Staying Sane On A Research Ship In The Middle Of The Ocean

How To Stay Sane On A Ship In The Middle Of The Ocean -- Scientific American

The Knorr is a big ship as far as research vessels go – but there’s still no getting around the fact that you’re in a little metal box in the middle of the ocean with 47 other people for a month. Add to that the fact that most people are doing highly repetitive experiments all day (and I do mean all day, people get up at 5 am and work until 11 pm) and you’ve got a recipe for madness.

For the first week or so, everyone was calm and collected. They got up, they did the CTD casts, they worked, filtered, sequenced and experimented. There was chatter and laughter, but it always came in between long periods of intense science-doing late into the night. But the times, they are a changin’, and people are starting to loosen up (or perhaps go nuts, I don’t know).

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My Comment: I rather stay on a luxury yacht where my primary focus is on what to eat that day.

The Reason Why Tomatoes Are Flavorless Today

Getty Images

Your Tomatoes Are Flavorless, Right? Here's Why -- Time

There are two pieces of late-breaking news on the tomato beat this week. First of all, tomatoes have shoulders. Second, tomatoes taste lousy. If you're younger than 70, you probably already know about the lousy part. The shoulders are surely more of a surprise — but these are both key parts of a new study published in Science that explains what's going on in the sorry world of supermarket tomatoes and why they taste nothing like their sweet, flavorful cousins in the wild.

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My Comment: I disagree with the assertion that tomatoes taste lousy .... they taste great when mixed with something else.

How The Discovery Of The Higgs Boson Could Break Physics

Image: The giant detector for the CMS experiment, one of the main Higgs-searching experiments at the LHC. CMS collaboration/CERN

How The Discovery Of The Higgs Boson Could Break Physics -- Wired Science

If gossip on various physics blogs pans out, the biggest moment for physics in nearly two decades is just days away. The possible announcement on July 4 of the long-sought Higgs boson would put the last critical piece of the Standard Model of Physics in place, a crowning achievement built on a half-century of work by thousands of scientists. A moment worthy of fireworks.

But there’s a problem: The Higgs boson is starting to look just a little too ordinary.

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My Comment: We will have to wait until Wednesday for the full results to be announced.

Injecting Oxygen Into The Blood

Blood: Injecting oxygen into the bloodstream could help keep patients who cannot breathe alive while undergoing medical treatment

Scientist Invents Way To Keep People Alive Even When They Can't Breathe By Injecting Oxygen Into The Blood -- Daily Mail

Scientists have discovered a new way of administering oxygen to the blood which could allow people to stay alive without breathing.

The amazing breakthrough could change medical science by eliminating the need to keep patients breathing during complex operations.

The procedure, which works by injecting oxygen molecules enclosed in fatty molecules directly into the bloodstream, could grant people an extra 30 minutes of life when they cannot breathe.

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My Comment: The applications are enormous .... hurry up with the R&D.

Hints Of The Higgs Boson Detected Last Year By A US "Atom Smasher"

The Tevatron was shut down at the end of last year

US Sees Stronger Hints Of Higgs -- BBC

Hints of the Higgs boson detected last year by a US "atom smasher" have become even stronger, scientists have said.

The news comes amid fevered speculation about an announcement by researchers at the Large Hadron Collider on Wednesday.

Finding the particle would fill a glaring hole in the widely accepted theory of how the Universe works.

This 30-year hunt is reaching an end, with experts confident they will soon be able to make a definitive statement about the particle's existence.

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Privacy Is Big Business For Trial Lawyers

Legal discovery: The billboard is imaginary, but the trend is real. Trial lawyers are ramping up lawsuits over online privacy breaches. Flickr Creative Commons | AdamL212 and istock/stocknroll

Why Privacy Is Big Business For Trial Lawyers -- Technology Review

Tech companies that make privacy mistakes can expect a lawsuit.

During his career as a litigator, David A. Straite has sued money-losing hedge funds and polluting solar-panel makers. These days he has a new hunting ground: the Internet.

