McGraw-Hill Still In Deep Denial Over iPad Leak [Denial]

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Remember when McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw confirmed the iPad—and its OS—a day early on national television? And then Apple pointedly left them out of the presentation? Well, McGraw-Hill doesn't! No sir, never happened at all.

In a statement given to All Things D, McGraw-Hill spokesperson Steven Weiss backtracks laudably in an attempt to convince us we didn't see or hear those things we saw and heard:

[Mr. McGraw]'s speculative comments about Apple's pending launch, which he shared earlier in the day in a call with investors, were simply intended to suggest that if the new device were to use iPhone applications, many of our education products would be compatible with the technology and could be made easily available on it.

See what he did there? Whatever McGraw intended to suggest, what he actually said was that there was a tablet, and that it was running the iPhone OS. And he was right! Which makes it a leak. And the idea that the CEO of a guaranteed major supplier of iPad content wouldn't have known those details about the device in advance is beyond inconceivable.

Honestly, the fact that Terry McGraw mentioned something that everyone knew—or at least, strongly suspected—was going to happen isn't going to affect the number of iPads Apple sells one bit. So why not just own up to it? Oh, right. Because no one does that, ever. [All Things D]


What time is it?

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"01/28/2010 10:56 AM" In the above example, what determines the time that is displayed with each post? Is it the OP's time zone, GMT, or something else? Honest guys, I did search first. Cheers.

Engineered E. Coli Bacteria Produces Road-Ready Diesel | 80beats

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e-coli-bacteriaMost of us associate the bacteria E. coli with nasty stomach ailments. But a new study published in Nature magazine suggests E. coli can not just turn stomachs, but could potentially turn the wheels of your car, since a genetically engineered strain of the bacteria has produced clean, road-ready biodiesel.

The bacteria can work on any type of biomass, including wood chip, switchgrass, and the plant parts that are left behind after a harvest–all contain cellulose, a structural material that comprises much of a plant’s mass. Study coauthor Jay Keasling and his colleagues report engineering E. coli bacteria to synthesize and excrete the enzyme hemicellulase, which breaks down cellulose into sugars. The bacteria can then convert those sugars into a variety of chemicals–diesel fuel among them. The final products are excreted by the bacteria and then float to the top of the fermentation vat before being siphoned off [Technology Review].

E. coli bacteria naturally turn sugars into fatty acids to build their cell membranes; the researchers just tweaked the bacterium’s genetics a bit. The researchers basically amplified and then short-circuited E. coli’s internal machinery for producing large fatty-acid molecules, enabling them to convert precursor molecules directly into fuels and other chemicals…. In all, the authors report more than a dozen genetic modifications [Nature]. Researchers said the process could be refined to produce multiple chemical products ranging from jet fuel to solvents and lubricants [MSNBC]. However, they cautioned that the study was a “proof of concept” rather than a full demonstration of a commercially viable process.

Still, the news of bacteria producing biofuels has been welcomed by biofuel manufacturers who usually use corn and sugarcane to produce ethanol; these processes have raised ethical questions about using food crops for fuel. This new bacterial biofuel technique avoids such problems. The cellulosic biomass doesn’t have to come from plants that are consumed by humans or used in animal feedstocks, so the process doesn’t add undue pressure on global food prices, and since the E. coli can ferment and convert the biomass to biofuel all at once the process could greatly improve the economics of biofuel production [Popular Science].

Study coauthor Keasling is certainly excited about the possibilities. “We’ve got a billion tons of biomass every year that goes unused,” said Jay Keasling…. Theoretically, the fuel produced from biomass could make up for as much as 50 percent of U.S. oil imports. ”We want to turn the U.S. Midwest into the new ‘Mideast,’” Keasling said [MSNBC].

