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Science Etcetera, Saturnday 20080607

June 7th, 2008
  • Photo of preparing the Kibo Lab.

    • Astronaut Mike Fossum preparing the Kibo Lab

    Astronaut Mike Fossum preparing the Kibo Lab
    Credit: NASA
  • The world needs to invest $45 Trillion into 1,400 nuclear power plants and vastly expand wind power to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
  • Our circadian clocks, which govern our bodies 24 hour cycles, requires daily exposure to light to maintain balance, but not all light is created equal for this effect.
  • May 19, 1970 was New England’s “Dark Day,” when people thought the Apocalypse had come and were eating their lunches by candlelight. Now researchers have found in tree rings that this event was caused by massive wildfires in Canada.
  • Knitting is becoming a legitimate tool for mathematical research.
  • Harrison Ford’s man-boobs are a result of the fact that we all start out as women before sexual dimorphism.
  • The Discovery Channel’s When We Left Earth begs the question, Will we ever???.
  • New microscope provides highly-detailed 3-D pictures of cells.

    • Mouse nucleus, with the cell's DNA stained red

    Mouse nucleus, with the cell’s DNA stained red
    Credit: Lothar Schermelleh and Peter Carlton
  • Dolphins appear to finally be recovering from Pacific tuna nets, which wiped out 80 percent of them between the 1960 and 1990.
  • Better technology will soon make Geotagging our photos easier.
  • The four worst weather-engineering attempts in history.
  • Organic Milk stays fresh longer, not because it’s healthier or more natural, but because it needs a more strenuous pasteurization process to keep it fresh over the longer distances it must travel. This is why organic does not mean environmentally friendly.
  • Beauty the Bald Eagle has got her new beak.
  • Australia’s invasive cane toads are wiping out the rare pygmy crocodiles, which haven’t evolved to not eat the poisonous critters.
  • Climate Change in the Senate: FAIL.
  • Number of moves to solve a Rubik’s Cube cut down to 23.
  • Pepper, Soap and Water Experiment (HT Oranchak):



    • 2 comments to “Science Etcetera, Saturnday 20080607”

    1. More math research + knitting:

      http://www.springerlink.com/content/mn510u1676v12284/

      I saw the presentation of that paper at last year’s GECCO conference.

      And speaking of the Rubik’s Cube, there is a competition at this year’s GECCO to come up with ways to evolve solutions to the Rubik’s Cube:

      http://www.parabon.com/news-events/parabon-sponsors-competition-to-solve-rubiks-cube.html

           by Dave June 7th, 2008 at 7:13 am

    2. That knitting book piques my interest. I’d like to see a “For Dummies” version of it. : )

           by ideonexus June 11th, 2008 at 10:19 pm

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