Amplify’d from www.telegraph.co.uk
Meet some of the bacteria that make up 90 per cent of the living cells in your body
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Tuesday 28 June 2011
Meet some of your Bacteria
Saturday 25 June 2011
Sherlock Holmes comes to Blu-ray
Amplify’d from www.npr.org
When my girlfriend broke up with me senior year of high school, I spent my spring break convalescing in my basement bedroom, reading Sherlock Holmes stories and listening to old Velvet Underground records. Good medicine, by the way. It's hard to lament an unrequited love when Lord Baskerville is found dead on the moors and Lou Reed is waiting on his pusherman.
Ever since, I've been a stalwart Sherlock Holmes fan (VU, too) and have followed Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's great detective in all his incarnations. The recent big-budget Hollywood treatment with Robert Downey, Jr., was my favorite popcorn movie of 2009, and I'm digging the BBC's new Sherlock, which updates the action to contemporary London and stars the gloriously-named U.K. actor Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role.
Here's the complete list of films included in the set:
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943)
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
The Spider Woman (1944)
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Tuesday 21 June 2011
Monday 20 June 2011
Eight million gallons of water drained from reservoir after man urinates in it
Amplify’d from www.telegraph.co.uk
Eight million gallons of water drained from reservoir after man urinates in it
Eight million gallons of water had to be drained from a reservoir in Oregon after a man urinated in it.
The operation is costing the state's taxpayers $36,000 (£22,000) and was ordered after Joshua Seater, 21, was caught on a security camera relieving himself in the pristine lake.
Health experts said the incident would not have caused any harm to people in the city of Portland, who are supplied with drinking water from the reservoir.
They said the average human bladder holds only six to eight ounces, and the urine would have been vastly diluted.
But David Shaff, an administrator at the Portland Water Bureau, defended the decision to empty the lake.
"There are people who will say it's an over reaction. I don't think so. I think what you have to deal with here is the 'yuck' factor," he said.
"I can imagine how many people would be saying 'I made orange juice with that water this morning.' "Do you want to drink pee? Most people are going to be pretty damn squeamish about that."
Mr Seater had been out drinking with friends when he decided to relieve himself in the open air reservoir at 1.30am.
He has not been arrested or charged with a crime, but may ultimately face a fine.
He apologised publicly for his behaviour, adding: "It was a stupid thing to do. I didn't know it was a water supply, I thought it was a sewage plant.
"I wouldn't mind paying for it but I don't have a job right now. I'm willing to do community service to clean up the place because I feel bad and feel pretty stupid." Sergeant Pete Simpson, of Portland Police, said: "It's really an unfortunate incident that probably could have been avoided if he had just chosen a bush."
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Monday 13 June 2011
Venice in Peril ..
Amplify’d from www.guardian.co.uk
Venice in Peril: tribute to a drowning city – in pictures
As the art world moves on from the Venice Biennale, a group of leading international artists have created a haunting photographic tribute to the city for the Venice in Peril fund. Campaigners have warned that the water level in Venice will rise by at least 50cm by 2100
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Sunday 12 June 2011
5 New Books that explains the brain
Amplify’d from www.npr.org
Insane Science: 5 New Books That Explain The Brain
When the sun finally comes out and the sweaters get tossed in the basement, we're all at least a little tempted to turn off our brains. Don't do it! Summer reading — in this case, summer reading about the science of the mind — can be a lot more fun than dodging volleyballs on a beach. Neuroscience isn't just about parts of the brain and hard-to-pronounce chemicals; the books listed here cover everything from religion to pornography, from die-hard optimists to remorseless sociopaths. Sure, there's a lot of knowledge to be mined in these volumes, but most importantly, they're all fast, fun reads. As subject matter, the brain, it turns out, makes for the ultimate page-turner and science (don't tell my high school bio teacher I said this) the epitome of cool.
The Compass Of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, And Gambling Feel So Good
The Believing Brain: From Ghosts To Gods To Politics And Conspiracies — How We Construct Beliefs And Reinforce Them As Truths
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through The Madness Industry
A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What The World's Largest Experiment Reveals About Human Desire
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Thursday 9 June 2011
Tuesday 7 June 2011
Australia's military loses its UFO X-Files ?
Amplify’d from news.yahoo.com
Australia's military loses its UFO X-Files?
CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia's military has lost its X-Files, detailing sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects, or UFOs, across the country, a newspaper report said on Tuesday.
After a two-month search in response to a newspaper Freedom of Information (FOI) request, which forces government officials to release documents of public interest, Australia's Department of Defence had been unable to locate the files, the Sydney Morning Herald said.
"The files could not be located and Headquarters Air Command formally advised that this file is deemed lost," the department's FOI assistant director, Natalie Carpenter, told the paper. Defence officials could not be contacted by Reuters.
The only file Defence had been able to locate was a folder called: "Report on UFOs/Strange Occurrences and Phenomena in Woomera," a military weapons testing range in the center of Australia's vast outback, Carpenter said.
All other files had been lost or destroyed, which the Herald said could fuel conspiracy theories about their disappearance.
The single remaining file detailed a sketchy series of sightings from around the country and overseas, including people living in towns near Woomera, in South Australia state.
X Files, named after a popular U.S. television science fiction program, refer to supposed government records detailing paranormal mysteries, usually involving fictitious alien species.
Australia's military had decided to stop taking UFO sighting reports in late 2000, the Herald said, asking members of the public to report incidents to police instead.
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Saturday 4 June 2011
Worldwide Hippies
Amplify’d from www.worldwidehippies.com
Weekly Hippie Trivia
A new Trivia Question will be posted every Friday at 8:00 pm (EST).
Get out your pencil for this one. Henry is on vacation, so it mite be with the rest of the world. Henry is a new daddy. Momma Mary, can’t stand the baby crying and leaves Henry to care for the baby by himself. But he is not alone. He is entertained by a miniature woman who appears in his radiator. In 2004, the film was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Name the film.
See more at www.worldwidehippies.com
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Google steps in to fill void in Mobile Payment Industry
Amplify’d from www.resourcenation.com
Google Steps in To Fill Void in Mobile Payment Industry
Just when you thought mobile payments were down and out, Google steps up to the plate. Google recently announced its NFC technology embedded in their Android Smartphone OS that turns the devices into an electronic wallet.
A few weeks back, it was announced that mobile carriers backing the most promising NFC player, Isis were scaling back their support. According to Mobile Marketing Watch, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are losing faith in Isis because of it’s lack of bank support. “Simpler mobile payment solutions in line with the so-called “mobile wallet” framework now appear to be the widely embraced mechanism by which the consumer shopping experience will be revolutionized.”
Now has never been a better time to announce a mobile wallet. Google may step on some toes by being first to market, but they are probably the best company to test and rollout a technology with so many regulations and intricacies. The Google Wallet will work with a few key retailers, including, “Macy’s Inc., American Eagle Outfitters Inc. and the Subway fast-food chain. Retailers that participate in the program will have upgraded terminals at the point of sale that can read the mobile devices and provide special offers.”
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Starsuckers
Amplify’d from deus--ex-machina.tumblr.com
Starsuckers is a feature documentary about the celebrity obsessed media, that uncovers the real reasons behind our addiction to fame and blows the lid on the corporations and individuals who profit from it.
Made completely independently over 2 years in secret, the film journeys through the dark underbelly of the modern media. Using a combination of never before seen footage, undercover reporting, stunts and animation, the film reveals the toxic effect the media is having on us all and especially our children.
