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Shape Memory Alloys Get A Design Tool

Shape Memory Alloys Get A Design Tool

Jul 14 2009 | comment(s)

Is it a magic trick?   A man takes a paper clip and bends it so that it is just a crooked piece of wire, then he throws it into a bowl of hot water and instantly the metal wire returns to the shape of the paper clip.

This phenomenon is called the shape memory effect and it can be observed in certain metallic alloys, known as shape memory alloys. These kinds of materials are ideal for many applications. In aerospace technologies, solar sails can unfold in outer space.  In cardiology, stents are small tube-shaped, metal grid frameworks folded together and inserted into blood vessels where they expand and prevent the vessels from becoming blocked.
Why Causes Fear Science and the Truth

Why Causes Fear Science and the Truth

Jul 14 2009 | comment(s)

This is my observation. Intelligent people are a minority.
   There is an abundance of businesses, causes, and charities that are addressing problems. Addressing and milking them for every dime they can make to the tunes of billions dollars. They are scared of the truth, or the solution to the problems.
   Whole industries built around perpetuating problems.
If things like the cure to cancer is reveled the hospital industry would be devastated. Medical treatments that leave the victims dependent needing drugs and medical care for life, all doctor induced because It good business to have more patients. Even though there are treatments that don't have the side effects.
The Voynich Manuscript : An Enigma, Part #1

The Voynich Manuscript : An Enigma, Part #1

Jul 14 2009 | comment(s)

The Voynich Manuscript : An Enigma, Part #1

There are many unsolved mysteries in this world.  A web search for 'greatest mysteries', 'unsolved mysteries', 'world's greatest mysteries' and similar search terms leads to many sites dealing mostly with the strange and the paranormal.  It is all too easy to claim that science has yet to explain x, y and z, and many sites make such claims.  Before science can explain a mystery it must be explainable at least in principle.  The Voynich manuscript seems to be explainable, at least in principle.  It is just a matter of breaking a code.
If Caloric Restriction Works For Longevity, Will Anorexics Live Longer? Not So Fast

If Caloric Restriction Works For Longevity, Will Anorexics Live Longer? Not So Fast

Jul 14 2009 | comment(s)

Does fasting lead to a longer life?   You never see any really old fat people but that has more to do with other issues than starvation.   

Some studies indicate that caloric restriction does extend life spans in fruit flies, mice and, most recently, rhesus monkeys, apparently by slowing the aging process, but in the case of most, they were also weaned that way from birth, which will get you thrown in jail if you do it to your kids.

Virtually all those studies had been performed in sterile environments, on animals raised under relatively pathogen-free conditions.   Stanford University School of Medicine researchers decided to see if reduced caloric intake also helps creatures cope with infection.
Inside the Mind of a Climate Scientist

Inside the Mind of a Climate Scientist

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

A good video laying out how climate scientists think:
Moral Inquiry 1: A Case Against Relativism

Moral Inquiry 1: A Case Against Relativism

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

(This is the first in what I anticipate to be a series of three essays on moral inquiry. The second will be a survey of some traditional themes and their contemporary applications, and the third will focus on the “center” around which such inquiries ought to be oriented.)

Statements of moral/ethical[1] evaluations are often confronted in turn by the varyingly self-righteous demand, “Who are we to judge?”

Anyone who has taught classes in ethics (and I've done so both in traditional “brick and mortar” settings as well as online) will encounter that phrase repeatedly. It is an only slightly more specific version of the basic question “Says who?” to any claim of ethical evaluation.
Shark Week On Discovery Channel And The Mystery Of My Untimely Demise

Shark Week On Discovery Channel And The Mystery Of My Untimely Demise

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

I've never been a shark guy, I will confess that to you.   Actually, I have never been an animal guy of any kind.   When I was a wee scientist / media guru / journalist / game show host, Disney had a program on Sunday evenings.  If there was one of those live animal shows on, I left the room.   I wanted a cartoon with a talking dog or a mouse or something.   Animals were what we ate, not what we laughed at.
Life of a Blogging Researcher

Life of a Blogging Researcher

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

I can relate to what Isis is saying

When I first told a more senior colleague what I was up to, he told me, "Isis, I don't care if you are building model trains in your spare time and then blowing them up. Just keep the data coming." That is the metric by which we are judged. But, keeping the data coming can be tedious and sitting to hammer out a grant application, book chapter, or article can feel endless. I can throw out a blog post, by comparison, in a minimal amount of time and feel like i have accomplished something. And I have to you and to me, as long as I don't take my eye off the prize.
Lectures vs. JFGI

Lectures vs. JFGI

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

OK, I agree lectures aren't the best format, but Google and Wikipedia aren't a substitute:

Two-faced security

Two-faced security

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

A few weeks ago, I got a text message on my mobile. It said it was from my credit card company (and it had the right one). It said they had to talk with me urgently about my account, and I should call a given phone number as soon as possible.

In other words, it sure looked like someone was phishing for something... except that they did have the credit card brand correct. Chance, perhaps?

Reminiscing The Past: Atoms -What You See Is Not All You Get

Reminiscing The Past: Atoms -What You See Is Not All You Get

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

There are things or entities in or on an object that could be present and be proven to exist by experiments and yet one can not see because they are too small to be seen by our naked eyes or some cannot be seen at all. Examples are viruses, bacteria, molecules, ions, atoms, forces, forms of energy, etc.

