Hey guy/gal reading Gizmodo instead of working: We're hiring a tech writer in NYC. You need between 1-5 years experience, but more importantly you should be able to write like mad and know and love/hate/understand technology. More »
From Geeks are Sexy Technology News:
Tan Le's astonishing new computer interface reads its user's brainwaves, making it possible to control virtual objects, and even physical electronics, with mere thoughts (and a little concentration). In the following video, she demos the headse
The FCC has re-defined the minimum requirements of broadband to 4 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream. That's a huge jump up from the previous minimum of 200Kbps but is fitting given our video streaming, downloading and cloud living times. As for myself, I could barely live with 4 Mbps down but then the FCC reminds me that 24 million people lack access to high speed internet, so I shut up. [FCC via ExtremeTech] More »
Kamil crater, at only about 150 feet wide and 50 feet deep, may not break any size records–but what the Egyptian crater lacks in range it makes up for with cleanliness. In an paper published yesterday in Science, researchers say that its “pristine” impact, spotted in 2009 during a Google Earth survey, makes the crater an ideal model to understand similar impacts.
The best place to see a clean crater? Rocky or icy planets without an atmosphere. Earth’s weather quickly erodes a crater’s structures, making it difficult to determine how exactly a meteorite struck. The Kamil crater, study leader Luigi Folco says, has avoided this fate:
“This crater is really a kind of beauty because it’s so well-preserved that it will tell us a lot about small-scale meteorite impacts on the Earth’s crust…. It’s so nice. It’s so neat. There is something extraordinary about it.” [Space.com]
The crater rises above its desert surroundings, and during visits to the site over the past two years researchers have collected around 5,000 iron meteorites (the dark rocks pictured at right). They estimate that the original meteorite weighed between 5 and 10 tons and smacked the site at 7,800 miles per hour, giving the crater its characteristics, including “rays” that are visible in satellite photos.
These rays, which emanate from the impact site like spokes from the hub of a wheel, are what drew researchers’ attention to the crater, says Folco. While such “rayed craters” are common on the moon and other airless bodies of the solar system, they are exceedingly rare on Earth because erosion and other geological processes quickly erase such evidence. [Science News]
Researchers estimate that the site is relatively young, only about 5,000 years old, given that it must have struck at a time when Egypt’s deserts were in their current arid state.
Related content:
80beats: Latest Mercury Pics Reveal Massive Craters & Possible Volcanic Vents
80beats: Asteroid Photo Session: Rosetta Spacecraft Snaps Pics of Battered Lutetia
80beats: Disappointing News: No Icy Patches in the Lunar Craters
80beats: Nano-Diamond Discovery Suggests a Comet Impact Killed the Mammoths
Images: Museo Nazionale dell’Antartide Universita di Siena
What will inspire tomorrow's rocket scientists?, CNN
"President Barack Obama's NASA proposal currently being scrutinized by Congress focuses on researching propulsion for deep space and asteroid landings. It scraps the Constellation Project, which was launched six years ago with the aim of sending humans to Mars and back to the moon. The proposal would also halt NASA shuttle launches to the International Space Station. Instead, federal funds would be used to help send U.S. commercial shuttles to the station. Clark Moody, who remembers watching NASA videos with his dad in the 1980s, is a graduate student in aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University. He worries that NASA's other feats could be lost on the general public without the highly visible human spaceflight endeavors."
From ScienceDaily: Latest Science News:
As part of the European Space Agency's Space Situational Awareness activities, a new radar system will be developed to help safeguard space missions. The radar will detect hazardous objects in Earth orbit and trigger warnings that enable sat
Now there’s data–actual data–showing how few climate scientists doubt the existence of climate change. From Science Daily:
The small number of scientists who are unconvinced that human beings have contributed significantly to climate change have far less expertise and prominence in climate research compared with scientists who are convinced, according to a study led by Stanford researchers.
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Expertise was evaluated by the number of papers on climate research written by each individual, with a minimum of 20 required to be included in the analysis. Climate researchers who are convinced of human-caused climate change had on average about twice as many publications as the unconvinced, said Anderegg, a doctoral candidate in biology.
Prominence was assessed by taking the four most frequently cited papers published in any field by each scientist — not just climate science publications — and tallying the number of times those papers were cited by other researchers. Papers by climate researchers convinced of human effects were cited approximately 64 percent more often than papers by the unconvinced.
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“I never object to quoting opinions that are ‘way out.’ I think there is nothing wrong with that,” said Stephen Schneider, professor of biology and a coauthor of the paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “But if the media doesn’t report that something is a ‘way out’ opinion relative to the mainstream, then how is the average person going to know the relative credibility of what is being said?”
