*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info

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Good morning ireland, new is good to read on this cold day

 

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Diamond loses its stiffness crown to new material

* 16:22 02 February 2007
* NewScientist.com news service
* Tom Simonite



A material that is stiffer than diamond has been created by mixing particles of the mineral barium titanate and molten tin. Diamond was previously the stiffest material known.

The new material was made by a team from Washington State University and Wisconsin-Madison University, both in the US, and from Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany.

They mixed molten tin, heated to about 300ºC, with pieces of a ceramic material called barium titanium - often used as an insulator in electronic components. The particles were each about one-tenth of a millimetre in diameter and were dispersed evenly through the tin using an ultrasonic probe.

Once ingots of the new composite had cooled, rectangular or cylindrical samples 3 centimetres long and 2 millimetres across were tested for stiffness. The response of the samples to bending was tested by gluing one end to a strong support rod and the other to a magnet with a small mirror attached.
Rhythmic force

An electromagnet was used to exert a rhythmic force on the material one hundred times per second. The resistance of the composite to the bending force - called the Young's modulus - was recorded by a light sensor monitoring laser light bouncing off the mirror.

The tests were carried out at a variety of temperatures. Between 58ºC and 59ºC the samples became stiffer than diamond. Some were nearly 10 times as resistant to bending.

"This is very clever," says composite materials researcher Mark Spearing of Southampton University, UK. "They've come up with an interesting material."

The material's stiffness results from the properties of the barium titanate pieces, Spearing says. As the material cools, its crystal structure changes, causing its volume to expand.
Tin matrix

"Because they are held inside the tin matrix, strain builds up inside the barium titanate," Spearing explains, "at a particular temperature that energy is released to oppose a bending force."

Since energy has to be stored in the material to make it super-stiff, the creators have only really measured an "apparent Young's modulus", says Spearing. A true Young's modulus is an inherent property of a material, and would also be more constant across a greater range of temperatures, he notes.

Nevertheless, the new material could still have useful applications, says Spearing, perhaps for making shock-protective casings. "You might be able to make a tune-able damper that transmits force very well under certain conditions but behaves differently and is softer the rest of the time," he says.

Journal reference: Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.1135837)

 

Bird flu can infect people via upper airway: expert

February 2, 2007 03:51:48 AM PST

Leading scientists in Hong Kong have found that the H5N1 bird flu virus can infect cells in the upper airway of humans and need not penetrate deep in the lungs to cause infection.

A study by scientists based in the United States in 2006 suggested that H5N1 could not infect people easily because it had to first lodge itself deep inside the lungs, where it binds more easily to certain receptors called the alpha 2-3.

But in an article published in the January issue of the journal Nature Medicine, scientists from the University of Hong Kong found that the virus could infect the nasopharynx, an area behind the nose and above the soft palate, and the throat.

"On the earlier hypothesis, the virus has to go deep into the lungs to infect anybody but our research suggests that is not the case. The virus can get a foothold in the upper respiratory tract, it doesn't have to get deep down into the lungs," microbiology professor Malik Peiris told Reuters late on Friday.

Using discarded human tissues, Malik found both upper and lower human respiratory tracts could be infected by the virus.

"Even in the upper respiratory tract (where) the alpha 2-3 receptor seems to be lacking, the H5N1 can still infect the cells ... so it raises the question of whether there may be other receptors the virus is using and highlights the point that further study is needed."

However, he said there was no reason to panic.

"It is still not able in most cases to establish infection and has not been able to transmit human to human (efficiently). It doesn't change that situation as such," said Peiris, who has studied the H5N1 since 1997, when it made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong, killing six people.

The virus re-emerged in late 2003 and has become endemic in several places in Asia. It has since infected 270 people around the world, killing 164 of them, according to latest figures from the World Health Organization.

It has flared up again in recent months, spreading through poultry flocks in Japan, Vietnam and Thailand, killing six people in Indonesia and claiming its first human life in Nigeria.

Although it remains a bird disease, experts still fear it could kill millions once it learns how to pass efficiently among people.

 

For Drivers, Skin Cancer Is Often One-Sided

February 2, 2007 08:55:26 AM PST
Yahoo! Health: Cancer News

FRIDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- People who spend a lot of time behind the wheel may be motoring their way to an increased risk of skin cancer on the left side of their body, U.S. researchers report.

"Since previous scientific findings have shown an association between one-sided exposure to ultraviolet light (UV) and an asymmetric facial distribution of sun damage, we would expect that skin cancers also would be more prevalent on the left side of the body in drivers who spend a significant amount of time in their cars," Dr. Scott Fosko, professor and chairman of dermatology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.

"Our initial findings confirm that there is a correlation between more time spent driving and a higher incidence of left-side skin cancers, especially on sun-exposed areas in men," Fosko said.

He and his team looked at 898 people (559 men and 339 women) with skin cancer on either side of the body. Of the 53 percent of patients with left-side skin cancers, 64 percent were men and 36 percent were women.

