Clipmarks | taksmaster's 'science' clips

"Belief" in Science

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 13:06:02 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

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Extra-terrestrial life almost certainly exists

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 12:01:38 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster
clipper's remarks: Nothing new. It's just interesting to hear more and more scientists say they believe extra-terrestrial life exists.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Intelligent extra-terrestrials almost certainly exist on distant planets beyond our solar system, leading British astronomers told the government yesterday.

The scientists expect that the first evidence of primitive alien life, such as microbes and vegetation, will emerge within 10 years, with more substantial finds following future space missions.

The experts, from high-ranking UK universities and research institutes, were gathered in London by the science minister, Malcolm Wicks, to describe the latest advances in the search for distant, habitable planets capable of harbouring life.

"Twenty years ago we only had one solar system to study and that's the one we live in. But since then, there's been an explosion in the number of planets outside our solar system that we've been able to detect," said Professor Keith Mason, chief executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council and former head of space physics at University College London.

Tags: space, universe, life, aliens, ufo, intelligence, astronomy

Origin of Deja Vu Pinpointed

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 11:51:48 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

The brain cranks out memories near its center, in a looped wishbone of tissue called the hippocampus. But a new study suggests only a small chunk of it, called the dentate gyrus, is responsible for “episodic” memories—information that allows us to tell similar places and situations apart.

The finding helps explain where déjà vu originates in the brain, and why it happens more frequently with increasing age and with brain-disease patients, said MIT neuroscientist Susumu Tonegawa. The study is detailed today in the online version of the journal Science.

Like a computer logging its programs’ activities, the dentate gyrus notes a situation’s pattern—it’s visual, audio, smell, time and other cues for the body’s future reference. So what happens when its abilities are jammed?

Déjà vu is a memory problem, Tonegawa explained, occurring when our brains struggle to tell the difference between two extremely similar situations.

Tags: science, neuroscience, brain, mind, research, memory

Global Warming Concensus?

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:23:06 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: www.canada.com

"Only an insignificant fraction of scientists deny the global warming crisis. The time for debate is over. The science is settled."

S o said Al Gore ... in 1992. Amazingly, he made his claims despite much evidence of their falsity. A Gallup poll at the time reported that 53% of scientists actively involved in global climate research did not believe global warming had occurred; 30% weren't sure; and only 17% believed global warming had begun. Even a Greenpeace poll showed 47% of climatologists didn't think a runaway greenhouse effect was imminent; only 36% thought it possible and a mere 13% thought it probable.

Today, Al Gore is making the same claims of a scientific consensus, as do the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and hundreds of government agencies and environmental groups around the world. But the claims of a scientific consensus remain unsubstantiated. They have only become louder and more frequent.

Tags: global warming, climate change, gore, science, oh noes

Raelians Moving to Las Vegas

Tue, 08 May 2007 20:14:49 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: www.lasvegasnow.com

The Raelians are unlike any other religion in the world since they do not believe in God at all. But it's their other beliefs that are more likely to raise hackles among other faiths.

God plays no part in their religion. Instead, they believe we are all the product of cloning experiments in an extraterrestrial lab. But it's their status as sexual libertines that will probably drive rivals up the wall.

The Raelians preach tolerance for other religious beliefs but seem to revel in tweaking the noses of rival religious leaders by promoting science over faith

Rael, the founder of Raelian Movement, said, "I hope everyone in this room, when your child or grandchild is sick, you don't run to a church or temple, you run to a hospital because you prefer science.

The Raelians have been slammed by other religions as perverts, Satanists, pedophiles, racists, and a lot more. Death threats are not uncommon. But if there's any spot where their core philosophy should fit, this could be it.

Pleasure is good

Tags: aliens, ufo, religion, raelians, rael, atheism, science, cloning, vegas

Cosmic Voyage

Sat, 05 May 2007 02:24:10 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: universe, space, stars, science, cosmology, astronomy, planets

Should the human race be worried by the rise of robots?

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:42:53 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: news.independent.co.uk

A group of scientists raised concerns in a debate at the Science Museum this week about the growing use of autonomous, decision-making robots. These could have malign effects in hospitals, the care of the elderly and, most obviously, in military use, they warned.

Haven't we long had machines that appear to be alive?

Isn't all this just sci-fi fantasy?

What kind of robots exist today?

So it's all just experimental?

