Fairy Tales Have Ancient Origin

Photo: Dr Jamie Tehrani, a cultural anthropologist at Durham University, studied 35 versions of Little Red Riding Hood from around the world Photo: GETTY

From The Telegraph:

Popular fairy tales and folk stories are more ancient than was previously thought, according research by biologists.

They have been told as bedtime stories by generations of parents, but fairy tales such as Little Red Riding Hood may be even older than was previously thought.

A study by anthropologists has explored the origins of folk tales and traced the relationship between varients of the stories recounted by cultures around the world.

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Hospitals Open The Door To Sci-Fi's Medical Robots

From The Independent:

Exhibition reveals huge advances that are turning futuristic fantasies into surgical reality.

From the tiny submarine injected into the human body in the film Fantastic Voyage in 1966, to the hologram Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager in 1995, medical robots have long fuelled the imaginations of science fiction writers.

Now many of those fantasies are coming true and on Tuesday the Royal College of Surgeons will exhibit some of the advances that in just five years could see tiny robots going to work inside patients.

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Universal Translator For Web Browsers

From New Scientist:

EVER wondered what the Arabic or Chinese press are saying about the issues of the day? Finding out just got a lot easier, at least for those using the Firefox web browser.

A new plug-in identifies the language used on a web page and automatically provides a translation, leaving the layout of the page unchanged.

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Researchers Seek Funds To Study Cell Phone Safety

From CNET:

Are cell phones safe? For years, studies have provided conflicting conclusions. Today, there is still no clear answer. But experts agree on one thing: more research is needed to find out the answer.

In an effort to raise awareness among consumers and to urge government leaders to allocate more funding for research, an international group of researchers is gathering in Washington, D.C. later this month to present study findings and to lobby government officials.

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As Google Books Battle Draws On, Amazon Makes Its Case

Exterior view of Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is seen in this Oct. 19, 2006 file photo. Online bookseller Amazon.com Inc. is warning a federal judge that Internet search leader Google Inc. will be able to gouge consumers and stifle competition if it wins court approval to add millions more titles to its already vast digital library. (Paul Sakuma/AP/File)

From Christian Science Monitor:

The harsh critique of Google’s 10-month-old settlement with U.S. authors and publishers emerged this week in a 41-page brief that Amazon filed.

Online bookseller Amazon.com Inc. is warning a federal judge that Internet search leader Google Inc. will be able to gouge consumers and stifle competition if it wins court approval to add millions more titles to its already vast digital library.

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Astronauts Make Final Spacewalk

From The BBC:

Astronauts from the US space shuttle Discovery have made their third and final spacewalk, installing equipment on the International Space Station.

However, Nasa officials said one job had to be left undone after cables failed to connect.

Nasa flight director Heather Rarick said repairs to the connector would be attempted on a future mission, possibly Atlantis's flight in November.

The shuttle is due to leave on Tuesday and land back in Florida on Thursday.

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Europe's First Farmers Were Immigrants: Replaced Their Stone Age Hunter-Gatherer Forerunners

DNA-analysis in the laboratories of Mainz University. (Credit: Image copyright Joachim Burger)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Sep. 4, 2009) — Analysis of ancient DNA from skeletons suggests that Europe's first farmers were not the descendants of the people who settled the area after the retreat of the ice sheets. Instead, the early farmers probably migrated into major areas of central and eastern Europe about 7,500 years ago, bringing domesticated plants and animals with them, says Barbara Bramanti from Mainz University in Germany and colleagues.

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Engineering Students Build Underwater 'Bot

Three Long Beach City College ROV Team members transport their vehicle from the pool. On the left is Ricardo Casaine, in the middle is Nathan Grefe, and on the right is Baxter Hutchinson. Credit: Steve Van Meter/VideoRay

From Live Science:

Remotely-operated vehicles, or ROVs, are underwater robots that can go where the environment is too deep or difficult for human divers. I learned how to design and build ROVs as a student in the electrical department at Long Beach City College (LBCC), where every year, students enrolled in the department's robotics class form a team that competes in the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center's International Student ROV Competition.

The MATE competition is a pool-based competition that uses props to simulate realistic underwater workplaces. The MATE Center is one of eleven Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Centers established with funding from the National Science Foundation's ATE Program.

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Robotics Rodeo Aims To Save Lives

A technician explains the controls of a remotely operated Bobcat machine to a Soldier. After some instruction, Soldiers were given hands-on experience with the equipment and offered their feedback

From Army.mil:

FORT HOOD, Texas (Sept. 2, 2009) -- A Robotics Rodeo began Tuesday with exhibitors from all over America descending on Fort Hood to show off the latest advancements in robotics technology.

"If we're not fielding, we're failing; it's all about saving Soldiers' lives," said Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, III Corps commanding general. "It's not about technology demonstrations, not about how much money you can garner from the U.S. government, it's all about saving Soldiers lives."

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My Comment: This "Robotics Rodeo" may be small now .... but I would bet that 10 years from now it will be a completely different event .... and many times larger.

Australia's Warm Winter A Record

From The BBC:

Australia has experienced its warmest August on record amid soaring winter temperatures.

Climatologists have blamed both the effects of climate change and natural variability.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology says that August was a "most extraordinary month" with mean temperatures 2.47C above the long-term average.

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Human Brain Could Be Replicated In 10 Years, Researcher Predicts

Activity in the brain's neocortex is tightly controlled by inhibitory neurons shown here which prevent epilepsy. (Credit: Blue Brain Project; Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Sep. 4, 2009) — A model that replicates the functions of the human brain is feasible in 10 years according to neuroscientist Professor Henry Markram of the Brain Mind Institute in Switzerland. "I absolutely believe it is technically and biologically possible. The only uncertainty is financial. It is an extremely expensive project and not all is yet secured."

