The Higgs Boson: Why You Should Care About The God Particle.

Scientists have identified the Higgs boson using the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Image credit: CERN

The Higgs Boson: Why You Should Care About the God Particle. And, Sadly, Why You Don't -- Forbes

Here’s what you need to know about the God Particle.

The Higgs boson (Higgs is a guy’s name, BTW, and a boson is a subatomic particle) is the biggest scientific discovery of the 21st Century. Period.

This discovery is up there with Copernicus. If we did not find the Higgs boson, everything that we understood about how the universe works would have been wrong. We would have had nice equations that describe things we observed in the world, but they would have been crap. That would have been $10 billion flushed down the toilet with the creation of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and we would have gone back to the drawing board with our tail between our legs after fifty years of an aimless pursuit.

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Finding Buried Treasure

Exciting: Silver and gold, pictured here among the coins, has been discovered by experts working on the record £10million coin hoard that was discovered in Jersey last week

Silver And Gold Discovered Among Record £10Million Jersey Hoard Of Coins That Date Back To Julius Caesar's Invading Army -- Daily Mail

Silver and gold has been discovered by experts working on the record £10million coin hoard that was discovered in Jersey last week.

The haul contains between 30,000 and 50,000 Celtic coins and was discovered by metal detector enthusiasts Reg Mead and Richard Miles.

They are currently in one solid mass and work is being carried out to evaluate what else is in the find.

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My Comment: Makes one wonder how many more hidden hoards of treasure exist in England.

Hot To Fix A Machine Infected With DNSChanger

If you see this or similar warnings when using Google or other services, then be sure to check your system for malware. (Credit: CNET)

How To Detect And Fix A Machine Infected With DNSChanger -- CNet

The FBI will be closing the DNSChanger network on Monday, after which thousands worldwide are expected to no longer be able to access the Internet.

On July 9, the FBI will close down a network of DNS servers that many people have been depending on for proper Internet access. These servers were originally a part of a scam where a crime ring of Estonian nationals developed and distributed a malware package called DNSChanger, but which the FBI seized and converted to a legitimate DNS service.

This malware scam has been widespread enough that even third-party companies like Google and Facebook and a number of ISPs like Comcast, COX, Verizon, and AT&T have joined in the effort to help remove it by issuing automatic notifications to users that their systems are configured with the rogue DNS network.

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My Comment: If you are reading this, your computer is probably clean.

Remembering Sergio Pininfarina Who Designed Classic Ferraris

Sergio Pininfarina, left, and Renzo Carli. Pininfarina was responsible for the sleek shapes of Ferraris and many other sports cars. (European Pressphoto Agency / July 3, 2012)

Sergio Pininfarina Dies At 85; Designed Classic Ferraris -- L.A. Times

Pininfarina's firm, based in Turin, Italy, was responsible for the Ferrari 250 and 500, the Dino and the Daytona. He was named an Italian senator for life.

Sergio Pininfarina, who headed a family company known for its designs of sleek Ferraris and other cars, has died. He was 85.

Pininfarina died Monday night at his home in Turin, the company announced Tuesday. No cause was given.

The company founded in 1930 designed cars for Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce and Volvo but is most closely associated with Ferrari, designing nearly all of its models since the 1950s.

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My Comment: His designs are still classic Ferrari.

Graphene Pores When water molecules (red and white) and sodium and chlorine ions (green and purple) encounter a sheet of graphene (pale blue, center) perforated by holes of the right size, the water passes through, but the sodium and chlorine of the salt are blocked. David Cohen-Tanugi/MIT

Graphene Sheets Can Be Turned Into the Best Filters Ever, For Desalination and Much More -- Popular Science

Add another item to the list of things one can accomplish using graphene, the wonder material of the future: Clean drinking water. Graphene could cheaply and easily remove salt from seawater, potentially turning the oceans into a vast drinking supply for thirsty populations. With properly sized holes, graphene sheets may be able to serve as all-purpose filters.

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My Comment: The possibilities and applications are endless.

Is A New Dust Bowl Forming In The U.S.?

Rising Temperatures and Drought Create Fears Of A New Dust Bowl -- Bryan Walsh, Time

Triple-digit days. Weeks with little to no rain. Soil crumbling away. Stunted corn stalks. Right now the fertile fields of the U.S. Midwest are experiencing corn-killing weather, with parts of five corn-growing states in the region experiencing severe or extreme drought. In at least nine states, one-fifth to one-half of cornfields are currently in poor or very poor conditions. And all of this comes after earlier expectations that corn farmers were going to produce a bumper crop this season, with 40 million hectares planted — the largest corn area in 75 years. Instead, we could see that crops wilt, as Darrel L. Good — a professor emeritus of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — told the New York Times:

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A Spectacular 15 Second Fireworks Display

San Diego Accidentally Set Off All Its Fourth Of July Fireworks at Once -- Atlantic Wire

Folks in San Diego witnessed what was either the worst Fourth of July fireworks celebration — or the absolute best — when a technical malfunction caused all of their pyrotechnics to go off at the same time. The annual Big Bay Boom extravaganza began and ended in spectacular fashion when an inadvertent signal set off the explosions about five minutes early and caused the entire 18 minute show to take place in about 15 seconds. Confused spectators waited around for what they thought was going to be the rest of the show, but were sent home and told the show (that was supposed to be choreographed to music) was canceled.

