Science Exclamation Points for Venusday, 20100319

Posted in Science Etcetera on March 19th, 2010

A captive colony of endangered Virginia big-eared bats, set up as an ark to protect them against white nose syndrome, has dropped from a population of 40 to 10 as a result of substantial neglect from the colony’s caretakers.

Healthy Virginia big-eared bat
Credit: U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Northeast Region

The UN has failed to implement a ban on bluefin tuna trade despite overwhelming scientific data that the species needs protection from overfishing.

The Intel Science Talent Search has awarded first place to 18-year-old Erika DeBenedictis for her authoring navigation software for spacecraft traveling between planets.

The collapse of the carbon credit market due to legislation stalling in Congress means many farmers are being hurt financially after investing in environmentally sustainable farming practices that capture and sequester carbon in the soil.

Virginia’s Endangered Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat:

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Science Future-Link-Rot for Jupiterday, 20100318

Posted in Science Etcetera on March 18th, 2010

Please take a moment and visit broadband.gov and take the broadband connection test to help the FCC assess the strength of American Internet connections. It only takes a minute, and the data will help the government make informed decisions about where to focus efforts on improving our cyber infrastructure.

BroadBand.gov

Historians are outraged over Texas School Board changes to Social Studies textbooks, so much so that the book’s author says he may not be able to endorse his own book after the changes go into effect.

After being on the verge of extinction from over-hunting and DDT contamination, the Bald Eagle has made an inspiring come back.

Researchers drilling in the Antarctic ice were surprised to discover a shrimp-like species swimming in the hole, lending a bit more strength to the possibility of life under the ice of Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Surprise Shrimp Under Antarctic Ice:

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Science Windows for Mercurday, 20100317

Posted in Science Etcetera on March 17th, 2010

A traveling art exhibit will be making the rounds through 2012 featuring historical artwork detailing NASA missions (NASA has a small online art exhibit here).

Remembering Columbia
Credit: Chakaia Booker

Highly Recommended: best article yet surveying the emerging helium shortage on Earth, which will impact science and technology, and cause the value of this second most abundant element in the Universe to surpass gold one day.

I’m not sure which is more interesting, this article on surprising sex statistics, or the comment thread following it debating the math of men claiming more sexual partners than women and if this is possible, or if the men or women are lying.

The Bloodhound SSC is a car seeking to break the world-record for speed, but first researchers had to figure out how to keep it from flying off the ground as it breaks the sound barrier and 1,000 mph.

Bloodhound SSC – Trans-sonic Rocket Car:

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Science WYSIWYGs for Marsday, 20100316

Posted in Science Etcetera on March 16th, 2010

Springtime on Mars thaws the carbon dioxide ice in its northern hemisphere, causing fantastic avalanches on the planet’s surface.

Martian Avalanche
Credit: NASA

In a new report, Amnesty International details how pregnancy-related maternal deaths have increased from 6.6 per 100,000 births in 1987 to 13.3 in 2006 in the United States, beating out 40 other countries despite spending more on health care than any other country in the world, and the numbers may be higher since there are no federal requirements to report these incidents.

We each have a unique bacterial flora living on and within our bodies and scientists have found evidence that we leave a bacterial fingerprint on our keyboards that can be tied to us through microbiome science.

The molecule that give wasabi its flash-burn kick on our taste buds is the same one that allows snakes to sense heat, almost like seeing in infrared.

Symphony of Science – ‘We Are All Connected’ (ft. Sagan, Feynman, deGrasse Tyson & Bill Nye) YOu can download MP3s of these awesome songs here:

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Science Homeruns for Moonday, 20100315

Posted in Science Etcetera on March 15th, 2010

The reflectivity of the Lunokhod reflectors on the Moon drops by a factor of 10 during a full moon, a mysterious phenomenon now attributed to the reflectors heating up, distorting their shape.

Lunakod 1 Rover from Luna 17 mission
Credit: NSSDC

The Texas School Board has successfully rewritten public school history books to give them a Conservative bias, despite a lack of academic expertise in the field.

Great article about Alice in Wonderland as Lewis Caroll’s satire mocking the new algebra of the Victorian era.

Thousands of rescue workers who responded to the World Trade Center and have subsequently become chronically ill from the toxins in the air around the catastrophe will receive a $657 million settlement.

Video of a comet on collision course with the Sun:

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Science Smithereens for Venusday, 20100312

Posted in Science Etcetera on March 12th, 2010

National Geographic has posted a photoalbum of space photos for the week, including an “inverted crater” on Mars caused when an ancient impact site fills with sediment and the surrounding territory erodes away.

Inverted Crater on Mars
Credit: NASA

The NIH has determined that women should be allowed to give birth vaginally if they’ve had a Caesarean section, which many hospitals don’t allow.

Analysis of death rates by the American Cancer Society has found a decline in deaths from cancer since 1990 following a decline in smoking and increase in early detection.

A small business in New York has trained dogs to detect bed bugs, which requires the dogs’ owner to live with bed bugs and feed them with his blood.

Chemistry Extra Credit Rap – Lio Kang:

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Science Spectaculars for Jupiterday, 20100311

Posted in Science Etcetera on March 11th, 2010

Researchers at the Society of Toxicology’s annual meeting have brought out brain images depicting Gulf War Syndrome, which the federal government has yet to accept as a legitimate illness.

Healthy brain (left) shows response to pain from heat on the forearm. Different regions (right) respond to that heat in vets with Gulf War syndrome two.
Credit: UT Southwestern Med. Ctr.

Fluorescent lights in supermarkets keep vegetables photosynthesizing, making them more nutritious than vegetables stored in the dark.

Scientists are overreacting to poll data suggesting American’s are less concerned about Global Warming, thinking its the minor IPCC mistake about the Himalayas and over-hyped “climategate” e-mails, but really, public confidence in scientists is still strong, it’s the jobs market that has pushed scientific concerns away as a populist concern.

“Where’s my jetpack?” jokes are now officially overcome by events, as for $75,000 it’s right here.

Ray flys Martin Jetpack for a VIP:

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Science Roads for Mercuryday, 20100310

Posted in Science Etcetera on March 10th, 2010

The Chilean city of Concepció moved 10 feet to the West as a result of the recent earthquake.

Credit: University of Hawaii

Ray Kurzweil has written a fairly critical review of Avatar for being unimaginative with its portrayal of alien life and underwhelming in its depictions of technology a century from now.

Because the courts have ruled criticism of evolution in public schools amounts to a state endorsement of religion, creationists are trying a new tact by uniting with climate change skeptics to get their message into American classrooms.

Quantifying what China has been saying for awhile now: nearly a quarter of China’s emissions are the result of exporting goods to the West.

PSA: Plastics Kill 1.5 Million Marine Animals Each Year:

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Science Zingers for Marsday, 20100309

Posted in Science Etcetera on March 9th, 2010

Naegleria gruberi is an amoeba that, when subjected to stress, goes from an oozy-moving organism to an organism that sprouts arms and swims a breaststroke through its muddy environment under eucalyptus trees.

Naegleria gruberi
Credit: Lillian Fritz-Laylan

In addition to sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami, the human tongue can also taste fat, with our ability to taste fat linked to our weight, the more sensitive to its flavor, the lower the weight.

Cool animated gif of two icebergs colliding as seen from space.

In 1996 Dr. Frances Gulland discovered that “18 percent of deaths in stranded adult sea lions were the result of tumors in the reproductive and urinary tracts” with other species of mammals getting cancer, scientists need to find out what combination of industrial pollutants is causing them.

Naegleria gruberi Genome Sequencing: