"The New York Times reports that researchers have found a spinal-fluid test can be 100 percent accurate in identifying patients with significant memory loss who are on their way to developing Alzheimer's disease. The new study included more than 300 patients in their seventies, 114 with normal memories, 200 with memory problems, and 102 with Alzheimer's disease. Their spinal fluid was analyzed for amyloid beta, which forms plaques in the brain, and for tau, another protein that accumulates in dead and dying nerve cells in the brain. Nearly every person with Alzheimer's had the characteristic spinal fluid protein levels."
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Abandon Earth Or Die, Warns Hawking
siliconbits writes "According to famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, it's time to free ourselves from Mother Earth. 'I believe that the long-term future of the human race must be in space,' Hawking tells Big Think. 'It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand, or million. The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet. Let's hope we can avoid dropping the basket until we have spread the load.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Google's South Korean offices raided by police as part of Street View investigation
By Vlad Savov 
posted Aug 10th 2010 6:40AM
[Thanks, D. Kim]
Brain Rhythm Predicts Ability to Sleep Through a Noisy Night
ScienceDaily (Aug. 9, 2010) — Ever wonder why some people can sleep through just about anything, while others get startled awake at each and every bump in the night?
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sharpie Liquid Pencil writes and erases like a pencil, dries like a Sharpie (video hands-on!)
By Nilay Patel posted Aug 9th 2010 3:02PM
It basically works as described, although the marks don't erase completely clear -- because you're writing with a metal pen tip, there's no way to avoid impressing the paper a little, and the indentations are pretty visible. Still, it's better than any erasable pen we've ever used, and it definitely writes like a decent clicky-pen, so we can't fault it too much. Oddly, Sharpie's blog says it takes three days for the ink to dry to permanence, but the back of the package says 24 hours, so we'll have to see how long our test scribbles last -- we'll let you know. Video after the break.
Rubik's Cube Now Solvable in 20 Moves
A few years ago we reported that it had been proven that Rubik's Cubes could be solved in 23 moves. Well now that number is down to just 20. Proving it required 35 years of computer time donated by Google to get it done.
The 'Net Generation' Isn't
Kanel introduces this lengthy review in Spiegel Online this way: "Kids that grew up with the Internet are not 'digital natives' as consultants have led us to believe. They're OK with the Net but they don't care much about Web 2.0 and find plenty of other things more important than the Internet. Consultants and authors, mostly old guys, have called for the education system to be reworked to suit this new generation, but they never conducted surveys to see if the members of 'generation @' were anything like what they had envisioned. Turns out, children who have known the Net their whole lives are not particularly skilled at it, nor do they live their lives online.""Young people have now reached this turning point. The Internet is no longer something they are willing to waste time thinking about. It seems that the excitement about cyberspace was a phenomenon peculiar to their predecessors, the technology-obsessed first generation of Web users. ...they certainly no longer understand it when older generations speak of 'going online.' ... Tom and his friends just describe themselves as being 'on' or 'off,' using the English terms. What they mean is: contactable or not."
Gum inflammation linked to Alzheimer's disease
Dental researchers have found the first long-term evidence that periodontal disease may increase the risk of cognitive dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease in healthy individuals as well as in those who already are cognitively impaired. The study offers fresh evidence that gum inflammation may contribute to brain inflammation, neurodegeneration, and Alzheimer's disease.
http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/EGnkhw5E1HY/100803112811.htm
Why Wave Failed
Florian Wardell submitted a little discussion piece about Why Wave Failed. He blames marketing and the staged rollout. Personally I think that what killed it was that I should have transparently been able to see my gmail inside wave. Requiring a separate window guarantees that I wouldn't use it regularly. Had I been able to read my regular mail in the same UI, I might have been tempted to use it more.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Superman Comic Saves Family Home From Foreclosure
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday August 04, @11:53AM
from the more-powerful-than-an-angry-banker dept.
from the more-powerful-than-an-angry-banker dept.
A couple's home was saved from foreclosure after they found a copy of Action Comics #1 in a box in the basement. From the article: "In a statement released through ComicConnect, the owner of the prized comic book said the family was still 'a little shell shocked' after the unexpected find. 'I was so nervous when I realized what it was worth,' the owner said. 'I know I am very fortunate but I will be greatly relieved when this book finds a new home.'"
Human Tests of Mind-Controlled Artificial Arm To Begin
kkleiner writes"The world's first human testing of a mind-controlled artificial limb is ready to begin. A joint project between the Pentagon and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, the Modular Prosthetic Limb will be fully controlled by sensors implanted in the brain, and will even restore the sense of touch by sending electrical impulses from the limb back to the sensory cortex. Last week APL announced it had been awarded a $34.5M contract with DARPA, which will allow researchers to test the neural prosthetic in five individuals over the next two years."
Monday, August 2, 2010
New Solar Energy Conversion Process Could Double Solar Efficiency of Solar Cells
ScienceDaily (Aug. 2, 2010) — A new process that simultaneously combines the light and heat of solar radiation to generate electricity could offer more than double the efficiency of existing solar cell technology, say the Stanford engineers who discovered it and proved that it works. The process, called "photon enhanced thermionic emission," or PETE, could reduce the costs of solar energy production enough for it to compete with oil as an energy source.
Radioactive Boar On the Rise In Germany
Posted by samzenpus on Monday August 02, @12:14PM
from the stay-in-the-car-while-I-check-this-out dept.
from the stay-in-the-car-while-I-check-this-out dept.