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My Comment: Oooopppssss ....

Drones Of The Future

Maple Seed Drones Will Swarm The Future -- TPM

Imagine a cheap, tiny, hovering aerial drone capable of being launched with the flick of a person’s wrist and able to provide manipulable 360-degree surveillance views.

It’s real, it’s inspired by maple seeds, and the company behind it, Lockheed Martin, envisions a future in which swarms of the new drones can be deployed at a fraction of the cost and with greater capabilities than drones being used today by the military and other agencies.

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My Comment: Impressive.

U.S. Military Looks At The Future

Was stealth a game-changer? Here maintainers and crew chiefs prepare B-2 stealth bombers for Operation Odyssey Dawn on March 19, 2011. Senior Airman Kenny Holston / U.S. Air Force

US Military Brainstorms Future Game-Changers -- MSNBC

Have expensive stealth bombers and cheap roadside bombs changed the face of modern warfare? The question of what technologies count as "game-changers" dominated the first of several U.S. military workshops meant to identify the most disruptive science and technology.

Much of the NeXTech workshop in Washington, D.C., looked at tomorrow's science and technology that could change warfare in 2025 — robots, 3D printing, energy, human enhancement and smarter software. But the gathered scientists, industry leaders and military officers also disagreed about how to define a technology's impact as "game-changing," even as they tried to keep focused on the future.

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My Comment: A summary on what many are predicting will be future game-changers for the US military.

Why Is It Hot Outside?

What's Behind The Record Heat? -- Discovery News

Heat is beating records around the country: the first five months of 2012 have been the hottest on record in the contiguous United States. And that's not including June, when 164 all-time high temperature records were tied or broken around the country, according to government records.

That's unusual, since the most intense heat usually comes in July and August for much of the country, said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist with National Climatic Data Center. For example, only 47 all-time high records were tied or broken in June of last year.

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My Comment: We can avoid the heat by moving up north .... but the winters are harsh. (I should know .... I live in Quebec, Canada).

How Bees Reverse Brain Aging

Old bees collect nectar and pollen. Most bees start doing this job when they are 3-4 weeks old, and after that they age very quickly. Their bodies and wings become worn and they loose the ability to learn new things. Most food collector bees die after about 10 days. (Credit: Christofer Bang)

Bees Can 'Turn Back Time,' Reverse Brain Aging -- Science Daily

ScienceDaily (July 3, 2012) — Scientists at Arizona State University have discovered that older honey bees effectively reverse brain aging when they take on nest responsibilities typically handled by much younger bees. While current research on human age-related dementia focuses on potential new drug treatments, researchers say these findings suggest that social interventions may be used to slow or treat age-related dementia.

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My Comment: I have to concur. Activities always keep the brain young.

Is The U.S. Losing It's 'Space Edge'?

Bill Nye: U.S. Risks Losing Its Space Edge -- Richard Galant, CNN

(CNN) -- Years before Bill Nye became the Science Guy, he was a mechanical engineering student at Cornell University, where he took a course with astronomer Carl Sagan.

Sagan, who was instrumental in the planning of NASA missions to other planets and became widely known for his research, writing and public television series, was one of the founders of the Planetary Society. And his student dutifully signed up to become a member.

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My Comment: It's hard to believe it .... but yes ... the US is losing it edge in space.

10 Workplace Secrets Of Flight Attendants

10 Shocking Secrets of Flight Attendants -- Mental Floss

Heather Poole has worked for a major carrier for more than 15 years and is the author of Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet. We begged Poole to reveal 10 workplace secrets.

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My Comment: Diet Coke ... hmmmm ...

Here Comes The Blimp

Northrop Grumman

Flying Hippopotamus Over Afghanistan: $500 Million-Plus -- The Nation

The Pentagon has officially outdone itself: even as the war in Afghanistan winds down to its unhappy denouement, the Department of Defense is deploying what the Wall Street Journal calls a “football-field-size airship laden with surveillance gear,” essentially a gigantic blimp that will float over the county like a giant alien spaceship from Independence Day. Which, come to think of it, is exactly how Afghans might view it.

No one has seen the damn thing yet, but it’s likely to take flight soon on a test run in New Jersey at the same airfield where the Hindenburg blimp exploded and burned.

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Update #1: The Army's New Surveillance Blimp Is The Size Of A Football Field And Can Stay Aloft For Weeks -- Business Insider
Update #2: Army's long-endurance airship days away from flight testing -- Defense Systems

My Comment: The technology to conduct 24/7 surveillance is what probably ate up most of the budget .... but will it be useful .... I guess we will find out when they start field testing it. And if the Afghan war is over before they can send it over there .... then do not be surprised to see it floating around a city near you.

Apple Wants Certain Domain Names

Now Apple Wants iPad3.com -- Red Orbit

It’s a little late, but Apple is now demanding they obtain the rights to the iPad3.com domain. Of course, there is no such thing as the iPad 3, but much like the public’s insistence on using the moniker “iTouch” for Apple’s iPod Touch, many continue to refer to the new, Retina’d iPad as the iPad 3. According to DomainNameWire.com, Apple has asked an arbitration panel to hand over the ownership rights to the parked iPad3.com domain.

Filing a case with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under the uniform domain name dispute resolution policy (UDRP), Apple is hoping to take control of the parked domain.

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My Comment: iPhone1400.com is available .... hmmmm .....

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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