ScienTech 2.0

Scientists Progress Towards Quantum Theory of Gravity

2006-03-23T20:53:00.000-05:00

Scientists have measured the gravitational equivalent of a magnetic field for the first time in a laboratory. Under certain special conditions the effect is much larger than expected from general relativity and could help physicists to make a significant step towards the long-sought-after quantum theory of gravity.

read more | digg story

New Study Declares Atheists the Most Distrusted Minority

2006-03-23T13:34:00.000-05:00

A new study conducted at the University of Minnesota states that atheists are the most distrusted minority group, rating lower in the survey of over 2,000 homes than Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other commonly discriminated minority groups. Atheists are also the most likely group that parents forbid their children to marry the study says.

Penny Edgell, associate sociology professor and the study's lead researcher states, "Atheists, who account for about 3 percent of the U.S. population, offer a glaring exception to the rule of increasing social tolerance over the last 30 years."

It seems that most people now believe that freedom of religion does not include freedom from religion. After years of social tolerance coming in to the fold of the majority, the usual targets for discrimination are no longer acceptable to Americans. The majority it seems must always target a group of people to discriminate against, so they decide what core values it takes to become an American, and they decide that belief in God is one of those core values.

At any given point in American history there has been a minority group who was discriminated against with "permission" from the majority. This sort of 'Us-verse-them' mentality has led to horrible acts agianst all minorities, but as time progressed it focused more on single groups such as blacks, Jews, Mexicans, Muslims, and gay and lesbians. Now it atheistsstsAtheistssts are not a racial group, and they are enough of the outsider that the majority doesn't care if they are discriminated against.

The core values of the average American person say that an atheist is a criminal, a vagrant with no sense of morality. These are just stereotypes, the non-belief in a being does not evoke any specific way of living.

Google Wins!

2006-03-18T02:49:00.000-05:00

Google will not have to hand over any user's search queries to the government. That's what a federal judge ruled today when he decided to drastically limit a subpoena issued to Google by the Department of Justice. (You can read the entire ruling here and the government's original subpoena here.)

read more | digg story

Senate Approves Patriot Act Renewal

2006-03-02T18:29:00.000-05:00

"The Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to renew the USA Patriot Act, after months of pitched debate over legislation that supporters said struck a better balance between privacy rights and the government's power to hunt down terrorists."

read more | digg story

51 Year Old Hobbyist, from Mexico, Builds His Own Jetpack, from Scratch

2006-03-01T01:04:00.000-05:00

Lozano is not a rocket scientist. He is not a stuntman. He is an animated, often goofy granddad who is afraid of the sight of blood. And he made his own jetpack.

read more | digg story

Gifting Ubuntu, one McDonalds at a time

2006-02-28T02:39:00.000-05:00

This guy burns 20 copies of Ubuntu and heads to his local McDonalds. After convincing the manager to let him pass them out there by demonstrating Ubuntu with a live CD, he leaves 20 copies. The next day, they're all gone. Next step? Burn 30 more for 'ol Mickey Dee's.

read more | digg story

Florida Voting Machine Logs Reveal Anomalies

2006-02-26T19:50:00.000-05:00

The internal logs of at least 40 Sequoia touch-screen voting machines reveal that votes were time and date-stamped as cast two weeks before the election, sometimes in the middle of the night.

read more | digg story

Hitching a Ride Out of a Gluttonous Black Hole

2006-02-26T19:23:00.000-05:00

"With his piece published in Physical Review Letters on February 14, Lloyd attempts to show that quantum information does escape black holes, and that this information is useful and can have lasting impacts on how we understand our universe."

read more | digg story

Scientists can now predict memory of an event before it even happens.

2006-02-26T17:59:00.000-05:00

Scans of brain activity, published online in the journal Nature Neuroscience, indicate that the brain can actually get into the 'right frame of mind' to store new information and that we perform at our best if the brain is active not only at the moment we get new information but also in the seconds before.

read more

What Are Quantum Dots?

2006-02-24T00:41:00.000-05:00

There has been quite a bit of news concerning quantum dots recently (and I expect even more in the future) so I wanted to write about exactly what they are. Quantum dots could lead to many exciting breakthroughs, including programmable matter, quantum computers, lasers, solar cells, and biological sensors.

Most of the lasers are made by quantum wells and wires. The quantum well is built by placing a circuit in a negative, or "N," layer of metal. You sandwich this layer between two positive, "P," layers. In a PNP sandwich the electrons become trapped in the N layer and groups of electrons and "holes" form above the PNP sandwich. The causes photons to emitted directly from the surface, producing a laser.

A quantum dot is basically a very tiny structure (think nano scale) that traps electrons. If you also put a small layer of N and surround it completely by P you get a quantum dot. When you add current to the circuit, the electrons have no place to go, the positive layers keep them trapped, and they begin to act like waves. There is another place that electrons act this way, in atoms. A quantum dot could allow you to add electrons one at a time, and produce phenomena that are quite like atoms, only larger.

The most intriguing application of quantum dots currently being researched is programmable matter. If large amounts of artificial atoms could be made and the amount of electrons controlled in each dot, then you could create matter that you could program have the characteristics of any element. Another application is in solar cells, quantum dots could catch more energy from the sun than current solar cells, up to three times as much.

Huge Set Of MIT Lectures

2006-02-24T00:26:00.000-05:00

I've been watching a few of these, and they are really cool. If you aren't smart/rich enough to go to MIT, these offer a great way to learn what they teach there.

Watch the lectures!

Future Enzyme Computers To Be Placed Inside You

2006-02-24T00:22:00.000-05:00

A molecular computer that uses enzymes to perform calculations has been built by researchers in Israel.

Itamar Willner, who constructed the molecular calculator with colleagues at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, believes enzyme-powered computers could eventually be implanted into the human body and used to, for example, tailor the release of drugs to a specific person's metabolism.

The team built their computer using two enzymes - glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) - to trigger two interconnected chemical reactions. Two chemical components - hydrogen peroxide and glucose - were used to represent input values (A and B). The presence of each chemical corresponded to a binary 1, while the absence represented a binary 0. The chemical result of the enzyme-powered reaction was determined optically.

London To Be Totally Wi-Fi-Enabled

2006-02-23T18:10:00.000-05:00

The City of London Corporation is all set to have Wi-Fi network in place covering the entire city. The project is being undertaken by the corporation in partnership with a private Wi-Fi firm, The Cloud. It is expected to be implemented in full in the next few months.

read more | digg story

Cornell Research into Dragonfly Micro-Air Vehicle (MAV)

2006-02-23T17:47:00.000-05:00

"From houseflies to honeybees, insects inspire us with flight skills just beyond the grasp of our technology. Z. Jane Wang, a professor at Cornell University, is working to close this gap between inspiration and implementation. Wangâ��s recent work is on dragonflies, and here she has found some peculiarities."

read more | digg story

Some Great Physics Lectures By Walter Lewin

2006-02-23T15:48:00.000-05:00

Found these at this blog. They are really great. Lewin is a really good teacher, great examples, with a little humor to boot.

Walter Lewin MIT page

Walter Lewin's Physics I Course

Walter Lewin's Physics II Course

Walter Lewin's Physics III Course

More about Walter Lewin on Wikipedia

Quantum computer solves problem, without running

2006-02-22T19:20:00.000-05:00

Using an optical-based quantum computer, a research team led by physicist Paul Kwiat has presented the first demonstration of "counterfactual computation," inferring information about an answer, even though the computer did not run.

read more | digg story

10 Hilarious IT Stories

2006-02-22T03:14:00.000-05:00

Here are some great tech support stories. These are hilarious! Here is just one of them.

Caller:
Me: Hello, Tech Support.
Caller: Hello yes, I received this update from you for my new PC, but it cannot read any of the floppy disks you sent me.
Me: Hmm. Can you please explain what's happening?
Caller: OK, I opened the box and read the instructions telling me to put in disk 1 and run setup.
Me: Good; next?
Caller: So I got the disks out the box and put the first disk into the drive after removing the protective cover.
Me: Protective cover? Do you mean the little white sleeve that the disk comes in?
Caller: No the big black cover that the disk comes in. Is it supposed to be that hard to get the disk out?

Quantum Cloning Goes Beyond Single Photons

2006-02-21T19:46:00.000-05:00

Every new experiment conducted regarding quantum physics never cease to amaze me. A new experiment has now demonstrated “quantum telecloning” – transporting a whole laser beam to two separate places.

"Photons generated simultaneously by the same light source can display a peculiar entanglement if the two photons are sent in different directions. Quantum teleportation takes advantage of this entangled state.

