moonbuggy

‘With her nine-year-old son William lying desperately ill in hospital following emergency brain surgery, Ruth McCartney-Moore prayed that she would one day hear his voice again.

But when he did speak weeks later, she was in for a shock.

He had lost his strong Yorkshire accent and was now speaking the Queen’s English.

“We noticed that he had started to elongate his vowels in words like ‘bath’ which he never did before,” said Mrs McCartney-Moore, 45, a music teacher from York.

“He no longer has short vowel sounds – they are all long. It’s bizarre.”‘

‘A New Zealand pro-cannabis groups says it has scientific evidence that cannabis can stop the development of mad cow disease.

It was not clear whether the findings applied to both cows and humans.

The National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml) said a French study showed cannabidiol might be effective in preventing bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as mad cow disease, the New Zealand Press Association reported tpday.

Scientists at the National Centre for Scientific Research in France found cannabidiol – a non-psychoactive ingredient – may prevent the development of prion diseases (progressive neurodegenerative disorders), the most well known of which is BSE, Norml said. [..]

“(It) should be supported by any MP with a clear head. Unfortunately most politicians act like mad cows whenever cannabis is mentioned,” Mr Fowlie said.’

‘Reporting in the June 21 issue of the journal Nature, University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical and biological engineering Professor James Dumesic and his research team describe a two-stage process for turning biomass-derived sugar into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF), a liquid transportation fuel with 40 percent greater energy density than ethanol.

The prospects of diminishing oil reserves and the threat of global warming caused by releasing otherwise trapped carbon into the atmosphere have researchers searching for a sustainable, carbon-neutral fuel to reduce global reliance on fossil fuels. By chemically engineering sugar through a series of steps involving acid and copper catalysts, salt and butanol as a solvent, UW-Madison researchers created a path to just such a fuel.’

‘It sounds too good to be true – not to mention the fact that it violates almost every known law of physics.

But British scientists claim they have invented a revolutionary device that seems to ‘create’ energy from virtually nothing.

Their so-called thermal energy cell could soon be fitted into ordinary homes, halving domestic heating bills and making a major contribution towards cutting carbon emissions. [..]

Even the makers of the device are at a loss to explain exactly how it works – but sceptical independent scientists carried out their own tests and discovered that the 12in x 2in tube really does produce far more heat energy than the electrical energy put in.’

‘Japan’s space agency has successfully launched its first lunar probe on a mission to explore the Moon.

A rocket carrying the orbiter blasted off from the space centre on the remote southern island of Tanegashima.

Over the course of a year, the orbiter will gather data on the Moon’s origin and evolution.

Japanese scientists say it is the most complex lunar mission since Nasa’s Apollo programme in the 1960s and 70s, when astronauts walked on the Moon.’

‘Meet the world’s first sheep-hog — a pig with its own fleece.

Scientists are baffled by the strange swine — which they say is a pig “at heart” but with a woolly hide.

The one-year-old is being raised on a ranch near the town of Esquina, 400 miles north of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

It was a gift to owner Felipe Olivetti from a neighbouring farm.

He admitted: “Experts have told us it is unique.

“It is a pig but has a thick fleece which needs shearing in summer with the other sheep because it suffers in the heat. Other pigs do not trust it.”‘

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‘Whether women are said to be flat-chested or big-busted, ordinary bras fall short when it comes to supporting bouncing breasts, a new study claims.

And during exercise, women’s breasts bounce more than previously estimated, moving a vertical distance of up to around eight inches compared with a past maximum measurement of six inches.

The bouncing, in some cases with breasts weighing 20 pounds or more, can prove painful and damaging to the limited natural support system.’

‘Sea ice in the Arctic has sunk to its lowest level since satellite record-keeping began, fully opening the most direct route through the Northwest Passage, the European Space Agency said Friday.

The much-coveted shortcut connecting Asia to Europe through the Canadian Arctic has been historically impassable.

The European Space Agency says sea ice continues to melt year after year, but a drastic drop this year has made the direct route “fully navigable” for the first time since satellite records began in 1978.

“We have seen the ice-covered area drop to just around three million square kilometres,” said Leif Toudal Pederson from the Danish National Space Center.

Over the past decade, he says, a drop of about 100,000 square kilometres per year is the average.

“So a drop of one million square kilometres in just one year is extreme,” said Toudal.’

‘The hidden content in ancient works could be illuminated by a light source 10 billion times brighter than the Sun.

The technique employs Britain’s new facility, the Diamond synchrotron, and could be used on works such as the Dead Sea Scrolls or musical scores by Bach.

Intense light beams will enable scientists to uncover the text in scrolls and books without having to open – and potentially damage – them. [..]

The team now plans to use the Diamond synchrotron’s powerful X-ray source to penetrate many layers of parchment.

The synchrotron, which covers the area of five football pitches, generates light beams that can probe matter down to the molecular and atomic scale.’

‘People are more likely to be sexually assaulted on a cruise ship than on land, an expert in ship safety will tell a conference in New Zealand this week.

Professor Ross Klein, a sociologist from Canada’s University of Newfoundland, said people wrongly assumed cruises were completely safe, and it was mostly crew members who were to blame for attacks.

Looking at figures provided to a US court by a cruise line, he found 111 people per 100,000 were sexually assaulted on ships.

He said his figures showed people were 50 per cent more likely to be sexually assaulted on a ship than on land.

“If you were to go to the Cruise Lines International Association they will say that a cruise is the most safe form of transportation. That is now getting a bit of scrutiny,” he said.’

‘A kilogram just isn’t what it used to be.

A 118-year-old cylinder that has been the international prototype for the metric mass, and kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing its weight – if ever so slightly.

Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, southwest of Paris, says the reference kilo appears to have lost 50 micrograms compared with the average of dozens of copies.

“The mystery is that they were all made of the same material, and many were made at the same time and kept under the same conditions, and yet the masses among them are slowly drifting apart,” he said.

“We don’t really have a good hypothesis for it,” Davis said in a phone interview Wednesday.’

‘Web search leader Google Inc. will sponsor a $30 million competition for an unmanned lunar landing, following up on the $10 million Ansari X Prize that spurred a private sector race to space.

Like the Ansari X Prize, which was claimed in 2004 by aircraft designer Burt Rutan and financier Paul Allen for a pair of flights by SpaceShipOne, the Google Lunar X Prize is open to private industry and non-government entities worldwide, organizers said on Thursday.

First prize is $20 million for the group that can land a lunar rover – an unmanned robotic probe – on the Moon, take it on a 500-metre trek and broadcast video back to Earth by 31 December 2012.’

(2.9meg Flash video)

see it here »

‘What else can inkjet technology be used for? Injecting drugs into humans, according to Hewlett-Packard.

The company is licensing a medical patch it has developed to Ireland’s Crospon that potentially can replace hypodermic needles or pills for delivering vaccines or other types of medication to patients. The patch contains up to 90,000 microneedles per square inch, microprocessors and a thermal unit.

Medications contained in the patch are heated and then injected through the needles. Processors can monitor drug delivery, deliver doses over extended periods of time or deliver drugs in response to a patient’s vital signs (e.g., blood pressure or heart rate), depending on how it is programmed.’

‘US scientists may have uncovered a genetic reason why lonely people may have poorer health.

The UCLA research, published in Genome Biology, found certain genes were more active in people who reported feelings of social isolation.

Many of the genes identified have links to the immune system and tissue inflammation – which may be damaging.

Other studies have shown clear links between lack of social support and illnesses such as heart disease.

The researchers said that quality, not quantity, of friendships, appeared to be important.’

‘”The head fell on the severed surface of the neck and I did not therefor have to take it up in my hands, as all the newspapers have vied with each other in repeating; I was not obliged even to touch it in order to set it upright. Chance served me well for the observation, which I wished to make.

“Here, then, is what I was able to note immediately after the decapitation: the eyelids and lips of the guillotined man worked in irregularly rhythmic contractions for about five or six seconds. This phenomenon has been remarked by all those finding themselves in the same conditions as myself for observing what happens after the severing of the neck…’

‘The long-term cancer risk of mobile phone use cannot be ruled out, experts have concluded.

A major six-year research programme found a “hint” of a higher cancer risk.

But the UK Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme (MTHRP) did rule out short-term adverse effects to brain and cell function.

Researchers are now expanding the programme to look at phone use over 10 years, and the specific impact on children, which has not been studied.’

‘Ever since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many Americans have believed that the events of that horrible day changed the United States forever. Each year that has gone by has seen an increase in the number who believe those changes have not been good for the nation.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Americans now believe that the events of six years ago changed America for the worse. That’s an increase from 54% a year ago. Just 21% believe that the nation has changed for the better because of that tragedy.’

Maybe it’s Osama who needs a big “Mission Accomplished” banner.

‘When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved implanting microchips in humans, the manufacturer said it would save lives, letting doctors scan the tiny transponders to access patients’ medical records almost instantly. The FDA found “reasonable assurance” the device was safe, and a sub-agency even called it one of 2005’s top “innovative technologies.”

But neither the company nor the regulators publicly mentioned this: A series of veterinary and toxicology studies, dating to the mid-1990s, stated that chip implants had “induced” malignant tumors in some lab mice and rats. [..]

Leading cancer specialists reviewed the research for The Associated Press and, while cautioning that animal test results do not necessarily apply to humans, said the findings troubled them. Some said they would not allow family members to receive implants, and all urged further research before the glass-encased transponders are widely implanted in people.’

‘Councillors from the home of the Japan’s whaling industry have revealed that schoolchildren in the area have been served dolphin meat containing dangerous levels of mercury, prompting warnings of a potential public health disaster as the country attempts to boost consumption of cetacean meat.

In a rare departure from the official line that the meat is safe and nutritious, two assembly members from Taiji in Wakayama prefecture broke ranks to say that tests on samples of short-finned pilot whales – a type of large dolphin, despite its name – had found mercury levels 10 to 16 times higher than those advised by the health ministry.

“In kindergartens, elementary schools and middle schools, children are served the meat two or three times a month, but their parents believe that it comes from whales caught in the Antarctic. They seem to be unaware that their children are eating these pilot whales,” said Hisato Ryono, who described the meat as “toxic waste”.’

‘Pro wrestler Chris Benoit suffered brain damage from his years in the ring that could help explain why he killed his wife, son and himself, a doctor who studied Benoit’s brain said Wednesday.

The analysis by doctors affiliated with the Sports Legacy Institute suggests repeated concussions could have contributed to the killings at Benoit’s suburban Atlanta home. [..]

The level of brain damage Benoit had can cause depression and irrational behavior, Cantu said.

Benoit’s brain showed the same degenerative processes that doctors working for the institute found in the brains of three men who had played pro football and committed suicide, Cantu said. There were abnormal protein deposits caused by trauma to Benoit’s brain, Cantu said.

There’s no evidence that steroid use causes such protein deposits, Cantu said, though he noted the issue has not been exhaustively studied.’

Followup to Benoit wrestle hold killed son.

Using your bare hands and a bit of cavitation is enough to blow the bottoms out of glass bottles, apparently.

I’ll have to try this one day, tho I’m sure I’ll just end up slicing my hand open. :)

(6.2meg Flash video)

see it here »

‘Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists and engineers sued NASA and the California Institute of Technology on Thursday, challenging extensive new background checks that the space exploration center and other federal agencies began requiring in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

The lawsuit says NASA is violating the Constitution by calling on employees – everyone from janitors to visiting professors – to permit investigators to delve into medical, financial and past employment records, and to question friends and acquaintances about everything from their finances to sex lives. Those who refuse could lose their jobs, the suit says.

“They don’t tell you what they’re looking for, they don’t tell you when they’re looking for it, they won’t tell us what they’re doing with the data,” said plaintiff Susan Foster, a technical writer and editor at JPL for nearly 40 years.’

‘A Long Beach, California, man was arrested last night in a spectacular commando raid. A police SWAT team stormed the home of Erwin Schrodinger at about 9:30 PM after receiving tips from his neighbors about sinister activities on the property. A local judge issued a warrant when police presented geiger counter measurements taken from the sidewalk showing the presence of radioactive materials somewhere on the premises.

Police have released very little information, but so far it appears the elderly Mr. Schrodinger faces felony charges of cruelty to animals, possession of fissionable materials, and possession of lethal toxins. [..]

Mr. Schrodinger is being held without bail pending charges. A distraught Mrs. Schrodinger, who says Mr. Schrodinger is harmless, states she has petitioned several times to see or at least talk with her husband, to no avail. “As it stands,” she said, “I don’t know whether he’s dead or alive!”’

Followup to Warning – Erwin Schrödinger.

‘Scientists at the University of Rochester and the J. Craig Venter Institute have discovered a copy of the entire genome of a bacterial parasite residing inside the genome of its host species.

The finding, reported in Science August 30, suggests that lateral gene transfer–the movement of genes between unrelated species–may happen much more frequently between bacteria and multicellular organisms than scientists previously believed, posing dramatic implications for evolution.

Such large-scale heritable gene transfers may allow species to acquire new genes and functions extremely quickly, says Jack Werren, a principle investigator of the study.

The results also have serious repercussions for genome-sequencing projects. Bacterial DNA is routinely discarded when scientists are assembling invertebrate genomes, yet these genes may very well be part of the organism’s genome, and might even be responsible for functioning traits.’

‘I recently saw a Digg article which linked to a space.com page about the 10 Strangest Things in Space. All but 2 of the items were not pictures at all but computer simulations, or artists impressions. So here to correct this injustice to phenomena everywhere I present the REAL 10 Strangest Things in Space – or at least in my opinion.’

‘Whatever the reason for the experiment, it almost immediately went awry. Tusko reacted to the shot as if a bee had stung him. He trumpeted around his pen for a few minutes, and then keeled over on his side. Horrified, the researchers tried to revive him, but about an hour later he was dead. The three scientists sheepishly concluded that, “It appears that the elephant is highly sensitive to the effects of LSD.”‘

‘I’m telling you this story not just for your entertainment but to show you that you shouldn’t be afraid to embarass yourself … your teacher has been much more thorough at this than you ever will be.

We get a fair number of calls from the public on mathematical issues. Years ago I passed by the office and the secretary asked if I could answer such a question. I said sure, and we had this conversation: [..]’

‘Forget everything you know about reducing fractions — it turns out you can just cancel individual digits: [..]’

‘Rockets can help power robotic arms, which could help lead to “better, stronger, faster” bionic limbs, research now reveals.

A new prototype rocket-powered mechanical arm can lift about 20 to 25 pounds—three to four times more than current commercial prosthetic arms—and can do so three to four times faster.

“Our design does not have superhuman strength or capability, but it is closer in terms of function and power to a human arm than any previous prosthetic device that is self-powered and weighs about the same as a natural arm,” said researcher Michael Goldfarb, a roboticist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

“It has about 10 times as much power as other [robotic] arms,” Goldfarb said.’