Stroke's 'Death Signal' Can Be Blocked; Discovery May Aid Drug Development

Dr. Sic Chan is an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. (Credit: UCF/Jacque Brund)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Jan. 25, 2010) — Biomedical scientists from the University of Central Florida and Louisiana State University have identified a way to block a "cell death signal" that they believe triggers brain damage during strokes.

Strokes, also known as cerebral ischemia, are caused by inadequate blood flow to the brain and are the third-leading cause of death in the United States.

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Breeding Has Made Dogs' Heads Incredibly Diverse

A cocker spaniel mix puppy. Credit: stock.xchng

From Live Science:

To get a sense of the not-so-subtle ways humans have influenced the course evolution, one wouldn't need to look further than Fido.

A new study reveals that the variety of skull shapes among domestic dogs has become just as diverse as the variety between other mammal species, such as bears, weasels, and seals. In fact some dog breeds’ heads vary in shape by more than the variation between cats and walruses.

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Dino Extinction Brought Birds Back To Earth

Flightless birds owe their success to the demise of the dinosaurs. Credit: Wikimedia

From Cosmos:

SYDNEY: Large, flightless birds such as ostriches and emus, originated in the northern hemisphere, according to an Australian study that suggests they became grounded after dinosaurs went extinct.

Reconstructed migration patterns have raised questions about whether flightless birds could have their evolutionary origins in the planet's north.

Until now, most scientists thought these birds originated in the southern behemoth Gondwanaland, according to the study published in Systematic Biology.

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Rivals Will Vie With Apple For Tablet Spotlight

Intel demonstrates OpenPeak tablet at 2010 CES.
(Credit: Intel)

From CNET:

Technology from Intel, Marvell, and Nvidia is powering some intriguing alternatives to the imminent Apple tablet.

News about the Apple tablet, when it emerges, will likely blanket the Internet for some time after the device is announced, obscuring tablet efforts from rivals. Nevertheless, there will be at least a few designs that should warrant some attention. Here are some potential high-profile alternatives:

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Scientists Create Model of Monster 'Frankenstorm'

A high-storm surf pounds the beach in front of an oil rig at Seal Beach, Calif.
AP Photo/Nick Ut

From Discovery News:

The recent California storms left the state battered and bruised, but that could just be a taster of things to come.

Think the recent wild weather that hammered California was bad? Experts are imagining far worse.

As torrential rains pelted wildfire-stripped hillsides and flooded highways, a team of scientists hunkered down at the California Institute of Technology to work on a "Frankenstorm" scenario -- a mother lode wintry blast that could potentially sock the Golden State.

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China Rejects Claims Of Cyber Attacks On Google

From The BBC:

China has denied any state involvement in alleged cyber attacks on Google and accused the US of double standards.

A Chinese industry ministry spokesman told the state-run Xinhua news agency that claims that Beijing was behind recent cyber attacks were "groundless".

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has asked China to investigate claims by Google that it had been targeted by China-based hackers.

The US search giant has threatened to withdraw from China.

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Is This The Apple Tablet In Action? (Video)

Video is from Zideo.

A Cannon For Shooting Supplies Into Space

How the Space Cannon Works John MacNeill

From Popular Science:

John Hunter wants to shoot stuff into space with a 3,600-foot gun. And he’s dead serious—he’s done the math. Making deliveries to an orbital outpost on a rocket costs $5,000 per pound, but using a space gun would cost just $250 per pound.

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Comet Storm Split Destiny Of Jupiter's Twin Moons

Comet strikes may have warmed Ganymede enough for its
ice and rock to fully separate (Image: NASA/JPL)

From New Scientist:

Heavy pummelling by icy comets could explain why Jupiter's two biggest moons – apparently close kin – look so different inside.

At first glance, Ganymede and Callisto are virtually twins. The colossal moons are similar in size and mass, and are a roughly 50:50 mixture of ice and rock.

However, visits by the Galileo spacecraft beginning in 1996 tell a different story. Ganymede's interior boasts a solid rock core surrounded by a thick layer of ice, while ice and rock are still mingled in parts of Callisto. That suggests Callisto was never warm enough for its ice to melt and allow all of its rock to fall to the centre and form a core.

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If Your Password Is 123456, Just Make It HackMe

From New York Times:

Back at the dawn of the Web, the most popular account password was “12345.”

Today, it’s one digit longer but hardly safer: “123456.”

Despite all the reports of Internet security breaches over the years, including the recent attacks on Google’s e-mail service, many people have reacted to the break-ins with a shrug.

According to a new analysis, one out of five Web users still decides to leave the digital equivalent of a key under the doormat: they choose a simple, easily guessed password like “abc123,” “iloveyou” or even “password” to protect their data.

“I guess it’s just a genetic flaw in humans,” said Amichai Shulman, the chief technology officer at Imperva, which makes software for blocking hackers. “We’ve been following the same patterns since the 1990s.”

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Neurons Developed From Stem Cells Successfully Wired With Other Brain Regions In Animals

This is a single stem cell-derived neuron that has migrated away from the transplantation site in the cortex and grown into a mature neuron. The blue stain shows the nuclei of the endogenous neural cells in this part of the brain. (Credit: Courtesy, with permission: Weimann et al. The Journal of Neuroscience 2010.)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Jan. 24, 2010) — Transplanted neurons grown from embryonic stem cells can fully integrate into the brains of young animals, according to new research in the Jan. 20 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

Healthy brains have stable and precise connections between cells that are necessary for normal behavior. This new finding is the first to show that stem cells can be directed not only to become specific brain cells, but to link correctly.