The researchers also found that men, but not women, had a statistically significant number of left-side skin cancers on areas -- arms, hands, neck and head -- that are most often exposed to sunlight/UV radiation while driving.

As of January, Fosko and his team had collected 70 completed questionnaires designed to evaluate the driving habits of dermatology patients. Initial results show a direct link between driving time and left-side skin cancer risk.

The research was expected to be presented Friday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, in Washington, D.C.

 

Health Highlights: Feb. 2, 2007

February 2, 2007 08:55:26 AM PST

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Bush Wants Major Medicare and Medicaid Spending Cuts

In his budget next week, it's expected that U.S. President George W. Bush will ask for more than $70 billion in spending cuts from Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years.

The proposals, part of the White House plan to balance the budget by 2012, are expected to spark a fight with the Democrat-controlled Congress, The New York Times reported.

"There is a large area for potential compromise and agreement, but with these latest Medicare proposals, the president is just asking for controversy. He still acts as if Republicans were in complete control and Democrats had lost the election," said Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D., N.Y.), who heads the House Ways and Means Committee.

It's also expected that Bush will propose changes to the Children's Health Insurance Program that could reduce federal payments to states that provide coverage for children with family incomes that are more than twice the poverty level, the Times reported.

In contrast, Democrats want major expansions of the children's health program.

-----

Fewer U.S. Women Dying of Heart Disease

The number of American women who died from heart disease decreased from one in three in 2003 to one in four in 2004, a drop of nearly 17,000 deaths, the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) said Thursday.

The institute also noted that heart disease deaths in women steadily declined from 2000 to 2004, a type of steady annual decline that had not occurred before. The findings were released to mark National Wear Red Day, part of The Heart Truth program to raise women's awareness about heart disease and encourage them to take action to reduce their risk factors.

"To see such a significant reduction in deaths underscores that the efforts of many individuals and organizations to raise awareness, improve treatment and access, and inspire women to take action are truly saving lives," Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, NHLBI director, said in a prepared statement.

She said significant progress has been made in increasing women's awareness that heart disease is their leading killer. In 2005, 55 percent of women were aware of that fact, compared to 34 percent in 2000, according to survey findings.

"More women are aware that heart disease is their leading killer, and research shows that this heightened awareness is leading them to take action to reduce their risk. They are more likely to step up their physical activity, eat healthier, and lose weight," Nabel said.

-----

Sexual Problems Offer Clues About Other Health Issues: Study

Doctors need to ask patients about their sex lives because that information may hold clues about serious health problems, says a study published Friday in The Lancet medical journal.

The Canadian and Dutch authors said problems in the bedroom may help give an early alert to doctors about a number of significant medical conditions, including heart failure, diabetes and depression, the Associated Press reported.

The researchers searched medical databases for cases of sexual dysfunction in combination with different kinds of diseases. They concluded that many sexual problems can provide warnings about underlying or looming health issues.

"Sex is a legitimate part of medicine, but it has largely been kept separate from the rest of medicine," study lead author Dr. Rosemary Basson, of the British Columbia Centre for Sexual Medicine in Vancouver, told the AP.

-----

Drug Makers Lag on Promised Studies of Products: FDA

Drug makers have failed to begin more than 70 percent of promised studies on products already approved for market, according to U.S. government numbers released Thursday, and a watchdog group is sick of it.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration report shows that 899 -- or 71 percent -- of the 1,259 post-market studies committed to by drug makers had not been started as of Sept. 30, 2006. That's a 5 percent increase over last year, when the agency reported 65 percent of 1,231 promised studies were still pending, Bloomberg News reported Thursday. The report also found that only 185 -- or 15 percent --of studies were ongoing, 31 were delayed, and 144 were submitted.

"How can the FDA claim it is committed to improving drug safety when it can't even get drug makers to do the studies they promise?" said Bill Vaughan, senior policy analyst with Consumers Union. "Should consumers really feel safe when two out of three studies aren't being done, and the FDA doesn't even have the authority to get them done?"

While the FDA has no authority under law to require those studies be performed, it approves some drugs with outstanding safety concerns on the promise that the maker will conduct post-market studies to determine if the medication causes any side effects.

-----

'Neglected' Diseases Need More World Focus: WHO Chief

The international community must pay more attention to "neglected" diseases that affect a billion people in the developing world and cause more suffering and death than high-profile health threats such as bird flu, says Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organization.

These diseases don't receive much attention because they don't pose a threat to international health and security, Chan told a health conference in Bangkok, Thailand, CBC News reported.

"They do not flare up in outbreaks with high mortality. They do not grab media headlines. They do not travel abroad or threaten international security," Chan said.

She also noted that these diseases affect populations with low literacy and little political voice, CBC News reported. Pharmaceutical companies have little financial incentive to develop drugs and vaccines for these diseases and poor health care systems hinder the delivery of available drugs, she added.