Quantum mechanics dictates that the entangled photons' properties remain unknown until they are measured – but observing one photon instantaneously determines the properties of its "entangled" partner, no matter how far apart the two are."

Read the article here.

A Look At Web 2.0

2006-02-21T18:57:00.000-05:00

In this blog there are a bunch of web 2.0 logos and a list of a bunch of web 2.0 sites. Pretty cool. Great for those wondering exactly what web 2.0 is.

2006-02-21T18:16:00.000-05:00

The idea that one day stem cells may be the cure for alot of deseases has been around for a while. That day may soon be near, and specifically for cancer.

One day, perhaps in the distant future, stem cells may help repair diseased tissues. But there is a far more pressing reason to study them: stem cells are the source of at least some, and perhaps all, cancers.
At the heart of every tumor, some researchers believe, lie a handful of aberrant stem cells that maintain the malignant tissue.
The idea, if right, could explain why tumors often regenerate even after being almost destroyed by anticancer drugs. It also points to a different strategy for developing anticancer drugs, suggesting they should be selected for lethality to cancer stem cells and not, as at present, for their ability to kill just any cells and shrink tumors.

Read the rest here.

Understanding Moore's Law

2006-02-20T21:52:00.000-05:00

For how often Moore's law is cited, it is one of the most mis-understood statements in computing history. Many take it to mean that the top processing speed of the fastest computer in the world will double every one and a half to two years. Some think that if they bought a new computer every 18 months, its speed should be exactly double the one before it. What Moore's law actually says (and what the data backs up since transistors were invented) is that transistor density will double every 18-24 months.

This information is graphed logarithmically, a straight line in a logarithm graph means smooth exponential growth

Renowned futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil takes the concept further, and shows that the performance of processors per a constant amount of money also doubles about every one and a half to two years. He goes on to state that there has been exponential growth since the birth of computing, in 1890. This growth continues smoothly from then to now, and is expected to hold out for at least this decade, if not longer.

That bit of length might be accomplished by IBM with their new chip technology. This devolopment was announced today.

"The development, which comes from materials research in the design of advanced lenses and related technologies, will make it possible to create semiconductors with wires thinner than 30 nanometers, one-third the width in today's industry-standard chips.

Currently, the densest computer memory chips store 4 billion bits of information; the extension of Moore's Law might make possible a generation storing 64 billion bits by 2013. Such a chip could store roughly 2,000 songs based on today's storage standards.

The industry now uses advanced laser light sources to photo-etch wire lines that are finer than the wavelength of light itself. This is done by generating interference patterns that allow subwavelength resolution. But there had been a general consensus in the industry that this technology would fail below 40 nanometers, requiring a shift to X-ray light sources or other printing technologies."

Read the rest here.

Evolving Humans Were At The BOTTOM Of The Food Chain

2006-02-20T19:23:00.000-05:00

The popular view of our ancient ancestors as hunters who conquered all in their way is wrong, researchers have told a major US science conference. Instead, they argue, early humans were on the menu for predatory beasts.

read more | digg story

Q&A: A lost interview with ENIAC co-inventor J. Presper Eckert

2006-02-19T18:36:00.000-05:00

On February 14th, 1946 the world of computing was utterly changed when the ENIAC was unveiled. The ENIAC (the first practical all-electrion computer) was really the forefather of all modern computers. In a lost interview with the co-inventor J Presper Eckert, he debunks some myths revolving around his machine (such as soldiers saluting it as they entered the room where it was housed or that it dimmed the lights in Philadelphia when in use,) and tells some interesting stories about it.

Read the interview here.

Famous Unsolved Codes and Ciphers

2006-02-19T18:26:00.000-05:00

This is an unofficial list of well-known unsolved codes and ciphers. A couple of the better-known unsolved ancient historical scripts are also thrown in, since they tend to come up during any discussion of unsolved codes.

read more | digg story

The Click That Broke China's Grip

2006-02-19T18:18:00.000-05:00

The top editors of the China Youth Daily were meeting in a conference room last August when their cell phones started buzzing quietly with text messages. One after another, they discreetly read the notes. Then they traded nervous glances...

read more | digg story

Encrypting Your Communication Means You Must Be a Criminal

2006-02-19T18:17:00.000-05:00

Skype has come under scrutiny from the NSA and FBI since its PC-to-PC calls are encrypted using AES encryption. This is the same encryption used by the US Government for many things. So, why is it "national security" when the Government encrypts its communications and assumed "criminal activity" when private citizens follow suit?

read more | digg story

Chicago to go city-wide wi-fi

2006-02-18T03:29:00.000-05:00

Chicago is getting proposals to join San Francisco and other cities in providing city-wide wi-fi access. No distinct companies are named as of yet (sorry Google). Another big city with free access. How long before the entire country gets there?

