America's 'Most Dangerous Fault'

From The BBC:

It's a big white building on Mission Boulevard. You can't miss it; the Art Deco style is really striking. The grass is trimmed and it all looks perfectly inviting, except this is a lock-out.

The first Hayward City Hall in California has long been off-limits to occupants because its foundations sit right atop an earthquake fault and it's gradually splitting in two.

"Look up at the stairwell," says geologist Russ Graymer, as we peer through a window.

"There are huge cracks, several centimetres broad and many metres long - basically showing the evidence that this building is being torn in half."

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Being Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking

From Discovery:

Sir John Maddox, twice the editor of the journal Nature, was one of the most thoughtful voices in science journalism of the past five decades. He died on April 12 of this year, but his spirit lives on in this unique appreciation of Stephen Hawking, appearing in publication for the first time. Also see the related look at Hawking's recent work, "Stephen Hawking Is Making His Comeback."

On November 30 of 2006, in the august premises of the Royal Society of London, I had dinner with professor Stephen Hawking. To boast of having had dinner with Hawking creates a false impression. The circumstances were these. Since the summer I had been badgering the “graduate assistant to Professor Hawking” for an interview. Early in November, word came that Hawking was to receive the Copley Medal, the most venerable of the Royal Society’s gifts. I was invited; the date was plainly a license to join the scrum around the wheelchair after the group photographs had been taken.

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Why The Mafia Study Gangster Movies

From The Guardian:

Life imitates art as mob members avidly watch The Godfather to find out how to do their jobs.

Bada-bing. For some people, The Godfather is no mere movie but a manual – a guide to living the gangster's life. They lap up all that stuff about going to the mattresses and sleeping with the fishes. The famous scene in which a mafia refusenik wakes up next to a horse's head may be macabre make-believe, but in some quarters it's treated like a tutorial.

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Dementia Risk Seen in Players in N.F.L. Study

New England Patriots' linebacker Ted Johnson, left, listens to coach Pepper Johnson during an afternoon training camp in 2001. Charles Krupa/Associated Press

From New York Times:

A study commissioned by the National Football League reports that Alzheimer’s disease or similar memory-related diseases appear to have been diagnosed in the league’s former players vastly more often than in the national population — including a rate of 19 times the normal rate for men ages 30 through 49.

The N.F.L. has long denied the existence of reliable data about cognitive decline among its players. These numbers would become the league’s first public affirmation of any connection, though the league pointed to limitations of this study.

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The Next Generation Of Stealth

A cloaking device is made of copper rings, each surrounded by 10 layers of meta-material. (© Duke Photography www.dukephoto.duke.edu)

Now You See It, Now You Don’t -- Air & Space Smithsonian

Blinding us with science: the next generation of stealth.

Look down a long stretch of highway on a summer afternoon and in the distance a pool of water seems to wait for you, glistening under the hot sun. It’s only an illusion—Mother Nature’s version of a practical joke. The difference in density between the asphalt-heated air near the surface and the cooler air above acts like a lens, bending light waves as they pass from one layer to the next to reflect the blue sky and hide both the blacktop and any vehicles at the far end of the road behind a shimmering curtain.

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My Comment: The technical geek inside of me loves stories like this one .... makes you wonder what the ultimate limits to stealth are.

Clown Blastes Into Space

Rocket Carrying Cirque Du Soleil Founder Guy Laliberté Blasts Off -- Montreal Gazette

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan — The billionaire founder of Cirque du Soleil Wednesday blasted off on a Russian rocket to bring his trademark humour and acrobatic energy into the ultra-serious world of space flight.

Guy Laliberté, 50, a Canadian citizen, had spent millions from a personal fortune on his two week visit to the International Space Station (ISS) but he could be the last such "space tourist" for several years.