These "neglected" or "silent" diseases include:

* Lymphatic filariasis -- a parasitic disease that causes swelling in limbs
* Schistosomiasis (snail fever) -- a parasitic disease that leaves people too weak to work
* Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) -- a parasitic disease that overwhelms the immune system.

-----

Studies Raise Concerns About Abuse of Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers

Concerns about the abuse of alcohol-based hand sanitizers are highlighted in case studies published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. The alcohol in these products is not the same as the type found in drinks.

One letter to the journal describes the case of a 49-year-old U.S. prison inmate who became intoxicated by drinking alcohol-based hand sanitizer. The letter said the inmate was described as becoming "red-eyed, loony and combative," after he was seen to drink from a gallon container of Purell hand sanitizer, CBC News reported.

A second letter describes a 43-year-old alcoholic with mysterious chest pains who drank hand wash that had isopropyl alcohol from a dispenser in a U.S. hospital washroom.

The authors of the second letter noted that ingesting about 200 milliliters of isopropanol can prove fatal because it depresses the central nervous system and the heart, CBC News reported.

It may be a good idea to change the labels on alcohol-based hand sanitizers, the authors concluded.

 

Earth Will Survive Global Warming, But Will We?
By Ker Than
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 01 February 2007
08:16 am ET


The notion that human activity, or the activity of any organism, can affect Earth on a planetary scale is still a hard one for many people to swallow. And it is this kind of disbelief that fuels much of the public skepticism surrounding global warming.

A poll conducted last summer by the Pew Research Center found that only 41 percent of Americans believe the burning of fossil fuels causes global warming. But in a meeting this week in Paris, officials from 113 nations have agreed that a highly anticipated international report will state that global warming was "very likely'' caused by human activity.

The idea that biology can alter the planet in broad and dramatic ways is widely accepted among scientists, and they point to several precedents throughout the history of life.

* How Global Warming Works
* Global Warming's Most Surprising Effects
* What You Can Do

The mighty microbes

Human-caused global warming—also called “anthropogenic” global warming—is the latest example of life altering Earth, but it is not the most dramatic.

That title probably goes to the oxygenation of Earth’s early atmosphere by ancient microbes as they began to harness the power of sunlight through photosynthesis.

Humans “are having a strong effect on global geochemical cycles, but it does not compare at all to the advent of oxygenic photosynthesis,” said Katrina Edwards, a geo-microbiologist at the University of Southern California (USC). “That was a catastrophic environmental change that occurred before 2.2 billion years ago [which] wreaked its full wrath on the Earth system.”

Edwards studies another way life impacts the planet in largely unseen ways. She focuses on how microbes living on the murky ocean floor transform minerals through a kind of underwater alchemy. For example, microbes facilitate a chemical process called oxidation, whereby oxygen in sea water combines with magma oozing up from the ocean floor to change, for example, one form of iron into another.

“These [microbes] are completely off radar in terms of global biogeochemical cycles,” Edwards told LiveScience. "We don't consider them as part of the Earth system right now in our calculation about what's going on, and we don't consider them in terms of how the Earth system will move forward into the future."

These reactions are strongly influenced by life and have been occurring for billions of years, for as long as the oceans have been oxygenated and there have been microbes inhabiting the seafloor, Edwards said.

Creating Earth

On land, microbes, and in particular a form of bacteria called cyanobacteria, help keep soil in place and suppress dust.

“We’d certainly have way more dust storms and it would not be anywhere as nice on Earth if they weren’t around,” said Jayne Belnap, a researcher with the United States Geological Survey.

Scientists believe the tiny critters performed the same roles on early Earth. “One of the big conundrums for geologists is that, OK, you have this big ball of rock, the soil is weathering out and you have these ferocious winds. What in the world is holding the soil in place as it weathers out of the rocks?” Belnap said in a telephone interview. “Cyanobacteria are also credited with that function.”

The microbes anchored soil to the ground; this created habitats for land plants to evolve and eventually for us to evolve. “They literally created Earth in a sense,” Belnap said.

“Cyanobacteria are just like ‘it,’” she continued. “I’ve been telling everybody to make a small altar and offer sacrifices every night. We owe them everything.”

A snowball planet

The mighty microbes also triggered sudden climatic shifts similar to what humans are doing now. Recent studies suggest that the proliferation of cyanobacteria 2.3 billion years ago led to a sudden ice age and the creation of a “Snowball Earth.”

As they carry out photosynthesis, cyanobacteria break apart water and release oxygen as a waste product. Oxygen is one of the most reactive elements around, and its release into the atmosphere in large amounts destroyed methane, a greenhouse gas that absorbed the sun's energy and helped keep our planet warm.

Some scientists think the disappearance of this methane blanket plunged the planet into a cold spell so severe that Earth’s equator was covered by a mile-thick layer of ice.