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Why Human Blood Drives Mosquitoes Wild

Image of the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito, an insect that is attracted to the sent of human blood. Credit: Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis Department of Entomology 

From Live Science:

When the time came for chemical ecologist Walter Leal to test whether humans make a natural odor that attracts mosquitoes, Leal himself was the first to volunteer.

"I measured my own levels," Leal said. "I thought I would set a good example. If you do it first, then others won't be scared."

In truth, there was little if any reason to be frightened. The scientists were looking only for the substance itself, not trying to find out whether the compound would lure the insects into a blood meal. And they found it — nonanal, a substance made by humans and birds that creates a powerful scent that Culex mosquitoes find irresistible.

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For £17.7m ($28.2 million), Shuttle Is A Gift That's Out Of This World

The price of Nasa's Space Shuttle fleet has just been slashed from £25.8m. Getty

From The Independent:

It flew faster and higher than any machine in history and was the was the ultimate boy's toy, but at $42 million (£25.8 m) it was beyond most budgets. But now the price of Nasa's soon-to-be redundant space shuttles has plummeted to something more down-to-earth: a new analysis of the costs of hauling the monster from the Kennedy Space Centre to a major US airport has led the space agency to slash the price to $28.2 m (£17.7m) .

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My Technology Predictions For 2010

I'm not forecasting flying cars this year - but will we have them by 2015?

From The Guardian:

It's prediction time again! Yes, I know that January is half-over already, but that gives me less time to make it all happen, doesn't it?

And remember, fully two-thirds of these should be correct, going by past performance. Although please remember that your home may be at risk if you bet it on any single one of these things happening.

So without further ado, let's get under way …

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Scientists Announce The End Of The Mid-Life Crisis: Life Really Does Begin At 40, They Say

Life's a beach: Over-40s are 'free to enjoy life' according to a psychologist

From The Daily Telegraph:

Life really can begin at 40, an expert claimed yesterday.

Improvements in healthcare, education and life expectancy have made the mid-life crisis a thing of the past, according to psychologist Dr Carlo Strenger.

'Somehow this line has been drawn around the mid and late 40s as a time for a mid-life crisis in our society,' he said.

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Prairie Dogs Most 'Chatty'

Prairie dogs are highly social and live in large colonies that can span hundreds of acres of the grasslands of North America Photo: ALAMY

From The Telegraph:

On first appearances they seem to be little more than a kind of nervous ground squirrel with a loud squeak, but new research is revealing that prairie dogs are in fact some of nature's most talkative creatures.

Biologists studying the burrowing rodents have found that they have one of the most sophisticated languages in the animal kingdom – second only to humans.

The findings have surprised many wildlife experts as it was assumed that mankind's closest relatives, primates, or intelligent mammals such as dolphins were likely to be the most talkative species after humans.

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Show And Sell: The Secret To Apple's Magic

From Popular Science:

Flash an exotic prototype, then—Presto!—get people to buy your more boring stuff. That kind of thinking still rules at most electronics companies. Apple under Steve Jobs only shows off actual products. The difference? Apple's arcane secret to success.

A specter harrows the consumer electronics industry: malaise. Like washed-up Catskill magicians unable to let go of old routines while a brash upstart steals their audience, nearly every maker of consumer electronics in the world clings to a quaint song-and-dance about prototypes.

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Quartz Rods Could Provide Instant Bomb Detector

Destroyed by a TATP bomb (Image: Dylan Martinez/PA archive/PA)

From New Scientist:

A CHEAP artificial nose promises to make it much easier to detect the explosive triacetone triperoxide. The device could be installed in the doorways of buses, trains and airports to sound an alarm if someone carrying TATP crosses the threshold.

Attention started to focus on TATP following its use in the 7 July 2005 bus and tube bombings in London, and the attacks on trains the previous year in Madrid, Spain. The explosive can be made using easily obtainable domestic chemicals and has explosive power similar to TNT.

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Back In Fashion: The Mother Of All Computers No Longer Looks That Old

From The Economist:

GEEKS may roll their eyes at the news that Namibia is only now getting its first mainframe—a technology that most consider obsolete. Yet the First National Bank of Namibia, which bought the computer, is at the leading edge of a trend. Comeback is too strong a word, but mainframes no longer look that outdated.

Until the 1980s mainframes, so called because the processing unit was originally housed in a huge metal frame, ruled supreme in corporate data centres. Since then, these big, tightly laced bundles of software and hardware have been dethroned by “distributed systems”, meaning networks of smaller and cheaper machines, usually not based on proprietary technology. But many large companies still run crucial applications on the “big iron”: there are still about 10,000 in use worldwide. Withdraw money or buy insurance, and in most cases mainframes are handling the transaction.

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The First Tweet From Space And Other Twitter Firsts

From PC World:

Tweeting is no longer only an earthly phenomenon.

A NASA astronaut made Twitter history on Friday by sending the first tweet from outer space. Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer broadcast the following message directly from the International Space Station:

"Hello Twitterverse! We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station -- the 1st live tweet from Space! :) More soon, send your ?s"

Take that, Neil Armstrong.

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