Clipmarks | tabsey's 'science' clips

Is Our Solar System a Rarity in Milky Way? Scientists Say "Yes"

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:57:33 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: There goes the escape route for Dick'n'George.

Three Northwestern University researchers have learned that our solar system in which the Earth orbits our sun is the exception in the Milky Way rather than the rule.

"We now know that these other planetary systems don't look like the solar system at all," said Frederic A. Rasio, senior author of the Science paper, and a theoretical astrophysicist and professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern. "We now better understand the process of planet formation and can explain the properties of the strange exoplanets we've observed. We also know that the solar system is special and understand at some level what makes it special."

Continue reading "Is Our Solar System a Rarity in Milky Way? Scientists Say "Yes"" »

Tags: unique, and, we, wreck, it

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:33:39 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Part of an blog by Peter Hitchins for the Daily Mash. I love the way he "handles" Dawkins.

Clip Source: www.thedailymash.co.uk

Sometimes I like to hang upside down and read a book. A recent upside down literary experience involved a book by the Oxford dog-strangler Richard Dawkins. Mr Dawkins latest 'theory' calls for Satan to be made lord of the universe, while the armies of the gay kick down your door and force you to dress in a kaftan made from hemp.

'Mr' Dawkins 'supports' his 'theories' with 'science'. Well, Mr Dawkins, in case you were too busy squirting acid at monkeys to notice - this is England. So you can take your 'science' and your 'reason' and your 'thoughts' and just fuck right off.

You will not be surprised to hear that both Mr Miliband and Mr Cameron intend to make Mr Dawkins the next Archbishop of Canterbury. It's enough to make you want thrash yourself so very, very hard across the thighs and buttocks.

Tags: humour, can, be, humerous

Future 'Top 10' Hot Careers in 2012: Space Tourism to Genetic Counseling

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:53:19 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Time to advise to the grandkids. Bloody parents these days.........blah, blah, blah..

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

1) Organic food Industry

Qualifications: Organic food expertise in farming, business or science.

Salary range: $50,000 to $80,000

2) Computational Biology

Qualifications: A bachelor’s degree or higher in bioinformatics, computer science, mathematics, biology or related area; strong software engineering skills.

Salary: $106,000 to $118,000

3) Parallel Programming

Qualifications: A bachelor's degree or higher in computer science or relevant field, non-linear thinking and creativity.

Salary: $79,000 to $88,000

4) Data Technology

Qualifications: Experience in virtual environments, imaging and visualization, technical skills, willingness to learn new tools and imagination.

Salary: $90,000 to $102,000

5) Simulation Engineering

Qualifications: A bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, math, physics or relevant field; analytical skills; and interpersonal skills.

Salary: $91,000 to $114,000

6) Boomer Caregiving

7) Genetic Counseling

8) Brain Analysts

9) Space Tourism

10) Roboticists

Tags: competition, will, abound

Did Upright Walking Start in Trees?

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:18:31 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: So, our ancestors copied the tree dwellers.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Maybe walking upright on two legs isn't such a defining human feature after all. Scientists who spent a year photographing orangutans in the rain forest say the trait probably evolved in ancient apes navigating the treetops long before ancestors of humans climbed to the ground -- a hypothesis that contradicts science museums the world over.

But it's more in tune with fossil evidence, contends Robin Crompton of the University of Liverpool, who co-authored the report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

“An increasing number of people have been questioning this old 'up from the apes' idea'' of how bipedalism evolved, Crompton said.

The popular explanation: Some chimpanzee-like creature that dragged its knuckles on the ground descended from trees into grasslands, and gradually straightened up to walk like modern humans.

Tags: two, legs, = sore, back

CERN announces start-up date for LHC

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:50:37 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Getting closer.

Clip Source: press.web.cern.ch

The CERN Control Center, from where the LHC will be operated.

Geneva, 7 August 2008. CERN¹ has today announced that the first attempt to circulate a beam in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be made on 10 September. This news comes as the cool down phase of commissioning CERN’s new particle accelerator reaches a successful conclusion. Television coverage of the start-up will be made available through Eurovision.

The LHC is the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, producing beams seven times more energetic than any previous machine, and around 30 times more intense when it reaches design performance, probably by 2010. Housed in a 27-kilometre tunnel, it relies on technologies that would not have been possible 30 years ago. The LHC is, in a sense, its own prototype.

Tags: science

Who is behind climate change deniers?