Earth might still be frozen today if not for the appearance of new life forms. As organisms evolved, many developed the ability to breathe oxygen. In the process, they exhaled another greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, which eventually thawed out the world.

That was the first biologically triggered ice age, but others followed, said Richard Kopp, a Caltech researcher who helped piece together the Snowball Earth scenario.

A new leaf

When trees first appeared about 380 million years ago, they also disturbed Earth’s atmospheric equilibrium.

Unlike animals, plants breathe in carbon dioxide and expel oxygen. Trees transform some of that atmospheric carbon into lignin—the major constituent of wood and one of the most abundant proteins on the planet. Lignin is resistant to decay, so when a tree dies, much of its carbon becomes buried instead of released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere thins the blanket of gases that keeps Earth warm, and that cooling effect can trigger global cooling, possibly even an ice age.

“There was some glaciation that started around that period that was driven at least in part by the evolution of land plants,” Kopp said in a telephone interview.

Trees also affected the global carbon cycle in another indirect way. As they tunnel through the ground, tree roots break down silicate rocks into sediment and soil. Silicate rock contains large amounts of calcium and magnesium. When these elements are exposed to air, they react with atmospheric carbon dioxide to form calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate, compounds that are widespread on Earth.

The human difference

Though it might seem as if humans are mere fleas along for a ride on the back of an immense animal called Earth, our intelligence, technology and sheer numbers mean our species packs a punch that can shake the world in wild ways.

While we are not the first species to drastically alter our planet, our influence is unique in a number of ways, scientists say.

For one thing, humans have developed large-scale industry, said Spencer Weart, a science historian at the American Institute of Physics. “We are capable of mobilizing things beyond our own biology,” Weart said. “I emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide, but my automobile emits far more.”

Another is the rate at which humans are warming Earth.

“Humans are the most common large animal to ever walk the planet,” said Kirk Johnson, a chief curator at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. “Population, plus brain power and technology, is a potent combination and the result is that humans are effecting change at very high rates.”

Belnap agrees. “I don’t think we’ve fundamentally changed any process. We’ve just cranked up the speed,” she said. “We haven’t introduced anything new. We’ve just changed how fast or slow it happens, and mostly fast.”

But no matter how high humans cause the mercury to rise and how much damage we do to the planet, Earth and life will survive, scientists say. It just might no longer be in the form we prefer or the form that allows us to thrive.

“What we need to be thinking of as humans causing changes to the Earth system is what the consequences will be to us human beings,” said Edwards, the USC geo-microbiologist. “The Earth could care less. We will be recorded as a minor perturbation in the Earth system. The Earth will go on. The question is: Will we?”

 

Why Ancient Greeks are Always Nude
By Corey Binns
Special to LiveScience
posted: 02 February 2007
09:16 am ET


Male nudes are the norm in Greek art, even though historians have stated that ancient Greeks kept their clothes on for the most part. New research suggests that art might have been imitating life more closely than previously thought.

Nudity was a costume used by artists to depict various roles of men, ranging from heroicism and status to defeat.

"In ancient Greek art, there are many different kinds of nudity that can mean many different things," said Jeffrey Hurwit, an historian of ancient art at the University of Oregon. "Sometimes they are contradictory."

Hurwit's newly published research shows that the Greeks did walk around in the buff in some situations. Men strode about free of their togas in the bedroom and at parties called symposia, where they would eat, drink and carouse. Nudity was also common on the athletic fields and at the Olympic games. (Because there are so many images of Greek athletes, some lay people have assumed the Greeks were in their birthday suits all the time.)

Battling nudity

However, nudity was often risky for the Greeks.

"Greek males, it is generally agreed, did not walk around town naked, they did not ride their horses naked, and they certainly did not go into battle naked," Hurwit said. "In most public contexts, clothing was not optional, and in combat nakedness was suicidal."

Warriors and heroes are often, but not always, represented in the nude. Artists demonstrated the physical prowess men used to defeat their enemies. But, as Hurwit said, if you can go into battle naked, you've got to be pretty good.

However, heroes weren't the only men disrobed by ancient artists.

Here's looking at you

Hurwit's research, published in the Jan. issue of the American Journal of Archaeology, also found examples of defeated, dying and dead naked men. In these cases, nudity was chosen to represent the subjects' vulnerabilities.

Meanwhile, common laborers were also drawn undressed, illustrating their sweat and muscles to show how hard they worked. Gods and people of higher social class were sometimes—but not always—depicted in the buff to demonstrate their place in society.

Hurwit's research of these nuances of Greek art also offers a glimpse into the cultural source of our civilization today.

"We can try to understand ourselves and our conception of what it means to be a hero and to exceed normal expectations," Hurwit told LiveScience. "The more we know about other cultures, the deeper we will be able to understand our own culture and ourselves."

 

Deadly Superbugs are Talking About You
By Maria Cheng
Associated Press
posted: 01 February 2007
02:28 pm ET


LONDON (AP) — Do germs communicate? Many scientists think so and are betting the chatter may hold the key to developing the next generation of drugs to fight killer superbugs.

