Is Nuclear Fusion Possible?

A prototype of the nuclear fusion system that relies on coils and compressing magnetic fields to produce energy. CREDIT: Derek Lamppa

Nuclear Fusion Is A Real Possibility, New Models Suggest -- Live Science

If new computer simulations pan out in the real world, nuclear fusion, the power source that makes stars shine, may be a practical possibility here on Earth, scientists say.

Simulations at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico revealed a fusion reactor that surpasses the "break-even" point of energy input versus energy output, indicating a self-sustaining fusion reaction. (This doesn't break any laws of physics for the same reason that starting a fire with a match doesn't).

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My Comment: Faster please.

Chocolate Helps People Stay Thin, Study Finds

Photo: (Credit: istockphoto)

Eating Lots Of Chocolate Helps People Stay Thin, Study Finds -- CBS News

(CBS News) What's the best way to stay thin? A new study finds it's exercising and eating a healthy diet full of - chocolate?

Mindless eating: 8 food goofs that pack on pounds

The study found that people who frequently ate chocolate had a lower body mass index (BMI) than people who didn't.

Is it time to ditch fat-free for fudge?

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My Comment: Hard to argue with a position that advocates .... yum yum .... chocolate.

International Space Station Nearly Struck By Space Junk

International Space Station Nearly Struck By Space Junk: Six Astronauts Nearly Had To Abandon Ship After A Piece Of A Russian Rocket Nearly Collided With The International Space Station -- Chicago Tribune/US News and World Report

Sometime Friday afternoon, the six people--including two Americans--aboard the International Space Station got a warning: Head into the nearest Russian Soyuz spacecraft and wait for further instructions, because a chunk of a disabled Russian rocket was hurtling towards them at speeds of over 17,000 miles per hour.

The threat of man-made space debris is increasingly becoming a problem for astronauts and the nearly 700 satellites orbiting earth. NASA estimates there are about 19,000 man-made objects orbiting earth--at orbital speeds, even a tiny particle can destroy satellites or cause serious damage to the space station.

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More News On The Passing Debris That Forced The ISS Crew Into Their Escape Pods

Close encounter: Space station astronauts forced to shelter in escape pods after near miss with debris from Russian rocket -- Daily Mail
Astronauts take refuge in escape capsules as space station threatened by debris -- The Telegraph
Space junk forces astronauts into escape capsules on International Space Station -- CNN
Astronauts scramble for escape pods as space junk threat gets serious -- Christian Science Monitor

Can We Build Robots With Morals?

Artificial Intelligence Pioneer: We Can Build Robots With Morals -- Jewish World Review

Like it or not, we're moving computers closer to autonomy.

Judea Pearl, a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence, won the Association for Computing Machinery's A.M. Turing award earlier this month, considered the highest honor in the computing world.

Pearl developed two branches of calculus that opened the door for modern artificial intelligence, such as the kind found in voice recognition software and self-driving cars.

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My Comment: I am sure that we can build boundaries/morals for robots to function .... but then again .... we can also build robots with morals that are not to our liking.

Military Robot Shaves Human Head

Short-Circuit, Back And Sides: Military Robot Shaves Human Head -- Daily Mail

The drastic change of image that comes with having your head shaved is scary enough – but one man doubled the terror by letting a robot do the job for him.

The prototype robot was a Multi-Arm UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) from U.S company Intelligent Automation Inc (IAI) in Maryland – and is designed to tackle IEDs, check backpacks for bombs and breach doors.

But on this occasion it was armed with multiple clippers to cut the hair of an IAI volunteer, who went through the ordeal to raise money for cancer charity the St. Baldrick's Foundation.

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More News On Robots Being Able To Do tasks Like Cutting Our Hair

Unmanned Robot Ties Knots and Shaves Hair, Won't Cut Off Your Head -- PC World
Robot shaves man's head for charity -- 9News
Robot barber shaves human head for charity -- MSNBC
Robot barber shaves heads for charity -- Ubergizmo

People Are Becoming More Selfish

Newer Generations Increasingly About “Me,” Study Finds -- Courtesy of the American Psychological Association and World Science Staff

oung Amer­i­cans care less and less about the the en­vi­ron­ment, pol­i­tics, and the world around them in gen­er­al, a study has found; even the idea of seek­ing a mean­ing­ful life is out of fash­ion.

In­stead, mon­ey, im­age and fame are the idols of our time.

“Pop­u­lar views of the mil­len­ni­al genera­t­ion, born in the 1980s and 1990s, as more car­ing, com­mun­ity-oriented and pol­i­tic­ally en­gaged than pre­vi­ous genera­t­ions are largely in­cor­rect, par­tic­u­larly when com­pared to ba­by boomers and Genera­t­ion X at the same age,” said the stu­dy’s lead au­thor, Jean Twenge, a psy­chol­o­gist at San Die­go State Uni­vers­ity and au­thor of the book Genera­t­ion Me. “These da­ta show that re­cent genera­t­ions are less likely to em­brace com­mun­ity mind­ed­ness and are fo­cus­ing more on mon­ey, im­age and fame.”

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My Comment: I am old enough to concur with these observations and results.

