UN: Clouds Of Pollution Threaten Glaciers, Health

From Myway/AP:

BEIJING (AP) - A dirty brown haze sometimes more than a mile thick is darkening skies not only over vast areas of Asia, but also in the Middle East, southern Africa and the Amazon Basin, changing weather patterns around the world and threatening health and food supplies, the U.N. reported Thursday.

The huge smog-like plumes, caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and firewood, are known as "atmospheric brown clouds."

When mixed with emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for warming the earth's atmosphere like a greenhouse, they are the newest threat to the global environment, according to a report commissioned by the U.N. Environment Program.

"All of this points to an even greater and urgent need to look at emissions across the planet," said Achim Steiner, head of Kenya-based UNEP, which funded the report with backing from Italy, Sweden and the United States.

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Hubble Directly Observes A Planet Orbiting Another Star

This image, taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows the newly discovered planet, Fomalhaut b, orbiting its parent star, Fomalhaut. (Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Kalas, J. Graham, E. Chiang, E. Kite (University of California, Berkeley), M. Clampin (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), M. Fitzgerald (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), and K. Stapelfeldt and J. Krist (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory))

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2008) — NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the first visible-light snapshot of a planet circling another star.

Estimated to be no more than three times Jupiter's mass, the planet, called Fomalhaut b, orbits the bright southern star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis (the Southern Fish).

Fomalhaut has been a candidate for planet hunting ever since an excess of dust was discovered around the star in the early 1980s by NASA's Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS).

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Why Do We Panic?

From Scientific American:

A better understanding of the path from stress to anxiety to full-blown panic disorder offers soothing news for sufferers

“I was driving home after work,” David reported. “Things had been very stressful there lately. I was tense but looking forward to getting home and relaxing. And then, all of a sudden—boom! My heart started racing, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was sweating and shaking. My thoughts were racing, and I was afraid that I was going crazy or having a heart attack. I pulled over and called my wife to take me to the emergency room.”

David’s fears turned out to be unjustified. An emergency room doctor told David, a composite of several therapy patients seen by one of us (Arkowitz), that he was suffering from a panic attack.

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First Direct Images Of Planets Around Other Stars

Left: Infrared image of one planet orbiting HR 8799. Right: Isolated dots are planets; multicolored ball is residual light from HR 8799. Left: Infrared image of one planet orbiting HR 8799. Right: Isolated dots are planets; multicolored ball is residual light from HR 8799. National Research Council Canada

From FOX News/Space.com:

Astronomers have taken what they say are the first-ever direct images of planets outside of our solar system, including a visible-light snapshot of a single-planet system and an infrared picture of a multiple-planet system.

Earth-like worlds might also exist in the three-planet system, but if so they are too dim to photograph.

The other newfound planet orbits a star called Fomalhaut, which is visible without the aid of a telescope. It is the 18th brightest star in the sky.

The massive worlds, each much heftier than Jupiter (at least for the three-planet system), could change how astronomers define the term "planet," one planet-hunter said.

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Simulation Shows What Would Happen If Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake Hit California

(Click To Enlarge)
Still image from a movie showing a view of southern California with the seismic waves radiating outward from the fault as the rupture propagates towards the northwest along the San Andreas fault. (Credit: Image courtesy of USGS)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Nov. 13, 2008) — What would happen in California was hit by the Big One? New 3-D animations of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake scenario are now available to the public.

Fourteen animations can be downloaded from the site in high definition format. The 3-D animations show, from the perspective of a several different Southern California locations, how intensely the ground would shake and shift during a very strong 7.8 earthquake with an epicenter on the southern end of the San Andreas Fault.

The science-based earthquake scenario, developed by USGS scientists and partners, is used for both the Great Southern California ShakeOut drill on November 13 and the statewide Golden Guardian 2008 emergency response exercise from November 13 - 18.

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Mysterious Glowing Aurora Over Saturn Confounds Scientists

The northern polar region of Saturn shows both the aurora and underlying atmosphere, as captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft

From The Daily Mail:

A stunning light display over Saturn has stumped scientists who say it behaves unlike any other planetary aurora known in our solar system.

The blueish-green glow was found over the ringed planet's north polar region just like Earth's northern lights.

It was discovered by the infrared instruments on NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

'We've never seen an aurora like this elsewhere,' said Tom Stallard, a scientist working with Cassini data at the University of Leicester.

'This aurora covers an enormous area across the pole. Our current ideas on what forms Saturn's aurora predict that this region should be empty, so finding such a bright aurora here is a fantastic surprise.'