The conventional wisdom has long been that the carpet-bombing approach is the best way to fight infection. But as evidence of bacterial bonding has mounted in the past decade, researchers are now focusing on antibiotics that will break down the lines of communication.

In the last 20 years, the number of scientists working in this field has jumped from a few solitary researchers to thousands. In Britain, the strategy is one of the top research priorities of a newly formed center dedicated to stopping superbugs.

“Bacteria are a bit like an army going into battle,'' said Dr. Paul Williams, professor of molecular biology at the center at Nottingham University. “Only when they've got strength in numbers do they tell their troops to start firing.''

The thinking is that if bacterial communication can be interrupted, the microbes might be incapacitated before doing any damage. And by not killing off the bacteria, they won't have the Darwinian opportunity to evolve into resistant strains.

Scientists are still years away from producing a commercially available drug. But if the strategy proves successful, it could open the way for new weapons against superbugs such as the deadly MRSA superbug — whose infection rate has jumped dramatically in the last two decades.

Researchers refer to the bacterial communication system as “quorum sensing.'' Just like in a company boardroom, a quorum is needed before any major action can be taken.

Bacteria communicate with each other by sending out a chemical signal that is in turn picked up by special receptors. Williams and his colleagues are developing enzymes to destroy the signal molecules.

Experts are also trying to break into other bacterial social activities. For instance, bacteria congregating to form a “biofilm'' achieve a type of super-resistance.

“If we can break them up, we can kill them,'' said Dr. Pete Greenberg, a microbiology professor at the University of Washington. Greenberg is working on methods to disable a bacteria that frequently attacks people with cystic fibrosis.

New strategies to fight bugs that don't end up boosting their immunity would be a big boost. Pharmaceuticals companies have been reluctant to invest in traditional antibiotics because many germs can develop resistance within months. The last new classes of antibiotics appeared in the 1990s.

“With only one or two antibiotics that are effective against a major pathogen, we are potentially living on borrowed time,'' warned Dr. Richard James, director of Britain's newly established Centre for Healthcare Associated Infections at Nottingham University.

“Unless we do something to change the situation, we are facing a post-antibiotic apocalypse.''

James, who is not involved in quorum sensing research, believes that it is one of the most promising avenues to developing new antibiotics. “Perhaps the answer to the problem of increasing bacterial resistance is for us to be even more clever than the bacteria,'' he said. “We could do this if we have antibiotics that disable the bacteria, which may then allow the host's immune system to kick in.''

Still, there are no guarantees that antibiotics based on quorum sensing will work. For instance, it's uncertain if knocking out communication lines in later stages of an infection would have any impact.

“There are no experiments to show that in a raging infection, a quorum sensing inhibitor could calm it down,'' said Greenberg. “It might already be too late by the time patients turn up with an infection.''

But with no new antibiotics on the horizon, scientists say new strategies must be attempted.

“Drugs that inhibit quorum sensing are in the unproven category, but there is still a possibility they could work,'' said Dr. Anthony Coates, a professor of medical microbiology at St. George's Hospital Medical School in London. “Quorum sensing might produce very effective antibiotics, but they might only work on specific species of bacteria,'' he said, adding that further tests on existing compounds is needed.

“The cupboard is running bare, and without any new antibiotics, we have to keep trying.''

 

New Super-Size TVs: Action Larger than Life
By Lamont Wood
Special to LiveScience
posted: 31 January 2007
07:57 am ET


Don’t want to be squinting at your TV screen during the Super Bowl? Perhaps you’d be happier with one that’s about 4 feet by 8 feet. In close-up shots, the players will be larger than the people in your living room. The effect of wide shots is like looking out a large window.

This experience can be yours for about half the price of a small house in some suburbs.

Panasonic announced a 103-inch (diagonal measurement) flat-panel TV last year that in December officially went on sale in the United States, with a product code (TH-103PZ600U) and a suggested retail price of $69,999.95. They’ve sold several, including one to billionaire Mark Cuban, and two to NBC for use on the set of a sports program. Weighing nearly 500 pounds, they take a fork-lift to move and require professional installation—but you can probably hold out for free delivery [see the TV].

Actually, Panasonic was obviously just trying to one-up Samsung, which had earlier come out with a 102-inch unit. Raising the ante in early January was Sharp, which answered Panasonic by coming out with a 108-inch unit.

* Super Bowl Hightlights Available on iTunes

Where can this end?

Actually, with the Sharp announcement the size war may have ended, Kurt Scherf, home entertainment industry analyst at Parks Associates in Dallas, told LiveScience.

Scherf said the flat-panel TV world is split between competing camps that use LCD and plasma technology, and the plasma camp formerly had an edge in its ability to make larger units. The Samsung and Panasonic units were plasma panels. But the new king of the hill, the 108-inch Sharp unit, is an LCD panel, signaling that the LCD camp has caught up.

