Clipmarks |

Free Online Courses from Great Universities

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:04:48 GMT

clipped by: Sheroug
clipper's remarks: Goody

Clip Source: www.oculture.com

Free Online Courses from Great Universities

Humanities & Social Sciences

Archaeology

Introduction to Archaeology - Feed - MP3s - Ruth Tringham, UC Berkeley

Architecture

Architecture Studio: Building in Landscapes (Video) - iTunes - Jan Wampler, MIT

Economics

Economic Geography of the Industrial World - Feed - MP3s - Richard Walker, UC Berkeley.

Geography

Geography of World Cultures - iTunes - Martin Lewis, Stanford University

History

African-American History: Modern Freedom Struggle - YouTube - Clay Carson, Stanford

Literature

Shakespeare - iTunes - Feed - MP3s - Charles Altieri, UC Berkeley

Philosophy

Introduction to Logic - iTunes - Feed - Patricia Churchland, UCSD

Sciences

Computer Science

Operating Systems Principles - iTunes - Surendar Chandra, Notre Dame

Operating Systems and System Programming - iTunes - Feed - Multiple professors, UC Berkeley

The Future of the Internet - iTunes - Ramesh Johari, Stanford

Understanding Computers and the Internet - iTunes - Feed - David Malan, Harvard University

10 Ways We Get the Odds Wrong

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 02:26:25 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: And the two last ones:

IX. We Love Sunlight But Fear Nuclear Power

Why "natural" risks are easier to accept.

X. We Should Fear Fear Itself

Why worrying about risk is itself risky.

Though the odds of dying in a terror attack like 9/11 or contracting Ebola are infinitesimal, the effects of chronic stress caused by constant fear are significant. Studies have found that the more people were exposed to media portrayals of the 2001 attacks, the more anxious and depressed they were. Chronically elevated stress harms our physiology, says Ropeik. "It interferes with the formation of bone, lowers immune response, increases the likelihood of clinical depression and diabetes, impairs our memory and our fertility, and contributes to long-term cardiovascular damage and high blood pressure."

Clip Source: www.psychologytoday.com

Our brains are terrible at assessing modern risks. Here's how to think straight about dangers in your midst.

Our emotions push us to make snap judgments that once were sensible—but may not be anymore.

I. We Fear Snakes, Not Cars

Risk and emotion are inseparable.

II. We Fear Spectacular, Unlikely Events

Fear skews risk analysis in predictable ways.

III. We Fear Cancer But Not Heart Disease

We underestimate threats that creep up on us.

IV. No Pesticide in My Backyard—Unless I Put it There

We prefer that which (we think) we can control.

V. We Speed Up When We Put Our Seat belts On

We substitute one risk for another.

VI. Teens May Think Too Much About Risk—And Not Feel Enough

Why using your cortex isn't always smart.

VII. Why Young Men Will Never Get Good Rates on Car Insurance

The "risk thermostat" varies widely.

VIII. We Worry About Teen Marijuana Use, But Not About Teen Sports

Risk arguments cannot be divorced from values.

Tags: behavioral science, psychology, stress managment

No more power bills -ever

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:10:55 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

HYDROGEN HOUSE: This unassuming modular home in suburban New Jersey runs on solar power and stored hydrogen.
©DAVID BIELLO

EAST AMWELL, N.J.—Mike Strizki has not paid an electric, oil or gas bill—nor has he spent a nickel to fill up his Mercury Sable—in nearly two years. Instead, the 51-year-old civil engineer makes all the fuel he needs using a system he built in the capacious garage of his home, which employs photovoltaic (PV) panels to turn sunlight into electricity that is harnessed in turn to extract hydrogen from tap water.

Although the device cost $500,000 to construct, and it is unlikely it will ever pay off financially (even with today's skyrocketing oil and gas prices), the civil engineer says it is priceless in terms of what it does buy: freedom from ever paying another heating or electric bill, not to mention keeping a lid on pollution, because water is its only by-product.

Tags: hydrogen, power bills, solar power

Love Deactivates Brain Areas For Fear, Planning, Critical Social Assessment

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 02:17:32 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: One does not need an MRI scan to figure most of the conclusions of this research. Love is not so blind as it is blinding. Yet... who cares?

Clip Source: www.futurepundit.com

Andreas Bartels and Semir Zeki of the Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, University College London have found using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) that love turns down activity in some areas of the brain in part so that we will not see flaws in the object of our affections.

Among other areas

parts of the pre-frontal cortex – a bit of the brain towards the front and implicated in social judgment – seems to get switched off when we are in love and when we love our children, as do areas linked with the experience of negative emotions such as aggression and fear as well as planning.

The parts of the brain deactivated form a network which are implicated in the evaluation of trustworthiness of others and basically critical social assessment.

We are fools for love because love disables our about to do critical social assessment.

When we fall in love we become blinded to faults and at the very same time we become flooded with rewarding feelings.

Tags: neuroscience, behavioral science

Grief addiction

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:08:48 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: Long-term grief can activate pleasure areas of the brain, creating the risk of addiction

Clip Source: newsroom.ucla.edu

Study shows that chronic grief activates pleasure areas of the brain

Clip Source: www.abc.net.au

Clip Source: newsroom.ucla.edu

Grief is universal, and most of us will probably experience the pain grief brings at some point in our lives, usually with the death of a loved one. In time, we move on, accepting the loss. But for a substantial minority, it's impossible to let go. Now, a UCLA study suggests that long-term or "complicated" grief activates neurons in the reward centers of the brain, possibly giving these memories of the dead addiction-like properties

Clip Source: newsroom.ucla.edu

The study analyzed whether those with complicated grief had greater activity occurring in either the brain's reward network or pain network than those with noncomplicated grief

They found that while both groups had activation in the pain network of the brain after viewing a picture of their loved one, only individuals with complicated grief showed significant nucleus accumbens activations

The eye of the hurricane

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:02:56 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "...All the while scientists are monitoring their instruments and taking readings. After running a transect through the hurricane, the plane comes about and makes another penetration. A few more penetrations and the P-3 returns to home base, refuels, and prepares for another mission into the hurricane the next day, all in the name of science and trying to help make better forecasts and predictions for the people of the United States and Caribbean .. "Flying With NOAA ~ Hurricane Hunting

Clip Source: www.photolib.noaa.gov

The eye of the hurricane is now seen clearly on the radar and the pilot guides the plane towards the center of the storm. Bands are passed through, each of which has increasingly strong winds approaching the center. Finally the last circular ring of clouds is entered.

Clip Source: www.photolib.noaa.gov

Finally the last circular ring of clouds is entered. The pilots and science crew are all strapped in to their seats doing their jobs. The plane is moving up and down, hitting air pockets and dropping, being caught by rising air currents and suddenly moving upward

Clip Source: www.photolib.noaa.gov

Everything and everyone is secured so nothing is flying about but the sensation is one of being in a washing machine. Suddenly the plane pierces the eyewall and enters into the calm and clear of the eye.

Clip Source: www.photolib.noaa.gov

A huge ring of clouds dwarfs the aircraft as it flies through the eye. A few minutes later, the plane reenters the eyewall clouds and goes from calm to incredible fury.

Clip Source: www.photolib.noaa.gov

Breakthrough In Low-Cost Energy Production With New Generation Wind Turbine

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 02:02:04 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver

Clip Source: www.energy-daily.com

Renewable energy from the wind, which previously could only be generated in restricted geographic locations - typically off-shore or in remote rural areas - can now be made available almost anywhere, including urban environments, with the introduction of the AeroCam wind turbine.

The AeroCam, developed by BroadStar Wind Systems, was designed and patented for commercial applications. With its parallel rotor blades, not only does it look radically different from conventional propeller designs, but also can be manufactured, transported, installed and maintained at lower cost.

The major innovation in the design, however, is the ability to automatically and interactively adjust the pitch or angle of attack of the aerodynamic blades as the turbine rotates, thereby optimizing its performance for much the same reasons a bird changes the shape of its wing in flight.

"Wind energy now can be made directly available to everyone,"

Tags: energy, renewable energy

When It Comes to Brains, Size Matters

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:27:35 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: physorg.com

Findings of a three-year study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside and the University of Florida, Gainesville run counter to the popular belief that women have better language skills than men.

In a study of 200 university students, the researchers found that women and men performed similarly on tests of language and reading skills. Differences in brain organization between men and women may be driven by sex differences in brain size, they said.

“People have said women have relatively larger language areas of the brain,” said Christine Chiarello, UCR professor of psychology. “In none of our language tasks were women better than men. When you account for differences in brain size between men and women there are few differences in the relative size of areas. While there are differences between men and women, those differences are minimal compared to the wide range of individual differences in both sexes.”

Tags: brain, size, language

The week in wildlife - pictures

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:06:25 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Fijian crested iguana is held by a zoo keeper at Taronga zoo

Sydney

endangered species

survives on a few Fijian islands

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Iowa, US: Hogs are stranded on the roof

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Tehran, Iran: Kooshki, an Asiatic cheetah, captured by a poacher as a cub and rescued by the government, walks in his enclosure at the Pardisan zoo

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Berlin

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Vienna

at the Schöbrunn Zoo

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Birmingham, UK: A baby bamboo shark being fed tiny mysis shrimps by hand at the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham. Staff at the aquarium are handfeeding baby sharks after the choosy fish refused to dine any other way

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

US: Five red river hogs

native rain forest habitat in central and western Africa.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Atlanta, US: Snorkellers swim in the Georgia aquarium's ocean voyager tank with a stingray

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Edinburgh

A highland cow is prepared for the Royal Highland Show.

100,000 visitors expected

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Kandahar

explosive search dog, Leanna,

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

UK: One-month-old hen harrier chicks in Bowland moor have been fitted with microwave transmitter devices

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The week in wildlife (13 pictures)

Tags: animals, photos

The science of sex

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:26:15 GMT

clipped by: Beholder

Clip Source: www.scienceandsex.com

Tags: sex, second life, genetic design

A new dancing robot unveiled

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:40:44 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

For people looking for a dance partner that doesn't step on toes, toymakers Sega and Hasbro on Thursday unveiled a new two-wheeled dancing robot with stereo sound.

The 73-centimetre (2.4 feet) tall black robot can bob its head and dance while LED lights on its head flash red.

It has stereo speakers and turntable-shaped hands that can be used for volume control, sound effects and DJ-style scratching.

"The Ampbot is for men who like robots and who as children dreamed of living one day with robots," Osamu Takeuchi of Sega Toys, part of the Sega Sammy Group, said at the launch at the Tokyo Toy Show.

But the Ampbot "has a real presence in the home by allowing interaction with the owner. The owner can also enjoy being chased around the house by the robot," said Takeuchi.

A Sega official said the price in Japan would be around 80,000 yen (745 dollars).

Tags: robots, music

US General: Bush committed war crimes, must be prosecuted

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:53:59 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Maj. Gen. Taguba led the US Army's official investigation into the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and testified before Congress on his findings in May 2004. Taguba retired in January 2007, later alleging that Pentagon officials had ordered him to retire for being "overzealous" in his criticisms of the military. He writes here, in the Preface to the report "Broken Laws, Broken Lives."

Clip Source: www.truthout.org

This report tells the largely untold human story of what happened to detainees in our custody when the Commander-in-Chief and those under him authorized a systematic regime of torture. This story is not only written in words: It is scrawled for the rest of these individuals' lives on their bodies and minds. Our national honor is stained by the indignity and inhumane treatment these men received from their captors.

The profiles of these eleven former detainees, none of whom were ever charged with a crime or told why they were detained, are tragic and brutal

In order for these individuals to suffer the wanton cruelty to which they were subjected, a government policy was promulgated to the field whereby the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice were disregarded

there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes

The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.

Tags: bush, torture, war on terror

ANTWORKS - ant farm designed by NASA

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:05:57 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08

Clip Source: www.odditycentral.com

AntWorks - ant farm by NASA

That’s right, this is like a NASA-made ant farm.

Actually NASA only came up with the concept of AntWorks, developed so it could test the development of animal life in a 0 gravity environment. The prototype was created back in 2003 but these days you can buy your very-own AntWorks ant farm directly from the shop for about $40.

This small ant habitat is filled with a special gel containing all the nutrients the ants need to survive so you don’t have to feed them, ever. Just sit back and enjoy watching the world’s strongest creatures (they are able to carry 10-20 time their own weight) at work. All yo have to do is lift the lid of the AntWorks colony so air can get in.

Clip Source: www.iwantoneofthose.com

Ant Works

£19.95

Ant Facts No 1
Ants are one of the oldest living creatures on earth. Like sharks, they haven't changed much in millions of years. Nature got it right first time, proving the old axiom "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Ant Facts No 2

Ant Facts No 3

Tags: formicidae, eusocial, ants, nasa, space exploration, colonies

Genetically engineered cells make their own nanomagnets, providing clear MRI images.

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:51:22 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: If genetically engineering cells to produce their own magnetic nanoparticles proves successful, this provides a new window through which to view many biological processes as they unfold, from the formation of tumors to the migration of stem cells injected to treat disease. "It's just amazing that they can get a mammalian cell to actually make the material," says Lee Josephson, an associate professor at the Harvard Medical School's Center for Molecular Imaging Research. "I think it's a really meaningful piece of work."

Clip Source: www.technologyreview.com

Using a gene from a magnetically sensitive bacterium, scientists have genetically engineered mammalian cells to produce magnetic nanoparticles.

The finding, by a team of Emory University researchers, could give medical researchers a new way to more precisely track cells in the body.

The gene comes from a species of pond-dwelling bacteria that uses it to make tiny particles that function as a kind of biological compass needle.

The researchers found that inserting the gene into the DNA of mouse cells caused the cells to produce their own magnetic nanoparticles.

When the researchers then injected cells expressing the geneinto the brains of live mice, individual cells could be clearly seen with an MRI as a dark blob surrounded by paler normal tissue.

To track cells in an organism, scientists commonly use genetically engineered fluorescent optical markers such as green fluorescent protein

Tags: molucular biology, imaging

DNA breaks and aging

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:57:17 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver

Clip Source: ouroboros.wordpress.com

Do DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) have anything to do with aging?

We have some reason to believe that they do. in yeast, longevity-enhancing mutations genomic rearrangements, which could be caused by misrepair of DSBs. These rearrangements are thought to contribute to transcriptional “noise,” which in turn could explain some age-related decline in tissue function.

On the other hand, genomic rearrangements do not always occur as a concomitant of aging, even within the same organism

In the first (written with colleagues Han Li and James Mitchell), the authors argue from genetic evidence that DSB repair pathways are intimately connected with aging

Hasty

argues that non-homologous end-joining NHEJ), a major pathway of DSB repair, evolved primarily as a means to slow aging — rather than to prevent cancer, as is likely the case for other DNA repair pathways

Tags: genome, molecular biology, aging