A New Source Of Energy From Superbugs?

Scientists have engineered a new super biofilm, a key component of which is Bacillus stratosphericus -- a microbe commonly found in high concentrations in Earth's stratosphere. (Credit: © Andrey Armyagov / Fotolia)

Stratospheric Superbugs Offer New Source of Power -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2012) — Bacteria normally found 30 kilometres above Earth have been identified as highly efficient generators of electricity.

Bacillus stratosphericus -- a microbe commonly found in high concentrations in the stratosphere -- is a key component of a new 'super' biofilm that has been engineered by a team of scientists from Newcastle University.

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My Comment: It's not going to happen .... 30k is too far away.

Intetnet Service Providers Warned By The FBI To Get Rid Of A Notorious Trojan Virus

FBI Plans To Shut Down Internet Servers Infected With Notorious Trojan -- New America

Computers experts around the world are warning that, in an attempt to stop the damage inflicted by a Trojan virus that has infected millions of computers worldwide, the FBI plans to shut down Internet Service Providers (ISPs) whose administrators have not yet cleared their systems of the malware.

As reported by PCWorld.com, in November 2011 the FBI shut down a network that a gang of criminal hackers in Estonia had launched to infect servers with the notorious DNSChanger Trojan — a virus that redirects computers from legitimate online destinations to phony websites that launch online ads that generated revenue for the hackers. The Trojan is sophisticated enough to prevent computers infected with the virus from visiting websites with the tools available to remove the problem.

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My Comment: The FBI getting involved? Isn't this a bit of an overkill?

DARPA's Plan To Revolutionize Auto Manufacturing

Adaptive Vehicle Make: DARPA's Plan To Revolutionize Auto Manufacturing -- Popular Mechanics

The Pentagon's mad scientists aim to throw out the way vehicles are currently built and replace it with a model in which parts could be 3D-printed, designs will be entirely digital, and the wisdom of the crowd will design the military's next vehicle.
The defense research group DARPA wants better vehicles, and it wants them faster and cheaper. To make it happen, the Pentagon's mad scientists are taking a cue from computer-circuit builders.

During the 1980s, the integrated-circuit-manufacturing industry began a sea change away from the traditional manufacturing model: Design was separated from manufacturing as a stand-alone function, with designers outsourcing manufacturing to dedicated fabrication plants, or fabs. The result has been an industry more responsive to the rapid pace of innovation that we all know and love today.

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My Comment: So much for making the simple jeep.

Is Quantum Computing Possible?

Qubits in Liquid Helium D-Wave Systems Inc.

MIT Scientist Offers $100,000 to Anyone Who Can Prove Quantum Computing Is Impossible -- Popular Science

Scott Aaronson, a scientist at MIT who works mostly with theoretical quantum computers, issued a challenge to all of those deniers out there: prove that "scalable quantum computing is impossible in the physical world," and Aaronson will personally pony up $100,000 to the winner.

Aaronson works with quantum computing theory all day; sounds like he's sick of the constant chatter that quantum computing is not scalable, that the theory is purely theoretical. (Check out our interview with Seth Lloyd for a great beginner's guide to quantum computing.) There are as many skeptics as believers out there, so Aaronson is asking them to step up and prove that quantum computers will never be able to do useful work.

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A Blood Test For Depressions

Blood Test Could Someday Diagnose Depression. U.S. Navy

Study Of The Day: Blood Tests Can Accurately Diagnose Depression -- The Atlantic

PROBLEM: Depression has traditionally been diagnosed with a questionnaire that assesses patients' reported symptoms. This process varies greatly, however, since it relies heavily on the clinician's experience and resources.

METHODOLOGY: To test if an objective biological test could improve diagnosis accuracy, scientists recruited 36 adults with major depression and 43 healthy participants for a blood screening. They measured the levels of nine biomarkers associated with depressive symptoms, such as inflammation, the development and maintenance of neurons, and the interaction between brain structures involved with stress response and other key functions.

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Update: Depression Can Be Diagnosed With a Blood Test -- Popular Science

My Comment: The value of such a test in diagnosing our vets who suffer from depression are obvious.

Nanodust Explosives?