People of long ago, at around 5th century B.C., a Greek Philosopher named Leucippus thought that water has an ultimate particle that cannot be subdivided. His idea was later expanded by his student, Democritus who named these possible indivisible particles as “atomos”. From there, scientists tried to experiment in order to verify its existence and farther they go into figuring out how ”atomos” looks like.

New Power Plants Get Virtual 3-D Engineering

New Power Plants Get Virtual 3-D Engineering

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

Designing a new hydroelectric power station can be a laborious task - the pressures, temperatures and fluid flows can be simulated but the actual results outside FEA showbiz graphics will still be columns of numbers or a one-dimensional representation which need analysis.

A new technique could make the process a lot more elegant. Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF in Magdeburg have developed a method that visualizes the processes inside energy conversion plants, e.g. such as photovoltaic, wind, biogas and hydroelectric power stations. To do so, they have coupled 3-D plant engineering and simulation results with a virtual reality (VR) program developed at the IFF.
The Light And Dark Side Of ... Light

The Light And Dark Side Of ... Light

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

There's a bipolar force with a repulsive side that doesn't involve cosmic opera or wooden acting - it's light.  And it can be used to control components on silicon microchips, meaning future nanodevices could be controlled by light rather than electricity, according to Yale researchers. 

The team previously discovered an 'attractive' force of light and showed how it could be manipulated tiny switches in semiconducting micro- and nano-electrical systems. They say they have now uncovered its non-evil twin - a repulsive force.
Living Together Before Marriage Linked To More Unhappiness

Living Together Before Marriage Linked To More Unhappiness

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

University of Denver researchers say that couples who live together before they are engaged have a higher chance of getting divorced than those who wait until they are married to cohabitate.

In addition, couples who lived together before engagement and then married, reported a lower satisfaction in their marriages.   Couples who got engaged and then later moved in together had no conclusive difference one way or another.   The research published in Journal of Family Psychology was conducted by Galena Rhoades, senior researcher, Scott Stanley, research professor, and Howard Markman, professor of psychology.
How Blogging Has Changed The Pattern Of The Mainstream News Cycle

How Blogging Has Changed The Pattern Of The Mainstream News Cycle

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

Cornell computer scientists say they have tracked and analyzed the "news cycle", the way stories rise and fall in popularity, and found a consistent pattern as stories rose into prominence and then fell off after a few days, with a 'heartbeat' pattern of handoffs between blogs and mainstream media. 

In mainstream media, in most cases a story rises to prominence slowly then dies quickly but in the blogosphere, stories rise in popularity very quickly but then stay around longer, as discussion goes back and forth.  Every story is eventually pushed aside by something newer.

So blogs may not be taking the place of newspapers and television news as much as magazine features, where more complex stories would usually be fleshed out.
The Mystery E. Coli Genes That Help Us Survive?

The Mystery E. Coli Genes That Help Us Survive?

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

University of Dundee scientists say they have shown that E. coli, one of the most extensively studied organisms in the world, still has some secrets that may hold the key to human diseases, such as cancer. 

The team has examined the genome sequence of this workhorse of the laboratory and spotted three previously unknown genes that, it turns out, are essential for the survival of E. coli and one out of the three could also be implicated in cancer or developmental abnormalities in humans. These mystery genes are also found in numerous other creatures, suggesting a vital role for them across many species. The research will be published in the Journal of Bacteriology.
Brains, Behavior And Babies - Why Some Soothe Easier Than Others

Brains, Behavior And Babies - Why Some Soothe Easier Than Others

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

If you have a 'difficult' baby, don't worry too much about your parenting skills.   A new report in Psychological Science says that a child's temperament may be due in part to a combination of a certain gene and a specific pattern of brain activity.

The pattern of brain activity in the frontal cortex of the brain has been associated with various types of temperament in children. For example, infants who have more activity in the left frontal cortex are characterized as temperamentally "easy" and can be soothed with less effort. Conversely, infants with greater activity in the right half of the frontal cortex are temperamentally "difficult" and are easily distressed and require more effort to soothe.
Probiotics Help Gastric Bypass Patients Lose Weight - Study

Probiotics Help Gastric Bypass Patients Lose Weight - Study

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

A study done by Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford Hospital&Clinics suggests that the use of a dietary supplement after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery can help obese patients to more quickly lose weight and to avoid deficiency of a critical B vitamin.
Hypercompact Stellar Systems And How Black Holes Leave Home - Hypothesis

Hypercompact Stellar Systems And How Black Holes Leave Home - Hypothesis

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

The cluster of stars surrounding a supermassive black hole after it has been ejected from a galaxy are a new kind of astronomical object, according to a paper published in Astrophysical Journal.

More importantly, the stars contain a 'fossil record' from the 'kicking' galaxy.
Your Cat Is Manipulating You - Here's How

Your Cat Is Manipulating You - Here's How

Jul 13 2009 | comment(s)

The phrase 'like herding cats' resonates with people for a reason; it's difficult to get them to do anything they don't already want to do.

But they have no problem getting humans to do their bidding, according to a report published in Current Biology, which shows that even biologists are concerned about future feline-human relations.

It seems crafty felines accelerate the filling of food dishes by sending a mixed signal: an urgent meowing coupled with an otherwise pleasant purr.  Humans find it annoying and difficult to ignore.   It's not April 1st or December so calibrate your belief accordingly.