Over the last eight months, Straite, a partner at Stewarts Law, headquartered in London, has sued AT&T, Samsung, Facebook, and Google, alleging that the companies violated U.S. wiretapping laws and committed computer fraud when they tracked users on the Web or via their smart phones in ways that broke the companies' own privacy policies.

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My Comment: Privacy issues will be one of the key legal issues in the next decade or two .... and while companies will be targeted, I suspect that the worse abusers will be government .... and they will immune themselves from the law.

Five Millionth 'Test Tube Baby' Born

Louise Brown, pictured with her son, was the world's first test tube baby

Five Millionth 'Test Tube Baby' -- BBC

Five million "test tube babies" have now been born around the world, according to research presented at a conference of fertility experts.

Delegates hailed it as a "remarkable milestone" for fertility treatments.

The first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was born in the UK in July 1978. Her mother Leslie Brown died last month.

However, delegates at the conference in Turkey warned couples not to use fertility treatment as an "insurance policy" if they delayed parenthood.

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My Comment: Someone is keeping count?

Inside A Souped-Up Sci-Fi DeLorean

Inside Ecto88, Ernie Cline’s Souped-Up Sci-Fi DeLorean -- Underwire

Ernie Cline is just begging for a speeding ticket in his souped-up DeLorean, a slick ’80s ride that’s loaded with sci-fi-inspired gadgets.

Like many a car enthusiast, the Ready Player One author has seen the boys in blue in his rear-view mirror once or twice. But unlike most hot-modders, he’s got a flux capacitor in his car, which is tricked-out with gear inspired by not just Back to the Future but also Ghostbusters, Knight Rider and The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension.

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My Comment: This guy (nerd) clearly loves his car .... lucky guy.

Will Wearable Computing Be The Norm?

Babak Parviz (right) demos Project Glass on stage with Sergey Brin by his side. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

Google Glass Team: ‘Wearable Computing Will Be The Norm’ -- Wired

Even though I followed Google’s I/O Conference from across the country, the event made it obvious that a company created with a strict focus on search has become an omnivorous factory of tech products both hard and soft. Google now regards its developers conference as a launch pad for a shotgun spread of announcements, almost like a CES springing from a single company. (Whatever happened to “more wood behind fewer arrows”?)

But the Google product that threatened to steal the entire show probably won’t be sold to the public until 2014. This is the prosthetic eye-based display computer called Project Glass, which is coming out of the company’s experimental unit, Google[x]. Announced last April, it was dropped into the conference in dramatic fashion: An extravagant demo hosted by Google co-founder Sergey Brin involved skydivers, stunt cyclists, and a death-defying Google+ hangout. It quickly attained legendary status.

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My Comment: If not Google glasses .... some other version of it.

Witness To An Evaporating Exoplanet

Two Satellites See An Evaporating Exoplanet -- Popular Mechanics

A solar flare that erupted at just the right time and direction could disrupt long-distance phone calls here on Earth, or make TV signals drops out for a while. But that’s nothing compared to the pummeling one exoplanet takes from its home star.

Thanks to a rare moment of synchronicity between the Hubble and Swift satellites, researchers at NASA recorded the first observed change in the atmosphere of a planet outside of our solar system. The planet, called HD 189733b, received a rather rude shock from its home star.

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My Comment: That must be quite a sight to see.

God Particle Is 'Found'

The particle accelerator: It is within these tubes that physicists are hunting for the 'God' particle

God Particle Is 'Found': Scientists At Cern Expected To Announce On Wednesday Higgs Boson Particle Has Been Discovered -- Daily Mail

* Scientists 'will say they are 99.99% certain' the particle has been found
* Leading physicists have been invited to event - sparking speculation that Higgs Boson particle has been found
* 'God Particle' gives particles that make up atoms their mass

Scientists at Cern will announce that the elusive Higgs boson 'God Particle' has been found at a press conference next week, it is believed.

Five leading theoretical physicists have been invited to the event on Wednesday - sparking speculation that the particle has been discovered.

Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider are expected to say they are 99.99 per cent certain it has been found - which is known as 'four sigma' level.

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My Comment: I guess we will have to wait till Wednesday to find out.

