Gravity Field Satellites Observe Antarctic Ice Mass Fluctuations Due to El Niño

The earth's gravity field (vertically enhanced). (Credit: © Achim Helm, GFZ)

Western Antarctic ice fluctuations are due mainly to El Niño induced precipitation, not global warming.

ScienceDaily (Oct. 29, 2010) — The change in the ice mass covering Antarctica is a critical factor in global climate events. Scientists at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences have now found that the year by year mass variations in the western Antarctic are mainly attributable to fluctuations in precipitation, which are controlled significantly by the climate phenomenon El Niño. They examined the GFZ data of the German-American satellite mission GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment). The investigation showed significant regional differences in the western coastal area of the South Pole area.

Beam Powered Flight Prototype

Tiny helicopter kept aloft for mote than 12 hours by laser beams.

Is Touch Screen Voting Accurate?

There have been many reports of touch screen voting machines casting ballots for candidates not selected. Most of the are from Republicans claiming their vote was changed to the democratic candidate. The latest report is from North Carolina.

Being Liberal is Genetically Based?

Perhaps gene therapy can offer a cure for liberalism.

(PHYSORG)Liberals may owe their political outlook partly to their genetic make-up, according to new research from the University of California, San Diego, and Harvard University. Ideology is affected not just by social factors, but also by a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4. The study's authors say this is the first research to identify a specific gene that predisposes people to certain political views...

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter affecting brain processes that control movement, emotional response, and ability to experience pleasure and pain. Previous research has identified a connection between a variant of this gene and novelty-seeking behavior, and this behavior has previously been associated with personality traits related to political liberalism.

Time Traveler Spotted on Charlie Chaplin Film (video)

A woman walking through a 1928 scene in the Charlie Chaplin movie "The Circus" seems to be talking on a cell phone.

NASA Ponders One Way Missions

And they will be manned...

Amber Fossil Trasure Trove Found in India

Bees, termites, spiders, and flies and other arthropods have been found.

ScienceDaily (Oct. 26, 2010) — A vast new amber deposit in India has yielded 100 fossil spiders, bees, and flies that date to the Early Eocene, or 52-50 million years ago. These arthropods are not unique -- as would be expected on an island (which India was at that time) -- but have close evolutionary relationships with fossils from the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The amber is also the oldest evidence of a tropical broadleaf rainforest in Asia.

Hands Free Texting is Here

But is it safe?

How Much Does a Planet Really Weigh?

Astronomers have figured out a new way to weigh planets using radio signals.

ScienceDaily (Oct. 23, 2010) — An international CSIRO-led team of astronomers has developed a new way to weigh the planets in our Solar System -- using radio signals from the small spinning stars called pulsars.

"This is first time anyone has weighed entire planetary systems -- planets with their moons and rings," said team leader Dr David Champion from Germany's Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie.

"And we've provided an independent check on previous results, which is great for planetary science."

Measurements of planet masses made this new way could feed into data needed for future space missions.

A New Superbug Epidemic?

Here is something else to worry about.

Criminals Beware: Improved DNA Tests for Gun Crimes (video)

Police introduce new DNA technology that gathers gun evidence at crime scenes.

iPhone App Catches Burgler

iPhone app helps catch a thief.

NASA: Billion gallons of water ice in the floor of one crator

The moon has water and plenty of it. Sadly, President Obama canceled all plans for NASA to return to the moon.


ABC News reported:

But after a year of analysis NASA today announced that its LCROSS lunar-impact probe mission found up to a billion gallons of water ice in the floor of a permanently-shadowed crater near the moon's south pole.

That's enough, said researchers, to fill 1,500 Olympic-size swimming pools, all from one crater.

New Mothers Grow Bigger Brains?

New research suggests motherhood could lead to bigger brains. I guess this leaves the male of the species out of luck.

ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2010) — Motherhood may actually cause the brain to grow, not turn it into mush, as some have claimed. Exploratory research published by the American Psychological Association found that the brains of new mothers bulked up in areas linked to motivation and behavior, and that mothers who gushed the most about their babies showed the greatest growth in key parts of the mid-brain.

