Monthly Archives: April 2005

Life From Above

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I know, I know?the map is not the territory. But try believing that after two hours immersed in Google’s latest, greatest info fetish: the Google Maps satellite view. Type in an address (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, say), call up the map, switch to satellite imaging, and suddenly you’re looking down at W.’s house from close enough to turn the threat level a deep, velvety red. Scroll south with the arrow keys a tad and you’re over the Washington Monument; scroll northeast long enough and soon you’re over the rooftops of Lower Manhattan, peering straight down at the very Orchard Street hovel you’re sitting in right now. Congratulations. You’ve just mastered the basics of the Web’s most epistemologically fucked-up waste of time ever: Google sightseeing.

Village Voice

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New State of Matter Is ‘Nearly Perfect’ Liquid

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Physicists working at Brookhaven National Laboratory announced today that they have created what appears to be a new state of matter out of the building blocks of atomic nuclei, quarks and gluons. The researchers unveiled their findings—which could provide new insight into the composition of the universe just moments after the big bang—today in Florida at a meeting of the American Physical Society.

Scientific American

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Fear, Loathing and the GOP

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By David Sirota

The telltale sign of desperation in politics is when people start making wild threats and accusations. From Joe McCarthy to Richard Nixon, the Republican Party has a long record in this realm, regularly trying to deflect attention from its troubles by lashing out with menacing rhetoric and intimidation tactics. Today?s Republican Party is no different.

In These Times

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Wind Turbine To Stir Up Renewable Energy Research

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A 230-foot wind turbine has powered its way to center stage at the new Renewable Energy Research and Demonstration Center at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) in Morris. Completed the last week in February, the turbine is a key step in integrating renewable energy into Minnesota?s rural economy and strengthening renewable energy research and education in the state. It will be commissioned in a ceremony on Earth Day?April 22?which also marks the 35th anniversary of the annual observance.

Earth Observatory

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Nanowires corralled for interconnect tasks

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A research group at the University of Delaware has demonstrated a way to precisely position and control the growth of organic nanowires atop a pre-patterned substrate, potentially providing a means of interconnecting future nanocircuits. Until now, there has been no way to interconnect nanoscale devices such as carbon nanotube transistors, quantum dots and molecular-memory arrays.

In a different approach, researchers at Purdue University have used the self-assembling properties of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) to create nanowires.

Engineering Times

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‘Termite guts can save the planet’, says Nobel laureate

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The way termite guts process food could teach scientists how to produce pollution-free energy and help solve the world’s imminent energy crisis. Speaking at the Institute of Physics conference Physics 2005 in Warwick today, Nobel laureate Steven Chu urged scientists to turn their attention to finding an environmentally friendly form of fuel. In an impassioned plea to some of the world’s brightest minds, he explained how he’s leading by example, and encouraged others to join the effort which “may already be too late.”

PhysOrg

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Canada Approves Cannabis Tincture

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GW Pharmaceuticals Plc, a U.K. company developing cannabis-based drugs, said it won Canadian approval to market its Sativex spray for pain related to multiple sclerosis. Shares jumped as much as 14 percent.

Health Canada is the first regulatory agency to approve Sativex, Salisbury, England-based GW Pharmaceuticals said in a Regulatory News Service statement. GW and its marketing partner, Bayer AG, expect to introduce the product in Canada in late spring.

Bloomburg

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‘Minority Report’ interface created for US military

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A computer interface inspired by the futuristic system portrayed in the movie Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise, could soon help real military personnel deal with information overload.

The film sees characters call up and manipulate video footage and other data in mid-air after donning a special pair of gloves. Now defence company Raytheon, based in Massachusetts, US, is working on a real version and has even employed John Underkoffler, the researcher who proposed the interface to the makers of the film.

New Scientist

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U.S. Military’s Elite Hacker Crew

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The U.S. military has assembled the world’s most formidable hacker posse: a super-secret, multimillion-dollar weapons program that may be ready to launch bloodless cyberwar against enemy networks—from electric grids to telephone nets.

The group’s existence was revealed during a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last month. Military leaders from U.S. Strategic Command, or Stratcom, disclosed the existence of a unit called the Joint Functional Component Command for Network Warfare, or JFCCNW.

Wired

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climbing robot designed to carry out precision operations

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2005-04-14-1.jpg A climbing robot has been developed that can autonomously work to construct airplanes and ships, according to its creators.

Developed by Spain’s Fatronik Technological Centre, the portable climbing robot is designed to carry out precision operations.

Besides airplanes, the robotic platform can also be adapted for everything from shipbuilding to cleaning buildings, says Fatronik.

BH

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Ancient brain enzyme acts as an innate nutritionist to influence food choices

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If you’re having trouble eating healthy, maybe you need to speak with your internal nutritionist.

Mammals including humans appear to have such a nutritionist in the form of an ancient brain molecule that regulates food choices.

The enzyme and its molecular mechanism are likely to be important for all mammals that eat a varied diet comprising meat and vegetables, say researchers.

BetterHumans

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