Dust Causes Explosions, And Apparently Nanodust Causes Mega-Explosions -- Popular Science

Along with annoyingly adhering to your TV screen and tabletops, dust can be a deadly material, exploding with enormously destructive force in places like coal mines, sugar refineries and grain silos. The explosive properties of normal dust are pretty well known, but what about non-traditional dust? Not all dusts are created equal — and dust derived from the materials of the future could present a very different type of danger.

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My Comment: One more worry to worry about.

What Eases Pain Of Financial Loss

Brain Study Finds What Eases Pain Of Financial Loss -- Yahoo News/Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Financial market traders and keen gamblers take note. Scientists have found that a chemical in the region of the brain involved in sensory and reward systems is crucial to whether people simply brush off the pain of financial losses.

Scientists say the study points the way to the possible development of drugs to treat problem gamblers and sheds light on what may have been going on in the brains of Wall Street and City of London traders as the 2008 financial crisis took hold.

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A Bill Of Rights For Dolphins?

Flippin' heck: A coalition of scientists are calling for a bill of rights to protect dolphins like bottlenose Fungie who loves to entertain sightseers in boats in Dingle, Ireland

A Bill Of Rights For Dolphins: They're So Smart We Must Treat Them As 'Non Human Persons' Say Scientists -- Daily Mail

Dolphins are so intelligent that they should be thought of as ‘non-human persons’ and given their own bill of rights, it is claimed.

A coalition of scientists, philosophers and animal welfare groups have come up with a declaration of dolphin rights which they hope will one day be enshrined in law.

This would stop them being kept in zoos and waterparks, and being attacked by fishermen.

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My Comment: One can also make the case for whales.

Breakthrough In The Development Of A Single-Atom Transistor

Physicists Foretell Quantum Computer With Single-Atom Transistor -- Wired Enterprise

Physicists at Purdue University and the University of New South Wales have built a transistor from a single atom of phosphorous precisely placed on a bed of silicon, taking another step towards the holy grail of tech research: the quantum computer.

Revealed on Sunday in the academic journal Nature Nanotechnology, the research is part of a decade-long effort at the University of New South Wales to deliver a quantum computer — a machine that would use the seemingly magical properties of very small particles to instantly perform calculations beyond the scope of today’s classical computers.

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More News On The Development Of A Single-Atom Transistor

Less is more: Scientists create the 'perfect' single-atom transistor in dream computing breakthrough -- Daily Mail
Transistor Made Using a Single Atom May Help Beat Moore's Law -- SFGate/Bloomberg
Transistor made from single atom -- CBC News
Eureka! A single-atom transistor -- Asia One
Single-atom transistor may help beat Moore's Law -- Economic Times
Scientists Shrink Transistor To Size Of Atom -- SKY News
Quantum computing a step closer -- Boston Globe/New York Times
Scientists make 'perfect' single-atom transistor -- News.com.au
Researchers from Purdue and UNSW take a step towards quantum computing -- The Tech Herald
Transistor Made of Single Atom -- Technorati

iPad3 Photos And Info Being Leaked

Latest iPad 3 Leaked Photos Suggest High-Res Display, Camera -- Digital Trends/Yahoo

In three separate incidences over the weekend, insiders have leaked iPad 3 photos alluding to the design and purported parts for the soon-to-be-released tablet. Here’s a look at the shots, where they came from, and what they tell us.

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My Comment: It looks very good.

Its Been 50 Years Since John Glenn Circled The Earth

50 Years Later, Celebrating John Glenn’s Feat -- New York Times

In the winter of 1962, the nation needed a hero.

Americans had yet to recover from the Soviet Union’s launching of the first spacecraft, Sputnik, in October 1957 — a rude jolt to our confidence as world leaders in all things technological. The space race was on.

Soon after he took office in 1961, President John F. Kennedy had thrown down the challenge to send men to the Moon by the end of the decade. But the Russians still set the pace, boastfully. They launched a dog into orbit, then the first man, Yuri A. Gagarin, and another, Gherman S. Titov.

The United States lagged, managing only two 15-minute suborbital astronaut flights — only five minutes of weightlessness each time.

