Generating energy from ocean waters off Hawaii

Researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa say that the Leeward side of Hawaiian Islands may be ideal for future ocean-based renewable energy plants that would use seawater from the oceans' depths to drive massive heat engines and produce steady amounts of renewable energy.

The technology, referred to as Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), is described in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, which is published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP).

It involves placing a heat engine between warm water collected at the ocean's surface and cold water pumped from the deep ocean. Like a ball rolling downhill, heat flows from the warm reservoir to the cool one. The greater the temperature difference, the stronger the flow of heat that can be used to do useful work such as spinning a turbine and generating electricity.

The history of OTEC dates back more than a half century. However, the technology has never taken off -- largely because of the relatively low cost of oil and other fossil fuels. But if there are any places on Earth where large OTEC facilities would be most cost competitive, it is where the ocean temperature differentials are the greatest.

Analyzing data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Oceanographic Data Center, the University of Hawaii's Gérard Nihous says that the warm-cold temperature differential is about one degree Celsius greater on the leeward (western) side of the Hawaiian Islands than that on the windward (eastern) side.

This small difference translates to 15 percent more power for an OTEC plant, says Nihous, whose theoretical work focuses on driving down cost and increasing efficiency of future facilities, the biggest hurdles to bringing the technology to the mainstream.

"Testing that was done in the 1980s clearly demonstrates the feasibility of this technology," he says. "Now it's just a matter of paying for it."

via Generating energy from ocean waters off Hawaii.

It is never too late to start using earth-friendly ways of extracting energy.... If we can't get fusion working I vote for building a Dyson Sphere around the sun. Done in small steps, it might start paying off right away.

Disrupted circadian rhythm may cause triglycerides to rise

When the circadian rhythm gets thrown off, it could come with an unexpected side effect: high triglycerides. The discovery, based on studies in mice with a "broken clock," helps to explain the normal rise and fall in triglycerides, which happens at about the same time each day, according to researchers who report their findings in the August issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication.

"We show that the normal up and down [of triglycerides] is lost in clock mutants," said M. Mahmood Hussain of SUNY Downstate Medical Center. "They have high triglycerides all the time." An elevated triglyceride level is a risk factor for atherosclerosis and heart disease.

Several biological, physiological, and behavioral activities show a characteristic recurrence with 24-hour intervals attuned to sunrise and sunset, the researchers explained. That circadian rhythm is driven by the interaction of so-called clock genes.

In normal mice, plasma triglycerides double or triple over the course of the day, reaching their lowest point at night when the nocturnal animals eat and are most active, the new report shows. In clock mutants, triglyceride levels don't change; rather, they stay high all the time.

The researchers delved further into the mechanism linking the animal's internal clocks to triglycerides. They found that a core component of the circadian circuitry—a protein known as CLOCK—controls levels of another protein (called microsomal triglyceride transfer protein, or MTP) that helps to ferry triglycerides through the bloodstream. That control takes place via yet another transcription factor.

"Metabolic syndrome and obesity are major metabolic disorders characterized by high plasma lipid concentrations," the researchers conclude. "Plasma lipids are tightly controlled by mechanisms regulating their production and clearance. Here, we show that light-entrained mechanisms involving clock genes also play a role in regulating plasma triglyceride."

If the findings in mice can be extrapolated to humans, it suggests that the effects of drugs designed to lower triglyceride levels by acting on MTP might depend on when they are taken each day, the researchers said.

"The dose needed may vary depending on the time of day," Hussain said. "Now we can start to think about [the role of] drug timing in controlling disease states."

The findings also suggest that activities that disrupt the circadian rhythm—staying up until 2:00 a.m. or traveling overseas—might come with real consequences for lipid metabolism, he added.

via Disrupted circadian rhythm may cause triglycerides to rise.

Yet another reason to try to get to sleep before 2:30 AM.

I have very noisy neighbors. When I approached a loud group of college kids at 3AM recently, a guy said, "Is it worth getting knifed over?"

I ignored him and told them they need to go inside and close the door because it was 3 AM.  Even if someone is being really tough, if you address them like a teacher would address an unruly class, with a somewhat pained expression since they really should know better as if you and they both know that you are being extremely tolerant by bothering to spell it out for them respectfully, and that you understand it must be difficult being mildly retarded, they respond. And they did. Then after the group started to move inside, I asked the guy, very calmly, as if I was asking what time it was, "Did you just threaten to knife me?".