“Where mainstream consumers are looking for their TVs is square in the 36- to 50-inch range,” Scherf said. “The only reason to make them bigger is for validation.”

* Who Invented the TV Dinner?

On the other hand, “There’s a constant race to make bigger and bigger display panels, because being able to make bigger panels drives down your production costs,” said Steve Wilson, an analyst at ABI Research in Oyster Bay, NY. “You can chop them up to make moderate-sized TVs, or you can leave them intact and someone might buy one.”

Sharp's unit was on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January.

“What were they talking about at the Consumer Electronics Show? Sharp’s huge TV,” said Eric Haruki, research director at IDC, a market research firm in Framingham, MA.

“Having the biggest creates buzz, and puts your brand on top of my brand—that’s 90 percent of the reason for making them," Haruki said in a recent telephone interview. "But the other 10 percent is a legitimate business venture—they do sell them."

 

Last night we finished a 118in install for my sister for the Superbowl...We are ready for Sunday...IT's been a 2 year home theatre project...Its projection...but it's a DWIN...Amazing picture...3,200 watt sound system...10.1 surround...

 

On those 70 grand TV's I take two please, lol.

 

Physicists find way to 'see' extra dimensions Discussion at PhysOrgForum

http://www.physorg.com/news89651914.html

Physicists find way to 'see' extra dimensions
A computer-generated rendering of a possible six-dimensional geometry similar to those studied by UW-Madison physicist Gary Shiu. Image: courtesy Andrew J. Hanson, Indiana University
Peering backward in time to an instant after the big bang, physicists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have devised an approach that may help unlock the hidden shapes of alternate dimensions of the universe.


A new study demonstrates that the shapes of extra dimensions can be "seen" by deciphering their influence on cosmic energy released by the violent birth of the universe 13 billion years ago. The method, published today (Feb. 2) in Physical Review Letters, provides evidence that physicists can use experimental data to discern the nature of these elusive dimensions - the existence of which is a critical but as yet unproven element of string theory, the leading contender for a unified "theory of everything."

Scientists developed string theory, which proposes that everything in the universe is made of tiny, vibrating strings of energy, to encompass the physical principles of all objects from immense galaxies to subatomic particles. Though currently the front-runner to explain the framework of the cosmos, the theory remains, to date, untested.

The mathematics of string theory suggests that the world we know is not complete. In addition to our four familiar dimensions - three-dimensional space and time - string theory predicts the existence of six extra spatial dimensions, "hidden" dimensions curled in tiny geometric shapes at every single point in our universe.

Don't worry if you can't picture a 10-dimensional world. Our minds are accustomed to only three spatial dimensions and lack a frame of reference for the other six, says UW-Madison physicist Gary Shiu, who led the new study. Though scientists use computers to visualize what these six-dimensional geometries could look like (see image), no one really knows for sure what shape they take.

The new Wisconsin work may provide a long-sought foundation for measuring this previously immeasurable aspect of string theory.

According to string theory mathematics, the extra dimensions could adopt any of tens of thousands of possible shapes, each shape theoretically corresponding to its own universe with its own set of physical laws.

For our universe, "Nature picked one - and we want to know what that one looks like," explains Henry Tye, a physicist at Cornell University who was not involved in the new research.

Shiu says the many-dimensional shapes are far too small to see or measure through any usual means of observation, which makes testing this crucial aspect of string theory very difficult. "You can theorize anything, but you have to be able to show it with experiments," he says. "Now the problem is, how do we test it?"

He and graduate student Bret Underwood turned to the sky for inspiration.

Their approach is based on the idea that the six tiny dimensions had their strongest influence on the universe when it itself was a tiny speck of highly compressed matter and energy - that is, in the instant just after the big bang.

"Our idea was to go back in time and see what happened back then," says Shiu. "Of course, we couldn't really go back in time."

Lacking the requisite time machine, they used the next-best thing: a map of cosmic energy released from the big bang. The energy, captured by satellites such as NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), has persisted virtually unchanged for the last 13 billion years, making the energy map basically "a snapshot of the baby universe," Shiu says. The WMAP experiment is the successor to NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) project, which garnered the 2006 Nobel Prize in physics.

Just as a shadow can give an idea of the shape of an object, the pattern of cosmic energy in the sky can give an indication of the shape of the other six dimensions present, Shiu explains.

To learn how to read telltale signs of the six-dimensional geometry from the cosmic map, they worked backward. Starting with two different types of mathematically simple geometries, called warped throats, they calculated the predicted energy map that would be seen in the universe described by each shape. When they compared the two maps, they found small but significant differences between them.

Their results show that specific patterns of cosmic energy can hold clues to the geometry of the six-dimensional shape - the first type of observable data to demonstrate such promise, says Tye.

Though the current data are not precise enough to compare their findings to our universe, upcoming experiments such as the European Space Agency's Planck satellite should have the sensitivity to detect subtle variations between different geometries, Shiu says.

