The mysterious dark energy that is pushing apart the universe appears to be the constant force that Albert Einstein once predicted, according to measurements made by the Hubble Space Telescope
British doctors will be able to prescribe maggots to National Health Service patients with infected wounds from Friday onwards, because the NHS had realised maggots were a cheaper and more beneficial way of treating wounds than using conventional medicine. Patients would be able to treat themselves at home and avoid the possibility of picking up a hospital infection. Maggots have been used for centuries to rid wounds of decaying flesh, but after the discovery of antibiotics their use went into decline
Drugs based on CSIRO’s research into the influenza virus have been shown to be effective, in laboratory tests, against a sample of an H5N1 influenza virus currently infecting chickens in Asia
A University of Pennsylvania researcher seeking ways to treat illness said studies in rats show muscle mass, strength and endurance can be increased by injections of a gene-manipulated virus that goes to muscle tissue and causes a rapid growth of cells, raising concerns that the virtually undetectable technology could be used illegally to build super athletes. None of which will bother Angle-grinder Man and his other non-powered superhero mates as they go about their daily crime fighting duties
Researchers were surprised to discover that M&Ms randomly dumped into a bowl pack together much more densely than spheres. Why? Asymmetric ellipsoids like M&Ms can touch eleven neighbours when dumped together while spheres only saddle up to six. Understanding how particles pack together can help scientists develop new and denser materials, like ceramics for heat shields
We’ve all long suspected it and now the research of Dr Susan Hallam of the Institute of Education at the University of London confirms it: homework is a waste of time. Anxiety, boredom, fatigue and emotional exhaustion are all side-effects of bringing schoolwork home, according to a review of 75 years of study into the issue.
Even those who believe homework improves their performance in the classroom resent the encroachment on their spare time.
And the best place for extra study may not, in fact, be at home. The report by the Institute of Education makes a case for out-of-hours study to be done in after-school learning clubs, away from the potentially disruptive influence of parents.
Tensions are the most pronounced in middle-class families where the pressure to succeed can create a volatile atmosphere. Parents who are overbearing can undermine any pleasure children derive from study.
Parents have the most positive influence when they offer moral support, make appropriate resources available and discuss general issues. They should only actually help with homework when their children specifically ask them to — via The Green Man
Greens MP Ian Cohen is reporting that the independent
NSW Advisory Council on Gene Technology has become nothing more than a rubber stamp for companies seeking to grow commercial-sized GM crops, despite legislation enforcing a three-year ban
Kids who spend their first year of life around dogs may have a lower risk of developing allergies, Dr James E Gern has found. Having a cat, however, appears to have no effect on allergy risk
Professor Jim Barber, from Imperial College London’s department of biological sciences has claimed that artificial photosynthesis could turn the world’s oceans into an almost limitless source of fuel. He made the prediction after shedding new light on the mechanism plants use to split water into hydrogen and oxygen — via Die Puny Humans
A paint that soaks up some of the most noxious gases from vehicle exhausts will goes on sale in Europe in March. Its makers hope it will give architects and town planners a new weapon in the fight against pollution. Called Ecopaint, the substance is designed to reduce levels of the nitrogen oxides, collectively known as the NOx gases, which cause respiratory problems and trigger smog production
John Brockman has asked his Edgy band of scientists, futurists, writers, and philosophers about some bit of wisdom, some rule of nature, some law-like pattern, either grand or small, that you’ve noticed in the universe that might as well be named after you
, like those of Newton, Moore, or Murphy — via kottke.org
Diffrient‘s Law: The
lawsof nature are more like habits.
Sheldrake‘s Principle: The improvements derived from technological advances have an equal and opposite effect on culture and the environment magnified by time and scale.
Anderson‘s Second Law: A scientist who can speak without jargon is either an idiot or a genius.
Raymond‘s Law of Software: Given a sufficiently large number of eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.
Godwin‘s Law: As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.
Australia has established a new sugar research body, Co-operative Research Centre for Sugar Industry Innovation through Biotechnology, that will study using sugar for biodegradable plastics, medical drugs and biofuels
Protesters remain locked on to bulldozers in Mission State Forest, near Moree, after contractors broke a moratorium on logging in important forest areas of the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion in western NSW. The Premier’s silence on this issue is deafening. Update: The state government backed down
Scientists have created a new form of matter saying it could provide a new way to generate electricity. The fermionic condensate is a cloud of cold potassium atoms forced into a state where they behave strangely. The new matter is the sixth known form of matter after solids, liquids, gasses, plasma and a Bose-Einstein condensate, created only in 1995 — via Die Puny Humans
Danish biotech company Aresa Biodetection has developed a genetically modified flower that could help detect landmines and it hopes to have a prototype ready for use within a few years. The genetically modified weed has been coded to change colour when its roots come in contact with nitrogen-dioxide (NO²) evaporating from explosives buried in soil
The US Military wants to be excused from duty. That is, it’s duty to obey the environmental laws of the United States of America. Last year the Defence Department won exemptions from three major environmental laws — the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty. Now, the military wants to ignore the Clean Air Act and toxic waste laws. To its credit, Congress has already refused to allow these additional exemptions, but the Defence Department is preparing to join the battle once more
Researchers from Purdue University working under an award from the National Science Foundation have discovered that common blue mussels are using iron found in seawater to create their own super glue
The war on terror
is being used as cover for a sustained assault on the independence and progressive agenda of NGOs
Using a machine launching aluminium disks Lyderic Bocquet, a physics professor at the University of Lyon, and his colleagues discovered the magic angle of 20° as that required to maximise stone skipping. Jerdone Coleman McGhee of Wimberley, Texas, holds the current Guinness Book of World Records title for a 1992 toss that yielded an impressive 38 bounces across the Blanco River in central Texas
A quarter of known land animals and plants, more than a million species, will eventually die out because of the global warming that will take place over the next 50 years. International scientists from eight countries have warned that, based even on the most conservative estimates, rising temperatures will trigger a global mass extinction of unprecedented proportions — unless greenhouse gas emissions are drastically reduced
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