1

Just Chat! / What amuses you while traveling?

« on: 18/05/2008 11:53:09 »

1) Watching Carolyn enter into a stranger's vehicle, most amusing!
2) Watching Carolyn's expression as I tell her when we get close to customs that we will be stripped searched.
3) Watching Carolyn's expression as the airplane is about to take off and she hears a loud sound.
4) Watching Carolyn in the Dungeons of London Bridges being frightened as we were the last ones in the line.
5) Watching Carolyn dodge birds in London has had me very weak with laughter.
6) Watching Carolyn unfold tons of jewelry and makeup out of her luggage.

Share experiences that you have had while traveling with loved ones or friends.... [)]

2

Just Chat! / Missed you all!

« on: 11/09/2007 15:13:45 »

Just wanted to stop in and to say hello to all of you!  Missed all of you very much! Mwahhhhh!

3

General Science / How does cell phone tracking work?

« on: 30/05/2007 04:36:22 »

I know computers can use this technology but how does it work and also, can it track where a cellphone user is?

4

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Results from Stephen Hawkins Trip

« on: 26/05/2007 08:59:22 »

Hawking amazed by weightlessness
By Lucy Sherriff The Register - Technology News - Friday, April 27 05:00 pmStephen Hawking is back on solid ground after completing eight "zero gravity" plunges aboard the vomit comet.
 
In total, the professor spent around four minutes weightless. On his return, he described the experience as "amazing", proving that even a genius can have his vocabulary humbled by free-fall. "The zero-G part was wonderful and the higher-G part was no problem. I could have gone on and on," he told the BBC.

"Space here I come," he added, referring to his plans to fly aboard one of Richard Branson's first Virgin Galactic sub-orbital flights, which are slated to start in 2009.

Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of Zero Gravity Corporation, the firm that took Hawking up on the specially modified Boeing 727, said that the flight had been beyond all their expectations.

"The doctors felt he was in tremendous condition. His heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels were all normal and perfect," he said.

Yahoo News

5

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Just a little question

« on: 24/05/2007 23:06:54 »

How can you throw a ball so that it goes a short distance, comes to a total stop, reverses its motion, and then goes the opposite way. You are not allowed to bounce it against anything, hit it with anything, or tie it to anything?

6

General Science / How Much will......

« on: 24/05/2007 22:08:43 »

How much will a 33 Degree angle measure when observed under a microscope that magnifies 10 times?

7

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Atmospheric Pressure

« on: 24/05/2007 15:27:18 »

 What if the sea level drops, how much change will it cause? 

8

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Mysteries of Space

« on: 24/05/2007 04:49:59 »

What unsolved mysteries in space have not yet been answered?

9

Physiology & Medicine / Can You Really Hate?

« on: 22/05/2007 19:09:39 »

Thinking about this word hate and how it is defined.  Is it possible for us to know what hate is really or the closest thing we can possibly do with feelings in our emotional range?

Do we have an emotional range? 

10

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Is petrol or fuel consumption higher or lower with air conditioning on?

« on: 18/05/2007 05:16:34 »

With heat condtions as extreme as 100 degrees and more in Texas, is it the same consumption of fuel with air conditioning or not?  I had a discussion with someone on this today about the compressor and the pull on the engine.  Also, would it make a difference with the consumption of petro when the refrigerant is low?

11

Complementary Medicine / Soy helps weight loss

« on: 05/05/2007 08:38:19 »

Research shows that when soy consumption goes up, weight goes down. A new University of Illinois study may help scientists understand exactly how that weight loss happens.

"We wanted to compare the effects of soy protein hydrolysates and soy peptides with those of leptin because we hypothesized that soy might behave in the body in a similar way. Leptin is a hormone produced in our adipose tissue that interacts with receptors in the brain and signals us that we’re full so we stop eating," said Elvira de Mejia, a U of I assistant professor of food science and human nutrition.

The researchers wanted to see if soy protein hydrolysates could affect these regulatory hormones and their receptors.

"And we found that soy did have an effect on these mechanisms and hormones that are induced in the body to help us degrade lipids and reduce body weight, but it did so by boosting metabolism and not by reducing food intake," she said.