NASA Lauches Five Rockets In Sequence

The red dots over the water show where the five rockets of NASA's ATREX mission will deploy chemical tracers to watch how super-fast winds move some 60 miles up in the atmosphere. Three cameras at different sites will track the cloud tracers. NASA / Larsen

NASA Launches Five-Rocket Science Extravaganza At Last -- MSNBC/Space

ATREX mission studies high-level winds; glowing trails visible in skies over East Coast

At almost literally the last minute, NASA launched five suborbital sounding rockets early Tuesday on a mission to study high-level jet stream winds by creating artificial glowing clouds near the edge of space.

After several delays, the rockets started blasting off from their pads in Virginia just before the close of the day's scheduled launch window at 5 a.m. ET. The launches were held up until the very end by concerns about winds as well as boats that had strayed into the restricted range zone. But all the conditions turned "green" just in time for liftoff.

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My Comment: 5 rockets launched one after another .... that must have been a cool display. When video becomes available, I will post it.

Traumatic Brain Injury -- A U.S. Department Of Defense Special Report

Editor: The U.S. Department of Defense has put together a comprehensive analysis and report on 'Traumatic Brain Injury'. For those who believe that they have suffered a traumatic brain injury, this is a must read for you. The link to this special report is here.

Can Weight-Loss Surgery Cure Diabetes?

New Study: Weight-Loss Surgery May Cure Diabetes -- CBS

Could weight-loss surgery be a cure for type 2 diabetes? That's exactly what a new study, published today by the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests.

The study showed that weight-loss surgery is dramatically more effective in the treatment of type 2 diabetes than a conventional treatment of diet changes and medication. Patients in the study suffered from severe type 2 diabetes, and most went into remission after undergoing one of two bariatric surgeries.

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The Powerful Antioxidant Properties Of Popcorn

Popcorn Has More Antioxidants Than Fruit, Study Says -- FOX News

Long heralded as a low-calorie snack, new research indicates popcorn may actually be good for your health in other ways as well.

Pennsylvania researchers reported popcorn actually contains more healthy antioxidants called polyphenols than fruits and vegetables. The study found that there were 300 mg of polyphenols in a serving of popcorn, compared to 160 mg in a serving of fruit.

Polyphenols have been shown in prior studies to boost cardiovascular health as well as protect against chronic diseases.

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My Comment: But soaking it in butter and salt probably counteracts the positive aspects of popcorn.

How Turbines Can Replace A Heart

Man With No Pulse: How Turbines Can Replace A Heart -- New Scientist

You no longer need a heartbeat to be alive. In a groundbreaking surgery last year, doctors William Cohn and Bud Frazier from the Texas Heart Institute in Houston replaced a dying man's heart with twin turbines, resulting in the first living person without a pulse.

In this short film called Heart Stop Beating, directed by Jeremiah Zagar, you can follow the revolutionary procedure. Compared to artificial hearts that mimic real ones, the device is thought to be much more durable, since it has no flexible membranes or complex twisting mechanisms. "No one has been able to make a self-contained pulsatile device that can last more than two years or so and most wear out sooner," says Cohn.

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My Comment: 30 years ago this was just a concept and a dream .... today .... reality.

Did Carbon Dioxide Just Save The Earth?

Earth's atmosphere lights up at infrared wavelengths during the solar storms of March 8-10, 2012. A ScienceCast video explains the physics of this phenomenon. Play it!

Carbon Dioxide Just Saved Earth -- Don Surber

God bless the John Amos power plant across the river from Poca, West Virginia, and all the other producers of CO2.

Those tiny molecules of carbon dioxide along with their cousins, nitric oxide, spared life on the planet from becoming crispy critters earlier this month.

It seems the Sun belched its biggest a coronal mass ejection in 7 years and the thermosphere absorbed 26 billion kWh of energy. The thermosphere is part of that invisible cloud of gases that blankets the Earth. Scientists call it the atmosphere.

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Earth’s Upper Atmosphere Absorbed 26 Billion kWh Of Energy

Earth’s Upper Atmosphere Hit by 26 Billion kWh of Energy -- Sci-Tech Daily

As researchers to continue monitor and assess the recent solar activity, new data shows that the thermosphere absorbed 26 billion kWh of energy over a three day period, March 8th -10th.

A recent flurry of eruptions on the sun did more than spark pretty auroras around the poles. NASA-funded researchers say the solar storms of March 8th through 10th dumped enough energy in Earth’s upper atmosphere to power every residence in New York City for two years.

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My Comment: That is a lot of juice.

How George Takei Conquered Facebook

Image courtesy of George Takei

How George Takei Conquered Facebook -- Forbes

George Takei earned his fame on the original Star Trek for playing Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu on the Enterprise, and later Captain Sulu of the Excelsior in the movies. As a Starfleet officer, Sulu was dedicated to peaceful exploration. But when it comes to Facebook, he’s a conqueror. On March 23, 2011, Takei put up his fan page. Now, one year later, he has nearly 1.4 million fans on his Facebook page, who regularly like, share, and comment on his near endless stream of posts, videos and geeky pictures. By way of comparison, Twitter master Star Trek alum Wil Wheaton has a little over 76,000 fans and Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, has a little over 137,000.

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Cool Science Editor: His Facebook page is here.

The Eco-Friendly SuperYacht

Credit: Richard John Sauter

Assuage Your Liberal Guilt With An Eco-Friendly SuperYacht -- Science 2.0

Let's be honest, if you are a Republican, you don't care about the environment because you received your own oil well when you registered to vote. And you like vampire babies. So you do not care about the emissions of your yacht.

But if you are a rich Democrat, things are a little dicier. Buying pretend carbon offsets for a 29,000 square foot house can only get you so far. If you want to own a superyacht too, that's a lot of liberal guilt to agonize over. What to do?

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Editor: For more info on the Ocean Supremacy, go here.

The End Of The Space Shuttle Era

Cool Science News Editor: NPR has a special on the US space shuttle. The selection of stories and info starts here.

Woman, 83, Sues Apple Aafter Walking Into their Glass Door

‘Pane’ & Suffering At The Apple Store -- New York Post

Glassed granny walks smack into $1M suit

For one 83-year-old grandma, the most confusing piece of technology at an Apple Store wasn’t an iPad or iPhone — it was the front door.

Evelyn Paswall, a former Manhattan fur-company vice president, claims the tech company’s signature glass architecture is a menace to little old ladies after she failed to see the glass door at a Long Island location and smashed her face.

Now the Forest Hills, Queens, resident is suing Apple for $1 million, saying the company was negligent for not elderly-proofing the store’s see-through facade.

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My Comment: I have gone to this store on a few occasions .... it is very clear to me that there is a door in front of me. How did she hit her face .... makes no sense to me.

Face-Recognition System Can Sort Through 36 Million Faces Per Second

Video: Face-Recognition System Can Sort Through 36 Million Faces Per Second -- Popular Science

Japanese surveillance software can locate you, wherever you are.

Diginfo brings us news of this Hitachi Kokusai system that can monitor video feeds from around the world in real time, scanning for a particular face. When it finds what it's looking for, it closes in to provide footage of what the person has been doing previously and what he or she is doing next.

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My Comment: In short .... you can run .... but if a camera catches your face .... you cannot hide.

New Hope For Balding Men?

New Discovery Brings Hope For Balding Men -- The Telegraph

Scientists have identified a hair-loss protein in a development that could pave the way for a cure for male-pattern baldness.

The discovery could mean treatments are developed to suppress the protein and to stop baldness, although it would not reverse the effects to reverse hair loss.

Tests were carried out on tissue from the scalps of more than 20 men with male pattern baldness, known as androgenic alopecia (AGA).

The results showed bald areas had levels of the protein PGD2 three times higher than hairy areas.

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My Comment: I say live with it .... at least that is what I have been doing for the past 20 years. But .... if it can be cured and even reversed .... hmmmm .....

James Cameron's Successfully Completes Mariana Trench Pacific Dive

James Cameron Describes Mariana Trench After Pacific Dive -- ABC News

In 1997 James Cameron famously sent the RMS Titanic to the ocean floor. Now he has made an even deeper trip himself: in a submersible called the Deepsea Challenger, he descended to the bottom of the Mariana Trench -- seven miles beneath the western Pacific Ocean, deeper than Mt. Everest is high.

And he lived to tell about it. Today, on a conference call to reporters from the research vessel Mermaid Sapphire, he enthused about the mystery and adventure of being all alone in the darkness, 35,576 feet beneath the surface of the sea.

"I just sat there looking out the window, looking at this barren, desolate lunar plain, appreciating," Cameron said.

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More News On James Cameron's Mariana Trench Pacific Dive

James Cameron Completes Record-Breaking Mariana Trench Dive -- National Geographic
James Cameron on Earth's Deepest Spot: Desolate, Lunar-Like -- National Geographic
Cameron's Historic Dive Cut Short by Leak; Few Signs of Life Seen -- National Geographic
'To hell and back': James Cameron is first solo diver to reach deepest point on Earth - but has to race back to surface after hydraulic failure seven miles down -- Daily Mail
'Titanic' and 'Avatar' director James Cameron reaches ocean's deepest point [Updated] -- L.A. Times
Why James Cameron was forced to surface early -- Christian Science Monitor
James Cameron back on surface after deepest ocean dive -- BBC
James Cameron: 'desolate, lunar landscape' of Mariana Trench after record-breaking dive -- The Telegraph
In Photos: James Cameron’s solo deep dive -- Stark Insider

Is This Finally Proof We're NOT Causing Global Warming?

Evidence that the Earth heated up over a 1,000 years ago was found in a rare mineral called ikaite

Is This Finally Proof We're NOT Causing Global Warming? The Whole Of The Earth Heated Up In Medieval Times Without Human CO2 Emissions, Says New Study -- Daily Mail

* Evidence was found in a rare mineral that records global temperatures
* Warming was global and NOT limited to Europe
* Throws doubt on orthodoxies around 'global warming'

Current theories of the causes and impact of global warming have been thrown into question by a new study which shows that during medieval times the whole of the planet heated up.

It then cooled down naturally and there was even a 'mini ice age'.

A team of scientists led by geochemist Zunli Lu from Syracuse University in New York state, has found that contrary to the ‘consensus’, the ‘Medieval Warm Period’ approximately 500 to 1,000 years ago wasn’t just confined to Europe.

In fact, it extended all the way down to Antarctica – which means that the Earth has already experience global warming without the aid of human CO2 emissions.

