SOTT
SIGNS
OF THE
TIMES
OF THE
TIMES
Welcome to Sott.net
The World for People who Think
Science & TechnologyS
Faster growth, darker leaves, a different way of branching - wild varieties of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana are often substantially different from the laboratory strain of this small mustard plant, a favorite of many plant biologists. Which detailed differences distinguish the genomes of strains from the polar circle or the subtropics, from America, Africa or Asia has been investigated for the first time by research teams from Tübingen, Germany, and California led by Detlef Weigel from the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology. The results were surprising: The extent of the genetic differences far exceeds the expectations for such a streamlined genome, as the scientists write in this week's edition of Science magazine.
Researchers exploring a remote terrain in Arctic Canada have made discoveries that may rock the world of Canadian geology.
Geologists from the University of Alberta have found that portions of Canada collided a minimum of 500 million years earlier than previously thought. Their research, published in the American journal Geology, is offering new insight into how the different continental fragments of North America assembled billions of years ago.
Lead researcher Michael Schultz, a graduate student at the U of A, took advantage of a rare opportunity to explore the Queen Maud block of Arctic Canada, a large bedrock terrain that is said to occupy a keystone tectonic position in Northern Canada.
Because of its remote location, the Queen Maud block has remained understudied. Until now. "In terms of trying to figure out how Canada formed, this block held a lot of secrets," said Schultz.
Geologists from the University of Alberta have found that portions of Canada collided a minimum of 500 million years earlier than previously thought. Their research, published in the American journal Geology, is offering new insight into how the different continental fragments of North America assembled billions of years ago.
Lead researcher Michael Schultz, a graduate student at the U of A, took advantage of a rare opportunity to explore the Queen Maud block of Arctic Canada, a large bedrock terrain that is said to occupy a keystone tectonic position in Northern Canada.
Because of its remote location, the Queen Maud block has remained understudied. Until now. "In terms of trying to figure out how Canada formed, this block held a lot of secrets," said Schultz.
A life-size, robotic fly has taken flight at Harvard University. Weighing only 60 milligrams, with a wingspan of three centimeters, the tiny robot's movements are modeled on those of a real fly. While much work remains to be done on the mechanical insect, the researchers say that such small flying machines could one day be used as spies, or for detecting harmful chemicals.
|
| ©Robert Wood |
| This tiny robot weighs just 60 milligrams and has a wingspan of three centimeters. It's the first robot to achieve liftoff that's modeled on a fly and built on such a small scale. |
The ancient game of checkers (or draughts) has been pronounced dead. The game was killed by the publication of a mathematical proof showing that draughts always results in a draw when neither player makes a mistake. For computer-game aficionados, the game is now "solved".
Draughts is merely the latest in a steady stream of games to have been solved using computers, following games such as Connect Four, which was solved more than 10 years ago.
The computer proof took Jonathan Schaeffer, a computer-games expert at the University of Alberta in Canada, 18 years to complete and is one of the longest running computations in history.
Draughts is merely the latest in a steady stream of games to have been solved using computers, following games such as Connect Four, which was solved more than 10 years ago.
The computer proof took Jonathan Schaeffer, a computer-games expert at the University of Alberta in Canada, 18 years to complete and is one of the longest running computations in history.
|
| ©AP Photo/Andrew Medichini |
| Archaeologists work in Rome, on the ruins of a 2nd-century bath complex believed to be part of a vast, luxurious residence of a billionaire who gathered his fellow Romans to party and relax. |
ROME - Archaeologists said Thursday they have partly dug up a second-century bath complex believed to be part of the vast, luxurious residence of a wealthy Roman.
A new study conducted on Saturn has solved the mystery of the "Walnut Moon" associated with the planet. Scientists at the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California now say that a burst of radioactivity warmed and softened Saturn's moon Iapetus soon after it formed, allowing it to be molded into its walnut-like shape, rather than the expected sphere.
Iapetus, Saturn's icy moon, is now 20 miles wider at the equator than the poles. An Iapetus day is nearly 80 Earth days long. The moon also has a broad bulge around its equator capped by a narrow ridge, giving it the appearance of a walnut.
Since long time, scientists were working to find out how it acquired its distinctive walnut shape since the ridge was discovered in 2004 in images from the Cassini spacecraft.
Iapetus, Saturn's icy moon, is now 20 miles wider at the equator than the poles. An Iapetus day is nearly 80 Earth days long. The moon also has a broad bulge around its equator capped by a narrow ridge, giving it the appearance of a walnut.
Since long time, scientists were working to find out how it acquired its distinctive walnut shape since the ridge was discovered in 2004 in images from the Cassini spacecraft.
Pluto's neighbouring object, Charon, could be spewing out liquid water from ultra-cold volcanoes, covering Charon's chilly surface with freshly-formed ice crystals.
This dramatic conclusion was made by Jason Cook at Arizona State University, Tempe, who looked at Charon's near-infrared spectrum using telescopes at the Gemini Observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Cook found traces of both crystalline water ice and ammonia, he reports in Astrophysical Journal1.
Cook says that icy crystals can only exist on Charon if they are regularly deposited there. Crystalline ice cannot exist for long on the surface because it is bombarded with ultra-violet radiation from the Sun and charged particles, and these smooth out the crystals, he says. This is where the volcanoes come in.
This dramatic conclusion was made by Jason Cook at Arizona State University, Tempe, who looked at Charon's near-infrared spectrum using telescopes at the Gemini Observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Cook found traces of both crystalline water ice and ammonia, he reports in Astrophysical Journal1.
Cook says that icy crystals can only exist on Charon if they are regularly deposited there. Crystalline ice cannot exist for long on the surface because it is bombarded with ultra-violet radiation from the Sun and charged particles, and these smooth out the crystals, he says. This is where the volcanoes come in.
"In some strange way an electron or a photon [or any other elementary particle] seems to 'know' about changes in the environment and appears to respond accordingly," says physicist Danah Zohar.
Britain became separated from mainland Europe after a catastrophic flood some time before 200,000 years ago, a sonar study of the English Channel confirms.
A highly functional bionic hand which was invented by a Scottish NHS worker has gone on the market.
The thumb and fingers can move and grip just like a human hand and are controlled by the patient's mind and muscles.
It was invented by David Gow and was designed and built by Touch Bionics, which is based in Livingston.
The thumb and fingers can move and grip just like a human hand and are controlled by the patient's mind and muscles.
|
| ©BBC |
| The hand is controlled by the user's mind and muscles. |
It was invented by David Gow and was designed and built by Touch Bionics, which is based in Livingston.