"Oh, no. no." he said moving off.

"Okay. " I said looking at him with incredulous pity before taking my elevated triglycerides off to count some sheep.

Prison for the Mad Rover Lovin' Heligrabber

A man has been sentenced to a year in prison for endangering the safety of an aircraft when he grabbed a helicopter as it took off in Bristol.

Bristol Crown Court was told Houshang Jafari, 58, became "extremely angry" after the helicopter landed near his flat, causing debris to hit his car.

The court heard how Jafari grabbed one of its skid bars as the pilot tried to take off with four passengers on board.

The pilot managed to take off safely despite Jafari's actions last March. ...

Sentencing Jafari, Judge Michael Roach said it was a "deliberate and much more a reckless and dangerous act" and, despite the fact he was a business and family man, he had "no choice" other than to send him to prison.

The court had previously heard Dr Blockland had landed close to Dower House to pick up two passengers.

Jafari was said to have become angry when the private aircraft blew debris at his Range Rover.

He approached the helicopter, threw a bag of rubbish at its nose and then kicked it.

As the pilot tried to take off, Jafari grabbed the skid bar as it was about 6ft (1.83m) off the ground.

This caused the helicopter to lurch to the right. An eyewitness told the court the aircraft narrowly missed nearby houses as it "swerved around" and "flew erratically" away.

Pictures of the incident taken by another resident of Dower House were shown to the court.

via BBC News - Helicopter grabber's actions 'defy belief'.

Do you ever give yourself awards? You should. I'd like to nominate my title for this entry as 'Best Blog Post Title' in the crime category.  Much more fun to say than "Helicopter grabber's actions 'defy belief'", don't you think?

The new Nessie? Mystery 'sea creature' spotted off British coast

The fish were apparently so terrified they beached themselves just seconds later.

The 'animal' was at first dismissed as a sea turtle but experts say its long neck and reptile-like head - as well as the fact it was chasing fish - contradict this theory

The creature was spotted off the Devon coast at Saltern Cove, Paignton, by locals who reported a sighting of what they thought was a turtle.

But pictures taken by one of the baffled witnesses, Gill Pearce, reveal the neck of the greenish-brown beast with the reptile-like head is far too long for it to be a turtle.

Mrs Pearce, who took the photo on July 27, reported her sighting to the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) where it was studied by sea life experts.

Claire Fischer from the MCS said: 'Gill Pearce spotted the creature about 20 metres from the bay at Saltern Cove, near Goodrington.

'It was observed at about 15.30 on 27 July but by the time she had got her camera it had moved further out.

'She spotted it following a shoal of fish which beached themselves in Saltern Cove.

'The creature remained in the sea, then went out again and followed the shoal - this indicates it's not a turtle as they only eat jellyfish.

'We would love to know if other people have seen anything like this in the same area and can help clear up the mystery.'

via The new Nessie? Mystery 'sea creature' spotted off British coast | Mail Online.

As you can see, one of the natural defenses evolved by the Greater Paignton Sea Worm is the powerful hyperdistortomatic blur field which keeps it from being photographed.

Nissan to pump breathable Vitamin C into its cars to help moisturise the skin

New Nissan cars will pump Vitamin C into the vehicle to moisturise the driver's skin, the firm has announced.

The Japanese manufacturer also plans to install anti-collision technology to its vehicles which will automatically detect if there is a risk a pedestrian might be hit.

The system involves a camera display and an alarm that buzzes when a pedestrian is too close to the car when the driver is parking, starting his car or cruising at low speeds.

If it detects a pedestrian it will automatically raise the accelerator pedal and begin to break while beeping.

Nissan claims that it will be able to prevent collision when at speeds up to 40 miles per hour.

The new cars will be equipped with highly concentrated Plasmacluster Ions - developed by Sharp - that will help keep the skin naturally moisturised.

Plasmacluster Ions help reduce airborne bacteria and mold levels, help to deactivate ticks and microbe allergens in the air, and control odours, the firm claims.

The system will also be able to detect various other bad smells - such as from animals and factories - and will automatically switch the ventilation on if required.

The group is also looking to install 'friendly' speedometers that will remind you of wedding anniversary dates or birthdays.