Is ubiquitous free Wi-Fi internet the wave of the future? Seems to be...

read more | digg story

Houston Police Chief Wants To Put Surveillance Cameras In Your Private Home

2006-02-17T18:50:00.000-05:00

"I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?" - Police Chief Harold Hurtt

Is he joking? Sadly, no.

read more | digg story

Use Google AdWords Keyword Tool To Increase Clicks

2006-02-17T18:33:00.000-05:00

This tool that Google has set up to improve your targeted ad relevance has really helped me to include better keywords. After using the new keywords, I noticed about a 20% increase in my click per impressions ratio, and indeed my total money earned.

For example, I use the keyword phrase "Science and Technology." I enter that into the Keyword Tool and it outputs a long list of more specific keywords that are similiar. Here are just a few.

-environmental science and technology
-science technology and society
-food science and technology
-water science and technology
-difference between science and technology
-issues in science and technology

and so on. It also gives me a list of similiar keywords that will improve clickthrough rates. A few examples are:

-agriculture
-r&d
-physics
-biochemistry
-nanotechnology
-biotechnology
-research center
-sustainability
-imaging
-engineering

After implementing more specific keywords, my clickthrough rates increased by about 20% in a few days with about the same number of unique hits. Try it out!

The Physics of Time Travel - Real or Fable?

2006-02-17T12:36:00.000-05:00

Physicists have always scoffed at the idea of time travel, considering it to be the realm of cranks, mystics, and charlatans, and with good reason. However, rather remarkable advances in quantum gravity are reviving the theory...

read more | digg story

Five Ways to Increase Blog Traffic

2006-02-17T02:39:00.000-05:00

After doing several hours of research for the last few days on increasing traffic to my blog, I have come over several techniques that come up repeatedly. These techniques are the basics; you should always make sure you are covering these before trying any complicated traffic system. Traffic exchanges like BlogExplosion or Traffic Swarm may help, but these are the things that really attract readers and keep them coming back for more.

1. Create quality unique content.

This is the most important technique you can use to get noticed. If your content is unique, you have good grammar and punctuation, and people actually want to know what you are telling them, then readers will do your advertising for you via word of mouth. Call it the Google approach, concentrate on quality and advertising isn't necessary.

2. Post comments.

An easy way to get noticed is to participate in the blogosphere discussion. If you post often in blogs that relate to yours, the writer and readers of that blog will often check out where all these intelligent and thoughtful comments are coming from.

3. Post often.

The more content you have, the more content someone will find that they like. It also can’t hurt to have people staying on your site longer, reading your stuff (and hopefully clicking on your ads).

4. Use RSS feeds.

With RSS becoming more popular, it is almost a requirement that you make a feed available for your site. It makes it easier for returning readers to keep track of new content, and will get you more readers that are dedicated in the long run.

5. Ping your site.

Ping-O-matic and BlogExplosion both have good pinging services that ping multiple sites. If the major indexes such as Technorati and Bloglines don't know who you are, or don't have your most recent content, less people will find you through them. Pinging them only takes a second, and will help increase traffic through these sites significantly.

These five techniques will get your blog traffic, and keep traffic growing better than any others. Best of all, they are all free (in money, time is another thing)!

Canadians Psiphon to Break Great Firewall of China

2006-02-17T02:16:00.000-05:00

"More than fifteen years after the Berlin Wall was shattered with hammers and bulldozers, a Canadian-designed computer program is preparing to break through what activists call the great firewall of China."