Not entirely.

What else is about to be invented?

What's all this about 'robot rights'?

A study commissioned by the Government recently suggested that one day robots might have to be given similar rights to humans

But do these changes raise moral issues?

So are these machines a threat?

Yes...

* The US military have commissioned a robot helicopter with a recoil-less rifle capable of tracking and killing a particular individual

No...

* It's not the robots we need to worry about; it's the people who programme them

Tags: artificial intelligence, future, robots, science, technology

Global Warming - Doomsday Called Off

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 02:45:21 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

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Tags: global warming, climate change, inconvenient truth, science

China succeds in quantum cryptography network test

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 23:42:11 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: news.xinhuanet.com

BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- China's first quantum cryptography network has been successfully tested in Beijing, the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced on Monday.

The commercial communication network of the Chinese Network Company (CNC) was used to test the quantum network.

The testing was carried out by the Key Lab of Quantum Information under the University of Science and Technology. Leading scientist Guo Guangcan said that current cryptography faces challenges from quantum computers, because theoretically all codes can be deciphered.

But quantum information cannot be copied and any interception of quantum information is easily discovered, Guo said, adding that the new quantum cryptography is therefore "absolutely safe" and proof against decoding.

The research group successfully completed a 125-km fiber point-to-point quantum key distribution (QKD) experiment between Beijing and Tianjin in 2004, which solved the problem of stability in quantum cryptography systems.

Tags: science, technology, quantum, computers

Unlocking the Mystery of Life

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 02:40:06 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: video.google.com

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Tags: science, evolution, intelligent design, biology, darwin, philosophy, natural selection

The Cosmology Quest - Challenging the Big Bang Theory

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 04:47:52 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: video.google.com

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Tags: physics, astronomy, cosmology, science, universe, space, electricity, einstein

Thunderbolts of the Gods - Plasma Cosmology

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 04:21:19 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster
clipper's remarks: A lesser known theory of cosmology that challenges the the big bang theory.

Clip Source: video.google.com

[Video]

Tags: big bang, astronomy, cosmology, physics, science

Robot Rights

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 02:57:21 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

If the idea of robot ethics sounds like something out of science fiction, think again, writes Dylan Evans.

Scientists are already beginning to think seriously about the new ethical problems posed by current developments in robotics.

This week, experts in South Korea said they were drawing up an ethical code to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa

Isaac Asimov was already thinking about these problems back in the 1940s

A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm

A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law

If robots can feel pain, should they be granted certain rights? If robots develop emotions, as some experts think they will, should they be allowed to marry humans? Should they be allowed to own property?

Tags: future, robots, robotics, ethics, philosophy, science, technology, ai, artificial intelligence

Ex-China Foreign Ministry Official says Extraterrestrials live among us

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 03:36:36 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: www.agoracosmopolitan.com

In the industrialized West, there evolved the prevailing Pseudo-religious dogma that human beings are at the centre of 'G-d's creation in the universe'. This dogma is the ideological motivation behind the on-going de-legitimization of the verfiable contact that people have had with Extraterrestrials (ETs). This apparent dogma has become the modern equivalent of the corresponding dogma, that "the world is flat", which Church and other elites centuries ago used to champion.

UFO research is an appreciated and duly recognized science in China

Izvestia reports that China has a record number of UFO scientific and community-based organizations.

Their actions are protected by the National Society of the Extraterrestrial Studies, which was founded 25 years ago. This National Society is financed by the government.

Only professional scientists and engineers are allowed members in the Society. A person also required to have Ph.D. in science and have several published works about UFOs.

Tags: ufo, aliens, religion

The Science of Happiness

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 03:16:26 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Science Daily — Psychologists have been fond of stating in recent years that human happiness, or what psychologists call subjective well-being, is largely independent of our life circumstances. The wealthy aren't much happier than the middle class, married people aren't much happier than single people, healthy people aren't much happier than sick people, and so on.

But new research, and reexamination of old research, is challenging some of the claims of set-point theory.

Lucas found that not all of life's slings and arrows are created equal. On average, most people adapt quickly to marriage, for example -- within just a couple of years, the peak in subjective well-being experienced around the time of getting married returns to its previous levels.

But Lucas also found that individual differences play an important role. There's a lot of individual variation in the degree to which people adapt to what life throws at them.

Tags: science, psychology, sociology, happiness