Science News

Contagious Cancer Thrives in Dogs by Adopting Host's Genes Black lab mix. An curious contagious cancer, found in dogs, wolves and coyotes, can repair its own genetic mutations by adopting genes from its host animal, according to a new study. (Credit: Copyright Michele Hogan) ScienceDaily (Jan. 23, 2011) — A curious contagious cancer, found in dogs, wolves and coyotes, can repair its own genetic mutations by adopting genes from its host animal, according to a new study in the journal Science. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110120141830.htm

http://www.theglobea...article1871149/ So, they're claiming to produce fossil fuels with photosynthesis, capturing carbon dioxide from the air. This is similar to research being done at my university: use algae that produce fuel compounds through photosynthesis, and just extract the fuel. But they're nowhere near producing $30/barrel of crude oil in the volumes that this company claims. If this company isn't full of BS, this promises a closed carbon cycle where carbon dioxide emitted by fossil fuel use is used to make more fossil fuels. If they are full of BS, well... we've seen this before.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105811-NASA-Discovers-New-Life http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/astrobiology_toxic_chemical.html

Vladimir Romanov has released source code for an algorithm which he claims can solve 3-SAT problems. The 3-SAT problem is NP-complete - and Romanov claims his algorithm will solve in polynomial time, this would prove that P==NP as all NP problems can be mapped within polynomial time to the satisfiability problem. With such a seemingly easily falsifiable claim Romanov might be proved wrong quite quickly - for any with the maths and compsci skill here is Romanov's announcement and links to the source code and article - and for those who need a bit more background here is a link to a long slashdot ramble that has some good stuff in it

A great breakthrough in measuring "dark energy" in Universe has been found out. Check out this link for further understanding: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110113145054.htm After reading this I felt as if Supernovae also feel themselves the Doppler effect!

It appears as if 2010 was the warmest year on record, equal with 2005, according to NASA and NOAA. It's interesting to note that the latter half of the year was actually influenced by a strong La Nina event, which is usually associated with cooler conditions. NOAA source NASA source

Four hours of TV a day raises heart risk (even if you’re fit) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1345951/Four-hours-TV-day-raises-heart-risk-fit.html#ixzz1Aq3vmfLN reported by a recent study at Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London by Dr. Emmanuel Stamatakis and his group published in titled Screen-Based Entertainment Time, All-Cause Mortality, and Cardiovascular Events: Population-Based Study With Ongoing Mortality and Hospital Events Follow-Up Read more: http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/abstract/57/3/292

A great event occurred on 11/1/2011 in China which almost went unnoticed and which I would like to discuss, "Phantom Sun" aka "Sun Dog" aka "Parhelia". Firstly, before jumping what is it, check the video link below for a primary idea what is it: The Phantom Sun [iTN News] Now goes the explanation: Basically, when the hexagonal snow crystals deflect the sunlight at an angle of minimum 22o, the crystals will act like a prism and will deflect light in such a manner that they will form a halo like reflection. But as the sun reaches at higher heights, the halo gets transformed to horizontal cup like reflections causing the Phantom Sun situation as below…

http://socyberty.com/issues/science-the-art-of-banana-vaccines/ Another share. This might have not been extremely recent, but scientists have finally figured out how to use genetic engineering on bananas to implement vaccines. Read more to find out.

Does anyone have any knowledge about the new conclusions how it is plasma and electric currents with magnetic fields that are the cause and effect of what we can see in the cosmos. Not gravity.

This is a relatively new discovery that is opening up a whole area of reseach. http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/08/15/plankton-cause-hurricanes-urgent-action-required/ Plankton has more to do with weather than we preivously thought. Not all plankton is the same. We need to do more reseach before we can use this information effectively. I am wondering if we are doing something that has increased the growth of plankton and therefore contributes to global warming and the destructiveness of hurricanes?

WASHINGTON — German researchers who used a bone marrow transplant to treat a cancer patient with the AIDS virus, have declared him cured of the virus—a stunning claim in a field where the word “cure” is barely whispered. The patient, who had both HIV infection and leukemia, received the bone marrow transplant in 2007 from a donor who had a genetic mutation known to give patients a natural immunity to the virus. Nearly four years after the transplant, the patient is free of the virus and it does not appear to be hiding anywhere in his body, Thomas Schneider of Berlin Charite hospital and colleagues said. “Our results strongly suggest that cure of HIV has been a…

Discovery of new molecule can lead to more efficient rocket fuel Trinitramid – that's the name of the new molecule that may be a component in future rocket fuel. This fuel could be 20-30 percent more efficient in comparison with the best rocket fuels we have today. The discovery was made at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-12/src-don122210.php

Prions Mutate and Adapt to Host Environment This light photomicrograph of brain tissue reveals the presence of typical amyloid plaques found in a case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). (Credit: Sherif Zaki; MD; PhD; Wun-Ju Shieh; MD; PhD; MPH) ScienceDaily (Dec. 18, 2010) — Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have shown that prions, bits of infectious protein that can cause fatal neurodegenerative disease such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or "mad cow disease," have the ability to adapt to survive in a new host environment. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101217083232.htm

Total Lunar Eclipse and Winter Solstice Coincide on Dec. 21 Path of the Moon through Earth's umbral and penumbral shadows during the Total Lunar Eclipse of Dec. 21, 2010. (Credit: Fred Espenak/NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center) ScienceDaily (Dec. 17, 2010) — With frigid temperatures already blanketing much of the United States, the arrival of the winter solstice on December 21 may not be an occasion many people feel like celebrating. But a dazzling total lunar eclipse to start the day might just raise a few chilled spirits. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101217192856.htm

Recently published news from a German human rights group says that an oil company in southern Sudan is spoiling the drinking water by their oil drilling processes. The group warns that if this is not checked on time the activities of the company shall create serious ecological disasters in southern Sudan. The company has responded to this by starting their actions to curb the pollution caused by the oil production. Sign of hope, the German human right group, took samples of water from two major oil fields located at southern Sudan. The locals had complained that the water available had become salty. After conducting tests it was found that the samples of drinkin…

As expected, Acer announced not one, but three tablets today. However, even the company's CEO, Gianfranco Lanci, admitted that the 5-incher it also unveiled is primarily a phone. All these devices were in scarce supply at Acer's downtown Manhattan product unveiling, but we managed to grab a few moments with the still-unnamed 10-inch Android tablet. Roughly a half-inch thick and somewhat long longer (or narrower—it has a 16:9 aspect ratio) and heavier than the Apple iPad, the Acer tablet runs Android, though it wasn't clear which version. Acer execs said its release schedule for these Android tablets is dependent on when the tablet version of Android (code-named Honey…

From superconductor.org I came across this today and it's something I've been hoping for news on for some time. Superconductivity at -8C or 17F, within the range of a household freezer. Beats the hell out of needing liquid N to keep it cool. While it would be nice to have it written up and published properly at least this is a start. The money quote from superconductors;

Eye-Popping Microscope Images ( 10 photos 1 of 10) http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Eye-Popping-Microscope-Images/ss/events/sc/111810bioscapesimage#photoViewer=/ydownload/20101118/photos_net_web_sc/1290096617 ( 4 of 10) http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Eye-Popping-Microscope-Images/ss/events/sc/111810bioscapesimage#photoViewer=/ydownload/20101118/photos_net_web_sc/1290096675 Note is this new technology that shows more detail than ever before ? Even parts of cells ? If so than do you think one day we can look at energy or each photon of light?

News and video of mysterious missile launch off California coast Well, here's a one-of-a-kind news item (let's hope). Any real news from the military is missing from this situation. Someone (ATCs, NORAD, etc) must know where the launch came from, how fast it was going, and where the missile came down ... they're just not saying right now. They're obvious not concerned that it's some sort of threat, so I'm leaning toward it being a US military mistake. Oops!! From it's trajectory, they can estimate its minimum weight and size.

Today, at 2pm EST, NASA will hold a press conference about a recently discovered life form with alien DNA. From Gizmodo: Does this mean it is possible that our sample size for life has gone from 1 to 2?

The Citizen Science Quarterly is holding an open call for open science equipment ideas. I've attached the full post below but basically if you have a good idea for a piece fo science equipment and are cool with it being open source, you should send it in and possibly get $50 to put towards building it. link to post ====================================================== Currently, most of the equipment in “garage” science labs come from auctions, craigslist and what ever people can scavenge. While occasionally you can find a gem that doesnt break the bank. Most of whats out there is usually outdated, broken or missing manuals. If citizen science is expected to…

A new discovery that says that the electric charge of fundamental particles would have been close to 0 when the universe was fractions of a second old because of the action of gravity. If this discovery is confirmed then it could help pave the way for a unified description of physical reality. The standard model of particle physics does a great job of accounting for the fundamental particles of nature and three of the forces that act upon them - the weak and strong nuclear forces, and the electromagnetic force but no one knows how to fit gravity into the model. In 2006, Wilczek and Sean Robinson, both at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, showed that the elect…

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/11/18/switzerland.cern.antimatter/

Scientists recently annouced that they found a black hole of around only 30 years of age! That could be younger than some of you reading this post! for more info go here http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/11/infant-30-year-old-black-hole-discovered-.html