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My Comment: Bottom line .... more questions are being raised .... and there are not enough answers.

Which Tablet Runs The Hottest?

New iPad Versus 5 Tablet Competitors: Which Runs Hottest? -- Gadget Lab

You need not fear heat blisters when handling the new iPad. Apple’s new tablet is neither a burn risk, nor even particularly hot in the grand scheme of competing devices.

We know because we tested the iPad against five other tablets.

Sure, the new iPad, like all electronics hardware, heats up when pushed to its limits. This is just a matter of physics. Processors, batteries and back-lit displays generate heat under load.

Consumer Reports proved this when it recorded a temperature of 116 degrees Fahrenheit on the back of the new iPad — this after plugging the tablet into a wall socket and playing a demanding 3-D game, Infinity Blade 2, for 45 minutes. This little stunt spurred a lot of online chatter, but it didn’t explain whether the new iPad’s heat generation is above and beyond that of other tablets on the market.

So Wired decided to investigate.

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My Comment: The results are surprising.

A Look At The Planet Mercury

Purple marks low elevation and white high elevation in this rendering of ancient volcanic plains in Mercury’s northern hemisphere. Images like these suggest the planet had an active geologic past.NASA, JHUAPL, CIW-DTM, GSFC, MIT, Brown University. Rendering by James Dickson and Jim Head.

Smallest Planet Yields Big Surprises -- Science News

Mercury has a complicated inside and an active geologic past.

For starters, the planet’s interior is built differently than anything else scientists have blueprints for. Unlike Earth’s, Mercury’s core — which gobbles up 85 percent of the planet’s radius — consists of three layers instead of two. At the planet’s heart lies a probable solid layer, surrounded by a swirling liquid iron layer, all encapsulated by a third, solid iron-sulfur layer.

The new MESSENGER results were presented on March 21 at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, as well as in two papers appearing online in Science. One paper discusses the gravity measurements leading to the new model of the planet’s interior, and the other describes surface features in the northern hemisphere.

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Top 50 Android Phone Apps

Android is interesting, because it attracts two very different kinds of people.

The Top 50 Android Phone Apps -- The Guardian

Android has overtaken iOS as the UK's most popular smartphone platform. We pick the best of its 450,000 apps, for music fans, children, gamers, shoppers… There's even an antidote for app addiction

There is far more to smartphone life than Apple's iPhone. Google launched its Android software in 2008 and has since sold more than 300m of its smartphones; currently, more than 850,000 are added to that number every day.

More than 450,000 apps are available on Google Play, which is generating more than 1bn app downloads every month. The latest Android smartphones are also viable competitors to the iPhone (stylish and powerful phones from companies such as Samsung, HTC and Sony Ericsson have been flying off the shelves in the UK), but Android apps haven't always had a great press. Android has been criticised on security grounds, with accusations that there are more viruses and malware apps on Google's store than on Apple's App Store. However, Android apps have to ask for explicit permission to access your personal data and phone features, so familiarise yourself with these permissions requests when installing apps and you'll be less at risk.

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Now THAT'S An Engagement Ring!

Groundbreaking: This extraordinary creation claims to be 'the world's first diamond ring'

Now THAT'S An Engagement Ring! Jeweller's $70m Diamond Sparkler Cut Entirely From One 150-Carat Rock -- Daily Mail

A Swiss jewellery company has created a ring made from one enormous chunk of diamond.

Shawish Jewellery, a company based in Geneva, unveiled what they have billed as ‘the world’s first diamond ring’.

The 150-carat ring has been valued at around $70million and took one year to construct.

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My Comment: $70 million for a rock .... albeit a diamond one .... I have only one word for that .... ouchhh!!!!!

Is Space Junk A Threat To National Security?

Space Clutter a Growing Concern for Pentagon -- Military.com/Stars and Stripes

Space may be the final frontier, but it’s turning into a rough neighborhood — a limited number of Earth orbits increasingly crowded with satellites and littered with debris that can destroy valuable space assets.

Overcrowding in space is now a national security threat, experts say. U.S. Defense and State Department officials are grappling with the challenge of cleaning up the mess and encouraging “best practices” without compromising national defense.

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My Comment: Hmmmm .... one can only imagine the mess that will be produced if an armed conflict did occur in space. One side may win the war .... but be unable to use space for years (if not longer) because of the debris fields.

Cyber And Drone Attacks Are Changing Warfare

The new look of drone-enabled war. Reuters.

Cyber and Drone Attacks May Change Warfare More Than the Machine Gun -- Ross Andersen, The Atlantic

From state-sponsored cyber attacks to autonomous robotic weapons, twenty-first century war is increasingly disembodied. Our wars are being fought in the ether and by machines. And yet our ethics of war are stuck in the pre-digital age.

We're used to thinking of war as a physical phenomenon, as an outbreak of destructive violence that takes place in the physical world. Bullets fly, bombs explode, tanks roll, people collapse. Despite the tremendous changes in the technology of warfare, it remained a contest of human bodies. But as the drone wars have shown, that's no longer true, at least for one side of the battle.

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My Comment: Cyber and drone attacks may change warfare!?!?!?! I say that it has already changed warfare.

