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Spinning Objects: A Process for Controlling Self-modifying Systems

Spinning Objects: A Process for Controlling Self-modifying Systems

Apr 16 2015 | comment(s)

I used to work with a programming language called Business Basic.  It was descended through several generations from the original Dartmouth BASIC.  Like all primitive 3rd generation languages early Business Basic languished in the era of line numbered source code, shared data spaces, and loose typing.  Modern Business Basic languages now offer object-oriented programming features.  And after much grousing and arguing among the aging user base we finally got rid of the line numbers in the late 1990s or early 2000s, although I joined the early adopters who simply coded outside the interpreter without line numbers.

Richard III's Scoliosis Might Not Have Been Known To The Public

Richard III's Scoliosis Might Not Have Been Known To The Public

Apr 16 2015 | comment(s)

In the most famous versions of Richard III, written by William Shakespeare, the last Plantagenet king was physically and mentally deformed. 

But the public probably did not know what, and if they did, they wisely never mentioned it. A king busy fighting the War of the Roses could easily hide a deformity. Dr. Mary Ann Lund, of the University of Leicester's School of English argues that Richard's body image in life was carefully controlled and he probably kept any signs of his scoliosis hidden outside of the royal household - but after his death at the Battle of Bosworth, he was carried to Leicester and exhibited before being buried and it wasn't a secret after that.

3.3 Million Years Ago - Oldest Known Tools Pushed Back Another 700,000 Years

3.3 Million Years Ago - Oldest Known Tools Pushed Back Another 700,000 Years

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

In a talk at the annual meeting of the Paleoanthropology Society in Frisco, archaeologist Sonia Harmand of Stony Brook University in New York described the discovery of numerous tools at the site of Lomekwi 3, just west of Lake Turkana in Kenya, about 1000 kilometers from Olduvai Gorge. In 2011 they spotted what Harmand called unmistakable stone tools on the surface of the sandy landscape and immediately launched a small excavation.

The result: Stone flakes dated to 3.3 million years ago, 700,000 years older than the oldest-known tools to date and hundreds of thousands of years before our genus Homo even arrived.

“The artifacts were clearly knapped [created by intentional flaking] and not the result of accidental fracture of rocks,” Harmand told the meeting.
Macrophages As T-Cell Immune Response Primers

Macrophages As T-Cell Immune Response Primers

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

A new study demonstrates that macrophages can effectively substitute for so-called dendritic cells as primers of T-cell-dependent immune responses. They instead stimulate a broader-based response.

The immune response, the process by which the adaptive immune system reacts to, and eliminates foreign substances and cells, depends on a complex interplay between several different cell types. So-called dendritic cells, which recognize and internalize invasive pathogens, play a crucial role in this process.
After Andreas Lubitz, Should Pilots Have Less Medical Privacy?

After Andreas Lubitz, Should Pilots Have Less Medical Privacy?

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

Since it was revealed that Andreas Lubitz – the co-pilot who purposefully crashed Germanwings Flight 9525, killing 150 people – had been treated for psychiatric illness, a debate has ensued over whether privacy laws regarding medical records should be less strict when it comes to professions that carry special responsibilities.

It has been widely argued that Germany’s privacy laws were to blame for the tragedy. The Times, for example, headlined an article: “German obsession with privacy let killer pilot fly.” Similarly, another article published in TIME said “German privacy laws let pilot ‘hide’ his illness from employers.”

Higher-Order Executive Function Went Into Making A Stone Age Axe

Higher-Order Executive Function Went Into Making A Stone Age Axe

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

 Stone tools, shaped by striking a stone "core" with a piece of bone, antler, or another stone, provide some of the most abundant evidence of human behavioral change over time. Simple Oldowan stone flakes are the earliest things considered tools, dating back 2.6 million years, and the Late Acheulean hand axe goes back 500,000 years.

While it's relatively easy to learn to make an Oldowan flake, the Acheulean hand axe is harder to master, due to its lens-shaped core tapering down to symmetrical edges. 
Iceberg Armadas Didn't Cause North Atlantic Cooling

Iceberg Armadas Didn't Cause North Atlantic Cooling

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

Though some studies have linked icebergs to abrupt climate change cycles during the last glacial period - by introducing fresh water to the surface of the ocean and changing ocean currents, which changes climate - new findings present a contradictory narrative and suggest that icebergs generally arrived too late to trigger marked cooling across the North Atlantic.

Abrupt climate change, characterized by transitions between warm and cold conditions across the North Atlantic, is a pervasive feature of the Late Pleistocene - the most recent period of repeated glacial cycles. 
The Victorian Era Got Juvenile Crime Right

The Victorian Era Got Juvenile Crime Right

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

To modern cultural sensibilities, "Victorian" means 'repressed' because it seemed overly formal to people that want to wear flip-flops into the office, yet they clearly got some things right.(1)

The name derives from the reign of Queen Victoria in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century, a time when England ruled the western world culturally and every region militarily. The Victorian Era brought with it with the creation of a paid police force(2) rather than the local constable system that had been around since the Tudors. (3) 

Source: University of Liverpool 
Accurate Thermoluminescence Dating - Calibration Down To The Last Ion

Accurate Thermoluminescence Dating - Calibration Down To The Last Ion

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

Thermoluminescence is used on sediment 'grains', which function as natural radiation dosimeters when buried with defects or impurities, to determine age. The valid range is 1,000 to 500,000 years and the technique is used extensively in archeology and earth sciences to date artifacts and rocks.
E-Cigarettes: Better Than Smoking But Still Have Risk

E-Cigarettes: Better Than Smoking But Still Have Risk

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

E-cigarettes, battery-powered devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution, have been sold in the United States since 2007 and are marketed as an option to help smokers kick the habit.  Instead of a nicotine patch or chewing gum, e-cigarette users inhale the vapor.

It's obviously safer than smoking but anti-cigarette advocates in the United States of America are also against this 'vaping' because of the presence of cigarette companies as investors. Originally, smoking awareness was to get people to get rid of smoking but a campaign against a smoking cessation product means it is more of a desire to get rid of certain companies.

Signaling Pathway Of Rare Form Of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Discovered

Signaling Pathway Of Rare Form Of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Discovered

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

A systematic review of the genomes of patients with ALK-negative anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), a particularly aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, shows that many cases of the disease are driven by alterations in the JAK/STAT3 cell signaling pathway. The study also demonstrates, in mice implanted with human-derived ALCL tumors, that the disease can be inhibited by compounds that target this pathway, raising hopes that more effective treatments might soon be developed. 

Abell 3827: Self-Interacting Dark Matter 5,000 Lght-Years Away?

Abell 3827: Self-Interacting Dark Matter 5,000 Lght-Years Away?

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

A team of astronomers studied the simultaneous collision of four galaxies in the galaxy cluster Abell 3827 and could trace out where the mass lies within the system and compare the distribution of the dark matter with the positions of the luminous galaxies.

Although dark matter cannot be seen, the team could deduce its location using a technique called gravitational lensing. The collision happened to take place directly in front of a much more distant, unrelated source. The mass of dark matter around the colliding galaxies severely distorted spacetime, deviating the path of light rays coming from the distant background galaxy -- and distorting its image into characteristic arc shapes.

Is Carbon Farming The Right Approach At The Right Price?

Is Carbon Farming The Right Approach At The Right Price?

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

Climate change and the loss of biodiversity are two of the greatest environmental issues of our time. Is it possible to address both of those problems at once?

In Australia, farmers and landholders will this week be able to apply for payments through the Federal government’s A$2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund. Bidders can request funding for projects that reduce emissions using agreed methods, which include approaches relevant to the transport, waste and mining sectors, as well as the land sector: for example, by managing or restoring forests.

