Buddha statue buried near the site where the world-famous Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

Cool philosophies : Article : Nature
For the LHC, some of these foundational issues are raised by the role of aesthetics as a guide to physical theory, in particular arguments based on symmetry. At the pragmatic level, symmetry has been an immensely fertile tool, and it underpins the notion of a Higgs mechanism for mass. But there is no rigorous justification for relying on it, and it is possible that the LHC might point the way to a new physics that discards it as a ruling principle.

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Ancient trees recorded in mines
The forests grew just a few million years apart some 300 million years ago; and are now stacked one on top of another. It appears the ancient land experienced repeated periods of subsidence and flooding which buried the forests in a vertical sequence.

Russian archaeologists find long-lost Jewish capital - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting
Russian archaeologists say they have found the long-lost capital of the Khazar kingdom in southern Russia, a breakthrough for research on the ancient Jewish state.

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Rosetta probe makes asteroid pass
The Rosetta space probe has made a close pass of asteroid Steins.

Saturn Moons Sport Rings, Too : Discovery News
New findings from the Cassini science probe confirm ring arcs ahead and behind the small moons Anthe and Methone, a discovery that is giving physicists new insights into the sculpting prowess of gravity.

On Mars, Does Fire Plus Ice Equal Life? : Discovery News
"It's possible that volcanic activity on Mars is much more widespread and recent than people on the whole thought," Hovius said. "This is a flood bigger than anything we've seen on Earth."

Protective Skin Could Herald in Tiny Satellite Fleet : Discovery News
In what could be a big breakthrough for tiny satellites, a team of researchers has created a thin plastic-like coating that can switch from cooling to warming with a quick pulse of electricity.

Incoming MIT Freshman Creates New Vehicle: Scientific American Podcast

Next Stop: The Fourth Dimension, With Large Hadron Collider Experiments

Is "ElectroSmog" Destroying the Planet's Bee Population?
Mobile phones, Wi-Fi networks, electric power lines are sources of "electrosmog" disrupting nature on an unprecedented, massive scale causing birds and bees to lose their bearings, fail to reproduce and die

Lunar Location Scout: Why Finding a Parking Spot on the Moon is not Easy
great big rocks, lots of them, and if you bounce your lunar lander off one of those on your way down you'll lose more than your no claims bonus.

Tiny Gold Clusters Are Top-notch Catalysts
exploiting gold's exceptional ability to catalyze a wide variety of chemical reactions, including the oxidation of poisonous carbon monoxide (CO) into harmless carbon dioxide at room temperatures.

Chauvinists less unnerving than ambiguous men - being-human - 07 September 2008 - New Scientist
CHAUVINISTIC men can be petty and infuriating, but that might be as far as it goes. Women are more unnerved by not knowing a man's views than by overt sexism - so much so that they perform worse in exams.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

#14

Human Infidelity Linked to Gene : Discovery News
"There are, of course, many reasons why a person might have relationship problems, but this is the first time that a specific gene variant has been associated with how men bond to their partners,"

Comet-Chasing Spacecraft Pauses for Asteroid Flyby : Discovery News
Four years into a 10-year journey to reach a comet, the European spacecraft Rosetta is scheduled for a key bit of sight-seeing this week -- a close encounter with an asteroid named Steins.

Space -The Daily Flash (9/02)

Green -The Daily Flash (9/02)

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : 'Rare' mammoth skull discovered
The "extremely rare" fossilised skull of a steppe mammoth has been unearthed in southern France. The discovery in the Auvergne region could shed much needed light on the evolution of these mighty beasts.

French surgeons destroy brain tumour on conscious patient in world first - Telegraph
using keyhole laser surgery

Nearby star may be swarming with comets - space - 01 September 2008 - New Scientist Space
A GIANT ring of debris around a nearby star appears to be a much bigger version of our solar system's Kuiper belt, the region of ice-rich objects beyond Neptune that is thought to be a source of comets.

