Science News

Quantum Physics First: Physicists Measure Without Distorting http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110602143159.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail

The fast-moving field of mixing animal and human DNA may need new ethical or regulatory boundaries for some experiments, a British panel says. Read about it here http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/07/22/animal-human-experiments-uk.html Note can some one explain to me at grade 5 level what the controversy is and what they are scared nay happen.

The Sunny Side of Smut For most people, pornography use has no negative effects—and it may even deter sexual violence By Melinda Wenner Moyer | July 22, 2011 | It used to be tough to get porn. Renting an X-rated movie required sneaking into a roped-off room in the back of a video store, and eyeing a centerfold meant facing down a store clerk to buy a pornographic magazine. Now pornography is just one Google search away, and much of it is free. Age restrictions have become meaningless, too, with the advent of social media—one teenager in five has sent or posted naked pictures of themselves online, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pre…

Must... stop.... googling.... http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/180544/20110714/google-brain-memory-study-change-forgot.htm

For those who missed Prof Hans Rosling's excellent programme on statistics a few years ago it has been repeated and will be available til wednesday for those able to access iplayer http://www.bbc.co.uk...e_Joy_of_Stats/

Just a few minutes ago, the space shuttle Atlantis was launched and reached (preliminary) orbit safely. This is the final flight of the space shuttle. Some more information is available all over the internet, but here are two links: BBC and NASA.

Researchers at Columbia Engineering School have built optical nanostructures that enable them to engineer the index of refraction and fully control light dispersion. They have shown that it is possible for light (electromagnetic waves) to propagate from point A to point B without accumulating any phase, spreading through the artificial medium as if the medium is completely missing in space. This is the first time simultaneous phase and zero-index observations have been made on the chip-scale and at the infrared wavelength. The study, to be published in Nature Photonics, was led by Chee Wei Wong, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Serdar Kocaman, el…

This is why experiments are checked and rechecked. Good work. http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/331050/title/No_new_particle_from_second_detector

Engineers at Oregon State University have discovered a way for the first time to create successful "CIGS" solar devices with inkjet printing, in work that reduces raw material waste by 90 percent and will significantly lower the cost of producing solar energy cells with some very promising compounds. High performing, rapidly produced, ultra-low cost, thin film solar electronics should be possible, scientists said. The findings have been published in Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, a professional journal, and a patent applied for on the discovery. Further research is needed to increase the efficiency of the cell, but the work could lead to a whole new gener…

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-baby-star-blasts-jets-space.html

Under certain conditions, private and commercial propeller planes and jet aircraft may induce odd-shaped holes or canals into clouds as they fly through them. These holes and canals have long fascinated the public and now new research shows they may affect precipitation in and around airports with frequent cloud cover in the wintertime. Here is how: Planes may produce ice particles by freezing cloud droplets that cool as they flow around the tips of propellers, over wings or over jet aircraft, and thereby unintentionally seed clouds. These seeding ice particles attract more moisture, becoming heavier, and then "snow out" or fall out of the cloud as snow along the path…

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=nobelist-kroto-whats-the-evidence-f-11-06-28&WT.mc_id=SA_Twitter_sciam What do people think?

New alloy converts heat directly into electricity By Ben Coxworth The heat given off by electronics, automobile engines, factories and other sources is a potentially huge source of energy, and various technologies are being developed in order to capture that heat, and then convert it into electricity. Thanks to an alloy that was recently developed at the University of Minnesota, however, a step in that process could be saved - the new material is able to convert heat directly into electricity. http://www.gizmag.com/alloy-converts-heat-into-electricity/19025/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=8b45e8a4ee-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

Body Temperatures of Dinosaurs Measured for First Time: Some Dinosaurs Were as Warm as Most Modern Mammals Caltech geochemists Rob Eagle (left) and John Eiler adjust equipment used to analyze the isotopic concentrations in dinosaur teeth and reveal the body temperature of the extinct creatures. (Credit: Caltech / Lance Hayashida) ScienceDaily (June 23, 2011) Were dinosaurs slow and lumbering, or quick and agile? It depends largely on whether they were cold or warm blooded. When dinosaurs were first discovered in the mid-19th century, paleontologists thought they were plodding beasts that had to rely on their environments to keep warm, like modern-day reptiles. …

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A study from NIU discusses how a mother's perception influences a mentally ill person's recovery. Let me know what you think. Is this research even necessary? Plenty of movies have been around for years that have already stated the same thing! http://www.examiner.com/science-news-in-national/moms-play-big-role-mental-illness

Abstract Understanding cooperation and punishment in small-scale societies is crucial for explaining the origins of human cooperation. We studied warfare among the Turkana, a politically uncentralized, egalitarian, nomadic pastoral society in East Africa. Based on a representative sample of 88 recent raids, we show that the Turkana sustain costly cooperation in combat at a remarkably large scale, at least in part, through punishment of free-riders. Raiding parties comprised several hundred warriors and participants are not kin or day-to-day interactants. Warriors incur substantial risk of death and produce collective benefits. Cowardice and desertions occur, and are p…

A lot of media (BBC, Gizmodo (and a lot of others) report that a man was cured of HIV by a bone marrow transplant: It's wonderful scientists / doctors continuously keep getting closer to curing HIV. Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done... but I have to say that this seems the most promising bit of news in many years.

Can this really be true? According to this article the God particle has been found at last My link

I am doing nitric oxide measurement using aorta tissue.I had go through some articles that stated that the tissues were frozen with liquid nitrogen and stored at -80 degree Celsius, then homogenates and continue to assay. Anyone can tell me that if i use the fresh tissues, incubate with drugs, then can i directly homogenates it and continue to the assay instead of store it at -80 degree Celsius before the assay? Thank you very much.

The end of space is pure white. It's white EVERYWHERE! There is nothing but endless light!

The Casimir effect used to create photons! http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-researchers-create-light-from-almost.html

"A quantum take on certainty: Physicists show that in the iconic double-slit experiment, uncertainty can be eased." http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110602/full/news.2011.344.html and at SciAm "New 'Double Slit' Experiment Skirts Uncertainty Principle" http://www.scientifi...ainty-principle and "it is not necessary to interpret the uncertainty principle as rigidly as we are often taught to do" from the article itself and quoted in than the editorials Does anyone have access to the article? I rather thought that the HUP was a black and white thing with no grey areas. So can you relax the HUP - or interpret it less than rigidly? Surely σxσp≥h/4…

Scientists have figured out a way to possibly inhibit age-related macular degeneration. Two miRNAs have been isolated that when inhibited, will prevent extensive blood vessel growth. See article here. http://www.examiner.com/science-news-in-national/rna-molecules-may-help-treat-blindness-for-those-with-macular-degeneration

Awesome.