Propeller.com Stories submitted by capn_caveman

Ridding meat of E. coli

capn_caveman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:47:17 EDT

You may be able to enjoy a rare hamburger soon, thanks to a discovery made by a team of University of Alberta researchers.

Channel: Health & Fitness Tags: health science E. Coli meat beef food food safety

Team finds language without numbers

capn_caveman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:30:51 EDT

An Amazonian language with only 300 speakers has no word to express the concept of "one" or any other specific number, according to a new study from an MIT-led team.

Channel: Science Tags: science language numbers anthropology

Wine chemical improves health but not longevity

capn_caveman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:57:41 EDT

Two studies find ways to improve the health of mice, but fail to find any life-extending effect with either the chemical or a key aging protein

Channel: Health & Fitness Tags: health science resveratrol longevity

Microwave ray gun controls crowds with noise

capn_caveman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:55:38 EDT

A US company claims it is ready to build a microwave ray gun able to beam sounds directly into people's heads.

Channel: Gadgets & Tech Tags: technology microwaves ray gun sound crowd control

Does Herpes Cause Brain Cancer?

capn_caveman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:15:30 EDT

The deadliest and most common type of brain cancer has a strange bedfellow: cytomegalovirus, a kind of herpes present in about 80 percent of the U.S. population. Now scientists are exploiting this coincidence to treat the cancer with a vaccine that targets the virus and slows tumor regrowth.

Channel: Health & Fitness Tags: health science herpes brain cancer cancer

Researchers study woman who acquires new accent after stroke

capn_caveman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:02:33 EDT

A woman in southern Ontario is one of the first cases in Canada of a rare neurological syndrome in which a person starts speaking with a different accent, McMaster University researchers report in the July issue of the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences.

Channel: Health & Fitness Tags: health stroke foreign accent syndrome FAS

Deep Trouble in the North Sea

capn_caveman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:12:20 EDT

Global warming is forcing North Sea fish to head to greater depths.

Channel: Science Tags: science global warming oceans fish species climate change environment

Exploding Asteroid Theory Strengthened by New Evidence Located in Ohio, Indiana

capn_caveman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:59:56 EDT

Was the course of life on the planet altered 12,900 years ago by a giant comet exploding over Canada? New evidence found by UC Assistant Professor of Anthropology Ken Tankersley and colleagues suggests the answer is affirmative.

Channel: Science Tags: science comet asteroid geology extinctions

Worms do calculus to find meals or avoid unpleasantness

capn_caveman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:52:50 EDT

Thanks to salt and hot chili peppers, researchers have found a calculus-computing center that tells a roundworm to go forward toward dinner or turn to broaden the search. It's a computational mechanism, they say, that is similar to what drives hungry college students to pizza.

Channel: Science Tags: science worms calculus mathematics

The global warming deniers

capn_caveman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:41:41 EDT

The arguments of climate skeptics have largely been molded by a far more sinister force - the US-based conservative think tanks.

Channel: Science Tags: science environment climate change skeptics deniers

Space probes show solar system dented, not round

capn_caveman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:12:35 EDT

When viewed from the rest of the galaxy, the edge of our solar system appears slightly dented as if a giant hand is pushing one edge of it inward, far-traveling NASA probes reveal.

Channel: Science Tags: science astronomy solar system astrophysics

Astronomers cast doubt over date of Caesar's invasion of Britain

capn_caveman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:39:58 EDT

Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain in 55BC could not have occurred on the dates stated in most history books, a team of astronomers has claimed.

Channel: Science Tags: science astronomy Julius Caesar Britain

Garbage In, Megawatts Out

capn_caveman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:55:06 EDT

Ottawa will build the first gasification facility in North America to make energy from waste.

