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24 Sep 2009 08:36

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World: Scientists freaking out because there’s water on the moon

Water on the moon? Well, that’s kinda impressive. We’d be more impressed if it was already bottled. (We know, we’re hard to impress.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Sep 2009 20:15

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Tech: Fun fact: The tyrannosaurus rex used to be human-sized

So, does this mean that over time, humans will eventually grow up to be the size of houses? If so, that’d be awesome. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Sep 2009 20:12

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U.S.: Here’s another genetic detail in the ongoing fight against cancer

  • A virus linked with animal cancer was found in humans. Researchers at the University of Utah and Columbia University recently spent a lot of time looking at prostate cancer cells recently. (Which doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, by the way.) In the 200 cancerous prostates they studied, they found that 27% had XMRV (Xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus), a retrovirus that copies itself into the cancerous cell’s DNA. (In other words, it works just like AIDS.) This is significant, because it’s the first human link to XMRV that scientists have found. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Sep 2009 11:50

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Tech: Your brain on Twitter < Your brain on Facebook. Any questions?

  • On Twitter you receive an endless stream of information, but it’s also very succinct. You don’t have to process that information. Your attention span is being reduced and you’re not engaging your brain and improving nerve connections.
  • University of Stirling (Scotland) psychologist Dr Tracy Alloway • Describing the difference between Facebook and Twitter usage. Since tweets are so short, you’re not thinking as much, which damages your working memory. Facebook has the opposite effect. Which means, in the long term, Twitter makes you dumber and Facebook makes you smarter. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Aug 2009 10:50

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Biz, U.S.: A giant business lobby wants a Scopes trial for global warming

  • The U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Full of jerks who hate science. When millions of businesses band together under one massive umbrella to fend off scientific theories with lots of evidence, expect people like us to take notice. The massive business lobby, trying to avoid tightened emissions regulations, wants to have the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a trial on man-made global warming. We hope, just like the Scopes trial, it’s a circus. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

14 Aug 2009 20:30

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Offbeat: Want to stop a zombie attack? You have three hours. Go.

  • Only sufficiently frequent attacks, with increasing force, will result in eradication, assuming the available resources can be mustered in time.
  • The authors of an article called “When Zombies Attack!: Mathematical Modeling of an Outbreak of Zombie Infection” • Discussing how to survive a zombie attack. The authors also note that the attack has a limited timeframe. In a city of 500,000, you have about three hours to prevent the level of zombies from topping the level of humans. So basically, you need to be Simon Pegg to survive. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 16:26

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Politics: Political polls based on scientific facts? Usually a bad idea.

  • 51% of Democrats think that America and Africa were once part of the same continent, a proven scientific fact that shouldn’t be the basis of a poll question source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

31 Jul 2009 10:21

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Offbeat, U.S.: Tornado-chasers lament the lack of tornadoes to chase

  • You’re out there to do the experiment and you’re geared up every day and ready. And when there isn’t anything happening, that is frustrating.
  • University of Oklahoma scientist Don Burgess • Regarding the relatively slow tornado season so far this year, which has meant that research has suffered, while just about everyone and everything else that would be affected by tornadoes hasn’t. Burgess notes this as a positive, but you have to imagine he’s only just saying that because he’d seem like a mad scientist if he didn’t. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 May 2009 10:01

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Tech: Scientists have a new artificial product perfect for grafting

Scientists can now automate the production of skin in a lab. Unfortunately, it’s very slow and riddled with what-ifs. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 May 2009 20:40

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Tech, U.S.: We ended the cold war, hoo-ray! Wait, where’s our space fuel?

  • Because of the Cold War, the U.S. had a massive nuclear weapon supply, and as a result a huge supply of Plutonium. Oh, and a crazy space race. source
  • Now, thanks to the Cold War ending a while ago, we stopped saving plutonium and now we don’t have enough fuel for deep space exploration. Crap. source
  • To make up for the demand, needed for trips past Jupiter, the Department of Energy said that they would start making Plutonium 438 again. Woot. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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