Clipmarks | killer_bunny's clips

India's air-powered car

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 16:41:30 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny

The first commercial car to be powered by compressed air could be about to hit the production lines, as Indian automaker Tata Motors prepares to build ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre's design. We're not certain if it's the same air car that we hit just under three years ago, but if it is, it's about time! The City Cat runs on nothing but compressed air -- which can be refueled at "air stations," and overnight using a built-in compressor -- with a not too shabby top speed of 68MPH and a range of 125 miles. The Air Car designers are working on a hybrid version that can compress air while it's operating, potentially making cross-India journeys possible: Toyota Prius, eat your hybrid heart out. As EcoGeek points out, the game ain't up just yet for completely emissions free travel since the problem of the source of the electricity (usually acquired from fossil fuels) has yet to be solved. Plus, the fugly design really doesn't do it any favours: why does "green" have to mean "gah?"

Tags: car, automobile, green, india

Sexist monkeys harass Kenyan villagers

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 23:16:52 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny
clipper's remarks: Who would have thougt monkeys can tell the difference between male and female humans

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A troop of vervet monkeys is giving Kenyan villagers long days and sleepless nights, destroying crops and causing a food crisis

local MP Paul Muite

caused laughter when he told parliament that the monkeys had taken to harassing and mocking women in a village

They estimate there are close to 300 monkeys invading the farms at dawn

because women are primarily responsible for the farms, they have borne the brunt of the problem, as they try to guard their crops

women have tried wearing their husbands' clothes in an attempt to trick the monkeys into thinking they are men - but this has failed

"But the monkeys can tell the difference and they don't run away from us and point at our breasts. They just ignore us and continue to steal the crops."

"The monkeys grab their breasts, and gesture at us while pointing at their private parts. We are afraid that they will sexually harass us," said Mrs Njeri.

the monkeys evade traps, have lookouts to warn the others of impending attacks and snub poisoned food

Tags: monkeys, animals, africa, kenya, sexist, women

Girl overdoses on espresso coffe

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:04:56 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny
clipper's remarks: I know it could potentially have been quite serious, but I can't help snigger a little.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A teenager was taken to hospital after overdosing on espresso coffee.

Jasmine Willis, 17, developed a fever and began hyperventilating after drinking seven double espressos

doctors confirmed she had overdosed on caffeine.

She has since made a full recovery and is now warning others about the dangers of excessive coffee drinking.

Ms Willis, who had thought the coffees were single measures, said the effects were so severe that she began laughing and crying for no reason while serving customers at the shop.

She developed a fever and began struggling to breathe after being sent home by her father.

"My nerves were all over the place.

"I was drenched. I was burning up and hyperventilating.

"I was having palpitations, my heart was beating so fast and I thought I was going into shock.

The teenager, who was allowed home after a few hours of observation, suffered side effects for days afterwards and now says she cannot stand the sight of coffee.

Tags: cofee, health

Time travel

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 19:37:37 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny
clipper's remarks: I appreciate the fact that the science behind this is not fool proof (the grand father paradox and lack of time travellers from the future to name a few) and the feasibility of such a machine actually existing is very low however hats off to the guy for trying. That's how science develops.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

he idea that we could use science to see the past and the future has been with us since HG Wells

One young boy, growing up in the 1950s in the Bronx in New York, was especially interested in these tales. Ronald Mallett

He's now a professor of physics at the University of Connecticut.

He still wants to build a time machine, and is seeking funding for his so-called Space-Time Twisting by Light project.

it works something like this: we know that massive objects, such as stars and planets, can bend both space and time. Dr Mallett and others believe that light too, because of its inherent energy, can also bend what's called the space/time continuum.

Build yourself an extremely powerful ring laser, and pop some material - maybe even one day a human - in the centre of this vortex of light, and you might just be able to drag what's inside the machine back or forward through time.

there's nothing scientifically dishonourable in being wrong or misguided," says Dr Whitehouse.

Tags: time, time travel, science, science fiction, physics, quantum, hg wells

The Vertigo maching - Skydeck

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:06:45 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny
clipper's remarks: If you are scared of heights, this is for you!

Clip Source: www.eurekaskydeck.com.au

A glass cube which projects 3 metres out from the building, with you in it - suspended almost 300 metres above the ground!

