A Science News Aggregator That Covers Stories in the World Of Science And Technology.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Twitter Flies Past Its 10 Billionth Tweet
From The Guardian:
Twitter passed another milestone when a person unknown posted the system's 10 billionth tweet.
Overnight, Twitter flew past the 10bn tweet milestone, according to the GigaTweet site, which tracks the microblogging service. It has taken more than three years to get there. However, Twitter's rapid growth means that the next 10bn should be knocked off in 203 days.
Read more ....
Mars Spacecraft Breaks Through Data Download Milestone As It Beams 12,000 Amazing Pictures Back To Earth
From The Daily Mail:
There crystal clear views of alien rock formations are just a few of the impressive images sent back from Nasa's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter.
Captured by the onboard HiRise camera, they show dramatic landscapes including inverted craters, deep water-forged gullies and frost covered dunes. To date, scientists have released 11,762 such images to the public.
They were sent back to Earth from the spacecraft, which is circling the Red Planet 72million miles away.
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Friday, March 5, 2010
Asteroid Killed Off The Dinosaurs, Says International Scientific Panel
From Science Daily:
Science Daily (Mar. 4, 2010) — The Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction, which wiped out the dinosaurs and more than half of species on Earth, was caused by an asteroid colliding with Earth and not massive volcanic activity, according to a comprehensive review of all the available evidence, published in the journal Science.
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Happy People Talk More, And With More Substance
From Live Science:Happy people tend to talk more than unhappy people, but when they do, it tends to be less small talk and more substance, a new study finds.
A group of psychologists from the University of Arizona and Washington University in St. Louis set out to find whether happy and unhappy people differ in the types of conversations they tend to have.
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Apple Patent Case 'Could Affect All Android Phones'
From The BBC:
Apple's legal action against HTC may have "wider implications" for all phone makers using Google's Android operating system, an analyst has warned.
Ian Fogg of Forrester Research said that the case against HTC, in which Apple alleges infringement of 20 of its patents, could be the first of many.
Although Apple has not named Google in the suits, many of the named patents relate to operating system processes.
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Globe-Warning Methane Is Gushing From A Russian Ice Shelf
Behind the ongoing back-and-forth fights over climate change that usually focus on carbon, there has lingered the threat of the powerful greenhouse gas methane being released into the atmosphere and causing even worse trouble. In August we reported on a study that noted methane bubbling up from the seafloor near islands north of Norway, giving scientists a scare. This week in Science, another team reports seeing the same thing during thousands of observations of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf on Russia’s north coast, which is even more worrisome because it’s a huge methane deposit.
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How UAVs Will Replace The Air Force's Current Fleet
From Popular Mechanics:
In its latest plans for the future, the Air Force envisions swapping its pilots for a fleet of versatile—and affordable—unmanned airplanes. A single UAV with interchangeable payloads could replace several legacy airplanes. Here's a look at some possible trades.
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Russia Will End Space Tourism Flights When Shuttle Retires
From Popular Science:
Well, it looks like Charles Simonyi might have to wait a while for a third trip, because space tourism is going on hiatus. With the shuttle's cancellation leaving Russia as the only country able to service the International Space Station (ISS), the Russian government has announced it will no longer let civilians hitch a ride on Soyuz flights.
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Dark, Dangerous Asteroids Found Lurking Near Earth
From New Scientist:
An infrared space telescope has spotted several very dark asteroids that have been lurking unseen near Earth's orbit. Their obscurity and tilted orbits have kept them hidden from surveys designed to detect things that might hit our planet.
Called the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the new NASA telescope launched on 14 December on a mission to map the entire sky at infrared wavelengths. It began its survey in mid-January.
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NASA Chief Bolden Seeks 'Plan B' For The Space Agency
From Wall Street Journal:
NASA chief Charles Bolden has asked senior managers to draw up an alternate plan for the space agency after members of Congress indicated they wanted to reject a White House proposal to hire private companies to ferry U.S. astronauts into orbit and beyond.
In an internal National Aeronautics and Space Administration memo viewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Bolden ordered officials to map out "what a potential compromise might look like" to satisfy critics on Capitol Hill. By calling for an alternative plan, Mr. Bolden threatened to undercut White House efforts to get its proposed NASA budget through Congress.