To compare soy peptides with leptin, de Mejia’s graduate student Nerissa Vaughn, with the help of associate professor Lee Beverly, implanted cannulas in the brains of lab rats; they then injected leptin as a positive control. When the scientists could see their model was working, they injected two formulations of hydrolyzed soy protein and soy peptides so the scientists could monitor the effects of each on food intake and weight loss.

Injections were given three times a week for two weeks; during that time, the animals had unlimited access to food and water. Food intake was measured 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours after injection, and the rats were weighed 24 and 48 hours after injection. All rats received the same amount of exercise, and all rats lost weight.

But, after the third injection, de Mejia and Vaughn noticed a significant weight loss in the group of animals that had received one of the soy hydrolysates, even though the animals hadn’t changed their eating habits. In this instance, soy protein appeared to have caused weight loss not by reducing food intake but by altering the rats’ metabolism.

The experiment not only showed that soy peptides could interact with receptors in the brain, it also demonstrated that eating less isn’t always the reason for weight loss, the researcher said.

"Weight loss is a complex physiological event. It’s not always as simple as ‘Eat less or exercise more,’ said de Mejia.

"Losing weight is a cascade of many steps, beginning with the production of certain hormones and continuing with their action in the brain. Some people are resistant to these hormones, just as other people are insulin-resistant. These people never receive the message from the brain that tells them they’re full," she added.

de Mejia plans to continue investigating the effects of soy proteins on weight loss. She believes soy contains anorectic peptides that signal a feeling of satiety as well as peptides that boost the metabolism. Her next step will be to fractionate and purify the soy hydrolysates so that she can identify each peptide and understand its bioactivity.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

12

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Invisibility with distance

« on: 05/05/2007 08:29:37 »

A unique computer model designed by a mathematician at the University of Liverpool has shown that it is possible to make objects, such as aeroplanes and submarines, appear invisible at close range.

Scientists have already created an 'invisibility cloak' made out of 'metamaterial' which can bend electromagnetic radiation – such as visible light, radar or microwaves – around a spherical space, making an object within this region appear invisible.

Until now, scientists could only make objects appear invisible from far away. Liverpool mathematician Dr Sébastien Guenneau, together with Dr Frédéric Zolla and Professors André Nicolet from the University of Marseille, have proven - using a specially designed computer model called GETDP - that objects can also be made to appear invisible from close range when light travels in waves rather than beams.

Scientists predict that metamaterials could be of use in military technology, such as in the construction of fighter jets and submarines, but it will be some years before invisibility cloaks can be developed for human beings.

Dr Guenneau, at the University's Department of Mathematical Science, explains: "The shape and structure of aeroplanes make them ideal objects for cloaking, as they have a fixed structure and movement pattern. Human beings and animals are more difficult as their movement is very flexible, so the cloak - as it is designed at the moment - would easily be seen when the person or animal made any sudden movement.

"A cloak, such as the one worn by the Harry Potter character for example, is not yet possible but it is a good example of what we are trying to move towards. Using this new computer model we can prove that light can bend around an object under a cloak and is not diffracted by the object. This happens because the metamaterial that makes up the cloak stretches the metrics of space, in a similar way to what heavy planets and stars do for the metrics of space-time in Einstein's general relativity theory.

"In order for the cloaking device to work in the first place light has to separate into two or more waves resulting in a new wave pattern. Within this pattern we get light and dark regions which are needed in order for an object to appear invisible.

"Until now, however, it was not clear whether photons – particles that make up all forms of light – can split and form new waves when the light source is close to the object. If we use ray optic techniques – where light travels in beams - photons break down at close range and the object does not appear invisible. If we study light as it travels in waves however, invisibility is maintained."

Scientists predict that invisibility will be possible for objects of any shape and size within the next decade.

University of Liverpool

13

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Methane Gas Powered Rocket ?

« on: 05/05/2007 08:26:52 »

On January 16, 2007, a dazzling blue flame blasted across the sands of the Mojave desert. In many respects, it looked like an ordinary rocket engine test, but this was different. While most NASA rockets are powered by liquid oxygen and hydrogen or solid chemicals, "we were testing a methane engine," says project manager Terri Tramel of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).

The main engine, built and fired by the NASA contractor team Alliant Techsystems/XCOR Aerospace, is still in an early stage of development and isn't ready for space. But if the technology proves itself, methane engines like this one could eventually be key to deep space exploration.

Methane (CH4), the principal component of natural gas, is abundant in the outer solar system. It can be harvested from Mars, Titan, Jupiter, and many other planets and moons. With fuel waiting at the destination, a rocket leaving Earth wouldn't have to carry so much propellant, reducing the cost of a mission.

Perhaps surprisingly, this flammable gas has never powered a spacecraft before. But now scientists and engineers at Marshall, the Glenn Research Center and the Johnson Space Center are developing LOX/methane engines as an option for the future. "Several efforts are underway, including a rival LOX/methane main engine design by KT Engineering," notes Tramel.

"This work is funded by NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program and shows how technologies being developed for exploration may one day assist in future science missions," says Mark D. Klem, manager of the Propulsion and Cryogenics Advanced Development Project at the Glenn Research Center.

"Methane has so many advantages," continues Tramel. "The question is, why haven't we done this before?"

Consider the following: Liquid hydrogen fuel used by the space shuttle must be stored at a temperature of -252.9°C—only about 20 degrees above absolute zero! Liquid methane, on the other hand, can be stored at the much warmer and more convenient temperature of -161.6°C. That means methane fuel tanks wouldn't need as much insulation, making them lighter and thus cheaper to launch. The tanks could also be smaller, because liquid methane is denser than liquid hydrogen, again saving money and weight.

Methane also gets high marks for human safety. While some rocket fuels are potentially toxic, "methane is what we call a green propellant," Tramel says. "You don't have to put on a HAZMAT suit to handle it like fuels used on many space vehicles."

But the key attraction for methane is that it exists or can be made on many worlds that NASA might want to visit someday, including Mars.

Although Mars is not rich in methane, methane can be manufactured there via the Sabatier process: Mix some carbon dioxide (CO2) with hydrogen (H), then heat the mixture to produce CH4 and H20--methane and water. The Martian atmosphere is an abundant source of carbon dioxide, and the relatively small amount of hydrogen required for the process may be brought along from Earth or gathered in situ from Martian ice.

Traveling further out in the solar system, methane becomes even easier to come by. On Saturn's moon Titan, it is literally raining liquid methane. Titan is dotted with lakes and rivers of methane and other hydrocarbons that could one day serve as fuel depots. Imagine, a methane-powered rocket could allow a robotic probe to land on the surface of Titan, gather geological samples, refill its tanks, and blast off to return those samples to Earth. Such a sample-return mission from the outer solar system has never been attempted.

This first series of desert test firings of the 7,500 pound-thrust main engine was a success, but challenges remain before methane rockets will be ready for use in a real mission. "One of the big questions with methane is its ability to ignite," Tramel says. Some rocket fuels ignite spontaneously when mixed with the oxidizer, but methane requires an ignition source. Ignition sources can be hard to make in the outer solar system where planetary temperatures drop to hundreds of degrees below zero. Tramel and her colleagues at Marshall and Glenn are currently working to assure that the rocket will ignite reliably in all conditions.

Such challenges will be surmountable through NASA's continued efforts, Tramel says, and she believes LOX-methane engines will be used in rockets of the future. The blue flame in the desert was a beautiful first step.

NASA

14

Complementary Medicine / Insomina Article

« on: 05/05/2007 08:21:37 »

Sleep remains one of the big mysteries in biology. All animals sleep, and people who are deprived of sleep suffer physically, emotionally and intellectually. But nobody knows how sleep restores the brain.

Now, Giulio Tononi, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, has discovered how to stimulate brain waves that characterize the deepest stage of sleep. The discovery could open a new window into the role of sleep in keeping humans healthy, happy and able to learn.