Led by neuroscientist Pilyoung Kim, PhD, now with the National Institute of Mental Health, the authors speculated that hormonal changes right after birth, including increases in estrogen, oxytocin and prolactin, may help make mothers' brains susceptible to reshaping in response to the baby...

Useful or scary? iPhone has an 'Ugly Meter'

New app rates your physical appearance.

Bionic legs are now available (video) #science

Disabled people get a second chance at walking.

Hope for Victims of Periodontal disease: Osteoporosis drug regrows jaw bone

This study is very interesting and has far reaching implications. The osteoporosis drug Forteo can regrow jaw bone.

BOSTON, Oct. 18, 2010 (Reuters) — The osteoporosis drug Forteo can regrow bone in jaws damaged by severe bone-destroying conditions called osteonecrosis and periodontitis, doctors reported on Saturday.

The research, reported at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in Toronto, suggests that the drug may spur growth in a damaged jaw, the researchers said.

Forteo, known generically as teriparatide, cuts in half the risk of bone fractures in patients with thinning bones by stimulating the growth of new bone.

Oy my! A Violent Video Game Geared Toward Women!

Girl gamers can act out their revenge fantasies on men. Hmm...

Very Cool: World's First Robotic Jetpack (video)

Martin Aircraft, makers of the only commercial jetpack, has a new project: a unmanned, robotic jetpack.

The Smartest Bike

A Bike So Smart It'll Take Your Calls?

Tyrannosaurus rex was a Hannibal Lecter

New research indicate T-rex was a cannibal.

ABC News reported:

What did Tyrannosaurus rex eat? To some extent, say researchers, they ate each other.

The less-than-appetizing news, that T. rex may have been a cannibal, comes from Nicholas Longrich, a paleontologist doing his post-doctoral work at Yale University. He reports that he was sorting through 65-million-year-old fossils from Montana when he found the toe bone of a Tyrannosaurus rex with a gouge mark in it -- a small but clear sign that something else had been feeding on it.

What Are The Must-Have iPad Apps?

Clayton Morris shares his must have apps for the iPad.

Video Gaming Gone Bad

How do you know are are addicted to video games? If you run your girlfriend off the road to retrieve your PlayStation, that might be a clue.

ABC News reported:

But according to the police report, Suchon was so enraged when Frable took away his gaming console that he jumped into his car, chasing and swerving toward Frable to gain her attention.

Suchon later told police that he'd "tapped" her car, and that it was "not a big deal."

"When she stopped, I just wanted the game. I would never hurt her. I just wanted the game," he told police, Enstrom said.

According to the police report, Frable said she was forced to drive onto the shoulder of the road to avoid getting hit.

Did NASA Cover Up Aliens Hiding Near Saturn?

Some are claiming NASA photoshoped a Cassini orbiter image of Saturn's moon Dione. The image can be seen clearly in the video embedded below. It does appear to be obviously altered, but why?

Alien conspiracy theorists are confident they've caught NASA in the act of covering up the fact that we are not alone in the universe.

A video posted on YouTube yesterday showed how an image of Saturn's moons Dione and Titan, taken by NASA's Cassini orbiter, had been digitally altered before being added to the space agency's Picture of the Day website.

In the video, "DominatorPS3" turned up the brightness levels on the photo to show that a "huge" object can be seen behind the smaller moon, Dione. Clearly visible are brush strokes that show how the rainbow aura of the object has been blacked out.

Latest Mocrosoft Windows patch Fixes 49 Flaws

How can Windows still have this many flaws? The latest Microsoft patch addresses a record 49 issues.

Reuters reported:

BOSTON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) issued its biggest-ever security fix on Tuesday, including repairs to its ubiquitous Windows operating system and Internet browser for flaws that could let hackers take control of a PC.

The new patches aim to fix a number of vulnerabilities including the notorious Stuxnet virus that attacked an Iranian nuclear power plant and other industrial control systems around the world.

