India's Space Ambitions Taking Off

Indian Space Research Organisation, via European Pressphoto Agency

From Washington Post:

Nation plans astronaut-training center, manned space mission as it seeks higher profile.

PANNITHITTU, India -- In this seaside village, the children of farmers and fishermen aspire to become something that their impoverished parents never thought possible: astronauts.

Through community-based programs, India's space agency has been partnering with schools in remote areas such as this one, helping to teach students about space exploration and cutting-edge technology. The agency is also training thousands of young scientists and, in 2012, will open the nation's first astronaut-training center in the southern city of Bangalore.

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Gene-Makers Put Forward Security Standards

From Scientific American:

But few companies are willing to sign up yet.

Several gene-synthesis companies yesterday finalized a code of conduct that outlines how to screen orders for synthetic DNA that could be used for terrorist activities.

The code, which has been in the works from the International Association of Synthetic Biology (IASB) in Heidelberg, Germany, for a year and a half, reflects for the most part what has become common practice in gene-synthesis companies. Before filling orders, the firms compare the gene sequences with those from organisms on lists of pathogens, such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's select-agents list. Most companies then follow up 'hits' with human investigation of whether the match is valid and the purchaser is legitimate.

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The Hidden Uses of Everyday Explosives

Impact Study The slug and gunpowder have been removed from the cartridge, so it’s only the primer that’s going off when it’s hit from below by the point of a center punch (triggered by pulling a string from a safe distance). Mike Walker

From Popular Science:

When you stop and look, you may be surprised to find yourself surrounded by all kinds of explosives--some that detonate easier than dynamite.

The explosive C4, a favorite for everything from demolition to terrorism to action movies, is in fact one of the safest explosives. How can an explosive be safe? If it’s hard to set off by accident. C4 is so stable that you can light it with a match (it burns but does not explode) or shoot it (it splatters but does not explode). To go bang, it requires a detonator that produces both heat and shock.

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Shedding Light On The Cosmic Skeleton

Astronomers have tracked down a gigantic, previously unknown assembly of galaxies located almost seven billion light-years away from us. The discovery, made possible by combining two of the most powerful ground-based telescopes in the world -- ESO's Very Large Telescope and NAOJ's Subaru Telescope -- is the first observation of such a prominent galaxy structure in the distant Universe, providing further insight into the cosmic web and how it formed. This 3-D illustration shows the position of the galaxies and reveals the extent of this gigantic structure. The galaxies located in the newly discovered structure are shown in red. Galaxies that are either in front or behind the structure are shown in blue. (Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/Subaru/National Astronomical Observatory of Japan/M. Tanaka)

From The Science Daily:

Science Daily (Nov. 4, 2009) — Astronomers have tracked down a gigantic, previously unknown assembly of galaxies located almost seven billion light-years away from us. The discovery, made possible by combining two of the most powerful ground-based telescopes in the world, is the first observation of such a prominent galaxy structure in the distant Universe, providing further insight into the cosmic web and how it formed.

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Frozen, Hard To Reach, And Worth It

This photo was taken out the window of a NASA DC-8 research aircraft from 2,000 feet above the Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica on Oct. 21, 2009. Credit: NASA/Jane Peterson

From Live Science:

A recent photo captured by a NASA research airplane shows a giant iceberg in the Antarctic.

The photo, taken Oct. 21, was part of the space agency's Operation Ice Bridge airborne Earth science mission to study ice sheets, sea ice, and ice shelves at the bottom of the world.

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Fix Climate Change Or Else, Say Military Top Brass

From The New Scientist:

IF THE world fails to act soon on climate change, "preserving security and stability even at current levels will become increasingly difficult". That's the blunt message of a statement released in Washington DC (PDF) last week by 10 high-ranking military officials from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the US.

Preserving stability will become increasingly difficult if the world fails to act on climate change

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Software Listens For Hints Of Depression

Image: Signal processing: Researchers at Cogito Health are developing mathematical models to detect vocal cues that may signal depression. The last graph represents the software’s confidence level in determining depression, from the beginning to the end of a vocal recording. In this example, the data shows a very high likelihood of depression. Credit: Cogito Health

From Technology Review:

A large-scale trial will test whether software can identify depressed patients.