The brain function in question, called slow wave activity, is critical to the restoration of mood and the ability to learn, think and remember, Tononi says.

During slow wave activity, which occupies about 80 percent of sleeping hours, waves of electrical activity wash across the brain, roughly once a second, 1,000 times a night. In a paper being published this week in the Early Edition of the scientific journal PNAS, Tononi and colleagues, including Marcello Massimini, also of the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, described the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to initiate slow waves in sleeping volunteers. The researchers recorded brain electrical activity with an electroencephalograph (EEG).

A TMS instrument sends a harmless magnetic signal through the scalp and skull and into the brain, where it activates electrical impulses. In response to each burst of magnetism, the subjects' brains immediately produced slow waves typical of deep sleep, Tononi says. "With a single pulse, we were able to induce a wave that looks identical to the waves the brain makes normally during sleep."

The researchers have learned to locate the TMS device above a specific part of the brain, where it causes slow waves that travel throughout the brain. "We don't know why, but this is a very good place to evoke big waves that clearly travel through every part of the brain," Tononi says.

Scientists' interest in slow waves stems from a growing appreciation of their role in sleep, Tononi says. "We have reasons to think the slow waves are not just something that happens, but that they may be important" in sleep's restorative powers. For example, a sleep-deprived person has larger and more numerous slow waves once asleep. And as sleep proceeds, Tononi adds, the slow waves weaken, which may signal that the need for sleep is partially satisfied.

Creating slow waves on demand could someday lead to treatments for insomnia, where slow waves may be reduced. Theoretically, it could also lead to a magnetically stimulated "power nap," which might confer the benefit of eight hours sleep in just a few hours.

Before that happens, however, Tononi must go further and prove that artificial slow waves have restorative benefits to the brain. Such an experiment would ask whether sleep with TMS leads to greater brain restoration than an equal amount of sleep without TMS.

Although an electronic power-napper sounds like a product whose time has come, Tononi is chasing a larger quarry: learning why sleep is necessary in the first place. If all animals sleep, he says, it must play a critical role in survival, but that role remains elusive.

Based on the fact that sleep seems to "consolidate" memories, many neuroscientists believe that sleeping lets us rehearse the day's events.

Tononi agrees that sleep improves memory, but he thinks this happens through a different process, one that involves a reduction in brain overload. During sleep, he suggests, the synapses (connections between nerve cells) that were formed by the day's learning can relax a little.

While awake, we "observe and learn much more than you think," he observes. "Tons of things are leaving traces, changing the synapses, mainly by making them stronger. It is wonderful that you can have all these synaptic traces in the brain, but they come at a price. Synapses require proteins, fats, space and energy. At the end of a waking day, you have all these traces of memories left behind.

"During the slow waves, all the connections, step by step, are becoming a little weaker," Tononi adds. "By morning, the total connection strength is back to the way it was the morning before. The trick is to downscale all the connections by the same percentage, so the ones that were stronger are still stronger. That way you don't lose the memory."

Without this type of weakening, he says, we "would not be able to learn new things" because our brains would lack sufficient available energy, space and nutrients.

Although the explanation is still a hypothesis, Tononi hopes that the ability to artificially stimulate slow waves will allow him and other researchers to test the notion that sleep restores the brain by damping connectivity between neurons.

Slow waves, he suspects, "Clear out the noise to make sure your brain does not become too much of an energy hog, a space hog. By morning, you have a brain that is energy efficient, space efficient and ready to learn again."

University of Wisconsin - Madison

15

Physiology & Medicine / Asthma, bronchitis, Frog Juice, is it the cure?

« on: 05/05/2007 07:23:39 »

Not feeling sexy? Chug some Peruvian frog juice
Blended drink is said to cure asthma, bronchitis — and low sex drive
 A frog juice vendor, Bertha de Jesus, right, puts a frog in the blender as she prepares a juice in Lima, Peru. Vendors assure frog juice is good for asthma, anemia, brain activity and, is also used as a powerful aphrodisiac.
 View related photos
Martin Mejia / AP


Updated: 3:55 p.m. CT May 4, 2007
LIMA, Peru - Carmen Gonzalez plucks one of the 50 frogs from the aquarium at her bus stop restaurant, bangs it against tiles to kill it and then makes two incisions along its belly and peels off the skin as if husking corn.

