Clipmarks | LisbethJ's clips

Iraq born teen crack 300 year old math puzzle

Sun, 31 May 2009 03:47:40 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: Genius

Iraq-born teen cracks maths puzzle

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – A 16-year-old Iraqi immigrant living in Sweden has cracked a maths puzzle that has stumped experts for more than 300 years, Swedish media reported on Thursday.

In just four months, Mohamed Altoumaimi has found a formula to explain and simplify the so-called Bernoulli numbers, a sequence of calculations named after the 17th century Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli, the Dagens Nyheter daily said.

Altoumaimi, who came to Sweden six years ago, said teachers at his high school in Falun, central Sweden were not convinced about his work at first.

"When I first showed it to my teachers, none of them thought the formula I had written down really worked," Altoumaimi told the Falu Kuriren newspaper.

He then got in touch with professors at Uppsala University, one of Sweden's top institutions, to ask them to check his work.

Tags: math, teen, bernoulli

Ghost Hunters inspect 180 year old NM hotel site

Mon, 11 May 2009 21:23:05 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: Spooky

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Ghost hunters inspect 180-year-old NM hotel site

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The former owner of a 180-year-old adobe building hears the door of a potbellied stove opening and wood being stacked inside, but no one is there.

Mysterious whispers echo in the current owner's ear. Things fall off shelves for no apparent reason.

These are just a few of the strange goings-on that artist Josh Bond, owner of the Old Cuchillo Bar in the southern New Mexico ghost town of the same name, has asked the West Coast Ghost and Paranormal Society to investigate on his property.

Andy Rice, who started WCGAPS about two years ago after investigating more than 200 supposed hauntings and ghosts over more than 13 years, said the group tries to explain the mysteries their clients relate to them using science or common sense.

When he saw an advertisement about WCGAPS, a Phoenix-based nonprofit organization, Bond thought the group could at least explain what was occurring.

Tags: ghost, hunters, new mexico, hotel, spooky

Science closing in on cloak of invisibility

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:42:05 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: can you see? what about now? and now?

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Science closing in on cloak of invisibility

Researchers at Duke University, who developed a material that can "cloak" an item from detection by microwaves, report that they have expanded the number of wavelengths they can block.

In 2006 the team reported they had developed so-called metamaterials that could deflect microwaves around a three-dimensional object, essentially making it invisible to the waves.

The system works like a mirage, where heat causes the bending of light rays and cloaks the road ahead behind an image of the sky.

The researchers report in Thursday's edition of the journal Science that they have developed a series of mathematical commands to guide the development of more types of metamaterials to cloak objects from an increasing range of electromagnetic waves.

The new cloak is made up of more than 10,000 individual pieces of fiberglass

arranged in parallel rows

Tags: invisible, coat, cloak

Semen Quality linked to intelligence

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:53:55 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: just when you think you have it all figured out you realized you have to give a dick a test...Just kidding

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

Semen Quality Linked to Intelligence

Dec. 15, 2008 -- Past studies have linked an individual's intelligence to his or her height, cardiovascular function and longevity, but now a new study suggests semen quality may be added to that list, since it also appears to help predict the level of a man's intelligence.

Other studies on twins of both sexes, and on adopted individuals, have demonstrated that, by middle age, a person's smarts are highly influenced, and at least partially predicted, by genetic makeup.

The findings as a whole suggest that both intelligence and semen quality are fitness traits -- characteristics evolved to promote survival -- that are influenced by genetics.

Brain activity and semen quality would seem to have little connection, but that's one reason why lead author Rosalind Arden, a King's College London researcher, and her team decided to study a possible link.

Tags: semen, quality, intelligence, men

Six new genes mutations linked to obesity

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:36:49 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Six new gene mutations linked to obesity

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – At least six new gene mutations linked to obesity that point to ways the brain and nervous system control eating and metabolism have been identified, researchers reported Sunday.

Joel Hirschhorn at Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston led a team called Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits, or GIANT, to screen 15 different studies of the entire human genetic map and pinpoint the six new genetic variations.

"Today's findings are a major step forward in understanding how the human body regulates weight," Dr. Alan Guttmacher, Acting director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, said in a statement.