Second Image: The interior of the Nissan 'Leaf' electric car which is due to be go on sale later this year

Nissan's hybrid FUGA car is already using the 'Forest AC' air conditioning system which is designed to recreate 'the refreshing breezes, temperature, humidity and aroma of natural forests'.

'We want drivers to feel that they are healthier staying in the car instead of on the outside,' a Nissan engineer said.

Nissan cars will also come with heated seats that incorporate NASA research to enable better blood circulation and reduce the chances of back pain during long drives.

The seats will heat the legs and buttocks first as they are the places which make the biggest difference to how warm you feel and will holds the driver's backbone in a 'near zero gravity position'.via Nissan to pump breathable Vitamin C into its cars to help moisturise the skin | Mail Online.

This is the first I've heard of breathable Vitamin C. Has anyone tried it? I love Vitamin C, but acidic lungs don't sound like a good thing... perhaps it is buffered.

British scientists find the world's sixth-largest river... at the bottom of the sea

Immense rivers that dwarf the Thames have been found at the bottom of the ocean by British scientists.

Like those on land, the submarine waterways carve out channels, tributaries, flood plains, rapids and even waterfalls.

One river, discovered underneath the Black Sea, is up to 115ft deep in places and more than half a mile wide.

If found on land, scientists estimate the so-far unnamed waterway  would be the world's sixth largest river in terms of the amount of water flowing through it.

The flow – carrying highly salty water and sediment - is 350 times greater than the Thames, according to a Leeds University team who used a robotic submarine to scan the seabed near Turkey.

The undersea river - the only active one to have been found so far - stems from salty water spilling through the Bosphorus Strait from the Mediterranean into the Black Sea, where the water has a lower salt content.

This causes the dense water from the Mediterranean to flow like a river along the sea bed, carving a channel and deep banks.

The discovery could help explain how life manages to survive in the deep ocean far out to sea away from the nutrient rich waters that are found close to land, as the rivers carry sediment and nutrients with them

Dr Dan Parsons, who led a team from the university's school of earth and environment, told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘The water in the channels is denser than the surrounding seawater because it has higher salinity and is carrying so much sediment.

via British scientists find the world's sixth-largest river... at the bottom of the sea | Mail Online.

What do you think they should name it?

Researchers discover fossil of human older than Tabon Man

Move over, Tabon Man. Callao Man is here.

Evidence has emerged that the islands comprising the Philippines could have been inhabited by humans more than a dozen millennia before the so-called Tabon Man of Palawan, long thought to be the archipelago’s earliest human remains.

A team of archaeologists led by Dr. Armand Mijares of the University of the Philippines-Diliman has confirmed that a foot bone they discovered in Callao Cave in Cagayan province was at least 67,000 years old. Tabon Man’s remains were a relatively young 50,000 years old. “So far this could be the earliest human fossil found in the Asia-Pacific region. The presence of humans in Luzon shows these early humans already possessed knowledge of seacraft-making in this early period," Mijares told GMANews.TV in an exclusive interview conducted by email in between archaeological digs.

Mijares acknowledged being “shocked and elated" at the discovery, adding that it was something people in his field dream of. “I am a Pleistocene Archaeologist and our efforts are meant to unravel the deep past," he said.

His team’s findings were recently published in the scholarly journal Human Evolution, but the actual discovery of the bone occurred in 2007.

However, it was not clear then just how old the fossil was. Mijares said they were able to approximate its age through a method called “uranium-series dating."

via Researchers discover fossil of human older than Tabon Man - Nation - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News.

Grizzly kills and eats camper, Polar bear drags camper from tent 130ft by head

A terrified camper was attacked in his tent by a polar bear and dragged by his head across 130ft of rocks and ice.

Sebastian Plur Nilssen, 22, was resting during a kayak expedition around the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard when the bear struck.

As Nilssen was carried off screaming, his expedition partner, Ludvig Fjeld, 22, grabbed a rifle and fired four shots, killing the bear.

A rescue helicopter arrived at the scene within two hours.

Nilssen, from Fredrikstad, Norway, remained conscious throughout the ordeal last Thursday.

He was airlifted to hospital, where he underwent surgery on lacerations to his chest, head and neck.

A hospital spokeswoman said his injuries were not life-threatening.