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Canadian space tourist and founder of Cirque du Soleil Guy Laliberte jokes during space suit testing prior to his blast off from a Russian leased Kazakh Baikonur cosmodrome on September 30, 2009 in a Russian Soyuz TMA-16 rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) together with Russian cosmonaut Maxim Surayev and a U.S. astronaut Jeff Williams. Photograph by: Alexander Nemenov, AFP/Getty Images

More News On Today's Space Launch

Cirque de Soleil owner Guy Laliberte becomes first clown in space -- Times Online
Canadian circus billionaire heads to space station -- AP
Clown takes giant leap into space -- AFP
A Billionaire Clowns Around In Space -- Forbes
Cirque de Soleil boss in space -- The Sun
Canadian circus tycoon is 7th pay-for-play space traveler -- USA Today
'Clown' space tourist blasts off -- BBC
Circus tycoon Guy Laliberté becomes first clown in space -- The Guardian

Samoan Tsunami Caused By 'Shallow Quake'

(Click to Enlarge)
A map showing the effects of an 8.3-magnitude earthquake and its resultant tsunami
on Samoa and American Samoa.(Source: Google)

From ABC News (Australia):

Scientists say the tsunami that devastated the islands of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga was the result of a shallow rupture in the earth's crust.

The earthquake, which was measured as high as 8.3 on the Richter scale, occurred 190 kilometres southwest of American Samoa.

Gary Gibson, a senior seismologist at Environmental Systems and Services in Melbourne, says the region experiences several magnitude 7 earthquakes each year, but a magnitude 8 is quite rare.

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Air Pollutants From Abroad A Growing Concern, Says New Report

The MODIS sensor aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite observed a heavy pall of pollution (gray pixels) over much of eastern China in this image from 2003. Plumes of harmful air pollutants can be transported across oceans and continents -- from Asia to the United States and from the United States to Europe -- and have a negative impact on air quality far from their original sources. (Credit: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Sep. 30, 2009) — Plumes of harmful air pollutants can be transported across oceans and continents -- from Asia to the United States and from the United States to Europe -- and have a negative impact on air quality far from their original sources, says a new report by the National Research Council. Although degraded air quality is nearly always dominated by local emissions, the influence of non-domestic pollution sources may grow as emissions from developing countries increase and become relatively more important as a result of tightening environmental protection standards in industrialized countries.

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Clock Turned Back On Aging Muscles, Researchers Claim

Young, healthy muscle (left column) appears pink and red. In contrast, the old muscle is marked by scarring and inflammation, as evidenced by the yellow and blue areas. This difference between old and young tissue occurs both in the muscle's normal state and after two weeks of immobilization in a cast. Exercise after cast removal did not significantly improve old muscle regeneration; scarring and inflammation persisted, or worsened in many cases. Credit: Morgan E. Carlson and Irina M. Conboy, UC Berkeley

From Live Science:

Scientists have found and manipulated body chemistry linked to the aging of muscles and were able to turn back the clock on old human muscle, restoring its ability to repair and rebuild itself, they said today.

The study involved a small number of participants, however. And the news is not all rosy.

Importantly, the research also found evidence that aging muscles need to be kept in shape, because long periods of atrophy are more challenging to overcome. Older muscles do not respond as well to sudden bouts of exercise, the scientists discovered, and rather than building muscle a person can generate scar tissue upon, say, lifting weights after long periods of inactivity.

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Environmentalists Battle Over Toilet Paper

Photo: (iStockphoto)

From CBS News:

Washington Post: Groups Say Soft Toilet Paper May be Hard on the Earth, But Consumers May Not Buy the Alternative.

There is a battle for America's behinds.

It is a fight over toilet paper: the kind that is blanket-fluffy and getting fluffier so fast that manufacturers are running out of synonyms for "soft" (Quilted Northern Ultra Plush is the first big brand to go three-ply and three-adjective).

It's a menace, environmental groups say -- and a dark-comedy example of American excess.

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Everything We Know About Apple’s Touchscreen Tablet

From Gadget Lab:

It’s looking more and more likely that Apple will release a 10-inch tablet computer in early 2010.

Even if you’re sick of Apple tablet rumors, we promise you’ll like this one. The latest update comes from a tipster with a solid track record, which reinforces previous reports that Apple will deliver a tablet in early 2010. The tipster also shares details on the rumored product’s specifications.

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SETI At 50: 10 Key Moments In The Search For Extraterrestrial Life

In 2015, Voyager 1 will become the first man-made object to leave the solar system
Photo: NASA

From The Telegraph:

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or SETI, is 50 years old this month. We look at 10 memorable events in the search for life on other planets.

SETI was founded in response to a September 1959 Nature journal article, “Searching for Interstellar Communication”, which suggested that a systematic search for alien life was worthwhile.

Since then, it has spent 50 years listening to the stars with radio telescopes, and at times trying to send messages of its own to other planets.

