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iTWire - Latest Headlines  -
8 hours and 55 minutes ago
U.S. scientists are working on specific “odor profiles” that detect skin cancers, which
someday may produce a fast, non-invasive test for diagnosing cancer, similar to the medical
tricorder device used...
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Joho the Blog -
10 hours and 48 minutes ago
There’s an excellent story on the front page of the Boston Globe today, by Carolyn Johnson,
about
scientists who just go ahead and blab about their data before the village elders have given
them permission.
Yay.
The article says:
Scientists who plunge into openness also risk giving a competing lab a leg up.
“Maybe somebody has discovered some interesting gene and doesn’t want to blab to the
whole world about why it’s interesting,” said Michael Laub, an assistant professor of
biology at MIT. He says his lab is not overly secretive, but does not post “all the gory
details of what someone is working on, because I don’t want my grad students necessarily to
be scooped by someone else.”
Laub is just saying what everyone knows.1 But the fact that everyone knows it and we’re ok
with it is a sign of the problem with the system: The system we want maximizes knowledge and
innovation, but the system we have swerves in order to preserve credit for individuals. From the
discovery of the shape of DNA to AIDS research, we’ve seen some of the problems with the
competitive model of science. But we also routinely see the benefits, as scientists work overtime
in order to get credit for a discovery.
And yet, the mix seems wrong. The competitive model made more sense when it was more difficult to
share data anyway. The collaborative model is proving itself in unexpected places. It’s
clear that a mixed model works — some competitive, some collaborative — but
it’s not clear how far we can push the slider toward the collaborative side. My hunch, and
my hope, is that it’s way further than we would have thought, especially since experience
shows that the satisfaction of being recognized as a continuously generous member of a network
can at least equal that of authors of intermittent, officially-sanctioned publications.
[Tags: science open_science collaboration ]
1I’m totally guessing about his, but I suspect that Laub actually talked with Johnson, the
reporter, mainly about the virtues of open science, but noted that his group doesn’t give
away absolutely all of its data…and it was only the last part of the sentence that made it
in. As I say, I’m totally making this up, but the quotation had that sort of ring to it.
 |
The Register -
10 hours and 53 minutes ago
Magnetism maintains his noodly appendages
Scientists believe they have deduced what sustains the noodly appendages of a galactic "spaghetti
monster" - actually Galaxy NGC 1275 in Perseus - which displays "a mammoth network of
spaghetti-like gas filaments around a black hole", as New Scientist puts it....
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CiteULike: Borelli's watchlist -
12 hours and 31 minutes ago
The Behavioral and brain sciences, Vol. 29, No. 1. (February 2006)
Brain evolution is a complex weave of species similarities and differences, bound by diverse rules
and principles. This book is a detailed examination of these principles, using data from a wide
array of vertebrates but minimizing technical details and terminology. It is written for advanced
undergraduates, graduate students, and more senior scientists who already know something about "the
brain," but want a deeper understanding of how diverse brains evolved. The book's central theme is
that evolutionary changes in absolute brain size tend to correlate with many other aspects of brain
structure and function, including the proportional size of individual brain regions, their
complexity, and their neuronal connections. To explain these correlations, the book delves into
rules of brain development and asks how changes in brain structure impact function and behavior.
Two chapters focus specifically on how mammal brains diverged from other brains and how Homo
sapiens evolved a very large and "special" brain.
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CiteULike: Borelli's watchlist -
12 hours and 48 minutes ago
(30 December 2002)
In the mid-20th century, integrative efforts began concerning the brain and its social and
humanistic functions. These efforts were led by Paul D. MacLean's integrative research and thought.
As the century ended, however, such efforts were lost in the surge of new effort in brain and
genome research. Nobel Prizes were awarded on biochemical and cellular findings relevant to
psychiatry. Findings on these levels seemed to provide ultimate answers. By contrast, Cory,
Gardner, and their contributors provide a more comprehensive view by extending MacLean's findings
and integrative theory. Supported by new findings and extended by critical analyses of current
work, the collection provides foundations for more integrative efforts that the editors and
contributors believe will prevail increasingly in coming decades. Looked at from another vantage
point, therapeutic, social, economic, and politial sciences have proceeded wtihout operating
theories congruent with, or based on, brain functions. Across-species perspectives have been
lacking. This collection redresses this problem and leads the way toward more comprehensive 21st
century research on the one hand, and practical applications on the other. Multiple approaches
extend from modeling efforts to across-species comparisons, to the basic science of psychiatry to
theoretical explanations of political and economic systems. But most important, these essays
abolish the Berlin wall that currently separates the brain from its social functions. A major guide
for scholars, students, and researchers involved in the neurobehavioral sciences, for
psychologists, psychiatrists, and others involved with human clinical sciences, and for social
scientists concerned with the impact of the nervous system and its function.
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Rhizome.org Calendar -
14 hours and 15 minutes ago
LIGHTWAVE 2009
OPEN CALL
Calling all techno-artists, playful scientists, renegade engineers, architects, sculptors, lighting
designers, fashion designers, guerrilla projectionists and inventors!
LIGHTWAVE returns to the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin following the unprecedented
success and international acclaim received in its phenomenal inaugural show. Bigger, better and
raising the bar, LIGHTWAVE 2009 promises to mesmerize audiences not only within the Science
Gallery, but to captivate on-lookers city wide as interactive experiences, roving installations and
participatory workshops flood the creative, cultural quarters of Dublin.
Interested applicants are encouraged to send new, in-progress or interdisciplinary project
proposals (installations, events, workshops) highlighting interactivity, connectivity,
participation and public engagement both confined by, and freed from the gallery walls. We are
looking for proposals of the highest standard that incorporate art, science and new technology in
exciting and engaging projects focusing on light. Examples of project themes already proposed are
the development of sustainable light sources in Africa, light pollution, effects of light on the
body and the creative control of light through technology. Fresh and innovative projects that
investigate a variety of themes are very welcome.
The launch of LIGHTWAVE 2009 will open with a 9-day festival running from January 24th to the
February 1st 2009, with exhibitions continuing to February 21st.
Exhibition details including Expression of Interest can be viewed at
http://www.sciencegallery.com/lightwave09   |
Guardian Unlimited -
15 hours and 6 minutes ago
Scientists have developed a cheaper way to make hydrogen from biofuel that could be a solution to
previous difficulties with storage and transport of the gas
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RSS Feed from BlinkList.com -
16 hours and 23 minutes ago
A recipe for super-healthy tomato toppings that fight cancer, such as family favourite spaghetti
bolognese, has been cooked up by scientists.
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RSS Feed from BlinkList.com -
16 hours and 24 minutes ago
Fat can be directly converted into muscle, scientists have discovered, raising new hope for
overweight people. The promise of turning a beer gut into a six-pack has been raised from two
studies into the link between fat and muscle. But they say only the body's 'good' fat which we are
born with can be transformed, and not the 'bad' fat created by over-eating and not exercising
enough.
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AFP - Wire stories -
18 hours and 30 minutes ago
WELLINGTON (AFP) - New Zealand's mysterious colossal squid, the largest of the feared and legendary
species ever caught, was not the T-Rex of the oceans but a lethargic blob, new research suggests.
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"Bloody-Disgusting" -
19 hours and 53 minutes ago
One thing that's pretty amazing is the cast for Darren Lynn Bousman's Repo! The Genetic Opera, which features
Alexa Vega, Bill Moseley, Paul Sorvino, Paris Hilton, Nivek Ogre, Anthony Stewart, Terrance Zdunich
and even Sarah Brightman. Today we scored a whole batch of new colorful stills that give a better
representation of Lionsgate's film that arrives in theaters November 7th. Read on for a look at
Paris Hilton all dolled up, along with numerous others. In the not-so-distant future when an
epidemic of organ failures devastates the planet, scientists gear for a massive organ harvest. A
biotech giant comes up with easy organ payment plans, but all financed organs are subject to legal
default, including repossession at the hands of repo men. |
Rage3D Discussion Area - 75,85,87,93,99 -
20 hours and 15 minutes ago
I just rescued this off a data CD that I haven't been able to get working in at least 7 years,
until today when I put it in and it magically read. :up: This was posted on PlanetHalfLife many,
many years ago and I absolutely love it, and still find many of them to be funny.
Quote: He's probably the most underestimated, most put-upon and most chatty person in Black Mesa...
or at least, he likes to think so. You've wanted him to follow you. You've wanted him to stay put.
You've wanted him to let you into secure areas. You've shot and killed him many times. He is that
loveably annoying fellow who has more excuses for dodging the action than the San Diego Chargers (1
and 15 says it all). He is... Barney!
We asked our readers to come up with some Barney phrases they think Valve probably axed at the last
moment. We got soooo many great responses that we couldn't just narrow them down to ten. So... we
decided to give you four days worth of "The Top Ten Barney Phrases That Didn't Make It!" You think
there's a cold beer for us at the end of all this? Read on...
DAY FOUR:
Number 10: Waaaasssssup?
Number 9: Hey Gordon, don't go into the test chamber! The sample's gonna cause a chain reaction and
blow up everything, I'm sure of it....
Number 8: Hey, catch me later... you can buy me a beer.
Number 7: Don't bother catching me later; the chance of this game having a relaxing bar chapter is
highly unlikely.
Number 6: I was only two days from retirement!!
Number 5: Geez, if I would've known this was going to happen, I would have never left the Pizza
Palace. They were gonna make me assistant dough tosser!
Number 4: HEY! Don't shoot! He owes me ten bucks!
Number 3: Yeah, you do that Mr. Freeman... Uhm, I'll just wait here and ogle these women in
the Sears catalogue.
Number 2: Does this uniform make me look fat?
Number 1: Why?
DAY THREE:
Number 10: I must be drunk! I'm seeing Aliens...or are those elephants??
Number 9: Hi there Gordon. Man, that rash is really out of control; you should see a doctor.
Number 8: Hey, didja know if you stick your hand up here you can make it talk like a
Muppet.
Number 7: Is that a clip in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
Number 6: 'May contain traces of peanuts'. . . what the hell does that mean?
Number 5: Are you gonna eat that?
Number 4: Be quiet! This thing hears us! *fart* Excuse me.
Number 3: You expect me to kill that with this pistol???
Number 2: You could just ask for ammo instead of trying to kill me for mine.
Number 1: Man, with all these aliens and marines running about, it makes me feel like I'm in a
video game. Anyway, to get to the power switch, you're going to have to go into the ventilation
shaft and exit into the warehouse. Jump over 12 boxes, and then climb the ladder into the sewer,
open up a pipe and crawl out into the sewage pool. There you'll open up the service entrance and
enter the elevator. Stop it at mid level and climb up the cable to the 13th floor. Once you're in
there all you need is the 2 security keys (which you have to find yourself). Alternatively, you can
just climb those stairs over there. Your choice.
DAY TWO:
Number 10: Watch, I learned this in a Counter-Strike match...
Number 9: Oh no! Marines! I better stand here in the open and shoot all five of them with
my pistol!
Number 8: No I dont have a last name; I'm going to die in 3 minutes anyway.
Number 7: (whisper) Don't tell anyone but I'm wearing Pink Man Panties...
Number 6: ...Yeah they couldn't afford to give me a room. I've been standing here for 12 days.
Number 5: You think there's a giant space baby with dirty diapers and Frankenstein stitches
all over him at the end of all this?
Number 4: We can stand a better chance if we stick together. Ahh, charlie horse!!! Can't climb
ladder or go through ventilation ducts... go along without me...
Number 3: Sorry, Mr. Freeman, I've got explicit orders not to let you through without your groove
on. So get your groove on...if you can, hehehe.
Number 2: Wait, how do you duck-jump? Dammit Gordon, slow down, I'm stuck on a
crate...
Number 1: Don't make me come over there and kick your ass.
DAY ONE:
Number 10: Sorry Sir, I can't let you through here. I can't see my next waypoint.
Number 9: Dammit... why on Superbowl Sunday? WHY???
Number 8: Oye, soy nuevo aca. Donde es el baño?
Number 7: (whispered to another Barney) On three, we jump him and take the suit, ok?
Number 6: I know it hurt me, but I can't shoot at it.. It's too CUTE!
Number 5: (singing) I love you, you love me....
Number 4: Say, that thing looked like my Aunt Frida.
Number 3: LOOK OUT! Just kidding. Made you look! Good one, huh?
Number 2: You look like a frickin' idiot in that HEV suit!
Number 1: (spoken to scientist) Dont move! I'm going to try to shoot that headcrab off your face!
And done.
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Scientific American - Official RSS Feed -
1 days ago
For $1 billion over the next 40 years, the U.S. could develop 100 gigawatts (a gigawatt equals
one billion watts) of electricity generation that emits no air pollution and pumps out power to
the grid even more reliably than coal-fired power plants, according to scientists at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Now Google.org--the charitable wing of the search engine
giant--has chipped in nearly $11 million for this renewable resource: so-called geothermal power,
or tapping the Earth's heat to make electricity. [More]
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MetaFilter -
1 days ago
"Why the fuss? Well,
Colin's a baby whale..." Oh no. They named the doomed little thing ('little' meaning about the
size of a large car). Mal Holland's report from the Daily Telegraph gives a very illuminating
rundown of the nervous breakdown that "Sydney's booming whale watching industry" is experiencing
right now...