'Lost World' Beneath Caribbean To Be Explored
"The Cayman Trough may be a 'lost world' that will give us the missing piece in a global puzzle of deep-sea life," says Dr Copley, a lecturer with the University of Southampton’s School of Ocean and Earth Science. Volcanic vents in the Atlantic are home to swarms of blind shrimp and beds of unusual mussels. But similar deep-sea vents in the eastern Pacific are inhabited by bizarre metre-long tubeworms. The researchers hope to find out whether creatures living in the Cayman Trough are related to those in the Pacific or the Atlantic – or completely different to both.

Sex Differences Seen In Response To Common Antidepressant
The persistence of a gender difference in response to the drug — even after the researchers accounted for many complicating factors — suggests that there's a real biological difference in the way the medication affects women compared with men.

Are UFOs lighting up the skies over Australia's outback?: Scientific American Blog
Move over Roswell. New Mexico's UFO Museum and Research Center may attract more than 150,000 visitors annually who are curious about the alleged 1947 alien crash landing there, but some residents of Australia's outback claim their skies are alive with unidentified flying object activity now.

'Armored' Fish Study Helps Strengthen Darwin's Natural Selection Theory
Shedding some genetically induced excess baggage may have helped a tiny fish thrive in freshwater and outsize its marine ancestors, according to a UBC study published today in Science Express.

Ancestral Genomes Trace the Evolution of Nerves.
“Sponges have one of the most ancient lineages and don't have nerve cells,” says Bernie Degnan, of the University of Queensland's School of Integrative Biology. “So we are pretty confident it was after the sponges split from trunk of the tree of life and sponges went one way and animals developed from the other, that nerves started to form.

Antarctica Yields Fragments of an Ancient Destroyed Planet
Rocks can be many things: they were probably our earliest weapons, they've been ballast on our journeys of exploration, even modern-art pieces. But a pair recovered from Antarctica may be the grandest application yet - tombstones for an entire world. Lunar and Planetary Institute researcher Allain Treiman believes that them to be pieces of a destroyed dwarf planet, relics from the creation of the solar system.

Extending the Human Life Span -What's Realistic?
Many have wished they could take a pill or drink a potion that could “magically” keep them young and healthy. David Sinclair, an anti-aging researcher and Harvard University professor of pathology, believes he is close to producing just such a remedy.

The Holocene Extinction Event -Are Humans Destroying the Planet's Web of Life?
[I]n the 200 years since French naturalist Georges Cuvier first floated the concept of extinction, after examining fossil bones and concluding "the existence of a world previous to ours, destroyed by some sort of catastrophe", we have slowly begun to recognize a potentially lethal threat to our planet and human existence.

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : New giant clam species discovered
A new species of giant clam has been discovered in the Red Sea.

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : New giant clam species discovered
Fossils suggest that, about 125,000 years ago, the species Tridacna costata accounted for more than 80% of the area's giant clams. The species may now be critically endangered, researchers report in Current Biology journal.

Cosmic particle accelerator pinpointed in Crab Nebula - space - 28 August 2008 - New Scientist Space
46% of the pulsar's gamma-ray emission was polarised, with the photons' electromagnetic fields lined up in a common orientation

Model Helps Computers Sort Data More Like Humans
Humans have a natural tendency to find order in sets of information, a skill that has proven difficult to replicate in computers

Ceramic Material Revs Up Microwaving
However, those accustomed to cooking in a microwave will need to remember that the plates are hot and will burn bare hands. Potholders are again necessary.

Sticks And Stones: A New Study On Social And Physical Pain
words may pack a harder punch that we realize.

Why Transplanted Insulin Cells Die
New research can enhance survival of islets transplants and improve treatment of type 1 diabetes.

Student-designed Device To Help Poor East Africans Coax Oil From Coconuts
A team of Brigham Young University student engineers designed an innovative and cost-effective apparatus that enables poor East African women to turn abundant coconuts into valuable coconut oil.

Ancient Amazon Actually Highly Urbanized: Scientific American
a city of sorts—actually a series of settlements connected by roads—has been found at the headwaters of the Xingu River

6D Holograms Interact With Light : Discovery News
The basic technology used in cheap 3-D postcards and novelty items has been adapted to create six-dimensional images that respond to changes in light and the viewer's direction.