Tags: vertigo, skydeck, sky, heights, skyscrappers, fear, glass, cube, travel, phobia

Flying Car goes on sale

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:21:33 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny
clipper's remarks: It's actually true, not sciencefiction. Who would have thought!

I remember seeing this way back in 1998 on Discovery channel. I thought the project would just run out of money/backers after a few years but they have actually gone into production although questions of practicality still have to be answered.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

M 200G, otherwise known as a "flying saucer", which is being built by a company in Davis, California called Moller International

will go on sale in a few months

Capable of vertical take-off and landing, the craft hovers like a helicopter up to 10ft off the ground

The flying saucer is powered by eight engines which can run on petrol, diesel or even ethanol

could prove useful to rescue teams as well as landowners

It will sell for about $90,000 (£44,700) and the only question now surrounds licensing arrangements.

It sees the flying saucer as a precursor to the M400 - otherwise known as the "Skycar" - which looks a bit like the Batmobile, also boasts vertical take-off and landing, and can be driven on the road as well as flown through the sky.

By the time the Skycar goes into production - probably in about six years time - it will be capable of climbing 6,000ft a minute and travelling at up to 400 miles an hour.

Tags: car, flying, aeronautics, transportation

Elephants' kissing?!

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:26:35 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny
clipper's remarks: lol

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Tags: elephants, wildlife, humour

Hole in the universe

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:52:12 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

A giant hole in the Universe is devoid of galaxies, stars and even lacks dark matter, astronomers said

the void is nearly a billion light-years across and they have no idea why it is there

"We already knew there was something different about this spot in the sky," Rudnick said. The region stood out as being colder in a survey of the Cosmic Microwave Background -- the faint radio buzz left over from the Big Bang that gave birth to the Universe

The astronomers said the region even appeared to lack dark matter, which cannot be seen directly but is usually detected by measuring gravitational forces

The void is in a region of sky in the constellation Eridanus, southwest of Orion

"Not only has no one ever found a void this big, but we never even expected to find one this size," said astronomy professor Lawrence Rudnick

"What we've found is not normal, based on either observational studies or on computer simulations of the large-scale evolution of the Universe," Williams said in a statement.

Tags: astronomy, space, universe, research

Inorganic particles can organize and behave like DNA

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 16:02:44 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny
clipper's remarks: Plasma-friendly conditions are found in space and where lightning strikes on earth. It's another possible origin of life.

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

an international team has discovered that under the right conditions, particles of inorganic dust can become organised into helical structures. These structures can then interact with each other in ways that are usually associated with organic compounds and life itself.

The right conditions are found in a plasma

In a computer mode

researchers

watched plasma-state inorganic dust organize itself, twisting into strands that look and act a bit like DNA

They can, for instance, divide, or bifurcate, to form two copies of the original structure. These new structures can also interact to induce changes in their neighbours and they can even evolve into yet more structures as less stable ones break down, leaving behind only the fittest structures in the plasma

"These complex, self-organized plasma structures exhibit all the necessary properties to qualify them as candidates for inorganic living matter," says Tsytovich, "they are autonomous, they reproduce and they evolve."

Tags: life, space, plasma, dna, research

Hole-in-the-heart self repair kit

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:58:47 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

One in four people has a valve-like hole in the heart, known as a patent foramen ovale (PFO).

this means blood can bypass the filtering system of the lungs and if debris are present in the blood, such as small blood clots, these can travel to and lodge in the brain, causing a stroke.

defect can be closed surgically using a graft, but this can cause damage to surrounding tissue

team at London's Royal Brompton Hospital has used a "bioabsorbable" patch to solve the problem

patch acts as a temporary plug until the body replaces it with healthy normal tissue, usually within 30 days

"Traditional grafts are permanent and so can cause an inflammatory reaction, which can lead to problems.