"Our results with simple, well-understood shapes give proof of concept that the geometry of hidden dimensions can be deciphered from the pattern of cosmic energy," he says. "This provides a rare opportunity in which string theory can be tested."

Technological improvements to capture more detailed cosmic maps should help narrow down the possibilities and may allow scientists to crack the code of the cosmic energy map - and inch closer to identifying the single geometry that fits our universe.

The implications of such a possibility are profound, says Tye. "If this shape can be measured, it would also tell us that string theory is correct."

Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

My rebuttal to the news post about that dimensional stuff can be read here. If anyone tells you that the world is 3D, remember to tell them No it's 4D. They're being a tool LOL

 

Wanted: one tropical paradise for file-sharing, freedom

2/2/2007 12:53:59 PM, by Nate Anderson

The dream refuses to die. After The Pirate Bay failed in its quest to buy Sealand, some supporters of the idea believed that the idea of a libertarian paradise was too precious to drop, and they entertained hopes of hoisting the "live free or die" flag over another island, possibly Ile de Caille, a small and uninhabited island off the South American coast.

Thus began the Free Nation Foundation, a group that hopes to form its own country governed by a "philosophy of freedom" where "people could actually live" (as opposed to all those other countries, where living has been outlawed by tyrants).

The failure of the Sealand deal, it turns out, was a good thing. The rusting naval platform "was too small and aesthetically displeasing to support such a goal," according to the group, and the weather in the middle of the English Channel is not the stuff of which vacation fantasies are made.

The Free Nation Foundation is a bit like the Free State Project on steroids. The Free Staters hope to convince 20,000 committed libertarians to pull up stakes and relocate to New Hampshire, a state chosen for its long history of independence, its low tax rate, and its unrestrictive gun laws that allow people to pack heat anywhere except in a courtroom, without even picking up a permit.

The Free Nation Foundation hopes for something similar, but their focus is more global. The idea is that libertarians from around the world will converge on an island paradise where they can live truly free lives, a place where "the only valid restrictions are those upon actions that disallow the freedom of others."

Suggested principles for the place include absolute democracy and the free flow of information—as a group that sprung from The Pirate Bay, we imagine that information will flow very freely. The idea is still in the incubation period, though if it ever comes to fruition, it would be a fascinating sociological experiment (documentary filmmakers, are you listening?). Would it end up like utopia, or Lord of the Flies?
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070202-8762.html

 

Key Found to the Smell of the Sea

Andrea Thompson
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com Fri Feb 2, 12:40 PM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070202/sc_livescience/keyfoundtothesmellofthesea

A trip to the beach means sand between your toes, salt water in your mouth and that aromatic sea air in your nose. But what gives the ocean air that delightful and distinctive smell? Scientists have not known the full story until now.

The smell comes from a gas produced by genes recently identified by researchers in ocean-dwelling bacteria.

Understanding how the odorous gas is produced could be important because it is implicated in cloud formation over the ocean and helps some animals find food.

Knowledge gap

Scientists had long known that bacteria could be found consuming decay products and producing a gas called dimethyl sulfide, or DMS, in places where plankton and marine plants such as seaweed were dying. This pungent gas is what gives ocean air "sort of a fishy, tangy smell," said study author Andrew Johnston of the University of East Anglia.

But while "it was known that quite a lot of bacteria could [produce DMS], no one had thought to ask how," Johnston told LiveScience.

So that's exactly what he and his colleagues set out to do.

The team took samples of mud from the salt marshes along Britain's coast, and isolated a new strain of bacteria. After sequencing its genes and comparing the genetic structure to other known bacteria, they were able to identify the gene involved in the mechanism that converts the plants' decay products, called DMSP, into DMS.

The mechanism responsible "was absolutely not what anyone expected," Johnston said. The study's findings are detailed in the Feb. 2 issue of the journal Science.

Unexpected twist

Scientists had thought that a simple enzyme would be used to break down the DMSP into DMS, but the process turned out to be more complicated as the DMSP proved tougher to breakdown than suspected.

As with many other processes, the bacteria are cleverly conservative: the mechanism stays off until decaying plankton are around. But when a plankton bloom in the ocean is, for example, killed off by a viral attack, the bacteria rush in to reap the benefit.

"The bacteria will only switch on the genes to break down DMSP if the DMSP is around," Johnston said.

Johnston and his team were also able to clone the gene and transfer it to bacteria that lacked it, including E. coli, giving the bacteria the ability to produce DMS gas.

This mechanism is neither the only way, nor the primary way, that bacteria break down the estimated 1 billion tons of DMSP in the ocean, Johnston said, but it is important nonetheless as DMS releases over the open ocean influences cloud formation, which can influence Earth's climate.

Some seabirds rely on DMS as a homing scent to find food. On one occasion during their field research, Johnston and his team opened a bottle filled with the DMS-producing bacteria only to be bombarded by hungry seabirds.