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Image: iStockphoto


Climate Change in the American Mind | The Intersection

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I started a post this morning on the release of the new national survey out of Yale and George Mason regarding public beliefs and attitudes on global warming, but CM beat me to posting it. Still, it’s important to emphasize my concern reading that public trust in scientists has decreased, while the number of Americans who do not think climate change will harm biodiversity is on the rise. Some more of the figures:

  • The percentage of Americans who think global warming is happening has declined 14 points, to 57 percent.
  • The percentage of Americans who think global warming is caused mostly by human activities has dropped 10 points, to 47 percent.
  • Only 50 percent of Americans now say they are “somewhat” or “very worried” about global warming, a 13-point decrease.
  • Sixty-five percent distrust Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sarah Palin as sources of information.
  • Fifty-three percent distrust former Democratic Vice President Al Gore and 49 percent distrust President Barack Obama.
  • The percentage of Americans who believe that most scientists think global warming is happening is now at 34 percent

So amid growing scientific evidence that climate change will have–and indeed, is already having–real impacts around the world, there is a dramatic and dangerous disconnect with the American public. Unfortunately, we continue to live in an increasingly Unscientific America–where partisan politics, media spin, religious ideologies, and special interests hamper progress.


Looking ahead…

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I should start this post by fully disclaiming that I don’t think I have any significant or impressive credentials to be making the following assertions. They are merely my opinions and thoughts, accumulated in a storage space in my mind over the last few months, as speculations of the current administration’s plans for NASA have reached a fever pitch, with rumors and supposedly confirmed facts rampant in the media.

From a young age, I buried my nose in astronomy books in my spare time. I, in fact, love to tell the story of my first direct contact with NASA – a fateful visit to Space Center Houston at the tender age of eight. I walked away, declaring I’d one day work in Mission Control and be an astronaut. I half realized that dream just under a month ago, when I sat in the Space Station Flight Control Room for the first time and spoke to the crew on the International Space Station, whom I helped train. I left the building that night, with my footsteps echoing across the empty parking lot, knowing that I had the amazing opportunity to contribute to a legacy left by the pioneers of yesteryear, ever single day.

Thus, I speak as a very passionate space enthusiast, who’s known no reality but one with humans in space. I make the following points to acknowledge that frustrations are entirely plausible and understandable at this pivotal juncture in our nation’s space program. But, I also implore you, in spite of this, to consider the true implications of the changes that lay before of us. I ask that we embrace the opportunity for change, as we approach a unique moment in our agency’s history, one that we have not seen since its inception, yet one that gives us the freedom to actually define our future.

Over the last few days, even hours, I’ve heard countless, generally depressing thoughts about the future of our nation’s space program, based largely on supposedly confirmed reports from various media outlets. The most flagrant of these speculations, and perhaps the one that will eventually be revealed to be fact, is the cancellation of the Constellation program, inevitably delaying the return of humans to the moon.

Specific implications of these actions are not within my realm of knowledge or expertise. However, in my very naïve viewpoint, I believe we are now at a critical impasse, where we have the opportunity to set the course for the future of human space exploration. Never before have we been faced with such apathy, lack of support and funding; and yet, this same moment, though it may seem a burden, presents us with a challenge. How can we prove to the administration, Congress, the American public, our international partners, the world…that we are truly capable of pioneering the future of human spaceflight?

Critics of the Ares program have voiced their opinions since the groundwork was laid for the Constellation program, and yet now that there’s a possibility for its cancellation, outcries of the absurdity of this happening are widespread. Yes, we lose our immediate and near-term capability for sending humans beyond LEO. But this presents us with an opportunity, an opportunity to take the lessons learned from the Ares program, from the ISS program, from the Shuttle Program, from our very history, to go back to the drawing board.

In our changing world, it’s time that we realize that ignoring the commercial spaceflight sector will not benefit our agency in the slightest. On the contrary, by accepting their role in human space exploration and working to define their roles and develop requirements, we capitalize on the ability to contribute to the future of human space exploration. We give ourselves the chance to innovate in a way that has never been tried before. In essence, it gives NASA the perfect opportunity to define its next step.

Yes, this does now mean that we aren’t landing on the moon by 2018…I think it’s time to accept this fact and just move on. The Shuttle Program was done for, as soon as the Vision for Space Exploration was announced. We, as an agency, saw this coming. Perhaps we could’ve prepared for it a little more practically; hindsight is always 20/20. But now that we are at this pivotal juncture, it’s time to view the impending change as an opportunity to prove what we are capable of as an agency. It’s a chance for us to truly innovate and develop a plan for getting humans beyond LEO. It’s an opportunity for NASA to work with both the commercial sector and the international community, as partners for getting humans to the moon and onto Mars. Though the timeline is significantly delayed than previously thought, this is one of the most crucial moments in our agency’s history where we actually get to contribute in defining its direction.

So, think about why you became a part of the space program in the first place. Think about what interests you and makes you so passionate about human space exploration. If you’re like me, it’s a “je ne said quoi” quality that embedded itself in your soul at an early age and never left. It’s the yearning to explore and see new horizons. It drives you every day and excites your very being at the thought of your contributions, however minute or significant, helping humans fulfill one of our innate desires: to explore. How can we be upset over the new adventures that lay ahead? Why look back and criticize past decisions, when there is little we can do about them? Why not look forward to the future and use our position to drive our agency in the direction we’d all like to see it go: help humans get beyond LEO. There’s no single solution to getting this done. We have all the resources in the world at our disposal, literally, to accomplish what we did in the 1960s. Let’s prove our naysayers incorrect; let’s collaborate with our commercial and international partners; let’s expand the realm of possibilities and forge ahead with ambition, passion, and determination to accomplish what we all truly believe in, in our hearts. As someone once said, “We would not be honoring the legacy of those who came before us, if we didn’t believe our greatest accomplishments lay ahead of us.”

A Scrub Jay Adventure at the Space Coast Birding Festival

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Posted by David McRee at BlogTheBeach.com
I first met the friendly scrub jays when I went on a camping trip to Oscar Scherer State Park in Sarasota as a kid. These beautiful jays have no fear of humans. Since they are so habitat-specific, few people get to see them. I became reaquainted with this species this [...]

Antivaxxer movement leader found to have acted unethically | Bad Astronomy

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Continuing a month of skeptical victories, the UK’s General Medical Council has found that Andrew Wakefield — the founder of the modern antivaccination movement — acted "dishonestly and irresponsibly" when doing the research that led him to conclude that vaccinations were linked with autism. This is being reported everywhere, including the BBC, Sky News, the Yorkshire Evening Post, and more.

Syringe, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/8499561@N02/2756332192/The GMC (the independent body of medical regulators in the UK, rather like the AMA in the US) didn’t investigate whether his claims were correct or not — and let’s be very clear, his claims have been shown beyond any doubt to be totally wrong — only whether he acted ethically in his research. What they found is that his research (involving spinal taps of children) was against the children’s clinical interest, that Wakefield was unqualified to perform the test, and that he had no ethical approval to do them.

Wow. Again, let’s be clear: that’s a whole lot of ethical damnation from the UK’s leading medical board.

Not to pile on here, but I was rather surprised that they didn’t mention the claims — supported by a lot of evidence — that on top of all that unethical behavior, he may have faked his results, too. There’s also no mention of his grave conflict of interest– at the time he published his paper slamming vaccines and which started the antivax craze, he was developing an alternative to vaccinations, so he had a very large monetary incentive to make the public distrust vaccines.

The GMC has not announced whether he (and two of his cohorts) will be sanctioned or not. I’ll be very curious to see what they do.

Will this deter Wakefield and the antivax movement? Ha! Of course not. Note that supporters of Wakefield heckled the GMC members as they read their announcements.

Also, the evidence was already overwhelming that Wakefield was wrong, just as it’s overwhelming that vaccines are totally and completely unrelated to autism. But the antivaxxers’ world is not based on evidence. It’s more like a dogmatic religion, since many of its believers will twist and distort the truth to fit their views, even, tragically, if it means babies will die.

The antivax movement is resulting in the deaths of children from preventable diseases, many of which were all but gone in the United States. We’re seeing the return of measles, mumps, pertussis, even polio — polio, which was eradicated entirely in the US by 1994. Because vaccines are so effective, people don’t remember these diseases and how they would kill, and now the antivaxxers are paving the way for their return.

This ruling against Wakefield is a step in the right direction, but the path is long and the antivaxxers will be there at every one of these steps, trying desperately to trip up reality. It’s up to us to make sure that we keep walking.


Let’s Help Apple Make the iPad Even Better [PhotoshopContest]

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The iPad! A revolutionary, game-changing product. But also, far from perfect. Let's help Apple out on that second front, shall we?

Don't feel like you need to stick to realistic improvements, either. Sure, me adding Flash to make Hulu usable wasn't too crazy, but please think outside the box here.

Send your best entries to me at contests@gizmodo.com with Improved iPad in the subject line. Save your files as JPGs or GIFs under 800k in size (seriously, anything over will not be posted because our gallery system freaks out when we try to feed it lots of large files), and use a FirstnameLastname.jpg naming convention using whatever name you want to be credited with. Send your work to me by next Tuesday morning, and I'll pick three top winners and show off the rest of the best in our Gallery of Champions. Get to it!


EVGA W555 Can Hold Seven GPUs. That’s One Mother of a Motherboard. [Motherboards]

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The W555 from EVGA made a brief, blurry appearance at CES, but now we've got closer look thanks to bit-tech. And what an introduction: two LGA1366 processor sockets, 12 DDR3 DIMM slots and a questionably sane seven expansion card slots.

The W555 is designed to accommodate overclocking to begin with, and with that many PCI expansion slots, who knows how far you can push it. Actually, hopefully we'll all know sooner than later. It won't be available until later this year, but for now, it's time for all you performance junkies out there to start salivating. [bit-tech via Engadget]


In which I am neologistic | Bad Astronomy

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[Apparently, as commenters have, um, commented, I wasn't the first to make this word up. But I did do it independently, and until someone can prove time traveling pundits didn't steal from me in the future, I'll still it to be mine. Hold on, I'm getting a note... apparently I've already left a comment making this same joke. I guess future me read this update and used a time machine to steal this joke from present me. Sneaky.]

The other day, while commenting on Twitter about the comedy of Mike Adams’ toddler-like tantrum about skeptics and how his advice which can lead to people getting sicker or even dying should absolutely make him eligible for an Internet award, I coined a new word, and I feel that everyone should see it:

Schadenfreudelicious.

I hereby grant free license for its use. You may thank me later, as I know you will when a situation arises where you need to use this word. And it will.

In the meantime, if you are so inclined and have an established Twitter account, please vote for Rachael Dunlop for a Shorty Award. She is a good friend and a tireless fighter of quackery and alt-med health threats. You can read more about her here.


Looking Back; Looking Forward

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Challenger Center Remembers the Challenger Flight 51-L Crew - Invites its Alumni and Friends to Share Their Stories

"January 28, 2010 - Twenty-four years ago today the space shuttle Challenger and its crew of seven men and women launched into a clear blue sky at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Their mission, designated 51-L, was cut short that day, but their legacy of exploration and discovery lives on at nearly 50 Challenger Learning Centers worldwide. A special podcast has been created to honor the Challenger crew as well as the Apollo 1 and Columbia astronauts. All will be honored this Friday during NASA's Day of Remembrance."

