Politics

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2906621.stm yet another bbc site, the source aof all things good REcent advances have been made by british scientists, who have produced nanowires with a diameter of just a billionth of a metre, by modifying prion proteins to accept a thin layer of Gold. Also important is that these wired have a resistance of 80 Ohms, which is very important, as when one considers microtubules the resistance is much higher.

Most of us are aware of the footage Al-Jazeera aired of US soldiers killed. Mainstream American (and I believe British too) media has censored this footage. While their moral justification for this is sound, I believe full understanding of the reality of war justifies viewing these images. That said, I will provide links to the censored content. You know what these images and videos are, if you do not want to view it do not click the links. WARNING: This content is extremely graphic and offensive on many levels. If this content offends you, DO NOT CLICK ANY OF THE BELOW LINKS. http://cryptome.org/us-blackout/us-blackout.htm (images) http://movies.ogrish.c…

granted this isnt exactly current affairs but ive always been interested in it none the less. The Americans on the forum will probably view this differently but when the Soviet Union put missle bases on Communist Cuba, how was the American backlash justified considering they had Nuclear bases in Turkey on the Soviet border and always had nuke armed planes in the air over europe 24 hours a day for the best part of half a century. My dad remembers living near an air base in England and seeing two planes with big ass bombs strapped to their fuselages take off whenever another two landed, screaming down the runway. Im a bit of a socialist myself and I dont want to incur …

I'm just wondering, as you do, about the 'axis of evil'tm that we now seem committed to looking into. Libya, Syria, Iran, Iraq and North Korea all seem to have legitimate reasoning behind seeing them as a threat. However, Colin Powell has admitted that Washington is not accusing Cuba of having biological weapons but of possessing the capability to conduct biological research. Is that not a bit tenuous? Is Cuba a genuine threat to anyone, in reality? I just assumed it had turned into a nice holiday destination and the backdrop for bond films. Isn't Somalia or Uganda a more legitimate focus of the worlds attention?

Researchers have created the highest resolution optical image ever, revealing structures as small as just tens of billionths of a metre across. "This is the highest resolution optical spectroscopic measurement ever made," said Lukas Novotny, professor of optics at Rochester University, US. The novel technique should allow a new insight into the world of the small, for example examining the proteins embedded in a cell's membrane. "There are other methods that can see smaller structures, but none use light, which is rich in information," said Professor Novotny. "With this technique, we have a detailed spectrum for every point on a surface." Gold point Other ultra-high…

Images of the slopes around Olympus Mons, Mars' largest volcano, appear to show water flowing down them. A researcher named Tahirih Motazedian speculates that geothermal activity melts the subsurface ice. The water then dissolves some of the surrounding minerals to form a brine with a depressed freezing point. BBC has a full writeup here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2820085.stm The Pope appeals to halt the efforts to provoke war with Iraq. President Bush, as a born again Christian, ignores God's one representative on earth. Is Bush leading us into a religious war? To whom does Bush answer to? What precisely will it take for a reconsideration of the state of play? Bush has stated that he doesn't require the consent of the United Nations to respond to threats to American security and plans to move against Iraq without the support if necessary. Where will this conflict lead us if it is instigated?

SEOUL, South Korea (March 2) - North Korea warned Sunday of ''nuclear disasters'' around the world if Washington attacks the communist state, while its civilian leaders urged greater cooperation between Pyongyang and Seoul to ease the crisis on the Korean Peninsula. The North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper accused the Central Intelligence Agency of preparing a surprise attack on the nation's nuclear facilities that are suspected of being used to make atomic bombs. ''If the U.S. imperialists ignite a war on the Korean Peninsula, the war will turn into a nuclear war,'' Rodong said. ''As a consequence, the Koreans in the north and south and the people in Asia and…

After more than 30 years in space heading away from Earth, Pioneer 10 has sent its last signal home. Pioneer's last, very weak signal was received on 22 January, after which US space agency (Nasa) engineers reported that its power source had decayed such that it might not be capable of sending another message. Following its encounter with Jupiter, Pioneer 10 explored the outer regions of the Solar System, studying the solar wind as well as cosmic rays from deep space. Since its official science mission ended on 31 March, 1997, Pioneer's weak signal has been tracked by Nasa's Deep Space Network as part of a new study of communication technology in support of a f…

Plasma reaching millions of degrees within the MAST experimental reactor. China and the US are to co-operate in one of the most important research endeavours of our time - the search for a viable fusion process. Although extremely difficult and expensive to develop, this technology will harness the same processes carried out in stars to provide extremely cheap and clean energy. The fuels used are virtually inexhaustible. Deuterium and tritium are both isotopes of hydrogen. Deuterium is extracted from water and tritium is manufactured from a light metal, lithium, which is found all over the world. One kilogram would produce the same amount of energy as 10,000…

According to NewScientist, a team of US scientists have successfully doubled the lifespan of the nematode worm without any apparant side-effects. "The gene, called daf-2, is also found in fruit flies and mice, and Kenyon thinks it is possible that it is present in humans. Interfering with this gene in a similar way might also safely extend the human lifespan, she says." Check out the article here. Journal reference: Science (vol 289, p 830)

I was watching cross fire the show on cnn today and to my surprise Jerry springer was on, he talked about wanting to run for president. I would like to know peoples opinion on this issue personally how bad could it be.

