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Science

The Proton Just Got Smaller 289

Posted by samzenpus from the size-does-matter dept.
inflame writes "A new paper published in Nature has said that the proton may be smaller than we previously thought. The article states 'The difference is so infinitesimal that it might defy belief that anyone, even physicists, would care. But the new measurements could mean that there is a gap in existing theories of quantum mechanics. "It's a very serious discrepancy," says Ingo Sick, a physicist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, who has tried to reconcile the finding with four decades of previous measurements. "There is really something seriously wrong someplace."' Would this indicate new physics if proven?"
Earth

New Estimates Say Earth's Oceans Smaller Than Once Believed 263

Posted by timothy from the deeper-than-my-love-for-you dept.
Velcroman1 writes with this snippet from Fox News: "Using lead weights and depth sounders, scientists have made surprisingly accurate estimates of the ocean's depths in the past. Now, with satellites and radar, researchers have pinned down a more accurate answer to that age-old query: How deep is the ocean? And how big? As long ago as 1888, John Murray dangled lead weights from a rope off a ship to calculate the ocean's volume — the product of area and mean ocean depth. Using satellite data, researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute set out to more accurately answer that question — and found out that it's 320 million cubic miles. And despite miles-deep abysses like the Mariana Trench, the ocean's mean depth is just 2.29 miles, thanks to the varied and bumpy ocean floor."
Image

St. Louis Museum Offers Thrills, Chills, and Lawsuits Screenshot-sm 140

Posted by samzenpus from the everything-fun-is-dangerous dept.
theodp writes "Despite the whiff of danger, or perhaps because of it, the WSJ reports that the City Museum is one of St. Louis's most popular attractions. Housed in a 10-story brick building, the City Museum shows none of the restraint or quiet typical of most museums. It boasts a five-story jungle gym with two real-life jets kids can climb on, an enclosed Monster Slide that drops riders the length of three staircases, and a rooftop Ferris wheel. Sure, there are the occasional severed fingers and skull fractures, but museum founder Bob Cassilly contends that it is as safe as it can be without being a bore. 'They [lawyers] are taking the fun out of life,' says Cassilly, adding that 'when you have millions of people do something, something's going to happen no matter what you do.'"
Security

Sun Pushes Emergency Java Patch 90

Posted by timothy from the emergency-shot-of-soy-latte dept.
Trailrunner7 writes "In a sudden about-face, Sun has rushed out a Java update to fix a drive-by download vulnerability that exposed Windows users to in-the-wild malware attacks. The patch comes less than a week after Sun told a Google researcher it did not consider the issue serious enough to warrant an out-of-cycle patch and less than a day after researchers spotted live exploits on a booby-trapped Web site. The flaw, which was also discovered independently by Ruben Santamarta, occurs because the Java-Plugin Browser is running 'javaws.exe' without validating command-line parameters. Despite the absence of documentation, a researcher was about to figure out that Sun removed the code to run javaws.exe from the Java plugin. The about-face by Sun is another sign that some big vendors still struggle to understand the importance of working closely with white hat researchers to understand the implications of certain vulnerabilities. In this case, Google's Tavis Ormandy was forced to use the full-disclosure weapon to force the vendor into a proper response."
Science

Aussie Scientists Find Coconut-Carrying Octopus 205

Posted by timothy from the concealed-carry-in-australian-waters dept.
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from an AP report: "Australian scientists have discovered an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter — unusually sophisticated behavior that the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal. The scientists filmed the veined octopus, Amphioctopus marginatus, selecting halved coconut shells from the sea floor, emptying them out, carrying them under their bodies up to 65 feet (20 meters), and assembling two shells together to make a spherical hiding spot. ... 'I was gobsmacked,' said Finn, a research biologist at the museum who specializes in cephalopods. 'I mean, I've seen a lot of octopuses hiding in shells, but I've never seen one that grabs it up and jogs across the sea floor. I was trying hard not to laugh.'"
Medicine

Submission + - SPAM: Is Genius I.Q. Linked to Psychosis? 2

Submitted by
destinyland
destinyland writes: "New research suggests a genetic mutation linked to psychosis (and schizophrenia) could also be related to genius IQs. This supports the pscyhological theory that genius "blends intelligence with just the right amount of psychoticism" (which creates unconventional thinking). Evolution may even have favored schizophrenia and bipolar syndrome because the same gene also boosts creativity. But one geneticist still believes exactly the opposite. "Madness is often madness — and doesn't have as much genetic association with intelligence.""
Link to Original Source

Feed news.com: A scientist and a shrew (news.com)

From feed by cnetfeed
Video: A scientist and a shrew. A California Academy of Sciences researcher trekked through the rainforests of Tanzania in search of the Rhynchocyon udzungwensis, the newest mammal to join the elephant shrew group. They may not look like elephants, but they do have evolutionary ties to the pachyderm going back 100 million years in Africa. Scientists describe this species as having the legs of an antelope, the snout of an anteater, and the tail of a rat. CNET News.com's Kara Tsuboi brings us the first look at the cute little guy.

Feed Science Daily: Gene Guards Grain-producing Grasses So People And Animals Can Eat (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
Scientists have discovered that a type of gene in grain-producing plants halts infection by a disease-causing fungus that can destroy crops vital for human food supplies. The research team is the first to show that the same biochemical process protects an entire plant family - grasses - from the devastating, fungal pathogen. The naturally occurring disease resistance probably is responsible for the survival of grains and other grasses over the past 60 million years. Grasses' ability to ward off pathogens is a major concern because grasses, including corn, barley, rice, oats and sorghum, provide most of the calories people consume, and some species also increasingly are investigated for conversion into energy.


Feed Science Daily: Cool Spacedust Survey Goes Into Orbit (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
Astronomers will be studying icy cosmic dust millions of light years away -- using the biggest space telescope ever built. As well as being able to see star-forming regions very nearby in our own galaxy, it will be able to see galaxies forming when the universe was in its infancy, more than ten billion years ago.


Feed Science Daily: Pathway To Turn Off Immune System Cells Discovered (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
Researchers have discovered a new way to turn genes off in human T cells, a type of white blood cell that helps the immune system fight infections. Turning off genes, through a process known as mRNA decay, is important for regulating the body's immune response after fighting infection. This research could lead to development of new drugs that turn off the immune system in patients with autoimmune diseases -- such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.


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