Svalbard officials said the quick actions of fjeld, from Sarpsborg, Norway, almost certainly saved the life of his colleague.

The two men had previously said they were aware there could be 'a whole lot' of polar bears in Svalbard but hoped to avoid using firearms to keep them at bay.

It remains unclear why the polar bear went on the attack, with some experts speculating that it was either hungry or merely curious.

Polar bears are protected under Norway's strict conservation laws and are allowed to be shot only in self-defence. experts say it is getting harder for polar bears to find food in the area.

via Polar bear attacks camper in his tent and drags him 130ft by his head | Mail Online.

The grizzly bears in Montana are also going on the attack.

A grizzly bear was euthanized Friday after a DNA test determined that it mauled three campers -- one of them fatally -- in a remote area of Montana, an attack that has perplexed wildlife experts.

"We just can't figure it out," said Ron Aasheim, a spokesman for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. "It doesn't make any sense."

All the food in the campground was stored properly in bear-proof containers; the attack was unprovoked; the bear had no history of attacking humans, Aasheim said. "It's a head scratcher."

The incident unfolded around 2 a.m. Wednesday, when a caller to the Park County Sheriff's Department said someone had been bitten in Soda Butte Campgrounds outside Yellowstone National Park.

"My daughter's boyfriend got bit by a bear just a little bit ago; there's another lady down there that's screaming," the caller to 911 told police.

When parks officials showed up, they "found a dead man, partially consumed, 25 feet from his tent," Aasheim said.

The body was identified as Kevin Kammer, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who had been on a solo fishing trip, Aasheim said. Reached at the family's house, Kammer's son said he did not want to discuss the matter. ...

via CNN

FWP Warden Capt. Sam Sheppard said Thursday that officials are confident they captured the offending bear.

Sheppard describes the attacks as highly unusual and predatory, as opposed to an attack in which a sow might be protecting her cubs from a perceived threat. Officials have said the sow in this incident will be killed. State and federal wildlife officials will determine the fate of the cubs. Sheppard says they are unlikely to be returned to the wild.

Howard said Kammer "used to give fly fishing lessons. It was kind of a dream of his to be able to go fly fishing in Montana because it's beautiful fly fishing country. I know he was very excited to go on this trip."

Kammer was "devoted to his family and children. That's what he did. That was his life...were his children."

Palmer told 24 Hour News 8 he sends his condolences to Kammer's family. "This fellow was doing everything right and it's a heartbreaking and tragic accident." - via woodtv

I love camping, but I'd like to avoid any head scratchers ... or head draggers.

Firefox 4 Arrives, 2nd beta

The second beta release of the next version of Firefox is now available.

... Keep in mind, this is a pre-release version of the browser, and it may not be entirely stable. But it should be stable enough for daily use, and it will give you a heads up on all the new goodies coming in Firefox 4 when it’s officially released this fall.

Tuesday’s release has a number of new features, including support for CSS 3 transitions, better handling of retained layers on pages and a new feature in the add-ons manager that confirms when an add-on has been installed. There are also the requisite performance boosts and stability improvements, so if you’re running beta 1, definitely consider upgrading.

The feature sure to generate the most chatter is something new for Mac OS X users: a new tabs-on-top interface. Windows users got the tabs-on-top look as the default interface in beta 1 earlier this month. With beta 2, the change arrives on Macs. The new beta also enables App Tabs, a similar concept that lets you miniaturize the tabs for common web apps — e-mail, your calendar or other apps you use multiple times a day — and store them in the tab bar for quick access.

The move to tabs-on-top is a growing trend among browser vendors. It was popularized by Google Chrome, which has shipped with top tabs as the default since its birth two years ago. Reaction has been mixed — Opera now puts the tabs on top, and Safari tried the same thing in a beta release thing before abandoning it. And there are some within the Firefox user community who fear Mozilla is making the switch just to chase the latest design fad. ...

via Second Beta Release of Firefox 4 Arrives | Webmonkey | Wired.com.

Try it yourself: Get Firefox 4, Beta.  Here is a short list of what's new:

• Firefox 4 Beta 2 is available in 24 languages.


• Tabs are now on top by default on Windows and OSX - Linux will be changing when the theme has been modified to support the change.


• You can turn any tab into an "App Tab" by right-clicking on it and selecting "Make into App Tab" from the context menu.


• Web developers can animate content using CSS Transitions.


• Responsiveness and scrolling improvements from the new retained layers layout system.


• JavaScript speed improvements due to engine optimizations.


• Changes to how XPCOM components are registered in order to help startup time and process separation.

Recommendation: Wait for more plug-in support. Many plug-ins do not yet work with FF4, including download helpers, pdf managers, and others.

An Apartment Made Entirely of Cardboard

“Casa de Karton” is the name of Don Lucho’s project where he has built an apartment using carton and paper. The apartment has all the furniture and other items that a kitchen or a bedroom is expected to have. Being in these “carton rooms” will make you feel like you’re a part of a drawing.



Beside the house he has also made a car wreck out of carton, and placed it on the street so it looks realistic.

In similarity to this project, another artist made a key card hotel in New York using 200 000 card keys.

An Apartment Made Entirely of Cardboard.

Video: Giant crab spider gives birth to itself

Time-lapse video of the giant crab spider discarding it's old shell.

Just think if people could do this....

ATM machine attacked with fire

I just saw this. There were several cops and fire engines near a burned ATM on my university campus. Was someone thinking they could burn their way into an ATM? The machine was still working correctly after the fire was put out. Update: This happened at 5:35 AM according to the KCRA news team I spoke to in person. The burned ATM belonged to Bank of America. The Golden One ATM was also attacked, but with much less damage. It seems someone threw a bottle with gasoline or something at the machines. I'm wondering if the cameras on these operate continuously or just during a transaction.

Researcher detained at U.S. border, questioned about Wikileaks

LAS VEGAS -- A security researcher involved with the Wikileaks Web site was detained by U.S. agents at the border for three hours and questioned about the controversial whistleblower project as he entered the country on Thursday to attend a hacker conference, sources said on Saturday.

He was also approached by two FBI agents at the Defcon conference after his presentation on Saturday afternoon about the Tor Project.

Jacob Appelbaum, a Seattle-based programmer for the online privacy protection project called Tor, arrived at the Newark, New Jersey, airport from Holland flight Thursday morning when he was pulled aside by customs and border protection agents who told him he was randomly selected for a security search, according to the sources familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous.

Appelbaum, a U.S. citizen, was taken into a room, frisked and his bag was searched. Receipts from his bag were photocopied and his laptop was inspected but it's not clear in what manner, the sources said. Officials from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Army then told him he was not under arrest but was being detained, the sources said. They asked questions about Wikileaks, asked for his opinions about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and asked where Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is, but he declined to comment without a lawyer present, according to the sources. He was not permitted to make a phone call, they said.

After about three hours, Appelbaum was given his laptop back but the agents kept his three mobile phones, sources said.

Asked for comment, Appelbaum declined to talk to CNET. However, he made reference to his phone getting seized to Defcon attendees. Following a question-and-answer session after his talk on the Tor Project Appelbaum was asked by an attendee for his phone number. He replied "that phone was seized."

Shortly thereafter two casually dressed men identified themselves as FBI agents and asked to talk to him.

"We'd like to chat for a few minutes," one of the men said, adding "we thought you might not want to." Appelbaum asked them if they were aware of "what happened to me?" and one of them replied "Yes, that's why we're here."

"I don't have anything to say," Appelbaum told them. One of the agents said they were interested in hearing if "human rights" being "trampled" and said "sometimes it's nice to have a conversation to flesh things out."

Marcia Hofmann, an attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, was in the room and asked if the agents were at the event in an official capacity or for personal reasons. "A little of both," one of the said.

Appelbaum asked when his equipment would be returned and one of them said "We aren't involved in that; we have no idea," and walked away when Appelbaum declined to talk further.

The agents declined to identify themselves to CNET. They said they were attending the conference and declined to talk further.

Appelbaum is a hacker and security researcher who co-founded the Noisebridge hacker space in San Francisco's Mission district. He's also worked to bypass the security of "smart" parking meters, unearth flaws in Web security certificates, and discover a novel way to bypass hard drive encryption. ...

via Researcher detained at U.S. border, questioned about Wikileaks | InSecurity Complex - CNET News.

Solution: be as boring as possible. If you are too interesting your stuff will be taken. This is not cool.

Here's how to protest: Generate a whole bunch of random files with the this Dummy File Creator tool. Replace the Sample Batch List.txt text with something like this:

C:\Test\hacking.avi    1565421    0
C:\Test\passwor.wmv    7156422    0
C:\Test\hacktrick.flv  1108454    0
C:\Test\2393.flv       4223018    1
C:\Test\4govt.flv      1079571    1
C:\Test\stolendocs.avi    1564424    0
C:\Test\6wikikeaks.pdf    2166422    0
C:\Test\tricksDefon.pdf   1108454    0
C:\Test\realXfiles.flv    8243011    1
C:\Test\6759.flv      1088576    1

Results:



Next encrypt several duplicate multi-GB hard drives and store the random junk files you created using something like http://www.truecrypt.org/, so if they are ever seized at your home or at an airport you will have the last laugh. Great use for failing hard drives. Video tape yourself doing this step by step so you have evidence that rather than being a mad genius, you just have a very weird sense of humor.

Did secret government radar cause the UFO crash at Roswell?

I have an interest in the Roswell story for several reasons. A few years ago, after getting some "inside information" I traveled to Roswell with a reporter and checked this out for myself. Years later, Roswell researcher Anthony Bragalia contacted me and corroborated what I'd discovered. I'm still not convinced aliens are the answer, but I'm convinced that some believe there were credible eye-witnesses who saw aliens. Aliens, our government, Russians, Germans, some other government, whatever you believe, here is a possible answer for what caused the crash near what was at the time, the only place in the world with an atom bomb: experimental radar.

HOW THE ROSWELL CRASH HAPPENED by Anthony Bragalia

... Many rightly wonder why an ET vehicle with the ability to traverse light years through the cosmos would arrive all the way to Earth - only to crash in New Mexico. How is it that an interplanetary people with such advanced aerial technology could come to such grief on the July-baked desert floor?

... Little known is that the US Government at that time had maintained an interconnected "beyond the fence" radar network. This secret network had served two purposes. It had helped to protect White Sands Proving Ground, Sandia National Lab and Los Alamos National Lab from aerial intrusion. It was also used for the "far-field" tracking of missiles launched from White Sands. Errant V-2's as early as May of 1947 had crashed their way to Mexico. There was no way that wayward rocket launches could ever get into the hands of civilians or foreign nationals. And our national laboratories needed to be protected from any possible foreign strikes from the air. This covert "outside the fence" radar program helped to provide maximum coverage as it monitored these vitally important skies.

Some of these radar facilities were mobile, highly experimental and lacked more exact "control" of beam path and range. Some of their designs did not have the quality to "contain the energy" as more permanent installations did. If such radar beams played a role in the crash, the radar operators likely did not know that the radar had helped to bring down the craft. The radar was not meant to be used as a weapon. It was an unwitting and non-offensive event. Otherwise, military would surely have gotten to the craft before civilians Mack Brazel and Dee Proctor did- and they would not have had to have been alerted by Brazel to the crash.

The radar project involved highly-classified radar installations that were located at remote off-sites. Towers and arrays were sometimes even sited on private property. Area ranchers and locals knew of the existence of these radar installations (usually hidden in wooded or hilly areas) but said nothing out of a sense of patriotic duty and perhaps through financial inducements. This is a little discussed piece of post WWII history - even by military historians.

Such radar systems were found in places like tiny El Vado, NM. One was called "The Continental Divide." There was a radar station located just north of US 60 about 45 miles west of Socorro. Another site was a radar tower on the road to the spread of NM rancher Marvin Ake, 10 miles south of State Rd. 60 between Magdelena and Datil. Yet another was near Oscura Park, some miles just outside of White Sands itself.

Given how we know that UFOs are reported to be able to disrupt our cars, TVs and radios through their emanated frequencies and radiations - isn't it possible that the reverse could be true? Could our technology have (in some as yet unknown way) affected their technology? According to a treatise entitled "Electromagnetic Compatibility": "After World War II the military became increasingly concerned with the effects of nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NEMP), lightning strike and even high-powered radar beams on mobile vehicles of all kinds and especially on aircraft electrical systems."

Could a unique and dynamic interplay of lightning, powerful radar beams and the ET craft's own generated energy field have in some way brought it down?  ... - link

Solar system attacked by Centaurs every 200 to 300 years? Library of Ancient Astronauts agrees.