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Industry Challenges: Drowning In Data
Digital sequencing systems can capture vast amounts of genetic data, but interpretation has been difficult. Credit: Monty Rakusen/Getty ImagesFrom Technology Review:
The personalized-medicine industry aims to convert information about an individual's genome into useful diagnostic tests and targeted drug treatments. Companies that deal with gathering the information--sequencing genomes and identifying genetic variations--have made impressive technical advances that have dramatically reduced the cost of analyzing DNA (see "Faster Tools to Scrutinize the Genome"). Now the biggest challenge lies in interpreting the huge volume of genetic data being generated. Studies have identified thousands of candidates for genes underlying common diseases, for example, but it's not clear how to make that information medically useful.
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Apple Sues Google Phone Manufacturer As Jobs Warns: Create Your Own Technology, Don't Steal Ours
From The Daily Mail:
Apple is suing the company which makes touchscreen smartphones using Google software.
Apple has accused Taiwan’s HTC Corp of infringing 20 hardware and software patents related to the iPhone.
Although the lawsuit does not name Google Inc as a defendant, Apple’s move is viewed by many as an indirect attack on the company, whose Nexus One smartphone is manufactured by HTC.
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IPad Goes On Sale April 3; Pre-Orders Begin In A Week
From Gadget Lab:
Apple announced Friday that the first iPads will be available on April 3 and that the long-awaited device will be available for pre-order on March 12. The launch is for the Wi-Fi-only version, with the 3G-enabled device on sale later in the month.
The late-April release of the 3G version will also coincide with rollout of both models in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K., Apple said.
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Update: IPad to hit US stores April 3, then 9 more markets -- Reuters
First of Missing Primitive Stars Found
From Science Daily:
Science Daily (Mar. 4, 2010) — Astronomers have discovered a relic from the early universe -- a star that may have been among the second generation of stars to form after the Big Bang. Located in the dwarf galaxy Sculptor some 290,000 light-years away, the star has a remarkably similar chemical make-up to the Milky Way's oldest stars. Its presence supports the theory that our galaxy underwent a "cannibal" phase, growing to its current size by swallowing dwarf galaxies and other galactic building blocks.
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Violent Planet: The Forces That Shape Earth

From Live Science:
Earth is a violent planet, and always has been. In fact it is much calmer today than in the past. As the planet continues to cool – 4.5 billion years after it formed – what was once likely a lava world has become a temperate planet that's two-thirds covered by water and hospitable to life.
But recent events and new research show that the geologic havoc is far from over.
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Apple iPad's Store Debut Pushed Back
Watch CBS News Videos Online
From CBS News/AP:
(AP) The much-anticipated iPad tablet computer from Apple Inc. will start hitting U.S. store shelves on April 3, slightly later than originally planned.
When Apple unveiled the touch-screen device Jan. 27, the company said the first iPads would reach the market in "late March" worldwide, not just in the U.S.
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YouTube Adds Video Captions For Deaf
From The BBC:YouTube is making the tens of millions of videos it hosts more accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing by putting automatic captions on them.
The Google-owned company said this use of speech recognition technology is probably the biggest experiment of its kind online.
Previously captions were only on a small amount of content.
"A core part of YouTube's DNA is access to content," said the firm's product manager Hunter Walk.
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Earth Raised Up Its Magnetic Shield Early, Protecting Water And Emerging Life
Here we are drinking coffee and tweeting and otherwise going about our lives, generally not giving much thought to the protection that the Earth’s magnetic field affords us from the solar wind. But that magnetic field is crucial for our existence. Now, new findings in Science say that this protective shield originated even 200 million years earlier than scientists had previously thought, perhaps protecting the planet’s water from evaporating away and aiding the rise of life on the early Earth.
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Shields Down! Earth's Mag Field May Drop In A Flash
From New Scientist:
EVEN if we knew precise details of Earth's core, we would not be able to predict a catastrophic flip in the polarity of its magnetic field more than a decade or two ahead.
Our planet's magnetic field has reversed polarity from time to time throughout its history. Some models suggest that a flip would be completed in a year or two, but if, as others predict, it lasted decades or longer we would be left exposed to space radiation. This could short-circuit satellites, pose a risk to aircraft passengers and play havoc with electrical equipment on the ground.