George Clooney's Satellites Document The Atrocities In Sudan

George Clooney's Satellite Spies Reveal Secrets Of Sudan's Bloody Army -- The Guardian

Actor and activist funds a hi-tech project that is tracking troops and warning civilians of attacks

Nathaniel Raymond is the first to admit that he has an unusual job description. "I count tanks from space for George Clooney," said the tall, easygoing Massachusetts native as he sat in a conference room in front of a map of the Sudanese region of South Kordofan.

Close by, pins and ink scrawlings on the map detail the positions of Sudanese army forces and refugee populations in the troubled oil-producing province, where the Sudanese army is carrying out a brutal crackdown.

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My Comment: I support this project wholeheartedly. Someone has to focus and document the atrocities that are occurring in the Sudan, and thank God it is someone like George Clooney.

The Satellite Sentinel Project website is here.

More Advancements In Body Armor

MetCel's body armor inserts protect soldiers against the blunt-force trauma of a bullet hitting body armor. CREDIT: MetCel

Startup's Hybrid Body Armor Softens Blow to Troops -- Live Science

Modern body armor capable of stopping bullets still can't protect a soldier from the full force of a bullet's impact — a body trauma responsible for most U.S. military gunshot injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan. That battlefield danger has driven one U.S. startup to create a lightweight, protective material worn under body armor, similar to how ancient warriors once wore padding beneath their chain mail or plate armor.

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My Comment: Faster please.

Is Nothing Off Limits?

Ear we go: Adverts could soon be produced according to environmental conditions such as background noise, if Google's patent becomes reality

Is Nothing Off Limits? Now Google Plans To Spy On Background Noise In Your Phone Calls To Bombard You With Tailored Adverts -- Daily Mail

* Patent also describes using other environmental factors such as air temperature to produce ads

Adverts could soon be tailored according to the background noise around you when using your smartphone, if a patent application by Google becomes reality.

The search engine giant has filed for a patent called ‘Advertising based on environmental conditions’.

As that title implies, it’s not just background sounds that could be used to determine what adverts you seen on your mobile phone. The patent also describes using ‘temperature, humidity, light and air composition’ to produced targeted adverts.

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My Comment: Makes you wonder if the NSA and other intelligence agencies are already using this technology to spy on certain individuals ... or are getting ready to do so.

Building A Better Brain For Memory (Video)

Bacteria May Help To Beef Up Our Immunity

A new study finds that a little bacteria is actually a good thing for the immune system. (Getty Images)

Bacteria Help Body Beef Up Immunity, Study Says -- ABC News

When it comes to bacteria, many people have a pretty simple view: Germs are bad, and our lives should be as free of them as possible.

But an alternate idea suggests just the opposite: Germs are a necessary part of a healthy immune system, helping our body's defenses beef up and fight future illnesses. When a person's exposure to germs is decreased, problems may arise.

The idea is called the hygiene hypothesis. For years, scientists have suspected that it played a role in how diseases affect people in the modern hand-sanitized world, but they never had any specific evidence.

But a new study from researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston has changed that.

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My Comment: OK ... bring on those germs.

Weather Records Tumble By The Thousand As US Swelters

Weather Records Tumble By The Thousand As US Swelters And Global Warming Wins Converts -- The Telegraph

Think the drought's getting bad? You should be in Spicewood, 35 miles northwest of Austin, Texas. In January it became the first town to run out of water in an acute dry spell in the state. Now a 7,000 gallon tanker has to roll into own each day to bring the stuff of life – there's a ration of just 50 gallons a day per household – and the regional water utility expects this to go on for months.

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My Comment: A look at the drought in Texas.

Facebook Threatens Bosses Who Ask For Facebook Passwords From Job Applicants

Facebook Privacy Chief Fires Warning Shot At Bosses Who Demand Access -- The Guardian

Social networking site warns against employers who ask for the passwords of job applicants, saying legal action is possible

Facebook has hit out at the practice of employers asking for access to the accounts of their staff and potential hires.

The social network's chief privacy officer Erin Egan called the practice "distressing" and threatened legal action against companies that violate its users' privacy.

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My Comment: So much for privacy.

The Psychological Impact Of Holding A Gun

U.S. Army Pfc. Samuel Corsolini uses his weapon's scope to provide security as a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter takes off after unloading U.S. and Afghan troops during a vehicle interdiction to disrupt Taliban activities as part of Operation Pranoo Verbena in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, March 16, 2012. Corsolini is a gunner assigned to the Company F, 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Daniel Schroeder

Holding A Gun Makes You Think Others Are Too -- Science Blog

Wielding a gun increases a person’s bias to see guns in the hands of others, new research from the University of Notre Dame shows.

Notre Dame Associate Professor of Psychology James Brockmole, who specializes in human cognition and how the visual world guides behavior, together with a colleague from Purdue University, conducted the study, which will appear in an upcoming issue of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Perception and Performance.

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My Comment: We have been conditioned to expect the worse when we see guns .... holding it into our hands will probably only reinforce this impression.

New Theory On Size Of Black Holes

Image from a simulation when the inclination is 150 degrees with full 3D rendering. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Leicester)

New Theory On Size Of Black Holes: Gas-Guzzling Black Holes Eat Two Courses At A Time -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Mar. 23, 2012) — Astronomers have put forward a new theory about why black holes become so hugely massive -- claiming some of them have no 'table manners', and tip their 'food' directly into their mouths, eating more than one course simultaneously.

