My feet still haven’t recovered from nearly 3 hours of standing in line to vote in Denver. For many others, the wait was closer to 6 hours. But if we have to, I’m sure we’ll gladly wait even longer the next time Denver’s Elections Commissioners come up for reelection.
- Rupert Sheldrake’s theories tested on British TV.
- Fossil teeth reveal buffet for early humans 1.8 million years ago.
- Rise in atmospheric oxygen some 2.3 billion years ago and an attendant shift of trace metals in ancient oceans drove the evolution of the three superkingdoms of life – Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya – which each use trace metals differently. Or that’s how I read it, at least.
- Sea urchins share 7077 genes with humans, which means they’re closer kin than worms or fruit flies.
- Ship comes in for those seeking emigration histories of long-lost Scottish ancestors: website offers searchable records on 100m Scots who crossed the Atlantic between 1820 and 1960.
- NASA struggles to restore contact with Mars Global Surveyor.
- One-way ticket? NASA considers sending Mars rover into a crater with no escape route.
- Blasts of gas from deep beneath the lunar surface may periodically slough off a few metres of topsoil, which suggests the moon is still geologically active.
- Cut from a different cloth: Chemistry of stars in dwarf galaxies is not consistent with current cosmological models.
- Casini reveals hurricane-like storm raging on Saturn’s south pole.
- Mysterious waves seen in Venus’s clouds.
- Two new research tools will allow Hubble to peer deeper into universe’s mysteries.
- Pacific Ocean gives birth to new volcanic island.
- Enviro-cateclysm of the week: Himalaya mega-quakes likely every 1000 years.
- World energy supply heading for crisis.
- Chemical emissions from ocean phytoplankton may influence the formation of clouds, which would add a critical new component to global climate models.
- Antarctica and Greenland appear to be linked by remarkable ocean current.
- New nanotech membrane promises to reduce the cost of seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation.
- Cheap, super-efficient solar power is coming. How sea sponges may help.
- Experimental evolution: Tracking rapid genetic changes will help researchers engineer ethanol- and antibiotic-producing microbes.
- Chemical pollution responsible for silent pandemic of brain damage.
- Chemical hazards: Remember what happened to the Romans.
- Bioartificial kidneys seem to work, but can we make enough for everyone who needs one?
- People who experience a pounding heart, sweaty palms or dizziness – even if the cause is something as mundane as stress, exercise or caffeine – are more likely to develop a clinical case of anxiety or panic disorder.
- New study finds major differences in brain-chemistry of seriously depressed women – specifically in the endogenous opioid system that is a central part of the brain’s natural pain and stress-reduction system.
- Researchers show brain injury may occur within one millisecond after head hits car windshield – when a car hits a stationary object at only 34 mph.
- Neurons associated with Parkinson’s disease die due to inflammation.
- Biologists invent the LouseBuster – a chemical-free, hairdryer-like device which eradicates head lice in one 30-minute treatment.
- Study finds lizards have warm personalites, like to socialise.
- Social exclusion changes brain function, which can lead to poor decision-making and diminished learning ability.
- Memories: It’s all in the packaging. More.
- Study shows subliminal information is consciously processed by the brain.
- Why exercising muscles tire when needed most.
- Why we end up spending more when we think we’re saving: Unexpected changes in price trigger feelings of anger or gratitude.
- Can Eric Bonabeau’s Hunch Engine expand your mind? Video (6 min): Bonabeau explains why computers can provide design variations that no human would have imagined.
- Stealth train uncloaks on Google Earth.
- High-flying canines and their disc-flinging humans compete for glory in US Disc Dog Nationals.
- Canadian documentary, The Great Warming, is bringing conservative Christians into global-warming fold.
- After barricading 300 officials and foreign businessmen in a warehouse, 10,000 Chinese villagers riot over land seizure, clash with riot police.
- Startling findings in probe of Pat Tillman’s death by ‘friendly fire’.
- Political op/ed: A Come-to-Daddy Moment.
- Political blogs (of all stripes) effectively become online national clearinghouse for polling problems, with supporting evidence posted on YouTube.
- Former UK diplomat reveals secret testimony on Iraq war in spite of his lawyer’s warning that he could be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act. Read, save, or pay-per-view later.
Thanks Greg.
Quote of the Day:
I’m a fuzzy-headed warm-hearted liberal, and I think fuzzy-headed warm-hearted liberalism is an ideological stance that needs defending – if necessary, with a hob-nailed boot-kick to the bollocks of budding totalitarianism.
Hugo Award winning Sci-Fi author Charles Stross
(Sorry, I thought this crowd would instantly recognize his name – and dry wit – without all these descriptors.)