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Fly's brain 'senses swat threat'
"It's best to aim a bit forward of its location and try and anticipate where the fly will jump when it first sees your swatter,"

BBC NEWS : UK : Wales : New parasite wasp species found
Dr Chris Williams ... had been waiting for flies to hatch in jam jars when two different species of parasitic wasp emerged instead.

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : 'Cold feet' may halt toad march
"The cane toads cannot survive in much of southern Australia because they would be too cold to move about and forage or spawn,"

Thursday, August 28, 2008

#13

Wind-powered 'Ventomobile' Places First in Race
succeeded in racing at 64% of the wind speed directly against the wind.

Do galaxies have a minimum mass? - space - 27 August 2008 - New Scientist Space
the team found that the galaxies all weigh the same – roughly 10 million times the mass of the Sun. Most of this mass seems to be dark matter, and the dimmest galaxies appear to contain 10,000 times more dark matter than visible matter.

Dark matter and normal matter 'divorce' in cosmic clash - space - 27 August 2008 - New Scientist
isolated clouds of dark matter have been observed in a collision between two massive clusters of galaxies lying 5.7 billion light years away.

Wiggling Plastic at River Bottom to Generate Electric : Discovery News
That sustainable power will most likely come from a grid of undulating strips made of polyvinylidene fluoride or PVDF, a material that generates a slight electrical current when it is moved,

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : First light for space telescope
During its first 95 hours of operation, the telescope generated a gamma-ray map of the sky similar to the one obtained by Nasa's now-defunct Compton Gamma-ray Observatory, which took years of observations to produce.

Scientists Building a DNA Library of Entire Planet -a Vast Index of Everything Alive
The International Barcode of Life is a proposal to index every singe organism utterly and unequivocally (they've got nearly half a million already) - instead of depending on ornithologist's arguments about exactly what constitutes a certain type of beak, every lifeform would be indexed according to a specified section of DNA.

Pangea Conundrum
many geoscientists agree that repeated cycles of supercontinent amalgamation and dispersal have had a profound effect on the evolution of Earth's crust, atmosphere, climate, and life.

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Black hole star mystery 'solved'
computer simulations of giant gas clouds being sucked into black holes like water spiralling down a plughole.

BBC NEWS : Asia-Pacific : Stem cells 'created from teeth'

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Snail hides from march of history

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : World heading towards cooler 2008

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Black holes 'dodge middle ground'

NASA's Solar Sentinels -Predicting Future Behavior of the Sun
We live inside the atmosphere of the sun

God's revenge on Darwin? Dawkins - Times Online

Earliest Known Human Had Neanderthal Qualities : Discovery Channel

Gentle approach could cripple drug-resistant bugs - health - 22 August 2008 - New Scientist

Smoothest surface ever is a mirror for atoms - tech - 22 August 2008 - New Scientist Tech

Some solar flares may be caused by dark matter - space - 22 August 2008 - New Scientist Space
Some solar flares may be caused by dark matter particles called axions spewing out from the centre of the Sun, new calculations suggest.

Robot aircraft will ride thermals to save fuel - tech - 22 August 2008 - New Scientist Tech

Did Rumbling Give Rise to Rome? -- Malakoff 2008 (822): 3 -- ScienceNOW
Earthquake-prone areas along the edges of tectonic plates were far more likely to give birth to great ancient civilizations than less dynamic landscapes, according to a new study.

Did Intelligence & Cooperation Evolve from Attempts of Early Man to Out-Smart Predators?
"Our intelligence, cooperation and many other features we have as modern humans developed from our attempts to out-smart the predator," says Robert W. Sussman, professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis.

Are Eleventh-Dimension Exploding Black Holes Possible?
With the backlash starting to surface and scientific journals serving "Prove it or lose it" eviction notices, string theorists are searching high and low for evidence.

The Black Hole that Never Was -A Rocketboom Report

Scandalous behaviour : Article : Nature
The academic community in Austria often seems to be a closed, elite set, especially in the sphere of medicine. The power and influence wielded by a professor are hard to understand from the outside, and the rigid hierarchy of the academic system has been hard to dismantle from the inside, despite reformers' best efforts. The upper echelons of that community also seem to know how to close ranks. Witness an example now threatening to emerge from the Medical University of Innsbruck, where there are worrying signs that investigations into a scandal of unprecedented dimensions in this small country may be thwarted.

'Iceman' Oetzi's Clothes Suggest Shepherd Life
The research, based on a hi-tech method of analyzing proteins, established that the famous Neolithic man did not dress like a hunter, but like a herdsman -- in clothes made from sheep and cattle hair.

Some Cells Self-destruct For The Greater Common Good
how random molecular processes during cell division allow some cells to engage in a self-destructive act to generate a greater common good, thereby improving the situation of the surviving siblings.

With Skate Eyes, Scientists Peer Into Human Disease

Why do people believe weird things? - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Spend 10 minutes online and you can catalog many other highly questionable beliefs that aren't related to the paranormal, such as that space aliens landed at Roswell, New Mexico, that the earth was created less than 10,000 years ago, that the Holocaust never occurred, and that 9/11 was orchestrated by the US government to galvanise America for war.

Palm Vein ID Scan Makes U.S. Debut : Discovery News

Hefty Dinosaurs Trampled Denmark : Discovery Channel

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

#12

Nanowires From DNA: Project Opens Up New Possibilities For Modified Chain Molecules
"... evolutionarily optimized biomolecule ..."

Algae: Biofuel Of The Future?

Light Finds A Way -- Even Through White Paint: Specially-prepared Light Moves Through 'Open

Herbivores eat away at climate-change predictions - earth - 18 August 2008 - New Scientist
that's assuming the climate models are accurate

Cassini spots source of geysers on Saturn moon - space - 18 August 2008 - New Scientist Space

Invention: Flat-panel ion thrusters - tech - 18 August 2008 - New Scientist Tech

Bloating galaxies confound astronomers - space - 19 August 2008 - New Scientist Space
I wonder what the Carmeli model makes of them?

BBC NEWS : Health : Brain's counting skill 'built-in'
fearfully and wonderfully made

Mirrors on the Moon as a Galactic Greeting Card -A Galaxy Classic

BBC NEWS : UK : Pedigree dogs plagued by disease
the trouble with mutants

Inner-Space Explorer: The Swallowable Robot

Does Music Have a More Powerful Effect on Memory than Images, Words, or Smells?

Mirrors on the Moon as a Galactic Greeting Card -A Galaxy Classic
time to start a search for terrestrial intelligence

Massive New Object Discovered at Edge of the Solar System

Key Photosynthesis Step Replicated: Scientists Learn From Nature To Split Water Into Hydrogen And

Juggling The Genetic Code to Create New Species

MIT-led Team Discovers New Path of Earth's Meteorites

Ice Volcanoes of Titan May Harbor Life

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Pacific dives recover novel fish

Quantum weirdness wins again: Entanglement clocks in at 10,000+ times faster than light: Scientific

'Frankenrobot' Has Biological Brain : Discovery News

Octopuses Don't Have Eight Legs : Discovery News

'Sputnik' Virus Orbits, Hijacks Other Viruses

Sweet edge on waterproof coating - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Scientists turn to seals for climate change answers - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Japanese researchers develop electric robot 'skin' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Transplant conference to hear grow-your-own breakthrough - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting

Quantum Crystals: A Solution to Inexpensive & Efficient Green Energy?

