DNA reveals Neanderthal extinction clues. 27 February 2012Last updated at 18:14 By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website Neanderthals were close evolutionary cousins of our own species - Homo sapiens Neanderthals were already on the verge of extinction in Europe by the time modern humans arrived on the scene, a study suggests. DNA analysis suggests most Neanderthals in western Europe died out as early as 50,000 years ago - thousands of years before our own species appeared. A small group of Neanderthals then recolonised parts of Europe, surviving for 10,000 years before vanishing.
The work is published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution. An international team of researchers studied the variation, or diversity, in mitochondrial DNA extracted from the bones of 13 Neanderthals. This type of genetic information is passed down on the maternal line; because cells contain multiple copies of the mitochondrial genome, this DNA is easier to extract from ancient remains than the DNA found in the nuclei of cells. “Start Quote. Inininoutoutout. Spare parts for humans: tissue engineers develop lab-grown lungs and limbs. [Video Link] Above, a PBS NewsHour report by science correspondent Miles O'Brien which I helped shoot, on the subject of tissue engineering.
The goal in this field: Grow tissue or even whole organs to repair damaged or diseased human bodies. The report focuses in part on Isaias Hernandez, a 26-year old Marine whose leg was badly injured in an artillery attack on his convoy, in Iraq. "It looked like a chicken, like if you would take a bite out of it down to the bone," he tells Miles. Dr. Full transcript for the story is here. Hackers plan space satellites to combat censorship. 4 January 2012Last updated at 06:52 ET By David Meyer Technology reporter 50 years after Russia's first piloted mission, hackers plan to send their own people beyond orbit Computer hackers plan to take the internet beyond the reach of censors by putting their own communication satellites into orbit.
The scheme was outlined at the Chaos Communication Congress in Berlin. The project's organisers said the Hackerspace Global Grid will also involve developing a grid of ground stations to track and communicate with the satellites. Longer term they hope to help put an amateur astronaut on the moon. Hobbyists have already put a few small satellites into orbit - usually only for brief periods of time - but tracking the devices has proved difficult for low-budget projects.
The hacker activist Nick Farr first put out calls for people to contribute to the project in August. "The first goal is an uncensorable internet in space. Beyond balloons Continue reading the main story “Start Quote Ground network. Weird Kelvin-Helmholtz Wave Clouds over Birmingham. While driving through Birmingham, Alabama, Redditor alison_bee couldn’t help but notice the bizarre, repetitive wave shapes appearing in the clouds near the horizon. While these strange cloud formations look otherworldly, they’re an example of what’s called Kelvin-Helmholtz instability — which is a pretty awesome name for a spectacular phenomenon. Here’s how Wikipedia describes what you’re seeing: [...] when velocity shear is present within a continuous fluid, or when there is sufficient velocity difference across the interface between two fluids. One example is wind blowing over a water surface, where the wind causes the relative motion between the stratified layers (i.e., water and air).
The instability will manifest itself in the form of waves being generated on the water surface. The example of a strong wind blowing over water is, I think, particularly illustrative. Heres what Redditor and meteorologist zensunnioracle had to say: Meteorologist here. (Reddit via TYWKIWDBI) Pauline Briand. In London, Riding the Underground Turns Into a Game - Technology. Predicting the Future of Computing - Interactive Feature. 3-D printer makes scaffolding for growing bones. The Beginning Is Near – occuprint. Sonic Graffiti | Mr.Underwood. Supersonic Noise Box – Dual oscillator optical synthersizer I was recently commissioned by VIVID and Capsule to produce and install eight pieces of Sonic Graffiti in Digbeth, Birmingham. These are sound objects, embedded in the built environment. The commission was split between four pieces that featured the “Crash EP” of music inspired by field recordings taken in the area and four others which were more “playable”.
I have created such sound objects in the past. I’ve always just left them in random places, often while away on holiday etc. For example, you might visit the toilet in a library and find a small voice recorder that encourages you innocently to “Leave a nice message for the next person”. This was different though. What follows is the story of how these came about, the successes, the failings, and the people I met along the way… Initially, this idea was pitched to a different arts organisation locally. Sonic Graffiti is GO! So, the first requirement was some expert advice. Tours. Bizarre classroom posters from the '70s, Part 2: Filling in the (very strange) blanks. The dronecam revolution will be webcast: Interview with Tim Pool of "The Other 99" Webcaster Tim Pool of "The Other 99.
" In recent weeks, one source of live news coverage for the Occupy Wall Street movement stood out above all others. Not a cable news network, not a newspaper, but a 25-year-old guy named Tim Pool. He packs a smartphone with unlimited data, a copy of Ustream's mobile video streaming app, and a battery pack to keep it all going — which he has for 21 hours straight, on big news days. Soon, Tim and team plan to have have their own hacker-made flying camera-drones, to provide aerial footage TV news chopppers can't. Xeni Jardin: Break down your current gear setup for us, would you? Tim Pool: The backpack I use is just a regular backpack. Xeni Jardin: And that equipment was purchased for you with donations? Tim Pool: The Energizer battery, yes. Tim Pool's gear kit for the "The Other 99" web stream. Xeni Jardin: Where are you from? Tim Pool: Chicago. Xeni Jardin: And what inspired you to come up to OWS? Tim Pool: Not video.
Xeni Jardin: Why are you doing this? Money Chart. Canadian’s lucky iron fish saves lives in Cambodia. Waterloo Region Record GUELPH — At the heart of this tale is a lucky little fish. How it became the answer to a dire medical problem deep in the Cambodian jungle is something University of Guelph researcher Christopher Charles swears is no fish tale. It began three years ago when this science whiz from Milton, who had just graduated from Guelph with a bachelor in biomedical science, took on a gritty little summer research gig in Cambodia. The task was to help local scientists try to persuade village women to place chunks of iron in their cooking pots to get more iron in their diet and lower the risk of anemia. Great in theory, but the women weren’t having it.
It was an enticing challenge in a country where iron deficiency is so rampant, 60 per cent of women face premature labour, hemorrhaging during childbirth and poor brain development among their babies. A disease of poverty, iron deficiency affects 3.5 billion people in the world. The research team tried a small circle of iron. Slavery Footprint. Technologies of Control and Resistance: Making Sense of our Stagnant Dynamism // Eli Dourado. I’ve just read Race Against The Machine, a new Kindle Single by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, which argues contra Tyler Cowen’s The Great Stagnation that we are witnessing not a slowdown, but a positive acceleration of technological change.
Brynjolfsson and McAfee argue that the fast pace of innovation is creating mismatches between humans and new technology, which has resulted in a lot of technological unemployment. The jargon is skill-biased technical change (SBTC). All recessions bring unemployment, but recent recessions have resulted in “jobless recoveries” that are the result not of cyclical forces but of deep structural change in the economy. Brynjolfsson and McAfee are not wrong, but I think a better picture emerges if we attempt to reconcile their argument with Cowen’s rather than viewing them as contradictory.
As Tyler argues, we have not had the kind of growth we might have expected 40 years ago if we had extrapolated based on the prior 40 years. Here’s my model.