Science & TechnologyS


Family

Good dancers make the fittest mates

Nic Fleming
New Scientist
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:54 UTC
As generations of men with two left feet have learned to their cost, having the dance floor prowess of Mr Bean is no help in the mating game.

To make matters worse for the terminally uncoordinated, it now looks as if women are right to go for men who can strut their stuff like John Travolta or Patrick Swayze - as they are more likely to be strong and to produce healthy offspring.

Read More...
Mail

This document will self-erase in five minutes

John Evans
New Scientist
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:46 UTC
Image
© Unknown
This article will self-erase in 10 seconds. At least it would if it had been written on a film that exploits the colour-changing ability of nanoparticles. The technology could make it possible to create documents that wipe themselves clean after they've been read.

A team at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, coated gold nanoparticles with a layer of hair-like molecules called 4-(11-mercaptoundecanoxy) azobenzene or MUA. When zapped with ultraviolet light, these filaments change their shape and charge distribution, causing the nanoparticles to congregate together and change colour.

"The colour of the nanoparticles depends on how close they are to one another," says lead researcher Bartosz Grzybowski. "For instance, gold nanoparticles are red when separated, but become violet, then blue, then colourless as they cluster together."
Read More...
Arrow Down

Americans favor science, but less than before

Randolph E. Schmid
Associated Press
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:27 UTC
The share of Americans who see science as the nation's greatest achievement is down sharply, even as the public continues to hold scientists in high regard.

A new Pew Research Center poll indicates that 27 percent of Americans say the nation's greatest achievements are in science, medicine and technology, more than any category other than don't know.

But that's down from 47 percent in a similar study a decade ago, the center reported Thursday.

The decline comes even as technology reaches out to connect people worldwide via the Internet.
Read More...
Info

Ice Shouldn't Stop Dune Movement On Mars Or Earth


Mars Daily / SPX
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:38 UTC
Image
© NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/The University of ArizonaCemented layers protrude from a dune in North Polar Region of Mars. This is a subset of HiRISE image PSP_001374_2650.
Planetary scientists have monitored some Martian sand dunes for more than 30 years, and the dunes have not moved during that time, leading scientists to question whether snow and ice trapped inside the dunes might be preventing movement.

However a recent study published in Geomorphology shows that snow and ice are not enough in themselves to stop dune movement. While trapped ice and snow impedes movement of sand dunes in polar climates, compared to their counterparts in warmer areas, this does not entirely stop dune movement, the study shows.

This indicates that other factors are limiting dune movement, said Mary Bourke, a senior research scientist at the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute. Bourke led the study, which covers the longest time period of any cold-climate dune migration and dune dynamics study to date.
Read More...
Light Sabers

How Toyota Is Using Patents To Slow The Growth Of Hybrid Vehicles


Tech Dirt
Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:12 UTC
Image
© Associated PressToyota has filed for more than 2,000 patents for its hybrid technologies. A shopper checks out the 2010 Prius at a Tokyo showroom in May.
Slashdot points us to a WSJ story about how Toyota has purposely built up a patent thicket so thick that basically no one can build hybrid vehicles without paying up:
Since it started developing the gas-electric Prius more than a decade ago, Toyota has kept its attorneys just as busy as its engineers, meticulously filing for patents on more than 2,000 systems and components for its best-selling hybrid. Its third-generation Prius, which hit showrooms in May, accounts for about half of those patents alone.

Toyota's goal: to make it difficult for other auto makers to develop their own hybrids without seeking licensing from Toyota, as Ford Motor Co. already did to make its Escape hybrid and Nissan Motor Co. has for its Altima hybrid.
Read More...
Bulb

"End of Men" Discovery? Scientists create test-tube sperm

Jeremy Laurance
The Independent
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 03:38 UTC
Dr Karim Nayernia
© PADr Karim Nayernia, Newcastle University Professor of Stem Cell Biology
Scientists have created human sperm in the laboratory for the first time. The extraordinary development, which until a few years ago belonged in the realms of science fiction, raises hopes that infertile men may one day be able to father their own biological children.

The sperm were created in a test tube, from stem cells derived from a five-day-old male embryo. The advance raises ethical questions over the safety of the procedure and the threat it poses to the future role of men. It was also challenged by experts who claimed the sperm-like cells produced in the experiment were not genuine sperm.

If the finding is confirmed, a single male embryo could, in theory, yield a stem-cell line which when stored could provide an unlimited supply of sperm. Once the stem-cell line was established, there would be no further reproductive need for men. In a briefing on the research, the scientists at Newcastle University and the NorthEast England Stem Cell Institute, led by Professor Karim Nayernia, raise the question of whether their discovery means "the end of men".
Read More...
Better Earth

Ancient volcano caused 10-year winter


United Press International
Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:45 UTC
U.S. scientists said they have determined the eruption of Indonesia's Toba volcano about 74,000 years ago triggered a decade-long severe winter.

Previous studies suggested the massive eruption produced a 1,000-year episode of ice sheet advance, as well as a "volcanic winter," which most likely would have drastically reduced the human population at the time.

To investigate additional mechanisms that might have enhanced and extended the effects of the Toba eruption, Rutgers University Professor Alan Robock and colleagues conducted six climate model computer simulations using state-of-the-art models that include vegetation death effects and stratospheric chemistry feedback that might affect the lifetime of the volcanic cloud.
Read More...
Magnify

Contaminated Site Remediation: Are Nanomaterials the Answer?


Environmental Health Perspectivess
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:13 UTC
A new review article appearing in Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) co-authored by Dr. Todd Kuiken, a research associate for the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN), focuses on the use of nanomaterials for environmental cleanup. It provides an overview of current practices; research findings; societal issues; potential environment, health, and safety implications; and possible future directions for nanoremediation. The authors conclude that the technology could be an effective and economically viable alternative for some current site cleanup practices, but potential risks remain poorly understood.
Read More...
Info

Faster, more cost-effective DNA test for crime scenes, disease diagnosis

Michael Woods
American Chemical Society
Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:06 UTC
Scientists in Japan are reporting development of a faster, less expensive version of the fabled polymerase chain reaction (PCR) a DNA test widely used in criminal investigations, disease diagnosis, biological research and other applications. The new method could lead to expanded use of PCR in medicine, the criminal justice system and elsewhere, the researchers say. Their study is scheduled for the July 15 issue of Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal.
Read More...
Laptop

Computer learns sign language by watching TV

Colin Barras
New Scientist
Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:47 UTC
It's not only humans that can learn from watching television. Software developed in the UK has worked out the basics of sign language by absorbing TV shows that are both subtitled and signed.

Read More...