You may have a good reason to be concerned about all the space junk orbiting our planet, but even without our help this  solar system is not a very tidy place.

Just as the threat exists (statistically 1 in 5 billion, but exists nonetheless), that a piece of falling space junk will smash into your house or car and kill you,  there is always the small chance that a comet will end life on earth.

The area around the orbit of Neptune is littered with "the Trojan asteroids"  some of which may swing into the inner solar system becoming comets we can witness every 200 to 300 years.

According to Phenominica:

The origin of ... "short-period comets" is unknown but the immediate source is thought to be the Centaurs—these are a collection of an estimated million icy objects more than 1 kilometre across on elliptical orbits that come closest to the sun between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune.

Only about 250 of these Centaurs have been imaged by telescopes. All are on unstable orbits, and have a big chance of receiving a gravitational boost when their orbit brings them near Jupiter or one of the other giant planets. Such perturbation could redirect them into the inner solar system - and possibly towards Earth.

As a wayward Centaur approaches the sun, its heat begins to evaporate the icy contents, resulting in a cometary tail.

Previous simulations of the Centaurs suggest something must be feeding them with extra material - each object will orbit for about 3 million years before it hits a planet, falls into the sun, is ejected from the solar system or simply disintegrates.

via Trojan asteroids around Neptune could hit Earth.

There is a theory that the Ica Stones of Peru are a library from an ancient advanced civilization that once visited our planet. According to the late Dr Javier Cabrera Darquea who owned the collection, the visitors left due to the threat of comets. Of course, skeptics claim that either the images below are not telescopes or the thousands of ica stone carvings were faked by one local man to sell to tourists.

The farmer who gave Cabrera his first stone was subsequently arrested for selling the stones to tourists.  In his defence, he said that he had not in fact found them in a cave, as he had told Dr Cabrera, but made them himself. Other local people continue to make these engraved stones. They are selling forged hoaxes – a Bad Archaeology double whammy! However, Cabrera countered this claim with the sheer numbers of stones. As well as the 20,000 or so in his collection and those sold to tourists, he said that locals have found about 50,000, while the cave contains another 100,000. This is too great a number to be the effort of a single poor farmer with little spare time to create so many hoaxes. Nevertheless, he maintained that he carved at least some of them. Neither he nor Dr Cabrera revealed the location of the cave that is supposed to contain the huge cache of stones.

For more about the stones, see my post, Did humans and dinosaurs co-exist?

Scientists Succeed with Teleportation... of an atom.

Would you like to teleport an object all the way across the galaxy instantly?

Image: the Joint Quantum Institute's Christopher Monroe  sits near  a 16-by-4-foot table covered in optical equipment. His team "teleported" an atom a distance of about 3 feet.

According to a story by Brent Baughman on NPR:

"It's not exactly the Star Trek version of teleportation, where an object disappears then reappears somewhere else. Rather, it "entangles" two different atoms so that one atom inherits the properties of another.

"According to the quantum theory, everything vibrates," theoretical physicist Michio Kaku tells NPR's Guy Raz. Kaku is a frequent guest on the Science and Discovery channels. "When two electrons are placed close together, they vibrate in unison. When you separate them, that's when all the fireworks start."

This is where quantum entanglement — sometimes described as "teleportation" — begins. "An invisible umbilical cord emerges connecting these two electrons. And you can separate them by as much as a galaxy if you want. Then, if you vibrate one of them, somehow on the other end of the galaxy the other electron knows that its partner is being jiggled."

This process happens even faster than the speed of light, physicists say.

Quantum entanglement isn't a new idea — Einstein once famously referred to it as "spooky action at a distance" — but it wasn't until the past 30 years that scientists were first able to observe this process.

It could one day lead to new types of computers, and some even think entanglement may explain things like telepathy. Scientists aren't quite ready to beam up Scotty yet, but this is the technology that one day may lead to such a feat.

via Scientists Take Quantum Steps Toward Teleportation : NPR.

Perhaps in a few years you'll be able to volunteer at the Joint Quantum Institute website to be the first human. There is a great episode titled "Daedalus" in the Star Trek Enterprise series which features the inventor of the transporter. A debate is retold at one point: is the transported person the same person, or a copy? Is an exact copy still you? Or is it someone else?

Herpes virus used to treat cancer

Doctors say they have used a genetically engineered herpes virus to treat successfully patients with head and neck cancer.