Will 'Google Glasses Be Great For Point-Of-View Porn' ?

Extreme: The Glass demonstration was meant to prove that the device is ready for users to begin testing it and pushing its limits

'Google Glasses Will Be Great For Point-Of-View Porn': Adult Film Studio Wants To Get Mitts On Super-Specs - But Quite What Search Giant Will Think Is A Different Matter... -- Daily Mail

Google has unveiled its new Glasses projects - a pair of specs which can film your life from the point of view of your eyes.

So it is perhaps obvious why a pornography studio wants to get hold of a pair, to make a new type of adult film.

But quite what Google will think of the idea is another matter: indeed in their official unveiling on Wednesday, the search giant said the product would initially be offered to business, industrial and medical use.

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My Comment: I am looking forward to a "cheaper" version.

Computer Worm Opens A New Era Of Warfare

Stuxnet: Computer Worm Opens New Era Of Warfare -- CBS News/60 Minutes

(CBS News) The most pernicious computer virus ever known wasn't out to steal your money, identity, or passwords. So what was the intricate Stuxnet virus after? Its target appears to have been the centrifuges in a top secret Iranian nuclear facility. Stuxnet showed, for the first time, that a cyberattack could cause significant physical damage to a facility. Does this mean that future malware, modeled on Stuxnet, could target other critical infrastructure -- such as nuclear power plants or water systems? What kind of risk do we face in this country? Steve Kroft reports.

The following script is from "Stuxnet" which originally aired on March 4, 2012 and was rebroadcast on July 1, 2012. Steve Kroft is the correspondent. Graham Messick, producer.

For the past year, the nation's top military, intelligence and law enforcement officials have been warning Congress and the country about a coming cyberattack against critical infrastructure in the United States that could affect everything from the heat in your home to the money in your bank account. The warnings have been raised before, but never with such urgency, because this new era of warfare has already begun.

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My Comment: When it comes to cyber security, my number one worry is my money in my bank account. I always say that if one wants to focus attention to the dangers of a cyber attack .... start messing around with individual banking information .... trust me .... everyone will notice.

Church Of The Nativity Has Been Designated As An Endangered Site

A nun walks outside the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem June 28. Ammar Awad/REUTERS

UNESCO Designates Church Of The Nativity As Endangered Site -- Christian Science Monitor

Palestinian leaders consider the designation a political victory.

The Palestinians on Friday persuaded the U.N. cultural agency to list the Church of the Nativity — the place where Christians believe Jesus was born — as an endangered World Heritage site despite misgivings by churches in charge of the basilica.

The Palestinians hailed the nod by UNESCO as a step forward in their quest for global recognition of an independent Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967.

The centuries-old basilica is located in a part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank where the Palestinians have self-rule. UNESCO's decision was seen by them as validation of their rights to the territory.

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My Comment: Considering how important the site is ..... any steps to protect it are welcomed on my part.

Timbuktu Islamic Shrines Destroyed By Al Qaeda Linked Militants

Militants Destroy Timbuktu Islamic Shrines -- Voice of America

DAKAR -- In northern Mali, members of the Islamic militant group Ansar Dine are systematically destroying mausoleums and revered Muslim tombs in Timbuktu. UNESCO has listed the historic city as a World Heritage site for its ancient mosques and shrines.

Residents of Timbuktu told VOA that armed men from Ansar Dine began leveling the tombs early Saturday morning. The sites, including the tomb of 15th-century Muslim scholar Sidi Mahmoud, are considered sacred by the local population. Hardline Islamist groups like Ansar Dine regard such shrines as sacrilegious, but the sites are an important part of worship for Muslims around the world.

