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Hydrogen-Powered Bacteria Discovered In Mussels

Hydrogen-Powered Bacteria Discovered In Mussels

Aug 11 2011 | comment(s)

Researchers searching for new ways to make hydrogen a viable part of our energy future have a new place to look; a natural example of a living hydrogen-powered 'fuel cell'.

During a recent expedition to hydrothermal vents in the deep sea, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Marine Microbiology and the Cluster of Excellence MARUM discovered mussels that have their own on-board fuel cells in the form of symbiotic bacteria that use hydrogen as an energy source. Their results suggest that the ability to use hydrogen as a source of energy is widespread in hydrothermal vent symbioses.

Golf Science: Making Divot Resistant Grass

Golf Science: Making Divot Resistant Grass

Aug 11 2011 | comment(s)

Golf is a good walk spoiled, according to both proponents and detractors.  It isn't just the outrageously fickle game that takes abuse, the golf courses, known for their calm scenic views and precise grass patterns, get hammered every day as well.  

Divots created by golf strokes are common  and can be a costly problem for golf course maintenance operations. Although previous research has identified differences in divot recovery across species of bermudagrass and zoysiagrass, little has been developed about actual divot resistance.

Ambiguous Science and Politics

Ambiguous Science and Politics

Aug 10 2011 | comment(s)

As some of you may be aware, this year the U.S. Congress finally passed the Zadroga Act which will compensate the first responders to the 9/11 attack as well as those that worked at the site for the following months for medical problems arising as a result of their efforts.

A sticking point has been that anyone filing claims must be able to demonstrate that any cancers are a direct result of their exposure at ground zero.

Needless to say, a recent study which has found no causal link to cancers has created some controversy.
Scientists Versus Journalists - Again

Scientists Versus Journalists - Again

Aug 10 2011 | comment(s)

Science 2.0 was founded because, contrary to the beliefs of some scientists and some journalists, the public is really, really smart.  And they know a lot of science, they just frame it through politics more than they used to because scientists and journalists are less diverse politically than they once were.

The public doesn't trust journalists and, in addition, scientists don't trust journalists.  The solution was obviously to make the scientists and the science audience the journalists.  Communication was one of my four key pillars in Science 2.0 five years ago and remains the most important today.
How To Live To Be 100, And Still Be Lazy

How To Live To Be 100, And Still Be Lazy

Aug 10 2011 | comment(s)

Stop eating all of that junk food.  Why?  So, you can live longer, of course.  Get off the La-Z-Boy and go run five miles.  Why?!  So, you can enjoy your old age.  No more drinking and smoking.  Why?!!  So, you can live to be 100 years old.

The rationale often given for converting to healthy habits has been to give you a longer life.  Who better to know about long lives than those that are closing in on the big 100.  The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there were nearly 425,000 people aged 95 and older living in the U.S. in 2010 − still only a small percentage of the 40 million U.S. adults 65 and over.
Surround Haptics - Kill People Virtually With Even More Realism

Surround Haptics - Kill People Virtually With Even More Realism

Aug 10 2011 | comment(s)

Greater virtual realism is always shown in television shows like "Star Trek: The Next Generation" as people who act out an alternate life as a farmer or solve mysteries in the 1800s, and that may happen, but long before that any technology like that will be used by young people to shoot each other.
Reflections of the Realized Imagination

Reflections of the Realized Imagination

Aug 10 2011 | comment(s)

Imagine you are living within a bubble.  Your bubble stretches in any direction but you are always contained within it.  Your bubble is adrift in a sea that has no bottom, only a surface.  The surface surrounds your bubble, so the sea itself is only a bubble.  Beyond the surface lies darkness.

This is the virtual universe we live in every day.  We call it the Internet.  The bubble around you is the collection of Websites you read and comment on.  The sea through which your bubble drifts is the Searchable Web.  The darkness beyond the Searchable Web is everything else -- everything that you cannot get to, or which has no meaning to you.
Academics About God

Academics About God

Aug 10 2011 | comment(s)

Science and religion. Often mutual suspicion, sometimes plain hostility, seldom a workable combination. When the active inquiry in science meets the passive belief in religion, worldviews…ideologies clash, usually leaving no progress in understanding in their wake.

Anyway, I do not intend to rant about religion, or science, or the relationship between both here. I’ll simply share these videos, made by British neurosurgeon Jonathan Pararajasingham, in which renowned academics share their thoughts and ideas about god.

The videos take some time, but I hope you'll find it interesting.

   

Video 1

   

Golden Age Mad Scientist ISO World to Save

Golden Age Mad Scientist ISO World to Save

Aug 10 2011 | comment(s)

In the golden age of science fiction (1930s-1950s), a typical protagonist was a square-jawed working stiff, perhaps a bureaucrat or a cop, who stumbled into a strange mystery that defied conventional explanation.

Who would that bloke call up, but his friendly local scientist!  Inevitably, this would be an affable professor affiliated with a small, sleepy suburban teaching college.  Despite the low profile of the school, this professor was a multi-discipline expert, particularly in matters involving space, technology, and futurism.
A Frael Of Figs - Or - A Handful Of History

A Frael Of Figs - Or - A Handful Of History

Aug 10 2011 | comment(s)

A Frael of Figs
 - or -
A Handful of History


If history consisted only in lists of the dates when "important people" did earth-shattering things such as kicking the bucket from a surfeit of lampreys, then I would agree with Henry Ford that history is bunk.

However, history at large can run from the present day all the way back to the big bang - assuming there ever was a big bang.
Kseniya Simonova - Sand Art On

Kseniya Simonova - Sand Art On "Ukraine's Got Talent"

Aug 09 2011 | comment(s)

I don't watch reality performance shows because the few I have seen in America are rather predictable, people dancing or doing weird stuff and whatnot.

