11/21/09
Aastaks 2020 juhime arvuteid mõttejõul?
Jeremy Hsu teatab Popular Science'i veebisaidil, et Inteli teadlased on loomas ajukiipe, millega hakkavad kasutajad nende prognoosi kohaselt juba aastaks 2020 arvutitega otse ajulainete vahendusel suhtlema.The scientists anticipate that consumers will adapt quickly to the idea, and indeed crave the freedom of not requiring a keyboard, mouse, or remote control for surfing the Web or changing channels. They also predict that people will tire of multi-touch devices such as our precious iPhones, Android smart phones and even Microsoft's wacky Surface Table.
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Ahistamine lapsepõlves võib lühendada eluiga
BBC vahendab Browni ülikooli uurijate teadustööd, millest koorub välja võimalus, et lapsepõlves aset leidnud füüsiline või vaimne ahistamine võib kiirendada organismis aset leidvaid vananemisprotsesse.A team from Brown University focused on telomeres, the protective caps on the chromosomes that keep a cell's DNA stable but shorten with age. They found the telomeres of 31 people who had reported abuse as children tended to shorten more rapidly, speeding up cells' ageing process.
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11/20/09
kuula
Kas kunstjäsemed annavad sportlasele eelise?
Clay Dillow vahendab Popular Science'i veebisaidil ekspertide vaidlusi selle üle, kas sportimiseks loodud tänapäevaste tehisjäsemete kasutamine annab nendega varustatud jooksjale looduse poolt antud kahte jalga kasutavate ametivendade ees eelise.Using the same set of data--an analysis of double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius and his carbon fiber Cheetah prosthetic legs--two teams of researchers have come to very different conclusions on whether his prostheses give him an advantage over sprinters with both of their legs. The future of modern prostheses' usage in sports hangs in the balance, and the fight is getting ugly.
vaata veelÖised helid parandavad mälu
Pam Belluck vahendab New York Timesi veebisaidil teadustööd, millest koorub välja, et magamise ajal teatud helide kuulmine aitab meil paremini meelde jätta informatsiooni, millega me enne uinumist kokku puutusime.“We were able to cue people to specific information they had learned,” said Ken A. Paller, a cognitive neuroscientist at Northwestern who co-wrote the study. “The thinking is that during sleep, memory consolidation is going on and that rehearsal is a good way to strengthen memories. We showed that you can get information in during sleep using the auditory system, and that you can cue that rehearsal by providing sounds specific to each episode of learning.”
Milline on parim ulmeraamatu pealkiri?
Damien G Walter mõtiskleb Guardiani raamatublogis selle üle, milline võiks olla kõigi aegade kõige ässam scifi-raamatu pealkiri ning leiab, et võitjat tasub otsida möödunud sajandi 60ndatest ja 70ndatest aastatest.But for my money the single greatest era of SF story titling came in the 1960s and early 1970s, when speculative fiction reflected on the political and social changes of the era and became ever weirder and more challenging. The Left Hand of Darkness perfectly encapsulates the feminist arguments of Ursula Le Guin's masterpiece. Just a tad further to the right on the political spectrum, Robert A Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in Strange Land nonetheless made their conservative author a key figure of the counterculture. Perhaps my personal favourite of the era comes from no less than Harlan Ellison, whose I Have No Voice, and I Must Scream is every bit as brutal and nasty a story as you might expect. (Although nowhere near as nasty as The Atrocity Exhibition by JG Ballard.)
vaata veelIlusad sportlased võidavad sagedamini
Ewen Callaway tutvustab New Scientistis kahte uuringut, mis näivad tõestavat, et kenama väljanägemisega sportlased on oma mitte nii kenade ametivendadega võrreldes reeglina mõnevõrra edukamad.The better an American football player, the more attractive he is, concludes a team led by Justin Park at the University of Bristol, UK. Park's team had women rate the attractiveness of National Football League (NFL) quarterbacks: all were elite players, but the best were rated as more desirable. Meanwhile, a survey of more than a thousand New Scientist Twitter followers reveals a similar trend for professional men's tennis players. Neither Park nor New Scientist argue that good looks promote good play. Rather, the same genetic variations could influence both traits.
Kas liha võib tulla laborist?
Charles Q. Choi uurib LiveScience'is, kui kaugele on jõutud katsetega kasvatada liha laboris ning loobuda seeläbi eetilisi ja keskkonnaprobleeme põhjustavast lihaloomade massilisest toidukskasvatamisest.So far past scientists have grown only small nuggets of skeletal muscle, about half the size of a thumbnail. Such tidbits could be used in sauces or pizzas, Post and colleagues explained recently in the online edition of the journal Trends in Food Science & Technology, but creating a steak would demand larger-scale production.
11/19/09
Raamat veidrikust matemaatikageeniusest
Jennifer Ouellette tutvustab New Scientistis Masha Gesseni raamatut Perfect Rigor: A genius and the mathematical breakthrough of the century, milles autor portreteerib matemaatik Grigori Perelmani, kes lahendas esmalt ilmakuulsa lahendamatuks peetud matemaatilise probleemi Poincaré hüpoteesi, loobus seejärel talle saavutuse eest määratud mainekast auhinnast ja tagatipuks lõpetas veel matemaatikaga tegelemise üldse.This year the Clay Mathematics Institute is expected to award Perelman $1 million for solving the Poincaré conjecture - one of several "Millennium Challenges" laid out at the turn of the 21st century. Will Perelman emerge from his self-imposed exile and accept the award, or will he once again refuse the accolades bestowed on him by what he perceives to be a corrupt system? If Gessen's portrait is an accurate one, my money is on the latter.
Suitsukonid on kaladele toksilised
Michael Reilly tutvustab Discovery Channeli veebisaidil uuringut, millest selgub, et veekogudesse sattuvad suitsukonid võivad olla sealsetele elanikele äärmiselt ohtlikud.Even with a small amount of unburnt tobacco clinging to it, a single cigarette butt soaked for a day is enough to turn a liter of water a sickly yellow brown and kill 50 percent of fish swimming in it. Without tobacco, it takes about 4 smoked filters to do the same job.
Kuidas maailma ära toita?
Debora MacKenzie kirjutab New Scientistis ÜRO Toitlustus- ja Põllumajandusorganisatsiooni katsetest maailmas näljahäda leevendada ning prioriteetidest, millesse tuleks ekspertide hinnangul selle eelduseks oleva põllumajandusliku tootmise suurendamise tagamiseks panustada."Ending hunger by 2025 is not realistic," says Joachim von Braun of IFPRI, a food-policy institute in Washington DC. "Halving it might be, but it requires sustained action." It gets worse: global population is set to grow to 9.1 billion by 2050, while global warming will have a serious impact on farming. What can be done?
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Mõõdukas alkoholitarvitamine teeb mehe südamele head
BBC vahendab laiapõhjalist uuringut, millega leidis taas tõendamist tõsiasi, et mõõdukas regulaarne alkohoolsete jookide tarvitamine vähendab meestel olulisel määral riski haigestuda rasketesse südamehaigustesse.For those drinking little - less than a shot of vodka a day for instance - the risk was reduced by 35%. And for those who drank anything from three shots to more than 11 shots each day, the risk worked out an average of 50% less. The same benefits were not seen in women, who suffer fewer heart problems than men to start with. Researchers speculated this difference could be down to the fact that women process alcohol differently, and that female hormones protect against the disease in younger age groups. The type of alcohol drunk did not seem to make a difference, but protection was greater for those drinking moderate to high amounts of varied drinks.
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Gaimani Graveyard Book kogub auhindu
Michelle Pauli kirjutab Guardianis, et Neil Gaimani noorteromaan Graveyard Book on löönud platsi puhtaks või jõudnu vähemalt lõplikku valikusse suurel hulgal viimase aja olulistel laste- ja noorteraamatute võistlustel ning pistis just taas ühe maineka auhinna kotti.Speaking from the States, where he has lived since 1992, Gaiman said that he was "thrilled and very surprised" at the win, but confessed that "the trouble with saying that is that you always sound vaguely insincere – people assume that with each award the book wins, saying you are surprised is less and less plausible."
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Selgusid Hugo auhindade võitjad
Selgusid Hugo auhindade võitjad
11/18/09
Tilluke putukaaju lahendab keerulisi probleeme
Emily Sohn kirjutab Discovery Channeli veebisaidil arvukatest näidetest, kus nööpnõelapea mõõtu ajudega putukad näitavad üles suisa ootamatut taibukust, mis omakorda sunnib ümber vaatama rusikareegli, mille kohaselt on aju võimekus ja suurus omavahel otseses seoses.According to a growing number of studies, some insects can count, categorize objects, even recognize human faces -- all with brains the size of pinheads. Despite many attempts to link the volume of an animal's brain with the depth of its intelligence, scientists now propose that it's the complexity of connections between brain cells that matters most.
