Things that make me go Hmmm...

08/12/2010 11:13 AM

Scientists Use Light To Create Particles

20 physicists from four research institutions disclosed that they had created two tiny specks of matter -- an electron and its antimatter counterpart, a positron -- by colliding two ultrapowerful beams of radiation.

The possibility of doing something like this was suggested in 1934 by two American physicists, Dr. Gregory Breit and Dr. John A. Wheeler. But more than six decades passed before any laboratory could pump enough power into colliding beams of radiation to conjure up matter from nothingness. The Stanford accelerator finally provided enough energy to do it.

08/09/2010 11:42 AM

Genetically modified Plants Escape Into American Wild

Genetically modified canola plants have been found growing wild in the U.S., in some cases far from fields of cultivated genetically modified canola.

Results reported today at a meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Pittsburgh, Penn., suggest that the plants are reproducing on their own, making this the first report of an established population of GM organisms in the wild in the U.S., according to the team.

08/07/2010 06:06 PM

1-in-1,000 Chance of Asteroid Impact in 2182

The not-so-romantically named (101955) 1999 RQ36 -- discovered in 1999 -- measures approximately 510 meters in diameter and is classified as an Apollo asteroid. Apollo asteroids pose a threat to our planet as they routinely cross Earth's orbit.
With a one-in-a-thousand chance of 1999 RQ36 hitting Earth -- with half of this probability indicating a 2182 impact -- the threat might not sound too acute.

07/18/2010 12:49 PM

Poachers kill last female rhino in South African park

South African wildlife experts are calling for urgent action against poachers after the last female rhinoceros in a popular game reserve near Johannesburg bled to death after having its horn hacked off.

Wildlife officials say poaching for the prized horns has now reached an all-time high. "Last year, 129 rhinos were killed for their horns in South Africa. This year, we have already had 136 deaths," said Japie Mostert, chief game ranger at the 1,500-hectare Krugersdorp game reserve.

07/15/2010 07:09 AM

In Politics, Sometimes The Facts Don't Matter

From NPR - New research suggests that misinformed people rarely change their minds when presented with the facts -- and often become even more attached to their beliefs. The finding raises questions about a key principle of a strong democracy: that a well-informed electorate is best.

Listen to the Broadcast

07/14/2010 02:42 PM

Poof! After Wireless, the Computer Mouse Turns Invisible

In a magic trick that only geeks can pull off, researchers at MIT have found a method to let users click and scroll exactly the same way they would with a computer mouse, without the device actually being there.
Cup your palm, move it around on a table and a cursor on the screen hovers. Tap on the table like you would click a real mouse, and the computer responds. It’s one step beyond cordless. It’s an invisible mouse.
The project, called “Mouseless,” uses an infrared laser beam and camera to track the movements of the palm and fingers and translate them into computer commands.

07/07/2010 12:15 PM

Hair Keeps Chemical Record of Where You've Been

In one cold case, the team was brought in to help identify the body of a 20-something woman who was found dead of stab wounds in 1971, but whose case remained unsolved. After analyzing the isotopes in her hair, the scientists were able to conclude that the woman had lived (and therefore drunk tap water and other beverages) in Northern California for at least 18 months before she died. That clue helped detectives focus their search.With the help of missing persons records, DNA and other types of evidence, they were finally able to identify her as Mary Alice Willey -- providing, at least, some finality for family members and opening the possibility that her killer might be found.

06/24/2010 12:04 PM

Humans Will Be Extinct Within 100 Years

Is the clock of doom ticking for mankind? Yes, says an eminent 95 year old scientist from Australia. Professor Frank Fenner -- the same scientist who brought the myxomatosis virus to rabbits to control their numbers in the 1950's -- is acutely aware of the impact of overpopulation and shortage of resources.
In an interview with The Australian, the well-respected microbiologist expressed his pessimism for our future. "We're going to become extinct," he said. "Whatever we do now is too late."

