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Having Sex without Gravity

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:25:47 GMT

clipped by: abailart

US and Russian astronauts have had sex in space for separate research programmes on how human beings might survive years in orbit, according to a book published yesterday.

Pierre Kohler, a respected French scientific writer, says in The Final Mission: Mir, The Human Adventure that the subject is taboo both at Nasa and at mission control in Moscow, but that cosmic couplings have taken place.

"The issue of sex in space is a serious one," he says. "The experiments carried out so far relate to missions planned for married couples on the future International Space Station, the successor to Mir. Scientists need to know how far sexual relations are possible without gravity."

He cites a confidential Nasa report on a space shuttle mission in 1996. A project codenamed STS-XX was to explore sexual positions possible in a weightless atmosphere.

four positions were found possible without "mechanical assistance"

six needed a special elastic belt and inflatable tunnel, like an open-ended sleeping bag

Tags: sex, coitus without gravity

Girls Make History At Science Contest

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:28:28 GMT

clipped by: BobbyRutan
clipper's remarks: More: Dr. Hopkins helped start a national discussion about girls and science two years ago when she walked out of a talk by Harvard University’s president, Lawrence H. Summers, after he suggested that innate differences between men and women might be one reason that fewer women than men succeed in math and science careers. Dr. Summers apologized during the ensuing furor; he announced his resignation as Harvard’s president 13 months later

James Whaley, president of the Siemens Foundation, which oversees the competition for Siemens AG, a global electronics and engineering company, said the competition results send a great message to young women

Alicia Darnell, 17, a senior at Pelham Memorial High School in Pelham, N.Y., won second place and a $50,000 scholarship in the individual category for research that identified genetic defects that could play a role in the development of Lou Gehrig’s disease

Pretty good for 16 and 17 year olds don't ya think?

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Girls Make History by Sweeping Top Honors at a Science Contest

Ruby Washington/The New York Times

Isha Himani Jain, a senior from Bethlehem, Pa., after the announcement that she placed first in the individual category.

Girls won top honors for the first time in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, one of the nation’s most coveted student science awards, which were announced yesterday at New York University

Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Marinoff, both 17 and seniors at

John F. Kennedy High School on Long Island, split the first prize — a $100,000 scholarship — in the team category for creating a molecule that helps block the reproduction of drug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria

Isha Himani Jain, 16

placed first in the individual category for her studies of bone growth in zebra fish, whose tail fins grow in spurts, similar to the way children’s bones do

“Why do people think girls can’t do science?” Dr. Hopkins said yesterday. “Where did this crazy idea ever come from?

Tags: biases, prejudices, science, math, gender, myths

Hey Debbie, TN the results are in.

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 14:59:12 GMT

clipped by: ljsdesign
clipper's remarks: They couldn't get a decent profile or face shot

Clip Source: lisa-liliblog.blogspot.com

We just found out our newest member will be

Tags: stuff, baby

Young chimp beats college students

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:54:43 GMT

clipped by: melizer
clipper's remarks: The creationists that are indignant at the suggestion of having a common ancestor with "monkeys" don't have to be ashamed anymore!

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Never mind that TV show that asks if you're smarter than a fifth-grader. Is your memory better than a young chimp's?

Japanese researchers pitted young chimps against human adults in two tests of short-term memory, and overall, the chimps won.

That challenges the belief of many people, including many scientists, that "humans are superior to chimpanzees in all cognitive functions," said researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University.

"No one can imagine that chimpanzees — young chimpanzees at the age of 5 — have a better performance in a memory task than humans," he said in a statement.

Tags: chimps, monkey, creation, evolution, darwin

Fever can unlock autism's grip: study

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:48:33 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Fever can temporarily unlock autism's grip on children, a finding that could shed light on the roots of the condition and perhaps provide clues for treatment, researchers reported on Monday

It appears that fever restores nerve cell communications in regions of the autistic brain, restoring a child's ability to interact and socialize during the fever, the study said

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, was based on 30 children with autism aged 2 to 18 who were observed during and after a fever of at least 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit

More than 80 percent of those with fever showed some improvements in behavior during it and 30 percent had dramatic improvements, the researchers said. The change involved things like longer concentration spans, more talking, improved eye contact and better overall relations with adults and other children

Zimmerman's team said the fever effect had been noted anecdotally in the past by parents and doctors

Tags: autism, fever, research, science, health

Calling in Sick Notes

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:43:37 GMT

clipped by: swampfoxz
clipper's remarks: more at the source.

Clip Source: www.dysan.net

Sick Notes

These are real notes written by parents in a Tennessee school district...(spellings have been left intact.)

