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Walking: 6 Miles A Week May Preserve Memory In Old Age

Walking: 6 Miles A Week May Preserve Memory In Old Age

Oct 14 2010 | comment(s)

New research suggests that walking at least six miles per week may protect brain size and in turn, preserve memory in old age. 

For the study, 299 dementia-free people recorded the number of blocks they walked in one week. Then nine years later, scientists took brain scans of the participants to measure their brain size. After four more years, the participants were tested to see if they had developed cognitive impairment or dementia.
The Dangers Of OTC Weight Loss Products

The Dangers Of OTC Weight Loss Products

Oct 14 2010 | comment(s)

There is no quick fix for obesity - exercise devices on TV targeting fat are a hoax, for example.  Where is the first place most people lose weight?  Their face, yet no one is exercising their face.

So-called natural remedies for people desiring quick obesity fixes are also a lucrative market but a new study of medical records in Hong Kong revealed 66 cases where people were suspected to have been poisoned by a 'natural' slimming therapy. In eight cases the people became severely ill, and in one case the person died. 
Passion As Painkiller

Passion As Painkiller

Oct 14 2010 | comment(s)

Intense, passionate feelings of love can provide effective pain relief on a par with painkillers or even illicit drugs like cocaine, according to a new study.

That's not to say you should rely on a string of affairs when you have a headache, but a better understanding of these neural-rewards pathways that get triggered by 'love', or winning money, could lead to new methods for producing pain relief.
New Malware Could Steal More Than Data - It Could Steal Your Behavior

New Malware Could Steal More Than Data - It Could Steal Your Behavior

Oct 14 2010 | comment(s)

Malware - malicious software written for purposes like identity theft - could get a lot more dangerous.

With so much information stored, and advancements in programming, malware programs could soon not only engage in traditional data theft or taking over a computer, but also 'steal' data on behavior patterns, a higher level of danger than easily detectable attacks.
National Academies Announce 2010 Communication Awards Winners

National Academies Announce 2010 Communication Awards Winners

Oct 14 2010 | comment(s)

The National Academies (the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine) announced the recipients of their 2010 Communication Awards today. Part of the Keck Futures Initiative, these awards recognize excellence in reporting and communicating science, engineering, and medicine to the general public. With support from the W.M. Keck Foundation, these $20,000 prizes have been awarded since 2003.   This year's winners will be honored during a ceremony on Oct. 22 at the Keck Center in Washington, D.C.

Winners:
Traditions are root cause of population growth

Traditions are root cause of population growth

Oct 14 2010 | comment(s)

In Hindu mythology when a man dies and his funeral pyre has to be lit the fire must be provided by son only and not the daughter so that the man gets moksha or salvation . This is common belief of most people and if they don’t have son they won’t get moksha or salvation. This has no meaning now and in many cases it is the progressive girls who are performing this last rite. However till recent past this has been the cause of population growth as the couples go on producing children till they get male child. Some time it is 3rd or 4th or 5th or even 6th or 7th child.
Hunger persists despite spectacular economic expansion

Hunger persists despite spectacular economic expansion

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

India with its population is growing. Its economy too is growing . However increasing population is a problem and almost all the development is consumed in feeding hungry children I am quoting from Hindustan Times with full reference below: “Hunger persists despite spectacular economic expansion, and it is disproportionate to rising incomes. With per capita income crossing $1,000, India is now considered a middle-income country.” “India’s latest hunger ranking, delivered by the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington D.C., did not make it to television news. In the newspapers, it was buried, just another bad news story in a nation that, increasingly, does not like to hear such news.”
Science Or Myth? Breaking Curveballs In Baseball

Science Or Myth? Breaking Curveballs In Baseball

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

Baseball players will tell you that a fastball can rise - and elementary physics says it can also, the same way an airplane rises because the teardrop shape of a wing causes air to go over the top faster than below the flatter bottom, 'sucking' it into the air.    Sure, if the baseball is going 200 MPH it can happen.  But they don't.
Cruel to be kind: Robot punches human to help obey Asimov's rules in the future?

Cruel to be kind: Robot punches human to help obey Asimov's rules in the future?

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

Some Slovenian researchers may be missing the point of Isaac Asimov's fictional (yet lofty, and therefore implicity hoping-to-be-followed) Laws of Robotics.  From from Asimov's third robot story, "Liar!",  published in May 1941's Astounding magazine, here they are:

1. A robot may not injure a human, or allow a human to be injured. 
2. A robot must follow any order given by a human that doesn't conflict with the First Law. 
3. A robot must protect itself unless that would conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Tevatron Collider, 25 Years Old Today

Tevatron Collider, 25 Years Old Today

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

On October 13th 1985 the Tevatron collider started operations, producing the first man-made proton-antiproton collisions at 1.6 TeV center-of-mass energy in the core of the CDF detector. 25 years have passed. It is frankly unbelievable that the machine is still operating today, and with it CDF, which was back then the only game in town (D0 came later).

I find it even more unbelievable if you consider that much of the technology, the magnets, the devices that produced the collisions and the ones that recorded them are still those of 25 years back. 25 years are like a two glaciations time span for particle physics standards.
Maybe People Don't, But Dead Fish Do Tell Tales

Maybe People Don't, But Dead Fish Do Tell Tales

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

Rotting fish experiments have helped to create picture of our early ancestors, says a study from the University of Leicester.
fossils from the early phase of vertebrate evolution are very rare because being completely soft-bodied they normally rotted away completely after death leaving nothing behind. But very occasionally their remains became preserved as fossils giving us a tantalising glimpse of our early vertebrate relatives.
Computational science: Scientific programming does not always compute

Computational science: Scientific programming does not always compute

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

When thousands of e-mails were obtained from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, last year, global warming skeptics jumped all over the documents for signs that researchers had manipulated data.

