Archive for February, 2009
February 28, 2009 at 11:46 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
London (and much of the U.S.) is currently obsessed with Jade Goody, who is dying of stage 4 cervical cancer at the age of 27 in a very public way: On television. One thing I find amazing is that, in the mountain of media coverage on this (including articles in the New York Times, the Guardian, BBC, etc), I’m not seeing reporters mentioning one very important fact:  According to one story (no longer online, but quoted in this interesting post at TBTAM), Goody had multiple abnormal pap smears in her teens.  She went in for a few treatments to have the abnormal cells removed, then ignored later abnormal pap results and a letter instructing her to come back for additional treatment.  One article essentially accuses her doctors of malpractice for not recognizing her symptoms (abdominal pain, etc) as cervical cancer, but fails to mention that she likely didn’t tell those doctors about her [...]
Original post by Rebecca Skloot none@example.com
February 28, 2009 at 11:18 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
On a summer day in 1994, a Kurdish shepherd stumbled upon a strange stone in the rolling plains of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey. Little did he know then that he had just made what could be the greatest archaeological discovery ever: the possible site of the Garden of Eden.
Carbon-dating shows that the complex is at least 12,000 years old, maybe even 13,000 years old. That means it was built around 10,000BC. By comparison, Stonehenge was built in 3,000 BC and the pyramids of Giza in 2,500 BC.
Gobekli is thus the oldest such site in the world, by a mind-numbing margin. It is so old that it predates settled human life. It is pre-pottery, pre-writing, pre-everything. Gobekli hails from a part of human history that is unimaginably distant, right back in our hunter-gatherer past. […]
Over glasses of black tea, served in tents right next to the megaliths, Klaus Schmidt told me [...]
Original post by Alex
February 28, 2009 at 11:17 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
If you’re interested in joining an online community yet don’t know which one is right for you, Brainz has done the legwork. Here is a completely unscientific (yet surprisingly accurate) look at social networking and media sites, including digg, reddit, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter: Link - via The Presurfer
Original post by Alex
February 28, 2009 at 11:16 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Cancer may still be a mystery, but after years of research, science has finally solved the mystery of the belly button fluff:
After three years of research, Georg Steinhauser, a chemist, has discovered a type of body hair that traps stray pieces of lint and draws them into the navel.
Dr Steinhauser made his discovery after studying 503 pieces of fluff from his own belly button.
Chemical analysis revealed the pieces of fluff were not made up of only cotton from clothing. Wrapped up in the lint were also flecks of dead skin, fat, sweat and dust.
Dr Steinhauser’s observations showed that ’small pieces of fluff first form in the hair and then end up in the navel at the end of the day’. […]
"The hair’s scales act like a kind of barbed hooks," he said. "Abdominal hair often seems to grow in concentric circles around the navel."
And the secret to a [...]
Original post by Alex
February 28, 2009 at 11:15 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
If the economic crisis is getting you down, take heart: even the Oracle of Omaha and arguably one of the smartest businessman alive today is also having a tough year:
Berkshire Hathaway reported today that its net worth fell in 2008 by $11.5 billion, a decline reducing its per-share book value by 9.6%. That was Berkshire’s worst result in the 44 years that Chairman Warren Buffett has run the company and, in fact, only the second decline in that period. The other drop was 6.2% in 2001, a year hurt by 9/11 and other problems in Berkshire’s insurance operations. […]
In his chairman’s letter, Buffett states that 2008 had good points mixed in with the bad. But in an unusual admission for the opening pages of the letter (a point easily recognizable by this writer because she has edited Buffett’s letter for 32 years) he says bluntly, "During 2008 I did some [...]
Original post by Alex
February 28, 2009 at 11:14 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
When the times get tough, the tough goes … naked? Here’s a story of one Donald Crabtree of Vassalboro, Maine, who combined coffee and nudity for his recipe for success:
On Monday, Donald Crabtree opened Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro, Maine, where the waiters and waitresses serve their customers topless.
In a town with fewer than 4,500 residents, the topless coffee shop is booming with business. Paul Crabtree, the owner’s brother, describes business so far as "fantastic."
"It’s just been crowds mobbing in," he said.
Laurie Segall of CNN has the story: Link (Photo: WGME)
Original post by Alex
February 28, 2009 at 9:59 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Like Carl Zimmer, I can’t get past the George F. Will/WaPo climate change denial scandal. Carl’s latest piece delves deeper into the nature of journalism and fact-checking at the Post, and I’m going to weigh in with my observations of working at newspapers off and on for the past 22 years.
Read the rest of this post… | Read the comments on this post…
Original post by James Hrynyshyn none@example.com
February 28, 2009 at 8:50 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Octopus have been famous for their curiosity and intelligence. One California aquarium recently experienced flooding. The culprit? A female two-spotted octopus!
Staff at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium in California say the trickster who flooded their offices with sea water was armed. Eight-armed, to be exact.
They blame the soaking they discovered Tuesday morning on the aquarium’s resident two-spotted octopus, a tiny female known for being curious and gregarious with visitors. The octopus apparently tugged on a valve and that allowed hundreds of gallons of water to overflow its tank.
Link
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geekazoid.
Original post by Queuebot
February 28, 2009 at 8:49 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
[YouTube - Link]
University of Tsukuba researchers in Japan have developed a device that is designed to enhance the Virtual Reality experience by simulating motion in a static environment:
"One of the big problems facing VR
is the issue of mobility — how do you allow users unrestricted
movement in virtual reality, while keeping them relatively static in real reality? Omni-directional treadmills have been tried in the past, and now researchers at the University of
Tsukuba in Japan have developed something called CirculaFloor. The
system uses four robotic tiles that constantly shift position, ensuring
that there’s always a tile in the direction you’re headed.
Additionally, the entire assembly moves slowly backwards, giving one
the impression of movement while they’re actually standing relatively
still. The tiles also incorporate lifts, for simulating staircases and
the like."
- via engadget
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geekazoid.
Original post by Queuebot
February 28, 2009 at 3:37 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Dave Hone - who’s had more than his fair share of mentions here at Tet Zoo over the past several days - accompanied me on a visit to Marwell Zoo yesterday. We had a great time, but unfortunately got all too little paper-writing done (after all, this is what scientists normally do when they meet up). There’s always something new to see, or experience, at the zoo. The Frill-necked lizards Chlamydosaurus kingii were brand-new, for example: it was in fact only their second day on exhibit. And I’ve never heard a Snow leopard Panthera uncia roar before. It didn’t sound like any other big cat roar, and in fact I can’t begin to describe what it did sound like. By strange coincidence, the male Pygmy hippo Hexaprotodon liberiensis also did some loud vocalisation, and again this was a first for me. But the coolest thing concerned the Siberian [...]
Original post by Darren Naish none@example.com
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