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Category: New Science


From Wired:

Gerstein posts a televised interview of Obama and John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted. The nation’s chief executive extols the virtues of mandatory DNA testing of Americans upon arrest, even absent charges or a conviction. Obama said, “It’s the right thing to do” to “tighten the grip around folks” who commit crime.

Obama told Walsh he supported the federal government, as well as the 18 states that have varying laws requiring compulsory DNA sampling of individuals upon an arrest for crimes ranging from misdemeanors to felonies. The data is lodged in state and federal databases, and has fostered as many as 200 arrests nationwide, Walsh said.

The American Civil Liberties Union claims DNA sampling is different from mandatory, upon-arrest fingerprinting that has been standard practice in the United States for decades.

A fingerprint, the group says, reveals nothing more than a person’s identity. But much can be learned from a DNA sample, which codes a person’s family ties, some health risks, and, according to some, can predict a propensity for violence.

The ACLU is suing California to block its voter-approved measure requiring saliva sampling of people picked up on felony charges.”

Sickening on every level…

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Transplanting fetal neurons into the brains of young mice opens a new window on neural plasticity, or flexibility in the brain’s neural circuits. The research, published today in the journal Science, suggests that the brain’s ability to radically adapt to new situations might not be permanently lost in youth, and helps to pinpoint the factors needed to reintroduce this plasticity.

A better understanding of brain plasticity could one day point to new ways to treat brain injury and other neurological problems by returning the brain to a younger, more malleable state.

Scientists aren’t yet sure how the cells induce this second period of malleability. Stryker’s team and others had previously shown that the cells’ inhibitory signaling plays a key role–the critical period can be delayed or induced earlier by mimicking the inhibitory effects of the cells with drugs, such as valium. But in these previous experiments, it was not possible to induce a second critical period after the normal one. “Once you’ve had it, can never get another one, at least until these transplant experiments,”

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Our planet’s magnetic field has reversed polarity from time to time throughout its history. Some models suggest that a flip would be completed in a year or two, but if, as others predict, it lasted decades or longer we would be left exposed to space radiation. This could short-circuit satellites, pose a risk to aircraft passengers and play havoc with electrical equipment on the ground.

To test whether we would see a flip coming, Gauthier Hulot of Denis Diderot University in Paris, France, and colleagues ran computer simulations of Earth’s magnetic dynamo based on a range of plausible values for inputs such as the viscosity, electrical and thermal conductivity of the outer core, and the temperature difference across it. The model’s predictions remained consistent over this range of values for no more than a few decades, Hulot’s team will report in Geophysical Research Letters. Their result implies that we can forecast a flip only this far in advance - and then only with data that is as precise as possible. “It’s like predicting the weather,” says Hulot.

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One of the limitations of conventional thinking in computation is that computable functions proceed in a sequential manner, one independent step after another. When computer scientists talk of parallelism, they usually mean carrying out more than one of these independent linear computations at the same time.

In the biological world, things are more complex because steps in biological computations may not be independent. Take, for example, the circadian rhythm in plants, the 24 hour cycle of biochemical processes that govern behavior. The cycle has various important features such as the ability to synchronizes with an external periodic light source and to continue to oscillate even in the absence of variations in illumination.

Each feedback loop is part of a hugely complex biochemical network and is affected by many factors simultaneously…Of course, plant clocks have been studied for hundreds of years and a huge amount is known about how they work, particularly about Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering plant that is the standard object of study for plant biologists.

The trouble is that nobody has been able to accurately model the behavior of these rhythms from first principles.

That’s because these processes do not involve independent sequential steps, so conventional computational methods are just not up to the job. Biochemists need some other way of thinking about their problem.

As luck would have it, just such a system has been waiting in the wings. Process algebra is a form of computation that can handle multiple simultaneous interdependent steps and this makes it perfect for modeling these tricky biochemical networks and the feedback loops that drive them.

Several orders of magnitude separate the efficiency of biological computation from what is possible with silicon. If that difference turns out to be the result of process algebra, then the study and manipulation of networks such as the Ostreococcus clock, may turn out to be the trigger for a new generation of super-efficient computing.

Read more at technology review or check out Plants and Radionic Currents for some good ol’ kookery.

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Frank Drake, the founder of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), wants to take the search for aliens further: about 82 billion kilometres away, in fact.

At this point in space, electromagnetic signals from planets orbiting distant stars would be focused by the gravitational lensing effect of our sun, making them, in theory, more easily detected. Drake wants to send spacecraft there in a bid to overhear alien communications, which would be too faint for telescopes on Earth to detect.