Here are 10 of the most significant events in mankind’s search for other life.

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The Speech Safire Wrote For Nixon If Apollo 11 Astronauts Were Stranded On The Moon.

From Boing Boing:

Columnist and conservative speechwriter William Safire died yesterday at age 79. Here is the speech he drafted for President Nixon to read in the event that Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong found themselves stranded to die on the moon. I am happy to note that Messrs. Aldrin and Armstrong are all still alive (as is Michael Collins, who orbited the moon while his colleagues walked on her surface). William Safire's Finest Speech. (Gawker, via Scott Beale)

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Huge 507-Carat Diamond Found In South African Mine

Petra Diamonds chief executive Johan Dippenaar holds a white diamond weighing 507.55 carats.

From New York Daily News:

JOHANNESBURG - Petra Diamonds Ltd. says a diamond the size of a chicken egg has been found at South Africa's Cullinan mine.

The diamond may be among the world's top 20 high-quality gems.

It was discovered Thursday at the mine northeast of Pretoria, South Africa.

Johan Dippenaar, the company's chief executive said in a statement Tuesday that the 507.55-carat gem was of "exceptional color and clarity."

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Number Of Earth's Species Known To Scientists Rises To 1.9 Million

A twisted nudibranch, (Chromodoris Elizabethina), on the reef face off Heron Island, discovered by researchers last year. Photograph: Gary Cranitch/Queensland Museum

From The Guardian:

The world's most comprehensive catalogue of plants and animals has been boosted by 114,000 new species in the past three years.

The number of species on the planet that have been documented by scientists has risen to 1.9 million, according to the world's most comprehensive catalogue of plants and animals.

The new figure has been boosted by 114,000 new species discovered since the catalogue was last compiled by Australian researchers three years ago – a 6.3% increase.

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Moon Could Become The World's 'Service Station' Thanks To Abundance Of Oxygen And Hydrogen

With hydrogen and oxygen both abundant on the moon's surface, man may be able to have all the water and rocket fuel needed for space exploration

From The Daily Mail:

The discovery of water on the moon could pave the way for us to build a rocket refueling station up there.

For man to be able to make sustainable, affordable voyages in the solar system, we need a way to re-fuel off the planet.

Now, with the discovery of hydrogen and oxygen molecules - the components of water - on our neighbouring body, we may now have a staging post to explore the other planets.

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Can Wind Power Be Stored?

WIND IN A BOTTLE: From flywheels to batteries, companies are developing ways to store energy from renewable sources. FLICKR/THE RUSSIANS ARE HERE

From Scientific American:

Wind farms typically generate most of their energy at night, so how do you bottle that power to meet demand that is highest during the day?

Wind farms typically generate most of their energy at night, when most electricity demand is lowest. So a lot of that "green" energy is wasted.

So the big question is: How do you bottle that power for air conditioners and other appliances that are busiest during the day?

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High-heels Linked To Heel And Ankle Pain

New research suggests that the types of shoes women wear, specifically high-heels, pumps and sandals, may cause future hind-foot (heel and ankle) pain. (Credit: iStockphoto)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Sep. 29, 2009) — Women should think twice before buying their next pair of high-heels or pumps, according to researchers at the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife in a new study of older adults and foot problems.

The researchers found that the types of shoes women wear, specifically high-heels, pumps and sandals, may cause future hind-foot (heel and ankle) pain. Nearly 64 percent of women who reported hind-foot pain regularly wore these types of shoes at some point in their life.

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Parents Lie to Children Surprisingly Often

Photo from The Daily Mail

From Live Science:

Parents might say "honesty is the best policy," but when it comes to interacting with their own kids, mom and dad stretch the truth with the best of them, finds a new study.

From claiming the existence of magical creatures to odd consequences of kids' actions, parents often come up with creative tales to shape a child's behaviors and emotions.

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Transonic Hulls, Inspired by Racing Yachts, Could Add Stealth To Navy SEALs' Boats

Transonic Hull: Graham Murdoch

From Popular Science:

A knife-like boat design provides a covert, fuel-efficient ride.

An undercover team of Navy SEALs isn’t worth much if their transport boat’s wake betrays their approach. Nor does it help if they come ashore with back pain and possible organ damage from the boat’s constant bouncing. A sleek new hull design could help troops slip through waves undetected and unscathed, while also setting a new standard for efficient nautical design.

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