A London hospital trial of 17 patients found that use of the virus alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy helped kill the tumours in most patients.

It works by getting into cancer cells, killing them from the inside, and also boosting the patient's immune system.

Further trials are planned for later in the year.

Head and neck cancer, which includes cancer of the mouth, tongue and throat, affects up to 8,000 people every year in the UK.

Study leader Dr Kevin Harrington, who is based at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said current treatments were effective if the cancer was picked up early but that many patients were not diagnosed until it was more advanced.

The herpes virus, which is also being tested in patients with skin cancer, is genetically manipulated so that it grows inside tumour cells but cannot infect normal healthy cells.

Once there it has a triple effect - it multiplies, killing tumour cells as it does so, it is engineered to produce a human protein that activates the immune system and it also makes a viral protein that acts as a red flag to immune cells. ...

via BBC News - Herpes virus used to treat cancer.

After they cure you of cancer, they use modified cancer cells to get rid of the herpes. Just kidding.

Food agency probes cloned cow milk claim

Food safety officials in Britain are to investigate a claim that milk from the offspring of a cloned cow was on sale for public consumption, they said Monday.

The disclosure has provoked concern among some farming campaigners, and the Food Standards Agency FSA is set to investigate a report in Friday's International Herald Tribune newspaper.

But the body which represents Britain's dairy industry insisted that there was no danger. The newspaper quoted a British dairy farmer, speaking anonymously, saying that he was using milk from a cow bred from a clone as part of his daily production. The farmer did not want his name to be disclosed because he feared Britons saw cloning as "distasteful" so buyers would stop taking his milk if they knew who he was. The FSA said in response that it regarded meat and products from cloned animals and their offspring as "novel foods" which need to be authorised before being put on sale.

"The agency has not received any applications relating to cloning and no authorisations have been made," a spokeswoman said."The agency will, of course, investigate any reports of unauthorised novel foods entering the food chain." ...

via AFP: Food agency probes cloned cow milk claim.

The world's first robot with conscience

Spain has designed the world's first robot with its own "conscience" and "life", which will "entertain, teach and be a companion" to humans who purchase it.

The AISoy 1, which will go on sale in August, is the first social android developed by Spanish firm AISoy Robotics, which is now bringing its creation out of the laboratory.

"It almost seems like science fiction, but it's a reality," said Diego Garcia, one of the "fathers" of the robot and head of AISoy's product engineering and development division.

AISoy 1 was conceived to entertain and provide company to the user, but its main objective is "to live," just like any other being that "senses, has emotions and makes decisions".

At 25 cm in height and weighing 1.5 kg, the robot "is almost a living being. It has the same activity as a living being, it has its own autonomy and conscience", he said.

It also has a series of "basic needs, like nourishment and security, and other more advanced ones, like love, recognition, freedom and, above all, enjoying itself and getting along well".

In contrast to the available robots developed till date, its makeup does not consist of "a collection of limited actions or programmed responses. It's dynamic, it has its own life and, at times, it's unpredictable," said AISoy 1's designer.

The robot is capable of learning from experience and modifying "its behaviour, values and actions it can undertake at specific times," he said.

"If you take two AISoy 1's and leave them in two different families, within two months they will be totally different because they will have had different experiences," said Garcia. ...

via The world's first robot with conscience.

New insights into how stem cells determine what tissue to become

IMAGE: This is an immunofluorescence image of a human mesenchymal stem cell growing on a plate of microposts, which have the approximate consistency of Silly Putty.

Within 24 hours of culturing adult human stem cells on a new type of matrix, University of Michigan researchers were able to make predictions about how the cells would differentiate, or what type of tissue they would become. Their results are published in the Aug. 1 edition of Nature Methods.

Differentiation is the process of stem cells morphing into other types of cells. Understanding it is key to developing future stem cell-based regenerative therapies.

"We show, for the first time, that we can predict stem cell differentiation as early as Day 1," said Jianping Fu, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering who is the first author on the paper.

"Normally, it takes weeks or maybe longer to know how the stem cell will differentiate. Our work could speed up this lengthy process and could have important applications in drug screening and regenerative medicine. Our method could provide early indications of how the stem cells are differentiating and what the cell types they are becoming under a new drug treatment." ...

via New insights into how stem cells determine what tissue to become.