 

Coins Don't Smell, You Do
By Ker Than
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 24 October 2006
08:20 am ET


Scientists have sniffed out the reason for the musty, "metallic" odor you smell after handling coins or touching metal objects.

A new study finds that the smell of iron is, ironically, a type of human body odor, created by the breakdown of oils in skin after touching objects that contain the element.

"That we are smelling the metal itself is actually an illusion," said study team member Dietmar Glindemann of the University of Leipzig in Germany.

In an experiment, seven test subjects reported smelling the metallic odor after their hands came into contact with iron. Researchers took gas samples from the subjects' skins and traced the smell to 1-octen-2-one, an organic molecule formed when certain oils in skin decompose.

Scientists think it works like this: When touching objects made of iron, perspiration from skin causes the iron atoms to gain two electrons. The doubly negative iron atoms react with oil in skin, causing them to decompose, forming 1-octen-2-one.

Because blood contains iron, rubbing blood over skin produces a similar metallic smell, the researchers said.

"That humans can 'smell' iron can be interpreted as a sense for the smell of blood," Glindemann said.

 

When a Woman Smells Best
By Sara Goudarzi
Special to LiveScience
posted: 18 January 2006
07:52 am ET


The scent of a woman is more attractive at certain times of the month, suggests a new study that had men sniffing women's armpit odor.

"We were interested whether armpit odor changes across menstrual cycle," said study author Jan Havlieek of the Department of Anthropology at Charles University, Prague. "To test this, we asked a group of women to wear cotton pads in their armpits for 24 hours."

The women didn't wear perfumes, use deodorants, eat spicy or smelly foods, smoke, drink alcohol or use hormonal contraceptives such as the pill. Body odor was collected during three phases: menstrual (at the beginning); follicular (between the first day of menstruation and the onset of ovulation); and luteal (the fertile stage).

"The fresh pads were subsequently rated for their attractiveness and intensity by a group of 42 men," Havlieek told LiveScience.

The most attractive smells, men said, were from the time between the first day of menstruation and ovulation.

The cycle

The typically 28-day menstrual cycle involves the physiological changes that occur in a woman to prepare for a possibility of pregnancy. It is controlled by the reproductive hormone system.

A cycle is divided into four parts and starts on the first day of menstruation, which is the shedding of tissue and blood from the womb. In the follicular phase, a dominant ovarian follicle—which is a sack that contains the ova, or egg—grows, becoming ready to ovulate. The mature egg is then released in the phase known as ovulation around day 12. The cycle ends with the fertile phase.

Although many men would tell you they're always in the mood, Havlieek and colleagues discovered that men find odors during the follicular phase the most attractive and least intense. On the other hand, the highest intensity smells, corresponding to the lowest attractiveness for men, were found during the time of menstrual bleeding.

"Traditionally it's believed that ovulation in human female is concealed and there are no changes in attractiveness across the cycle," Havlieek said.

The study is detailed in the January issue of the journal Ethology.

Further sniffing

Two other studies by different research teams came to similar conclusions. But those investigationsused T-shirts for odor sampling, "making it difficult to pinpoint the source of the smell," said Havlieek, whose team restricted sampling to armpits only.

Finally, the attractiveness of women's faces also changes during the month.

Havlieek's team found that facial images of women in the follicular phase—when the dominant ovarian follicle is getting ready to ovulate—are considered more attractive as compared to images taken in the luteal or fertile phase of the cycle.

The researchers hope to find out which chemical compounds are responsible for the odor changes across a woman's menstrual cycle.

 

How to Make Body Odor Smell Pleasant, in a Word
By LiveScience Staff

posted: 18 May 2005
12:06 pm ET


If it stinks like body odor and you're trying to sell it, just call it cheese.

That's the message from a new study that finds people perceive a scent differently based on the word that goes with the smell.

Researchers exposed test subjects to the smell of cheddar cheese. Some saw labels that read "cheddar cheese." Others were shown labels that read "body odor." Those who were told they were smelling cheese rated the scent more pleasant.

The study also imaged people's brains during follow-up tests. The results were as complex as, well, the brain.

The cheese label activated a certain part of the brain that processes olfactory information (the signals coming from the nose). When people smelled clean air that was also labeled as cheese, the same brain area was activated, but not as much. When they saw the body odor label, that brain location was not activated, regardless of whether they were sniffing cheese or clean air.

The plucky test subjects also got to enjoy the smell of properly labeled flowers and burned plastic, showing that different parts of the brain note pleasant smells versus unpleasant.

The work was led by Edmund Rolls of the University of Oxford.

It's not clear if words cause people to imagine a smell or if it just affects how their brains process odors. But this much is now clear:

"High-level cognitive inputs, such as the sight of a word, can influence the activity in brain regions that are activated by olfactory stimuli," Rolls and his colleagues write in the May 19 issue of the journal Neuron.