For those too lazy to click on the link, the shorthand version of this story is a baby whale's been
found off the shores of Sydney Australia thinking that a yacht was its mum. Colin, as some have now
taken to calling him, was found suckling on the yacht. The guy who owns the yacht was quoted as
saying it sounded like a vacuum cleaner attached to the hull of his ship.
They tried coaxing the little guy out into the open sea, but he appears to feel more secure near
the shore. It's theorized that his mother has abandoned him, but no one knows why. Some people are
demanding something be done to save the animal, but others are saying this is just part of the
circle of life. Zoos won't take the whale into captivity cuz no one knows how to nurse a whale calf
for eleven months. A scientist tried to bolster an interest in creating an artificial mammary gland
for the guy, but it'd take too long and cost too much. The odds of finding a surrogate whale who
will take him in are slim to none, so essentially whale watchers are currently watching a two week
old calf starve to death, helpless to do anything.
Does humanity have a responsibility to save an orphaned baby whale, or is our duty to let nature
take its course? And why do we anthorpomophize starving baby whales?
|
Mashable! -
1 days ago
 The
market of applications managing various Internet-related tasks is divided generally into three
parts: Windows-based, Mac OS X-compatible, and Linux-friendly. Some function across all
platforms, or perhaps the most mainstream and consumer-centric of the two. But it is
unquestionably the case that the Linux world holds the least currency where desktop-to-Web and
Web-to-desktop communication is concerned.
Well, if you’re a Linux user, or perhaps just curious to know what’s now possible on
Linux installations in order to better decide whether to “take the leap,” we’re
going to do Tux a solid today and see what’s up in the land of “Net apps” to
save you from having to search the open source galaxy yourself.
Now, you’re probably aware of this. It is likely the most popular download for Linux. But
what the hey, it’s good to hear once in a while. Mozilla’s well-renowned
Firefox
3 browser, an open source fan-fave, is ready for Linux users to
download. In every localized language version of the newest build, too. According to the official
website, that leaves Firefox for Linux one better than the Mac OS X option. Do you speak
Gujarati? Well, then you’ve got just two options: Windows and Linux. Enjoy.
Also, if you’d like to go full-on with your allegiance to Mozilla, its email client,
Thunderbird, now in its
second major iteration, is Linux-enabled as well. As with Firefox, you’re given complete language
support. Gujarati, however, is only listed as available for version Thunderbird version 1.5.
Sorry, folks. Can’t have everything, evidently.
Another email option for the Linux world comes in the form of Zimbra
Desktop, a Yahoo-property, circa 2007. And if we may say so ourselves, it’s
quite good. Plus, it’s free. And it’s open source.  And it can be matched with Zimbra’s Collaboration Suite of applications. That
calls for a booyah.
There are some relatively small trinkets for Linux users that will have greater or less relevance
to your day-to-day interests. One that will pique the eyebrows of music fans: the
Amazon MP3
Downloader. It is available for Ubuntu 7.10, as well as Debian 4, Fedora 8, and
OpenSUSE 10.3. Visit the main page for specific installation instructions. I’m no
scientist, but I venture to guess that DRM-free downloads sound better on open-source software.
What do you think?
Want a piece of musical software a bit more robust and full-featured? Take a trip down
Songbird lane. The first
few releases of this software weren’t stellar, but having just tried it once more this
week, it’s safe to say the thing has evolved quite a bit since
its days as a youngling. Worth a peek!
 Let’s not forget that there are plugins and lightweight software systems to make your
Web browsing and PC-based interaction with the cloud more enjoyable, too. Adobe Flash version 9.0 is out as a 3MB-large .tar.gz download.
Something to consider adding to your Firefox and/or SeaMonkey browser(s), for sure.
And though Microsoft doesn’t officially support Linux with its Silverlight development,
 you might be interested to know of an independent project from Mono called Moonlight. Packages are dubbed
experimental, with the latest update said to have been issued on August 7, 2008. If you consider
yourself the adventurous type, why not give it a try.
Adobe also has stored in its Labs division a Linux version of its AIR platform. But it is
unfortunately only an “alpha-quality” release at this point. In short, things that
function on the latest AIR builds for Windows and Mac may not perform on the Linux equivalent.
