News Briefs 10-09-2012

What in the world will archaeologists of the future make of an underwater 'billiards room' which has no table, balls, or cue-sticks?

• How hacking the human brain can save civilization.
• Celestial maps are about to see some major revisions.
• Hubble resolves the center of globular cluster M 4 into a multitude of brilliant orbs.
• 'Pigtail' molecular cloud discovered in the Galactic center, approximately 30,000 light years away from our solar system.
• Voyager 1, launched 35 years ago with messages of love from the Earthlings, is on the brink of history with a move into interstellar space.
• A spacecraft orbiting Earth has directly detected the atoms that make up the area of space just outside the Solar System.
• Mystery deepens over apparent dearth of lithium 7 in the universe.
• Pacific lavas back drier early Mars. More here.
• The 3D ocean map that could reveal exactly what effect global warming is having on rainfall.
• Scientists cast doubt on Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.
• Who owns antiquity?
• Ale, Caesar! Romans and Caledonian tribes went to pub together. Ancient Picts mingled with the soldiers of the Roman legions over a glass of beer or wine.
• Viking warriors’ anti-social behaviour and crimes led medieval chroniclers to create first criminal profile.
• Indiana Jones, eat your heart out.
• Leave it to beaver: Return of busy species could restore U.S. landscape. The Spine of the Continent: The Most Ambitious Wildlife Conservation Project Ever Undertaken is available at Amazon US, Kindle, & UK.
• Stupid humans have pushed tuna to the brink of extinction.
• Fish populations around the world could soon be full of slow growing, unproductive 'couch potatoes' if current levels of intensive fishing continue.
• Jantar Mantar: Immense astronomical instrument of the Maharajahs.
• The billiard room of Witley Park: Century-old remains of the windowed billiard room an eccentric millionaire built underwater.
• Arctic archaeological sites are falling into the sea.
• Nano-velcro clasps heavy metal molecules in its grips.
• US school children tracked with RFID tags.
• Cells prioritise the repair of genes containing potentially dangerous damage.
• Dirtier lives may be just the medicine we need. Or maybe not...
• Viral infections in newborns 'cripple' part of the immune system and increase the risk of asthma later in life.
• Brain parasites: A hidden health problem in California - and the leading cause of epilepsy worldwide.
• From anthrax to the Black Death, killer diseases as you've never seen them before.
• Cave bacteria could help develop future antibiotics.
• The Nazis and Thalidomide: The worst drug scandal of all time.
• There IS a link between toxic dust from 9/11 aftermath and up to 50 types of cancer, federal government to acknowledge.
• Water droplets used to create 'superhydrophobic droplet logic': A memory device has been built in which water droplets act as bits of digital information.
• What google thinks you want. What's up with one of those iiis?

Quote of the Day:

Humans’ power to determine the future of planet Earth is increasing exponentially. The result could be disastrous unless we change the way we think.

How hacking the human brain can save civilization