The Big 'Y', Miles O'Brien

"I was fast asleep when the Challenger exploded. It was almost high noon - but I had turned in only about three hours before. I had spent the night in a citrus grove in Polk County, Florida. I was a general assignment reporter for a TV station in Tampa, and we were up all night providing viewers constant updates on the record freeze. The fate of the citrus crop is very big news in that part of the world. ... When the call came from the assignment desk, I was in a deep sleep, so it took me some time to comprehend what I had just been told: "You are not going to believe this, but the shuttle has blown up."

Keith Cowing's Devon Island Journal - 18 July 2007: Ancient Memorials for Modern Space Explorers

"Building memorials to lost comrades is as old as humanity. Humans have been looking at special places and building evocative monuments - often of great complexity and utility back to the era of Stonehenge - and perhaps earlier. So there was something primal - transcendent - about building these ancient structures to honor people whose job entailed trips above the sky."

Why one parent decided to vaccinate | Bad Astronomy

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When confronted with arguments over an issue, how do you decide what to do? Especially when, to you, both sides seem to make good points?

I’ve written about this before, and won’t belabor the logic process that goes into decision making over a contentious issue — even if the controversy is manufactured, as it is for vaccinations.

Instead, I’ll give you an anecdote. When making a scientific argument anecdotes should be avoided, since they are the beginning of inquiry, not the endpoint. But I’m not trying to make a scientific argument here, I’m hoping to support the decision making process… and sometimes a good example is worth a dozen detailed instructions, so read this essay by a worried parent over his decision to vaccinate his child. It’s a wonderful tale from someone who managed to find the narrow path of reality having once been well away from it.

If you’re a new parent wondering whether to vaccinate your children, then you absolutely have to read that essay. You’re not alone out there. There are lots of people who have been through what you have, and some of them have figured out how to make the right decision.


Tiny DIY Motorcycle Adds in MPG What It Subtracts in Cool [DIY]

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Remember, doing it yourself doesn't always mean you're making something look nicer. Sometimes you turn a perfectly good Honda motorcycle into a recumbent spearmint pod. It's worth it, though, when that pod gets 214mpg going 55mph.

Allert Jacobs designed and built this contraption from a Honda Innova motorcycle. In its previous incarnation, the bike weighed 231 pounds and got a still respectable—but not mind-blowing—114mpg.

By giving it an aerodynamic shell (that splits in half for easy entry), Jacobs has undoubtedly made his hog a much more efficient vehicle in all aspects, aside picking up ladies or applying to the Hell's Angels. [Allert Jacobs via Inhabitat]


A Quick Trip to Playalinda Beach

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Posted by David McRee at BlogTheBeach.com
Wednesday after lunch I had a class on Warblers (very small birds) at the Merritt Island Wildlif Refuge Visitor’s Center. After the class I took a quick trip out to Playalinda Beach, which was only 6 miles away. It was a quiet afternoon–I was the only person parked at the [...]

How Did NASA Get to Carnegie Hall? Photograph, Photograph, Photograph | Discoblog

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Tonight, New York’s splendid Carnegie Hall will not only resound with beautiful music, it will glow with unearthly images.

A performance of the orchestral suite The Planets, by the English composer Gustav Holst, will be accompanied by a new video put together in cooperation with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and featuring the latest high-definition planetary images. The suite contains seven movements that correspond to seven planets: Earth isn’t included, and the disputed planet Pluto hadn’t been discovered when Holst finished the piece in 1916. As for the images, they come from missions like the Mars rover explorations, the Cassini-Huygens investigations of Saturn, Galileo’s trip to Jupiter, and the epic Voyager 1 and 2 treks across the solar system.

Maestro Hans Graf of the Houston Symphony explains the origins of The Planets: An HD Odyssey in this video:

Ironically, Holst was inspired not by the astronomical wonders seen through a telescope, but rather by the astrological clap-trap of horoscopes and star signs. Still, as long as we get to swoop over panoramas of Mars in high-definition, we’ll forgive the composer his quirks.

Tickets here.

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