Archive for the 'Science' Category
Robot wars: The rise of artificial intelligence
• January, 2009Robot wars: The rise of artificial intelligence By Steve Connor Friday, 19 December 2008 They can entertain children, feed the elderly, care for the sick. But warnings are being sounded about the march of robots The robots are not so much coming; they have arrived. But instead of dominating humanity with superior logic and strength, they threaten to create an underclass of people who are left without human contact. The rise of robots in the home, in the workplace and in warfare needs to be…
Is a sunstorm blowing in?
• January, 2009Is a sunstorm blowing in? By BILL McAULIFFE, Star Tribune Last update: December 8, 2008 – 9:37 AM The long-term space forecast is calling for gusts of charged particles – and possible power disruptions. It’s not the ache in their joints that tells Mark Engebretson and David Murr the weather’s about to change. It’s sunspots. The two Augsburg College physicists say a revival of sunspots after an unusually long lull is a signal that it could get stormy above Earth. Stormy enough to mess with…
Scientists create world’s thinnest material
• January, 2009Scientists create world’s thinnest material By Roger Highfield, Science Editor Last Updated: 2:15AM GMT 02 Mar 2007 Researchers have created the world’s thinnest sheet – a single atom thick – and used it to create the world’s smallest transistor, marking a breakthrough that could spark the development of super-fast computer chips. This innovation will allow ultra small electronics to take over when the current silicon-based technology runs out of steam, according to Prof Andre Geim and Dr Kostya Novoselov from the University of Manchester. They…
Sprayed Aerosols Could Ease Climate Woes
• January, 2009Sprayed Aerosols Could Ease Climate Woes Irene Klotz, Discovery News Dec. 29, 2008 It won’t solve global warming, but a group of scientists are calling for a focused research program to investigate ways to seed the atmosphere with chemicals that would let the heat out — literally. Geoengineering is not a new concept. Governments have changed how and where water flows, filled in lakes and other wetlands for construction, even attempted to control the weather. A project to counter climate change, however, would take geoengineering…
US police could get ‘pain beam’ weapons
• January, 2009US police could get ‘pain beam’ weapons The research arm of the US Department of Justice is working on two portable non-lethal weapons that inflict pain from a distance using beams of laser light or microwaves, with the intention of putting them into the hands of police to subdue suspects. The two devices under development by the civilian National Institute of Justice both build on knowledge gained from the Pentagon’s controversial Active Denial System (ADS) – first demonstrated in public last year, which uses a…
“Incredible” Deep-Sea Discoveries Announced
• December, 2008“Incredible” Deep-Sea Discoveries Announced By LiveScience Staff posted: 09 November 2008 01:06 pm ET An astounding batch of new deep-sea discoveries, from strange shark behavior to gigantic bacteria, was announced today by an international group of 2,000 scientists from 82 nations. An astounding batch of new deep-sea discoveries, from strange shark behavior to gigantic bacteria, was announced today by an international group of 2,000 scientists from 82 nations.
Hubble Finds Carbon Dioxide on an Extrasolar Planet
• December, 2008Hubble Finds Carbon Dioxide on an Extrasolar Planet Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star. This breakthrough is an important step toward finding chemical biotracers of extraterrestrial life. The Jupiter-sized planet, called HD 189733b, is too hot for life. But the Hubble observations are a proof-of-concept demonstration that the basic chemistry for life can be measured on planets orbiting other stars. Organic compounds also can be a…
New dark energy findings suggest Einstein’s theory is dead-on
• December, 2008New dark energy findings suggest Einstein’s theory is dead-on Trendwatch By Rick C. Hodgin Tuesday, December 16, 2008 18:11 Washington (DC) – NASA held a phone-in press conference today wherein three astrophysicists reported the latest findings on dark energy. They have now “clearly seen” the effects of dark energy on the most massive collapsed objects in the universe. This new evidence has aligned scientists behind the central belief that 1) dark energy exists, 2) that it explains why we are seeing the universe expanding and…
Hawking Predicts Discovery of Alien Life
• December, 2008Hawking Predicts Discovery of Alien Life: But Asks, Will It be Carbon Based? December 15, 2008 On the 50th anniversary of NASA, Stephen Hawking, Newton’s heir as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, answered the question, “Are we alone?” His answer was short and simple; probably not! Hawking presented three options. One, being that there is no life out there, and two – somewhat pessimistically, but subsequently, a little too realistic – being that when intelligent life gets smart enough to…
Truman Show Syndrome delusion: Sufferers convinced they are on reality TV
• December, 2008Truman Show Syndrome delusion: Sufferers convinced they are on reality TV By Tom Leonard in New York 25 Nov 2008 Psychiatric experts say they have identified a new 21st century form of delusion whose sufferers are convinced their lives are being played out as a reality television show. The self-exposure, instant fame culture peddled by reality shows, social networking internet sites such as Facebook and – above all – the home video-sharing website YouTube has provided a “perfect storm” for vulnerable people, encouraging them to…
Colossal squid’s big eye revealed
• December, 2008Colossal squid’s big eye revealed By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website The huge eye of the world’s largest squid has been revealed by scientists dissecting a rare, intact half-tonne specimen in New Zealand. About 27cm (11in) across, researchers believe the colossal squid’s eye is the biggest animal eye ever found. The 10m-long (34ft) specimen has also turned out to be female, surprising the scientific team. Very little is known about colossal squid; only about 10 have ever been caught and brought to shore.…
Crescent moon nestles next to two brightest planets in the sky
• December, 2008Crescent moon nestles next to two brightest planets in the sky By Joe Rao Venus and Jupiter share starring role Every once in a while, something appears in the night sky that attracts the attention of even those who normally don’t bother looking up. It was that way on Monday evening. A slender crescent moon, just 15 percent illuminated, came in very close proximity to the two brightest planets in our sky, Venus and Jupiter.
2,700-year-old marijuana found in Chinese tomb
• December, 20082,700-year-old marijuana found in Chinese tomb Dean Beeby THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA Stash seems to have been intended for buried shaman to use in the afterlife Researchers say they have located the world’s oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China. The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly “cultivated for psychoactive purposes,” rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany. The 789 grams of…