Käivitumas on kliimasoojenemise must stsenaarium
Richard Black vahendab BBCs värsket analüüsi, mille kohaselt ootab meid ees keskmiste temperatuuride tõus kuni 6C, kui kasvuhoonegaaside õhkupaiskamist koheselt väga olulisel määral ei vähendata.According to lead scientist Corinne Le Quere, the new findings should add urgency to the political discussions. "Based on our knowledge of recent trends and the time it takes to change energy infrastructure, I think that the Copenhagen conference next month is our last chance to stabilise at 2C in a smooth and organised way," she told BBC News.
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Uued muusikalised instrumendid
WebUrbanist tutvustab uudseid muusikariistu, mis näitavad, et muusika ja selle tekitamise viisid on pidevas arengus ning ideedenappust ses vallas ei täheldu.
Matemaatilised megaapsud
Times Online tutvustab täies hiilguses Kerry Cue blogis väljas olevaid päriselulisi matemaatilisi apsakaid, mis on halvimal juhul toonud kaasa kaotatud inimelusid ja miljonitesse dollaritesse ulatuvaid arveid.4) NASA Mars Climate Orbiter.
As Kerry says, "the unmanned NASA Mars Climate Orbiter reached Mars and executed a 16 minute 23 second main engine burn on 23rd September 1999 to establish an orbit around Mars at 150km. It orbited behind Mars and was never heard from again."
The Maths Error: muddled units of length!
The Mars Climate Orbiter (which naturally, cost millions) disappeared, says Kerry, because a Lockheed Martin engineering team used imperial measurements while the JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) team used the more conventional metric system. The wrong navigation information was sent to the Mars Climate Orbiter. It probably burnt up in the atmosphere.
As Kerry says, "the unmanned NASA Mars Climate Orbiter reached Mars and executed a 16 minute 23 second main engine burn on 23rd September 1999 to establish an orbit around Mars at 150km. It orbited behind Mars and was never heard from again."
The Maths Error: muddled units of length!
The Mars Climate Orbiter (which naturally, cost millions) disappeared, says Kerry, because a Lockheed Martin engineering team used imperial measurements while the JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) team used the more conventional metric system. The wrong navigation information was sent to the Mars Climate Orbiter. It probably burnt up in the atmosphere.
11/17/09
vaata veelMillises suunas kulgeb inimese evolutsioon?
Charles Q. Choi mõtiskleb ekspertide kaasabil LiveScience'is selle üle, millise suuna võtab üldsegi mitte peatunud inimese evolutsioon, ning avastab muuhulgas, et klassikalises ulmekirjanduses klisheelisteks kirjutatud tulevase inimevolutsiooni stsenaariumid ei vasta suure tõenäosusega tõele.An old cliché has the highly evolved humans of the future sporting large heads to hold their advanced enlarged brains, "but that's nonsense, whole nonsense," said paleontologist Peter Ward at the University of Washington at Seattle, author of "Future Evolution."
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Ben Goldacre nüüd ka eesti keeles
Eesti keeles on ilmunud ilmakuulsa skeptiku ja Guardiani kolumnisti Ben Goldacre'i raamat Pahateadus, selgub kirjastuse NoriaBooks blogist.Muuhulgas ilmneb sissekandest, et raamatut on otse kirjastusest võimalik poehinnast soodsamalt koju tellida.
Teiste seas kiidab ja tutvustab antud teost ka Eesti esiskeptik Martin Vällik.
On The Origin of Species, Revisited
New Scientist palus geneetik Steve Jonesil teha Charles Darwini teedrajavast teosest On The Origin of Species peatükkide kaupa lühikokkuvõtteid ning lisada sinna teadmisi, mis on teadlaste poolt selle teose ilmumisele järgnenud 150 aasta jooksul kogutud.A century and a half after The Origin, Darwin can be seen to have been triumphantly right about almost everything. Evolution is now no more "just a theory" than is chemistry and, like all other sciences, it provides a logical way of looking at the world. As he dared only to hope in that great book, light has been cast upon not just the worlds of plants and animals, but on ourselves and our origins.
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Plastik muudab poisid naiselikuks?
BBC vahendab Rochesteri ülikooli uurijate teadustööd, mis viitab tugevalt ses suunas, et meid igapäevaselt tohututes kogustes ümbritsevates plastmaterjalides leiduvad keemilised ühendid ftalaadid muudavad poiste käitumist naiselikumaks.Boys exposed to high levels of these in the womb were less likely than other boys to play with cars, trains and guns or engage in "rougher" games like playfighting.
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