The final plugin to consider: Gears. Google Gears was its original moniker. Evidently the company thinks
its the coolest kid in school and figures that Gears alone will suffice. Like “iPod.”
Leaving aside the back story about the move, Gears is certainly useful, especially now that more
of the Google Apps portfolio plays  well with it. Google Reader, Google Docs, and so forth. Not Gmail, yet,
but soon enough, yes? We hope. Oh, and Zoho tips its hat to Gears, too.
Want to chat some? A number of chat applications can be enjoyed on Linux. We won’t go
through the whole lot of ‘em. Some are more popular than others, naturally.
And there’s nothing quite like hearing that an uber-familiar name like Skype is strutting its
stuff in the open-source world - albeit in less-than-cutting-edge form. The Skype development
team tend to follow the Windows-then-Mac-then-Linux formula when releasing updates. The
basic’s are there in Skype 2.0 for Linux, though. VoIP and
IM and video. Sound good? Good. Download away, then.
There is also Pidgin, for
enthusiasts of a multi-protocol lifestyle. Formerly known as Gaim, Pidgin is said to work
with AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, MySpaceIM, QQ, SILC, SIMPLE,
Sametime, XMPP, Yahoo, and Zephyr. That good enough for you? Never enough, right? So it goes,
fellow Mashables, so it goes.
Back in media land, an item by the name of Miro moves steadily along, aggregating
video per users’ convenience. Like watching podcasts, do you? Miro makes it happen all in
one place. And its latest release is available for Linux. Ubuntu Linux, to be specific. The Miro
download page lists ‘Other Systems’ and ‘Source
Code’ as well.
How about sharing your music? That has clearly turned out to be the next wave of music
consumption. Well, hear this. Simplify Media, an outfit responsible for allowing friends to stream
libraries over the Web in relatively private seclusion, is offered for PC, Mac, and Linux users
alike. And if you happen to count yourself among the few in the Linux class who keep an iPhone or iPod touch in hand,
a stroll through Apple’s App Store will show a free Simplify Media download.
We first covered a Java-based website
analytics application called Woopra back in March and again in early June, and it may just be
your cup of tea. That is if you’re one to watch numbers with a smile on your face. You get
graphs, timelines, real-time chat with fellow stat geeks, and all of it in a pretty candy
coating. Take it for a spin if nothing else. The least it’ll do is offer you some visual
excitement. If you’re into that sort of thing, anyway.
Speaking of Java, something by the name of Wuala recently passed
our news desk, and as with many other developments built on Sun’s ubiquitous coding
platform, it works with Linux. Share files of all sizes with your buddies or the broader world.
Use up 1 GB of cloud space free of charge, or spring for extra space on a per-annum payment plan.
Of course, file-sharing is no new concept. The peer-to-peer world has a storied history for sure.
And if you want to take a bit more ordinary approach to the give and take of the BitTorrent realm whilst
keeping an honest eye toward legal bounds - and maybe even some paid downloads - two names come
to mind most quickly: BitTorrent.com and Vuze. The latter is the most recent evolutionary step to come from
development of a program once called Azureus. It’s a treat. BitTorrent.com, meanwhile, is where you
will find both a client that is Linux-compatible and a selection of media for download from the
likes of FOX, Lionsgate, Paramount, Comedy Central, WB, ThinkFilm, and MTV. That’s a treat,
too.
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:
Linux: Powering Your
PCs Since 1910!
gOS 2.0 Now Available
For Download
Google Joins OIN Open Source
Community
Amazon MP3 Now Open To Linux
Users
20+ Video
Tutorials for Open Source Applications
20+ Resources For Homebrew Games
Google Android Gets Handset on
DoCoMo
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LOST -- The Tail Section -
1 days and 6 hours ago
Entertainment
Weekly's Michael Ausiello seems to have all the scoops on the new characters joining
Lost next season. We already talked about the mysterious Caesar and Ilanna here, and now it's
been revealed that an attractive Asian woman named Martha will appear in the first episode.
According to Ausiello, "she's a smart, capable scientist who's taking a break to raise her
baby." Hmm, sounds like she could be Pierre Chang's wife, does it not? Maybe taking a
break to raise little Miles? That's one theory.
Ausiello also reports that a character named Dan will be coming in to stir up trouble on the
series. He's described as a high-priced attorney who can be friendly, but has a "real menace
lurking below the surface." Any thoughts on what Dan's purpose could be?
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