Hubble’s 100,000th Pass Showcases Star Birth

Video Tour of the Andromeda Galaxy

Battling "Cellular Littering" Critical for a Longer Life

Did Neanderthals Share the "Language Gene" with Homo Sapiens? A Galaxy Classic

Rabies tragedy follows loss of India's vultures - health - 12 August 2008 - New Scientist

US boasts of laser weapon's 'plausible deniability' - tech - 12 August 2008 - New Scientist Tech

Phoenix Mars lander bakes third soil sample - space - 12 August 2008 - New Scientist Space

Poisoned Pot Roast?: Plastic Storage Containers Also Contain Bisphenol A: Scientific American

Saber-Toothed Cat Unearthed in Venezuela : Discovery News

Europe's 'Earth Explorer' to Map Planet "Inside Out" From Space

Roman Temple Uncovered In Ancient Jewish Capital Of Galilee

Baking Out DNA -- Forensic Scientists Improve DNA Analysis With Mummy-inspired Bone-baking

Airless Tire Promises Grace Under Pressure for Soldiers [Slideshow]: Scientific American

Using Causality to Solve the Puzzle of Quantum Spacetime: Scientific American

"how the building blocks of space and time pull themselves together"

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=worlds-first-flying-saucer

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=bracing-for-a-solar-superstorm

http://www.sciam.com/video.cfm?id=AF6087D83AD1EF99F0C6E32DCB3CEE61

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/08/11/car-exhaust-power.html

http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=cassini-spacecraft-searches-for-sig-2008-08-11&sc=rss

Some Like It Hot, But Not Fungi : Discovery News

Meet the Buzz-Kill Pill : Discovery News
Sounds like something Professor Calculus in "Tintin and the Picaros" invented. Typical "treat the symptoms" approach. No one wants to deal with righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment. (Acts 24:25)

Visible Light Enters the Bizarro World -- Cho 2008 (811): 2 -- ScienceNOW

Is Our Solar System a Rarity in Milky Way?
Surprise, surprise ...

Do Plants Live and Die According A Precise Scale? New Research Says "Yes"

Satellites help explain Greenland ice loss mystery - earth - 09 August 2008 - New Scientist

Did iron cyclones give Earth a wonky core? - earth - 11 August 2008 - New Scientist Environment

Complete Neanderthal Mitochondrial Genome Mapped : Discovery Channel

Intact Mastodon Skeleton Unearthed in Romania

Survival Of The Fittest: Even Cancer Cells Follow The Laws Of Evolution

Solid-State Future Fridge: Scientific American Podcast

Viruses: They're alive, and they can infect each other: Scientific American Blog

Water Striders Put Best Foot Forward -- Zelkowitz 2008 (808): 2 -- ScienceNOW
... and how many died without reproducing before the optimized feet appeared?

Do Plants Live and Die According A Precise Scale? New Research Says "Yes"

Monday, August 11, 2008

#11

Green mystery blob may reveal black hole's last meal - space - 05 August 2008 - New Scientist Space

Wind Powered Vehicle, Ventomobile, Ready To Race In The Netherlands

Duck-billed Dinosaurs Outgrew Predators To Survive

Dandelion Rubber Could Replace Rare Sources : Discovery News

Predicting "Space Weather" -New Insights from the Hinode Solar-Optical Telescope

The Biofilm Matrix: Researchers Discover the Key To Powering the Planet With Garbage

Pristine 14-million-year-old Valley Found in Antarctica

The Gemini Paradox: Why are Galaxies in the Early Universe Old?

Mars Lander finds toxic substance in soil - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Earth is the only planet purpose-built for human habitation. One should expect to find a different regime in place on other planets.

research.microsoft.com/users/udaip/multipoint.htm
MultiPoint for Education

BBC NEWS : UK : Magazine : A month without plastic

BBC NEWS : Health : Farmer has double arm transplant

Kids' eyes need the great outdoors - health - 01 August 2008 - New Scientist

Access : : Nature
"The fight against AIDS in losing ground ..."

First Star in Universe Grew Fast : Discovery Channel
Interesting photo of a conjectural star, a star that exists only in a "complex computer simulation" of an event that no one witnessed.

Access : : Nature

Kids' eyes need the great outdoors - health - 01 August 2008 - New Scientist

Pollen-coated bullet could make its mark on criminals - tech - 01 August 2008 - New Scientist Tech

Biological Fathers Not Necessarily The Best, Social Dads Parent Well Too

Universe's Spiral Galaxy Population Still Evolving : Discovery News

Were Ancient Viruses a Key to Human Evolution?