Channel: Gadgets & Tech Tags: technology science green energy garbage

Survey of distant galaxies sets limit on cosmic strings

capn_caveman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:47:49 EDT

Gravitational lensing measurement suggest that cosmic strings make up no more than 2% of mass of universe

Channel: Science Tags: science cosmology cosmic strings gravitational lensing astronomy

Saturn mission goes into overtime

capn_caveman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:17:47 EDT

The multibillion-dollar Cassini orbiter has officially ended its four-year primary mission to Saturn - ushering in a two-year extended mission that will focus on the ringed planet's mysterious moons.

Channel: Science Tags: science Saturn Cassini solar system

Planetary line-up excites the sun

capn_caveman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:06:27 EDT

Australian astronomers may have found a solution to how far-away Jupiter and Saturn drive the sun's solar cycle.

Channel: Science Tags: science Sun Jupiter Saturn solar system solar cycle

The Pit of Life and Death

capn_caveman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:01:09 EDT

Just outside Butte, Montana lies a pit of greenish poison a mile and a half wide and over a third of a mile deep. This pit was a by-product of strip mining and was considered to be too poisonous to sustain life. That was until a scientist saw something unusual in the lake: a small clump of green slime floating on the water's surface.

Channel: Science Tags: science biology life bacteria extremophile

Condemned to single-sex life by climate change

capn_caveman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:43:19 EDT

All tuatara could be born male - and thus doomed to extinction - within decades.

Channel: Science Tags: science species tuatara extinction climate change nature environment global warming

Fermilab Cancels Layoffs

capn_caveman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:38:43 EDT

Since December, scientists, engineers, technicians, and staff at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Illinois, have waited anxiously to find out who will be asked to leave in layoffs forced by an unexpected budget cut. Now they can relax: Fermilab is canceling all impending involuntary layoffs.

Channel: Science Tags: science money Fermilab physics

Which of These Is Not Causing Global Warming Today?

capn_caveman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:13:23 EDT

A. Sport utility vehicles; B. Rice fields; C. Increased solar output.

Channel: Science Tags: science global warming environment climate change propeller eco news

United States Has Highest Level Of Illegal Cocaine And Cannabis Use

capn_caveman — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:02:52 EDT

A survey of 17 countries has found that despite its punitive drug policies the United States has the highest levels of illegal cocaine and cannabis use.

Channel: Health & Fitness Tags: health drugs cocaine cannabis marijuana

Minimum drinking age of 21 saves lives

capn_caveman — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:05:23 EDT

One of the most comprehensive studies on the minimum drinking age shows that laws aimed at preventing consumption of alcohol by those under 21 have significantly reduced drinking-related fatal car crashes.

Channel: Health & Fitness Tags: health alcohol drinking age 21

Super atoms turn the periodic table upside down

capn_caveman — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:12:17 EDT

Researchers have developed a technique for generating atom clusters made from silver and other metals. Surprisingly enough, these so-called super atoms (clusters of 13 silver atoms, for example) behave in the same way as individual atoms and have opened up a whole new branch of chemistry.

Channel: Science Tags: science physics periodic table chemistry super atoms

New Texas Law Requires PI License for Computer Repair Shops

capn_caveman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:17:04 EDT

A new Texas law requires every computer repair technician to obtain a private investigator's license. Violators can face a $4,000 fine and one year in jail, as well as a $10,000 civil penalty.

Channel: Gadgets & Tech Tags: technology Texas computers computer repair

Phoenix Scrapes to Icy Soil in Wonderland

capn_caveman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:58:45 EDT

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander scraped to icy soil in the "Wonderland" area on Thursday, June 26, confirming that surface soil, subsurface soil and icy soil can be sampled at a single trench.

Channel: Science Tags: science Phoenix Mars ice water solar system planets

Despite Frustrations, Americans Are Pretty Darned Happy

capn_caveman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:48:24 EDT

We're number 16 ... in world happiness. Feel the joy. The United States ranks ahead of more than 80 countries, but below 15 others in happiness levels, according to new study.

Channel: Science Tags: science health news happiness United States

Royal Society rails against 'simplistic' science exams

capn_caveman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:29:24 EDT

Pupils are being set "simplistic" science exam questions in Sats tests when they have been taught to a much higher level, scientists claimed today.