I had been talking to one of my friends about the need for somthing just like this to happen. I'm glad people are working on it.

read more | digg story

DNA Tests Disprove Mormon Scripture

2006-02-17T01:04:00.000-05:00

For those outside the faith, the depth of the church's dilemma can be explained this way: Imagine if DNA evidence revealed that the Pilgrims didn't sail from Europe to escape religious persecution but rather were part of a migration from Iceland and that U.S. history books were wrong.

read more | digg story

National Academy of Sciences To Make Panel To Monitor Stem Cell Research

2006-02-16T05:36:00.000-05:00

Finally. It's about time we let scientists have at least some semblance of control over scientific issues. Politicians cannot possibly understand the intricacies of complex scientific research like the National Academy of Sciences does. The academy, which advises the nation on science, engineering, and medicine, has been enlisted to create a committee that will monitor stem cell research in the United States. Although the committee will have informal oversight of the research, it will hold a bit of weight in deciding what research the government will allow.

They are not allowing any researchers using human embryonic stem cells to serve on the committee, so many of the leading supporters of stem cell research will not be able to participate. In April, the Academy suggested that universities create panels for the scientists to talk with. The national panel will set the guidelines for these smaller local university groups.

Social Bookmarking and a Few New Buttons

2006-02-16T03:54:00.000-05:00

I made a few new buttons to go under each post. No matter which social bookmarking site you use, you can get a link to it there! If you are a blogger and want a look at the code I posted that over on my other blog, King Tuts. I bet you are wondering what some of them are, so without further adieu:

1. Blinklist - Blinklist is a social bookmarking site where each bookmark gets a "blink." The more blinks a site has, the more people will see it. You can set your blinks to private, if you only want to utilize the bookmark feature, or you can publicize them, and show the world.

2. Furl - Furl is another social bookmarking site that is similar in many ways to blinklist. Furl makes it easier to share websites with friends than blinklist, but it doesn’t have as good of a public interface. Furl makes it easy to search all of your past bookmarks as well.

3. del.icio.us - del.icio.us is my favorite of the social bookmarking sites for keeping my bookmarks. Although the website is not as flashy, it gets the job done, and is best integrated with FireFox with a cool extension. del.icio.us is ok for finding new content, but I prefer the next site on the list for that.

4. Digg - Digg is my favorite of the social bookmarking sites for new content, I use it almost exclusively for that. Although you can keep your bookmarks there, It isn't as good for that as del.icio.us, blink or furl for that purpose. The non-hierarchal editorial control and the good community is what makes Digg what it is for finding interesting and important tech news.

If I left out any major ones, leave a comment and I will add them to the list!

Nanotubes break superconducting record

2006-02-16T01:04:00.000-05:00

"Physicists in Japan have shown that "entirely end-bonded" multi-walled carbon nanotubes can superconduct at temperatures as high as 12 K, which is 30 times greater than for single-walled carbon nanotubes. The discovery has been made by a team led by Junji Haruyama of Aoyama Gakuin University in Kanagawa. The superconducting nanotubes could be used to study fundamental 1D quantum effects and also find practical applications in molecular quantum computing."

What does this mean? This advance could help build more powerful particle accelerators, stronger electromagnets, or better digital circuits. In the future devolopments in superconductivity such as this one could lead to more efficient methods of power transfer. If you aren't familiar with the physics of carbon nano tuves and superconductivity (who isn't?) then the orignal article is an educational read.

Digg it!

Space elevator now one step closer to reality (with cool pic)

2006-02-15T19:09:00.000-05:00

A slim cable for a space elevator has been built stretching a mile into the sky, enabling robots to scrabble some way up and down the line. A private US company on a quest to build a space elevator by April 2018, stretched the strong carbon ribbon 1 mile (1.6 km) into the sky from the Arizona desert .

read more | digg story

Stanford neuroscientist Bill Newsome wants to implant an electrode in his brain

2006-02-15T18:47:00.000-05:00

Why you ask? So that he can see first hand what the experience that he has been giving monkeys is like, and, more specifically, to better understand the biology of human consciousness. He is going to accomplish this by inserting an electrode into his MT to stimulate the neurons located there. The hope is that this will clear up the relationship these cells have with detecing motion.

"Bill Newsome, a neuroscientist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, has spent the last twenty years studying how neurons encode information and how they use it to make decisions about the world. In the 1990s, he and collaborators were able to change the way a monkey responded to its environment by sending electric jolts to certain parts of its brain. The findings gave neuroscientists enormous insight into the inner workings of the brain.

But Newsome is obsessed with a lingering question: How does consciousness arise from brain function? He feels the best way to answer that question is by implanting an electrode into his own brain -- and seeing how the electric current changes his perception of the world."

Interesting article. Read the rest here.

Digg it!