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Obama Preparing Comprehensive Technology Policy

Obama's vision of having "YouTube-like videos of government meetings online" and "Google-like database of grants and contracts" may become reality during his first term. (John Gress/Reuters)

From The International Herald Tribune:

Barack Obama's Internet-fueled campaign has transformed the way Americans choose a president. Now, the president-elect's administration plans to change the way Americans - and government - use technology.

If Obama gets his way, all Americans would have broadband Internet access, whether they live in big cities or remote villages. Online life would be safer, with better defenses against cybercriminals. And there would be greater access to government, with online services to let anyone question members of the president's cabinet or track every dime of the U.S. budget.

"I think it's not going to happen in the first 100 days, but I think a lot of this can happen in the first term," said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, a media reform organization based in Washington.

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Global Warning: We Are Actually Heading Towards A New Ice Age, Claim Scientists

From Daily Mail:

It has plagued scientists and politicians for decades, but scientists now say global warming is not the problem.

We are actually heading for the next Ice Age, they claim.

British and Canadian experts warned the big freeze could bury the east of Britain in 6,000ft of ice.

Most of Scotland, Northern Ireland and England could be covered in 3,000ft-thick ice fields.

The expanses could reach 6,000ft from Aberdeen to Kent – towering above Ben Nevis, Britain’s tallest mountain.

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Turning Tequila Into Diamonds

Image from The Tequila-Man

From Foreign Policy Blog:

Tequila doesn't just produce hangovers any more. Under the right conditions, the alcohol can be turned into diamonds.

Researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, experimenting with making thin films of diamond from organic solutions, decided to conduct their tests using a "pocket-size bottle of cheap white tequila." They heated the tequila to 1,470ºF, breaking down its molecular structure. The resulting carbon film, upon close examination, had formed into an almost perfect diamond structure. Tequila's mix of 40 percent ethanol and 60 percent water is the reason it serves as the perfect compound for creating synthetic diamonds.

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Report Urges Fuel Revolution

From CNN:

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The International Energy Agency has called for a global energy revolution to ensure future supplies and to stem the rise of greenhouse gas emissions.

In its annual report -- 2008 World Energy Outlook (WEO) -- published this week, the agency describes the world's energy system as being "at a crossroads" and calls for traditional supply and consumption methods to be overhauled.

Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said: "Current trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable -- environmentally, economically and socially -- they can and must be altered."

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A New Congress, A New Approach To Technology?

From CNET News:

Presidential elections may capture the public's attention, as Barack Obama's victory did last week, but the less glamorous work in the U.S. Congress tends to prove more important for technology topics.

In general, much of today's current congressional leadership will continue unchanged into the next, albeit with some complications such as Obama's departure and some narrow Senate races including Minnesota's. Whatever the outcome, Democrats are likely to be newly emboldened and may be eager to approve legislation that stalled in the 110th Congress, including spyware regulations and a shield law that would protect some bloggers.

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Google Hits To Warn Of Flu Epidemics

From The Guardian:

Search engine to use online queries to predict health trends before official health bodies

Google already has a window into our souls through our internet searches and it now has insight into our ailing bodies too.

The internet giant is using its vast database of individual search terms to predict the emergence of flu up to two weeks before government epidemiologists.

Google Flu Trends uses the tendency of people to seek online help for their health problems.

By tracking searches for terms such as 'cough', 'fever' and 'aches and pains' it claims to be able to accurately estimate where flu is circulating.

Google tested the idea in nine regions of the US and found it could accurately predict flu outbreaks between seven and 14 days earlier than the federal centres for disease control and prevention.

Google hopes the idea could also be used to help track other diseases. Flu Trends is limited to the US.

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NASA's Mars Rover Spirit Imperiled By Dust Storms

This image of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit from August 2005 shows the solar panels still gleaming in the Martian sunlight and carrying only a thin veneer of dust a year and a half after the rover landed and began exploring the red planet in January 2004. NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell University

From L.A. Times:

The craft is dangerously low on power because of dust covering its solar arrays. News of the problem comes a day after NASA declared an end to the Phoenix polar mission.

Massive Martian dust storms are threatening the survival of NASA's Spirit rover, which has been exploring Mars for almost five years but is dangerously low on power.

Spirit last communicated with Earth on Sunday, when it reported that its solar arrays had produced just 89 watt-hours of energy, which is much less than the rover uses in a day.

It's also the least amount of power that either Spirit, or its twin, Opportunity, has produced over the entire life of the mission on Mars, which began in January 2004.

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How Much Can We Blame DNA For Who We Are?

From International Herald Tribune:

I owe an apology to my genes. For years I offhandedly blamed them for certain personal defects conventionally associated with one's hereditary starter pack - my Graves' autoimmune disease, for example, or my hair, which looks like the fibers left behind on the rim of an aspirin bottle after the cotton ball has been removed, only wispier.

Now it turns out that genes, per se, are simply too feeble to accept responsibility for much of anything. By the traditional definition, genes are those lineups of DNA letters that serve as instructions for piecing together the body's proteins, and, I'm sorry, but the closer we look, the less instructive they seem, less a "blueprint for life" than one of those disappointing two-page Basic Setup booklets that comes with your computer, tells you where to plug it in and then directs you to a Web site for more information.

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Global Warming Link To Amphibian Declines In Doubt

From E! Science News:

Evidence that global warming is causing the worldwide declines of amphibians may not be as conclusive as previously thought, according to biologists. The findings, which contradict two widely held views, could help reveal what is killing the frogs and toads and aid in their conservation. "We are currently in the midst of a sixth mass extinction event," said Peter Hudson, the Willaman professor of biology at Penn State and co-author of the research study. "And amphibians are bearing the brunt of the problem."

Studies suggest that more than 32 percent of amphibian species are threatened and more than 43 percent face a steep decline in numbers.

Much of the massive declines associated with amphibians appear to be centered in places such as Central America and Australia, said Hudson. "It appears to be linked to a chytrid fungus -- Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) -- which we did not know affected frogs," he added.

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Offshore Wind Power Could Alter Ocean Currents

Roiling Ocean Waters
A small service vessel steers between offshore windmills in the North Sea offshore from the village of Blavandshuk near Esbjerg, Denmark. Large offshore wind farms can stir up ocean nutrients which, in turn, could lead to an uptick in fish populations, new research suggests. AP Photo/Heribert Proepper

From Discovery:

Nov. 12, 2008 -- Generating wind power at sea may disturb ocean currents and marine ecosystems, according to a new study.

Offshore wind farms are common in Europe; Denmark, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom all have several active installations. Wind power in the United States is currently confined to dry land, but three installations are planned off the coast of New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Delaware, totaling about 1,500 megawatts of generating capacity.

Extracting energy from wind changes regional air currents, which can in turn affect how the nearby ocean circulates, according to Goran Brostrom of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute in Oslo.

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Two-Fifths Of Earth's Population at Risk

From Science Blog:

Vibrio cholerae. Cholera. One of the most aggressive water-borne infections, cholera can kill within 24 hours, and has caused seven pandemics in history. It occurs in over 60 countries worldwide. Currently, the World Health Organization(WHO) has warned that cholera is a serious risk in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there have already been 1,000 cases since October. Of course, most Americans are unfamiliar with cholera since the last outbreak in the U.S. was in 1911. And I don't think any of us were around for that.

Cholera is a bacterial infection of the intestine that comes from consuming infected food or water. Symptoms begin with sever diarrhea and vomiting, which then lead to dehydration. Blood pressure falls, cramps develop in the legs and abdomen, and then body temperature drops as organ failure occurs. Not a pretty picture. There is hope however.

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How Floating 'Energy Islands' Could Power the Future

Three Energy Islands are shown connected in this artist rendering. Credit: Energy Island

From Live Science:

Editor's Note: Each Wednesday LiveScience examines the viability of emerging energy technologies — the power of the future.

The ocean harbors abundant energy in the form of wind, waves and sun. All of these could be sampled on something called an Energy Island: a floating rig that drills for renewables instead of petroleum.

The concept is the brainchild of inventor Dominic Michaelis. He was originally unsatisfied with the slow progress in developing ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), a process in which cold water is pumped up from the deep ocean to generate electricity.

"Nothing new was happening with OTEC, so I thought why not bring other marine energy technologies on board?" Michaelis said.

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A History Of Microsoft Windows

From Wired News:

Windows 1.0

The world's most ubiquitous operating system was not always so. The evolution of Windows was often uncertain and precarious. Its success was symbiotic with advancements in processor speed and memory capacity, and Microsoft relied heavily on third-party software to bridge the gap between concept and consumer. Tour the 23-year history of the Windows OS through these screenshots.

Left: Microsoft's first graphical user interface -- Windows 1.0 -- wasn't released until November 1985, nearly two years after Apple introduced the Mac. Due to legal issues with Apple, Gates couldn't include key features like overlapping windows and a trash can. Looking at it now, it's not surprising it was a flop. Windows 1.0 was more an extension of MS-DOS than its own operating system, but it did allow limited multitasking and mouse support.

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Study Shows How Spammers Cash In

From BBC News:

Spammers are turning a profit despite only getting one response for every 12.5m e-mails they send, finds a study.

By hijacking a working spam network, US researchers have uncovered some of the economics of being a junk mailer.

The analysis suggests that such a tiny response rate means a big spam operation can turn over millions of pounds in profit every year.

It also suggests that spammers may be susceptible to attacks that make it more costly to send junk mail.

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