They hadn't (though their efforts to prevent anyone from obtaining the data, and the blowback from that, were as much cause for concern as the way in which hackers obtained them) but some of the e-mails discussed a different problem:
a CRU employee named "Harry", who often wrote of his wrestling matches with wonky computer software.
Population growth is inversely proportional to prosperity

Population growth is inversely proportional to prosperity

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

Population growth has been uneven in a country in a society and in the world. Global earth has to support 8 billion people in coming years starting from 1 billion only not so long ago. The world population is growing in geometric proportion. As far as I know population is not growing in Germany and Japan two wealthiest nation of the world and growing slowly in United States of America. The maximum population growth has taken place in Asia and population of India China Bangladesh could make one fourth of the world population in times to come if not now. What could be the reason of this uneven growth of population globally? Richer nations and poor nations have different population growth.
Uffington White Horse is actually a dog?

Uffington White Horse is actually a dog?

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

You may not know the name of the Uffington White Horse but you have likely seen it.   It's carved into the Oxfordshire hillside (Brits love to carve things into hillsides) and looks like a horse.

Except apparently there has been a recent to-do because the mystery critter might not be a horse at all, but instead a rather less majestic dog, says retired vet Olaf Swarbrick.

Uffington white horse oxfordshire
ScienceURLs gets some new additions

ScienceURLs gets some new additions

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

People sometimes ask me how I have access to so much great stuff.   Well, I am somewhat plugged in to other people who find good stuff, like Andrea Kuszewski and Guy Kawasaki on Twitter for things I might otherwise never notice, but for science I have always used ScienceURLs.com
You’re Not Sustainable, PET

You’re Not Sustainable, PET

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the third most common synthetic polymer and accounts for about 18% of world polymer production. It is an aromatic/aliphatic polyester which possesses very practical thermal properties that are not found in the all aliphatic commodity thermoplastics polyethylene or polypropylene: a glass transition temperature (Tg) near 67°C and a melting temperature (Tm) of 265°C.   But like those two, it is derived from fossil fuels: the key aromatic component of PET, terephthalic acid, is derived from petroleum, while ethylene glycol is derived from petroleum or natural gas.
Eric Stoltz As Marty McFly In

Eric Stoltz As Marty McFly In "Back To The Future"

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

Anyone who has seen "Back To The Future" (and who on a science site hasn't?) knows that Michael J. Fox owns the role of Marty McFly but older fans ... or recent devoted ones ... know he was not the first choice.  Instead, they were a few weeks into shooting and Robert Zemeckis felt it wasn't going to be funny enough with his current actor.

Back then, Stoltz was regarded as an up-and-coming, quality actor whereas Fox was a guy on a TV show, so it wasn't without risk to make that change.  But executive producer Steven Spielberg agreed and Zemeckis got the studio to let him reshoot five weeks worth of footage.

For the first time, people who purchase the 25th anniversary DVD will get to see footage of Stoltz as Marty McFly.  Check out some clips below:
Delicious! Watermelon Lowers Blood Pressure

Delicious! Watermelon Lowers Blood Pressure

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

A new study suggests watermelon can be an effective natural weapon against prehypertension, a precursor to cardiovascular disease.   It still won't hurt to exercise, of course.

Estimates are that up to 60 percent of U.S. adults are prehypertensive or hypertensive. Prehypertension is characterized by systolic blood pressure readings of 120-139 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) over diastolic pressure of 80-89 mm Hg. "Systolic" refers to the blood pressure when the heart is contracting. "Diastolic" reflects the blood pressure when the heart is in a period of relaxation and expansion.
SPT-CL J0546-5345 Is The Most Massive Galaxy Cluster Yet Discovered

SPT-CL J0546-5345 Is The Most Massive Galaxy Cluster Yet Discovered

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

What's 7 billion light years away, equivalent in weight to 800,000,000,000,000 of our Suns and holds hundreds of galaxies?    It's the most galaxy cluster ever discovered, that's what.

Astronomers using the South Pole Telescope discovered the behemoth and designated it the rather unspectacular SPT-CL J0546-5345.   

Redshift measures how light from a distant object has been stretched by the universe's expansion. Located in the southern constellation Pictor (the Painter), the cluster has a redshift of z=1.07. This puts it at a distance of about 7 billion light-years, meaning we see it as it appeared 7 billion years ago, when the universe was half as old as now and our solar system didn't exist yet.
Squid Egg Masses Are 100% Awesome

Squid Egg Masses Are 100% Awesome

Oct 13 2010 | comment(s)

Well! The last day of the squid fertilization workshop was just as exciting, in its own way, as Sunday's fishing excusion.  
 
The workshop's dozen participants hail from Mexico, Peru, Brazil, USA, Germany, Russia, and Spain. But our passion for cephalopod reproduction is as pure as our backgrounds are diverse. That's right, we are all obsessed with squid sex. So obsessed that we will make ourselves late for lunch with concerns about the chemistry of egg masses, and debate ommastrephid paralarval nutrition well into the night.
 
Yesterday morning we showed each other videos of egg masses and baby squid. We cooed over Susana's paralarvae and applauded Sakurai's shockingly spherical egg masses.