A Genetic Link To Memory

Scientists have advanced understanding of the genetic components of Alzheimer's disease and of brain development. (Credit: © adimas / Fotolia)

Memory In Adults Impacted By Versions Of Four Genes -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Apr. 15, 2012) — Two research studies, co-led by UC Davis neurologist Charles DeCarli and conducted by an international team that included more than 80 scientists at 71 institutions in eight countries, has advanced understanding of the genetic components of Alzheimer's disease and of brain development. Both studies appear in the April 15 edition of the journal Nature Genetics.

The first study, based on a genetic analysis of more than 9,000 people, has found that certain versions of four genes may speed shrinkage of a brain region involved in making new memories. The brain area, known as the hippocampus, normally shrinks with age, but if the process speeds up, it could increase vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease, the research suggests.

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My Comment: I am approaching that age where memory is becoming an issue .... so faster please.

A Genetic Link Between Brains And Intelligence

In studying a gene that drives cell growth, Project ENIGMA scientists found a variant that boosted gene expression levels (shown as colored dots), which also enlarged the brain's memory centers (shaded in green). CREDIT: UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging

Specific Genes Linked To Big Brains and Intelligence -- Live Science

Brain size and smarts are, to some extent, genetic — and now, a team of more than 200 researchers has uncovered specific genes that are linked to both brain volume and IQ.

Though scientists have suggested bigger brains are "smarter," this study is the strongest case yet for a genetic connection to brain size and to IQ. Of course, brain size is not 100 percent correlated with a person's intelligence, and other factors, including connections between brain cells and even a person's experiences, play roles.

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My Comment: Hmmmm .... bigger brain .... greater intelligence.

Latest Advancements To The Military Robot (And Family) Designed To Replicate A Human

Climbing Stairs And Push Ups: The Latest Advancements To The Military Robot (And Family) Designed To Replicate A Human -- Daily Mail

What could be more intimidating than a military-crafted robot? How about one that can walk on two legs and in its latest advancement, do push ups and climb stairs?

With funding by the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Project Agency the walking two-legged PETMAN humanoid robot has been advanced to do just that - and quite possibly faster than many Americans can, while certainly not expressing their fatigue.

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Vatican And Oxford Libraries Announce Joint Digital Conversion Of Some Manuscripts, Books

The "Historia naturalis" [Italian] Historia naturale (Venice Nicolaus Jenson, 1476) is one of the items to be digitized during the collaboration of the Bodleian Libraries and the Vatican. Courtesy Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford / MCT

Vatican And Oxford Libraries Announce Joint Digital Conversion Of Some Manuscripts, Books -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — More world literature just got its door kicked open digitally. For the first time scholars will be able to compare material kept in the separate collections for centuries.

The Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana and the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford have announced a 4-year project to convert some of their important holdings into digital form for all to see — even if readers can’t understand the Medieval Latin, ancient Greek or Hebrew the documents are written in.

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My Comment: The y are finally getting onto the band-wagon when it comes to digital libraries .... a few years late.

Building A Supercomputer That Will Simulate The Entire Mind

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Scientists To Build 'Human Brain': Supercomputer Will Simulate The Entire Mind And Will Help Fight Against Brain Diseases -- Daily Mail

* The 'brain' will take 12 years to build
* It will feature thousands of three-dimensional images built around a semi-circular 'cockpit'

The human brain’s power could rival any machine. And now scientists are trying to build one using the world’s most powerful computer.

It is intended to combine all the information so far uncovered about its mysterious workings - and replicate them on a screen, right down to the level of individual cells and molecules.

If it works it could be revolutionary for understanding devastating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and even shedding light into how we think, and make decisions.

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My Comment: 12 years to build .... hmmmm .... faster please.

Yahoo Mulls Plan To Put ADVERTS In eBooks

Birds Eye Fish Fingers: Could nautically themed books be 'brought to you' by brands such as Birds Eye?