It’s neither a new or original idea, but it has never taken off because of the distances involved. With existing propulsion technologies, spacecraft would take hundreds of years to make the voyage, which is about 550 times the distance from Earth to the sun.

via New Scientist

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Ray Kurzweil speaks at the BCI X-prize conference on the singularity and challenges facing neural computer interfaces. The X-Prize for BCI is hoping to be set to offer $10 million+ to technology which enables the sight of the blind. Read more at H+ Magazine

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“Eventually, the day will come when life on Earth ends. Whether that’s tomorrow or five billion years from now, whether by nuclear war, climate change, or the Sun burning up its fuel, the last living cell on Earth will one day wither and die. But that doesn’t mean that all is lost. What if we had the chance to sow the seeds of terrestrial life throughout the universe, to settle young planets within developing solar systems many light-years away, and thus give our long evolutionary line the chance to continue indefinitely?

According to Michael Mautner, Research Professor of Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University, seeding the universe with life is not just an option, it’s our moral obligation.

Mautner says that “directed panspermia” missions can be accomplished with present technology.

“We have a moral obligation to plan for the propagation of life, and even the transfer of human life to other solar systems which can be transformed via microbial activity, thereby preparing these worlds to develop and sustain complex life,” Mautner explained “Securing that future for life can give our human existence a cosmic purpose.”

the strategy is to deposit an array of primitive organisms on potentially fertile planets and protoplanets throughout the universe. Like the earliest life on Earth, organisms such as cyanobacteria could seed other planets, digest toxic gases (such as ammonia and carbon dioxide on early Earth) and release products such as oxygen which promote the evolution of more complex species. To increase their chances of success, the microbial payloads should contain a variety of organisms with various environmental tolerances, and hardy multicellular organisms such as rotifer eggs to jumpstart higher evolution. These organisms may be captured into asteroids and comets in the newly forming solar systems and transported from there by impacts to planets as their host environments develop.”

Read more at PhysOrg

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Senator John McCain has introduced a bill that if passed will drive up the cost of dietary supplements and restrict your access to them.

This bill seeks to give the FDA complete and arbitrary control over what supplements you are allowed to have. I am writing you about this and a far more important matter.

Senator John McCain (and others) is proposing to squander tax-debt dollars by mandating more government waste, while sticking the private sector with oppressive laws that will hinder scientific advances and increase costs. The net effect will be to take away your free access to dietary supplements.

Read more in this self-promoting article written by a bussiness or read John McCain’s rhetoric and tell him to go fuck himself on his website

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Building a space elevator would require anchoring a cable on the ground near Earth’s equator and deploying the other end thousands of kilometres into space. The centrifugal force due to Earth’s spin would keep the cable taut so that a robot could climb it and release payloads into orbit.

Though building a space elevator might require an initial investment of billions of dollars, proponents say once constructed, it would make for cheaper trips into space than is possible using rockets. But huge technological hurdles must first be overcome, including how to supply power to the robotic climber.

Now, a robotic climber has made a prize-winning ascent worth $900,000, making it the first to win money in the competition

Ted Semon, a volunteer with the Spaceward Foundation, a non-profit that organised the competition, and author of the Space Elevator Blog, says the feat shows space elevators are one step closer to getting off the ground. “We’ve done a lot here to demonstrate that this technology is possible,” he told New Scientist. “This is just enormously exciting.”

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Electrical signals from different parts of the same cell have been simultaneously recorded for the first time, thanks to a new technique for attaching nanowire probes. This could aid the study of how heart, muscle and brain cells function and communicate.


The method uses a device called a nanowire field effect transistor (NWFET). This consists of a silicon wire just 20 nanometres in diameter attached to metal electrodes on a substrate of silicon dioxide. The nanowire, which sticks out by 30 to 40 nanometres, can be used as a probe to amplify the electrical signals produced by anything it touches.
….
They grow heart cells taken from chicken embryos on transparent polymer substrates and then transfer the cells to the nanowire array. Each cell is then positioned over up to 10 nanowires with the aid of a microscope. “We can do measurements that weren’t possible before,” says Lieber.

Besides making simultaneous measurements from different parts of the same cell, the wires can record the signals produced by several cells in the same tissue culture at the same time.

Modern wetware is a less disappointing field to look at all the time.

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Lunar Influence on the Electrochemical Production of Colloidal Silver

Article by Michael Theroux

“The research work of Eugen and Lily Kolisko in the 1920s and 30s introduced the idea that certain celestial events had a profound effect on metals, and that the ancient traditional relationships between specific metals and planets could be demonstrated via laboratory experiment. The process of these experiments involved placing cylinders of special filter paper into dishes which held measured amounts of the various metal salts. Then, the capillary patterns which subsequently emerged, could be studied with reference to specific solar system events (a complete detailed description of the experimental process is contained in the book, The Metal-Planet Relationship by Nick Kollerstrom, available from BSRF). Early on, the Koliskos observed the effects that the moon’s phases had on solutions of silver chloride, and that profound effects could be viewed during lunar eclipses.

This information prompted the idea that lunar influence could produce exceptional differences in the quality of electrochemically produced colloidal silver. We immediately began preparing the necessary experimental equipment for the upcoming lunar eclipse (March 23, 1997, 8:45PM PST). Two CS-300 colloidal silver generators were used for the electrochemical process and a digital countdown timer would ensure that each batch ran for the exact prescribed time of 20 minutes. The first and second of four batches were initiated just prior to, and during the eclipse, and the last two just after the eclipse. The electrodes were checked and cleaned before each batch was run to assure a consistent voltage throughout the experimental run. The water used was distilled and was provided from the same bottle, and then pre-measured into 8 oz. glasses of identical size and make. Normal batches of colloidal silver produced in this way yield a count of about 6000 to 8000 ppb (parts per billion) of silver.”

Read more…

Care of Journal of Borderland Research

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Viktor Schauberger’s Biological Submarine
by Albert Zock

The biological submarine once had the attention of the German War Lords, but Viktor Schauberger made it look as though it were not very useful, as in his opinion, biotechnology is for supporting progress and not for destruction. This submarine idea was taken from the observation of fish, especially of trout, which can stand motionless in a flowing stream, just by taking water in and out. This process has two functions, first it creates a vacuum in front of the mouth into which the fish gets sucked, and at the same time provides food, as the water contains all that the fish needs. While the food goes into the digestive system, the water is forced through the fan-like structure of the gills, which not only absorb the oxygen needed,but also push the water backwards. This specially compressed water does not mingle right away with the rest, it glides along the conical body like a wedge and shoves it forward. In addition, on the scales it forms little whirls which enhance the push further.

However, Viktor Schauberger was not the sole observer of this phenomenon. Before him others not only formed the same idea but even constructed prototypes with some results. One inventor, A. Bomer, came to the conclusion that the speedy motion of a fish is relative to the size of its gills. He constructed a boat with a precise opening in its bow, where a turbine sucked in water like a fish, and pushed it out through slit-like exit ports in such a way that it glided along the hull like a sheet, not only separating it from the friction of the outside water, but also giving it an additional push forward. Further, he applied such skin depressions like sharks have on his ship’s hull, presuming that they cause small swirls, and so increased the forward motion. Bomer even incorporated the slippery skin layer that fishes have by applying oil to the hull to reduce friction. He hoped all this would bring a 60-80% reduction in fuel. Indeed, experiments with his boat FORELLE, meaning ‘trout’, achieved twice the speed, while still using the same amount of fuel.

Apparently, Bomer did not know the spiral-vortex, which is an invention of Viktor Schauberger. If property applied, it will not only increase speed, but also reduce fuel consumption to a minimum!

This drawing by Dipl. Ing. Water Schauberger, Viktor’s son, shows such a submarine. His bio-technical submarine has a movable bow, which gives the boat the flexibility fish have. The conical and rifled water-intake permits a variable step-up, creating a strong torque on the water, which, after entering the implosion turbine, will be intensified to such a pitch, that now its recoil (resonance) is driving it instead of the motor, as bio-technical applications always have a pull and push action. Such a turbine consist of tapered-down pipes with inside rifling which are bent into spirals. Such FREE ENERGY is not a question of time, rather the will to use it, as it already exists, giving us a chance to move on water, under it and in the air using only a fraction of the energy we use today!

Borderland Sciences for more Kook fun.

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This list seems to suggest that by 2030 we may have a very different map for sectors demanding workforce labor. There’s some interesting proposals for what the future of our employment may look like: Nano-medics, Vertical farmers, Commercial space-travel tour-guides, Memory Augmentations, Weather modification police, Waste-data handlers and Virtual Clutter organizers. The future of employment sounds promising in atleast that it has a possibility to be slightly more fulfilling with such wacky jobs coming to the forefront.

Via Klintron

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Most theories that come out of the fringe are wrong. Hardly a point of any real contention to be sure. The world of kook science is populated by colourful wonks, unyielding grouches, the highly uneducated, the utterly mad, and, as follows, they’re usually working from cues that do not correspond to what is known about the world.

It is equally clear that we can never discount anything, no matter how ridiculous the theory or weird the theorist. It is as important to present alternative theories, to challenge them, as it is any conventional theory, because sometimes, just sometimes, the kooks have it right, and the world had it wrong all along.

Snap on your ether goggles, adjust your psychotronic tuning, drink that magnetic water, crank the rheostats radionic, pull the lever, flick the switches, prepare to oscillate, and RED, GREEN, BLUE . . .

EYES OPEN: WE’RE GOING IN!

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