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Galactic Ridge X-ray Emission Has Millions Of Sources

Galactic Ridge X-ray Emission Has Millions Of Sources

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

An extremely deep Chandra X-ray Observatory image of a region near the center of our Galaxy has resolved a long-standing mystery about an X-ray glow along the plane of the Galaxy. The glow in the region covered by the Chandra image was discovered to be caused by hundreds of point-like X- ray sources, implying that the glow along the plane of the Galaxy is due to millions of such sources.

This image shows an infrared view from the Spitzer Space Telescope of the central region of the Milky Way, with a pullout showing a Chandra image of a region located only 1.4 degrees away from the center of the Galaxy.
World's Fastest Camera Is 1000X Conventional Kinds

World's Fastest Camera Is 1000X Conventional Kinds

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

Ultrafast, light-sensitive video cameras are needed for observing high-speed events such as shockwaves, communication between living cells and a Usain Bolt sprint. To catch such elusive moments, a camera must be able to capture millions or billions of images continuously with a very high frame rate. Conventional cameras have not been up to the task but researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science say they have developed a novel, continuously running camera that captures images roughly a thousand times faster than any existing conventional camera.
 
Quantum Cryptography Shoots For Practical

Quantum Cryptography Shoots For Practical

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

Quantum cryptography, a completely secure means of communication, is much closer to being used practically as researchers from Toshiba and Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory have now developed high speed detectors capable of receiving information with much higher key rates, thereby able to receive more information faster.

Published as part of IOP Publishing's New Journal of Physics' Focus Issue on 'Quantum Cryptography: Theory and Practice', the journal paper, 'Practical gigahertz quantum key distribution based on avalanche photodiodes', details how quantum communication can be made possible without having to use cryogenic cooling and/or complicated optical setups, making it much more likely to become commercially viable soon.

The Missing Side Of Mercury - And Some Data About Its Evolution

The Missing Side Of Mercury - And Some Data About Its Evolution

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

For over three decades, globes of Mercury were blank on one side. Though Mariner 10 explored the small planet in three flybys in 1974 and 1975, no more than half was ever seen.   Of the four terrestrial planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars - we knew the least about Mercury.

On Oct. 6, 2008, the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft, better known as MESSENGER, made its second close-approach flyby of Mercury. 30 years after man's first look, MESSENGER has revealed Mercury in its entirety - well, mostly.

Mexicans More Sociable Than Americans! (We Like Stereotypes If They Say Nice Things About Us)

Mexicans More Sociable Than Americans! (We Like Stereotypes If They Say Nice Things About Us)

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

Do you like being stereotyped?   Maybe not, though everyone does it to some extent (and some have more than stereotypes than others; being a white, male,southern, Catholic, Republican is 5 way open season for ridicule by people who otherwise claim to be loving and tolerant - editor) but it's usually okay if the stereotype makes you feel better about yourself.

American regard Mexicans as more outgoing, talkative, sociable and extroverted - actual Mexicans think they are less.   Turns out stereotypes are right more often that not once again - that's probably how they became stereotypes.
Fossilized Collagen Protein Links Hadrosaur To Tyrannosaurus Rex - And Birds To Dinosaurs

Fossilized Collagen Protein Links Hadrosaur To Tyrannosaurus Rex - And Birds To Dinosaurs

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

An ancient protein dating back 80 million years to the Cretaceous period has been preserved in bone fragments and soft tissues of a hadrosaur - a duck-billed dinosaur - according to a study in the May 1 issue of Science.  The new findings support earlier results from analyses suggesting that collagen protein survived in the bones of a well preserved Tyrannosaurus rex, and offer new evidence supporting previous conclusions that birds and dinosaurs are directly related.
Ancestral Origin Of Humans Was Probably Southern Africa

Ancestral Origin Of Humans Was Probably Southern Africa

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

African, American, and European researchers working in collaboration over a 10-year period have released the largest-ever study of African genetic data—more than four million genotypes—providing a library of new information on the continent which is thought to be the source of the oldest settlements of modern humans.

The study demonstrates startling diversity on the continent, shared ancestry among geographically diverse groups and traces the origins of Africans and African Americans. It is published in the April 30 issue of the journal Science Express.
Abscisic Acid - Gene That Helps Plants Resist Drought Discovered

Abscisic Acid - Gene That Helps Plants Resist Drought Discovered

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

A team of scientists from Canada, Spain and the United States has identified a key gene that allows plants to defend themselves against environmental stresses like drought, freezing and heat. 

"Plants have stress hormones that they produce naturally and that signal adverse conditions and help them adapt," says team member Peter McCourt, a professor of cell and systems biology at the University of Toronto. "If we can control these hormones we should be able to protect crops from adverse environmental conditions which is very important in this day and age of global climate change."
According to Moser

According to Moser "Autogynephilia in Women". What could this mean?