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Artificial Intelligence Brings Musicians Back From The Dead, Allowing All-Stars Of All Time To Jam
From Popular Science:
Want to know what a jam session between Jack White and Stevie Ray Vaughan might have sounded like, or how Billie Holliday would interpret the latest dreck from Avril Lavigne? Advances in artificial intelligence are resurrecting musical legends of the past, tapping into old recordings to establish a musician's style and personality, then applying those attributes to newer recordings of old songs, or even to songs the musician never played before.
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Money Sharing Comes To Facebook
From The BBC:
Friends on social networking site Facebook can now send small payments directly to each other via an application called Buxter.
Buxter handles transactions in Euros or US dollars, with plans to launch in Sterling in the next four weeks.
Other currencies are subject to a 5% conversion fee at the point of upload to a Buxter account.
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Early Cannabis Use Linked To Psychosis
WASHINGTON: The longer people use cannabis or marijuana, the more likely they are to experience hallucinations or delusions or to suffer psychosis, according to a study released Saturday.
The study found that people who first used cannabis when they were aged 15 or younger were twice as likely to develop a "non-affective psychosis" - which can include schizophrenia - than those who had never used the drug.
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Why Beer Needs Watering Down
From Times Online:Brewers are teaming up with environmentalists to help to conserve water supplies — and ensure the pints keep flowing.
It’s enough to make beer drinkers cry into their pints. A combination of factors, including rapid population growth, expanding food needs and unpredictable weather patterns, is heralding a global water crisis. Chronic water shortages are already hitting many regions, particularly in developing countries. Industry, which accounts for about 22 per cent of global fresh water consumption, is increasingly concerned about what will happen when the taps run dry. Brewers are among the most vulnerable: a pint of beer is up to 95 per cent water. Drinkers have been warned that, as water supplies dry up, prices could rise and supplies could be threatened. The battle is on to keep the pumps open.
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Thursday, March 4, 2010
Canine Morphology: Hunting For Genes And Tracking Mutations
From Science Daily:
Science Daily (Mar. 3, 2010) — Why do domestic dogs vary so much in size, shape, coat texture, color and patterning? Study of the dog genome has reached a point where the molecular mechanisms governing such variation across mammalian species are becoming understood.
In an essay published in the March 2, 2010 issue of PLoS Biology, National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) researchers discuss advances in understanding the genomic mechanisms controlling canine morphology.
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Dog-Sized Creature Was Almost A Dinosaur
The newly identified dinosaur relative, called Asilisaurus kongwe, was about the size of a large dog. Here a skeletal reconstruction of the animal is compared with a 5'6" human for scale. Credit: Sterling Nesbitt.From Live Science:
A four-legged animal about the size of a large dog with a long tail is now the oldest known relative of dinosaurs, dating back some 240 million years. Paleontologists recently examined the bones from at least 14 individuals of this proto-dinosaur that were discovered in southern Tanzania.
The dino-like animal was small, weighing about that of a young child, and likely munched on plants.
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Tracing King Tut's Family Tree In London
be found at the British Museum, Room 4.
From The Independent:
Tutankhamun has always captured popular imagination, and been a major draw for museums.
The British Museum's 1972 exhibition of artefacts from his tomb smashed all expectations in the box office, drawing over 1.6 million visitors over its nine month duration. The pharaoh nicknamed 'King Tut' has been the source of more speculation, satire and popular culture references than any other male king of Egypt. Last week pathologists announced the results from their studies into the genetic relationship of eleven mummies from the Egyptian New Kingdom (mid 16th to early 11th centuries BC), including those of the legendary pharaoh Tutankhamun.
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Plans To Fight Cyberwar Are A 'Recipe For Disaster'
From The Guardian:
Senior security experts have criticised the west's approach to online threats, suggesting that not enough is being done to stem the growing tide of cyberattacks.
Michael Chertoff, a former secretary at the US Department of Homeland Security, said on Wednesday that current cybersecurity policies were a "recipe for disaster" that could inadvertently encourage a virtual attack equivalent to "the next Pearl Harbour".
Read more ....
More News On Cyberwar
A New Age for US Cybersecurity -- Tech News World
Former Intelligence Chief: U.S. Would Lose Cyberwar -- Information Week
U.S. would lose a cyber war, former intell chief warns -- Government Computer News
Cyberwar Hype Intended to Destroy the Open Internet -- Threat Level
US cyber defense strategy details hit the Internet -- France 24
China's Hacker Army -- Foreign Policy
Is Iran's Cyberwar Sustainable? -- National Journal
The Real Meaning Of Cyberwarfare -- Forbes
Cyberwar hype was cooked up to sell Internet-breaking garbage to the military -- Boing Boing
A Measure For The Multiverse
From The New Scientist:
WHEN cosmologist George Ellis turned 70 last year, his friends held a party to celebrate. There were speeches and drinks and canapés aplenty to honour the theorist from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, who is regarded as one of the world's leading experts on general relativity. But there the similarity to most parties ends.
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Japan's New Hovering Hummingbird Bot Has Four Wings, Weighs Under 3 Grams
From Popular Science:
Biomimicry isn't new, nor are robotic hummingbirds, but the latest 'bot to come out of Chiba University in Japan makes even the DARPA-inspired Nano Air Vehicle -- which is very cool, needless to say -- look like last year's robotics.
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Dinosaur Extinction Link To Crater Confirmed
An international panel of experts has strongly endorsed evidence that a space impact was behind the mass extinction event that killed off the dinosaurs.
They reached the consensus after conducting the most wide-ranging analysis yet of the evidence.
Writing in Science journal, they rule out alternative theories such as large-scale volcanism.
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Shuttle Flights Would Continue Under New Proposal
WASHINGTON — The space shuttle era could get a new lease on life under a bill filed today by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
The measure would delay the shuttle’s planned retirement in 2010 until NASA is confident that a replacement spacecraft is ready or that the shuttle and its massive payload bay is no longer needed to keep the International Space Station afloat through 2020.
The 37-page bill also authorizes an additional $1.3 billion in NASA spending next year above President Barack Obama’s request of $19 billion. The extra money would help prepare NASA for as many as two additional shuttle flights per year after 2010, as well as fund new spacecraft development.
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Google vs. Apple: An Epic Battle
From CNN:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Let the smartphone smackdown begin.
In the blue corner, wearing black, weighing in at 4.8 ounces, the 31-month champion of the touch screen phones: Apple's iPhone!
In the red corner is the challenger, appearing on every carrier, a new entrant to the heavy-weight battle: Google's Android!
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Millions Of YouTube Videos To Get Subtitles With 'Auto-Captioning'
YouTube introduced a system today that will automatically create subtitles for all its English language videos.
The technology, called “auto-captioning”, uses complex algorithms to work out what is being said in a video and convert it into text. Once the feature is turned on, the words will appear on the bottom of the video screen just like subtitles in a film.
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Volcano-Chaser Braves Some Of Earth's Most Dangerous SituationsTo Capture Amazing Photos Of Violent Eruptions

From The Daily Mail:
Most people would think themselves unlucky if they passed a volcano as it erupted, but this counts as a good day at the office for one photographer.
Martin Rietze is part of a select group of volcano-chasers who seek out the exploding phenomena, and braves huge electric storms and boiling lava to get the perfect shots.
The 45-year-old travels around the world's volcano hotspots, from Costa Rica to Italy, in his pursuit of Earth's greatest fiery spectacle.
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'Missing Link' Fossil Was Not Human Ancestor As Claimed, Anthropologists Say

Radiographs of the type specimen of Darwinius masillae, new genus and species, from Messel in Germany. (Credit: Franzen JL, Gingerich PD, Habersetzer J, Hurum JH, von Koenigswald W, et al. Complete Primate Skeleton from the Middle Eocene of Messel in Germany: Morphology and Paleobiology. PLoS ONE, 2009; 4(5): e5723 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005723)
From Science Daily:
Science Daily (Mar. 3, 2010) — A fossil that was celebrated last year as a possible "missing link" between humans and early primates is actually a forebearer of modern-day lemurs and lorises, according to two papers by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin, Duke University and the University of Chicago.
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Is Antarctica Falling Apart?
Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf, like many of the fringes of the Antarctic continent, floats. That makes it fragile compared to ice on the continent, and this is where icebergs break off in a process called calving. Credit: Michael Van Woert, NOAA NESDIS, ORAFrom Live Science:
Recent news of mammoth icebergs the size of small U.S. states breaking off Antarctica may sound dire. But those events mostly represent business as usual at the world's southernmost continent, scientists say.
A massive iceberg the size of the state of Rhode Island collided with Antarctica's Mertz Glacier in mid-February, and caused a huge new iceberg with an estimated mass of 860 billion metric tons to break off the glacial tongue. Scientists note that such dramatic examples have not been uncommon over the past decade.
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Health Checkup: How to Live 100 Years
From Time Magazine:
A century of life was once a rare thing, but that is changing. Science is slowly unraveling the secrets of the centenarians
Don't write that down! Put your pencil away!" Agnes Buckley is trying in vain to head off an entertaining story her sisters are telling me about how she used to sneak out of the house as a teenager. (She favored boys with motorcycles.) When their father hid her shoes to keep her at home, Agnes simply bypassed the front door and leaped out the window.
"Everyone is going to think I was a troublemaker," she laments.
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Ancient Queen's Burial Chamber Discovered At Saqqara
From The Independent:
A French archaeological team digging at Saqqara has discovered the burial chamber of 6th Dynasty Queen Behenu, wife of either Pepi I or Pepi II. The burial chamber was revealed while the team was cleaning the sand from Behenu's pyramid in the area of el-Shawaf in South Saqqara, west of the pyramid of King Pepi I.
The burial chamber uncovered by the French mission is badly damaged, apart from two inner walls which contain engraved Pyramid Texts. Those texts were widely used in royal tombs – carved on walls as well as sarcophagi - during the 5th and 6th Dynasties (circa 2465-2150BC).
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UK's Copyright Change 'Could Block YouTube'
From The Guardian:
One of the most contentious parts of the controversial digital economy bill was voted down by the House of Lords last night – only to be replaced by a clause that campaigners say is even more draconian.
The Liberal Democrats forced through a surprise amendment to the bill's notorious clause 17 on Wednesday – in a move that dealt a defeat to the government but troubled critics, who suggest it will have the opposite effect that its creators intend.
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Microsoft Exec Pitches Internet Usage Tax To Pay Or Cybersecurity Programs
From The Hill:A top Microsoft executive on Tuesday suggested a broad Internet tax to help defray the costs associated with computer security breaches and vast Internet attacks, according to reports.
Speaking at a security conference in San Francisco, Microsoft Vice President for Trustworthy Computing Scott Charney pitched the Web usage fee as one way to subsidize efforts to combat emerging cyber threats -- a costly venture, he said, but one that had vast community benefits.
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What Is The “Einstein” Cyber Shield?
Cybersecurity Chief Howard Schmidt said he wants the U.S. to become "stronger through stronger technology." Lawrence Jackson/White House Details of “Einstein” Cyber Shield Disclosed by White House -- Wall Street Journal
The Obama administration lifted the veil Tuesday on a highly-secretive set of policies to defend the U.S. from cyber attacks.
It was an open secret that the National Security Agency was bolstering a Homeland Security program to detect and respond to cyber attacks on government systems, but a summary of that program declassified Tuesday provides more details of NSA’s role in a Homeland program known as Einstein.
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More News On The “Einstein” Cyber Shield
The Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative -- National Security Council/The White House
US lifts lid on top secret plan for internet security -- BBC
U.S. Declassifies Part of Secret Cybersecurity Plan -- Threat Level
Monitoring federal networks, global supply chain part of cyber initiative -- Next Gov.
Few details in White House summary of cyber plan -- AP
White House Declassifies Description of National Cyber-Security Program -- Government Security
US intros Einstein plan to defend its cyberspace -- Tech Eye
Obama's cybersecurity chief opens CNCI 'Einstein 3' kimono -- Computer World
Details of American super-secret cyber warfare defences known as 'Einstein' -- Download Squad
Google China Hackers Stole Source Code - Researcher
in Beijing in this January 14, 2010 file photo.
From Yahoo News/Reuters:
The hackers behind the attacks on Google Inc and dozens of other companies operating in China stole valuable computer source code by breaking into the personal computers of employees with privileged access, a security firm said on Wednesday.
The hackers targeted a small number of employees who controlled source code management systems, which handle the myriad changes that developers make as they write software, said George Kurtz, chief technology officer at anti-virus software maker McAfee Inc .
