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Punching From The Brain: The White Matter Of Black Belts

Punching From The Brain: The White Matter Of Black Belts

Aug 15 2012 | comment(s)

Everyone talks about punches to the brain but not as much research goes into the neuroscience of sports punishment delivery systems.'

Researchers from Imperial College London and University College London are taking their shot at it.  They took brain scans which revealed distinctive features in the brain structure of martial arts experts, which they say could be linked to their ability to punch powerfully from close range.

Those differences in the structure of white matter – the connections between brain regions – were correlated with how black belts and novices performed in a test of punching ability.
Kite Energy - Leveraging The Jet Stream For Renewable Power

Kite Energy - Leveraging The Jet Stream For Renewable Power

Aug 15 2012 | comment(s)

There’s a band of people in the northwest hills of Italy who are fishing for the big one in the sky.

They’re not a religious sect trawling for a deity. They’re part of a Turin-based startup called Kite Gen Research and, as their name implies, they want to generate electricity by flying kites — really big kites, really high.

The basic idea is simple: Unreel a huge piece of fabric into mile high winds that will haul the thing along at expressway speed. Tether the fast spinning string to earthbound alternators and crank out megawatts of power.

Spotlght On The Nerd Report

Spotlght On The Nerd Report

Aug 15 2012 | comment(s)

The word ‘Nerd’ is thought to have originated in the US in the early 1950s – but it took three full decades before a comprehensive academic paper describing ‘Nerdism’ appeared. As the authors of the study explained at the time :

“It is not clear why a social transformation of such depth and proportions has so long escaped the scrutiny of social scientists; perhaps they are too close to the issue.”

Flavanols: Daily Cocoa Consumption Linked To Improved Cognitive Function In Older Adults

Flavanols: Daily Cocoa Consumption Linked To Improved Cognitive Function In Older Adults

Aug 15 2012 | comment(s)

A joint study conducted by researchers from the University of L'Aquila in Italy and Mars, Incorporated says that the regular consumption of dietary cocoa flavanols may improve cognitive function in elderly subjects with early memory decline. The study shows the impact of regular cocoa flavanol consumption on cognitive function in a population with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).

Fast Start Energy About To Go Online In California

Fast Start Energy About To Go Online In California

Aug 15 2012 | comment(s)

California is cursed with a need to regulate energy deregulation, so it can't do the obvious thing like let utility companies buy transmission lines or sign long-term contracts - instead, companies have to buy on the spot market but they can't pass that cost along to customers either, so in times of high energy demand, like right now, you are going to get rolling brown outs.

But we have a new $500 million clean energy plant that just came online.  No it isn't solar power, this will actually provide energy.  It's natural gas, far cleaner than coal, making it the cleanest energy source in California since the state banned nuclear power.
Winners Of The 'Reinvent The Toilet' Challenge Decided

Winners Of The 'Reinvent The Toilet' Challenge Decided

Aug 15 2012 | comment(s)

Next generation toilets showcased at the Gates Foundation offer innovative sanitation solutions that can save and improve lives around the world.

Bill Gates today has announced the winners of the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, an effort to develop "next-generation" toilets that will deliver safe and sustainable sanitation for 2.5 billion people worldwide who don't have it. The awards recognize researchers (sorry, inventors, academics only) who have developed new ways to manage human waste and help improve the health and lives of people around the world.

High Fructose Corn Syrup, Genes And Global Trade Policy: A “Perfect Storm” For Fatty Liver Disease In Hispanics

High Fructose Corn Syrup, Genes And Global Trade Policy: A “Perfect Storm” For Fatty Liver Disease In Hispanics

Aug 14 2012 | comment(s)

As the prevalence of obesity rises around the world, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) is a growing concern, especially among the vulnerable Hispanic population.  Perhaps most alarming is that NAFLD, traditionally a disease of middle age, has become increasingly prevalent in childhood, where studies show that ~38% of obese Hispanic children and adolescents have liver fat levels in the range of clinically diagnosed NAFLD.

CDC State By State Obesity Map For 2011

CDC State By State Obesity Map For 2011

Aug 14 2012 | comment(s)

Want to feel good about your body image?  Go to Mississippi. They may be a lot less anti-science than people in Washington state, but they are also a lot more pro-pizza, it seems.

The 2011 obesity map from the Centers for Disease Control, detailing adult obesity prevalence for all U.S. states based on Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data,  is out and it doesn't look good. Rates of adult obesity remain high, ranging from 20.7 percent in Colorado to 34.9 percent in Mississippi.
It Takes A True IronMan To Swim In The Hudson River

It Takes A True IronMan To Swim In The Hudson River

Aug 14 2012 | comment(s)

I often joke that New York City residents seem to regard any place beyond the Hudson River as some sort of post-apocalyptic wasteland where dark-eyed cannibals rule a savage environment until you reach San Francisco.

It's why they don't mind dumping all their sewage there.  It makes a nice barrier.

But the latest bout of sewage was not intentional.  And it impacted the first annual IronMan Triathlon in the city.  The experience of those in the Aquadraat Sports IRONMAN U.S. Championship was not great this weekend - even for the exorbitant cost of doing anything in New York City.
Ultraviolet Disinfection For Water - Love It

Ultraviolet Disinfection For Water - Love It

Aug 14 2012 | comment(s)

Among misguided positions, radiation and pesticides are only slightly behind vaccinations and genetic optimization on the anti-science hippie scale.  A 2011 analysis of the GSS showed that, along with harmless positions like that astrology is scientific, there was a big difference between the left and the right on knowledge of science issues like "Exposure to radioactivity doesn't necessarily lead to death" (67.5% left to 77% right) and "Exposure to pesticides doesn't necessarily cause cancer"(55.5% left and 66.8%) - bigger science gaps than the 9% difference between the right and left on evolution that gets all Republicans labeled 'anti-science'.
2012 Olympics Win A Medal For Sustainability Too

2012 Olympics Win A Medal For Sustainability Too

Aug 14 2012 | comment(s)

The Olympics can never be green, given that countries spend $14 billion tearing down and building stuff and then people fly and drive in from all over the place to watch.  But they can at least be relatively green.

 As Melissa C. Lott at Scientific American Blogs notes, the Brits did it right; the event was built with sustainability as part of the planning.  From recycling to energy efficiency, plenty of their materials and buildings are being repurposed, so in the Green Olympics of Olympics, London is #1
Would Science Benefit From A 'Good Housekeeping Seal Of Approval'?

Would Science Benefit From A 'Good Housekeeping Seal Of Approval'?

Aug 14 2012 | comment(s)

Like many, science journalist Carl Zimmer has become concerned about the ability of science to correct itself; at least on a culturally acceptable timescale brought about by instant media publication of studies.

Arsenic life is one example, though clearly the system worked.  While the article got published it was criticized quite rapidly and bloggers have caught stealth Creationist papers that peer reviewers missed too.
ICARUS: Neutrinos Travel At Light Speed. Period.

ICARUS: Neutrinos Travel At Light Speed. Period.

Aug 14 2012 | comment(s)

Little less than one year ago the world of fundamental physics was shaken by the bold claim of the OPERA collaboration, which produced a measurement of the time of flight of neutrinos traveling underground from Geneva to the Gran Sasso mine in central Italy. The beam of neutrinos, produced by the CERN SpS proton synchrotron, was observed to produce interactions in the large mass of the OPERA detector with about 60 nanosecond anticipation with respect to what would be expected for a particle traveling at exactly the speed of light (2439096.1+-0.3 nanoseconds, since the flight path is of 731221.95+-0.09 meters).
Macabre Archeology: Forty Hectares Of Remains Found In Denmark Bog

Macabre Archeology: Forty Hectares Of Remains Found In Denmark Bog

Aug 14 2012 | comment(s)

Forty hectares of remains have been found in Alken Enge bog located in in the Alken Enge wetlands near Lake Mossø in East Jutland, Denmark.
Detractors Not Grasping The Memristor

Detractors Not Grasping The Memristor

Aug 14 2012 | comment(s)

The so called "memristor" is an intriguing case for the sociology of science [2] and it still unfolds. Especially annoying are critics who do not grasp the core issue. They hand easily refuted charges to Goliath so he can point to them laughing: “Look, all that criticism is mere envious pseudo-science”.

UPDATE: new article on that the memristor has not been found now published by Nature group

Heteronormative Biases And Hermeneutic Phenomenology In Mass Effect 3

Heteronormative Biases And Hermeneutic Phenomenology In Mass Effect 3

Aug 14 2012 | comment(s)

This paper seeks to address hypermasculinity and the settled heteronormative value system embodied in public-policy actors, primarily the White-centered hegemonic masculinity that has created negative performative aspects of cultural identity constructions in this multicultural and globalized era.
Smooth Patch Effect: Freddy Garcia Pitch Leads To New Physics Hypothesis

Smooth Patch Effect: Freddy Garcia Pitch Leads To New Physics Hypothesis

Aug 13 2012 | comment(s)

An April 29, 2011, a low split-finger fastball thrown by Yankees right-handed pitcher Freddy Garcia inspired a whole science study.
Wildlife Conservation Society Endorses Reponsible Energy Development In Arctic Alaska

Wildlife Conservation Society Endorses Reponsible Energy Development In Arctic Alaska

Aug 13 2012 | comment(s)

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) came out in support of U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar's proposed plan for energy development in Arctic Alaska. By protecting extensive coastal plain habitat around Teshekpuk Lake, and the foothills around the Utukok uplands, the most important Arctic wetlands and migratory corridor for caribou and migratory birds would be conserved.

A final management plan for the NPR-A may be issued by the secretary after a 30-day review but  the WCS lauds the proposal because it balances conservation, subsistence rights for Alaska Natives, and energy extraction.

Rachel Carson Wanted GMOs

Rachel Carson Wanted GMOs

Aug 13 2012 | comment(s)

"The formation of a new science of biotic controls,” predicted Rachel Carson in "Silent Spring" 50 years ago next month, was going to save us from pesticides.

She was wrong that DDT would give you cancer if you sprayed it but she was right in believing that the future of agriculture rested solidly on genetic solutions to problems that chemicals were then solving.

Why, then, are her intellectual descendants so against science?  Mostly, it's because they never read her book, they have simply read activists discussing what her book was about; being anti-agriculture and gravitating to what she perceived as the problem (DDT and pesticides) rather than one factor (misuse).
Google Earth Uncovers Lost Pyramids In Egypt

Google Earth Uncovers Lost Pyramids In Egypt

Aug 13 2012 | comment(s)

Archaeologists used to note for new students that the field was not the place where most work was done; the Indiana Jones perception of flying off to ancient, hidden ruins and outfoxing Nazis was just an adventure tale. Archeology instead was done in libraries, they said. The visiting and digging was the fun part after the work was done.

Now they don't even need libraries; they have Google Earth.