Moby Dick (Brought To You By Cap'n Birdseye): Yahoo Mulls Plan To Put ADVERTS In eBooks -- Dialy Mail

* Video ads WITHIN text of books
* Words could even be inserted into text of novels
( Two patent applications submitted in U.S. last week

Yahoo is investigating plans to put adverts inside ebooks on devices such as Amazon's Kindle or Apple's iPad.

The idea could lead to increased product placement on modern novels - or books offered for free in exchange for adverts within the text.

Adverts could range from simple sponsorship - 'Oliver Twist is brought to you by Scots Porage Oats', to videos within the text.

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My Comment: Smart .... very smart. This is a cool war for online libraries to make money on their products.

Web Freedom May Be A Thing Of The Past

Web Freedom Faces Greatest Threat Ever, Warns Google's Sergey Brin -- The Guardian

Exclusive: Threats range from governments trying to control citizens to the rise of Facebook and Apple-style 'walled gardens'.

The principles of openness and universal access that underpinned the creation of the internet three decades ago are under greater threat than ever, according to Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

In an interview with the Guardian, Brin warned there were "very powerful forces that have lined up against the open internet on all sides and around the world". "I am more worried than I have been in the past," he said. "It's scary."

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My Comment: He is right, and the push to limit the freedoms that we enjoy on the internet are expanding.

The World's Internet Powerhouse Is Estonia

How Tiny Estonia Stepped Out Of USSR's Shadow To Become An Internet Titan -- The Guardian

The European country where Skype was born made a conscious decision to embrace the web after shaking off Soviet shackles.

In 1995, four years after Estonia broke free from the USSR, Toomas Hendrik Ilves read a "very Luddite" book by Jeremy Rifkin called The End of Work. "It argued that with greater computerisation there would be fewer jobs," remembered Ilves, then a senior diplomat, now the country's president, "which from his point of view was terrible."

Ilves and many of his colleagues saw it differently. In a tiny (population: 1.4 million) and newly independent country like Estonia, politicians realised computers could help quickly compensate for both a minuscule workforce and a chronic lack of physical infrastructure.

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My Comment: They may have a dominant position now .... but threats to the internet as we know it may change this.

Israel's Other Temple

Graphic: The land of the Samaritans and the Jews.

Israel's Other Temple: Research Reveals Ancient Struggle Over Holy Land Supremacy -- Spiegel Online

The Jews had significant competition in antiquity when it came to worshipping Yahweh. Archeologists have discovered a second great temple not far from Jerusalem that predates its better known cousin. It belonged to the Samaritans, and may have been edited out of the Bible once the rivalry had been decided.

Clad in gray coat, Aharon ben Ab-Chisda ben Yaacob, 85, is sitting in the dim light of his house. He strikes up a throaty chant, a litany in ancient Hebrew. He has a full beard and is wearing a red kippah on his head.

The man is a high priest -- and his family tree goes back 132 generations. He says: "I am a direct descendent of Aaron, the brother of the prophet Moses" -- who lived perhaps over 3,000 years ago.

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My Comment: This proves once again how old and ancient the biblical lands are.

Did China Just Test A "Kill-Switch" For The Internet?

Image source: Kai Hendry/Flickr.com.

China’s Mysterious Internet Outage; Speculation Over A ‘Kill Switch’ -- ZDNeT

Summary: Temporary blackouts leave China’s Internet users unable to access many Chinese Web sites as well as other unblocked foreign sites. Chinese Telecoms deny any network issues.

At approximately 11am local time yesterday, Internet users around China reported significant Internet blackouts. Not only were they unable to access some Chinese sites, but also many foreign Web sites that had not previously been blocked.

The issue was not isolated to China. Web users in Hong Kong and Japan also reported issues with accessing Chinese sites. A number of explanations immediately came to light, with the most viable cause being the 8.7 magnitude earthquake in Indonesia on Wednesday, that might have damaged undersea cables.