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More News On The Destruction of The Timbuktu Islamic Shrines By Al Qaeda Linked Militants

Ansar Dine fighters destroy Timbuktu shrines -- Al Jazeera
Mali: Islamists destroy Timbuktu heritage sites -- AP
Islamists destroy Timbuktu religious treasures‎ -- Euronews
Mali Islamists destroy Timbuktu shrines -- AFP
Islamic militants set fire to sacred tombs in Timbuktu -- CNN
Witnesses: Islamists destroy ancient sites in Timbuktu -- MSNBC
Islamists destroy rival holy shrines in Timbuktu, a UN heritage site -- Globe And Mail/Reuters
Militants Seek to Destroy Mali Shrines -- New York Times/Reuters

A Music-Robot Companion

Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback. (Credit: Image courtesy of Georgia Institute of Technology)

Musical Robot Companion Enhances Listener Experience -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (June 26, 2012) — Wedding DJs everywhere should be worried about job security now that a new robot is on the scene.

Shimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech's Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback. The smartphone-enabled, one-foot-tall robot is billed as an interactive "musical buddy."

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My Comment: Wow .... they have gone a long way on enhancing our appreciation for music.

France's Minitel To 'Go Dark'

Minitels like this one are set to go dark at the end of this week.

Minitel, France's Precursor To The Web, To Go Dark On June 30 -- Ars Technica

French fans bid "adieu" to the much loved dial-up 1980s-era computer terminals.

When I was in high school in the mid-1990s, I got to spend a few weeks with my French extended family at their country house east of Paris. Nearly each night, I watched my uncle stare into a small, old, dusty computer to monitor the results of the Tour de France. The little beige box had a fold-down keyboard and a pretty old-school text-only interface, even by mid-'90s standards. This was a Minitel.

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My Comment: I was approached by my business partner's associates to do a Quebec minitel version in Canada in the late 1980s. I declined for the same reason why it never evolved from where it developed in France .... too centralized and a limited list on what to visit.

U.S. Navy Caused 'Skyquake' Along San Diego County's Coastline

Getty Images

Navy Says It Caused Mysterious 'Skyquake' -- North County Times

After an initial couldn't-have-been-us denial, it turns out it was the military's fault after all.

A Navy spokesman confirmed late Friday that two Navy F/A-18 fighter jets went "supersonic," rattling doors and windows ---- and nerves ---- like an earthquake along San Diego County's coastline about 12:45 p.m. Friday.

The jets were showing off for about 2,000 family members and invited guests of sailors aboard the Carl Vinson during a daylong family cruise, said Lt. Aaron Kakiel, a spokesman for Naval Air Forces Pacific, at North Island Air Station.

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My Comment: The original story is here. It must have been impressive to experience such a sonic quake .... especially for the spectators who were close.

Can A Vaccine Eliminate Nicotine's Addictive Traits?

Smoking Kills Challiyil Eswaramangalath Vipin via Wikimedia

With New Nicotine Vaccine, Cigarettes Give You No Pleasure -- Popular Science

By denaturing nicotine before it reaches the heart and brain, a new vaccine could mute the addictiveness of tobacco products

Nicotine addiction is a hard habit to break. But what if you could never get hooked in the first place? Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York report in the journal Science Translational Medicine that they have developed a potential vaccine for nicotine addiction. In mice, the vaccine inhibits the effects of nicotine before they reach the heart or brain, making it seem as though the nicotine never entered the bloodstream.

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My Comment: I wonder if this science can also be used to eliminate the addictive properties of opiates like heroin?

It's The Nexus Generation

Future: Hugo Barra, director of product management of Google, unveils the Nexus 7 tablet today

It's The Nexus Generation: Google Hits The iPad Where It Hurts With Premium Tablet For Just £159 (And For Once, UK Shoppers Are Not Getting Ripped Off!) -- Daily Mail

* More than one million Android devices are purchased every single day
* No more 'dollars = pounds': Google gives 'Rip-Off Britain' a fair price compared to U.S.

Google has taken the battle to Apple in the tablet market, introducing a premium tablet for a 'bargain bucket' rate.

The seven-inch Google Nexus tablet, which goes on sale in three weeks, will cost $199 in the U.S. and just £159 in the UK.

It is a rare example of UK shoppers not being burnt by the usual tactic of companies - which usually simply switch the dollar sign for a pound sign.

The extremely competitive pricing may well lure Apple fans away from the iPad, which starts at $399 in the U.S. and £399 in the UK.

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My Comment: I like Apple's large screen ... so i guess I am still an Apple customer.