Researchers from the UK and Australia investigated how some black holes grow so fast that they are billions of times heavier than the sun.

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My Comment: Let`s just say that they are big and heavy.

The 2012 Heat Wave

2012 Heat Wave NASA

The 2012 Heat Wave: "Almost Like Science Fiction" -- Popular Science

Today is World Meteorological Day, and there's no better time to take a serious look at our meteorological surroundings than right now, here in North America. All across the continent, records have been smashed: from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic, a heat wave like nothing we've ever seen before is hitting the U.S. and Canada, while out west, Oregon has gotten a new record for snowfall. Just what is going on here?

This past Wednesday broke records all across the Midwest and Northeast. Some stats:

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My Comment: I live in Montreal .... and yes .... we also broke records here.

Europe Launches Heaviest Ever Craft Into Space

An automated craft laden with supplies for the International Space Station (ISS) headed into space in the heaviest launch ever undertaken by Europe. The 20-tonne vessel, named after a 20th-century Italian physicist, Edoardo Amaldi, was taken aloft by a heavyweight version of the Ariane 5 launcher Photo: AFP/GETTY

Europe Launches Heaviest Ever Craft Into Space -- The Telegraph

Europe has undertaken its heaviest ever launch after an automated craft the size of a double decker bus, laden with supplies for the International Space Station, blasted off into space.

The 20-ton vessel, named after 20th-century Italian physicist, Edoardo Amaldi, blasted off atop a heavyweight version of the Ariane 5 launcher at 01:34am (0434 GMT) from the launch pad in French Guiana.

"Mission accomplished," Jean-Yves Gall, the head of Arianespace satellite launch operator, said shortly after lift-off.

About an hour later the vessel separated from the launcher and went its orbit flight path in what Gall said was picture perfect execution.

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My Comment: The part of this report that I found interesting was the following ....

.... Laden with rubbish, the craft will then detach and burn up in a controlled destruction over the southern Pacific.

Hmmm .... so that's how they get rid of the trash.

Air Force Space Command Is Looking For A Few Good Cyber Warriors

AF Cyber Boss Wants High Quality Troops -- Military.com

The Air Force’s top cyber commander warned Thursday that the military may have a tough time finding all the qualified people it needs to stay ahead in the increasingly important world of attacking and defending networks.

Gen. William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command, said that only a small percentage of people graduate with technical college degrees every year in the U.S. and of those an even smaller percentage are eligible to get the security clearance they’d need to become Defense Department or government cyber-operators.

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Update: The cyber war after next -- DoD Buzz

My Comment: For more info on Air Force Space Command, go here.

On a side note .... 'Hacktivists' stole 58% of thieved data in 2011.

This Months Solar Flare 'Likely Knocked' Military Satellites Offline

An M7.9 class flare. A solar flare is an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. Flares are our solar system’s largest explosive events.

Solar Flares Likely Knocked Military Satellites Offline -- US News and World Report

Solar storms earlier this month may have caused military satellites to reboot.

Despite being made to withstand radiation emitted from solar flares, a storm caused by the sun earlier this month may have temporarily knocked American military satellites offline, according to General William Shelton, head of the Air Force's Space Command.

The energy particles associated with two solar storms March 9 and 10 may have caused what are called "single event upsets" on military satellites. "The timing is such that we say this was likely due to [solar radiation]," Shelton told reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast Thursday. Although it's impossible to tell exactly what caused the events—essentially a temporary reboot of satellite instrumentation software—solar storms are known to wreak havoc on satellites.

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Update: General: Recent solar storm interfered with Air Force satellite -- Stars and Stripes

My Comment: An event like this makes you appreciate on why emp weapons are feared by the military.

Germany Unprepared For A Major Nuclear Disaster

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Germany Unprepared For Major Nuclear Disaster -- Spiegel Online

If a nuclear disaster comparable to Fukushima were to hit a German nuclear plant, authorities would be unprepared to handle it, and scientific projections show that radiation would likely spread much further than previous estimates. But government agencies have done little to address the problem. Critics call the delay a "scandal."

The projected catastrophe would begin on the cold winter's day of Dec. 1, 2010. In the scenario envisioned by scientists, fuel elements begin melting at the Philippsburg 2 nuclear power plant in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg. Engineers release pressure to prevent the plant from exploding, and for the next 25 days, radioactive clouds move north toward the Rhine Valley, over the cities of Speyer and Hockenheim, toward Mannheim and Heidelberg.

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My Comment: Hmmmm .... I doubt that anyone can really be prepared for a major nuclear disaster.

Apple's iPhone 5 Will Launch This Summer

White iPhone 4S: The new iPhone 5 will have a much bigger 4.6-inch screen, and will launch this summer, according to sources in Korea

Apple's iPhone 5 Will Have Much Bigger 4.6-Inch Screen, Say Korean Suppliers - And Will Launch In Summer -- Daily Mail

* Screen would make new phone same size as Android rival Galaxy S2
* Leak from unnamed Korean source
* Release date 'in second quarter' this year

The new iPhone 5 will have a much bigger 4.6-inch screen, and will launch this summer, according to sources in Korea.

The leak, reported in a business newspaper in Korea, would make the new iPhone the same size as its cult Android rival the Galaxy S2.

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My Comment: Yup .... this will be my next phone.

Mapping The Brain

The Brain Atlas Allen Institute for Brain Science

Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen Invests $300 Million Into Mapping the Brain -- Popular Science

Paul Allen’s commitment to tackling big questions in neuroscience grows larger still. The Microsoft co-founder has already contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to brain science, much of it to the establishment of the Allen Brain Institute, a nonprofit charged with building a massive database of information about the brain. Now, seemingly from a frustration with the slow pace of discovery elsewhere in the field, Allen has committed another $300 million over the next decade to expanding his institute to include it’s own lab for neuroscience investigation.

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My Comment: That is going to be a very impressive data base.

Americans Now Watch More Online Movies Than DVDs

Monthly streaming subscription services like Netflix account for 94% of all paid online movie consumption. Netflix

Americans Now Watch More Online Movies Than DVDs -- CNN

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. movie buffs will pay to watch more movies online in 2012 than they will on physical video formats like DVD. That historic first marks a tipping point for Hollywood -- and its business model.

The stat comes a report that research firm IHS iSuppli released late Thursday. Online views, or paid "transactions," will hit 3.4 billion this year, compared with 2.4 billion for physical copies, according to IHS's forecast.

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My Comment: I am one of those who now watches his shows and movies on my computer screen.

Have Americans Forgotten About AIDS?

The Global Epidemic the U.S. Forgot -- Yahoo News/ABC

Like a brush fire, The HIV/AIDS epidemic has spread across the world over the last 30 years, picking up steam in certain areas and losing steam in others. Why?

While rates of infection in Western nations have gone down, there has been an explosion of cases in sub-Saharan Africa, India, China and parts of Russia.

In this two week Around the World special, Christiane Amanpour takes an in depth look at the illness that has defined an era, a disease that strikes fear in all of us.

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My Comment: Americans have not forgotten about AIDS .... it is just that other issues have taken precedent.

Here Come The Water Wars

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Water Wars Between Countries Could Be Just Around The Corner, Davey Warns -- The Guardian

Energy secretary tells conference that growing pressure on water resources could worsen existing war and lead to new ones

Water wars could be a real prospect in coming years as states struggle with the effects of climate change, growing demand for water and declining resources, the secretary of state for energy and climate change warned on Thursday.

Ed Davey told a conference of high-ranking politicians and diplomats from around the world that although water had not been a direct cause of wars in the past, growing pressure on the resource if climate change is allowed to take hold, together with the pressure on food and other resources, could lead to new sources of conflict and the worsening of existing conflicts.

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My Comment: Conflicts and wars over water is nothing new in human history. All empires and great powers have always had their main cities near sources of water .... whether by the sea and/or by a major river. Cutting off these sources of water will guarantee conflict and war, and with water becoming a precious resource in the 21rst century .... wars over fresh water will probably be the eventual outcome.

Special Note: The above image (click on the image to expand it) sums up the world's water situation perfectly.

Update: U.S. intelligence: Looming water woes will add to global instability -- McClatchy News

Polio Alert For Pakistan

Polio Virus In Pakistan: WHO Warns Of Travel Ban -- DAWN

ISLAMABAD, March 20: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned Pakistan that if the polio virus was not contained, it could face serious consequences such as travel and visa restrictions and sanctions imposed by countries across the world.

Dr Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General of Polio, Emergencies and Country Collaboration, WHO, told Dawn after a press conference organised by country office of WHO that lately the global community had been expressing its anxiety over the widespread prevalence of the virus in Pakistan.

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Watch The Northern Lights Live On The Web

A still image of what the aurora show will look like through the Slooh Space Camera during the live webcast. CREDIT: Slooh Space Camera

Light Show: Watch Auroras Live On Web -- Space.com

The sun has been causing a commotion lately, sending out a barrage of solar storms that have fired up Earth's auroras, to the delight of those who live in far northern latitudes. Now, with the help of a webcam in Alaska, those who live outside of the usual range of the northern lights will get a chance to watch their eerie dance.

The Slooh Space Camera, located outside of Fairbanks, Alaska, will be streaming live starting at 11:00 p.m. PDT (2:00 a.m. EDT) today, March 22 (06:00 UTC March 23), with astronomer Bob Berma on-site to commentate throughout the show.

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CSN Editor: The Slooh Space Camera website is here.

Seven Brilliant Lectures By Richard Feynman (Video)

Watch A Series Of Seven Brilliant Lectures By Richard Feynman -- io9

Richard Feynman was obviously famous for his work as a physicist, but he's also widely regarded as one of the most lucid and effective lecturers to ever address an audience. So renowned, so readily accessible were his presentations, that his introductory physics lectures (which he delivered to undergraduates at Caltech) have since been immortalized in the form of a three-volume set called, quite simply, The Feynman Lectures.

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My Comment: I always loved his books and videos. It's good to see 7 of them together.

Why Women Moan During Sex

Why Women Moan During Sex -- CNN

Ian Kerner, a sexuality counselor and New York Times best-selling author, blogs about sex weekly on The Chart. Read more from him on his website, GoodInBed.All you have to do is watch nearly any depiction of female orgasm on screen to get an idea of how a woman is “supposed” to react during sex.