“It is sad that we even have to do this,” said Schneider. “[Too much of] the media world has just folded up and fired its reporters with expertise in science.”
The Stanford team is prepared for the doubters of anthropogenic climate change to object to their data.
Unfortunately, I am too. Carry on…
(H/T Philip)
I need to size a compessor purchase for an upcoming project. The demand for the instrument air I'll need is;
10 liters/min @ 3 barG +
20 liters/min @ 3 barG +
1 liter/min @ 2 barG
How many CFM @ 50 psi should I shop for?
Thanks.
Apple's white iPhone 4 is being pushed to the end of the year because of manufacturing difficulties. This isn't Apple's first problem with white gadgets. So I'm glad they're being more cautious. More »
Can't make a call on your iPhone 4? Samsung will help! Samsung? Yes, Samsung UK's official Twitter account (@samsungukmobile) heard the complaints about the iPhone 4 and is giving away free, unlocked Samsung Galaxy S Android phones to act as replacements. More »
Once a person has lost credibility, is it possible for that person to regain credibility in a different area? Example: A scientist makes a statement that is later proven to be false. Is his scientific life over?
A head shot isn't a head shot if you didn't pull an actual trigger to deliver the bullet, right? (No!) Right! This fully-functioning controller that looks just like a real assault rifle will help enhance all of your illusory battles. More »
Starter won't engage. I have been spraying chemical from a 14 gal tank using ATV. I assumed that I had run the battery down more that it was capable of charging. I have put on a charger and no luck. The start button works, I can hear the starter relay kicking in but not engaging the starter. Any adv
From CNN.com - Technology:
Chris Ferguson remembers being 9 years old, watching astronaut Neil Armstrong take man's first steps on the moon on July 20, 1969. Like thousands in his American generation, Ferguson dreamed in his childhood of becoming an astronaut.
Read the
Dragon Dictation has been our favorite speech recognition app for a while, and today's 2.0 update only strengthens that opinion. Not only does it bring the requisite iOS4 compatibility, but you can now speak your tweets and Facebook status updates. More »
The Bad Astronomer’s secret media project has been revealed… Phil will have his own Discovery Channel show called Bad Universe–and I can’t wait to watch!! Check this out:
What does this mean, you ask? Look within, friends. There, you will still find the engine. (It's just an ad from VW if you're legitimately curious.) [I Believe In Advertising via inspire me now] More »
The summer of our government’s discontent (with personal genetics tests) continues. Yesterday an investigator with the Government Accountability Office reported back to Congress on its undercover investigation of the tests on the market, saying that testing the DNA of GAO staffers returned frequently contradictory and confusing answers.
“Consumers need to know that today, genetic testing for certain diseases appears to be more of an art than a science,” said GAO investigator Gregory Kutz [CBS News].
Here at 80beats, we’ve gone over some of the potential problems with these tests. DISCOVER blogger Ed Yong covers them in great detail in a post he wrote this week after getting his genes tested by 23andMe, including the dearth of data appropriate for interpreting results if you’re of Asian rather than European descent, and deciding whether to peek into the data that says whether you have a much higher than average risk for Parkinson’s disease.
The federal government began to worry about the same things this summer after Walgreens announced plans to sell tests by Pathway Genomics in its drug stores. Then, last month, the FDA announced that it intended to regulate these tests, whereas before they existed in a cloud of regulatory uncertainty—Pathway had told Walgreens the tests didn’t require the government’s OK. Congress got in on personal genomics, too, which led to this GAO investigation.
The GAO report suggests the companies still have a long way to go in drawing accurate conclusions. The agency submitted DNA samples from five staffers to four different genetic testing companies. When considering the same disease, the companies’ results contradicted each other nearly 70 percent of the time, according to GAO. In response to the same patient’s DNA, one company claimed he was at above-average risk for prostate cancer, a second said he was below average and two others said his risks were average [AP].
The FDA is holding meetings this week, trying to decide how it will regulate the tests.
Related Content:
Not Exactly Rocket Science: How I Got My Genes Tested
80beats: FDA: We’re Going To Regulate Those Personal Genetics Tests, After All
80beats: 5 Reasons Walgreens Selling Personal DNA Tests Might Be a Bad Idea
Discoblog: Welcome, UC Berkeley Freshmen! Now Hand Over Your DNA Samples
Discoblog: 23andMe To Customers: Oh Wait, Those Are Somebody Else’s Genes
Image: flickr / nosha
