Thursday February 02, 2012
A Weighty Matter:
Is Earth Getting Lighter or Heavier?
As time goes on, does the Earth lose mass or gain it?
A physicist has calculated that the planet sucks in tonnes of space dust every year due to gravity, but it's still losing mass.
From BBC News:
For instance, the Earth's core is like a giant nuclear reactor that is gradually losing energy over time, and that loss in energy translates into a loss of mass.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 11:55 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Wednesday February 01, 2012
Breaking Down Brain Waves To Hear
US scientists have demonstrated that the brain decodes sounds into patterns of electrical currents and based on the correlation between sound and electric activity in brain's temporal lobe they were able to predict the words the person heard.
However any practical use in case of patients who cannot talk is a long way of because this research is based on what a person actually hears, rather than thinks of...
From The Guardian:
Experiments on 15 patients in the US showed that a computer could decipher their brain activity and play back words they heard, though at times the words were difficult to recognise.
"This is exciting in terms of the basic science of how the brain decodes what we hear," said Robert Knight, a senior member of the team and director of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 07:00 AM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Monday January 30, 2012
Eyeing The Net: Social Networks Under Close Watch
Mining open source data for marketing purposes horrified privacy groups for a long time but surveillance saga of internet took a new ominous twist with the recent declaration by FBI.
In a move that is seen widely as another attack on free speech the agency is also planning to target individuals to build up an interactive map enabling it to trace users daily routine.
From ZDNet:
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking to develop a Web app that can continuously monitor social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace, as well as various news feeds. The organization’s goal is to improve its real-time intelligence when it comes to current and emerging security threats.
Posted in: Net by bubblejam at 07:10 AM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Sunday January 29, 2012
Hot Topic:
Is Global Warming Just Hot Air?
Global warming is one of the most controversial issues of our time.
Now 16 scientists have publishing an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that casts doubt on the orthodox view of climate change.
From The Wall Street Journal:
In September, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ivar Giaever, a supporter of President Obama in the last election, publicly resigned from the American Physical Society (APS) with a letter that begins: "I did not renew [my membership] because I cannot live with the [APS policy] statement: 'The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth's physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.' In the APS it is OK to discuss whether the mass of the proton changes over time and how a multi-universe behaves, but the evidence of global warming is incontrovertible?"
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 10:51 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Friday January 27, 2012
Happy Anniversary:
Mars Rover's Eight Year Mission
The Mars rover Opportunity has just marked eight years on the red planet.
While its companion rover Spirit bit the dust long ago, Opportunity has managed to keep on trucking as it searches for signs of life.
From Time:
It was on January 25, 2004 that the rover Opportunity — swaddled in its cocoon of shock-absorbing air bags — bounced down on Mars for a mission designed to last a minimum of three months and a maximum of just a year or two. Eight years later, Opportunity is slower, creakier and much, much dirtier, and yet it's still at work, hunkering down on the crater rim as it prepares to ride out another bitter Martian winter. When the relative warmth and sunlight of spring return, the golf-cart-sized rover will resume its wanderings, adding to the mass of data it's already collected about Mars's wet, balmy, and perhaps biologically active past.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 08:04 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Wednesday January 25, 2012
Mother Russia on the Move:
Russia Eyes Moon Base With Nasa
In spite of the failure of the recent Phobos-Grunt mission, Russia's space programme is still forging ahead with ambitious ideas.
One possible way forward might be a joint base on the Moon in cooperation with Nasa.
From The Register:
"We don’t want the man to just step on the Moon,” agency chief Vladimir Popovkin said in an interview with Vesti FM radio station. “Today, we know enough about it. We know that there is water in its polar areas," he added. "We are now discussing how to begin [the Moon’s] exploration with NASA and the European Space Agency."
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 12:29 AM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Tuesday January 24, 2012
Become A Secret Agent While You Wait
If you were ever wondering if you had what it takes to be a secret agent than, courtesy of MI5, you can finally put your abilities to the test.
Fortunately you can practice your wits online in case of abysmal failure.
From Spy Blog:
"The United Kingdom Security Service MI5 has an interesting little Quiz, to help pre-screen potential Intelligence Officer recruits...
This fictional scenario involves some alleged foreign intelligence officers operating from their Embassy in London"Posted in: Politics by bubblejam at 05:40 AM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Monday January 23, 2012
YouTube expands by one hour every second
The ubiquitous online video sharing website keeps growing at the astounding rate.
Its the third most popular destination on the net and it seems that there nothing more satisfying for millions of users than watching and uploading or vice versa...
From New Scientist:
People who complain about some of the racier content on YouTube are often told that the sheer rate at which that content is uploaded makes it impossible to moderate. That claim would seem to be more than borne out by the figures released by Google, YouTube's owner, today.
Posted in: Net by bubblejam at 04:44 AM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Sunday January 22, 2012
No Guts, No Glory:
Genetically Engineered Gut Bacteria Turn Seaweed Into Biofuel
Biofuels have been controversial as they have caused the prices of crops such as corn to rise.
But researchers may have found a way to turn abundant seaweed into ethanol using genetically engineered E.coli bacteria -- which could eventually be used to manufacture other substances such as plastics.
From Scientific American:
The microbe could turn out to be useful for making molecules other than ethanol, such as isobutanol or even the precursors of plastics, Yoshikuni says. "Consider the microbe as the chassis with engineered functional modules," or pathways to produce a specific molecule, Yoshikuni says. "If we integrate other pathways instead of the ethanol pathway, this microbe can be a platform for converting sugar into a variety of molecules."
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 08:30 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry
Saturday January 21, 2012
Hotshots:
Coronal Mass Ejection From Sun Heads For Earth
A coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun is heading for Earth but don't panic just yet.
Whilst the CME was originally predicted to head straight for us, it now looks like we're in for a near miss.
From The Washington Post:
“At first glance, it was, ‘Oh my God, it’s at the center of the [sun’s] disk, it ought to go right to the Earth,’ ” Kunches said. But upon further review and “head-scratching” Thursday, NOAA’s space weather team calculated that most of the plasma blob should pass harmlessly over the top of our planet.
Posted in: Science by bubblejam at 05:28 PM | Comments (0) | Email This Entry