I don't have the guts but it would be really cool.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Earth's Radio Telescopes Combining Forces
Posted by samzenpus on Thursday January 15, @07:57AM
from the dark-side-of-the-moon dept.
Slatterz writes"I own a basic 70mm telescope, which I'm sure Galileo would have given his right arm for in 1609. In fact, this year marks exactly 400 years since Galileo first pointed a telescope at the skies — discovering the moons of Jupiter and helping to prove that the universe doesn't revolve around us. As a mark of respect, the United Nations has declared 2009 the International Year of Astronomy. Official festivities kick off this week in Paris and, to help start the celebrations, 17 radio telescopes in Australia, Asia, Europe and the Americas will track three quasars using something called "real-time Very Long Baseline Interferometry" — basically creating hi-res images by combining their data to simulate a telescope as large as the Earth. Sounds cool."
Smart Lighting: New LED Drops The 'Droop'
ScienceDaily (Jan. 15, 2009) — Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed and demonstrated a new type of light emitting diode (LED) with significantly improved lighting performance and energy efficiency.
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Video: Kinstore-Z robot is easily the world's most bizarre
by Thomas Ricker, posted Jan 15th 2009 at 6:14AM
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
3 Cups of Coffee Increases Hallucinations
Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday January 14, @11:37AM
from the but-they-ARE-out-to-get-me dept.
PearsSoap writes"The Telegraph and other sources are pointing out a study on 200 students which has found that a high caffeine intake can cause visual and auditory hallucinations, and can make people think that others are 'out to get them.' The abstract (and full version if you have access) is available. 'The volunteers were questioned about their caffeine intake from products including coffee, tea, energy drinks, chocolate bars and caffeine tablets.'"
Possible New Alzheimer's Treatment? Destroying Amyloid Proteins With Lasers
ScienceDaily (Jan. 14, 2009) — Researchers have found that a technique used to visualize amyloid fibers in the laboratory might have the potential to destroy them in the clinic. The technique involves zapping the fluorescently-tagged fibers with a laser, which can inhibit their growth and degrade them.
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Monday, January 12, 2009
In-Depth With the Windows 7 Public Beta
Posted by kdawson on Monday January 12, @08:06PM
from the ctrl-alt-del-makes-him-blink dept.
Dozer writes"With the Windows 7 public beta out, Ars Technica has an in-depth look at the release. There's praise for Windows 7's UI changes and polish as well much-needed changes to UAC, but also a warning that those who have problems with Vista won't like Windows 7 much better. 'If you couldn't stand Vista's UI (whether it's because you didn't like Explorer, Aero, Control Panel, UAC, or anything else), Windows 7 is unlikely to do much to help, as it builds on the same UI. If Vista's hardware demands were too steep, Windows 7 will likely cause you the same grief, as its hardware demands match. And if Vista didn't work with a program or device you need to use, Windows 7 will offer no salvation, as its compatibility is virtually identical.'"
Tech Companies That Won't Survive 2009
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday January 12, @01:30PM
from the in-a-blaze-of-glory dept.
buzzardsbay writes"Fresh off their annual market survey, eWEEK channel folks have compiled the list of tech vendors their readers think will fail, falter, or be sold off in 2009. It's important to note that these aren't the opinions of the magazine or its editors. The list comes from folks who work in IT, mostly technology resellers, who are out in the field selling, installing and maintaining this stuff. If there were ever canaries in the tech coal mine, they'd be these service and solution providers who live and die by the slightest shift in the markets. Some of the companies on this list, like Sun and AMD, are shocking because of their size. Others, like CA and Symantec, not so surprising."What other companies are headed for implosion, or should be if all were right with the universe?
Comet Lulin Is Moving Closer To Earth
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday January 12, @08:51AM
from the space-sparkles dept.
goran72 writes"The comet is swinging around the Sun and approaching the Earth. The photogenic Lulin has a bright tail and an "anti-tail". At its closest approach in February, Comet Lulin is expected to brighten to naked-eye visibility, reaching a magnitude of six."
Flying Car Ready To Take Off
Posted by timothy on Monday January 12, @06:42AM
from the fill-up-on-windshield-fluid-please dept.