But today, via Google Plus, I got a chance to see Kseniya Simonova do sand art and animation on "Ukraine's Got Talent".  The story she tells, in real time, using nothing but sand as her medium and then animating it...it's too ridiculously talented to describe.    You don't have 8 minutes to kill, nor do I, but it is maybe the best 8 minutes you will spend today.

Scientists And Politics - Objectivity Or Reverse Snobbery?

Scientists And Politics - Objectivity Or Reverse Snobbery?

Aug 09 2011 | comment(s)

A recent NY Times article echoes what I said last week in a meeting about a Science 2.0 television pilot - incredibly literate people who know a lot about science can't name a scientist.

It's certainly true.  Adult science literacy has tripled since I was an adult, science scores have gone up for American kids every year for the last decade and the American science audience alone is 65 million people.   
Unobservable Universe, Unobservable Science

Unobservable Universe, Unobservable Science

Aug 09 2011 | comment(s)

Science 2.0 is all about making a difference in a positive way, bringing lots of people in the world together to talk with each other about science.    We're the only open science site of decent size, meaning you don't have to be famous or bring a large audience to get invited, you just sign up and write science, so participation and communication are key to the Science 2.0 concept.
The Posthumous Memoir Of Ignaz Venetz #3

The Posthumous Memoir Of Ignaz Venetz #3

Aug 09 2011 | comment(s)

The Posthumous Memoir of Ignaz Venetz #3

... the voice of a faithful disciple of science is entitled to be heard.
My continuing researches on the discovery of climate change show that prior to Ignaz Venetz's 1821 prize-winning paper, the most commonly held views on the earth's climate were either that it had changed once, briefly, as a result of the noachain flood, or that the earth has been continually cooling since it was formed.  It was also held by most geologists that all rocks which were not obviously of volcanic origin were formed in or by water.
Work Overload - A Personal Account

Work Overload - A Personal Account

Aug 09 2011 | comment(s)

Warning: this post contains no physics whatsoever, although some of you might still be interested in reading it...

Relaxing in the hideaway of Elafonisos (see picture on the left) I am led to take a detached look at my work activities, and to try and determine whether I am doing some mistake here and there.
Managing Anxiety And Stress: Coping With Modern Life

Managing Anxiety And Stress: Coping With Modern Life

Aug 09 2011 | comment(s)

    Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. For many people, stress is so commonplace that it has become a way of life. Stress isn’t always bad. In small doses, it can help you perform under pressure and motivate you to do your best. But, when you’re constantly running in emergency mode, your mind and body pay the price. Alpha waves are the brain waves you feel when you're alert yet relaxed. Decreased alpha wave activity is shown in a variety of psychological disorders and even during stress or anxiety. The brain produces five main types of brain waves as shown below:

1. Delta Waves: 0 - 4 Hz Delta waves are the slowest range of brain waves. They are seen in deep sleep typically during stage 3 and 4 sleep.
Chimps Nicer Than Previously Thought

Chimps Nicer Than Previously Thought

Aug 09 2011 | comment(s)

In general, human beings tend to be quite generous. As such, it is not a big step to question whether the same is true for our close evolutionary cousins, the chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). A new study indicates that it might.

When it comes to chimp sharing behavior, there has long been a discrepancy between studies in the field, and those in laboratory settings. In the field, chimpanzees have been known to share food, console each other and lend support during a fight. In lab experiments, however, chimps don’t really share, and are viewed as ‘reluctant altruists’, sharing only when prompted by solicitation and other forms of pressure.

Justifying The Love For The Strong Equivalence Principle

Justifying The Love For The Strong Equivalence Principle

Aug 09 2011 | comment(s)


The strong equivalence principle is a stately beauty queen of an idea. In the simplest of dresses, she refuses to dance with any theory except general relativity. The mundane reason for mass is beyond her concern. My call own effort at unifying the symmetries found in the standard model with gravity "GEM" for Gravity and EM, not to be confused with gravitomagnetism which sometimes goes by the same acronym. A duality between metric and 4-potential theory extends a hand between a metric explanation of gravity and Newton's scalar theory moving up to a 4-mansion.

An obligatory cancellation in the GEM Lagrangian provides a field theory justification for the strong equivalence principle.
Like People Predicting The End Of The World, Animal Activists Will Eventually Be Right

Like People Predicting The End Of The World, Animal Activists Will Eventually Be Right

Aug 08 2011 | comment(s)

If you are a European who might be allergic to some compounds in cosmetics, you are out of luck.  In 2009, outside a few exceptions, the European Union banned the use of animals in cosmetic testing - though they still allow it in plenty of other things.  Heck, in the UK 91% of basic research using animal testing was found to have a societal benefit and, while that was a failure to animal rights groups who know nothing about science, 91% is jaw-on-the-floor incredible for basic research.
Before Pangaea - North America And Antarctica Were Connected 1.1 Billion Years Ago

Before Pangaea - North America And Antarctica Were Connected 1.1 Billion Years Ago

Aug 08 2011 | comment(s)

Rocks collected from the Franklin Mountains in West Texas and Coats Land in Antarctica have the exact same composition of lead isotopes, according to new research, the strongest evidence yet that parts of North America and Antarctica were connected 1.1 billion years ago, long before the supercontinent Pangaea formed.

Earlier analyses showed the rocks to be the exact same age and have the same chemical and geologic properties. The new work in Geology strengthens support for the so-called SWEAT hypothesis, which posits that ancestral North America and East Antarctica were joined in an earlier supercontinent called Rodinia.