From "When Harry Met Sally" to "Sex and the City" to your basic porn film, women in the throes of passion aren’t just shouting their ecstasy from the rooftops - they’re moaning with pleasure. Loudly.

But is this just cinematic license, or is there really something to noisy sex?

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My Comment: No comment ....

How Many X-37Bs Are There?

Just How Many X-37Bs Are There? -- Defense Tech

So Air Force Space Command boss Gen. William Shelton gave us a tiny bit more insight into the service’s super secret space spycraft, the X-37B, when he said that it’s doing its super secret — and year-long — mission excellently and that there’s no need for a bigger version of it or to increase the size of the X-37B fleet.

What was really interesting about his comments, was the fact that he wouldn’t say just how big the fleet is. Keep in mind that the service has said that it’s got two of the mini-shuttles for a while now, but Shelton’s response to a question about the size of the fleet raised more questions than it answered.

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Update: Air Force Will Continue to Launch Mysterious X-37B Space Plane (Updated) -- National Defense

My Comment: There are only two, but if the Air Force had the budget .... hmmmm .....

James Cameron Heading To The Bottom Of The Mariana Trench

James Cameron emerges from the hatch of Deepsea Challenger during testing of the submersible in Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, Australia in 2012. Photo: AFP

James Cameron Descends To The Bottom Of The Mariana Trench -- The Telegraph

James Cameron, the multi-millionaire Hollywood film director behind Titanic and Avatar, is heading to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in person armed with hi-tech 3D cameras and lights that will capture the moment for cinemagoers.

Fewer people have reached the deepest point in the world's oceans than have walked on the moon, but the obscure worms and tiny crustaceans that reside there are receiving an unlikely visitor.

Cameron set out from the tiny Pacific island of Guam for the Mariana Trench, and is descending more than seven miles straight down in a lime green reinforced submersible, the first ever solo mission to the lowest point on Earth.

Cameron’s 24ft long vertical capsule, The Deepsea Challenger, weighs 11 tons and was built amid great secrecy in Australia over the last eight years.

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My Comment: Good luck.

Red Meat Halves Risk Of Depression

The Australian government recommends eating 65 -100g of lean, red meat three to four times a week Photo: ALAMY

Red Meat Halves Risk Of Depression -- The Telegraph

Women who reduce lamb and beef in their diets are more likely to suffer depression, according to the new study.

Experts admitted surprise at the findings because so many other studies have linked red meat to physical health risks.

The team made the link after a study of 1000 Australian women.

Professor Felice Jacka, who led the research by Deakin University, Victoria, said: "We had originally thought that red meat might not be good for mental health but it turns out that it actually may be quite important.

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My Comment: As one who enjoys a good steak .... I agree.

Why Taking A Vacation Is Good For You

The Benefits Of Taking Time Off -- US News And World Report/Inside Science

Taking a vacation may not only make you happy, but increase your job performance.

(ISNS)—Rae and Bruce Hostetler not only work very hard, they also relax just as well. Numerous vacations help the suburban Indianapolis couple to maintain their health and emotional well-being—and it's no surprise to health care professionals.

"Rest, relaxation, and stress reduction are very important for people's well-being and health. This can be accomplished through daily activities, such as exercise and meditation, but vacation is an important part of this as well," said primary care physician Natasha Withers from One Medical Group in New York. Withers lists a decreased risk of heart disease and improved reaction times as some of the benefits from taking some time off.

"We also know that the mind is very powerful and can help with healing, so a rested, relaxed mind is able to help the body heal better," said Withers.

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My Comment: How can I disagree with that.

NSA Chief Denies To Congress That They Are Conducting Domestic Spying

NSA Chief Denies Domestic Spying But Whistleblowers Say Otherwise -- Threat Level

In a rare break from the NSA’s tradition of listening but not speaking, NSA chief General Keith Alexander was grilled Tuesday on the topic of eavesdropping on Americans in front of a House subcommittee.

The questioning from Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Georgia) was prompted by Wired’s cover story this month on the NSA’s growing reach and capabilities, but leaves Americans with as many questions about the reach of spy agency’s powers as they had before Alexander spoke.

Alexander denied, in carefully parsed words, that the NSA has the power to monitor Americans’ communications without getting a court warrant.

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My Comment: The NSA chief is very careful with his words .... it appears that he has his own definition of spying and eavesdropping.

The Titanic As You've Never Seen It Before

Mapping out the wreck: The ship was four days into its journey from Southampton to New York when it sunk in the middle of the night on April 14, 1912

The Titanic As You've Never Seen It Before: A Century After It Sank, Stunning New Hi-Tech Images Reveal Doomed Ship On Ocean Floor -- Daily Mail

The sinking of the Titanic is one of the 20th century's great dramas, a mystery that has confounded scientists and historians for decades.

There is still an aura of mysticism that remains around that fateful ship and new photos that will be published in the April 2012 edition of National Geographic Magazine provides for the first time a sense of what the wreck looks like today.

These new photographs, shot using state-of-the-art technology by independent research group Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, provide a greater understanding of what happened on that fateful April 15, 1912.

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My Comment: A hundred years anniversary coming up .... I can imagine the parties that will be breaking out around the world on that day.