Science & TechnologyS


Cloud Lightning

New Cloud Type Discovered?

Christine Dell'Amore
National Geographic
Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:40 UTC
Image
These choppy clouds over Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in an undated picture could be examples of the first new type of cloud to be recognized since 1951. Or so hopes Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society.

The British cloud enthusiast said he began getting photos of "dramatic" and "weird" clouds (including the above) in 2005 that he didn't know how to define.
Read More...
Info

Unexplained atmospheric chemistry detected

Sid Perkins
Science News
Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:32 UTC
Unidentified chemical reactions taking place in some polluted air may be a source of hydroxyl radicals, data from a new field study suggest.

Hydroxyl (OH) radicals result from a series of sunlight-stimulated reactions in the atmosphere involving ozone, nitrous acid and hydrogen peroxide. The highly reactive hydroxyl radicals, which typically persist in the air no more than one second before they combine with volatile organic chemicals and other gases, help the atmosphere cleanse itself, says Franz Rohrer, an atmospheric chemist at the Jülich Research Center's Institute for Tropospheric Chemistry in Germany.
Read More...
Family

Boys with 'Warrior Gene' More Likely to Join Gangs

LiveScience Staff
Live Science
Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:03 UTC
Boys who have a so-called "warrior gene" are more likely to join gangs and also more likely to be among the most violent members and to use weapons, a new study finds.

"While gangs typically have been regarded as a sociological phenomenon, our investigation shows that variants of a specific MAOA gene, known as a 'low-activity 3-repeat allele,' play a significant role," said biosocial criminologist Kevin M. Beaver of Florida State University.

In 2006, the controversial warrior gene was implicated in the violence of the indigenous Maori people in New Zealand, a claim that Maori leaders dismissed.
Read More...
Info

Apes and humans share a common laughing ancestor

Jeff Hecht
New Scientist
Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:25 UTC
Laughter is not uniquely human. Researchers who tickled 25 juvenile apes - including three human infants - and recorded the sounds they made say that laughter seems to be shared by all great apes. That would mean laughter dates back some 10 to 16 million years, to our common ancestor.

Read More...
Info

New 'Molecular Clock' Aids Dating Of Human Migration History


ScienceDaily
Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:51 UTC
Researchers at the University of Leeds have devised a more accurate method of dating ancient human migration - even when no corroborating archaeological evidence exists.

Estimating the chronology of population migrations throughout mankind's early history has always been problematic. The most widely used genetic method works back to find the last common ancestor of any particular set of lineages using samples of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), but this method has recently been shown to be unreliable, throwing 20 years of research into doubt.
Read More...
Info

Peru finds human sacrifices from Inca civilization

Marco Aquino
Reuters
Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:46 UTC
Lima - Researchers at an archeological site in northern Peru have made an unusually large discovery of nearly three dozen people sacrificed some 600 years ago by the Incan civilization.

The bodies, some of which show signs of having been cut along their necks and collarbones, were otherwise found in good condition, said Carlos Webster, who is leading excavations at the Chotuna-Chornancap camp.
Read More...
Radar

Huge Waves Detected in Atmosphere

Irene Klotz
Discovery News
Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:34 UTC
Image
© NASAGravity Waves
There are a variety of atmospheric waves, but many require radar
to detect them. This NASA satellite image however shows more
obvious gravity waves peaked with clouds off the coast
Researchers have detected giant, fast-moving waves of air, caused by thunderstorms and other disturbances, above Poker Flat, Alaska, where a new radar is churning out the first three-dimensional images of upper atmospheric phenomena in the polar region.

"People have been envisioning doing this project for 40 years," said Eric Donovan, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. "There's just a lot going on in this region that we don't understand."
Read More...
Gear

One in seven scientists say colleagues fake data

Hannah Devlin
Times Online
Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:12 UTC
Faking scientific data and failing to report commercial conflicts of interest are far more prevalent than previously thought, a study suggests.

One in seven scientists says that they are aware of colleagues having seriously breached acceptable conduct by inventing results. And around 46 per cent say that they have observed fellow scientists engage in "questionable practices", such as presenting data selectively or changing the conclusions of a study in response to pressure from a funding source.

However, when scientists were asked about their own behaviour only 2 per cent admitted to having faked results.
Read More...
Einstein

How to unleash your brain's inner genius

Celeste Biever
New Scientist
Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:09 UTC
Image
© South West News Service / Rex FeaturesAutistic musician Derek Paravicini performs his first professional concert at St Georges Hall, Bristol, UK
Clad in a dark suit and sunglasses, Derek Paravicini makes a beeline for the sound of my voice and links his arm into mine. "Hello, Celeste. Where have you come from today?" I reply and his response is immediate: "From Holborn?" He repeats the word several times, savouring each syllable. "Hol-born, Hol-born, Hooool-bbooorn. Where's Hoollll-booorn?" As our conversation continues, the substance of much of what I say doesn't seem to sink in, but the sounds themselves certainly do, with Paravicini lingering over and repeating particularly delightful syllables. "Meewww-zick. The pi-aan-o."

Such touching and immediate friendliness is not quite what I expected from my first meeting with the 29-year-old, blind musical savant, but his obsession with reproducing sounds certainly makes sense, given his talent. Paravicini can play just about any piece of music you request, entirely from memory, with formidable technical ability, despite having severe learning difficulties that mean he needs constant support in everyday life. And as I find out an hour later, he constantly improvises the pieces he has learned by ear, rather than simply copying as you might expect.
Read More...
Evil Rays

Radio-controlled bullets leave no place to hide

Kurt Kleiner
New Scientist
Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:31 UTC
Image
© Jon Mills/Rex FeaturesSoldiers could soon have a new weapon against a hidden enemy.
A rifle capable of firing explosive bullets that can detonate within a metre of a target could let soldiers fire on snipers hiding in trenches, behind walls or inside buildings.

The US army has developed the XM25 rifle to give its troops an alternative to calling in artillery fire or air strikes when an enemy has taken cover and can't be targeted by direct fire. "This is the first leap-ahead technology for troops that we've been able to develop and deploy," says Douglas Tamilio, the army's project manager for new weapons for soldiers. "This gives them another tool in their kitbag."

The rifle's gunsight uses a laser rangefinder to calculate the exact distance to the obstruction. The soldier can then add or subtract up to 3 metres from that distance to enable the bullets to clear the barrier and explode above or beside the target.
Read More...