Rockets To Race Over Wisconsin Skies

Posted by timothy on Thursday July 17, @03:43PM
from the nitro-burnin'-funny-ships dept.

Iron Condor writes with a reminder that that the first race of the Rocket Racing League (last mentioned here in April, after its 2005 founding) is set to take place later this month at Oshkosh AirVenture 08. This race, says Iron Condor, "is exactly what it sounds like: NASCAR 1000m above ground in rocket-propelled airplanes. Created by X-prize founder/CEO Peter Diamandis, this is 'the next evolution of racing' (at least according to the promo video, which is definitely worth watching)..."

Fuel From Food Waste: Bacteria Provide Power

ScienceDaily (July 17, 2008) — Researchers have combined the efforts of two kinds of bacteria to produce hydrogen in a bioreactor, with the product from one providing food for the other. According to an article in the August issue of Microbiology Today, this technology has an added bonus: leftover enzymes can be used to scavenge precious metals from spent automotive catalysts to help make fuel cells that convert hydrogen into energy.

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Freak rain kills Antarctic penguins; climate change blamed

by Patrick Metzger
Jul 17th 2008 @ 12:25PM

Filed under: News, Climate Change

Will the next March of the Penguins be a funeral march?

Ok, sorry about the melodrama but this story is really sad. Freak rain storms in Antarctica earlier this year were apparently responsible for killing thousands of baby penguins. Because penguin chicks don't have the water-repellent layer which develops as they mature, many became soaked by torrential rains during the day and then froze to death at night when the temperature dropped below freezing.

This isn't just one of those "oh well, circle of life" things; it's virtually unprecedented. Precipitation of any kind, and especially 5 day downpours as experienced in January, is extremely rare in Antarctica, one of the driest places on the planet. Researchers believe that the strange rainstorms, like other weather events around the world, can be linked directly to manmade climate change.

Frozen penguins - one more nasty aspect of global warming that we didn't predict. What else has Mother Nature got in store for us?

via [National Geographic]

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Allergy To Road Traffic: Exposure To Traffic-related Air Pollution Linked To Onset Of Allergic Diseases In Children

ScienceDaily (July 17, 2008) — Allergic diseases appear more often in children who grow up near busy roads according to a new study involving several thousand children.

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Can You Be Born A Couch Potato? Genetic Influence Found In Active And Sedentary Behavior Of Mice

ScienceDaily (July 17, 2008) — The key to good health is to be physically active. The key to being active is... to be born that way?

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Scientists Reduce Alzheimer's-like Plaques In Fly Brain

ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) — Neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) are part of a collaboration that has succeeded in demonstrating that overexpression of an enzyme in the brain can reduce telltale deposits causally linked with Alzheimer's disease.

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Cancer Metastasis: Cellular Decisions Predicted With Computer Program

ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) — Scientists of the Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) in Heidelberg have simulated on the computer how cells decide whether or not to migrate. Using their results, the researchers were able to predict the molecular targets within a cell that have to be hit so that its behavior changes in a particular direction. This method may help to develop new treatments against cancer metastasis.

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EU Proposes Retroactive Copyright Extension

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday July 17, @03:14AM
from the nothing-lasts-forever dept.

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has unveiled a plan to retroactively extend musical copyrights by 45 years, which would make EU musical copyrights last 95 years total. Why? They're worried that musicians won't continue to collect royalties when they retire and this will give them an additional 45 years during which they won't have to produce any new music. Perhaps the only good point is that the retroactive extensions won't take effect for any works which aren't marketed in the first year after the extension. Additionally, while there are many non-musical retirees wishing they could get paid for 95 years after they finish working, McCreevy has not announced any new plans to help them."

[+] money, music, culture, greed (tagging beta)

Worlds collide: YouTube comes to TiVo

by Ryan Block, posted Jul 17th 2008 at 3:06AM

Just in case you weren't already watching enough YouTube at work and on your home computer, on your iPhone, Ocean, etc., or on your Apple TV, now TiVo's getting in on the action as well. Originally announced earlier this year, TiVo users can finally expect the update to pop over your TiVo's regularly scheduled updates over the next couple of weeks. Oh, and our man Dave Zatz shot some video of the new feature and put it up on (where else?) YouTube -- check it out after the break.