Germans who go out in the woods today are sure of a big surprise, radioactive boars. A portion of the wild boar population in Germany was irradiated after the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, and the boars are thriving. In the last two years government payments to compensate hunters for radioactive boar have quadrupled. From the article: "According to the Environment Ministry in Berlin, almost €425,000 ($555,000) was paid out to hunters in 2009 in compensation for wild boar meat that was too contaminated by radiation to be sold for consumption. That total is more than four times higher than compensation payments made in 2007." I think the Germans are overlooking just how much money there is to be made from regenerating bacon.
Sleep Disorder May Signal Dementia, Parkinson's Disease Up to 50 Years Early
ScienceDaily (July 29, 2010) — A new study shows that a sleep disorder may be a sign of dementia or Parkinson's disease up to 50 years before the disorders are diagnosed.
Chernobyl Area Survey Finds Lasting Problems For Wildlife
ninguna writes"The largest wildlife census of its kind conducted in Chernobyl has revealed that mammals are declining in the exclusion zone surrounding the nuclear power plant. Whilesome stories seem to indicate Nature recovering, the actual picture isn't quite so great."
Thursday, July 29, 2010
To Make One Happy, Make One Busy
ScienceDaily (July 29, 2010) — A new study inPsychological Science found that people who have something to do, even something pointless, are happier than people who sit idly.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Relationships Improve Your Odds of Survival by 50 Percent, Research Finds
(July 27, 2010) — A new Brigham Young University study adds our social relationships to the "short list" of factors that predict a person's odds of living or dying.
School District Drops 'D' Grades
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday July 28, @12:03PM
from the pass-fail-education dept.
from the pass-fail-education dept.
Students in one New Jersey school district will no longer be able to squeak by in class after the Morris County School Board approved dropping the D grade. Beginning in the fall students who don't get a C or higher will get an F on their report card. "I'm tired of kids coming to school and not learning and getting credit for it," said Superintendent Larrie Reynolds in a Daily Record report.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Australian Cave Offers Klingon Audio Tour
by samzenpus on Tuesday July 27, @09:42AM
from the enjoy-the-tour-you-filthy-targ dept.
from the enjoy-the-tour-you-filthy-targ dept.
schliz writes"An Australian cave system visited by 200,000 tourists a year is expanding its range of audio guides to support Klingon. Cave operators reportedly engaged the services of two 'Klingon scholars' from the US, following Star Trek's naming of a 'Sydney Class' Starship, the USS Jenolan."
How a Key Enzyme Repairs Sun-Damaged DNA
BraveHeart writes"Researchers have long known that mammals, including humans, lack a key enzyme — one possessed by most of the animal kingdom and even plants — that reverses severe sun damage. For the first time, researchers have witnessed how this enzyme works at the atomic level to repair sun-damaged DNA. 'Normal sunscreen lotions convert UV light to heat, or reflect it away from our skin. A sunscreen containing photolyase could potentially heal some of the damage from UV rays that get through.'"
Facing 16 Years In Prison For Videotaping Police
krou sends this snip from the Maine Civil Liberties Union:"The ACLU of Maryland is defending Anthony Graber, who faces as much as sixteen years in prison if found guilty of violating state wiretap laws because he recorded video of an officer drawing a gun during a traffic stop. ... Once [the Maryland State Police] learned of the video on YouTube, Graber's parents' house was raided, searched, and four of his computers were confiscated. Graber was arrested, booked, and jailed. Their actions are a calculated method of intimidation. Another person has since been similarly charged under the same statute. The wiretap law being used to charge Anthony Graber is intended to protect private communication between two parties. According to David Rocah, the ACLU attorney handling Mr. Graber's case, 'To charge Graber with violating the law, you would have to conclude that a police officer on a public road, wearing a badge and a uniform, performing his official duty, pulling someone over, somehow has a right to privacy when it comes to the conversation he has with the motorist.'"
Monday, July 26, 2010
Stop or Speed Through a Yellow Light? That Is the Question
ScienceDaily (June 8, 2010) — Transportation engineering PhD student Zhixia Li was attracted to the University of Cincinnati because of the real-world education and experience the university provides.
Terra-Gen lands major funding, expects to complete America's largest wind farm next year
By Darren Murph posted Jul 26th 2010 9:46AM
And you thought that 1,000 megawatt wind farm planned for Lake Erie was going to be huge. Terra-Gen Power recently secured a staggering $1.2 billion in construction financing, which it fully intends to use on 3D projectors, PlayStation 3 consoles and parts necessary to build America's largest wind farm. Granted, only one of those points is actually true, but we suspect you're hanging with us. The latest round of cash will help build four wind power projects with a total of 570 megawatts of capacity at the company's Alta Wind Energy Center in Kern County, California. But when you put that with projects already in motion, you're left with a 3,000MW wind power initiative, which should be completed and operational "in the first and second quarters of 2011." So, anyone feeling up to topping this?Why More Education Lowers Dementia Risk
ScienceDaily (July 25, 2010) — A team of researchers from the UK and Finland has discovered why people who stay in education longer have a lower risk of developing dementia -- a question that has puzzled scientists for the past decade.
The Healing Effects of Forests
ScienceDaily (July 23, 2010) — "Many people," says Dr. Eeva Karjalainen, of the Finnish Forest Research Institute, Metla, "feel relaxed and good when they are out in nature. But not many of us know that there is also scientific evidence about the healing effects of nature."
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