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:00:18 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: A good read, especially if you are a denier, or work/mix with any deniers.

Clip Source: www.watoday.com.au

When the tobacco industry was feeling the heat from scientists who showed that smoking caused cancer, it took decisive action.

In May this year, the multibillion-dollar oil giant Exxon-Mobil acknowledged that it had been doing something similar. It announced that it would cease funding nine groups that had fuelled a global campaign to deny climate change.

Exxon's decision comes after a shareholder revolt by members of the Rockefeller family and big superannuation funds to get the oil giant to take climate change more seriously. Exxon (once Standard Oil) was founded by the legendary John D. Rockefeller. Last year, the chairman of the US House of Representatives oversight committee on science and technology, Brad Miller, said Exxon's support for sceptics "appears to be an effort to distort public discussion".

Tags: greed, may, destroy, the, planet, yet

Plasma Bullets Spark Northern Lights

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:02:46 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Whole article gives a better understanding of what is happening. Amazing stuff.

Clip Source: science.nasa.gov

That's the conclusion of researchers studying data from NASA's five THEMIS spacecraft. The gigantic bullets, they say, are launched by explosions 1/3rd of the way to the Moon and when they hit Earth—wow. The impacts spark colorful outbursts of Northern Lights called "substorms."

Right: A substorm of Northern Lights photographed from the window of an airplane over Hudson Bay, Canada, on Feb 27, 2008. Credit: Jeff Hapeman. [more]

"We have discovered what makes the Northern Lights dance," declares UCLA physicist Vassilis Angelopoulos, principal investigator of the THEMIS mission. The findings appear online in the July 24 issue of Science Express and in print August 14 in the journal Science.

Tags: scientists, with, money, make, it, happen

New Method Identifies Genes Affecting Health In Fraction Of A Second

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:48:13 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: With discoveries such as this, one would think science must be paying for itself. This could make life better for millions.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (July 11, 2008) — A new tool which makes it possible to extract information about an individual's health from genotypes in a fraction of a second, has been developed by an academic at the University of Southampton.

Professor Joao Marques-Silva, at the University's School of Electronics and Computer Science and collaborators have developed a new approach to the process of inferring haplotype information from genotype data.

A haplotype can be defined as a group of alleles of one or more genes on a single chromosome that are closely enough linked to be inherited usually as a unit and a genotype refers to the combination of alleles inherited from both parents.

According to Professor Marques-Silva, the current method of extracting haplotypes from genotype data is based on statistical approaches, which can take a long time to compute.

Tags: brilliant, medical, scientists

Christians challenge teaching of evolution

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:52:52 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: It must be a boring life for the evangelist, uneducated, but full of ideas given by some ex-druid trying to make squillions and molest children at the same time.

Clip Source: www.stuff.co.nz

A Christian group promoting intelligent design theory over evolution has sent teaching material to schools that critics say is religious propaganda and sloppy pseudoscience.

The Education Ministry says the unsanctioned material does not breach the Education Act and there are no plans to ban its distribution.

But officials stress the theory of evolution underpins the science curriculum and schools have a responsibility to teach theories that are subject to accepted scientific scrutiny.

Focus on the Family has sent The Privileged Planet CD and booklet to 400 high schools, asking that they be made available to science teachers and school libraries.

Waikato University biological sciences senior lecturer Alison Campbell says the material champions creationism - the belief that God created the world as described in the Book of Genesis - claiming the universe is too perfect to have been produced by chance so must be the work of an intelligent designer.

Tags: cults, cluts, live, evil

Lost Ladybug Project Turns Kids Into Scientists

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:24:59 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Something for the kids, grand kids, to be involved in. My first real science lesson, maybe.

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Listen Now [3 min 50 sec] add to playlist

All Things Considered, July 5, 2008 · Calling all kids! Cornell University wants you to find and photograph ladybugs. John Losey, a professor of entomology at Cornell University, hopes children will help document ladybug populations around the country. Some native species are dwindling, while exotics are on the rise.

To participate in the project, go to the Lost Ladybug Project Web site or send an e-mail to ladybug@cornell.edu.

Tags: science, is, for, thrills, and, thought

New Discoveries at Mercury

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:37:33 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Interesting, if you have a few minutes.

Clip Source: science.nasa.gov

July 3, 2008: Mercury's magnetic field is "alive." Volcanic vents ring the planet's giant Caloris Basin. And Mercury has shrunk in on itself more than previously suspected.