Microsoft said four of the new patches -- software updates that write over glitches -- were of the highest priority and should be deployed immediately to protect users from potential criminal attacks on the Windows operating systems.

Video: First Chilian Miner Rescued

After two long months, the man was met by his family in a very touching moment.

Get Ready for Some Weird Science

The Ig Noble Awards are out.

Green Inflation Costs California Taxpayers (video)

California scientists overestimate pollution forecast by 340 percent

Walking Bacteria?

New research has found bacteria can stand up and walk.

ScienceDaily reported:

Now, UCLA researchers and their colleagues have found that during the initial stages of biofilm formation, bacteria can actually stand upright and "walk" as part of their adaptation to a surface.

"Bacteria exist in two physiological states: the free-swimming, single-celled planktonic state and the surface-mounted biofilm state, a dense, structured, community of cells governed by their own sociology," said Gerard Wong, a professor of bioengineering at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.

Video: Rescuers Pin Hopes on ‘Plan B’ to Free Trapped Chilean Miners

There are three plans to rescue these trapped miners. Plan B looks best.

There is a bat that looks like "Yoda" (video)

The 'Yoda bat' is one of dozens of new species recently discovered in Papua New Guinea

Oops! White House CAPTCHA says "rape baracks"

I have seen some strange CAPTCHA verifications, but this one on the White House website wins the prize. it says, "rape baracks."



More on this story at MSNBC.

Video: Baby Pandas in Spain

Very cute.

Did Volcanos Wipe Out Neanderthals?

New research sheds light on this possibility.

ScienceDaily (Oct. 7, 2010) — New research suggests that climate change following massive volcanic eruptions drove Neanderthals to extinction and cleared the way for modern humans to thrive in Europe and Asia...

"[W]e offer the hypothesis that the Neanderthal demise occurred abruptly (on a geological time-scale) … after the most powerful volcanic activity in western Eurasia during the period of Neanderthal evolutionary history," the researchers write. "[T]his catastrophe not only drastically destroyed the ecological niches of Neanderthal populations but also caused their mass physical depopulation."

Video: New Sighting of UFO Over China

Reportedly, this was a military test.

When Circus Lions Attack (Video) #shocking

Circus Lion Attack Caught on Tape (raw video)

Europe Prepares for Coldest Winter in 1000 Years

Europe prepares for coldest winter in 1000 years.

Forecasters say this winter could be the coldest Europe has seen in the last 1,000 years.

The change is reportedly connected with the speed of the Gulf Stream, which has shrunk in half in just the last couple of years. Polish scientists say that it means the stream will not be able to compensate for the cold from the Arctic winds. According to them, when the stream is completely stopped, a new Ice Age will begin in Europe.

Global cooling has been predicted by some models.

There is an Anti-Bullying Kid Video Game

A new video game gives advice to children on bullying.

How to Shop Smart and Save Big on the Web

Consumer Reports says Price Graber is the best website for price comparisons.

You can buy almost anything from a vending machine

Wine by the liter in France.

Pizza in Italy.

Gold bars in Dubai.

See more strange vending machines here.

Taliban removed from Newest "Medal of Honor" Game

You can no longer play as the Taliban in Medal of Honor. Game makers have agreed to respect the wishes of military families.

The Edge of the Solar System Is a Weird and Erratic Place

The Edge of the Solar System Is a Weird and Erratic Place

Can Food allergies be turned off?

They can in mice.

Severe food allergies turned off in mice

ScienceDaily (2010-10-02) -- Scientists have discovered a way to turn off the immune system's allergic reaction to certain food proteins in mice, a discovery that could have implications for the millions of people who suffer severe reactions to foods, such as peanuts and milk. Read more here.

Ever see a real pink hippo?

They are rare, but exist. One has been spotted in Kenya.

William Burrard-Lucas

Real Visions or hallucinations?

You make the call.

Video: Scientists report progress in creating stem cells

This breakthrough could end the stem cell controversy. Stem cells are created from ordinary skin cells.