"This study essentially doubles in one fell swoop the number of known and replicated genetic factors contributing to obesity as a public health problem," added Dr. Kari Stefansson

Tags: gene, mutations, obesi

Queen Elizabeth II reigns in extragance as credit crunch grips

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:27:36 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: its a hard knock life.....

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Queen Elizabeth II reins in extravagance as credit crunch grips

LONDON (AFP) – Always concerned about staying in touch with her subjects, Queen Elizabeth II has invited the royal family to follow her example and tighten the purse strings during the financial downturn.

The 82-year-old monarch has warned her grandsons Princes William, 26, and Harry, 24 -- third and fourth in line to the throne -- that all ostentatious signs of living it up would be inappropriate, according to newspapers.

British subjects are apparently in no mood to see the young royals partying in exclusive London nightclubs while the kingdom sinks into recession, the cost of living rockets and jobs are lost.

The sovereign has a personal fortune of 320 million pounds (475 million dollars, 355 million euros), according to The Sunday Times newspaper's 2008 Rich List, but is not a spendthrift.

"She's not a flamboyant character and never has been," Davies said.

Tags: queen, elizabeth ii, money, credit

Jellyfish gone wild

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:48:26 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: when jellyfish go bad!

This sounds like a spongebob episode

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Jellyfish gone wild ruin tourist spots, report says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Huge swarms of stinging jellyfish and similar slimy animals are ruining beaches in Hawaii, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, Australia and elsewhere, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.

The report says 150 million people are exposed to jellyfish globally every year, with 500,000 people stung in the Chesapeake Bay, off the U.S. Atlantic Coast, alone.

Another 200,000 are stung every year in Florida, and 10,000 are stung in Australia by the deadly Portuguese man-of-war, according to the report, a broad review of jellyfish research.

The report, available on the Internet at http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/jellyfish/index.jsp, says the Black Sea's fishing and tourism industries have lost $350 million because of a proliferation of comb jelly fish.

The report says more than 1,000 fist-sized comb jellies can be found in a cubic yard (meter) of Black Sea water during a bloom.

Tags: jellyfish, sting

Did Magentic Blip trigger mass extinction

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:50:45 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

Did Magnetic Blip Trigger Mass Extinction?

Dec. 12, 2008 -- It was a dying on a scale never seen before or since on Earth. The slaughter was everywhere; the fertile ocean and balmy supercontinent Pangea were transformed into killing fields, littered with the bodies of ancient animals. By the time the dust had settled on the Permian-Triassic mass extinction 250 million years ago, 90 percent of life on the planet had been snuffed out.

Now a new theory suggests the catastrophe was set in motion 15 million years earlier, deep in the Earth. On the edge of the molten outer core, a plume of super-hot material began rising through the mantle, upsetting convection in the core and throwing the planet's magnetic field into disarray.

The weakening of Earth's magnetic field exposed the surface to a shower of cosmic radiation, says Yukio Isozaki of the University of Tokyo. He believes the radiation broke nitrogen in the atmosphere into ions that acted as seeds for clouds enshrouding the planet.

Tags: magnetic, extinction, dying

Scientist find 2,000 year old brain in Britain

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 05:05:49 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: I guess that brains are like diamonds ...forever

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Scientists find 2,000-year-old brain in Britain

LONDON – British archaeologists have unearthed an ancient skull carrying a startling surprise — an unusually well-preserved brain. Scientists said Friday that the mass of gray matter was more than 2,000 years old — the oldest ever discovered in Britain. One expert unconnected with the find called it "a real freak of preservation."

The skull was severed from its owner sometime before the Roman invasion of Britain and found in a muddy pit during a dig at the University of York in northern England this fall, according to Richard Hall, a director of York Archaeological Trust.

Finds officer Rachel Cubbitt realized the skull might contain a brain when she felt something move inside the cranium as she was cleaning it, Hall said. She looked through the skull's base and spotted an unusual yellow substance inside. Scans at York Hospital confirmed the presence of brain tissue.

Tags: brains, britain, scientist

Men overspend to attract mates

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:58:32 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Ooga Ooga! Men Overspend to Attract Mates

Men are hardwired after eons of evolution to overspend, a new study suggests. Their maxed-out credit cards and mega-purchases have been tied to their desire to attract mates.

The biggest male spenders in the survey were found to have the highest number of reported past partners and desired the most future partners.