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More News On The Internet Outage In China

New Clarity on China Internet Outage -- Wall Street Journal
Strange Internet Rumblings Coming From China -- Tech News World
Rumors Are Circulating About China's Internet 'Kill Switch' -- Business Insider
Chinese Internet Outage Raises Questions -- Epoch Times

My Comment: The manner and progression in which the internet was cut reminds me of how both Iran and Egypt cut their internet during the height of their uprisings. This was a Chinese kill-switch test .... and yes .... it was successful.

The Pentagon Wants Augmented Reality Displays

Startup Innovega will supply augmented-reality contact lenses and glasses to DARPA.
(Credit: Innovega)

Pentagon Eyes Augmented Reality Displays -- CNET

DARPA orders prototypes of Innovega's iOptik displays that use special contact lenses so a person can focus both on images shown on the lenses and far-away objects for augmented reality.

The Defense Department has reportedly ordered augmented-reality displays from startup Innovega, only a week after Google disclosed its own augmented-reality project.

Bellevue, Wash.-based Innovega has signed a contract to supply the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) with a prototype of its iOptik spectacles and accompanying contact lenses, Innovega's CEO Steve Willey told the BBC. The augmented-reality system could improve the awareness of soldiers in the field, he said.

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My Comment: This is far-out-there stuff.

Update: More here.

It's Not Easy To Lauch A Rocket

Why North Korea Sucks At Rocket Technology -- Danger Room

Rockets: They’ve been around for, oh, 70 years. But just because they’re senior citizens doesn’t mean they’re technologically decrepit. As North Korea’s latest failed rocket test shows, launching a rocket into space is still, well, rocket science.

To successfully launch a rocket into space — a necessary achievement for creating the intercontinental ballistic missiles that North Korea wants and breathless American politicians baselessly fear they’ll develop — you need expertise in lots of things. Lots of physics. Lots of safe handling of dangerous chemicals. And lots of experience.

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My Comment: During the heydays of the Soviet Union, my uncle worked in a division that was responsible for developing and assembling satellites, and then configuring them to be put on a rocket. Growing up I always pestered him about his job, and he mentioned to me more than once that assembling and successfully launching a rocket is an incredibly difficult engineering endeavor .... a fact that I am sure a few North Korean engineers are saying right now.

Google Drive Tipped Off By Lucidchart Slipup

(Credit: Google)

Oops! Impending Google Drive Tipped Off By Lucidchart Slipup -- CNET

Google Drive hasn't even been announced yet, but all signs point to the cloud-based storage service from the search giant getting that name.

Google is widely believed to be nearing the launch of a cloud-based storage service, and another leak seems to point to the company calling it Google Drive.

Venturebeat reporter Sean Ludwig yesterday came across a posting in Lucidchart, a service that lets people create free diagrams, pointing to Google Drive integration.

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Are Four Big Quakes In Two Days Connected?

The red star marks where the Sumatra quake hit. USGS

Are Four Big Quakes In Two Days Connected? -- MSNBC/Live Science

Shaking from Sumatra quake picked up by US seismic monitoring stations.

The 8.6-magnitude earthquake that hit off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia Wednesday was followed by several decent-size shakes along the west coast of North America, but researchers can't say for certain whether all the temblors were related.

It's possible, geophysicists say, that quakes off the coast of Oregon, Michoacan, Mexico, and in the Gulf of California ranging from magnitudes 5.9 to 6.9 on the Richter Scale had something to do with the large earthquake that struck near Indonesia. But the West Coast quakes were fairly standard for their location.

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Mu Comment: Talk about coincidences .... 4 major quakes in two days.

How The Stuxnet Virus Was Delivered To Infect Iran's Natanz Nuclear Facility

(Credit: CBS Interactive)

Report: Stuxnet Delivered To Iranian Nuclear Plant On Thumb Drive -- CBS News/CNET

(CNET) An Iranian double agent working for Israel used a standard thumb drive carrying a deadly payload to infect Iran's Natanz nuclear facility with the highly destructive Stuxnet computer worm, according to a story by ISSSource.

Stuxnet quickly propagated throughout Natanz -- knocking that facility offline and at least temporarily crippling Iran's nuclear program -- once a user did nothing more than click on a Windows icon. The worm was discovered nearly two years ago.

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More News On How The Stuxnet Virus Was Delivered to Infect Iran's Natanz Nuclear Facility

Stuxnet Loaded by Iran Double Agents -- ISSSource
Stuxnet worm reportedly planted by Iranian double agent using memory stick -- Ars Technica
The Stuxnet Virus At Iran's Nuclear Facility Was Planted By An Iranian Double Agent -- Business Insider
Stuxnet was planted by Israeli backed terrorists -- TechEye

My Comment: Why the leak now .... on the eve of the meeting between Iran's nuclear negotiator and the major powers.

Pentagon Wants Cyberweapons NOW

The U.S. Navy's Cyber Defense Operations Command U.S. Navy

Pentagon Announces New Strategy: Rapidly Develop Cyberweapons to Attack Specific Targets -- Popular Science

The Pentagon wants cyberweapons, and it wants them fast. Deftly recognizing that cyberweapons are nothing like the materiel of physical warfare, the DoD is devising a means to fast-track and field certain cyberweapons, some of which will take only days to go from development to deployment.

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My Comment: Why the rush? What are they not telling us?

Artificial Intelligence Will Soon Be Passing The Turing Test

Artificial Intelligence Could Be On Brink of Passing Turing Test -- Wired Science

One hundred years after Alan Turing was born, his eponymous test remains an elusive benchmark for artificial intelligence. Now, for the first time in decades, it’s possible to imagine a machine making the grade.

Turing was one of the 20th century’s great mathematicians, a conceptual architect of modern computing whose codebreaking played a decisive part in World War II. His test, described in a seminal dawn-of-the-computer-age paper, was deceptively simple: If a machine could pass for human in conversation, the machine could be considered intelligent.

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My Comment: Some would say that we are there already.

What Happened To The USS Scorpion?

USS Scorpion (SSN-589). Wikipedia

Experts Out To Solve Deep-Sea Mystery Of The USS Scorpion -- USA Today

Shipwreck disaster experts are calling for a deep-sea expedition to a lost U.S. nuclear attack sub, the USS Scorpion, in an effort to verify a new theory on what caused the Cold War vessel to sink.

The Scorpion was lost May 22, 1968, killing 99 men, about 400 miles south of the Azores Islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The sub has been inspected by undersea recovery teams, including a visit in 1985 by oceanographer Robert Ballard before his team's discovery of the Titanic shipwreck.

The cause of the sub's loss remains hotly disputed. A Navy Court of Inquiry found "the cause of the loss cannot be definitively ascertained."

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My Comment: I am surprised that it has taken them this long to make the decision to now go out and find the definitive answer on why did the USS Scorpion sink to the bottom of the Atlantic in 1968.

Life On Mars?

Viking 2 Lander image (dated Nov. 2, 1976) showing the rocks of Utopia Planitia in the background. NASA

Mars Viking Robots 'Found Life' -- Discovery News

Mathematical analysis adds to growing body of work questioning the negative results of a life-detection experiment 36 years ago.

* New results question the finding that the Mars Viking experiments did not find life.
* The analysis was based on studying the mathematically complexity of the experiment results.
* The idea is that living systems are more complicated than purely physical ones, a concept that can be represented mathematically.

New analysis of 36-year-old data, resuscitated from printouts, shows NASA found life on Mars, an international team of mathematicians and scientists conclude in a paper published this week.

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My Comment: One more reason on why we she go back.

The Building Blocks Of Future Planets Comes From Dying Stars

Dying Stars Are The Building Blocks Of Future Planets -- Red Orbit

Scientists report in a new study that they have solved a long-standing mystery about how dying stars release their precious matter, compounds that are an important ingredient in the building blocks of future planets.

Their discovery was made after observing the violent ends of three ‘red giants’ having their atmospheres ripped away by super winds containing dusty grains of silica, producing massive sandstorms in space. These grains were unexpectedly large in size for stellar wind particles, measuring nearly a micrometer across, the scientists said.

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My Comment: A zero sum universe.