[Video via ZNF]

Making the Switch To Windows "Workstation" 2008

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday July 16, @12:35AM
from the active-vista-avoidance-techniques dept.

snydeq writes "Disenchanted with Vista? Why not convert Windows Server 2008 into the lean, efficient, reliable 'power user' OS that Windows should be? InfoWorld's Randall Kennedy, who has been using a converted 'Workstation' 2008 as his primary OS since hitting a wall using Vista as a Visual Studio development platform four months ago, says the guerrilla OS has turned his Dell notebook into a well-oiled machine that never gets sluggish and rarely needs to reboot. Those interested in making the switch should check out win2008workstation.com, a clearinghouse for 'Workstation' 2008 tips and techniques. Kennedy also offers a link to a Windows 2008 Workstation Converter utility for those looking to quickly convert a fresh Server 2008 install without hacking the registry or manually installing/enabling lots of services and features."

Latitude XT free multi-touch update now available

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 16th 2008 at 3:07AM

Hey Dell Latitude XT owners -- multi-touch is now yours. The 15MB update announced Monday is available to download for 32- and 64-bit Vista or Windows XP tablet users. Direct2Dell even posted a video hosted by a real live Texan to walk owners though the installation and calibration process. Yeehaw!

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Future Snowmelt In West Twice As Early As Expected; Threatens Ecosystems And Water Reserves

ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) — According to a new study, global warming could lead to larger changes in snowmelt in the western United States than was previously thought, possibly increasing wildfire risk and creating new water management challenges for agriculture, ecosystems and urban populations.

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Researchers Identify Immune Cells That Block Allergic Reactions

ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) — When it comes to allergies, both the problem and the solution are found within us. Our immune systems respond to foreign substances with an arsenal of cells. Some are programmed to "remember" invaders they've encountered in the past. Normally, anything previously identified as harmless is allowed to pass. Sometimes, however, the immune response goes awry, triggering an allergic reaction.

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Tigers Disappear From Himalayan Refuge

ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) — World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is alarmed by the dramatic decline of at least 30 percent in the Bengal tiger population of Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Nepal, once a refuge that boasted among the highest densities of the endangered species in the Eastern Himalayas. The recent survey of April 2008 showed a population of between 6-14 tigers, down from 20-50 tigers in 2005.

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Full-day Kindergarteners' Reading, Math Gains Fade By 3rd Grade

ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) — Children in full-day kindergarten have slightly better reading and math skills than children in part-day kindergarten, but these initial academic benefits diminish soon after the children leave kindergarten. This loss is due, in part, to issues related to poverty and the quality of children's home environments.

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Japanese Scientists Develop Long-Life Flash Memory

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday July 16, @05:38AM
from the degrades-gracefully-too dept.

schliz writes "Flash memory chips with a potential lifetime of hundreds of years have been developed by Japanese scientists. The new chips also work at lower voltages than conventional chips, according to the scientists from the University of Tokyo. They are said to be scaleable down to at least 10 nm; current Flash chips wouldn't be usable below 20 nm."

E3 2008: More Creatures in Spore Than in Real Life

Spore already has more creatures than exist in the real world.
By Sam Kennedy, 07/14/2008

At its press conference just now, EA announced that over 1.8 million creatures have been created by people using the Spore Creature Creator -- that's more than the number of known species in the world (1.5 million)! The Creature Creator has been available less than a month, meaning all of those creatures were created in just that amount of time. This is an especially staggering number considering the real game in which these creatures are used, Spore, isn't even available yet.

Spore creator Will Wright said that EA was hoping to get 100,000 creatures uploaded by players with the Creature Editor by September. They hit that number in 22 hours. Wright also showed off some of his favorite fan created creatures on screen.

EA also announced that National Geographic put together a documentary on evolution using Spore that will air the week the game ships. This documentary will be included in the Galactic Edition of the game.

