Sam Gentile: Sam::Science

Sun, 17 Nov 2002 14:13:33 GMT

U. Va. Team Identifies Gene That Could Halt Spread Of Cancer [Science Daily]

Sun, 17 Nov 2002 14:12:34 GMT

Using Computers, Scientists Successfully Predict Evolution Of E. Coli Bacteria [Science Daily]

Thu, 14 Nov 2002 14:30:37 GMT

New telescope provides sharpest view of Sun. A new Swedish telescope has taken the sharpest images to date of the Sun, astronomers... [spacetoday.net]

Thu, 14 Nov 2002 14:24:20 GMT

NASA releases SLI budget changes. NASA and the President submitted to Congress Wednesday requested amendments to the agency’s budget... [spacetoday.net]

Tue, 12 Nov 2002 21:33:22 GMT

Wanna go to Mars?.

Two bits of information from this article on CNN.

For kids between 5 and 18, they can take part in a contest to name the next two Mars rovers.
For the rest of us, you can have your name burned onto a DVD which will be sent to Mars on one of the rovers.

So what would you name the rovers?

[News from the Forest]

Tue, 12 Nov 2002 13:23:43 GMT

Quasars put lens on dark energy [New Scientist]

Tue, 12 Nov 2002 13:23:28 GMT

Astronomers find new evidence for dark energy. Astronomers have used radio telescope observations to conclude that two-thirds of the universe is... [spacetoday.net]

Mon, 28 Oct 2002 12:13:50 GMT

Chandra data bolsters dark matter. Observations of a distant galaxy by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have offered new support... [spacetoday.net]

Fri, 25 Oct 2002 21:31:50 GMT

Listening for oceans on Europa.

An intriguing idea for finding oceans on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, involves not much more than a microphone. As tidal forces squeeze the moon, any ice sitting above water will flex, crack and quake, creating audio signatures.

Nick Makris, an acoustical oceanographer and associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will present this idea next week at the Geological Society of American conference in Denver.

The technique has already been tested on ice above the Arctic Sea and more trials will be done at Lake Vostok and other thick Antarctic ice sheets, more similar to Europa's estimated 20 kilometre depth of ice.

More information

[David Harris: Science news]

Sat, 19 Oct 2002 17:42:04 GMT

ISS to host World Series first pitch. The International Space Station will be home to the ceremonial first pitch of the 2002... [spacetoday.net]

Thu, 17 Oct 2002 15:53:36 GMT

Misconduct: the aftermath.

A series of articles in this week's New York Science Times looks at how recent findings of misconduct are affecting science.

His Reputation Is Shredded. What About His Papers? by Kenneth Chang

Lucent is coordinating the retractions of all papers of Schön's that were found to contain fraudulent data. Schön and his co-winners have agreed to return a valuable prize they were awarded on the basis of research now shown to be invalid.

On Scientific Fakery and the Systems to Catch It by Kenneth Chang

This article explores what Schön's co-authors really knew and what the role of co-authors should be. The ripples begin to expand...

At Lawrence Berkeley, Physicists Say a Colleague Took Them for a Ride by George Johnson

On to the other misconduct of the moment, Johnson's piece also questions the role of co-authors in the case of Ninov and the mystery of element 118.

[David Harris: Science news]

Wed, 16 Oct 2002 16:23:44 GMT

Allergic To Your DNA? [Science Daily]

Wed, 16 Oct 2002 16:23:30 GMT

Protein Patterns In Blood May Predict Prostate Cancer Diagnosis [Science Daily]

Wed, 09 Oct 2002 16:04:12 GMT

Astronomers Discover Icy World Far Past Pluto [Scientific American]

Tue, 08 Oct 2002 13:28:16 GMT

Astronomers discover giant Kuiper Belt object. Two Caltech astronomers announced Monday that they have discovered the largest Kuiper Belt object found... [spacetoday.net]

Tue, 08 Oct 2002 13:27:54 GMT

Report: space tourism could become billion-dollar industry in 20 years. A report published Monday by the Futron Corporation concludes that space tourism could develop into... [spacetoday.net]

Mon, 07 Oct 2002 16:53:11 GMT

Physics auction nets half-mil for Einstein. Last Friday's Christie's auction of original physics manuscripts included original works by Einstein, Curie, Newton and other physics rock-stars. The Einstein (which included an early attempt to prove relativity) went to an anonymous bidder for $500,000. Link Discuss [Boing Boing Blog]

Mon, 07 Oct 2002 12:44:40 GMT

Astronomers observe life cycle of black hole jets. Astronomers announced last week that they have observed for the first time the full life... [spacetoday.net]

Sat, 05 Oct 2002 13:22:08 GMT

Astronomers discover new moons around planet, asteroid. Two groups of astronomers announced this week the discoveries of new moons around the planet... [spacetoday.net]

Tue, 01 Oct 2002 06:19:03 GMT

Earth's Core May Contain Smaller, Separate Center [Scientific American]

Wed, 25 Sep 2002 01:03:36 GMT

Physicists Create Antimatter

Physicists working in Europe have passed through nature's looking glass and have created atoms made of antimatter, or antiatoms, opening up the possibility of experiments in a realm once reserved for science fiction writers. [news.com]

Cool!

