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Smart Skin - Low Power Electronics Get Human

Smart Skin - Low Power Electronics Get Human

Oct 20 2011 | comment(s)

Low power electronics and devices for active, modern lifestyles is getting edgy; the research is on for stuff that is wearable, epidermal, implantable - heck, even edible.

Smart skin, created by MC10, is an example of an 'epidermal electronic system. It contains micro-circuitry like transistors, sensors, transmitters and receivers that can get wrinkled, are bendable and stretchable, just like real skin, but retains damage-free function of all components.
Science 2.0 Readers are More Awesome Than Cake

Science 2.0 Readers are More Awesome Than Cake

Oct 20 2011 | comment(s)

One good comment is worth a thousand readers.  In the past three weeks, as I've been busy with midterms, my Calliope posts have been simply brief blog-entries rather than full articles.  And with that, I've gotten great resources and leads on issues like Cubesat conferences and ganged Cubesat flights.

The latter doesn't mean gangs of roving Cubesats builders picking on non-techies, though I admit that could be fun.  Rather, a poster told me about the Cal Poly group that helps broker flights for people who don't have their own rocket.
Why men are attracted to bitches

Why men are attracted to bitches

Oct 20 2011 | comment(s)

Sorry, guys, but it's been scientifically proven that a woman can now blame her anger and aggression on her genes. Scientific research found that some women are genetically programmed to be angry and aggressive by a serotonin receptor gene. The good news is that not every woman carries it.

What does this mean for you? Not only is anger and aggression in a woman the fault of her genetics, but it may be passed down to your daughters, too. Yikes.

Bad enough, but why are men so darn attracted to bitchy types?

Dr. Wendy Walsh has the answers at AskMen.com


After The Earth Nearly Died

After The Earth Nearly Died

Oct 20 2011 | comment(s)

Mention "Mass Extinction" and most people will immediately think of the extinction that killed the dinosaurs.

To be fair, this was pretty big, as far as extinctions go. Not only did it kill all of the non-avian dinosaurs, it also finished off the ammonites, belemnites, all of the large swimming reptiles, and many, many others. It's almost like all mammals being killed today.

So yes, pretty big. The K-T extinction, as it's called, ranks among the top 5 greatest extinctions in Earth's paleozoic history.

But it's peanuts to the P-T extinction.

To put it in perspective, at the K-T extinction, about 60% of life on Earth died out. At the P-T extinction, it was about 95%. So it's fair to say that this was when the Earth nearly died.
False Equivalence One Side Never Mentions

False Equivalence One Side Never Mentions

Oct 20 2011 | comment(s)

False equivalence was the big deal two weeks ago, with political advocates Googling for evidence that there might be a Republican with a science Ph.D. (and then ostracizing any found, in the name of tolerance and diversity) and generally out to debunk the notion that the left might have its own kooks.
Waste-to-energy plants are worse than coal

Waste-to-energy plants are worse than coal

Oct 20 2011 | comment(s)

It sounds perfect.  Turn garbage into energy. 

Proposals for new or expanded waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerators, which combust trash (i.e. municipal solid waste) to generate electricity and produce steam to heat buildings, are all the rage these days.  There's just one problem in this alternative energy; studies show they emit higher rates of lead, mercury, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide than the coal-fired plants we are told to hate.

We're already losing billions in taxpayer money on wasteful solar company placebos, let's not add hundreds of millions for these incinerators as well.
Epigenetic Inheritance Of Longevity

Epigenetic Inheritance Of Longevity

Oct 20 2011 | comment(s)

Some genes appear to have an effect on lifespan. This shouldn’t be too surprising news. But now, a research team from Stanford has shown that there are epigenetic effects on longevity as well. Using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a beloved model organism in aging research, they have shown that some changes in chromatin states in a parental generation can affect the lifespan of their descendants.

Illinois regulators seek to discipline autism doctor: Dr. Anjum Usman

Illinois regulators seek to discipline autism doctor: Dr. Anjum Usman

Oct 20 2011 | comment(s)

A calcium-to-zinc imbalance, yeast, dysbiosis, low zinc, heavy metal toxicity and abnormally high levels of aluminum, antimony, arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, silver, tin, titanium and selenium.  You name it, and Dr. Anjum Usman diagnosed it regarding a child with autism

The treatments he used include dietary restrictions; nearly three dozen vitamin, enzyme, mineral and other dietary supplements; two antifungal drugs; four chelators or detoxifying drugs; a hormone suppressor, and hyperbaric oxygen treatments, in which the child is shut inside a pressurized bag filled with extra oxygen.

'Alternative treatments' that turn out to be uncontrolled experimentation on children? What a shock.
Levity and Awe: Shatner Will Always Rule

Levity and Awe: Shatner Will Always Rule

Oct 19 2011 | comment(s)

Product Details
Every now and then, I need to cleanse my palate, shift directions, and give myself a break. And nothing makes a better break than a light and easy read like Shatner Rules. If you liked Star Trek or Boston Legal or Shit My Dad Says (or T.J. Hooker, or any of the other shows Shatner has done over the last five decades), reading Shatner's latest book is a bright spot, a delight. If you pop for the kindle version, you can even listen to Shatner read it (which I may very well have to do!).