Babelfish -Universal Translator Will Allow ET to Speak English -A Galaxy Classic

MIT Scientists Mimic Plants' Energy Storage System -Discovery to Unleash Solar Revolution

Is Aging an Accident of Evolution? Stanford Scientists Say "Yes"

Mystery Star Racing Through Milky Way at 3 Million MPH -A Galaxy Classic

Astronaut's alien claims fall short, says UFO researcher - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting

Phoenix Lander finds water on Mars - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
yet water is so common even in space

Wheelchairs may impair spinal-cord recovery - health - 01 August 2008 - New Scientist

Hidden Van Gogh Double-Painting Revealed : Discovery News

Ice Sheet Breaks Off Arctic : Discovery News

Nanojewels Made Easy
as usual "nature" gets the glory, rather than its Inventor

Scientists Determine Strength Of 'Liquid Smoke'

Liquid Body Armor -- Rheologists Apply Shear-Thickening Fluids to Protective Gear

Bullet Proof Material Applies Nanotechnology to Rebound, Not Spread, Force Of Bullet

World's Fastest Camera Helps Researcher Study How Things Break Apart

Rutgers Research On Shear Activity May Improve Safety In Areas As Diverse As Landslides, Pill
one wonders how much "shear" happened during the Flood

'Lucky Camera' Takes Sharpest Ever Images Of Stars

Video Cameras Learn From Insect Eyes

Scientists question dinosaur soft tissue find - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

T. rex 'tissue' may just be bacterial scum - life - 30 July 2008 - New Scientist

Mud springs reveal true extent of San Andreas fault - earth - 29 July 2008 - New Scientist

Diamonds May Have Been Life's Best Friend On Primordial Earth

Women End Up Less Happy Than Men

'Blimp on Steroids' Joins Hunt for Natural Resources : Discovery News

Shark Avoids Suffocation by Turning Off Electricity : Discovery News

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Bees join hunt for serial killers

Tree shrews thrive, hangover-free, on alcohol - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Scientists in spat over ancient chicken DNA - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Sunday, July 27, 2008

#10

BBC NEWS : UK : Wales : South East Wales : Life from Venus blown to Earth?
pan-spermia again

NASA to post millions of photos online - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
good resource

Apollo Astronaut Speaks on UFO, Alien Claims : Discovery Channel
Even astronauts get it wrong sometimes

Planet and star in puzzling waltz - space - 25 July 2008 - New Scientist Space

New Health Drink? Chemist Goes Nano With CoQ10
"compounds of evolution"

Meet Robo Habilis: Robot Has Human-like Hand Controlled By 'Brain' Modeled After Human Cerebellum
Aren't we great? We copy God's design and congratulate ourselves on being so clever

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Fossils date Dry Valleys' origin

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Manned spaceship design unveiled

Oldest Bible Pieced Together : Discovery News : Discovery Channel

Gulf Dead Zone Grows Bigger : Discovery News : Discovery Channel

Discovery News: Space Diary: No Life Here

From Garbage to Gas Tank : Discovery News : Discovery Channel

Dinosaurs Diversified Over Time: Discovery News

Licking Your Wounds: Scientists Isolate Compound In Human Saliva That Speeds Wound Healing

Overactive bladders play with the mind - health - 23 July 2008 - New Scientist

Designing streets to help drunks home - tech - 23 July 2008 - New Scientist Tech

Stellar nursery found around Milky Way's black hole - space - 23 July 2008 - New Scientist Space

Interview: Driving towards the 100-mpg car - tech - 23 July 2008 - New Scientist Tech

0722-sci-MIRROR.gif (GIF Image, 550x598 pixels) - Scaled (96%)