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'Dinosaurs' 10 Million Years Older Than Previously Thought
From The Telegraph:
Dinosaurs reign over the earth may date back further than previously thought, a new discovery suggests.
Palaeontologists have found a four-legged ancestor of the prehistoric creatures that hails from 250 million years ago – 10 million years earlier than first thought.
The large dog sized creature, which ate meat and vegetation, is thought to be a similar relation to dinosaurs as chimps are to humans.
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Want To Seduce A Man? Smile at Him 35 Times Every Hour: The Bizarre But True Secrets Of Attraction
From The Daily Mail:
Relationships should be so simple. You meet someone, you fall in love. If all goes well, you live happily ever after. But finding Mr or Ms Right is rarely that straightforward.
As author ANDREW TREES reveals in his new book Decoding Love, science and statistics can offer the best help with our quest for romance.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1255000/Want-seduce-man-Smile-35-times-hour-The-bizarre-true-secrets-attraction.html#ixzz0hA4wFb17
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Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Mass Loss from Alaskan Glaciers Overestimated? Previous Melt Contributed a Third Less to Sea-Level Rise Than Estimated
From Science Daily:
Science Daily (Mar. 3, 2010) — The melting of glaciers is well documented, but when looking at the rate at which they have been retreating, a team of international researchers steps back and says not so fast.
Previous studies have largely overestimated mass loss from Alaskan glaciers over the past 40-plus years, according to Erik Schiefer, a Northern Arizona University geographer who coauthored a paper in the February issue of Nature Geoscience that recalculates glacier melt in Alaska.
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The Man Behind The Technology Of "CSI"
From Live Science:
R. Graham Cooks, Purdue University's Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry, has made mass spectrometry appeal to mass audiences with technology featured on the hit series "CSI." Mass spectrometry turns molecules into ions so their mass can be analyzed, and traditionally requires chemical separations, manipulations of samples and containment in a vacuum chamber.
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Internet Industry Told To Respect Human Rights Abroad
From Technology Review:
Senator Durbin promises legislation that would force companies to protect human rights.
Yesterday a leading member of Congress put pressure on Internet companies to support human rights and Internet freedom abroad. U.S. Senator Richard Durbin, the Democratic representative from Illinois and the Senate majority whip, said he plans to introduce legislation "that would require Internet companies to take reasonable steps to protect human rights or face civil or criminal liability." An aide later said the proposed legislation had not been written, but would likely be based on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
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To Mars In 39 Days
travel time to Mars to just 39 days. Credit: NASA
From Cosmos/AFP:
WASHINGTON: A journey from Earth to Mars could eventually take just 39 days - cutting current travel time nearly six times - according to a rocket scientist who has the ear of U.S. space agency NASA.
Franklin Chang-Diaz, a former astronaut and a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, says reaching the Red Planet could be dramatically quicker using his high-tech VASIMR rocket, now on track for liftoff after decades of development.
Read more ....
Tons Of Water Ice At The Moon’s North Pole Could Sustain A Lunar Base
From Discover Magazine:
Water, water, everywhere! Radar results from a lunar probe have revealed that the moon’s north pole could be holding millions of tons of water in the form of thick ice, raising the possibility that human life could be sustained on Earth’s silvery satellite, NASA scientists said.
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Dirty Tricks Of The Egg And Sperm Race
From New Scientist:
EVEN the most romantic evolutionary biologist knows that sexual reproduction is rarely a harmonious affair. Among most higher animals it is often predicated on fierce fighting, showy one-upmanship, exploitation and deception. Charles Darwin himself drew the battle lines, when he set out his ideas on sexual selection to explain the evolution of traits that provide mating advantages - either through contests between members of the same sex or by increasing attractiveness to the opposite sex. Much of what Darwin said still guides our thinking. However, since the mid-19th century it has become clear that there is more to successful reproduction than mere copulation.
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New Sensors Directly Track The Brain's Chemical Messengers For The First Time
From Popular Science:
Courtesy of those brainy folk at MIT and Caltech.
This is your brain. This is your brain's blood flow, courtesy of brain scan technologies. And this is dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain that plays pivotal roles in learning, memory, addiction and movement. MIT and Caltech scientists have created new molecular sensors that allow them to track dopamine for the first time, and provide the most direct detection ever of brain activity.
Read more ....
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