To see some of the many possible creations with Spore, check out our recent roundup of gaming characters created with the Spore Creature Creator. It includes this beauty of Spore creator Will Wright himself:

Consumption Of Nut Products During Pregnancy Linked To Increased Asthma In Children

ScienceDaily (July 15, 2008) — Expectant mothers who eat nuts or nut products like peanut butter daily during pregnancy increase their children's risk of developing asthma by more than 50 percent over women who rarely or never consume nut products during pregnancy, according to new research from the Netherlands.

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Disgruntled Engineer Hijacks San Francisco's Computer System

Posted by timothy on Tuesday July 15, @08:51AM
from the wait-'til-he-turns-off-the-earthquake-preventor dept.

ceswiedler writes "A disgruntled software engineer has hijacked San Francisco's new multimillion-dollar municipal computer system. When the Department of Technology tried to fire him, he disabled all administrative passwords other than his own. He was taken into custody but has so far refused to provide the password, and the department has yet to regain admin access on their own. They're worried that he or an associate might be able to destroy hundreds of thousands of sensitive documents, including emails, payroll information, and law enforcement documents."

[+] it, security, usa, haha, boned (tagging beta)

Evidence mounts for August Eee PC carnage with $299 Dell E launch

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jul 15th 2008 at 2:26AM

Doing with a single E what takes ASUS three, Dell's mini netbook looks to be on track for an August kill sprEee. We've already seen Dell's launch timeline and specs, of course, and this morning we've got the hushed whispers of DigiTimes' "market sources" again claiming that the Compal manufactured Dell 8.9-inchers will launch in August for $299. For that price, assuming everything we've heard so far is correct, you'll get an instant-on Linux distro running atop Intel's 1.6GHz Atom processor, a 1,024 x 600 display, 3x USB, a wee SSD, integrated webcam, WiFi, and more in a 0.82-1.22-inch thick sled weighing about 2.2-pounds. With the netbook market now thoroughly saturated, we expect the Dell launch to mark the beginning of an industry shakeout. Any bets on who will survive?

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Water-powered clock is here to save the environment

by Joshua Fruhlinger, posted Jul 15th 2008 at 6:03AM

If you're all about the environment, you probably have a hybrid car, monitor your power use, and recycle your detritus. But if you still have a power-guzzling alarm clock that plugs into the wall, for shame, you glutton! Fear not, though -- the eco-friendly, water-powered Bedol Wall Wave Clock is here to save the day. Powered by electrodes immersed in water that extract energy from compound particles, this thirsty clock won't be available until Augst 15, 2008. To make things less painful, though, it will only run you $19.00 when it comes to save us all.

[Via Cool Hunting]

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Risk Of Gall Bladder Disease With Hormone Replacement Therapy Patches Lower Than With HRT Pills

ScienceDaily (July 14, 2008) — Use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases the risk of gallbladder disease but the effects are less with HRT given in skin patches or gels compared with HRT given orally, according to a study published on the British Medical Journal website.

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Japanese community goes zero waste

by Sea Stachura
Jul 14th 2008 @ 9:00AM

Filed under: News

Talk about pushy. The mayor of the small town of Kamikatsu in eastern Japan has decreed community members must compost and recycle everything. What can't be composted has to be taken to a recycling center where they must sort their garbage into 34 recycling bins.

The decision by Kamikatsu's mayor is partly economic. It costs the city less money to recycle and compost thoroughly than it does to incinerate the waste for energy.

But full responsibility for garbage falls on residents shoulders. The styrofoam trays used to hold meat have to be washed before being recycled; labels must be removed. Residents sort polyethylene teraphthalate bottles from other types of plastic containers because PET are more valuable. Pens and razors have boxes of their own.

Residents say composting and sorting does take more time, but they are more aware of what they throw out, what they use and how. The mayor of Kamikatsu says every community should follow his lead.

[via BBC]

Two Powerful Blows Against Air Pollution Controls

Posted by kdawson on Sunday July 13, @10:57PM
from the old-one-two dept.