BBC NEWS : Health : Breastfeeding trust hormone clue

Discovery News: Space Diary

Vestigial Vocal Organ Muffles Human Speech : Discovery Channel

Earth, As E.T. Would See It : Discovery News : Discovery Channel

NASA Mission To Be Crystal Ball Into Oceans' Future, Mirror To The Past

Dangerous faults reveal themselves in the landscape - earth - 20 July 2008 - New Scientist

Invisible nanotube cable could support a human - tech - 20 July 2008 - New Scientist Tech

Asteroid switched Mars's magnetic field on and off - 19 July 2008 - New Scientist

Single Boulder May Prove That Antarctica And North America Were Once Connected

Gene That Regulates And Blocks Ovulation Discovered

Low-fat Diets May Not Be Best For Weight Loss, Study Suggests

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Grunting fish yield vocal clues

Nature's Own Nano Gold Found : Discovery Channel

Found: Milky Way's Second-Brightest Star : Discovery Channel

'Easterbunny' Planet Gets Name :Discovery News : Discovery Channel

Early galaxies had magnetic fields as strong as today's - space - 16 July 2008 - New Scientist Space
Now if the universe is old, it's a problem. But if it's new ...

BBC NEWS : UK : England : London : Mysterious insect baffles experts

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Sea die-out blamed on volcanoes
If the world was young, however ...

Water world: new data pinpoints wet and balmy past on Mars - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting

Fast-Spoiling Pear Mystery Solved : Discovery News : Discovery Channel

Is this the end for the plaster cast? - health - 16 July 2008 - New Scientist

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

#9

Science News / Loud And Clear

YouTube - Atheist's Nightmare
There may be something here we can use in our own Relevance talks.

Flatfish Evolution Revealed : Discovery News : Discovery Channel

BBC NEWS : Science/Nature : Fossil feathers reveal their hues
"But then how do you square that with the well-known fact that the majority of organic molecules decay in thousands of years?"

Language Evolved Before Humans : Discovery News : Discovery Channel
Soon they'll be saying that there's no difference between Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens.

Crystal Skulls Deemed Fakes : Discovery News : Discovery Channel
How readily we are fooled. How slow we are to acknowledge it when we have been.

Rain Grows Mountains : Discovery News : Discovery Channel
Claytons flood ... the global flood you have when you're not having a global flood

Bisexual Species: Unorthodox Sex in the Animal Kingdom: Scientific American
So ... if it's okay for penguins, it's okay for us too? Nothing is "unnatural" anymore.

Moon Once Harbored Water, Lunar Lava Beads Show: Scientific American
The whole universe began in water ... what's so surprising?

Volcano spews lethal acid brew - earth - 10 July 2008 - New Scientist Environment

Ten people die from new CJD-like disease - health - 09 July 2008 - New Scientist

Solar-powered asteroids make their own moons - space - 09 July 2008 - New Scientist Space
I'm always a bit skeptical of computer simulations; so much depends on the initial assumptions.

New legal threat to teaching evolution in the US - opinion - 09 July 2008 - New Scientist
"The state... shall allow and assist teachers, principals, and other school administrators to create and foster an environment... that promotes critical thinking skills, logical analysis, and open and objective discussion of scientific theories being studied, including, but not limited to, evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning. (Section 1B)"

Special Report on Evolution - New Scientist
Someone's feeling threatened ...

The long war against flu : Article : Nature

An unnecessary battle : Article : Nature

Pulsar's wobble provides new Einstein test - space - 03 July 2008 - New Scientist Space

3D modelling gets the measure of stone axes - tech - 04 July 2008 - New Scientist Tech

Do we have the technology to build a bionic human? - tech - 04 July 2008 - New Scientist Tech

Solar sail gets another chance for launch - space - 04 July 2008 - New Scientist Space

Giant rubber snake could be the future of wave power - earth - 04 July 2008 - New Scientist

Cosmic blasts may throw out plasma 'cannonballs' - space - 05 July 2008 - New Scientist Space

Puzzle In The Control Of Cell Division Unraveled

Scientists Set Out To Measure How We Perceive Naturalness

Why continents split up and get back together - earth - 02 July 2008 - New Scientist Environment