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Submission + - 'Tom and Jerry syndrome' causes seizures in old cats (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Mice and rats communicate in the ultrasonic frequency range, and it’s thought that cats evolved the ability to hear those high-pitched squeaks to better hunt their prey. Now, a new study suggests that sensitivity to higher pitched sounds may cause seizures in some older cats. After receiving reports of the problem, nicknamed the “Tom and Jerry syndrome” because of how the cartoon cat is often startled by sounds, researchers surveyed cat owners and examined their pets’ medical records, looking for insight into the types and durations of seizures and the sounds that provoked them. In 96 cats, they found evidence of the syndrome they call feline audiogenic reflex seizures. The most common types of seizure-eliciting sounds included crinkling tinfoil, clanking a metal spoon on a ceramic feeding bowl, and clinking glass. The severity of the seizure ranged from brief muscle jerks to more serious episodes where the cat lost consciousness and stiffened and jerked for several minutes.

Comment Re:You're not willing to pay (Score 1) 285

Gee i wonder how was it possible to sell strawberries decades and centuries ago without all the machinery and electronics.

Well, first of all, eating strawberries is a luxury that wasn't available in most places of the world just a couple of generations ago. Along with modern genetics you also need fast transportation and refrigeration.

But to your point, all crops were grown with cheap labor.

Comment Doesn't matter how efficient (Score 1) 486

It sounds like they're suggesting using excess electricity to produce a liquid fuel which can be burned later.

The real question is the energy density of the fuel versus a battery. A car burning biodiesel carrying about 100 lbs of fuel should have a range of over 400 miles and be refueled in a few minutes. It doesn't really matter if it takes more electricity to produce that fuel than an equivalent electric battery powered car since the electricity was excess generation and essentially wasted anyway (and good luck getting an electric car with a 400+ mile range and recharging in a few minutes) .

Submission + - Pepsi stops using aspartame in Diet Pepsi because people think it's dangerous (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Pepsi believes sales of diet soda are falling because of aspartame and how the general public think it is a dangerous substance to consume. So rather than education, they choose change, and aspartame removal is being turned into a marketing campaign of sorts with "Now Aspartame Free" printed on cans.

Submission + - Smart headlights adjust to aid drivers in difficult conditions (thestack.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute are developing smart headlights that not only trace a car’s movement around bends, but are programmable to assist a driver in a wide range of driving conditions. The research team, at the institute’s Illumination and Imaging Laboratory, is looking into designing headlights which do not highlight raindrops and snowflakes in bad weather, instead passing light around the individual drops and improving visibility. Its near-future design would also be able to avoid glare even when the high beam is in use, detecting up-coming vehicles and disabling the range of light that is directed at it. They also hope to incorporate GPS data to adjust the direction of the headlights according to the lane that a driver is occupying, illuminating it more brightly compared to surrounding lanes. The technology is supported by a looped system which will constantly read, assess and react to driving conditions. The prototype also features a built-in camera to capture visual data before transferring it to a computer processor installed in the vehicle, where it can be analysed.

Submission + - Audi creates 'fuel of the future' using just carbon dioxide and water (ibtimes.co.uk)

Submitted by EwanPalmer
EwanPalmer writes: German car manufacturer Audi says it has created the "fuel of the future" made solely from water, carbon dioxide and renewable sources.

The synthetic "e-diesel" was made following a commissioning phase of just four months at a plant in Dresden, Germany. Germany's federal minister of education and research, Dr Johanna Wanka, said she has already used the fuel in her Audi A8, and the company hopes to produce at least 160 liters of the crystal clear fuel every day in the coming months.

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