Google Easter Egg: The 'I'm Feeling Lucky' Button Branches Out

Google Easter Egg: The 'I'm Feeling Lucky' Button Branches Out: Google Instant Search eliminates the opportunity to use the good old "I'm Feeling Lucky" Button, offering search results as soon as you type. Now Google has turned "I'm Feeling Lucky" into yet another random adventure, and this time you can feel "Stellar," "Wonderful," "Trendy" and more.

Fish are warmer, faster, stronger: Unexpected benefits of living in a changing climate, biologists find

Fish are warmer, faster, stronger: Unexpected benefits of living in a changing climate, biologists find: Biologists suggest that growing up at warmer temperatures helps some aquatic animals cope with climate change, raising questions about the limits of adaptation. They found that when embryos raised in warm water experienced temperature variation as adults, they could swim faster and their muscle was better suited for aerobic exercise.

How do they do it? Predictions are in for Arctic sea ice low point

How do they do it? Predictions are in for Arctic sea ice low point: Each year scientists predict the low point of Arctic Sea ice. The final predictions were released Aug. 13. But how do they do it? Researchers used some new techniques this year in hopes of improving the accuracy of their prediction.

Dark chocolate, cocoa compounds, may reduce blood pressure

Dark chocolate, cocoa compounds, may reduce blood pressure: Compounds in cocoa may help to reduce blood pressure, according to a new systematic review. The researchers reviewed evidence from short-term trials in which participants were given dark chocolate or cocoa powder daily and found that their blood pressure dropped slightly compared to a control group.

Arctic Coastlines Hitting Ecological Tipping Point

Arctic Coastlines Hitting Ecological Tipping Point: Along the rocky coastlines of the Arctic Ocean, a radical change is taking place, perhaps as profound as vanishing sea ice but less evident to the eye. Ecological foundations are shifting, with existing algae replaced by warmth- and light-loving species. It might not seem like much, but algae form the base of ocean food chains, and the change is happening fast.

Dark chocolate, cocoa compounds, may reduce blood pressure

Dark chocolate, cocoa compounds, may reduce blood pressure: Compounds in cocoa may help to reduce blood pressure, according to a new systematic review. The researchers reviewed evidence from short-term trials in which participants were given dark chocolate or cocoa powder daily and found that their blood pressure dropped slightly compared to a control group.

Bourne Legacy's Gene-Doped Superspies Aren't as Far-Fetched as They Sound

Bourne Legacy's Gene-Doped Superspies Aren't as Far-Fetched as They Sound: In The Bourne Legacy, Jeremy Renner plays Aaron Cross, a superspy who's been pharmaceutically tweaked to jump higher, think faster, punch harder, hear better and tolerate extreme cold. The surprising thing is, this type of gene-doped warrior is not a total figment of filmmaker Tony Gilroy's imagination.

Meet DARPA's New Militarized Earthworm

Meet DARPA's New Militarized Earthworm:
derekmead writes "Meshworm is a toughened, robotic earthworm that can crawl virtually silently at a speed of about 5 millimeters per second. DARPA wants to send it into battle. Believe it or not, the Pentagon's been working on building a robotic earthworm for a while. They tried putting one together with gears. They tried with air-powered and pneumatic pumps, but the results were bulky and untenable. Then, researchers at Harvard, MIT and Seoul National University in Korea put their heads together and designed an 'artificial muscle.' It's essentially a polymer mesh that's wrapped with nickel and titanium wire designed to stretch and contract with heat. When an electric current is applied, the mesh mimics the circular muscle system of an earthworm to scoot forward."

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How stress and depression can shrink the brain

How stress and depression can shrink the brain: Major depression or chronic stress can cause the loss of brain volume, a condition that contributes to both emotional and cognitive impairment. Now scientists have discovered one reason why this occurs -- a single genetic switch that triggers loss of brain connections in humans and depression in animal models.