The finding, detailed in the current issue of the journal Evolutionary Psychology, did not hold with women.

Vying for women is simply what men do and have done for hundreds of thousands of years, said study leader Daniel Kruger, a social and evolutionary psychologist at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health. But how they entice mates has evolved.

Men who spent more (saved less) and who were more likely to shell out more than they earned reported having more sexual partners in the past five years and desired more future partners than other guys in the study.

Tags: men, women, dating

Is Einstein the last great genius?

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 04:07:30 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: I hope not!

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Is Einstein the Last Great Genius?

Major breakthroughs in science have historically been the province of individuals, not institutes. Galileo and Copernicus, Edison and Einstein, toiling away in lonely labs or pondering the cosmos in private studies.

But in recent decades - especially since the Soviet success in launching the Sputnik satellite in 1957 - the trend has been to create massive institutions that foster more collaboration and garner big chunks of funding.

And it is harder now to achieve scientific greatness. A study of Nobel Prize winners in 2005 found that the accumulation of knowledge over time has forced great minds to toil longer before they can make breakthroughs. The age at which thinkers produce significant innovations increased about six years during the 20th century.

Don't count the individual genius out just yet, however.

Tags: einstein, genius

Bulgarian archaeologists unearth ancient chariot

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:12:14 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: The original low rider!

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Bulgarian archaeologists unearth ancient chariot

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday. "The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.

But he said archaeologists were struggling to keep up with looters, who often ransack ancient sites before the experts can get to them.

The bronze-plated wooden chariot is decorated with scenes from Thracian mythology, including figures of a jumping panther and the carving of a mythological animal with the body of a panther and the tail of a dolphin, Ignatov said.

Tags: ancient, chariot, horse, warrior

Speaking without Words

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:14:33 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: Obama in Charge

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

What Obama and Bush said without knowing it

When President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama met in front of the White House, they didn’t take questions from reporters. But as far as body-language experts were concerned, the two men said volumes.

"Physically, [Obama] was definitely in charge there," says Allan Pease, author of "The Definitive Book of Body Language." Obama grabbed Bush’s upper arm during their handshake, which is a "control gesture."

Pease says Obama was also in charge when it came time to go into the White House, leading Bush in with a pat on the back, basically saying "welcome to my home."

"President-elect Obama has his head raised to make eye contact with the president," signaling "I am equal in status," according to Susan K. Abrams, a corporate and political image consultant at www.politicalicon.com.

Via email, Abrams said Obama showed a readiness to engage with the president, while Bush’s initial stance suggested he was being territorial.

Tags: obama, bush, white house

Oh Just forget it

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:43:47 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: just learn to forget

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

You Must Remember This: Forgetting Has Its Benefits

There's an old saying that inside every 70-year-old is a 35-year-old wondering, "What happened?"

What happened is that countless days, nights, meetings, commutes and other unremarkable events went by, well, unremarked. They didn't make a lasting impression on the brain or they were overwritten by so many similar experiences that they are hard to retrieve. In short, they've been forgotten.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. Neuroscientists say forgetting is crucial to the efficient functioning of the mind, to learning, adapting and recalling more significant things.

"We focus so much on memory that forgetting has been maligned," says Gayatri Devi, a neuro-psychiatrist and memory expert in New York City. "But if you didn't forget, you'd recall all kinds of extraneous information from your life that would drown you in a sea of inefficiency."

4,300 year old pyramid discovered in Egypt

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:40:54 GMT

clipped by: LisbethJ
clipper's remarks: The ancient Egyptians were a busy people!

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

4,300-year-old pyramid discovered in Egypt

SAQQARA, Egypt – Egypt's chief archaeologist has announced the discovery of a 4,300-year-old pyramid in Saqqara, the sprawling necropolis and burial site of the rulers of ancient Memphis.

The pyramid is said to belong to Queen Sesheshet, the mother of King Teti who was the founder of the 6th Dynasty of Egypt's Old Kingdom.

Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass made the announcement Tuesday at the site in Saqqara, about 12 miles south of Cairo.

Hawass' team has been excavating the site for two years. He says the discovery was only made two months ago when it became clear that the 16-foot-tall structure uncovered from the sand was a pyramid.

Hawass says the new pyramid is the 118th discovered so far in Egypt.