It's a common complaint in any communication breakdown: "It's not what you said, it's how you said it." For professor Sandy Pentland and his group at MIT's Media Lab, the tone and pitch of a person's voice, the length and frequency of pauses and speed of speech can reveal much about his or her mood.

While most speech recognition software concentrates on turning words and phrases into text, Pentland's group is developing algorithms that analyze subtle cues in speech to determine whether someone is feeling awkward, anxious, disconnected or depressed.

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Darwinian Evolutionary Theory Will Help Find Alien Life, Says NasaSscientist

Darwin's theory of evolution can help us find life on alien planets, says a Nasa scientist Photo: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS - IVO SHANDOR

From The Telegraph:

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution may give pointers in the search for alien life, says a Nasa astrobiologist.

In a talk marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species, a Nasa scientist said that Darwinian evolution will be the driving force of life anywhere in the universe, and we should use its predictions to decide where to look.

Dr John Baross, a researcher at the Nasa Astrobiology Institute, said: "I really feel that Darwinian evolution is a defining feature of all life.

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The Monster Devouring Us: Even The Men Who Created The Internet Are Beginning To Fear Its Power To Destroy Our Freedom

Caught in the web: The internet can track our location and habits and information stored from accessing websites could be used against you

From The Daily Mail:

Fast-forward 40 years. It is November 2049 and privacy is a distant memory.

Every telephone call you make, every text you send on your mobile phone, every email and videocall, every financial transaction is recorded, stored, analysed and can potentially be used against you.

Each waking hour you are also deluged with marketing calls and sales pitches - which pop up on your mobile, your hand-held computer and even in your car.

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Veterans Return To Iraq – Virtually

From The Independent:

Computer simulations could help soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder.

The haunting sound of an Islamic call to prayer echoes around you as you walk through the Iraqi town, litter blowing across the street and market traders standing next to their stalls. Glance down and your rifle comes into view, look to the right and you spot the Black Hawk helicopter.

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Can We Manipulate The Weather?

Unseasonal snowfall in Beijing, which scientists claim is the result of their geoengineering, November 2009. Photograph: ADRIAN BRADSHAW/EPA

From The Guardian:

Chinese scientists claim to be able to control the weather. But is so-called geoengineering more than wishful thinking? And, if so, should we be worried?

The unseasonal snow that fell on Beijing for 11 hours on Sunday was the earliest and heaviest there has been for years. It was also, China claims, man-made. By the end of last month, farmland in the already dry north of China was suffering badly due to drought. So on Saturday night China's meteorologists fired 186 explosive rockets loaded with chemicals to "seed" clouds and encourage snow to fall. "We won't miss any opportunity of artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from a lingering drought," Zhang Qiang, head of the Beijing Weather Modification Office, told state media.

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The Future Of Cars ( Preview )

Alina Novopashna, Corbis

From Scientific American:

Industry leaders look way down the road.

Key Concepts

* The car fleet of 2030 will use a patchwork quilt of different fuels and power trains, with some cars meant for short hops and city driving.
* As the years go by, vehicles will become increasingly connected to one another electronically,
for crash prevention and social networking. Driver distraction will be an ongoing concern.
* Whether cars that run on hydrogen fuel cells will be common in 20 years remains an open question.

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Ares' Continued Technical Problems And Money Troubles: Guest Analysis

From Popular Mechanics:

Space analyst Rand Simberg argues here that last week's test flight of the Ares I-X rocket, NASA's planned, vaunted crew-launch system, did little to stem the controversy over the program. The space agency claims that the flight was a success, providing data needed to retire some of the risk in the development of the eventual booster. But the flight was hardly flawless, Simberg says, and may have uncovered a previously unknown (or, at any rate, undiscussed) risk. Even with all of its technical issues—thrust oscillation, reduced performance margin, a gantry collision risk and now a risk during stage separation—the real problem of the program, Simberg argues, remains how much it will cost.

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As Space Collision Threat Looms, Pentagon Upgrades Its Monitoring of Satellites

Space Junk An artist's impression of space debris in low-Earth orbit. The U.S. government wants a better surveillance system to keep track of the thousands of space junk pieces. ESA

From Popular Science:

The U.S. Air Force has upgraded its ability to predict possible satellite collisions, as the risk from space debris increases.

Satellites currently must dodge an ever-growing gauntlet of other satellites and clouds of space debris, and this year the Pentagon has quietly upgraded its surveillance accordingly. The U.S. military announced yesterday that it now tracks 800 maneuverable satellites, compared to less than 100 prior to a February collision between an active U.S. satellite and a retired Russian communications satellite.

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Metabolic Syndrome Is A Killer

From Future Pundit:

High cholesterol isn't as dangerous as a combination of obesity, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar (insulin resistant diabetes).

The team, led by Assistant Clinical Professor of Public Health at Warwick Medical School Dr Oscar Franco, has discovered that simultaneously having obesity, high blood pressure and high blood sugar are the most dangerous combination of health factors when developing metabolic syndrome.

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Dark Matter And Dark Energy Make Up 95 Percent Of Universe, Detailed Measurements Reveal

The QUaD collaboration uses the 2.6-meter telescope shown here to view the temperature and polarization of the cosmic microwave background, a faintly glowing relic of the hot, dense, young universe. (Credit: Image courtesy of Nicolle Rager Fuller, NSF)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Nov. 3, 2009) — A detailed picture of the seeds of structures in the universe has been unveiled by an international team co-led by Sarah Church of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, jointly located at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University, and by Walter Gear, of Cardiff University in the United Kingdom. These measurements of the cosmic microwave background -- a faintly glowing relic of the hot, dense, young universe -- put limits on proposed alternatives to the standard model of cosmology and provide further support for the standard cosmological model, confirming that dark matter and dark energy make up 95% of everything in existence, while ordinary matter makes up just 5%.

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10 Failed Doomsday Predictions

Comets feature prominently in at least a couple notable doomsday scenarios. In fact nature may eventually destroy us with an icy space rock, but so far none of the predictions related to comets ­ or any other doomsday prognostications ­ have come true. Credit: stockxpert

From Live Science:

With the upcoming disaster film "2012" and the current hype about Mayan calendars and doomsday predictions, it seems like a good time to put such notions in context.

Most prophets of doom come from a religious perspective, though the secular crowd has caused its share of scares as well. One thing the doomsday scenarios tend to share in common: They don't come to pass.

Here are 10 that didn't pan out, so far:

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Ten Inventions That Changed The World

Winner: With 9581 votes, the medical X-ray radiograph was deemed the most important invention in the Science Museum.

From New Scientist:

To mark its centenary, in June the Science Museum in London had its curators select the 10 objects in its collection that had made the biggest mark on history. These then went to a public vote to find the most important invention of past centuries. Visitors to the museum and online voters cast nearly 50,000 votes. Find out the winners below.

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Stealthy Nanoparticles Attack Cancer Cells

Image: Cancer killers: Drug-laden nanoparticles (shown in pink) developed by BIND Biosciences have accumulated in a prostate-cancer cell (shown in green; cell nucleus in blue). The particles were designed to target prostate cancer cells. Scientists hope such particles will reduce side effects associated with chemotherapy. Credit: BIND Biosciences

From Technology Review:

Drugs embedded in special polymers can more effectively shrink tumors.

In a small manufacturing space on a Cambridge, MA, street dotted with biotech companies, Greg Troiano tinkers with a series of gleaming metal vats interweaved with plastic tubes. The vats are designed to violently shake a mix of chemicals into precise nanostructures, and Troiano's task, as head of process development at start-up BIND Biosciences, is to make kilograms of the stuff--a novel drug-infused nanoparticle. The company hopes the new drug-delivery system will diminish the side effects of chemotherapy while increasing its effectiveness in killing cancer.

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Guzzling Food Makes You Fat

Eating quickly makes you put on weight Photo: GETTY

From The Telegraph:

Eating quickly makes you put on weight because your stomach does not have time to tell your brain it is full, scientists find.

Researchers found that "wolfing down" your food slows and restricts the release of a special "full up" hormone in your stomach.

That means that you eat more food before the brain realises that your body has already had enough to eat.

The decreased release of these hormones, can often lead to overeating, the researchers concluded.

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