Submission + - Will Science Be The Next 9/11? (science20.com)
TaeKwonDood writes: Given the contentious nature of politics in the modern science enterprise, the next '9/11' could well be at a science gathering.
Submission + - This Summary Was Not Written By A Robot, Yet (nytimes.com)
Richard.Tao writes: Quoting NYT "Using more than a decade of research, a start-up company is taking computer-generated news articles to a more sophisticated level." Given that intelligent software is already handling some legislative research, one may ask what field next will be more suitably handled by machines?
Submission + - New Moon Mission Launched (nasa.gov) 1
sighted writes: "The twin lunar Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral this morning. GRAIL-A is scheduled to reach the moon on New Year's Eve 2011, while GRAIL-B will arrive New Year's Day 2012. The two solar-powered spacecraft will fly in tandem orbits around the moon to measure its gravity field. Lunar explorers hope the mission will answer longstanding questions about the moon 'from crust to core.'"
Submission + - Boost Your WiFi Signal Using Only a Beer Can (discovery.com) 2
AmyVernon writes: This hack is supposed to boost signal strength by at least 2 to 4 bars.
What you need: scissors, a utility knife, some adhesive putty and an empty beer can. The brand doesn't matter for the router, but I suppose it would be cooler looking if it were Asahi or Stella Artois than if it were Budweiser.
What you need: scissors, a utility knife, some adhesive putty and an empty beer can. The brand doesn't matter for the router, but I suppose it would be cooler looking if it were Asahi or Stella Artois than if it were Budweiser.
Submission + - Moon younger than previously thought (news.ku.dk) 2
TaeKwonDood writes: Analysis of a piece of lunar rock brought back to Earth by the Apollo 16 mission in 1972 has shown that the Moon may be much younger than previously believed.
Submission + - From Big Bang To Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (science20.com)
TaeKwonDood writes: The motivation to come up with Conformal Cyclic Cosmology(CCC) is founded in the realization that the arrow of time and the very existence of life are all rooted in the fact that the universe started off in an ultra low entropy state. For this state to have such a low entropy it must have been very special and highly ordered. This requires an explanation.
Submission + - Researchers make an invisibility cloak for time (science20.com)
TaeKwonDood writes: Researchers from Cornell say that by using a bit of electromagnetics wizardry they can create a 'hole' in space and keep it hidden — spatial cloaking. Invisible time.
Submission + - 25-Year-Old Builds Bugatti Veyron Replica (tecca.com)
Alchist writes: The Bugatti Veyron is a modern automotive legend. The sleek speedster boasts a top speed of over 260mph, making it the fastest road-legal car in the world, and it has a stunningly large $1.5 million price tag to match. Because of this astronomical cost of entry, only a few hundred of the vehicles have ever been built, meaning your chances of owning one are rather slim. That is, unless you're Mike Duff, an ambitious 25-year-old from Florida who decided to build his very own Bugatti with his bare hands.
Submission + - Revealed - The First Ad Campaign For Monkeys (science20.com)
TaeKwonDood writes: Does sex sell for monkeys the way it does humans? Apparently so. And researchers are now hoping sexy billboards can cause monkeys to prefer a flavor of Jell-O they otherwise do not.
Submission + - Australopithecus Afarensis: Lucy Had Foot Arches? (science20.com)
TaeKwonDood writes: Arches in human feet have been instrumental in our ability to walk upright and researchers at the University of Missouri and Arizona State University say they have found proof that arches existed in a predecessor to the human species
Submission + - Another insider critique of Wikileaks (cnn.com)
david.emery writes: WikiLeaks editor Julian Assange went from being "imaginative, energetic (and) brilliant" to a "paranoid, power-hungry, megalomaniac," a former colleague charges in a new book out Thursday.
Further we read:
Domscheit-Berg "damaged" WikiLeaks infrastructure and "stole material," WikiLeaks said Wednesday, and the website said it is taking legal action against him-- though Domscheit-Berg denied that.
(I'm not clear on what it would mean to 'steal material' from something like WikiLeaks...)
Submission + - Sex Makes You Smarter- Can 'Virtual Sex' Also? (science20.com) 1
TaeKwonDood writes: Exercise promotes neurogenesis and also reduces anxiety, that includes the exercise you get during sex, but researcher Andrea Kuszewski outlines how virtual sex may be able to provide some of the same brain benefits.
Submission + - Sexsomnia: Maybe the best sleep disorder ever (scientificblogging.com)
TaeKwonDood writes: Nothing is more romantic than groggy, half-awake sweet lovin'. But what if your partner is all the way asleep? Sleepwallking is interesting but sexsomnia is the only parasomnia to require another person so therefore it deserves its own science article. More interestingly, researchers know we can do a number of things while asleep so how can we do them perfectly adequately, without a consciousness being conscious?
Submission + - Psychologist Writes Ultimate David Bowie Song? (scientificblogging.com)
TaeKwonDood writes: "Nick Troop, self-proclaimed David Bowie fan but real-life psychologist, says a Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count program helped him to craft the ultimate Bowie song — and, according to his hypothesis, psychologically that will help Bowie stay healthier (though not in the menacing Mafia 'you will stay healthier' way, the real way)"
Submission + - This Article Will Self-Destruct In 5 ... 4 ... 3 . (scientificblogging.com)
TaeKwonDood writes: "Worried that your impish college antics could come back to haunt you in a job interview? A new University of Washington plug-in for Firefox says it can cause your online content to "self-destruct", keeping your errant emails and/or web cam videos from falling into the wrong hands.
The hook? Encryption needs a key and, for security purposes, even the user does not have it. So they use the miracle of worldwide P2P, though how well it works will soon be found out."