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Nanoguitar played by laser
Amplify’d from www.news.cornell.edu
A new Cornell 'nanoguitar,' played by a laser, offers promise of applications in electronics and sensing
The original nanoguitar (top) was made to resemble a Fender Stratocaster. The new, "playable" version is modeled on the Gibson Flying V. Both were made by electron beam lithography, which can create far smaller shapes than earlier methods, at the Cornell Nanoscale Facility. (Although both are shown at about the same size here, the playable guitar is actually about five times larger than the original.) Craighead Group
Copyright © Cornell University
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Six years ago Cornell University researchers built the world's smallest guitar -- about the size of a red blood cell -- to demonstrate the possibility of manufacturing tiny mechanical devices using techniques originally designed for building microelectronic circuits.
Now, by "playing" a new, streamlined nanoguitar, Cornell physicists are demonstrating how such devices could substitute for electronic circuit components to make circuits smaller, cheaper and more energy-efficient.
Lidija Sekaric, who built the new, playable nanoguitar while an Applied Physics graduate student at Cornell, described the project, along with other materials and device research in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), at the 50th International Symposium and Exhibition of the American Vacuum Society, Nov. 2 to 7 in Baltimore. At the same meeting Harold Craighead, professor of applied and engineering physics at Cornell, presented a plenary talk reviewing the uses of NEMS in biology. Sekaric worked in the Craighead Research Group at Cornell, part of the Cornell Center for Materials Research study of NEMS systems.
NEMS usually refers to devices about two orders of magnitude smaller than MEMS (microelectromechanical systems). Craighead prefers to define NEMS as devices in which the small size is essential for the job, such as those that respond to very small forces or biosensors so small that they can measure the mass of a single bacterium.
Sekaric, now a researcher at IBM's Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., worked with Cornell graduate student Keith Aubin and undergraduate researcher Jingqing Huang on the new nanoguitar, which is about five times larger than the original, but still so small that its shape can only be seen in a microscope. Its strings are really silicon bars, 150 by 200 nanometers in cross-section and ranging from 6 to 12 micrometers in length (a micrometer is one-millionth of a meter; a nanometer is a billionth of a meter, the length of three silicon atoms in a row). The strings vibrate at frequencies 17 octaves higher than those of a real guitar, or about 130,000 times higher.
The original nanoguitar (top) was made to resemble a Fender Stratocaster. The new, "playable" version is modeled on the Gibson Flying V. Both were made by electron beam lithography, which can create far smaller shapes than earlier methods, at the Cornell Nanoscale Facility. (Although both are shown at about the same size here, the playable guitar is actually about five times larger than the original.) Craighead Group
Copyright © Cornell University
Sounds of the nanoguitar
(Admittedly not great music)
No one can "hear" the nanoguitar, but Cornell researchers have detected the vibrations and electronically scaled them down to audible tones.
"Bugle Call," is played on a single string by selecting and amplifying various harmonics of the string's fundamental tone, just as a bugle is played by selecting harmonics of the resonance of its column of air.
"Cagey," so named because it suggests the chaotic compositions of John Cage, is a short improvisation played by hitting more than one string with separate laser beams.
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Bugle Call
Cagey
For laboratory NEMS research, Cornell physicists use less musical devices like this nanopaddle, which can be set into motion by laser light. Copyright © Cornell University Click on the image for a high-resolution version (512 x 480 pixels, 163K)
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Thursday 2 June 2011
What creatures inhabit the surface of your cell phone ?
Amplify’d from news.cnet.com
What creatures inhabit the surface of your cell phone?
Germaphobes may want to navigate away from this page, lest they find themselves tempted to scrub their cell phones as often as their hands. Because cell phones are not only dirty, some of them even play host to what researchers are calling "worrisome" drug-resistant bacteria.
A team from the Department of Medical Microbiology at Inonu University in Malatya, Turkey, set out to answer the question that serves as the title of their report: Do mobile phones of patients, companions, and visitors carry multidrug-resistant hospital pathogens?
They cultured 200 mobile phones, collecting swab samples from three parts of each phone: the keypad, the microphone, and the earpiece. They also separated the phones into two groups: those belonging to medical employees (67) and those belonging to patients and visitors (133).
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