Computer Addiction? Nah, Probably Just Modern Life

2006-02-15T18:21:00.000-05:00

Millions of people worldwide spend enormous amounts of time online, but are they addicted? Video games and the Internet have been subject to suspicion since the computer became a household fixture. One complaint: People get sucked into spending enormous amounts of time on the computer, to the detriment of other parts of their life.

"When you apply those criteria to something like Internet use or video game use, you find that yeah, lots of people display some of those components, but very few display all of them, and in that sense, to me, they are not classically addicted," Griffiths said.

I am always very interested in the psychology of gaming, and this article takes the stand that I tend to agree with. Although some people can become addicted to the internet and gaming, those people are a very small minority and should be helped off of it like any other dependence.

read more | digg story

BBC launch climate change study screen saver

2006-02-15T03:09:00.000-05:00

Similar to distributed super computers such as the SETI @ Home project, the BBC along with a bunch of Universities and the MET office call on users to help predict weather patterns.

I did the SETI@home project a few years back for a while. Recently I've been doing Folding@home, but maybe I'll do this for a while too, both projects seem worth my cpu downtime :).

read more | digg story

Ski team utilizing Marvel-esque futuristic body armor

2006-02-15T03:07:00.000-05:00

"A futuristic flexible material that instantly hardens into armour upon impact will protect US and Canadian skiers from injury on the slalom runs at this year's Winter Olympics."

Some of the first advances in nano clothing and polymers. Really cool stuff, can't wait to try this kind of stuff on in a few years if i go skiing or snowboarding.

read more | digg story

There May Be Life Inside Black Holes

2006-02-15T01:15:00.000-05:00

This is from NewScientist (which requires a subscription)

There is a way for you to live inside a black hole: find one that has five dimensions.

In the 4D case, you would experiance "tidal" forces that vary so vastly over short distances that your body would be pulled apart. But in the 5D case, there is no physical plughole, and the tidal forces are negligible, so you could happily explore without fear of dismemberment.

And, according to the results of my research, you may be doing that right now. A mathematical analysis says that our universe may well be a 5D black hole....

Students Embrace Virtual Sex

2006-02-14T19:08:00.000-05:00

A new study conducted at multiple universities in Canada suggests that virtual sex is more prevalent than previously thought. 87% of more than 2500 university and college students polled in Canada say that they have had sex over instant messenger, webcams or the phone, according to results of a national survey released on Monday. The survery, called Canadian CampusKiss & Tell, was founded by a Canadian online dating website called CampusKiss.com

Here are a few quick statistics from the survery:
-51% of the participates were female and 49% were male.
-53% enjoyed sex over instant messenger
-44% used a webcam or phone.
-87% say they were sober while having real sex.

Read the rest of the survey. It's pretty interesting.

Digg it!

Korea Develops Running Robot

2006-02-14T17:44:00.000-05:00

"South Korea has developed a robot that is capable of running. The feat is the second in the world after Japan and was accomplished by a local venture start-up working on a small budget."

Very cool, the age of robots is soon to be upon us.

read more | digg story

Biotech Crops Finally on the Horizon

2006-02-14T15:34:00.000-05:00

The promise of biotech crops that would change our lives has been made time and time again over the past 10 years. The only practical advancements in this field have controlled weeds and insects that hinder growth of these crops.

We always heard of cancer-fighting vegetables, or fruits with increased amounts of vitamins and other nutrients. Public and legal resistance to genetically modified foods has kept alot of companies from making advances that could save lives in third world countries. Are these advances finally here?

Some of these crops are finally here. Breakthroughs in corn with higher nutritional content, soybeans which eliminate trans fats in other foods, and soybeans with high omega-3 fatty acids, which help the brain and heart. Expect to see these on the shelves in three to six years.

The problem that plagues devolopers of these foods is public opinion of genetically modifying them. If people won't pick up these foods at the grocery store, even if they are healthier, tastier, and cheaper, then money for research won't be easy to find.

digg story

Tabletop Fusion Confirmed

2006-02-14T15:25:00.000-05:00

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a tabletop accelerator that produces nuclear fusion at room temperature, providing confirmation of an earlier experiment conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), while offering substantial improvements over the original design.

read more | digg story

New Device Revolutionizes Nano Imaging

2006-02-13T23:26:00.000-05:00

"Georgia Tech researchers have created a highly sensitive atomic force microscopy (AFM) technology capable of high-speed imaging 100 times faster than current AFM. This technology could prove invaluable for many types of nano-research, in particular for measuring microelectronic devices and observing fast biological interactions on the molecular scale, even translating into movies of molecular interactions in real time. The research, funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, appears in the February issue of Review of Scientific Instruments. "

Read more from the original article.