She’s preparing frog juice, a beverage revered by some Andean cultures for having the power to cure asthma, bronchitis, sluggishness and a low sex drive. A drink of so-called “Peruvian Viagra” sells for about 90 cents.

Gonzalez adds three ladles of hot, white bean broth, two generous spoonfuls of honey, raw aloe vera plant and several tablespoons of maca — an Andean root also believed to boost stamina and sex drive — into a household blender

Then she drops the frog in.

Once strained, the result is a starchy, milkshake-like liquid that stings the throat.

At least 50 customers a day ask for steaming beer mugs of frog juice at Gonzalez’s countertop-only restaurant in eastern Lima, and many treat the concoction as their morning — and afternoon — cup of coffee.

Rebeca Borja, a 53-year-old housewife and mother of five, originally from Lima’s central highland city of Huancayo, where the beverage is common, said simply: “It gives you power.”

16

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Gravity of the Situation....Stephen Hawking

« on: 29/04/2007 02:48:17 »

Stephen Hawking: Gravity of the Situation
Author Leonard David
One of the world’s top experts in gravity is set to shuck off Earth’s one-G pull and experience microgravity for the first time.

Stephen Hawking, the renowned British cosmologist, will fly aboard the Zero Gravity Corporation’s (ZERO-G) aircraft on April 26, departing out of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

A practice run of the flight is slated the day before, including use of a person that will double as Hawking.

On flight day, Hawking is to be taken out of his wheelchair and placed flat on the floor of the aircraft. “We’ll have four physicians onboard…close members of his team that normally take care of him,” said Peter Diamandis, CEO and co-founder of ZERO-G.

Diamandis said the plan is for Hawking to float free during a single microgravity-generating maneuver by the aircraft. “We will first see how he does,” he told SPACE.com, and then decide on a second and probably third parabola.

17

Just Chat! / Miss you much Darlings!

« on: 12/03/2007 23:02:22 »

I am sorry to have been off for a while and jumping off and on.  I miss you guys so much Karen, Neilsy, Georgie, Alberto, Carolyn, Helena, Joy, Dansy, Josefina, and the rest of you..Just wanted to let you know you are not forgotten...I have missed all of you!!!

18

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Prehistoric Shark...

« on: 29/01/2007 07:11:43 »

Shizouka, Japan) - The staff of a Japanese aquarium was able to take rare pictures of a frilled shark on Sunday, after it was discovered by local residents at Awashima Port in Shizuoka, southwest of Tokyo.

This prehistoric shark is rarely seen alive as its natural habitat lies up to 4,200 feet under the sea.

Experts at the Awashima Marine Park were able to examine the creature, which was a female, and film it swimming around.

Unfortunately, it died a couple of hours after it was moved to its new environment.

The eel-looking shark, with its mouth full of 300 trident-shaped teeth, measured 5.3 feet long and weighed about 16.5 lbs.

Frilled sharks normally inhabit deep sea waters between 400 and 4,200 feet and rarely come to the surface.

However they have been seen near the coast of Japan before, especially during the winter when the water temperature drops and they have to get to warmer areas to feed.

Frilled sharks can grow to a length of nearly 6.5 feet and eat deep-sea squids and other soft-bodied preys.

Most specimen are found in the Japanese waters.

James Gilbert

19

General Science / How does Cold Fusion work?

« on: 08/01/2007 06:57:18 »

I am curious...Do you think if we had a way to process cold fusion it would eliminate using the power sources we have now such as our "wonderful electricity providers"?

Also, how is it cooled down?

_{Mod edit - formatted the subject as a question.  Please try to do this to help keep the forum tidy and easy to navigate - thanks!}

20

Physiology & Medicine / Does Anyone Experience Issues With Heights?

« on: 05/01/2007 02:55:18 »

I am just curious as many people have problems with Heights.  What causes this and do any of you have this problem?