Reality Bites
According to modified general relativity equations, our universe may be inside a black hole, the black holes in our universe may contain other universes, and the black holes in those universes may contain other universes… I need a drink. More »
Researchers studying middle school students and college graduates have found those playing video games or watching TV for more than two hours per day were roughly twice as likely to have significant attention problems. If only they’d measured internet use, too. More »
Video game – Television – Games – Iowa State University – American Academy of Pediatrics
What if forensics experts could use a microscopic sample of DNA to figure out what a criminal suspect looks like? No, it’s not science fiction. In just a few years, investigators may be reconstructing suspects’ faces from DNA. [io9] More »
DNA – Science in Society – Forensic Science – Testing Services – United States
With KFC’s Double Down “sandwich” now threatening to slap quadruple chins across much of America, people may soon begin chomping at the bit for equally extreme diet solutions to counteract the havoc wreaked by the Colonel. Gelesis, a Boston-based drug company, has apparently read the grease-stained handwriting on the wall, and has just concocted a new pill aimed at helping plus-sized Americans shed some pounds — by convincing them that they’re full.
As Xconomy reports, Gelesis’ newest pill, Attiva, contains a bunch of super-absorbent hydrogel beads that swell up when introduced to water, meaning all you have to do is swallow one and you’re full. Of course, Gelesis doesn’t want to make anyone look like Lara Flynn Boyle, which is why the drug developers designed Attiva to fully blend with any ingested food. The hydrogel keeps whatever you eat in your stomach for a longer period, thus allowing your stomach more time to digest while the beads release the water they’ve absorbed. Once the train moves down to the low intestine, the beads begin to re-expand a bit, slowing the absorption of fat and sugar.
Continue reading Diet Pill Swells in Your Belly, Making You Feel Instantly Full
Diet Pill Swells in Your Belly, Making You Feel Instantly Full originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
A geologist has discovered a link between regular changes in the Earth’s orbital cycle and changes in the climate.
The Chikyu research vessel is already the world’s deepest drill, probing nearly 23,000 feet beneath the ocean floor. But scientists hope to add another mile to the machine by 2013, allowing it to pierce Earth’s mantle for the first time. More »
Bionic Vision Australia (BVA) has created a bionic eye which it says could restore the sight of sufferers of retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.
Science! That is what explains how Mood Swing Emotionally Activated Lip Gloss works, I assume. The makers claim that when a lady wearing it is in the mood for carnal pleasures, it turns deep red. More »
Scientists have successfully used magnetic nanoparticles to capture and remove cancer cells from human tissue.
For years, astronomers have been puzzled by the fact that our solar system is crossing a cloud of interstellar hell. One that shouldn’t be there at all. Intergalactic plot to keep us isolated or cosmic event? Voyager got the answer.
Using data from Voyager, we have discovered a strong magnetic field just outside the solar system. This magnetic field holds the interstellar cloud together—"The Fluff"—and solves the long-standing puzzle of how it can exist at all.
The Fluff is much more strongly magnetized than anyone had previously suspected. This magnetic field can provide the extra pressure required to resist destruction.
The Voyagers are not actually inside the Local Fluff. But they are getting close and can sense what the cloud is like as they approach it.
At least, that’s what NASA’s Heliophysics Guest Investigator from George Mason University Merav Opher says in the December 24 issue of Nature. I lean to the intergalactic plot to keep our primitive world from entering the Federation of Advanced Civilizations. That, or Ming of Mongo trying to crush our puny asses.
It’s ironic how the whole thing works. Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere protects us from the Sun’s magnetic field and radiation. Then, the Fluff is not destroying us thanks to the Sun’s magnetic field and the solar winds, which is what form the 6.2-billion-mile-wide heliosphere. So my question is: Who protects the Fluff?
I will leave you with that. Go think, my little Earthlings, go. [NASA]
Englishman Russell Thurnbull got attacked with ammonia 15 years ago during a street fight. As a result, he got an extremely painful condition called Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency, which resulted in blindness in one eye. After much medication, he became a lab rat for all kinds of treatments until a team from Newcastle’s North East England Stem Cell Institute got the miraculous cure he was waiting for.
First, the team took a minuscule sample of stem cells from his healthy eye’s cornea. This millimeter square of cells was placed on a amniotic membrane, which was placed inside a liquid made from his blood, glucose, insulin, and hydrocortisone. The cells will grow in that solution until taking all over the membrane, which then is used to replace the damaged cornea.
The result: He completely gained eyesight after only eight weeks of the operation. It is not Christopher Reeve walking, but if this is not the future ringing the doorbell, right here, right now, I don’t know what it is. [Channel 4]
People are freaking out all over Norway because of what you are seeing here. According to Norwegian news outlets, the spooky giant spiral was seen, photographed, and recorded on video from all over the country. Updated.
Confirmed: It was a failed Russian missile launch. Click here for the full explanation.
Could it all be a hoax? Maybe it's a massive joke, but all kinds of Norwegian news sites are reporting on it. According to NKR—Norway's national TV channel—it could be related to a rocket fired from a Russian submarine in the White Sea. The Russians are denying any part on it at this at the moment. Nick Banbury, a witness located at Harstad, described how it all happened:
We are used to seeing lots of auroras here in Arctic Norway, but on my way to work this morning I saw something completely unexpected. Between 7:50 and 8:00 a.m. local time, there was a strange light in the sky. It consisted initially of a green beam of light similar in colour to the aurora with a mysterious rotating spiral at one end. This spiral then got bigger and bigger until it turned into a huge halo in the sky with the green beam extending down to the earth.
As hard as it is to believe, you can’t dispute the fact that the strange spiral was witnessed and recorded by thousands of people from hundreds of miles away, which means that the phenomenon occurred at a very high altitude. Even Phil Plait from Bad Astronomy agrees that this is real, and says that it was probably a rocket out of control. Norwegian astronomers and news outlets have actually confirmed that this was a failed Russian missile launch.
So barring any epic group joke, expect your new alien overlords to arrive at any time now. We can only hope they are all peace-loving voluptuous blondes with blue eyes. [Altaposten, VG, NRK via SpaceWeather via Universe Today—thanks Gonzalo Oxenford]
If you know Norwegian and have any information, contact me on AIM or by mail.
In a press conference going on now, NASA has said they’ve found “a significant amount” of water on the moon.
It’s an announcement that’s been expected for some time.
Are we talking about enough water for astronauts to actually live off? That’s what NASA is analyzing now, attempting to scale the results of the small section studied by LCROSS. But “it’s water like any other water,” NASA said, though it’d need purification to drink. I guess that whole moon bombing didn’t turn out so boring after all. [CNN]
World’s Largest Firework – Watch more Funny Videos
As the summer heat drags on, one Explainer reader wonders why soda or beer from a can tastes so much fizzier than the stuff that comes out of a bottle. Is there really any difference in the carbonation?
Parents all know that children make it harder to do some of the most enjoyable adult things. Bluntly put, kids can get between you.
Now scientists have attached some numbers to the situation.
An eight-year study of 218 couples found 90 percent experienced a decrease in marital satisfaction once the first child was born.