"FIRAT simultaneously captures a variety of material properties"

FIRAT is a great advance in the field of nano imaging. It allows for really good pictures of objects on the nano scale, with just one scan it can reveal several properties of the subject. It measures topography, adhesion, stiffness, elasticity, and viscosity.

Einstein's Theory 'Improved'?

2006-02-13T20:16:00.000-05:00

A Chinese astronomer has fine-tuned Einstein's groundbreaking theory of gravity, creating a 'simple' theory which could solve a dark mystery that has baffled astrophysicists for three-quarters of a century.

Another possible explanation forgoing the mysterious 'dark matter' theory of why gravity acts the way it does at the large scale of galaxies. Could this one be right?

read more | digg story

Ford Invents Hybrid that is 300% more efficient than Toyota Prius (Pic)

2006-02-13T19:17:00.000-05:00

Ford is developing a new form of automotive propulsion, and the implications for the American Auto Industry are huge.

Improvements in the efficiency of electric cars will be a key ingrediant in stopping the worlds dependence on oil. This is just another step in that direction.

read more | digg story

1 in 2 chance you'll misunderstand a text-based Internet message

2006-02-13T19:16:00.000-05:00

Study shows that even though the sender will expect you to understand their tone and meaning 80% of the time, you'll really only understand them about 50% of the time. This is because "people aren't that good at imagining how a message might be understood from another person's perspective."

This is a good story on how psychology should impact communications technology. Before you text someone, make sure you are clear.

read more | digg story

Psychology of Color

2006-02-13T19:12:00.000-05:00

"Like death and taxes, there is no escaping color. It is ubiquitous. Yet what does it all mean? Why are people more relaxed in green rooms? Why do weightlifters do their best in blue gyms?"

Great article. It never ceases to amaze me how much of our reaction is chemically controlled in the brain. Things we think are voluntary or things we think are subject to our free will keep turning out to be nothing more than reactions inside our brains.

read more | digg story

The mathematics of nature: PHI

2006-02-13T00:50:00.000-05:00

A great looks into the mathematics of nature and the ratio (PHI) upon which almost EVERYTHING is based. The way leaves grow on trees, the way the human body is designed, and the way seeds sit on sunflowers are only a few examples. This is a very interesting read.

Great read, the Golden Ratio has always interested me, and this site only scrapes the tip of the iceberg. A good primer if you aren't all that interested, or if you just want to know whats going on =-).

read more | digg story

New Scientific American Podcast Launched

2006-02-13T00:46:00.000-05:00

First episode covers cloning, stem cell, research, and evolution. (17 minutes in length)

Scientific American was always a great read. Now we get a podcast, what could be better? Definately check this out.

read more | digg story

I Digg It!

2006-02-13T00:23:00.000-05:00

For everyone that doesn't already know (and you should, shame on you!) www.Digg.com is in my opinion the best social bookmarking site on the net for technology related news. Unlike Slashdot, which has a group of editors decide which stories hit the front page, on Digg, the users themselves choose what shows up on the front page by "Digg"ing a story. Although the community on Digg isn't the best for discussing the articles, they seem pretty good at choosing the most interesting ones. Try it out!

Standpoint

2006-02-12T21:12:00.000-05:00

What do you believe? Make it clear with www.StandPoint.com, a web 2.0 site that utilizes clouds, links ideas, and shows the reasons for why people believe the things that they do. It's easy to get started, first you make an account, and start clicking on claims that you believe.

You can submit the reasons why, which can be more claims, books, films, arguments, or quotes, and eventually you get a long list of your beliefs. You can sort these, highlight them, add influences, reasons, and more.

It is clear that the site is still in its early stages, but many promising features are being implemented. All it needs is more users for it to gather some steam. This is a great web 2.0 site, try it out! In a few years people won't have to ask what you believe, they'll just take a look at your Standpoint!

ScienTech 2.0 Launched!

2006-02-12T20:27:00.000-05:00

In this blog I will look at trends in Science, Technology, Web 2.0, and talk about how devolpments and discoveries in these fields relate to psychology, religion, and art.