1. My son is under a doctor's care and should not take PE today. Please execute him.

2. Please exkuce lisa for being absent she was sick and i had her shot.

3. Dear school: please ecsc's john being absent on jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and also 33.

4. Please excuse gloria from jim today. She is administrating.

5. Please excuse roland from p.e. for a few days. Yesterday he fell out of a tree and misplaced his hip.

6. John has been absent because he had two teeth taken out of his face.

7. Carlos was absent yesterday because he was playing football. He was hurt in the growing part.

8. Megan could not come to school today because she has been bothered by very close veins.

9. Chris will not be in school cus he has an acre in his side.

10. Please excuse ray friday from school. He has very loose vowels.

Tags: calling

Just look at these giant library of books!!! pictures

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:43:39 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee
clipper's remarks: premises into library book shelves....you'll love this!

Clip Source: deputy-dog.com

Tags: books, library, building, interesting, cool, idea, wonderful.

Creationists Are Gonna Hate This

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:17:48 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: I wonder how fundamentalists are going to spin this one?

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

Are You Smarter Than a Chimpanzee?

In as study due to be published tomorrow in Current Biology, Matsuzawa showed a computer screen grid of nine numbers to six chimpanzees, all trained to recognize the ascending nature of arabic numberals, and nine college students. When subjects touched one number, the others disappeared. Then they had to touch the squares in the order of the numbers that used to be there.

When the original numbers remained on-screen for seven-tenths of a second, the college kids fared as well as Ayumu, the most prodigious of the chimps. Both had a success rate of 80 percent. But when the numbers flashed for just four-tenths of a second or less, Ayumu's success rate stayed the same, while the others plummeted to 40 percent. Even with six months of training, three students still couldn't beat Ayumu.

Tags: science, behavior, intelligence, animal

Art : Mammals and birds

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:59:27 GMT

clipped by: michellezm

Clip Source: www.linkinn.com

Tags: art, animals, creatures, fauna

Dinosaur Found With Flesh Intact

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 14:48:26 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Monster that may put flesh on the bones of history

The biological secrets of the dinosaurs could soon be glimpsed after the apparent recovery of organic material from a “mummy” unearthed in the United States.

It could yet, however, offer still greater insight into the evolution and biology of the dinosaurs, if hints that organic matter has been preserved are confirmed. Such samples could allow scientists to study dinosaur proteins and even DNA, providing unprecedented clues to their life cycle and development.

There is no chance, though, of a Jurassic Park-style resurrection: any biological matter would be too degraded to allow for cloning, even if it were possible to find a suitable surrogate mother.

Its remains were discovered entwined with those of a prehistoric crocodile-like creature

The dinosaur was discovered by Tyler Lyson, then aged 16

almost all the creature’s skin and some connective tissue such as tendons and ligaments have been preserved along with its bones.

Tags: archaeology, dinosaurs, dna

Extraordinary car accident

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 08:04:45 GMT

clipped by: michellezm

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

This was the incredible scene after a car cartwheeled more than 100ft through the air before embedding itself in a first-floor flat.

John Gordon's Volvo took off after hitting a tree on a roundabout and flew until it crashed into the flats 15ft off the ground and facing backwards.

The car smashed into a lounge where 19-year-old Laura Stevens, 19, had been a few seconds earlier.

Emergency crews spent half an hour cutting free Mr Gordon, 31, but he later died from his injuries. His nine-year-old son, who was his passenger, survived with cuts and bruises.

Engineers had to spend three hours dismantling the wall of the flats in Werrington, Peterborough, before they could remove the car.

Mr Gordon, from Peterborough, hit the roundabout at around 9.10am on Saturday, clipped a tree and bounced before being catapulted into the air.

His car cartwheeled so it entered Miss Stevens's flat backwards, sending debris flying on to the floor.

Tags: current affairs, motor vehicles, accidents

Brain glitch to blame for self-image disorder: study

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 09:04:33 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

People with a disorder in which they are convinced they are ugly have a brain glitch when processing things they see, researchers say.

The findings, published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, shed light on body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), marked by a dramatically distorted self-image and obsessive thoughts about imagined or minor defects in their appearance.

University of California psychiatry professor Dr Jamie Feusner says an estimated 1 to 2 per cent of people around the world have BDD.

Some undergo repeated cosmetic surgery procedures in a futile attempts to fix the problems.

The cause of the disorder remains unknown, with experts suspecting that a variety of factors may contribute, from genetics to upbringing.

People with BDD often think of themselves as ugly or disfigured and may obsess about physical traits or minor and imagined flaws even when assured by others they look fine.

About a quarter of people with BDD attempt suicide.

Tags: dismorphic-disorder