Clipmarks | kidora's Science collection

Rainbow Cloud

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:15:09 GMT

clipped by: kidora

The mix of the seven colours are just so beautiful! Never seen such a pretty mix of rainbow and cloud! The local news referred to it as a "sundog".An ice halo saying "They form when sunlight passes through thin, cirrus clouds composed of ice crystals."

American Indians Trace Ancestry To 6 Women

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:25:46 GMT

clipped by: kidora

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Nearly all of today's Native Americans in North, Central and South America can trace part of their ancestry to six women whose descendants immigrated around 20,000 years ago, a DNA study suggests.

Those women left a particular DNA legacy that persists today in about 95 percent of Native Americans, researchers said.

The work was published this week by the journal PLoS One. Perego is from the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the University of Pavia in Italy.

The work confirms previous indications of the six maternal lineages, he said. But an expert unconnected with the study said the findings left some questions unanswered.

Purpose of Appendix Found

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 20:36:40 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: So that's what it's for...

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Some scientists think they have figured out the real job of the troublesome and seemingly useless appendix: It produces and protects good germs for your gut.

That's the theory from surgeons and immunologists at Duke University Medical School, published online in a scientific journal this week.

For generations the appendix has been dismissed as superfluous. Doctors figured it had no function. Surgeons removed them routinely. People live fine without them.

The appendix "acts as a good safe house for bacteria," said Duke surgery professor Bill Parker, a study co-author. Its location _ just below the normal one-way flow of food and germs in the large intestine in a sort of gut cul-de-sac -- helps support the theory, he said.

Tags: appendix, science, research, medical

Cockroaches Are Not Morning People

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:59:19 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: Just could not help clipping this seemingly useless piece of information.
I wonder how much money was allocated for this study? Another waste of tax dollars perhaps?

Clip Source: science.slashdot.org

"A new study has found that cockroaches are morons in the morning and geniuses in the evening in terms of their learning capacity. Previous studies suggest that the learning capacity of both people and rats are also affected by their internal biological clocks. But the effect is far more dramatic in cockroaches and it is the first time it has been found in insects. And, no, the researchers didn't try giving their cockroaches a sip of coffee to see if it revived them!"

Tags: cockroaches, science, studies

Research + Details = The Devil ?

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:34:30 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: This article really does not surprise me. I work in the research world and it's very hard to get people to do clean work. You can trust people with themselves only so far. After that you take your chances.
Unfortunately researches are often so focused on their own ideas that they sacrifice good methods for their own arrogance.
I will say that while sloppy methods are a problem I don't think that most published findings are wrong, maybe a little off, but not wrong. Of course this might depend on what field of research they are specifically talking about.

Clip Source: science.slashdot.org

"The Wall Street Journal has a sobering piece describing the research of medical scholar John Ioannidis, who showed that in many peer-reviewed research papers 'most published research findings are wrong.' The article continues: 'These flawed findings, for the most part, stem not from fraud or formal misconduct, but from more mundane misbehavior: miscalculation, poor study design or self-serving data analysis. [...] To root out mistakes, scientists rely on each other to be vigilant. Even so, findings too rarely are checked by others or independently replicated. Retractions, while more common, are still relatively infrequent. Findings that have been refuted can linger in the scientific literature for years to be cited unwittingly by other researchers, compounding the errors.'"

Tags: science, research, journals

The Difference Between Liberals And Conservatives May Be Neurological

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:18:28 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: Hummmm... This study seems to be a little biased towards the liberals. Besides the fact that this study is coming out of NYU and UCLA.

Clip Source: science.slashdot.org

"Scientists from NYU and UCLA report in Nature Neuroscience that the brains of Democrats and Republicans process information differently. This new study finds that the differences are apparent even when the brain processes common information, not just political topics. From the study, liberals were more likely to be accurate and showed more brain activity in the region associated with analyzing conflicts. A researcher not affiliated with the study stated, liberals 'could be expected to more readily accept new social, scientific or religious ideas.' Moreover, 'the results could explain why President Bush demonstrated a single-minded commitment to the Iraq war and why some people perceived Sen. John F. Kerry... as a flip-flopper.'"

Tags: liberals, conservatives, politics

Bees Not Being Killed By Cell Phones

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:42:17 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: Is the mystery close to being solved? At least we know know now that bees are not being killed by cell phones. Though, in my mind, this seems like a very strange idea to offer for their disappearance.
Anyway glad to know that this is not the reason.

Clip Source: www.pcworld.com

Recent claims that mobile phone signals may be responsible for the decline in honeybee numbers have been quashed by research.

In April Landau University in Germany suggested that the mobile phone signals were confusing bees and leading to their death from CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder). The disease paralyses bees so they then die outside the hives. It has been responsible for the deaths of between 50 and 90 percent of commercially managed bees in the U.S. alone.

A three-year scientific study conducted at U.S. universities has uncovered a virus which is thought to have come from imported bees and royal jelly and then spread through apiaries, causing the death of the bees.

The research also suggested factors such as the practice of transporting bees in closed trucks may put the bees under stress and make them more likely to contract the virus. The next step in the research is to infect a sample of bees with the virus to see if it is definitely to blame.

