Clipmarks | tabsey's 'science' clips

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.

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

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

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

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

The amazing adventures of gene doping man

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:38:47 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: "If anyone performs too well in Beijing, the cloud will be over them for the next 10 years. Every fantastic performance now is tainted … it is a really sad thing for sport."
A good insight into modern detection of cheats in sports.

Clip Source: www.theage.com.au

THE breakout star of this year's Beijing Olympics just might be a name you've never heard before.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the winners' podium . . . Gene.

Gene is neither man nor woman, athlete nor coach.

Gene doping is a sophisticated method of cheating and a phrase you'll be hearing a lot more of soon.

It is the stuff of comic books - superhumans born from laboratory experiments, incredible bulk, designer viruses and alien incursions into human DNA.

If it all sounds a little far-fetched, you haven't been keeping up as science streaks past science fiction.

Many experts believe gene doping is already happening and warn that tinkering with human DNA to boost performance could seriously injure or even kill those who try it.

Oh, and a test to detect it is years away - perhaps as much as a decade.

At stake is the integrity of sport itself.

Only years after Sydney's 2000 Olympics do we realise that the Games some dubbed "friendly" were more like pharmaceutical.

Tags: chemical, tolerance, is, an, official, sport

Suprafroths: How Cappuccino Froth Is Like A Superconductor

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:57:07 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: I thought it would go on about the froth carrying the flavour to the lips etc.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (Jun. 10, 2008) — To see the latest science of type-I superconductors, look no further than the froth on a morning cup of cappuccino. A team of U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory physicists and collaborating students have found that the bubble-like arrangement of magnetic domains in superconducting lead exhibits patterns that are very similar to everyday froths like soap foam or frothed milk on a fancy coffee.

The similarities between the polygonal-shaped patterns in conventional foams and "suprafroths," the patterns created by a magnetic field in a superconductor, establish suprafroths as a model system for the study of froths.

"There are certain statistical laws that govern the behavior of froths, and we found that suprafroths satisfy these laws," said Ruslan Prozorov, Ames Laboratory physicist and primary investigator. "We can now apply what we know of suprafroths to all other froths and complex froth-like systems."

Tags: home, science

Exponential Technologies: Cheer Up World—We Are On the Verge of Great Things

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:43:29 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Commenting on the validity of Kurzweil’s predictions, John Tierney notes in the New York Times that Kurzweil has been uncannily accurate in the past:

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

At the recent World Science Festival in New York City, Ray Kurzweil outlined why he is certain that the future isn’t as dreary as it’s been painted, and why we are closer to the incredible than we think: Exponential upward curves can be deceptively gradual in the beginning. But when things start happening, they happen fast. Here are a selection of his predicted trajectories for these “miracles” based on his educated assessment of where science and technology is at in the present.

· Within 5 years the exponential progress in nanoengineering will make Solar power cost-competitive with fossil fuels

· Within 10 years we will have a pill that allows us all to eat whatever we feel like and never gain any unwanted weight

· In 15 years, life expectancies will start rising faster than we age

· In about 20 years 100% of our energy will come from clean and renewable sources, and a computer will pass the Turing Test by carrying on a conversation that is indistinguishable from a human’s.

Tags: some, roses, ahead

Animal Science Without Evolution

Mon, 26 May 2008 13:59:01 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.earnedmedia.org

MEDIA ADVISORY, May 25 /Christian Newswire/ -- Fascination with animals permeates childhood. Yet, with biology books oozing evolutionary propaganda and conjecture, an animal enthusiast's faith in the Bible is in danger of erosion. So how can a Christian child maintain and grow their faith if they want to study animals? The answer is the latest book in Jeannie Fulbright's creation science series, Exploring Creation with Zoology III, which covers the land animals created on the sixth day.

"The animals God created are beyond fascinating. Children need a resource with which they can study them in-depth, one which does not compromise their faith or sow seeds of doubt," Fulbright communicated at a recent conference in Georgia.

Fulbright's books can be ordered from any bookstore, including, Christian Book Distributors (www.chirsitanbooks.com) or directly from the publisher, Apologia Educational Ministries (www.apologia.com).

Mars rover finds Yellowstone-like hot spring deposits

Fri, 23 May 2008 14:20:57 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: So Yellowstone is an illegal immigrant .

Clip Source: www.astronomy.com

This image shows the feature dubbed "Home Plate" in Gusev Crater, the site of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's investigation of the surface. NASA/JPL/University of Arizona [View Larger Image]

Deposits of nearly pure silica discovered by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in Gusev Crater formed when volcanic steam or hot water (or maybe both) percolated through the ground. Such deposits are found around hydrothermal vents like those in Yellowstone National Park. That's the conclusion of planetary scientists working with data collected by the rover's Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES), a mineral-scouting instrument developed at Arizona State University (ASU).

The silica discovery, announced briefly by NASA in 2007, is fully described in a multi-author paper that appears in the May 23, 2008 issue of the scientific journal Science. The lead author is Steven Squyres of Cornell University, principal investigator for the rover science payload.

Tags: space

Architecture For Fundamental Processes Of Life Discovered

Wed, 14 May 2008 15:18:15 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: The pic is of Yeast cells (Sacharomyces cerevisiae) seen using DIC microscopy.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (May 14, 2008) — A team of Canadian researchers has completed a massive survey of the network of protein complexes that orchestrate the fundamental processes of life. In the online edition of the journal Science, researchers from the Université de Montréal describe protein complexes and networks of complexes never before observed -- including two implicated in the normal mechanisms by which cells divide and proliferate and another that controls recycling of the molecular building blocks of life called autophagy.

These processes are implicated in diseases such as cancers and autophagy has recently been shown to be involved in degenerative neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases. The discovery will fill gaps in basic knowledge about the workings and evolutionary origins of the living cell and provide new avenues to explore in linking these fundamental processes to human disease.

Tags: science

Real-Life Droid Army of Robotic Spiders to Be Deployed 'By End of the Year'

Mon, 05 May 2008 14:18:45 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Not a nice concept. Whoever has the biggest bug squatter, wins.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

In another creepy case of life mimicking fiction, BAE Systems is creating an army of robotic spiders that they will be selling to the US Army to use in warfare. The development is causing some worry over whether some of the frightening scenes in the sci-fi flick Minority Report were a fairly accurate representation of the future.

In the movie, Tom Cruise is chased by an army of government deployed robotic spider spies attempting to hunt him down. Although Hollywood intended it as science fiction, the US military says they are dropping the fiction part of the equation.

Dr. Joseph Mait of the US Army Research Lab explains, “Robotic platforms extend the warfighter's senses and reach, providing operational capabilities that would otherwise be costly, impossible, or deadly to achieve."

Tags: science

Diatoms Discovered To Remove Phosphorus From Oceans

Mon, 05 May 2008 14:06:47 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Does this mean that the ocean will no longer sparkle for honeymooners. I hope not.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (May 5, 2008) — Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered a new way that phosphorus is naturally removed from the oceans – its stored in diatoms. The discovery opens up a new realm of research into an element that’s used for reproduction, energy storage and structural materials in every organism. Its understanding is vital to the continued quest to understand the growth of the oceans. The research appears in the May 2, 2008 edition of the journal Science.

Ellery Ingall, associate professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, along with Ph.D. student Julia Diaz, collected organisms and sediments along an inlet near Vancouver Island in British Columbia. During their investigation on the boat, Diaz used a traditional optical microscope to discover that diatoms, microscopic organisms that live in oceans and damp surfaces, were storing blobs of very dense concentrations of phosphorus called polyphosphates.

Tags: science

Astrobiologists Ponder Possibility of Early 'Alien' Microbes

Sat, 03 May 2008 15:53:14 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

One of the great unsolved mysteries of science is the origin of life. How did it happen?

If we were able to click on Google Earth and visit the Earth during the Archean Eon, we would likely not recognize it is the same planet we inhabit today. The atmosphere was a reducing atmosphere of methane, ammonia, and other gases which would be toxic to most life. Also during this time, the Earth's crust cooled enough that rocks and continental plates began to form.

It was early in the Archean that life first appeared on Earth. Our oldest fossils date to roughly 3.5 billion years ago, and consist of bacteria microfossils. In fact, all life during the more than one billion years of the Archean was bacterial.

Through most of the 20th century, scientists thought that life began with a stupendous chemical fluke, unique in the observable universe.

Tags: science

Court Quashes Request for Peer-Review Documents

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:08:39 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: In a decision likely to be welcomed by editors everywhere, a federal judge in Chicago today denied a drug company's efforts to obtain confidential peer-review documents from a major medical journal. Although journals have successfully fended off such requests before, a loss in this case would have set a troubling precedent for other cases, including a similar suit pending in Massachusetts.

Clip Source: sciencenow.sciencemag.org

Pfizer is being sued in a class-action lawsuit in a northern California federal court by patients who took the arthritis drugs Bextra and Celebrex, which have been linked to heart attacks and other problems. In January, Pfizer filed a motion asking for peer-review documents it had subpoenaed from 11 studies on the drugs published by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Pfizer, which also wanted rejected studies, said that manuscripts might contain data that could be useful for its defense. NEJM argued that releasing the information would compromise peer review, which is supposed to be anonymous, a position supported in an affidavit by the editor-in-chief of Science, Donald Kennedy (Science, 22 February, p. 1009). Pfizer also filed a motion seeking peer reviews from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the Archives of Internal Medicine, which had published 11 studies on the drugs.

Tags: comment, is, first, paragraph

Full Aurora

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 13:39:23 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Worth a look. Lots more at the site.

Clip Source: www.cosmotions.com

Fall Aurora

Tags: science, astronomy