06/12/2010 09:35 AM

Scientists Teleport Info 10 Miles

We may never be able to teleport ourselves "Star Trek"-style, but scientists managed to transmit information a record distance using entangled photons. Teleported telephone call would be impenetrable. Unlike radio waves, which send out a signal that enemies can pick out, eavesdropping on a teleported telephone call would be impossible. The two particles are entangled with themselves and no other particle so the quantum mechanical equations simply do not allow it, said Schumacher.

06/08/2010 06:48 PM

Headless Gladiator Graveyard Unearthed

One of the most significant items of evidence is a large carnivore bite mark -- probably inflicted by a lion, tiger or bear -- an injury which must have been sustained in an arena context, said Kurt Hunter-Mann, who is leading the investigation.
Many of the skeletons also had one arm that was stronger than the other, consistent with the frequent handling of a weapon.

06/08/2010 12:40 PM

Buy a new car recently?

Hacker Disables More Than 100 Cars Remotely - More than 100 drivers in Austin, Texas found their cars disabled or the horns honking out of control, after an intruder ran amok in a web-based vehicle-immobilization system normally used to get the attention of consumers delinquent in their auto payments.

06/08/2010 11:09 AM

Your Brain on Computers

Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price - Scientists say juggling e-mail, phone calls and other incoming information can change how people think and behave. They say our ability to focus is being undermined by bursts of information.

05/19/2010 09:30 AM

Security by Obscurity?

If you think deleting cookies and using hotmail is enough, you are probably wrong. Your browser has a semi-unique fingerprint.
Read on to find out more
"For people who think they're anonymously surfing the Web, this is bad news, Eckersley said. "If someone can see what pages we're going to, they know what we're reading and what we're thinking," he said. "

05/25/2010 12:15 PM

Giant Gravel Batteries Could Make Wind Power a Reliable Energy Option

Wind power is green as can be, but incredibly inconsistent. A new gravel-battery storage scheme could cheaply store excess power when the wind is strong to supplement wind turbines when the gusts die down.

05/19/2010 09:25 AM

A New Clue to Explain Existence

According to the basic precepts of Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics, equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been created in the Big Bang and then immediately annihilated each other in a blaze of lethal energy, leaving a big fat goose egg with which to make stars, galaxies and us. And yet we exist, and physicists (among others) would dearly like to know why.

05/18/2010 03:28 PM

Obese, gluttonous, and cannibalistic is no way to go through life, son

Astronomers have found a bloated, massive galaxy that may be a record-breaker: the most massive galaxy in the near Universe. The mass isn’t exactly clear, but it may be 13 trillion times the mass of the Sun!*

05/18/2010 11:30 AM

Texas schools board rewrites US history with lessons promoting God and guns

The board is to vote on a sweeping purge of alleged liberal bias in Texas school textbooks in favour of what Dunbar says really matters: a belief in America as a nation chosen by God as a beacon to the world, and free enterprise as the cornerstone of liberty and democracy.

05/16/2010 12:31 PM

College for all? A good Idea?

This graduation season, some experts challenge whether four-year degree is path to success. The notion that a four-year degree is essential for real success is being challenged by a growing number of economists, policy analysts and academics. They say more Americans should consider other options such as technical training or two-year schools, which have been embraced in Europe for decades.

05/16/2010 11:20 AM

NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions

The project had two equally important goals: to develop an authoritative replacement for the highly successful Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables, published in 1964 by the National Bureau of Standards (M. Abramowitz and I. A. Stegun, editors); and to disseminate essentially the same information from a public Web site operated by NIST.

11/16/2009 07:57 AM

Why boys are turning into girls

Here's something rather rotten from the State of Denmark. Its government yesterday unveiled official research showing that two-year-old children are at risk from a bewildering array of gender-bending chemicals in such everyday items as waterproof clothes, rubber boots, bed linen, food, nappies, sunscreen lotion and moisturising cream.