These are just a few of the new discoveries by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, which flew past Mercury on January 14, 2008. The results are described in a series of 11 papers published in a special July 4th issue of Science magazine.

Six of the papers in Science report studies of the planet's surface--its colors, mineralogy, and the shape of its terrain. For instance, the color enhanced image below reveals evidence of volcanic vents along the margins of Caloris basin, one of the Solar System's largest and youngest impact basins:

Above: A color image of the Caloris basin and adjacent regions. Orange hues just inside the Caloris basin rim mark the locations of features thought to be volcanic. Courtesy of Science/AAAS [Larger image] [more]

Tags: more, zits, than, mercury-impossible

Adopt A Scientist Program

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:39:29 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: If you can afford to be involved , it could be fun, oh, and educational.

Clip Source: www.seti.org

Anyone can adopt a SETI Institute scientist and become part of the adventure!

Each of our scientists offers a compelling journey of discovery. When you adopt a scientist, you help lead the way towards answering profound questions regarding our place in the universe.

The SETI Institute’s Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe and Center for SETI Research are home to more than 90 scientists. Their work covers a broad spectrum of research dedicated to understanding the origins of life and the extent to which life may be present beyond Earth. Traditionally, each scientist, or principal investigator (PI), has had many partners who sponsor his/her work including NASA, the National Science Foundation, and major universities. However, current trends in government funding are making it increasingly difficult for astrobiologists to depend on those sources of support.

Tags: science, is, expensive

Former state science director sues over intelligent design e-mail

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:40:30 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.dallasnews.com

AUSTIN – A former state science curriculum director filed suit against the Texas Education Agency and Education Commissioner Robert Scott on Wednesday, alleging she was illegally fired for forwarding an e-mail about a lecture that was critical of the teaching of intelligent design in science classes.

Christina Comer, who lost her job at the TEA last year, said in a suit filed in federal court in Austin that she was terminated for contravening an unconstitutional policy at the agency that required employees to be neutral on the subject of creationism – the biblical interpretation of the origin of humans.

The policy was in force even though the federal courts have ruled that teaching creationism as science in public schools is illegal under U.S. Constitution’s provision preventing government establishment or endorsement of religious beliefs.

“The agency’s ‘neutrality’ policy has the purpose or effect of endorsing religion, and thus violates the Establishment Clause,” the lawsuit said.

Tags: are, emails, part, of, intelligent, design

Johann Hari: Science is thrilling – except in our schools

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:14:53 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: At Primary School level, often teachers teach little science as this is often hands on, and they keep the messy lesson for art. Also, some teachers at this level just are not science people, forcing themselves to be proficient at maths in stead. I pushed early on for teachers to move from class to class teaching from their area of expertise. Attitudes became more positive.

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

In a moment, I am going to say some words, and I want to know if you begin to drift into a coma. The periodic table. Bunsen burner. Photosynthesis. Eyelids heavy yet? Teat pipette. Petri dishes of mould. Magnezzzzzzzium.

Wake up! It is exactly 150 years since a British scientist published perhaps the greatest insight of any human so far: you, me and everyone we know are sophisticated apes, thrown up by millennia of blind evolution. Armed only with his grey matter, Darwin forced us to rethink everything we thought we knew. It is still thrilling, and strange, and stunning. Yet today, potential little Darwins and Hawkings and Dawkins across Britain – and most of the rich world – are being bored out of science.

Tags: science, teaching, is, very, rewarding

Fisheries, Not Whales, To Blame For Shortage Of Fish

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:15:00 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Even if whales ate fish, the killing of a thousand or , or in the case of whale eaters, 50 whales per country won't cause starvation.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Harpoon on the bow of a whale hunting ship. The Humane Society International, WWF and the Lenfest Ocean Program have presented three new reports debunking the science behind the ‘whales-eat-fish’ claims emanating from whaling nations Japan, Norway and Iceland. (Credit: iStockphoto/Chris Overgaard)

ScienceDaily (June 30, 2008) — The argument that increasing whale populations are behind declining fish stocks is completely without scientific foundation, leading researchers and conservation organizations said today as the International Whaling Commission opened its 60th meeting in Santiago, Chile.

The Humane Society International, WWF and the Lenfest Ocean Program today presented three new reports debunking the science behind the ‘whales-eat-fish’ claims emanating from whaling nations Japan, Norway and Iceland. The argument has been used to bolster support for whaling, particularly from developing nations.

Tags: talk, shit, -finish, in, sewer