ChazeFroy writes"The first flying automobile, equally at home in the sky or on the road, is scheduled to take to the air next month. If it survives its first test flight, the Terrafugia Transition, which can transform itself from a two-seater road car to a plane in 15 seconds, is expected to land in showrooms in about 18 months' time. Terrafugia claims it will be able to fly up to 500 miles on a single tank of unleaded petrol at a cruising speed of 115mph. Even at $200,000 per automobile, they have already received 40 orders."
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Video Game Systems Use as Much Energy as San Diego
Maybe you got a new video game system for Christmas or perhaps you already had one. Either way, you need to keep an eye on the power button. Video game systems use as much power annually as the city of San Diego. Yikes! As shocking as that is, it's old news here on Green Daily. What we haven't told you, is how to fix the problem at your house. Some tips, from Planet Green:
- If you don't have a gaming console yet, go for the Nintendo Wii. It uses around 1/10 of the energy as the other guys.
- If you have an Xbox 360, you can set it to use a power save mode.
- Like many appliances, turn it off when you aren't using it.
- If your system can play movies, using it for that purpose probably uses more energy than just using the DVD or Blu-Ray player.
- Always recycle used systems properly. They contain toxic chemicals and should definitely not be thrown in the trash.
Avian Flu Becoming More Resistant To Antiviral Drugs
ScienceDaily (Jan. 8, 2009) — A new University of Colorado at Boulder study shows the resistance of the avian flu virus to a major class of antiviral drugs is increasing through positive evolutionary selection, with researchers documenting the trend in more than 30 percent of the samples tested.
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Big Raindrops Favor Tornado Formation, Simulations Suggest
ScienceDaily (Jan. 8, 2009) — One of the largest sources of uncertainty in weather prediction involves how microscale structures influence larger-scale phenomena. For instance, previous studies have demonstrated that the structure, dynamics, and evolution of thunderstorms are very sensitive to cloud microphysical parameters.
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To Climate-change Worries, Add One More: Extended Mercury Threat
ScienceDaily (Jan. 8, 2009) — Mercury pollution has already spurred public health officials to advise eating less fish, but it could become a more pressing concern in a warmer world.
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Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Data Breaches Rose Sharply In 2008
Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday January 07, @11:44AM
from the my-password-is-p4ssw0rd dept.
snydeq writes"According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, more than 35 million data records were breached in the U.S. in 2008. Tracking media reports and disclosures companies are required to make by law, the ITRC noted a 47 percent increase in breaches last year at a range of well-known U.S. companies and government entities. The majority of the lost data was neither encrypted nor protected by a password. A third of the breaches occurred at business entities. One in six breaches were attributed to insider theft, a figure that more than doubled between 2007 and 2008, ITRC said."
Playing Tetris Is Good For You
Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday January 07, @09:34AM
from the wow-still-causes-cancer dept.
An anonymous reader writes"Some UK researchers found out that playing Tetris is actually good for people with post-traumatic stress disorder, by interfering with memory. I wonder if playing Minesweeper is effective against boss-inflicted stress."
Russia's Mars Mission Raising Concerns
Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday January 07, @10:16AM
from the wait-aren't-they-both-red dept.
eldavojohn writes"Space.com has a blog on Russia's Phobos-Grunt project designed to explore the planet further. He voices concerns about part of this exploration that is dubbed LIFE (Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment) and backed by The Planetary Society that involves sending several samples of Earth's hardiest microbes to see if they can survive the round trip voyage. Space.com's correspondent Leonard David did some legwork to ensure that The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 was being upheld as it prevents cross-contamination between planets and receives some interesting responses from experts on this mission. The Phobos-Grunt mission will also deploy a Chinese sub-satellite 'Firefly-1,' which will attempt to figure out how water on Mars disappeared. Unfortunately, The United States is not taking part in Phobos-Grunt."
Obama Picks RIAA's Favorite Lawyer For Top DoJ Post
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday January 06, @10:05PM
from the paging-mister-lessig dept.
The Recording Industry of America's favorite courtroom lawyer, Tom Perrelli, who has sued individual file swappers in multiple federal courts, is President-elect Barack Obama's choice for the third in line at the Justice Department. CNet's Declam McCullagh explores the background of the man who won the RIAA's lucrative business for his DC law firm: "An article on his law firm's Web site says that Perrelli represented SoundExchange before the Copyright Royalty Board — and obtained a 250 percent increase in the royalty rate for music played over the Internet by companies like AOL and Yahoo," not to mention Pandora and Radio Paradise. NewYorkCountryLawyer adds, "Certainly this does not bode well for CowboyNeal's being appointed Copyright Czar."
