Scienta.net

 

The Statistical Universe

We look up to an expanse of sky that is billions of light-years in size, but the universe may be far larger than what we are able to see.

Seed, October 17, 2008

Sun + Water = Fuel

With catalysts created by an MIT chemist, sunlight can turn water into hydrogen. If the process can scale up, it could make solar power a dominant source of energy.

Technology Review, November/December 2008

Scientists Create New Genetic Clock

 UC San Diego bioengineers have created the first stable, fast and programmable genetic clock that reliably keeps time by the blinking of fluorescent proteins inside E. coli cells. 

PhysOrg, October 29, 2008

Australia to implement mandatory internet censorship

Australia will join China in implementing mandatory censoring of the internet under plans put forward by the Federal Government.

Herald Sun, October 29, 2008

Drunk, and Dangerous, at the Keyboard

Anyone who has spent more than a few minutes over the last couple of weeks trolling tech blogs or cocktail lounges has probably heard about Mail Goggles, a new feature on Google’s Gmail program that is intended to help stamp out a scourge that few knew existed: late-night drunken e-mailing. 

The New York Times,  October 17, 2008

The Lethal Legacy of World War II

Germany remains contaminated with unexploded bombs that are becoming increasingly unstable with age, warns one of the country’s most experienced bomb defusers. He has just retired after a perilous career spent tackling the deadly legacy of World War II. 

Spiegel, October 14, 2008

Memories selectively, safely erased in mice

New and old memories have been selectively and safely removed from mice by scientists.

“Our work reveals a molecular mechanism of how that can be done quickly and without doing damage to brain cells,” says the Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Cognitive and Systems Neurobiology.

EurekaAlert, October 22, 2008

Man’s Best Friend Forever: Cloning dogs for love and profit

Is pet cloning really so strange and untenable? In addition to voicing concerns about animal welfare, those who oppose it take issue with its metaphorical implications. “This idea that you can take an animal and duplicate it whenever you want-it treats animals as objects that can be manufactured.”

Reason, October 2008

We’re all thumbs

Is texting bringing us closer to the end of life as we currently tolerate it? Enough people have suggested that it is to have inspired David Crystal to produce Txtng: The Gr8 Db8.   “I don’t think I have ever come across a topic which has attracted more adult antagonism,” he says.

It’s a small, small, really very tiny, world

The winners of Nikon’s 2008 Small World photomicrography competion have been announced.

Small World is regarded as the leading forum for showcasing the beauty and complexity of life as seen through the light microscope. For over 30 years, Nikon has rewarded the world’s best photomicrographers who make critically important scientific contributions to life sciences, bio-research and materials science.