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My Comment: If you duplicate a brain .... will it think?

Wolves Beat Dogs on Logic Test

Wolves and dogs diverged from a common ancestor at least 15,000 years ago.
Credit: stock.xpert

From Live Science:

Wolves do better on some tests of logic than dogs, a new study found, revealing differences between the animals that scientists suspect result from dogs' domestication.

In experiments, dogs followed human cues to perform certain tasks despite evidence they could see suggesting a different strategy would be smarter, while wolves made the more logical choice based on their observations.

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Arctic Ice Proves To Be Slippery Stuff -- Commentary

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

From The Telegraph:

The extent of the sea-ice is now half a million square kilometres more than it was this time last year, says Christopher Booker.

BBC viewers were treated last week to the bizarre spectacle of Mr Ban
Ki-moon standing on an Arctic ice-floe making a series of statements so laughable that it was hard to believe such a man can be Secretary-General of the UN. Thanks to global warming, he claimed, "100 billion tons" of polar ice are melting each year, so that within 30 years the Arctic could be "ice-free". This was supported by a WWF claim that the ice is melting so fast that, by 2100, sea-levels could rise by 1.2 metres (four feet), which would lead to "floods affecting a quarter of the world".

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New England Prep School Builds Library Without Books

“When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books,’’ said headmaster James Tracy. (Mark Wilson for The Boston Globe)

Welcome to the library. Say goodbye to the books. -- Boston Globe

ASHBURNHAM - There are rolling hills and ivy-covered brick buildings. There are small classrooms, high-tech labs, and well-manicured fields. There’s even a clock tower with a massive bell that rings for special events.

Cushing Academy has all the hallmarks of a New England prep school, with one exception.

This year, after having amassed a collection of more than 20,000 books, officials at the pristine campus about 90 minutes west of Boston have decided the 144-year-old school no longer needs a traditional library. The academy’s administrators have decided to discard all their books and have given away half of what stocked their sprawling stacks - the classics, novels, poetry, biographies, tomes on every subject from the humanities to the sciences. The future, they believe, is digital.

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6 Geeked-Out TV Shows We Can't Wait For

From Popular Mechanics:

Normally, we'd be sad to see summer go—but with new fall TV just around the corner, we can't get too upset. Our favorites—including Fringe, Dollhouse, Lost and Heroes—are coming back with all-new episodes, and two new series with real sci-fi promise are making their big debut. Here are the six shows that will have us couch-surfing this fall.

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My Comment: Yeah .... but Terminator: The Sarah Chronicles is not coming back.

Super-Strong German Steel Velcro: Not for Sneakers

Velcro of Steel: So strong, yet still removable TUM Institute of Metal Forming and Casting (utg)

From Popular Science:

German-created steel fasteners can withstand loads of more than 38 tons per square meter, hook and unhook without tools.

Velcro has proved plenty useful as a quick fastener on shoes and other household items, but lacks the strength to resist fiery temperatures and powerful chemicals in industrial settings. Now German scientists have taken the hook-and-loop fastener concept and developed a Superman version, called Metaklett.

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Mystery Solved! Find Out Why Google Used A Doodle Of A UFO On Its Search Engine

Doodle mystery: Google used the image of a UFO on its logo, sparking mass internet speculation and rumours on Twitter and Facebook

From The Daily Mail:

Google bamboozled its users today by displaying the symbol of a UFO on its search engine page.

The website featured the classic image of a flying saucer shining a beam of light onto the middle of the classic logo.

It usually displays images that mark anniversaries or key events on its home page but its selection this time seemed a total mystery.

Clicking on the link only led to the results for 'unexplained phenomena', adding to the confusion which soon spread around the world.

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How Old Is This Internet Thing, Again?

From The Wall Street Journal:

Poor Al Gore has been teased mercilessly for supposedly claiming he invented the Internet.

But that’s not the only portion of cyber-history that’s in dispute.

Media outlets are celebrating Sept. 2 as the 40th anniversary of the day the Internet was invented. Security company Symantec even chose to ring the day in by creating a top-10 list of the most notorious online threats, with No. 1 as 2000’s “I Love You” worm, which infected an estimated 5 million computers.

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Astronauts Take a Break From Busy Space Mission

From Space.com:

Astronauts took a hard-earned break from work aboard the International Space Station Friday as they hit the midpoint of a busy mission to boost the outpost's science gear and supplies.

The 13 astronauts aboard the docked station and shuttle Discovery had a half-day off from their joint mission, time enough to gaze down at their home planet or simply enjoy flying in weightlessness.

"Sometimes, you've just got to look out the window and enjoy the view," shuttle astronaut Jose Hernandez told reporters in a televised interview this week. "It's just breathtaking and I can't describe it with words. It's just indescribable."

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Chemical Neurowarfare

From Ryan Sager - Neuroworld:

Imagine a future where the Iranian regime didn’t need to spend weeks in the streets beating, killing, and jailing protesters to put down the reform movement. Imagine in this future that the beatings would be replaced with something gentler, but ultimately more sinister: non-lethal, weaponized drugs designed to decrease aggression and increase trust.

That’s the future imagined and fretted over in an opinion piece (non-gated, samizdat version here) and editorial (PDF) in the current issue of Nature.

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My Comment: Chemical weapons .... but with a twist. This is a fascinating article, and probably more real than we think.

This reminds me of an article that was published in The Telegraph last year titled .... Future wars 'to be fought with mind drugs'.