[Greg Reinacker's Weblog]

Fri, 20 Sep 2002 22:34:21 GMT

Physical cryptography.

An epoxy resin token containing tiny glass spheres can be used as a device to encrypt information very securely, according to a fascinating paper published in Science today. The advantage of the system is that it is next to impossible to forge the token.

Shining light through the token creates a characteristic pattern that can be used to confirm the token is the key to accessing some secret information. However, even if you analyse the token, it is not possible using current technology or computational resources to mathematically or physically reverse the process and work out how to replicate the token. This difficulty in reversing a process is the basis for existing mathematical encryption schemes. The mathematical functions used to do this are called "one-way".

The difference here is that the encryption happens via a "one-way" physical process that can not be copied. Even trying to examine the insides of the token will destroy it, so no replica can be made while keeping the original intact and the owner unaware of the forgery.

This new approach to encryption adds to the tools that can be used to keep information safe. Even if mathematical techniques for cracking existing "one-way" encryption schemes are discovered, technology is still so far short of being able to replicate these physical devices that information will remain secure.

More at Nature Science Update

More at New Scientist

[David Harris: Science news]

Thu, 19 Sep 2002 18:29:45 GMT

Astronomers detect water on exoplanets. Astronomers announced this week that they have detected evidence of water in the atmospheres of... [spacetoday.net]

Thu, 19 Sep 2002 18:29:28 GMT

NRC report criticizes ISS science. A report issued Wednesday by the National Research Council sharply criticized the scientific plans of... [spacetoday.net]

Thu, 19 Sep 2002 00:21:52 GMT

Odd dino has rabbit-like teeth [BBC Science & Nature]

Wed, 18 Sep 2002 22:35:36 GMT

Antimatter success: cold anti-hydrogen made in the lab.

After years of effort, anti-hydrogen atoms, made of an antiproton and a positron instead of a proton and electron, have been made and detected in an experiment in Geneva. Over 50,000 anti-atoms have been made and are enough to do extremely sensitive tests of fundamental aspects of physics and are a starting point for exploring new aspects of anti-matter.

The results are published online at Nature today.

Details at Nature Science Update

Details at Physics News Update

[David Harris: Science news]

Mon, 16 Sep 2002 16:14:09 GMT

Alzheimer's-Associated Enzyme Elevated In Key Brain Areas [Science Daily]

Mon, 16 Sep 2002 16:13:51 GMT

Scientists Discover That 40 Percent Of The World's Gold Is 3 Billion Years Old [Science Daily]

Thu, 12 Sep 2002 18:00:02 GMT

Nanowire or nanotube? Intel looks ahead. The company discloses a number of tech changes and research avenues that will direct future chip development. The nanotechnology era is here, and Intel is looking at all the options. [CNET News.com]

Thu, 12 Sep 2002 15:46:34 GMT

Human ancestors 'dodgy at DIY' [BBC Science & Nature]

Thu, 12 Sep 2002 11:16:44 GMT

Privacy fears over DNA database [BBC Science & Nature]

Thu, 12 Sep 2002 11:16:26 GMT

Earth's new 'moon' is space junk [BBC Science & Nature]

Mon, 09 Sep 2002 17:04:34 GMT

Life reached land a billion years ago [BBC Science & Nature]

Sat, 07 Sep 2002 13:45:33 GMT

Robert Silverberg, the veteran SF writer on Burning Science at the Stake

Wed, 28 Aug 2002 23:33:08 GMT

Artificial Life Perspective [GameDev.net] [Stephen S Kelley's Web Surfing] Thanks to Steve for finding these articles in an area I am very interested in and thanks also for linking me (found you in my Referer logs). Rss subscribed.

Tue, 20 Aug 2002 21:32:09 GMT

Prototype Mars rover passes final field test [New Scientist]

Tue, 13 Aug 2002 22:01:20 GMT

India Plans Its Own Moon Shot [Slashdot]

Tue, 13 Aug 2002 18:23:47 GMT

When physicists envy biologists...

Gareth Cook reports in the Boston Globe today about a meeting of physicists looking at ways in which their field interacts with biology. He quotes John Hopfield of Princeton saying, "'The whole problem is that we are living in the 21st century with these 19th century guilds.'' [David Harris: Science news]

Tue, 13 Aug 2002 14:02:28 GMT

Crawler problem could delay Atlantis launch. Cracked bearings discovered in the two "crawlers" used to transport the shuttle to the launch... [spacetoday.net]

Sat, 10 Aug 2002 20:22:04 GMT

Matt's Particle Physics Column - Special Edition. This is a special instalment of Matt's particle physics column, commemorating the life and work of Paul Adrian Maurice Dirac. The occasion is the centenary of Dirac's birth, which happened on August 8, the catalyst was another k5 article on the same subject. This short special edition will outline Dirac's contributions to modern physics, and relay a few famous stories about Dirac, to illuminate his unique personality. I will refrain from a full biography; readers who would like one can consult the the Nobel prize website. Those unfamiliar with the terminology I use are urged to consult past editions of my column Part one Part two Part three [kuro5hin.org]

This is one of the best modern Science write-ups I have seen on the Internet, period. Bloody brilliant. Of course. Dirac figures quite prominently in the Quantum Mechanics and modern physics that form the basic of the Hard SF movement in Science Fiction coming out of Britan right now: Egan, Baxter, Reynolds, Stross, etc.

Tue, 06 Aug 2002 17:55:18 GMT

Cosmic rays 'explain climate conundrum' [BBC Science & Nature]

Mon, 05 Aug 2002 15:49:20 GMT

Shuttle launch plans announced. NASA officials confirmed plans Friday to reschedule the next three space shuttle missions. Under the... [spacetoday.net]

Mon, 05 Aug 2002 15:48:48 GMT

Researchers claim some ALH84001 magnetite formed by bacteria. A team of scientists has published evidence that one quarter of the magnetite found in... [spacetoday.net]

Mon, 05 Aug 2002 15:48:35 GMT

Cancer 'highway' scanned by doctors [BBC Science & Nature]

Mon, 05 Aug 2002 15:48:17 GMT

Scientists discover how cancer spreads [BBC Science & Nature]

Wed, 31 Jul 2002 02:16:26 GMT

Antimatter mystery deepens [BBC Science & Nature]

Tue, 30 Jul 2002 13:12:59 GMT

Anemone of the Smart People. A manufactured sea anemone, designed by the MIT Media Lab, probes the difference -- if any -- between artificial intelligence and mere good programming. It was one of the hits at the recent Siggraph Emerging Technologies exhibit. Michael Stroud reports from San Antonio, Texas. [Wired News]

Mon, 29 Jul 2002 14:28:23 GMT

Think positive to live longer

A study in the August issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that older people who have a more positive view of aging live up to 7.5 years longer. The data were collected in a longitudinal study over 23 years. A will to live contributes part of this extra lifespan.

[David Harris: Science news]

Mon, 29 Jul 2002 14:28:10 GMT

Fear not the "armageddon" asteroid

Now that scientists have had a chance to look twice at asteroid 2002 NT7, they have concluded that it is not a risk to Earth, as some of us expected.

The new data was announced over the weekend and the risk summary appears at NASA and NeoDys.

Some of the key numbers to look at in those tables are the distance and width. If the distance is greater than the width, we are essentially safe. The probability for impact in 2060 is about 3 in a million. Probabilities like this are notoriously difficult to interpret in a meaningful way so let's just say that's a pretty small number.

You have to wonder how smart it is for people to blow this story up out of all proportion. Is it the fault of the original scientists who noticed there could be a close call? Perhaps the press officers at their institutions seeking publicity... Or maybe it was mentioned as a relatively minor point but the media took it and ran. In any case, it doesn't seem very responsible to announce what some people may find is frightening and disturbing when a few extra days (over a timescale of 60 years!) makes all the difference.

[David Harris: Science news]

Mon, 29 Jul 2002 14:27:54 GMT

Anti-gravity schemes persist

How is it that the Podkletnov anti-gravity scheme is still being discussed? There is no theoretical foundation for it, no experimental evidence for it, some tests that have shown it not to exist... What else do we need?

But now Phantom Works in Seattle (which handles Boeing's sensitive programs) is researching it again and they seem to believe it is plausible, reports the BBC.

There's a sucker company born every minute... (and we wonder why the dot-com market crashed...)

[David Harris: Science news]