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More News On John Glenn's Space Accomplishment 50 Years Ago

John Glenn reunites with 50-year-old Mercury team -- AP
John Glenn to mark 50 years since historic first orbit of Earth -- FOX News/AP
Fifty years on, Glenn's flight remains a giant leap -- CNET
John Glenn’s flight, 50 years ago, made history -- Washington Post
Glenn chats with space station to mark anniversary -- Miami Herald/McClatchyNnews
Feb. 20, 1962: Yank in Orbit -- This Day In Tech
John Glenn, 50 years later, and in poetry -- New York Daily News
John Glenn on anniversary of historic flight -- CBS News
John Glenn Frustrated on 50th Anniversary of Friendship 7 -- ABC News
Video: Mercury astronaut John Glenn recalls first orbit flight, 50 years ago -- Globe and Mail
A conversation with John Glenn -- CNET
Another John Glenn needed for U.S. space program -- Fred Grimm, Kansas City/The Miami Herald
Fifty years after Glenn flight, U.S. buying rides to space -- Reuters
John Glenn's fury over death of Nasa space programme -- The Telegraph

New Formula One Cars

2012 Ferrari Formula one car.

Formula One Gets Ugly -- Sydney Morning Herald

In 1954 Ferrari produced the 553 Squalo, an aggressive, thrusting Formula one car named in Italian for the shark it resembled. In 1962, it released a road car called 250 GT Lusso, or Italian for "beautiful".

For 2012, Ferrari has given us the less evocatively named Platypus. Or rather, almost the entire F1 field has earned the sobriquet thanks to their misshapen, stepped nose sections that promise some of the ugliest-looking Formula one cars in years. F1ugly, in fact.

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My Comment: Arghhhh ....

The Search For Dark Energy

The Dark Side Of The Universe -- The Economist

Scientists are trying to understand why the universe is running away from them.

AT FIVE tonnes and 520 megapixels, it is the biggest digital camera ever built—which is fitting, because it is designed to tackle the biggest problem in the universe. On February 20th researchers at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (pictured), which sits 2,200 metres (7,200 feet) above sea level in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, will begin installing this behemoth on a telescope called Blanco. It is the centrepiece of the Dark Energy Survey (DES), the most ambitious attempt yet to understand a mystery as perplexing as any that faces physics: what is driving the universe to expand at an ever greater rate.

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Will Diseases Soon Become 'Impossible To Treat'?

Experts Fear Diseases 'Impossible To Treat' -- The Independent

Alarming rise in bacteria resistant to antibiotics, Government report finds.

Britain is facing a "massive" rise in antibiotic-resistant blood poisoning caused by the bacterium E.coli – bringing closer the spectre of diseases that are impossible to treat.

Experts say the growth of antibiotic resistance now poses as great a threat to global health as the emergence of new diseases such as Aids and pandemic flu.

Professor Peter Hawkey, a clinical microbiologist and chair of the Government's antibiotic-resistance working group, said that antibiotic resistance had become medicine's equivalent of climate change.

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Project Avatar

Image: 20th Century Fox

Project Avatar: U.S. Military Researches Ways For Soldiers To Control Robot 'Surrogates' Using Just Their Minds -- Daily Mail

The U.S. military is researching ways for its troops can use their minds to remotely control androids who will take human soldiers' place on the battlefield.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), the Pentagon's hi-tech research arm, has earmarked $7million for research into the project, nicknamed Avatar.

The ultimate goal of the project sounds, bizarrely, much like the fantastical plot of the the film of the same name.

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Update: Pentagon’s Project ‘Avatar’: Same as the Movie, but With Robots Instead of Aliens -- Danger Room

My Comment: This has applications not only on the military .... but on everything else.

Despite Bio-Terrorism Fears, H5N1 Research Will Be 'Eventually' Published

An image taken through an electronic microscope of the H5N1 virus, also known as the "bird flu." Virologist Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam has developed a new mutation of the H5N1 virus. Outside the lab, the disease has only been transmitted from animals to humans. Fouchier's mutation makes it airborne, creating the possibility of human-to-human transmission. CDC / dapd

WHO Delays Hugely Significant Decision On Whether To Publish Details Of Lethal Man-Made Flu That Could Kill Half The People It Infects -- Daily Mail

* H5N1 bird flu virus kills half of humans that contract it
* Research into more contagious forms of virus
* Editor says 'we have to publish in complete form'
* Insists publication is essential to create vaccine

The World Health Organisation has delayed its decision as to whether controversial research into a dangerous new man-made mutant form of the bird flu virus should be made public.

Scientists, health officials and science journal editors have this week been locked in talks on whether the study should be released amid fears it could be exploited by bioterrorists.

The controversial research shows how to make a mutant strain of the H5N1 virus, which kills roughly half of those who contract it, more contagious.

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More News On The Decision To Delay The Publication Of H5N1 Research By A Few More Months

Despite Safety Worries, Work on Deadly Flu to Be Released -- New York Times
WHO on bird flu research: Publish in full... someday -- L.A. Times
Bird flu study to be published in full, but after delay -- CBC
WHO meeting calls for mutant-flu research to be published ‘in full.’ -- Nature
Journal's concern over bird flu research -- BBC
Avian Flu Experts Agree ‘Pauses’ on Publication, Research Should Continue -- Wall Street Journal
Experts delay call on releasing controversial H5N1 work -- BBC
Bird flu research to be published in full -- New Scientist
Bird Flu Paper Publication Delayed -- The Scientist
Mutant Bird Flu Studies Should Be Revealed in Full, Experts Say -- Live Science
Scientists weigh terror threat against public health in publishing dilemma -- Globe And Mail
Larger discussion needed on viruses that can help and harm, expert says -- Margaret Munro, Postmedia News

Are Ocean Plankton Impacting Earth's Climate?

Maria Maldonado of the University of British Columbia argues that understanding the chemistry of phytoplankton is key to controlling Earth's climate

Are Ocean Plankton The Key Ingredient That Decides The Future Of Earth's Climate? -- Daily Mail

* Phytoplankton provide half planet's oxygen
* Can soak up 45 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year
* CO2 'buried' in deep ocean for centuries
Tiny ocean 'phytoplankton' have a huge impact on Earth's climate - and understanding them could be key to the planet's future health.

Canadian scientist Maria Maldonado is researching why the phytoplankton thrive in some areas, and how they survive in areas with hostile conditions.

The tiny single-celled algae soak up 45 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year - transferring 16 billion tons to the deep ocean. They provide half the planet's oxygen supply.

Understanding them is vital to understanding - and regulating - our planet's health, Maldonado says.

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'Genius' Computer With An IQ Of 150

Artificial intelligence? The high-IQ software uses a mix of computer logic and 'human like' thinking to achieve higher scores than previous software

'Genius' Computer With An IQ Of 150 Is 'More Intelligent' Than 96 Per Cent Of Humans -- Daily Mail

* Software uses mixture of logic and 'human-like' thinking
* Score is classified as 'genius'
* It could 'spot patterns' in financial data

A computer has become the first to be classed as a 'genius' after scoring 150 in an IQ test.

The average score for people is 100. A score of 150 ranks the artificial intelligence programme among the top four per cent of humans.

The programme uses a mixture of mathematical logic and 'human-like' thinking, enabling it to outperform previous software on IQ tests.

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Tweaking The Fracking Process To Prevent Environmental Damage

Men with Cabot Oil and Gas work on a natural gas valve at a hydraulic fracturing site in South Montrose, Penn. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, stimulates gas production by injecting wells with high volumes of chemical-laced water in order to free up pockets of natural gas below.

It's Not Fracking's Fault, Study Says -- MSNBC

A university study asserts that the problems caused by the gas extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," arise because drilling operations aren't doing it right. The process itself isn't to blame, according to the study, released today by the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

The report is likely to add new fuel to a blazing controversy over fracking. Researchers reviewed the evidence contained in the reports of groundwater contamination from three prominent shale-rock formations where the process is employed: the Barnett Shale in North Texas, the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, New York and other areas of Appalachia; and the Haynesville Shale in western Louisiana and northeast Texas.

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The Future Of Energy In North America Is Tight Oil

A Cabot Oil and Gas natural gas drill is viewed at a hydraulic fracturing site on January 17, 2012 in Springville, Pennsylvania. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Tight Oil The Future Of Energy In North America -- Financial Post

Tight oil, the new oil source unlocked by new drilling technologies, is bearing such good results it could quickly compete with Canada’s oil sands as a top secure supply of North American oil.

With companies like Devon Energy Corp., Talisman Energy Inc., Encana Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. pushing big spending toward tight oil, analysts are ratcheting up their production forecasts for the supplies, which are largely based in the United States.

“Tight oil is changing the landscape in North America,” Steve Fekete, managing consultant at Purvin & Gertz, said at an oil sands industry conference in Calgary this week.

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