WD 0806-661 B: Planet-Sized Object Is As Cool As Earth Too

WD 0806-661 B: Planet-Sized Object Is As Cool As Earth Too

Oct 19 2011 | comment(s)

A new photo of a nearby star and its orbiting companion shows the planet has a temperature like a hot summer day in Arizona.

Sorry Women, Men Really Are Funnier

Sorry Women, Men Really Are Funnier

Oct 19 2011 | comment(s)

If you're a man, no matter how funny you are, your wife thinks you are not.  Well, men, science is giving you the last laugh.

Sort of. Men are funnier than women, though mostly to other men, according to a psychology study from the University of California San Diego.  Men edged out women by 0.11 points out of a theoretically possible perfect score of 5.0, while about 90 percent of both male and female study participants agreed with the stereotype that men are funnier.
Freedom To Cheat?

Freedom To Cheat?

Oct 19 2011 | comment(s)

Freedom To Cheat?

Do the laws and constitutional safeguards which guarantee freedom of speech grant a freedom to cheat?  According to a basic principle of common law, freedom of speech ends where cheating begins.

Xavier Alvarez of Pomona, California has falsely claimed amongst other things: “I’m a retired Marine of 25 years.  I retired in the year 2001.  Back in 1987, I was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor."  That last statement was in direct contravention of the Stolen Valor Act, 2005, a federal law.  Alvarez has challenged that Act as imposing an unconstitutional limit upon freedom of speech.  The matter is to be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Baseball And Belief Engines

Baseball And Belief Engines

Oct 19 2011 | comment(s)

In a few short hours, the World Series will begin between the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals.  In the midst of all the talk of how offense is winning games this year (team Earned Run Average by starters in the post-season is over 5) and the strategic match-ups, there will be little attention paid to the belief engines in the skulls of individual players; their brains.
Just Like Magic

Just Like Magic

Oct 19 2011 | comment(s)

It's been a while, Science 2.0.

My excuse (if anybody needed one): I've been rather busy over the summer with fieldwork. Not a good excuse, admittedly. But, anyway, I'm back now!

Anyway. There's a rather disparaging quote by Francis Bacon, the 16th century philosopher who basically invented science, who said,

Many secrets of art and nature are thought by the unlearned to be magical.


Another Step Towards Biological Computers

Another Step Towards Biological Computers

Oct 19 2011 | comment(s)

Earlier this year, a DNA computer was reported that could calculate square roots. A little later, a neural network was constructed out of ‘the stuff of life’. These advances strongly hinted at the possibility of using biochemicals in order to do computational operations. Now, a new study, published in Nature Communications, presents another step towards this goal.

Louisiana Declares War On Goodwill And Flea Markets

Louisiana Declares War On Goodwill And Flea Markets

Oct 19 2011 | comment(s)

Conservative Republican Governor Bobby Jindal can't like why his state is in the news today; a Democrat state representative has spearheaded a successful effort to damage stores like...Goodwill?

District 44 Representative Rickey Hardy co-authored House bill 195, which says people who deal in 'second hand' goods can longer accept cash.   Why?  Apparently the government thinks the second-hand 'buying stolen goods' problem by Goodwill and pawn shops and other small businesses is so severe it needed to be legislated out.  Oh, and those flea markets are commonly regarded as real hotbeds of crime too.
Squid Fight Recession

Squid Fight Recession

Oct 18 2011 | comment(s)

Times are tough all over. But did you know that the Atlantic longfin squid is doing its part to help the economy?

In an article by Kirk Moore of Asbury Park Press about the decline of river herring in New Jersey, I learned that river herring spend months feeding in the open ocean. While they're stuffing their faces, they sometimes get accidentally caught, killed and discarded as bycatch. Local authorities are considering restrictions to reduce this loss . . .
What If Apple Ran U.S. Health Care?

What If Apple Ran U.S. Health Care?

Oct 18 2011 | comment(s)

Quick, which British cell phone do you use?   No?  Okay, which French microprocessor is in your PC?  No again?

America leads the world in innovation, the legacy of historical laissez-faire approaches to fixing big problems using the private sector.  Obviously that is different now, even in science, where Pres. Obama made good on his promise to add more science to his cabinet but erroneously thought all of science was composed of progressive academics who think more taxpayer spending is the only way science gets done, leading to the Solyndra boondoggle and more to follow.
Chimps in advertising

Chimps in advertising

Oct 18 2011 | comment(s)

Recently a news item from Duke University appeared:

"Cute" Chimps in Ads May Harm Species' Survival

"We were testing the argument that the entertainment industry has made that exposure to chimpanzees in human settings makes people more sympathetic to their plight," said Brian Hare, an assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke.  "In fact, the opposite is true. We found people became less concerned about the risks chimpanzees face after they'd seen the entertainment clips."
ICARUS Proves Neutrinos At Least 10 Times Faster Than Light

ICARUS Proves Neutrinos At Least 10 Times Faster Than Light

Oct 18 2011 | comment(s)

A study by ICARUS re-investigated their neutrino experiments based on the article by Cohen and Glashow, who showed that superluminal neutrinos in standard model physics lose energy through neutral-current weak-interactions, which is somewhat like Cherenkov radiation. Given a neutrino moving faster than light a given distance D through a standard background, one can compute the rate of usually expected energy lost through that radiation. The neutrinos are detected via so called ‘charged-current interactions’, which turn them into muons, 104 of which ICARUS detected.