Quorum Sensing And Regeneration Response: Cure Baldness By Pulling Out Hair

Quorum Sensing And Regeneration Response: Cure Baldness By Pulling Out Hair

Apr 15 2015 | comment(s)

Shaved heads have come in and out of fashion over the past few decades, but some people don’t have the option of allowing their locks to grow.

Thankfully, for those who do suffer from hair loss, or alopecia, help may be at hand. Somewhat counter-intuitively an effective treatment for baldness may come from plucking a certain number of hairs – in a specific formation – from the scalp.

Ground And Space Telescope Microlensing Combine To Find Distant Planet

Ground And Space Telescope Microlensing Combine To Find Distant Planet

Apr 14 2015 | comment(s)

A remote gas planet has been detected about 13,000 light-years away, making it one of the most distant planets known.

The Poland-based Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) Warsaw Telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile scans the skies for planets using a method called microlensing. A microlensing event occurs when one star happens to pass in front of another, and its gravity acts as a lens to magnify and brighten the more distant star's light. If that foreground star happens to be orbited by a planet, the planet might cause a blip in the magnification. For a new study in Astrophysical Journal the researchers combined that with data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
Virtual Money Puts A Price On Natural Ecosystem Services In Agriculture

Virtual Money Puts A Price On Natural Ecosystem Services In Agriculture

Apr 14 2015 | comment(s)

Like virtual water and virtual emissions, looking at organic food through a prism of implicit benefits translated into estimated dollars makes it look a lot more economically viable than it otherwise might appear.

The new estimate says that organic farming systems do a better job of capitalizing on nature's services than they are credited with, and natural processes that aid farming and that can substitute for costly fossil fuel-based inputs are cost-effective.
Little Lotus Baby Blankets - NASA Space Suit Tech For Your Elite Cherub

Little Lotus Baby Blankets - NASA Space Suit Tech For Your Elite Cherub

Apr 14 2015 | comment(s)

New Little Lotus baby blankets, which are getting a Kickstarter campaign today, are advertised as a phase-change material designed by NASA contractors to constantly absorb and release heat.
What Just 5 Days Of Eating Fatty Food Does To Your Muscles

What Just 5 Days Of Eating Fatty Food Does To Your Muscles

Apr 14 2015 | comment(s)

A new study has found that after just five days of eating a high-fat diet, the way in which the body's muscle processes nutrients changes.

When food is eaten, the level of glucose in the blood rises. The body's muscle is a major clearinghouse for this glucose. It may break it down for energy, or it can store it for later use. Since muscle makes up about 30 percent of our body weight and it is such an important site for glucose metabolism, if normal metabolism is altered, it can have consequences on the rest of the body and can lead to health issues.
Why Protest Clean Multi-Cultural White-Collar Astronomy Jobs?

Why Protest Clean Multi-Cultural White-Collar Astronomy Jobs?

Apr 14 2015 | comment(s)

Having once lived in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, on occasion I would drive to those old gigantic relics of steel mills.

They were behemoths and so were the buildings that housed them. They looked like they could block out the sun. In John Ford's "The Quiet Man", a native of Ireland asked John Wayne's character what they feed men in Pittsburgh that makes them so big and Wayne replied, "Steel, and pig-iron furnaces so hot a man forgets his fear of hell". In the early 1950s it was a job for hard men.
The Journey to Presenting Relativization at the 2015 April APS Meeting. A Story of Quantum Gravity, and Airplanes.

The Journey to Presenting Relativization at the 2015 April APS Meeting. A Story of Quantum Gravity, and Airplanes.

Apr 14 2015 | comment(s)

On April 11th 2015 I delivered a presentation on the subject of Quantum Gravity in which I questioned the basic assumption that quantum is more fundamental than relativity.  Relativization is the name for the approach I propose.  In a nutshell let us try treating relativity as the more fundamental set of principles and make quantum field theory obey those.  The talk was well received.    There is still lots of work do on this and a lifetime to do it in, but the approach is now firmly not "crackpot".  Indeed as the money plot from my presentation shows this approach gets a very nice result for the behavior of black holes. 

The talk: