Periodic Discussions: It's Going To Take A Long Time For Element 117 To Make It Onto The Periodic Table. Why?

From Slate:

A team of Russian and American scientists announced today the creation of several atoms of the previously unknown element 117. The discovery of "ununseptium" will eventually fill a longtime gap on the periodic table, although that formal change may not happen for years. In June 2009, element 112 was designated as an official element, more than a decade after it was first created. Sam Kean explained why changing the periodic table requires the scientific equivalent of a Supreme Court decision. His column is reprinted below.

Read more ....

Scientists Explore Origins Of 'Supervolcanoes' On The Sea Floor: Ancient Goliaths Blamed For Multiple Mass Extinctions

JOIDES Resolution departing from Yokohama, Japan, on the Shatsky Rise expedition. (Credit: John Beck, IODP/TAMU)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Apr. 10, 2010) — "Supervolcanoes" have been blamed for multiple mass extinctions in Earth's history, but the cause of their massive eruptions is unknown.

Despite their global impact, the eruptions' origin and triggering mechanisms have remained unexplained. New data obtained during a recent Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) expedition in the Pacific Ocean may provide clues to unlocking this mystery.

Read more ....

Ancient Pre-Human Skeleton May Contain Shrunken Brain

The cranium of the newly identified species, Australopithecus sediba, was found at the Malapa site, South Africa. Credit: Photo by Brett Eloff courtesy of Lee Berger and the University of the Witwatersrand.

From Live Science:

A shrunken brain may potentially lie inside the fossil skull of a newfound candidate for the immediate ancestor to the human lineage, researchers now reveal.

This new species, dubbed Australopithecus sediba, was accidentally discovered in South Africa by the 9-year-old son of a scientist. Two members of this hominid were introduced to the world last week — a juvenile male and an adult female, who might have known each other in life and who could have met their demise by falling into the remains of the cave where they were discovered.

Read more ....

The 10 Best Mathematicians

Pythagoras, from a 1920s textbook. Photograph: © Blue Lantern Studio/Corbis

From The Guardian:

Alex Bellos selects the maths geniuses whose revolutionary discoveries changed our world.

Pythagoras (circa 570-495BC)

Vegetarian mystical leader and number-obsessive, he owes his standing as the most famous name in maths due to a theorem about right-angled triangles, although it now appears it probably predated him. He lived in a community where numbers were venerated as much for their spiritual qualities as for their mathematical ones. His elevation of numbers as the essence of the world made him the towering primogenitor of Greek mathematics, essentially the beginning of mathematics as we know it now. And, famously, he didn't eat beans.

Read more ....

Profile: Julian Assange, The Man Behind Wikileaks

Julian Assange

From Times Online:

They seek him here, they seek him there, but the founder of the whistleblowing website Wikileaks is as elusive as a modern-day pimpernel.

Julian Assange dreamt that one day the internet would streamline the leaking of state secrets. Last week his whistleblowers’ website posted its most explosive leak yet: a secret video shot by an American attack helicopter of Iraqi civilians and a Reuters photographer being mown down, apparently in cold blood.

Read more ....

Images Mark 20 Years Of Hubble Telescope

Hubble Telescope

From The Telegraph:

The most dramatic and significant images of the universe taken by the Hubble Space Telescope have been named to mark the iconic telescope's 20th anniversary in space.

In the two decades since its launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has transformed the way we see and understand our universe.

In pictures: 3D space pictures: stereo images of moons, galaxies and nebulae

Read more ....

New Super-Heavy Element Discovered That Points Towards 'Strange Materials Of The Future'

From The Daily Mail:

Physicists have discovered a new super-heavy element that had been labeled a nuclear 'missing link' by scientists.

The element 117 is roughly 40 per cent heavier than lead and has been given the temporary name ununseptium, which refers to its atomic number.

Researchers believe the element points towards a concoction of more massive and stable elements that could be used to create strange and unpredictable new materials.

Read more ....

First Footage From World's Deepest Volcanic Vents

From New Scientist:

At this depth, the water is hot enough to melt lead, and the pressure it exerts means that every square centimetre has to withstand the weight of five hefty men.

"It was like wandering across the surface of another world," says Bramley Murton, a geologist at the National Oceanographic Centre (NOC) in Southampton, UK, who piloted the Hy-Bis underwater vehicle around these deep volcanic vents and filmed them for the first time.

Read more ....

Happy 50th Birthday To The Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence!

SETI's Allen Telescope Array via SETI Institute

From Popular Science:

Celebrating half a century of no aliens

Fifty years ago today, on April 8th, 1960, a Cornell astronomy professor named Frank Drake pointed a radio telescope at the star Tau Ceti in the hope of hearing broadcasts from extraterrestrial intelligence. Naturally, he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. But with this experiment, Drake began the decades-long search for aliens, known as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), that celebrates its 50th anniversary today. Over the last half century, SETI has failed at its initial goal of contacting aliens, but succeeded mightily in bringing new attention to astronomy, helping to develop cloud computing, and inspiring generations of new scientists.

Read more ....

'World Needs A Barometer Of Life'

From The BBC:

The world needs a "barometer of life" to prevent ecosystems and species being lost forever, scientists have warned.