The Boomerang nebula, which is 5,000 light years from earth, is the coldest natural place known in the universe. The temperature within the gasses is only 1 degree celcius above absolute zero. This is due to the expanding gasses lowering the temperature. Im sure some ex's would feel right at home. Link to full article

I've been keeping an eye on CNN.com this week, and I have to say you guys aren't getting half the coverage that the UK is getting on Iraq type issues. That strikes me as being a little... odd. You did have a fantastic front-page world news article on Tuesday though that regailed the world with news of N. Korea's new killer missile of doom and completely failed to mention that they don't actually have a warhead for it yet. Is this propaganda, or bad journalism? Discuss.

The worlds first gravity wave detector has been completed and is set to begin operations soon. The device consists of two installations, one in Louisiana and one in Washington state. Each installation has two 4km long vacuum tunnels into which lasers are fired and bounced off mirrors at the other end. The returning light beam is analyzed for disturbances. Dr Harry Ward explained "The effect of a gravitational wave - if you imagine it propagating towards you - would be to lengthen space between your head and feet, and contract your width. It distorts you in that way. "So the way we try to detect gravitational waves is to lay out, L-shape, a set of mirrors. The…

A nice little thread to post your favourite flag pictures onto. Popular with Americans this type of thing.

This evening President George W. Bush stated that he supported legislation that would ban all human cloning. This is a clear example of conservative religious politics being used to stifle science. It signals a growing rift between scientists and conservative politicians like Bush, who consult the Vatican on their policy for cloning.

James Shapiro from the U of Chicago will be doing an online chat called "How molecular biology opens up a 21st Century view of evolution" at the following URL on February 20th, 2003 at 2pm Eastern. http://www.iscid.org/james-shapiro.php

With the economy deteriorating and crime levels rising ..do u think we should go in for war? The consequences are too horrific to even think about.Saddam Hussain has a reputation equivalent to that of Hitler.If nuclear weapons are going to be used the destruction caused will exceed it's limit and the after effects of nuclear war will be evident in the future generations.Take Hiroshima and Nagasaki for example.The president should not panic all of a sudden about that Bin Laden guy.. because terrorists love to see people in panic and distress and they have fun at innocent people's cost. I have lived in a place where terrorism was too high and i have come to the conclusion t…

Russian Scientists have announced that they have found living cells from a frozen mammoth. The cells could provide the DNA scientists need to bring the ice-aged creature back. The cells, which were obtained from the mammoth's thigh, are "conditionally alive". Full article here.

...slowly but surely. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2757923.stm

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Is he the Invisible Man? It looks like as if three men walking behind are seen through the body of graduate student Kazutoshi Obana during a demonstration of optical camouflage technology at Tokyo University on Wednesday. The demonstration conducted by Professor of Engineering Susumu Tachi is an early stage of his research that he hopes will eventually render camouflaged objects virtually transparent by wearing an optical device. The photo was taken through a viewfinder that combines moving images from behind and in front of Obana, who was wearing a luminous jacket to create the transparent effect. The technology could prove useful…

A new ultra-low reflection substance has been developed for use in space telescopes. Apparently it is 10-20 times less reflective than matt black paint. "It's the blackest surface commercially available," [Dr Richard Brown] told BBC News Online. "It's a very interesting surface to look at because it's so black." Well duh. The coating is made of an alloy of nickel and phosphorus pitted with tiny curved craters which absorb light. Link here (here's another link with some more detail and a photo)

Brandon Vedas, 21, died online trying to impress his IRC buddies in a 'shroom channel by consuming a cocktail of various drugs that was far beyond lethal doses. Users in the channel egged him on, encouraging him to take different drugs for the webcam, while watching the 'show' on his website. BBC article is here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2724819.stm IRC logs from the channel are here: http://pages.sbcglobal.net/oea/logs.html Update (fafalone):And here, the page originally linked to was shut down; I recovered the partial log from google caches, but if anyone has the complete thing that was originally posted, send it to me or post an address.

Italian surgeons have performed the first every full jaw transplant in an 11 hour surgery. An 80 year old man who suffers from a cancerous tumor of the mouth received the jaw bone from a donor, and membrane from the patient's arm was used to recreate his gums. You can find the full article here.