The NYTimes reports from Washington on two separate actions on Friday that, between them, have halted Bush administration clean-air initiatives in their tracks. The current administration is no favorite of environmental groups, but these groups sided with the administration in a court case brought by the utility companies. On Friday an appeals court threw out the EPA's Clean Air Interstate Rule, established in 2005. The court ruled that the EPA had exceeded its authority when it established that rule, which set new requirements for major pollutants. According to the article, even the utilities were appalled to see the rule completely gutted; their objections had been narrower. Here is a podcast with the reporter (MP3) giving some background on the ruling. The second major blow to clean-air efforts came later in the day on Friday. Quoting: "...the EPA chief rejected any obligation to regulate heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide under existing law, saying that to do so would involve an 'unprecedented expansion' of the agency's authority that would have 'a profound effect on virtually every sector of the economy,' touching 'every household in the land.'... In effect, Mr. Johnson was simultaneously publishing the policy analysis of his scientific and legal experts and repudiating its conclusions."

[+] government, earth (tagging beta)

River Damming Leads To Dramatic Decline In Native Fish Numbers

ScienceDaily (July 14, 2008) — Damming of the Colorado River over the last century, alongside introduction of game fish species, has led to an extensive decline in numbers of native fish* whilst introduced species have flourished. Scientists have found that physical changes which occur to a river when it is dammed have had an adverse effect only on native fish, due to differences in their life histories.

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Antarctica Once Abutted Death Valley

Posted by kdawson on Sunday July 13, @09:04PM
from the may-i-borrow-some-grey-poupon dept.

Science News has a story of strange bedfellows. It seems that Antarctica was once adjacent to what is now the American Southwest, some 800 million years ago. Earth's continents then formed a supercontinent called Rodinia, predating Pangaea by some 550 million years. "...the ratios of neodymium isotopes in the ancient sediments in the Transantarctic Mountains are the same as those in what was then Laurentia, says Goodge. Also, the hafnium isotope ratios in the 1.44-billion-year-old zircons found in East Antarctica match those of the zircons found in the distinctive granites now found primarily in North America. Finally, the researchers note, the ratios of various isotopes and elements in a basketball-sized chunk of granite found in East Antarctica — a chunk ripped by a glacier from bedrock now smothered by thick ice, the team speculates — match those of granite found only in what was southwestern Laurentia, which today is the American Southwest."

The Russians are leaving their ice cap

by Sea Stachura
Jul 13th 2008 @ 5:55PM

Filed under: News, Climate Change

Russian scientists have long camped out for years at a time on ice-floes in the Arctic Ocean. Last September a group of scientists set up camp again, but instead of finding a thick, wide patch of ice on which to conduct their research the researchers had to settle for half the thickness and half the width. The ice floe was 3 miles long by 1.8 miles wide.

Now, just nine months later the patch of ice measures just shy of 2,000 feet long by 980 feet wide. And warm water is up ahead. they're abandoning their ice floe and their research before the floe collapses entirely.

American and Canadian scientists say this year melting in the Arctic has begun at least four weeks sooner than average. It will likely meet or exceed last year's record breaking seasonal melt.

As Mr. Rogers once said, "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood."

[via BBC]

NASA satellite locates best spots for ocean wind power

by Patrick Metzger
Jul 13th 2008 @ 3:02PM

Filed under: News, Alternative Energy

Researchers analyzing a decade's worth of data from the NASA QuikSCAT satellite, which looks at wind patterns over the ocean, say that the information could be used to determine the most effective places to locate wind farms for power generation.

With fossil fuels getting more expensive and more unpopular every day, wind power is a booming industry. Obviously, some places are more suitable than others for wind turbines, and the open ocean is generally far windier than land. That's where QuikSCAT comes in.

The satellite records the speed, direction and power of winds as they sweep over the surface of the ocean. That means it's an ideal tool for finding locations where the wind is strong and continuous, minimizing power generation downtime. Tim Liu, lead author of the study which reveals the QuikSCAT data, notes that recent technology has for the first time made wind farms in the open ocean practical (open sea wind power generation would not only be more efficient than close to shore turbines, but less likely to offend the aesthetic sensibilities of wealthy coastal dwellers.)

Among the notably windy locations so far are areas off the coasts of California, Tasmania, and Tierra Del Fuego.

via [NASA]

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