Tags: bees, cell phone, science

Gender Theory and Scientist At War

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:55:46 GMT

clipped by: kidora

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In academic feuds, as in war, there is no telling how far people will go once the shooting starts.

The central figure, J. Michael Bailey, a psychologist at Northwestern University, has promoted a theory that his critics think is inaccurate, insulting and potentially damaging to transgender women.

The hostilities began in the spring of 2003, when Dr. Bailey published a book, “The Man Who Would Be Queen,” intended to explain the biology of sexual orientation and gender to a general audience.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

It is perhaps fitting that the history of this conflict, which caught fire online, is being written and revised continually in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which is compiled and corrected by users. The reference site provides a lengthy entry on Dr. Bailey, but a section titled “Research Misconduct,” which posts some of the accusations Dr. Dreger reviewed, includes a prominent warning.

It reads: “The neutrality of this section is disputed.”

Tags: science, gender, conflict, academics

The Top 10 Views Of Earth From Space

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:48:32 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: Great pictures of earth from space, starting from closest to farthest. Wow, what a ride Got to love that last picture!

Clip Source: www.space.com

Tags: earth, space, nasa

Plagiarism In Academia

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:50:33 GMT

clipped by: kidora

Clip Source: www.nature.com

A shockwave could be about to hit the normally tranquil waters of social science. A German economist, specializing in environmental science and technology, has allegedly committed serial plagiarism and invented academic affiliations going back decades. The case should act as a warning sign to editors about how widespread plagiarism and deception may be, experts say.

Plagiarism may be much more common than we previously thought.

Tags: science, plagiarism, honor

Cuing the Mind

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 19:38:43 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: If you want to read about all the cues that set us off, and motivate us, read the rest of this interesting article.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In a recent experiment, psychologists at Yale altered people’s judgments of a stranger by handing them a cup of coffee.

The study participants, college students, had no idea that their social instincts were being deliberately manipulated. On the way to the laboratory, they had bumped into a laboratory assistant, who was holding textbooks, a clipboard, papers and a cup of hot or iced coffee — and asked for a hand with the cup.

That was all it took: The students who held a cup of iced coffee rated a hypothetical person they later read about as being much colder, less social and more selfish than did their fellow students, who had momentarily held a cup of hot java.

Tags: psychology, mind, cues, brain

Invisible Science

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 03:17:02 GMT

clipped by: kidora

Clip Source: www.inform.kz

ROME. July 12. KAZINFORM. The science fictional invisible man is a step closer to reality now that U.S. and European scientists have created a way to bend light around objects.

The researchers' breakthrough in invisibility research is the creation of acoustic plasmon. Mario Rocca of Genoa University in Italy said the plasmon, a supercharged variation of electrons, could be used to make new materials that light can be bent around, ANSA reported Wednesdsay.

Rocca said U.S. scientists have managed to do this with tiny objects using extremely small light wavelengths, not in the range of visible light, Kazinform cites UPI.

"But in principle it should be possible for visible light too, and we should be able to hide fairly big objects," Rocca said in the journal Nature. "We can see the prospect of the plasmon being used to refract light right around an object, making it perfectly invisible".

Tags: invisible, science, physics, light

Amazing Close Up Views Of Tornados

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 03:12:47 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: This one is for my mom. She absolutely is terrified and fascinated by tornadoes she is absolutely going to love these photos. They are just fantastic. Mother Nature will never cease to be an amazing and awe inspiring joy to watch. While I will never feel anything but sympathy for the terror and destruction that these storms leave in their path from these photos I can see the reason why my mother is glued to the TV anytime live video of these monsters comes up.
Enjoy, I know my mom will

Clip Source: ahboon.net

Tags: tornados, photography, photos, science

How You Sleep Is Who You Are ?

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 03:04:30 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: Look at the rest of the article to see what percentage you fall under and what it might say about you. It's fun entertaining science folks

Clip Source: www.scribd.com

If you want an insight into somebody's true personality, then try to catch a glimpse of the way they sleep.

Scientists believe the position in which a person goes to sleep provides an important clue about the kind of person they are.

Professor Chris Idzikowski, director of the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service, has analysed six common sleeping positions - and found that each is linked to a particular personality type.

"We are all aware of our body language when we are awake but this is the first time we have been able to see what our subconscious posture says about us.

"What's interesting is that the profile behind the posture is often very different from what we would expect."

Tags: sleep, position, science

Hey Don't Flush We May Need That Latter

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 05:17:52 GMT

clipped by: kidora

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Recycling urine may be the answer to a looming global shortage of phosphorus, an Australian researcher says.

And she says recycling the 500 litres of urine each person produces a year is the solution.

"Urine is the most concentrated source of phosphorus," she says. "At the moment we dilute that through our sewage system and send it out to the ocean.

"In the industrialised world we must start moving to a resource-recovery approach rather than the current waste-treatment approach."

Phosphorus is a key component in agricultural fertilisers and Mitchell says a lack of phosphorus would affect future soil quality and production.

But she blames a 'poo taboo' for the failure of Australian governments to move on the issue of recycling urine.

We are going to need sources of fertiliser ... and the most concentrated, readily accessible source of phosphorus is us."

Tags: phosphorus, chemicals, science