Science & Technology
In Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond sets out to determine what causes a society to fail and eventually collapse. The five factors that Diamond believes drive societal failure are: hostile neighbors, loss of trading partners, environmental damage, climatic change, and how societies respond to these potentially devastating environmental problems. The general assumption is that civilizations evolve from benign environments that sustain what we may consider a natural state of being, but where poor resource management will lead to certain failure. The point has been received well by many who believe Collapse to be an adequate exploration of societal failure. And yet the subsequent arrival of another hypothesis has turned Diamond's theory on its head by arguing that climate change doesn't always spell the end for civilizations, but can actually drive the formation of complex and sophisticated societies.
A magnetic resonance imaging machine at the University of Illinois at Chicago tracks neurons in a way that reveals how real-time thoughts form, a report says.
The Chicago Tribune said the machine is one of the world's most advanced MRI machines. Scientists said the machine's ability to reveal real-time thoughts by tracking the firing of individual neurons in the brain could lead to a major breakthrough in the diagnosis of strokes, autism, Alzheimer's and other disorders.
The Chicago Tribune said the machine is one of the world's most advanced MRI machines. Scientists said the machine's ability to reveal real-time thoughts by tracking the firing of individual neurons in the brain could lead to a major breakthrough in the diagnosis of strokes, autism, Alzheimer's and other disorders.
The fossil bones of what may have been Europe's largest animal ever, a new type of dinosaur, have been discovered in Spain. Discovery of the sauropod, estimated to have weighed between 40 and 48 tons, is reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Named Turiasaurus riodevensis, the animal lived in the Teruel area of what is now Spain in the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago.
Named Turiasaurus riodevensis, the animal lived in the Teruel area of what is now Spain in the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago.
It is often said the only constant in the world of hi-tech is change - a fact that makes prediction notoriously difficult. But here three tech veterans give their view about what will drive change over the next 12 months and beyond.
There is little doubt that 2006 was the year that web users started to flex their muscle.
Although everyone is familiar with web giants such as Google, Yahoo and Amazon, the last 12 months have shown that their reign at the top is perhaps not going to last forever.
In 2006 it was YouTube, MySpace, Bebo, Facebook and many other social sites that grabbed the headlines.
The focus on users and online communities will continue in 2007 said Kathy Johnson from Consort Partners - a Silicon Valley-based firm that advises start-ups targeting the so-called Web 2.0 space.
There is little doubt that 2006 was the year that web users started to flex their muscle.
Although everyone is familiar with web giants such as Google, Yahoo and Amazon, the last 12 months have shown that their reign at the top is perhaps not going to last forever.
In 2006 it was YouTube, MySpace, Bebo, Facebook and many other social sites that grabbed the headlines.
The focus on users and online communities will continue in 2007 said Kathy Johnson from Consort Partners - a Silicon Valley-based firm that advises start-ups targeting the so-called Web 2.0 space.
For more than 30 years, patent sleuth Barry Fox has trawled the US patent applications for New Scientist. Here we provide a round-up of his most interesting, surprising and sometimes alarming, discoveries of 2006.
A giant, 40 stories tall wave could one day drench the eastern United States, the result of an asteroid-driven tsunami. However seaside dwellers need not move just yet, the asteroid isn't due for another eight centuries.
Researchers in California have developed a computer simulation depicting the ocean impact of the asteroid 1950 DA, a half-mile wide (1.1-kilometer) space rock that swings uncomfortably close to Earth in 2880. Although the probability of such an impact is remote to say the least -- astronomers estimate it to be somewhere around 0.3 percent -- the computer model does give researchers insight into the destructive power of tsunamis caused by near-earth objects.
Researchers in California have developed a computer simulation depicting the ocean impact of the asteroid 1950 DA, a half-mile wide (1.1-kilometer) space rock that swings uncomfortably close to Earth in 2880. Although the probability of such an impact is remote to say the least -- astronomers estimate it to be somewhere around 0.3 percent -- the computer model does give researchers insight into the destructive power of tsunamis caused by near-earth objects.
Beneath a slimy fa�ade, the sea slug is somewhat of a brainiac.
At any given time within a single brain cell of this marine snail (Aplysia), more than 10,000 genes are hard at work, suggests a new study looking at aspects of the sea slug's genome.
By probing the brain of Aplysia, researchers identified more than 100 genes similar to those associated with all major human neurological diseases and more than 600 genes controlling brain development.
The findings suggest that acts of learning or the progression of brain disorders do not take place in isolation, and instead stem from interactions between large clusters of genes within many cells.
At any given time within a single brain cell of this marine snail (Aplysia), more than 10,000 genes are hard at work, suggests a new study looking at aspects of the sea slug's genome.
By probing the brain of Aplysia, researchers identified more than 100 genes similar to those associated with all major human neurological diseases and more than 600 genes controlling brain development.
The findings suggest that acts of learning or the progression of brain disorders do not take place in isolation, and instead stem from interactions between large clusters of genes within many cells.
Maybe females could live without males, at least for Komodo dragons. These behemoths of the reptile world can produce babies without fertilization by a male, scientists recently discovered.
Currently at London's Chester Zoo, one mother-to-be named Flora is waiting for her eight offspring to hatch, each one the result of a process called parthenogenesis-or a virgin conception.
"Parthenogenesis has never been documented in Komodo dragons before now, so this is absolutely a world first," said co-researcher Kevin Buley of Chester Zoo.
Currently at London's Chester Zoo, one mother-to-be named Flora is waiting for her eight offspring to hatch, each one the result of a process called parthenogenesis-or a virgin conception.
"Parthenogenesis has never been documented in Komodo dragons before now, so this is absolutely a world first," said co-researcher Kevin Buley of Chester Zoo.
A scientist at the University of Reading is in the vanguard of futurists who look forward to the day when most humans are implanted with computer microchips -- and he's using himself as his own guinea pig.
In Casino Royale, the latest James Bond movie, Bond is implanted with a microchip that allows headquarters to track his whereabouts and monitor his vital signs.
If a British cybernetics expert is right, the day will come when most people are implanted with chips -- and the real-life chips will do a lot more than Bond's does in the movie.
Kevin Warwick, a professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, has first-hand knowledge. In 1998, he had a chip surgically inserted into his left arm, becoming he believes the first human ever implanted with a computer chip.
In Casino Royale, the latest James Bond movie, Bond is implanted with a microchip that allows headquarters to track his whereabouts and monitor his vital signs.
If a British cybernetics expert is right, the day will come when most people are implanted with chips -- and the real-life chips will do a lot more than Bond's does in the movie.
Kevin Warwick, a professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, has first-hand knowledge. In 1998, he had a chip surgically inserted into his left arm, becoming he believes the first human ever implanted with a computer chip.
Comment: No kidding...