Science News

Interesting article that correlates to politics but since it's science news I'll post it here.. Lemme know what you thinks Cheers

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/57997/title/Pigeons_usually_let_best_navigator_take_the_lead This article just blows me away, and begs the question, how do the members of the flock know what bird has the best navigational skills. This must imply some level of communication and/or observation amongst the birds that is then remembered.

UK scientists were told just before Christmas that the funding for their work will stop. This is despite NASA saying that the mission will be extended until 2017, when the spacecraft will be commanded to plunge into the ringed planet's atmosphere. STFC is trying to save money over the next few years. What other astronomy projects will suffer? See the BBC news report here.

The manifesto itself can be found here.

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/58275/title/Backward_planets_may_have_flipped_into_place I read through and I though interesting article. Maybe systems like this are more common than we previously thought. I wanted to find out some more about the individual systems, specifically how far some of these systems were from Earth. So I followed the link to the other article in the third paragraph down, that further explained the information gathered on extra solar planets. http://www.sciencenews.org/index/generic/activity/view/id/46658/title/Extrasolar_planets_at_full_tilt There I found a few of the names of the extra solar planets COROT-Exo-1b …

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/58095/title/Copycats_prevail_in_computerized_survival_game Pretty interesting little article, here is a peak, I wanted to know what you guys think. Does this study accurately reflect nature? On another point. I am guessing the independent thinkers, however, do play a necessary role in the game, despite the copycats being more successful. The reason I say this, is because someone has to break the ice initially and try something. However beneficial or detrimental the actions of a bold individual are serves as a lesson to the other individuals in the environment. Even though the risk takers/individuals may have a …

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/04/scienceshot-animals-that-live-wi.html?rss=1 So, life can exist without oxygen. Does this mean there are far, far more possible places (and planets) that can support life?

UC Santa Barbara geologist correlates patterns in sediment cores to climate cycles, particularly glaciation periods........ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406133707.htm

Press conference/ web cast. Live right now! http://webcast.cern.ch/lhcfirstphysics/

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/24841/page1/ You gotta check this article out it is sweet! "RNA-Loaded Nanoparticles Fight Cancer" "The researchers developed a nanoparticle carrying a molecular marker that binds to the surface of cancer cells, triggering the cells to absorb it. The siRNA carried within the particle was designed to silence a gene called ribonucleotide reductase M2 (RRM2), which regulates DNA synthesis and repair and is known to be an anticancer target. Because it was the first trial using targeted RNAi delivery for cancer, says Mark Davis, a professor of chemical engineering at Caltech and the study's lead author, "we wanted to choo…

This was posted by my tutor on our Uni forums, thought some of you may be interested.... http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/html/heic1005.html From the article...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8548190.stm Interesting, but not quite what I want to talk about. If the Internet is important enough to be considered a "right" for every human, it must bring benefits to every human. What benefits does regular Internet access bring for the average human? (I don't mean things like electronic banking systems, since those are used by the banks, not individuals. And "more cute cat pictures!" is not a valid answer.) It's often said that the Internet allows free discourse and cross-cultural discussions, but just how often does that really occur and how much does the average person benefit from that?

General relativity still seems the most accurate theory of describing gravitational phenomena. It has now been tested on very large scales and again has proved itself to be very reliable. The claim is that the latest studies of galactic motions rules out tensor, vector scalar gravity but does not rule out f® theories (which also look better than general relativity from a renormalisation group flow point of view towards quantum gravity). says Robert Caldwell. Have a look at the IOP news report here.

Featured on Science Daily, really good article. "If harnessing the unlimited solar power of the sun were easy, we wouldn't still have the greenhouse gas problem that results from the use of fossil fuel. And while solar energy systems work moderately well in hot desert climates, they are still inefficient and contribute only a small percentage of the general energy demand. A new solution may be coming from an unexpected source -- a source that may be on your dinner plate tonight." http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100304112237.htm

"Tiny clusters of aluminum atoms may be able to quickly extract pure hydrogen from water, a new simulation suggests. The results offer an incredibly detailed view of how the molecules react and may help scientists develop new ways to produce pure hydrogen-based fuels, researchers report in an upcoming Physical Review Letters." http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/56911/title/Aluminum_superatoms_may_split_water

What's your opinion of NASA outsourcing spaceflight production to other companies? I personally think it's a good move - either that or lose out altogether and forget about it, plus it means it could get more competitive and more and more spaceflights taken (safety would have to be a supreme factor obviously)

Recently published oil company 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 sample…

Here on SFN we've all seen occasional debates about evolution. It's quite common for bacteria to be given as examples of evolution in action: how else could they evolve resistance to antibiotic drugs but through evolution? Of course, the anti-evolutionists respond that the resistant bacteria existed all along -- they just proliferate when the non-resistant bacteria are killed. No new attributes or powers are developed. It's just natural selection in action. Now there's finally good evidence to prove the anti-evolutionists wrong. An interesting article in Molecular Cell shows that antibiotic resistance is due to the action of the antibiotic: several kinds of antibi…

Such high-precision tests are needed to hopefully show some deviation from general relativity and point towards a quantum theory of gravity. See the IOP article here.

So I came across an interesting article about the HIV virus. I don't know if this has been mentioned already but, "Drug-resistant strains of HIV have already been documented in San Francisco and elsewhere in the US, and Europe. Now a model of their transmission, based on studies of gay San Francisco men, forecasts a rapid upsurge in the next five years." http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18394-drugresistant-hiv-set-for-rapid-upsurge.html From what I know, antiviral medication is really effective on extending the life of the patient and extending the onset of full blow AIDS. Here is one study supporting the above claim. Strains of HIV that are drug-resi…

They analyzed the DNA of King Tutankhamun, along with several other mummies. Turns out his parents were brother and sister, he had several maralial infections, and he had a genetic bone disorder that would have forced him to walk with a cane. Inbred, sickly royals: 'twas ever thus. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/02/100216-king-tut-malaria-bones-inbred-tutankhamun/

Spider-man Adhesive: I found this to be fascinating, just imagine the possibilities with such a device!

Maybe this article is already out there, I have not checked yet, but I don't think so. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/quantum-computer-hydrogen-simulation/ Quantum Computer Simulates Hydrogen Molecule Just Right

Check this out... This isn't really news to those who keep up on their biology though. Cheers,

See the Institute of Physics' News report here. The arXiv Business Model White Paper can be found here.