"Instead, this treatment does the repair job and then disappears in a natural way. The healing is very similar to how the body would heal itself normally."

treated about 70 patients

But Dr Mullen stressed that larger studies were needed to confirm this finding

Tags: health, heart, research, migrane

Near death "out-of-body" experience recreated in lab

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:48:21 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny
clipper's remarks: From what I can understand it's because of a mismatch between sight and touch. Read the whole article, I couldn't get every thing in the clip.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Two teams used virtual reality goggles to con the brain into thinking the body was located elsewhere

The visual illusion plus the feel of their real bodies being touched made volunteers sense that they had moved outside of their physical bodies

the researchers asked volunteers to stand in front of a camera while wearing video-display goggles

Through these goggles, the volunteer could see a camera view of their own back - a three-dimensional "virtual own body" that appeared to be standing in front of them

When the researchers stroked the back of the volunteer with a pen, the volunteer could see their virtual back being stroked either simultaneously or with a time lag

The volunteers reported that the sensation seemed to be caused by the pen on their virtual back, rather than their real back, making them feel as if the virtual body was their own rather than a hologram

surgeons might also be able to perform operations on patients thousands of miles away by controlling a robotic virtual self

Tags: research, out-of-body, science, death

The amazing human anatomy

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:51:01 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny
clipper's remarks: Don't look if you are squeamish although you will be missing out on some really cool wax works from The Musuem of Zoology and Natural History, LaSpecola.
The images above is a collection of wax anatomical models from the 18th century.

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

victim of the Plague. Sculpted from wax in the 17th century. By Gaetano Giulio Zumbo

More victims of the Plague. Sculpted from wax in the 17th century. By Gaetano Giulio Zumbo

Tags: anatomy, humanbody, science, waxworks, musuem

Ten robots that may change the world

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:33:16 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny
clipper's remarks: These are not science fiction. All these robots are currently being developed by universities/research institutes all over the world.

Clip Source: www.marvquin.com

10. Molecule Self-Configuring Robots

This shape-changing bot is built of many simple modules which it can move around, allowing it to adapt to different tasks and build 3-dimensional structures.

9. Learning to Walk in 20 Minutes

8. USC Humanoid Robot

This freaky looking USC-built robot head can learn facial movements from human teachers and watches objects it finds interesting.

6. Systems for Surgical Assistance

5. Solar-Powered Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (SAUV)

4. RHex/RiSE

The six-legged bug bot shows off remarkable speed, mobility and efficiency never before seen in the robotics world.

3. COOL Aide: Robotics Assistance for the Elderly

2. COTS-M Scout Robot

Researchers can toss the robot and ask it to drive to a particular location and transmit video to a handheld uni

1. Aerial Robots

sensor robots that can fly around on their own to explore forests, caves, and tunnels. These robots could also be used to fly above disaster areas and battlefields to locate casualties

Tags: robots, robotics, technology, research, science, science fiction

Getting drunk = healthy skin

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 21:58:15 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny
clipper's remarks: Another excuse to get drunk!

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Antioxidants slow down or stop the free-radical-induced chemical reaction and may help skin cells regenerate. Their value is nothing new in the beauty biz.

It turns out that the chemical contents of grapes, grape seeds and dark fruits, particularly the compound resveratrol, are effective antioxidants. Three French companies and one in California are now marketing wine and vine as the latest skin saver.

Dr. David Sinclair, director of the Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for Aging Research at Harvard Medical School, published a study in 2003 showing that resveratrol helped increase a yeast cell's life span by 70%. Dr. Johan Auwerx of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France, found that resveratrol improved muscles in mice. Of course, there's no guarantee that resveratrol-rich products will do for human skin what the compound apparently does for mice muscles, but Auwerx is enthusiastic about the possibilities.

Tags: science, research, wine, skin, aging, antioxidants, oxidating

The Milky way black hole

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 20:03:39 GMT

clipped by: killer_bunny

Clip Source: science.nasa.gov

Deep in the heart of the Milky Way galaxy lurks an extraordinary black hole. Astronomers call it "supermassive." It has been feeding on the core of our galaxy so long, the hole has accumulated more than a million Suns of mass inside its pinprick belly.

Matter falling into the hole is ripped apart and superheated, emitting bursts of high-energy radiation just before it disappears over the event horizon. Occasionally a burp of X-rays emanates from the Milky Way's core, and astronomers check off another meal.

Today these burps are seldom

it is widely thought that the Milky Way's "monster in the middle" used to be more active--frighteningly so

"Billions of years ago, when our galaxy was young, there was more 'food' in the core—lots more gas and stars for the black hole to consume." He believes there could have been "a real feeding frenzy"

Younger galaxies tended to be very active;

producing copious X-rays in the process.

Older galaxies, on the other hand, were relatively calm

Tags: astronomy. xrays, science, galaxy, milky way