Channel: Science Tags: science education

HIV 'locked out' of sabotaged cells

capn_caveman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:13:33 EDT

Mice have been made resistant to HIV by changing a gene in the blood cells that the virus normally infects - human trials may start this year

Channel: Health & Fitness Tags: health science HIV AIDS virus virology

Fisheries, Not Whales, To Blame For Shortage Of Fish

capn_caveman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:56:42 EDT

The argument that increasing whale populations are behind declining fish stocks is completely without scientific foundation, leading researchers and conservation organizations said today as the International Whaling Commission opened its 60th meeting.

Channel: Science Tags: science ocean fish whales species ecology

'Deformed wing virus' cause of bee mystery?

capn_caveman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:47:09 EDT

Scientists are one step closer to understanding the recent demise of billions of honey bees after making an important discovery about the transmission of a common bee virus.

Channel: Science Tags: science honey bees virus virology colony collapse disorder

Palm Scanning: Better Than Fingerprints

capn_caveman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:44:16 EDT

Forget fingerprint scanners, which have replaced password access on some high-end laptops. Forget iris scanners, especially their creepy use portrayed in the 2002 Tom Cruise movie, "Minority Report." No, the future of biometrics (automated identification using body parts) involves scanning palms.

Channel: Science Tags: science technology biometrics palm scanner

Aldrin warns US risks falling behind in space race

capn_caveman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:30:31 EDT

Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, warned in an interview published Sunday that the United States risked falling behind Russia and China in the space race if it did not redouble its efforts.

Channel: Science Tags: science Buzz Aldrin Moon space space race

Web hits used to pinpoint earthquakes

capn_caveman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:24:58 EDT

Internet traffic counters used to measure web hits could rival dedicated seismological equipment as a way of detecting earthquakes.

Channel: Science Tags: science technology computers earthquakes internet

Device puts steering at the tip of the tongue

capn_caveman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:22:11 EDT

A new device that uses a tiny magnet can help disabled people steer a wheelchair or operate a computer using only the tip of the tongue, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

Channel: Gadgets & Tech Tags: technology health

Big bust: 4.6 tons of cocaine seized

capn_caveman — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:25:57 EDT

At least 4.6 tons of cocaine were found on a boat in the Caribbean Sea and six of the vessel's crew members were arrested, Honduran authorities said Saturday.

Channel: News Tags: news cocaine drugs

Eskimos Sue 23 Energy Companies For Global Warming Related Damages

capn_caveman — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:52:15 EDT

The first major global warming court case has yet to take place, but various attempts at landmark cases that will make litigation history have been made in the last year or so. Now a new case featuring a community of Alaskan Eskimos could move into the spotlight.

Channel: News Tags: news science Eskimos lawsuit global warming environment

Cancer 'cure' in mice to be tested in humans

capn_caveman — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:47:30 EDT

Researchers have announced today that they'll soon start human trials of a cancer fighting method that uses blood from people who may be naturally cancer resistant. The infusions cured the cancers in the ordinary mice "100 percent of the time,".

Channel: Health & Fitness Tags: health science cancer cancer cure mice humans

Quantum computing breakthrough arises from unknown molecule

capn_caveman — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:26:16 EDT

he odd behavior of a molecule in an experimental silicon computer chip has led to a discovery that opens the door to quantum computing in semiconductors.

Channel: Science Tags: science technology computers quantum computers physics

Not a Quirk But a Quark ... a Quark Star!

capn_caveman — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:21:26 EDT

Astronomers recently announced that they have found a novel explanation for a rare type of super-luminous stellar explosion that may have produced a new type of object known as a quark star.

Channel: Science Tags: science astronomy quark quark star physics

Fake virus could make safe new vaccines

capn_caveman — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:10:36 EDT

A "wimpy" artificial virus protected mice against polio, and the approach might be used to make a range of safer new vaccines against viruses, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.

Channel: Health & Fitness Tags: health science virus vaccine virology