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As the privacy controversy around full-body security scans begins to simmer, it’s worth noting that courthouses and airport security checkpoints aren’t the only places where backscatter x-ray vision is being deployed. The same technology, capable of seeing through clothes and walls, has also been rolling out on U.S. streets. American Science & Engineering, a company based in Billerica, Massachusetts, has sold U.S. and foreign government agencies more than 500 backscatter x-ray scanners mounted in vans that can be driven past neighboring vehicles to see their…

Nature by Numbers from Cristóbal Vila on Vimeo. Amazing video, speaks for itself, enjoy and check out more of this work here =>> eterea

When I first saw this ghostly Hubble Space Telescope image, I assumed that faint blurry spiral was a lens flare or some other photographic anomaly. But on closer inspection, the details started to present themselves. As imaged by the space telescope’s sensitive Advanced Camera for Surveys, this striking pattern is formed by material being ejected from a dying star. But this isn’t a lone star; there’s a second star — a binary partner — orbiting with it and modulating the expanding gas. SLIDE SHOW: Top…

US military’s top secret X-37B shuttle ‘disappears’ for two weeks and changes orbit. AMATEUR astronomers are enjoying a cat-and-mouse game with the US military in keeping track of its secret space plane, the X-37B. The X-37B was launched in April amid much publicity, but scant detail about its true use. Built by Boeing’s Phantom Works division, the X-37B program was originally headed by NASA. It was later turned over to the Pentagon‘s research and development arm and then to a secretive Air Force unit.

Is Alcohol Worse than Ecstasy? <<Editors notE>> A BBC Horizon documentary film that compares effects of various drugs. They take twenty of UK’s most dangerous drugs and put them in a nice list going from “not so bad” to “worst drug u can find”. The list they have come up with looks like this: 20 Cathinone (Khat) 19 Amyl nitrite (Poppers) 18 MDMA/ Ecstasy 17 GHB 16 Anabolic steroid 15 Methylphenidate (e.g. Ritalin) 14 LSD/ Acid 13 4-MTA 12 Solvents 11 THC (Cannabis) 10 Buprenophine…

Clouds Can Communicate Little, fluffy and talkative? Clouds can communicate, a new paper suggests — but what are they talking about? A new study has found that clouds “communicate” with each other, much like chirping crickets or flashing fireflies on a summer night. The surprising findings, published online in the journal Nature, may have significant implications for our understanding of the Earth’s climate. So the next time you find yourself laying on your back picking out shapes among the clouds, mull on this one: Are…

Brazil’s government has ordered its air force to officially record any sighting of unidentified flying objects. A government decree said all military and civilian pilots as well as air traffic controllers should register any UFO sightings with the national aerospace defence command. The information will be stored in the national archives in Rio de Janeiro. It will be made available to researchers, including those seeking evidence of extraterrestrial life. Anything unusual that is seen, photographed or video filmed in Brazil’s air space will now have…

Queerer Than We Suppose: The Strangeness Of Science Richard Dawkins is Oxford University’s “Professor for the Public Understanding of Science.” Author of the landmark 1976 book, The Selfish Gene, he’s a brilliant (and trenchant) evangelist for Darwin’s ideas. In this talk, titled, “Queerer Than We Suppose: The strangeness of science,” he suggests that the true nature of the universe eludes us, because the human mind evolved only to understand the “middle-sized” world we can observe. (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 22:42) – More…

BIG BANG BIG BOOM – the new wall-painted animation by BLU .::. <<video>> BIG BANG BIG BOOM – the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo. <<Editors notE>> Great stuff as always, keep an eye on “blu” and this post. In the near future we’ll give a special on this artist in particular and watch some more of his projects.

Spain’s spectacular solar power plants channelling the blazing Seville sun Mention solar power and people imagine weedy photovoltaic panels blighting the roofs of eco-friendly households and generating barely enough electricity to run a toaster. But the future of solar power could well be a lot more spectacular. There are actually two solar power plants in the picture above, spread around two towers. The larger array on the left, called PS20 by its Spanish owners Solucar, is still under construction; the smaller one on the right,…

Scientists discover 10 new species in the Atlantic Ocean Oddly-shaped, brightly-coloured or even transparent these are some of the bizarre creatures that scientists did not even know existed until recently. They are among a host of new animals that scientists have just uncovered in the hidden depths of the Atlantic Ocean during a new study which has ‘revolutionised’ thinking about deep-sea life. Scientists believe they have discovered more than 10 new marine species by using the latest diving technology during the groundbreaking study.

Carbonated Drinks: Learn the Truth! A study by a Brazilian Professor from Matto Grosso Federal University has revealed the shocking truth about the effects of having a can of a carbonated drink. Learn what happens inside your body in the sixty minutes after you glug down your refreshing sizzling drink…and think carefully! After just ten minutes, 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your body, 100% of the daily recommended dose. You do not immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because the Phosphoric acid in the drink…

BP admits it ‘Photoshopped’ official images as oil spill ‘cut and paste’ row escalates BP has ordered staff to stop manipulating photographs of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill response, as the row over its public relations campaign intensifies. The oil giant was forced to issue new guidelines to staff to “refrain from doing (sic) cutting-and-pasting” after several official company images were found to have been doctored. BP admitted on Thursday that it “Photoshopped” some of its official images that were posted on its website…