Rocket-powered landing demonstrator makes first flight.
This guy wants to build a functioning computer model of the human brain, but he has to finish modeling a rat brain first.
Good news guys, looks like you'll be around longer than originally thought.
Circadian rhythms may influence when you're most at risk for sudden cardiac death.
Seven species that drew the short stick when it came to living the good life.
One of the world's tiniest lizards can sit on the head of a match.
What's the quickest way to tell if a frog is poisonous? Duh, lick it.
If you like a good shrimp cocktail, I've got bad news for you. The carbon footprint of a shrimp is worse than that of some beef.
Fascinating article on climate change law and if one country can sue another for polluting it out of existence.
A tale of two tails: how to deduce the orientation of a comet from a picture.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the latest update on the faster-than-light neutrinos, but I can't stress enough how this is still not a final answer. Not ready to geek out on this just yet...
Speaking of physics though, go down this rabbit hole and see if you can follow along.
Lastly, start your weekend on a high note and check out this Stanford MRI study that found loving someone for five minutes can be transformative.
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More mony spent on space and aeronautics while people are starving to death !!!
We are going to need somewhere to go. Of course only the wealthy will ride in comfort while their slaves will be stowed in baggage.
You do realize that a lot of the research advancements in the space and aeronautics industry have led to industry advancements for the well being of humans. Most of the technology for water filtration were developed through the aeronautics program. Those technologies today are used to help provide cleaner drinking water for those starving individuals. Also, there is research into the best ways to provide small scale self sufficient ways to grow food for astronauts who will travel long distances or remain in space for long periods of time. That research has led to and will lead to more advanced methods of food production that could greatly improve the lives of those starving individuals.
While I do agree more needs to be done to help the underprivileged and starving I do not think taking that money from the space program is the way to go. That program has provided numerous advances in technologies that today improve the well being of the human race. How about instead we take money from the production and invention of better ways to kill people and invest that into better ways to keep people alive and feed them. To me that just seems like a much better trade off.
We have already drastically slashed the NASA budget, yet we have continued to increase spending in the art of war. I just think that this shows how backwards our monetary policy is. I think it is a tragedy of the human race that we spend more to find better ways to kill than to find better ways to live.
Let us not forget that the computers first real usage was at Oak Ridge where they made the bomb. Many seem to think NASA came up with the computer but no they just needed to vastly improve it and thanks to the Japenese invention of solid state circuitry they did.
George Washington Carver was making plastic from peanuts long before NASA came along also.
Science is great but let us not assume that only through NASA is Science and technology utilized. If we spent as much on Universities or start ups we could still get amazing results.(of course then we would not be as interested in the origin of the universe or ET)
"More mony spent on space and aeronautics while people are starving to death !!!"
I think what you might have meant was "Less money being spent on space and aeronautics while more money is being spent on figuring out how to kill people."
I'll go ahead and assume that maybe your cat was walking on your keyboard or something.
As for water filtration-the Navy might have better dibs on that one. Fresh water is made on board so they can stay asea longer.
NASA spinoff technologies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_spin-off
Dear Dr. Ash,
Thank you for posting the spin off tech link. Scientists and engineers need to do a better job in engaging the public and explaining the relevance of our work. You are doing a fantastic job on that front!
Best regards,
MG
@Paul S. Campbell,
Oak Ridge did not have anything more sophisticated than slide rules and adding machines until after World War II was over.
1941 - Z3
The first general purpose programmable computer. Nazi Germany - Konrad Zuse. Used to calculate gun trajectories to create range/elevation charts for artillery personnel. Also used to aid aircraft development.
1941 - ABC
Special purpose non-programmable computer built by Atanasoff and Berry. Never used by the military. First use of dynamic RAM.
Special purpose computers built and operated by US Signals Intelligence Service. Exact date unknown - most likely completed before Pearl Harbor attack.
1943 - Colossus
Second general purpose digital computer. 10 operational outside London - destroyed at the end of World War II. Used to decipher and read encrypted radio communication to anticipate German and Japanese military action for air strikes. German submarines become obsolete. Japanese and German military communication routinely read by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Eisenhower. Cold war begins after Stalin realizes hundreds of thousands of communist forces may have perish needlessly because the Soviet Union was not included in Allied signals intelligence communication.
1947 - ENIAC
Third general purpose programmable computer built by IBM. Too late for World War II. Used to calculate gun trajectories to create range/elevation charts for artillery personnel. Also used for modeling required to develop thermonuclear devices. Uses punch cards invented for 1880 census to store computer program.
1949 - Export Control Act
Effectively criminalizes consumer products that include super-computers and encryption.
1998 - Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
NSA discovers a need for stronger encryption.
1999 - Apple violates Export Control Act
Weak encryption limitations required by Export Control Act renders coded messages readable by anyone able to afford a large number of computers. Electronic Frontier Foundation cracks Data Encryption Standard in under 24 hours with 1,800 computers (a technique known as the Chinese Lottery). Reveals older US Military communication had become readable until after AES was adopted.
Earh, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the creature called man,his million year mission: to explore strange new worlds (Columbus),to seek out new life and new civilizations(and destroy them),to boldly go where no man has gone before(the tampax aisle?)
Footnote?-http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_old_is_mankind
Then go sell all you have and give it to the poor...I heard that someplace....Science is always good for our country or rather intelligence and the striving thereof....
Ah, in terms of the disappearing Y chromosome, I wonder if that is what has been bothering Republicans lately?
Research, or at least notice, technologies and markets (stocks in those mini-corporations that are run by individuals in extremely difficult locations) that will have high payoffs and then give to them. We can all actually do this.
Okay, now I really want to go to Madagascar and see a tiny, tiny chameleon, up close and personal.
This blog column is fantubulous. Really, you find the best links ever and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Please though, will you start setting your links to open in a new window? It's a small detail that makes exploring much nicer. Thanks again for posting such great stories.
@Nicole, try right-clicking on the hyperlink. When I do that, I get the option to open in a new tab or even a new window.
Ha Summer! I caught something geeky before you did! Check out this really cool interactive animation to help understand the SCALE OF THE UNIVERSE.
http://htwins.net/scale2/
Check out the Week in Geek from Feb. 10th. ;)
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/10/10375224-the-week-in-geek
That's OK, I tweeted CERN's report of the faulty optical fibre last evening.
https://twitter.com/#!/liberal_simon/status/172847901951803392
LOL! Y'all got me!
After a mentally exhausting week trying to understand the current political system, this post is perfect! Thank you, Summer!!
Don't forget the little people! Um, I mean microbes.
This may be useful for those working in science education:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/bu-tst021012.php
Evolution is a process, a series of steps. It is not anti-religion and does not supersede faith. But it is in fact, a fact. However, as a sensitive subject, a certain degree of tact may be more useful in explaining this process to those who doubt its existence.
Scientists do it better:
http://science-is-sexy.com/