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

Autogynephilia: The love of one's self as a woman.  As used by psychologist and sexologist Ray Blanchard autogynephilia is a male's sexual attraction to the idea or image of their feminized self. 
Scales Of Depravity, Part 3: Science Frauds

Scales Of Depravity, Part 3: Science Frauds

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

Who among us hasn't been tempted to take the easy way out? Hopefully we choose to do the right thing, but this isn't always the case. It's bad enough when your actions just affect you. But when they affect the rest of the world? And mislead people working toward collective knowledge? That puts you on the ranks of the scales of depravity.

Part 1 dealt with the Rock of Love; part 2 examined anything with "real" in the title. Part 3 lists a few of the frauds, fakers and other cheaters in the realm of science.
Big Science Puts Black Swans in Danger of Extinction

Big Science Puts Black Swans in Danger of Extinction

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

This topic isn't new, but it's worth revisiting (h/t to Bioephemera) - over at Physicsworld read about science's need for "black swan" scientists:
If the path to discovery is full of surprises, and if most of the gains come in just a handful of rare but exceptional events, then even judging whether a research programme is well conceived is deeply problematic...
A Brief History of the English Language Part 6 - Global English

A Brief History of the English Language Part 6 - Global English

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)

A Brief History of the English Language Part 6 - Global English


Part 1 briefly covered the period from the 5th century CE to the 14th century.
Part 2 describes Chaucer's influence on the development of English.
Part 3 covers the period from Chaucer to the Elizabethan age.
Cambrian Clock: Radialarian Ooze

Cambrian Clock: Radialarian Ooze

Apr 30 2009 | comment(s)



Radiolarians are exquisitely beautiful amoeboid protozoa that have been living as zooplankton in the world’s oceans for about 600 million years.

These tiny, siliceous, single-celled organisms with their intricate mineral skeletons make-up the world's smallest clocks. Because they occur in continuous and well-dated sequences of rock over large portions of the ocean's bottom, these minuscule microfossils act like a yardstick, helping geologists accurately date rock from around the globe from the Cabrian onwards.
Beautiful Shell Debris: CaCO3 Preservation

Beautiful Shell Debris: CaCO3 Preservation

Apr 29 2009 | comment(s)


GRB 090423: Oh, that old thing.

GRB 090423: Oh, that old thing.

Apr 29 2009 | comment(s)

From CNN:

Scientists spot oldest ever object in universe

Wow, that gamma ray from the exploding star GRB 090423 is so old.  Why do we even keep it around?  It’s like, 95% as old as time.  And what an eyesore.  We can see it from anywhere in the universe. 

Gamma ray image from the oldest thing we've ever seen.
Arctic Ice Core Proves Hot

Arctic Ice Core Proves Hot

Apr 29 2009 | comment(s)


Let's End Sexual Cannibalism

Let's End Sexual Cannibalism

Apr 29 2009 | comment(s)

At least once a year, Cosmo’s cover story is about how to have better, longer sex: a turgid treatise on positions and anatomy.  Our finest ladies’ mags are ignoring the obvious.

To improve the mating of our species, we must learn from the mistakes of garden spiders and band together to end sexual cannibalism once and for all.  

Female Argiope spiders only want what all of us want—the upper hand in the war of the sexes.  But your friendly neighborhood garden spider has more at stake than the proper replacement of the toilet seat. 
Human Evolution - Petering Out?

Human Evolution - Petering Out?

Apr 29 2009 | comment(s)

Have we really stopped evolving? In Cosmos magazine, Steve Jones argues that human evolution is coming to an end:
The question I have is: will human evolution really continue? I think the evidence shows that human evolution has largely come to a halt.
He lists three components necessary for human evolution:
First of all there's variation, which comes from mutation. Second, natural selection, which comes from inherited differences between individuals and their ability to reproduce.
Royal Pharmaceutical Society Of Great Britain Warns Against Counterfeit Drugs For H1N1 Influenza A (Swine Flu)

Royal Pharmaceutical Society Of Great Britain Warns Against Counterfeit Drugs For H1N1 Influenza A (Swine Flu)

Apr 29 2009 | comment(s)

When a fake pandemic is being generated by media corporations having a slow news week, fake medicine is sure to pop up and take advantage of it.   The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) today issued a warning to the public about the risks of buying online medicines for swine influenza, such as Tamiflu or Relenza.

David Pruce, RPSGB Director of Policy said, "With the current fears about swine flu, we are concerned that unscrupulous people are exploiting the public's fears about swine flu by offering to sell the antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza over the internet.

"This is a golden opportunity for counterfeiters to offer fake supplies of these drugs.

My air is cleaner than yours

My air is cleaner than yours

Apr 29 2009 | comment(s)

Well, the air in Minnesota is pretty clean, and I grew up there, so I'm identifying  with the rankings there instead of my current state of residence, which got surprisingly low grades.

The annual State of the Air report describes levels of ozone and particle pollution (year-round and 24 hour increments) in monitoring sites across the United States in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Apparently the air quality in the U.S. could use some improvement.