Existing schemes, they said, did not include enough species from groups such as fungi and invertebrates to provide a detailed picture of what is at risk.

Writing in the journal Science, the researchers said the barometer would increase the number of species being assessed from almost 48,000 to 160,000.

The data would help identify areas in need of urgent action, they added.

Read more ....

CSN Editor On Vacation, Will Be Back Soon

Update: Taking Easter off with family. Will return on Monday, April 12.

Yup .... took a little vacation. Will be back soon.

US Launches Agency To Monitor Evereyone

Army Biometrics U.S. Army Staff Sgts. Jerrod McClure, foreground, and Aaron McFarland, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, input Iraqi's data into a biometrics system Dec. 15, 2008, in Nimrud, Iraq, as part of the application process for Iraqis applying to work on a road repair project in the city. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. JoAnn S. Makinano

U.S. Government Launches Official Agency to Manage Biometric Database -- Popular Science

All hail BIMA, the new U.S. biometrics agency.

Collecting fingerprints and other biometric data has long allowed law enforcement and the military alike to track down wanted individuals, solve cases, or just keep tabs on people. Now what was a U.S. government task force under the U.S. Army has officially become a full-scale national security agency in charge of biometrics, according to the Secrecy News blog run by the Federation of American Scientists.

Read more ....

Picking Our Brains: Can Ee Regenerate The Brain?

The nervous system has 10,000 different types of neuron (Image: Jean Livet)

From New Scientist:

YOU were born with all the brain cells you'll ever have, so the saying goes.

So much for sayings. In the 1990s, decades of dogma were overturned by the discovery that mammals, including people, make new neurons throughout their lives. In humans, such "neurogenesis" has been seen in two places: neurons formed in the olfactory bulb seem to be involved in learning new smells, while those born in the hippocampus are involved in learning and memory.

Read more ....

Bats Could Inspire New Radar Systems

Bats emit high-pitched sounds to locate obstacles and prey as they fly Photo: CORBIS

From The Telegraph:

Bats which have evolved to avoid having their echo signals blocked by interference could help scientists develop more efficient sonar and radar systems.

Bats emit high-pitched sounds to locate obstacles and prey as they fly, but when travelling in packs there is a risk the noises might overlap and interfere.

A similar problem arises when a bat chases a moth through thick foliage. Signals bouncing off the leaves can overlap and set up interference.

Read more ....

Could Toads Be Used To Warn Humans Of Impending Natural Disasters?

Man's best friend? Scientists believe toads have a sixth sense

From The Daily Mail:

The toad has long been a favourite magical companion of witches and wizards. Now it seems that the humble amphibians may have picked up some magical skills of their own.

Scientists have discovered that common toads have a sixth sense about natural disasters - and can predict when an earthquake is about to strike.

Read more ....

Better Military Technology Does Not Lead to Shorter Wars, Analysis Reveals

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Mar. 31, 2010) — It is generally assumed that military technology that is offensive rather than defensive in nature leads to shorter wars. Yet, a new doctoral thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, shows that this assumption is not correct.

For long, researchers have thought that offensive military technology, such as armoured cars and attack jets, makes it easier to shorten the duration of a war. It is also generally perceived that when the offensive technology is more effective than the defensive technology, it is more advantageous to start a war.

Read more ....

Which States Pay Highest Gas Prices

(Click Image To Enlarge)
Gas Prices as a percent of income varies by state. See how each state fares. Credit: Karl Tate/LiveScience

From Live Science:

Everyone grumbles when prices at the pump rise, but some drivers pay more depending on where they live. A new study shows how gas price spikes hurt the wallets of drivers in some states more than in others.

On average, Mississippi drivers spent more than 6 percent of their annual income on gas in 2009, compared to drivers in Connecticut and New York who spent just 2.5 percent of their income on gas. But a price spike similar to the one in July 2008 would have worsened the imbalance — Mississippi drivers would have seen driving costs shoot up to 11 percent as opposed to just 4.3 percent for Connecticut and New York. [See gas prices in your state.]

Read more ....

Undersea Search Resumes For France Flight 447

From Discovery News:

On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight 447 disappeared in turbulent weather en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. For the remainder of the summer, two major efforts were launched by search and rescue crews to find the remains of the plane and the 228 people who had been on board, with great hopes of also finding the two data recorders. So far, 51 bodies and 1,000 pieces of wreckage have been found, but not the data recorders, which only emit signals for 30 days.

Finding the so-called black boxes is key to understanding what happened to the airplane.

Read more ....

Can Common Herbs Extend Your Life?

From ABC News:

Cinnamon and Ginseng Stretch Life of a Worm; Will They Stretch Yours?

Most Americans have used herbal drugs during the past year, even though in nearly all cases there is no clear scientific evidence that they work. Now, an international team of scientists has found a way to collect that evidence, and even determine which components of very complex compounds are doing the work, and which aren't.

Read more ....

Greenpeace Issues Warning About Data Centre Power

From The BBC:

Greenpeace is calling on technology giants like Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook to power their data centres with renewable energy sources.

Their electricity often comes from utility companies which generate power from burning coal, says the group.

Greenpeace estimates that data centres will use 1,963 billion kilowatt hours of electricity by 2020.

Read more ....