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Run Your Honda Accord on Trash
If you've watched the end of the original Back to the Future lately and wondered why we haven't developed a garbage-consuming fuel system for our cars yet, then your wait is over. Kinda. Over atinstructables.com, a few enterprising young DIYers have created an easy kit and how-to (or instructable) on converting a Honda Accord to run on trash.
Sure it may not be the most practical thing for the tool-impaired, but it's just inspirational to see these guys build this 'gasifier' to run their car much like people did during WWII when fuel was rationed. This guide goes through every step, including the all-important safety precautions, and even provides a video of the finished product to see the car driving down the road, burning trash. You can also check outtheir website for more information on their Gasifier Experimenter's Kit (GEK).
Sure it may not be the most practical thing for the tool-impaired, but it's just inspirational to see these guys build this 'gasifier' to run their car much like people did during WWII when fuel was rationed. This guide goes through every step, including the all-important safety precautions, and even provides a video of the finished product to see the car driving down the road, burning trash. You can also check outtheir website for more information on their Gasifier Experimenter's Kit (GEK).
Milky Way Heavier Than Thought, and Spinning Faster
Posted by kdawson on Monday January 05, @09:50PM
from the bulking-up dept.
An anonymous reader writes"The Milky Way is spinning much faster and has 50 per cent more mass than previously believed. This means the Milky Way is equivalent in size to our neighbor Andromeda — instead of being the little sister in the local galaxy group, as had been believed. One implication of this new finding is that we may collide with Andromeda sooner than we had thought, in 2 or 3 billion years instead of 5."
Tooth Regeneration Coming Soon
Posted by kdawson on Monday January 05, @08:12PM
from the no-fairy-tale dept.
Ponca City, We love you writes"For thousands of years, losing teeth has been a routine part of human aging. Now the Washington Post reports that researchers are close to growing important parts of teeth from stem cells, including creating a living root from scratch, perhaps within one year. According to Pamela Robey of the NIH. 'Dentists say, "Give me a root and I can put a crown on it."' In a few years dentists will treat periodontal disease with regeneration by using stem cells to create hard and soft tissue; they will take out a tooth that is about to fall, and reconnect it firmly to the regenerated tissue. Although nobody is predicting when it will be possible to grow teeth on demand, in adults, to replace missing ones, a common guess is five to ten years. Baby and wisdom teeth are sources of stem cells that could be 'banked' for future health needs, says Robey. 'When you think about it, the teeth children put under their pillows may end up being worth much more than the tooth fairy's going rate. Plus, if you still have your wisdom teeth, it's nice to know you're walking around with your own source of stem cells.'"
Adult-onset Diabetes Slows Mental Functioning In Several Ways, With Deficits Appearing Early
ScienceDaily (Jan. 6, 2009) — Adults with diabetes experience a slowdown in several types of mental processing, which appears early in the disease and persists into old age, according to new research. Given the sharp rise in new cases of diabetes, this finding means that more adults may soon be living with mild but lasting deficits in their thought processes.
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How the City Hurts Your Brain
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday January 06, @05:24AM
from the but-not-paris dept.
Hugh Pickens writes"The city has always been an engine of intellectual life and the 'concentration of social interactions' is largely responsible for urban creativity and innovation. But now scientists are finding that being in an urban environment impairs our basic mental processes. After spending a few minutes on a crowded city street, the brain is less able to hold things in memory and suffers from reduced self-control. 'The mind is a limited machine,' says psychologist Marc Berman. 'And we're beginning to understand the different ways that a city can exceed those limitations.' Consider everything your brain has to keep track of as you walk down a busy city street. A city is so overstuffed with stimuli that we need to redirect our attention constantly so that we aren't distracted by irrelevant things. This sort of controlled perception — we are telling the mind what to pay attention to — takes energy and effort. Natural settings don't require the same amount of cognitive effort. A study at the University of Michigan found memory performance and attention spans improved by 20 percent after people spent an hour interacting with nature. 'It's not an accident that Central Park is in the middle of Manhattan,' says Berman. 'They needed to put a park there.'"
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