background preloader

Pluto May Host an Ocean

http://news.discovery.com/

Physicists discover "violation of a fundamental symmetry of the universe" @El Kabong: Not bunk, outdated. Think of each additional particle/force discovered as being a refinement. It happens all the time, in all aspects of science. The thing is, we just can't jump all the way to the last chapter and say "All that needs discovering has been discovered" — Like the a pile of rocks, science happens one pebble at a time. Sure, one can theorize as to what the end result *may* look like, but the details only reveal themselves step by step. The Face of a Frog: Time-Lapse Video Reveals Never-Before-Seen Bioelectric Pattern Newswise — MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass.--For the first time, Tufts University biologists have reported that bioelectrical signals are necessary for normal head and facial formation in an organism and have captured that process in a time-lapse video that reveals never-before-seen patterns of visible bioelectrical signals outlining where eyes, nose, mouth, and other features will appear in an embryonic tadpole. The Tufts research with accompanying video and photographs will appear July 18 online in advance of publication in the journal Developmental Dynamics.

Spinoff 2004-FORECASTING WEATHER WITH A WAVE OF THE HAND Cybernet Systems Corporation, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, originally developed its gesture recognition technology for the U.S. Department of Defense. A 1997 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with NASA’s Johnson Space Center also contributed to the development of the company’s gesture recognition and tracking system, which observes human hand motions and interprets gestures in order to control devices.

Massive Jupiter-Sized Dark Object May Lurk at Edge of Solar System Comet data that has been collected for over a century suggests that a dark Jupiter sized object is lurking at the edge of the solar system, and may be hurling ice and dust chunks towards Earth. Planetary scientist John Matese of the University of Louisiana explained that 10 years worth of data were added to the initial research to test the hypothesis. “Only now should we be able to falsify or verify that you could have a Jupiter-mass object out there.” Matese, along with his colleague, Daniel Whitmire, think there is a hidden companion to the Sun in the Oort Cloud that is booting icy bodies into the inner solar system where they can be seen. New analysis of observations that have been made for the last hundred-plus years, tell Matese and Whitmire that their original idea can be confirmed. By analyzing patterns that comets make in space the researchers were able to concur that 20 percent of comets in the Oort Cloud would "need a nudge from a distant object about the size of Jupiter."

India's most wanted A few weeks ago, Dr SD Biju, an eminent Indian amphibian researcher, was leading volunteers in the forests surrounding Mirik Lake in Darjeeling, West Bengal. They were on the lookout for frogs belonging to that region. Here, it's not habitat destruction that has led to the frogs' disappearance, but the fact that locals comsume them. This is only one of the few obstacles faced by this team that functions under the umbrella organisation Lost Amphibians of India (LAI), launched in November 2010 with the plan to travel the country to rediscover India's 'lost' amphibians. Sadly, over 50 species of amphibians in India, mostly frogs and caecilians, are thought to have gone extinct, since noone has seen them for 10 years. Some have not been seen for 18, others for 169 years.

Weather Proverbs People have been forecasting the weather for centuries. They once looked to plants and animals for hints about what the weather would do. For example, before it rained, some people often observed that ants moved to higher ground, cows lay down, pine cones opened up, frogs croaked more frequently, and sheeps' wool uncurled. Over the years, people began to notice other natural clues to upcoming weather, and several weather "sayings" grew up over the years.

Distant Star Enveloped By Ingredients for Fake Diamonds A faraway star sparkles with the largest amount of zirconium ? the stuff fake diamonds are made from ? ever seen, according to a new study. I Confess: I'm Jealous Of Frogs, Lizards And Salamanders Because Of Their Stem Cells I confess. I'm jealous of frogs, lizards and salamanders. Why? Because of their stem cells and transdifferentiation potential.

Vintage Weather Tips. Why a page on vintage weather tips? It's because sometimes the old ways still work. As a matter of fact, when you stop and think about it, how often has the weather stations been wrong? Well, since we have quite a few old weather tips, we decided to establish a seperate page on just these weather tips.

Related: