The Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies has become the first state corporation to complete reorganization. It was reregistered on March 11, 2011, as open joint-stock company RUSNANO.
Monthly Archives: March 2011
Osmotic forces play a role in nanotube formation in cells
When unfolding a tent for the first time, you may wonder how the huge tarpaulin fits into a bag the size of a football. Biologists wonder about something similar: when a cell divides, the surface area of the cell membrane grows. Moreover, when molecules are brought from one organelle to another inside the cell, membrane-enclosed transport vesicles are formed. So that membranes can be made available quickly, they are stored within the cells in the form of nanotubes, tubular membrane structures - similarly to a tarpaulin that has been folded together.
Nanoscale whiskers from sea creatures could grow human muscle tissue
Minute whiskers of nanoscale dimensions taken from sea creatures could hold the key to creating working human muscle tissue, University of Manchester researchers have discovered.
Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Reactors Designed to Survive 7.9 Earthquake [Nuclear]
As the world watches what looks to be a meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility, the Wall Street Journal reports the site's tested threshold for earthquakes was only 7.9—well below what transpired last week. More »
Software and Risk
A Not-So-Simple Truth, Wayne Hale
"February is a month for introspection for me, and the events of 8 years ago have been on my mind. In the Columbia accident investigation report, there are several pages devoted to the use of a computer program called "Crater" which analyzed potential damage to the thermal tiles. The results provided from that computer program indicated that no serious damage had been done to Columbia's tiles and therefore a safe landing would occur. Disaster occurred instead."
Fondling Swan-Butts For Science | Discoblog
Picture yourself as one of England’s majestic Bewick’s swans, about to take off on your annual long-distance flight to Arctic Russia, when out of nowhere a scientist grabs you and methodically gropes and measures your butt. It’s all for your own good: Researchers are hurriedly sizing up as many round rumps as they can lay their hands on, in a bid to understand what’s wiping out their population.
Smaller than the more common mute swans, which stay in Britain yearlong, Bewick’s swan has seen its population in Europe decline from 29,000 to 21,000 between 1995 and 2005, and researchers at UK’s Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, are willing to fondle the birds to save them.
They’re sizing up swans to test whether changes in the their habitat are to blame for their decline: The size of swan keesters indicated whether they have enough fat to survive their over-2,000-mile journey. Basically, if the birds are plump, then that rules out the possibility that they aren’t getting enough food, and opens the playing field for other culprits, such as power line collisions, lead poisoning, and hunting.For those of you without ...
Earthquake Updates Using Space Resources
NASA Terra Images: Flooding from Tsunami near Sendai, Japan
"NASA's Terra satellite's first view of northeastern Japan in the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami reveal extensive flooding along the coast. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) acquired the top image of the Sendai region on March 12, 2011, at 10:30 a.m. The lower image, taken by Terra MODIS on February 26, 2011, is provided as a point of reference."
- DLR Disaster Extent Map: Japan, Sendai Airport - Earthquake/Tsunami
- NOAA Animation: Honshu Tsunami Propagation Across The Pacific Basin
- Image: NOAA Model of Honshu Tsunami Event
- NASA Shows Topography of Tsunami-Damaged Japan City
Limitless: Enhancement Will Be Great Until You Go Crazy and Die | Science Not Fiction
Limitless is one of the first movies to directly take on the idea of pharmaceutical enhancement. The trailer is here and fake viral ad for NZT is here. I’m already wary of the film based on the trailer. Not because of the acting, directing, or plot, which all look good enough. Instead, my problem is that the movie appears to take the same boring old stance on enhancement: the cost of making yourself superhuman is too high.
Limitless has a simple set-up: loser/author Bradley Cooper who lives in filth and dresses like a hobo is offered a pill that will make everything all better. The pill makes him much smarter, more creative, and more driven. Thanks to this new found brilliance, Cooper makes boatloads of money and catches the eye of evil Robert De Niro, who threatens Cooper in various menacing and shadowy ways. Then the pill starts making Cooper crazy and his world starts crumbling around him. It’s Flowers for Algernon except with bespoke suits, exotic cars and international intrigue.
The reason I’m getting an overall vibe of “meh, who cares” from Limitless is that the even though the film has ...
What Is an E-Meter? [Scientology]
Today would be L. Ron Hubbard 100th birthday. Who is L. Ron Hubbard? He's the dude who invented Scientology. Yup, that same kooky scientology that turned Tom Cruise into a joke. More »
Slow-motion Giants
Click here to view the embedded video.
I was going to put up some video of the horrific quake and tsunami over in Japan but I decided not to. The news and images on television are bad enough.
Our hearts and minds with the people of Japan.
Carnival of Space 188 | Bad Astronomy
I’ve been remiss in linking to the weekly Carnival of Space — the collection of the week’s astronomy and space blog posts. This week’s is hosted at AARTScopeBlog, and has links to great articles about our Universe.
Universe Today hosts the archives of all the past CoSs, too. If you’ve got some time and lots of curiosity, this is the place for you!
Gary Johnson for President Update: Budget, and our coming Financial Collapse
From Eric Dondero:
Johnson discusses his recent trips to New Hampshire and Iowa. He praises the recent actions of US Senator Rand Paul. He also talks about Federal Reserve buying up our debt, and balancing the budget through spending cuts.
Johnson touches on entitlements:
"I would propose that the federal government give Medicare, Medicaid back to the States. Block grants to the States..."
Get an ‘F’ on your Entrance Exam; Become a Dayton City Police Officer
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION MADNESS!!
From Eric Dondero:
From ABC News DaytonNewsSource.com "Civil Service Board Announces Police Recruit Scores":
The Dayton Police Department is lowering its testing standards for recruits.
It's a move required by the U.S. Department of Justice after it says not enough African-Americans passed the exam.
The D.O.J. has forced other police departments across the country to lower testing standards, citing once again that not enough black candidates were passing.
The Dayton Firefighter recruit exam is coming up this summer. The chief said it’s likely the passing score for that test will be lowered as well.Civil Service Board Announces Police Recruit Scores
Under the previous requirements, candidates had to get a 66% on part one of the exam and a 72% on part two.
The D.O.J. approved new scoring policy only requires potential police officers to get a 58% and a 63%. That's the equivalent of an ‘F’ and a ‘D’.
“It becomes a safety issue for the people of our community,” said Dayton Fraternal Order of Police President, Randy Beane. “It becomes a safety issue to have an incompetent officer next to you in a life and death situation."
Still unclear from media reports, whether the lower standard would apply to all applicants, or just African Americans?
H/t Weasel Z...
Surprise! Illinois "temporary" Tax Hikes now likely to be "Permanent"
From Eric Dondero:
The massive increase in corporate and income taxes passed through the Democrat-controlled legislature in January, and signed into law by ultra-liberal/statist Dem Governor Pat Quinn, will now likely be permanent. They were sold to the public as a "temporary measure."
But Republicans in the State, the few that are in the Legislature, are fighting back.
From NewLennoxPatch.com "Illinois Income Tax Hike Will Be Permanent Without Deeper Cuts, Warns Sen. Christine Radogno":
Republican leaders will present a package of cuts this week designed to erase the $5 billion-dollar hole in the state budget and prevent a $22 billion-dollar deficit by 2016. Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), who represents a swath of southwest suburbs, said the governor's budget plan will also force the 67 percent tax hike to become a permanent one.
She said the Republican cuts will be presented this week. The governor's office expressed doubt the GOP could find that much to cut.
Japan’s Nuclear Problem After Tsunami
Rolling blackouts are beginning this week in Japan after their devastating earthquake and tsunami. The energy situation there is dire as several of their nuclear plants have been shut down and two are having much more serious problems. A potential meltdown is an ongoing threat at the second reactor on Japan’s east coast. “Tokyo – A Japanese public broadcasting station reports three people randomly chosen from a hospital that’s located near the damaged nuclear power plant Fukushima Daiichi have tested positive for exposure to radiation. NHK World is reporting that the three patients, who were chosen from the ninety hospital patients awaiting airlift from a local high school, were exposed to radiation and will undergo decontamination. The remaining eighty-seven patients have not been tested for radioactivity. “The hospital is located in Futaba Town about 3 kilometers north of the Fukushima Number One Nuclear Power Plant. It is within 10 kilometers of the quake-damaged plant,” said NHK, citing a statement from Fukushima Prefecture. “They have not yet shown any reaction or physical signs of the radioactive exposure.” The designated evacuation area surrounding Fukushima Daiichi has been increased to 20 kilometers following today’s explosion at the Toyko Electric Power Plant. “Fukushima Prefecture [...]
Pedestrian Alerts for EVs, Hybrids
The new 2012 Infiniti M35h is claimed to be the first hybrid with a built-in pedestrian warning sounds system. It can't be turned off by the driver. On the other hand, electric vehicles usually include the option to turn warning sounds on and off. While it's safer for higher risk pedestrians like th
What Price Security?
For the industrial security industry, Stuxnet — a computer worm that targets industrial control systems - has been a gift: users of programmable controllers have been warned that there may be viruses and worms lurking about on the Internet, and now they have a real case to point to. But just h
Can Aluminum Do the Work of Copper in Cars?
Developers are looking at using aluminum for automotive wiring if creep-with-heat issues can be overcome with good design. You may remember the household fires caused by the use of aluminum wiring, so do you think it would be a practical idea for automotive design?
The preceding article is a "sneak
Genetic Modification for More Fuel
A genetically modified (GM) switchgrass that's easier to digest could give a big boost to ethanol production. The transgenic switchgrass produces less lignin, which serves to simplify processing, lower pretreatment costs, and increase biofuel output by 38%. Could this be a bonus for bio-ethanol prod
Letter Writer compares libertarianism to "Dog eat Dog" Naziism
libertarian Tea Party takeover of GOP caused him to leave the Party
From Eric Dondero:
A rather absurd featured letter to the editor at The Daily Herald, Maury County, TN, (excerpted) March 10:
I am a Kentucky native, a former tobacco man... now a historian.
I am writing this letter to every tobacco market town where I worked, because nearly everyone that I met on the tobacco markets were good people, with a highly developed Christian sense of right and wrong and concern for their fellow human beings.
I am 52 years old, and for 33 of those years I was a Republican. I quit the party in disgust after the Tea Party hijacked it. Most thinking people who have analyzed it agree that the Tea Party is a bizarre mix of the fundamentalist Christian Right and Libertarianism. Christians’ support for the Tea Party is inexplicable; unless it is that they do not know what its core Libertarian values really are.
In a “free” Libertarian society, there would be no Social Security, no unemployment compensation, and no tax funded public schools. In short there would be no “welfare” of any kind; every individual, no matter what their age, disability or hard luck, would be left to fend for themselves.
Though masked with rhetoric that proclaims a commitment to personal freedom and individual responsibility, Libertarian socio-economic philosophy is vicious in concept, predicated on brutal dog-eat-dog Social Darwinism. It is morally indefensible.
If this seems chillingly familiar, it should: Rothbard merely reformulated the logic used by the Nazis to justify the killing by starvation of several thousand handicapped German children into Libertarian terms. Good people in Germany failed to see the Nazis’ true colors until it was too late. Many who supported the Nazis’ rise to power later claimed that they thought what Hitler said in Mein Kampf was merely rhetoric, and did not think that the Nazis really intended to put it into practice. Americans dare not make the same mistake with the Tea Party.
Ricky-Dale Calhoun,
Manhattan, Kan.