Scientists create first quantum router, but don't throw your 802.11ac out yet

Scientists create first quantum router, but don't throw your 802.11ac out yet:

A common vision of the future has us with our feet up, while robots do all the work. Another one sees the end of silicon, with quantum computers doing all the heavy lifting. That second prophecy inches just a smidgen closer with the news of the world's first quantum router. Developed at Tsinghau University in China, the router makes a quantum photon from two separate photons in different polarized states. At this point, things start to get a little, well, mind-bending, as they are wont to do in the quantum world. The net result, however, is one qubit of data being "routed" at a time. While this won't be powering any serious networks anytime soon, the all important proof of concept is there, and we imagine, in a parallel universe simultaneously.
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Meat the Food of the Future

Meat the Food of the Future:



Hugh Pickens writes writes "BBC reports that rising food prices, the growing population, and environmental concerns are just a few issues that have food futurologists thinking about what we will eat in the future and how we will eat it. In the UK, meat prices are anticipated to have a huge impact on our diets as some in the food industry prognosticate meat prices could double in the next five to seven years, making meat a luxury item. 'In the West many of us have grown up with cheap, abundant meat,' says Morgaine Gaye. 'Rising prices mean we are now starting to see the return of meat as a luxury. As a result we are looking for new ways to fill the meat gap.' Insects will become a staple of our diet. They cost less to raise than cattle, consume less water and do not have much of a carbon footprint. Plus, there are an estimated 1,400 species that are edible to man. 'Things like crickets and grasshoppers will be ground down and used as an ingredient in things like burgers.' But insects will need an image overhaul if they are to become more palatable to the squeamish Europeans and North Americans, says Gaye. 'They will become popular when we get away from the word insects and use something like mini-livestock (PDF).' Another alternative would be lab grown meat as a recent study by Oxford University found growing meat in a lab rather than slaughtering animals would significantly reduce greenhouse gases, energy consumption and water use. Prof Mark Post, who led the Dutch team of scientists at Maastricht University that grew strips of muscle tissue using stem cells taken from cows, says he wants to make lab meat "indistinguishable" from the real stuff, but it could potentially look very different. Finally algae could provide a solution to some the world's most complex problems, including food shortages as some in the sustainable food industry predict algae farming could become the world's biggest cropping industry. Like insects, algae could be worked into our diet without us really knowing by using seaweed granules to replace salt in bread and processed foods. 'The great thing about seaweed is it grows at a phenomenal rate,' says Dr Craig Rose, executive director of the Seaweed Health Foundation. 't's the fastest growing plant on earth.'"

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Windows 8 Is Ready

Windows 8 Is Ready:
New submitter drinkydoh writes "In an announcement today, Microsoft has finally said that Windows 8 is now complete. Microsoft has begun delivering RTM versions to manufacturers and the general availability of the tablets and computers using Windows 8 will be on October 26th. 'Microsoft's final milestone concludes almost two years of development for its new Metro-inspired Windows 8 software and marks the beginning of the release phase. Microsoft says MSDN and TechNet customers will be able to download it from August 15th. Windows Store will go live on August 15th. Developers will be able to access the final tools and submission process for Metro style apps at the Windows Dev Center later this month.'"

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Does Cybercrime Really Cost $1 Trillion?

Does Cybercrime Really Cost $1 Trillion?: Proponents of a federal computer security bill keep saying that hacking costs companies $1 trillion annually. But is there any actual truth to that number or is it just a scary statistic created by a security company's marketing firm?

Scientists Warn Congress About Disastrous Effects of Climate Change

Scientists Warn Congress About Disastrous Effects of Climate Change: Drought, wildfires, hurricanes and heatwaves are becoming normal in America because of climate change, Congress was told on Wednesday in the first hearing on climate science in more than two years.

Artificial butter flavoring ingredient linked to key Alzheimer's disease process

Artificial butter flavoring ingredient linked to key Alzheimer's disease process: A new study raises concern about chronic exposure of workers in industry to a food flavoring ingredient used to produce the distinctive buttery flavor and aroma of microwave popcorn, margarines, snack foods, candy, baked goods, pet foods and other products. It found evidence that the ingredient, diacetyl, intensifies the damaging effects of an abnormal brain protein linked to Alzheimer's disease.

Existing Solar Tech Could Power Entire US, Says NREL

Existing Solar Tech Could Power Entire US, Says NREL:
derekmead writes "A new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory finds that solar holds more potential to generate more power (PDF) than any other clean energy source. The NREL broke things down into four groups: urban and rural utility-scale photovoltaics (giant solar plants, basically) as well as rooftop solar and concentrated mirror arrays. Between those technologies, which are all already on the market, the NREL reckons there's a proven potential for solar to hit a capacity of 200,000 gigawatts in the United States alone. For some perspective, 1 gigawatt is what a single nuclear power plant might generate, and it's more than most coal plants. A gigawatt of capacity is enough to power approximately 700,000 homes."

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Adolescents' personalities and coping habits affect social behaviors

Adolescents' personalities and coping habits affect social behaviors: A new study by a human development expert describes how adolescents' developing personalities and coping habits affect their behaviors toward others.

Whistleblower, Suspected of Leaking Warrantless Spying Program, Sues NSA

Whistleblower, Suspected of Leaking Warrantless Spying Program, Sues NSA: A former congressionals staffer and NSA whistleblower the authorities suspected of exposing the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program is suing the government, saying her constititonal rights are being violated because her computer seized five years ago has never been returned, and the feds have refused to clear her name. "I found about it. I knew about it. They knew I knew about it. I told everybody they needed to put civil libeties protections on it or eleminate it," she said from her home outside Salem, Oregon.

Swiss Bank Threatens to Sue NASDAQ Over Facebook IPO

Swiss Bank Threatens to Sue NASDAQ Over Facebook IPO:



jfruh writes "On the day of the Facebook IPO, the NASDAQ's trading systems suffered multiple failures and couldn't confirm buy orders for several hours. Big banks buying shares for their funds and customers placed multiple orders as a result, and bought more Facebook stock than they intended to as a result. NASDAQ has agreed to set up a fund to compensate them for their losses, but apparently this isn't enough for Swiss bank UBS, which is threatening legal action."

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Anonymous Helps Turn In Hacker Who Targeted Charity

Anonymous Helps Turn In Hacker Who Targeted Charity:



netbuzz writes "A hacker who defaced and disabled the website of a New Zealand film company known for helping poor children could find himself in legal hot water in his home country of Spain after his attack spurred a Facebook/Twitter posse that included members of Anonymous, who the hacker may have been trying to impress. 'Apparently, one of the (Anonymous) rules is you don't hack charity sites, you don't hack sites of people trying to help kids,' says the owner of the damaged site. 'This guy was trying to impress them, to try and get into their group and boasting about what he'd done — but they turned on him, they chased him.'"

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Being paranoid about office politics can make you a target

Being paranoid about office politics can make you a target: A new study reveals that paranoia about negative gossip or being snubbed leads people to seek out information to confirm their fears, ultimately annoying colleague and increasing the likelihood they will be rejected or subverted.

When we forget to remember: Failures in prospective memory range from annoying to lethal

When we forget to remember: Failures in prospective memory range from annoying to lethal: Why would highly skilled professionals forget to perform a simple task they have executed without difficulty thousands of times before? These kinds of oversights occur in professions as diverse as aviation and computer programming, but research reveals that these lapses may not reflect carelessness or lack of skill but failures of prospective memory.

Managing Human Workers With an Algorithm

Managing Human Workers With an Algorithm:



New submitter prayag writes "With the advent of crowdsourcing platforms it has become easier for people to 'automate' simple, yet repetitive tasks that computers aren't good at by hiring thousands of people at once. This can help some business cheaply accomplish certain tasks, but it can also be misused by spammers. A company called MobileWorks is even outsourcing this concept, reaching out to workers in developing nations whose income needs aren't as high. 'Kulkarni, who founded the company in 2010 with fellow graduate students from the University of California, Berkeley, says the value of tasks is set so that workers can reasonably earn $2 to $4 an hour; payments are on a sliding scale, with lower rates for poorer countries. "Even though they are acting as agents of a computer program, we are creating an opportunity for them," he says. MobileWorks charges its clients rates starting at $5 per hour for workers' time.'"

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