Machines Like Us - Science at the speed of thought

The dangers of third-hand smoke

NLN — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:34:38 -0500

Nicotine in third-hand smoke, the residue from tobacco smoke that clings to virtually all surfaces long after a cigarette has been extinguished, reacts with the common indoor air pollutant nitrous acid to produce dangerous carcinogens. This new potential health hazard was revealed in a multi-institutional study led by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

Morality and the evolution of religion

NLN — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:24:05 -0500

The details surrounding the emergence and evolution of religion have not been clearly established and remain a source of much debate among scholars. Now, an article published by Cell Press in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences on February 8 brings a new understanding to this long-standing discussion by exploring the fascinating link between morality and religion.

Brain area responsible for fear of losing money discovered

NLN — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:14:29 -0500

Neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and their colleagues have tied the human aversion to losing money to a specific structure in the brain–the amygdala.

Link confirmed between advanced maternal age and autism

NLN — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:09:46 -0500

Advanced maternal age is linked to a significantly elevated risk of having a child with autism, regardless of the father's age, according to an exhaustive study of all births in California during the 1990s by UC Davis Health System researchers.

NASA funding announcement and the Google Lunar X-PRIZE Team Summit

NLN — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:34:40 -0500

Just over 5 years after the $10M Ansari X PRIZE was won by a private space team, President Barack Obama announces that NASA funding would also be used to entice companies to build private spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station after the space shuttle retires.

Augmented reality: Cool 3D modeling application

NLN — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:12:22 -0500

At SIGGRAPH Asia 2009, members of the Reality Media Lab Team at Ritsumeikan University presented an augmented reality system demonstrating a woodworking application.

Marijuana ineffective as an Alzheimer's treatment

NLN — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:03:55 -0500

The benefits of marijuana in tempering or reversing the effects of Alzheimer's disease have been challenged in a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.

Soft drink consumption may increase risk of pancreatic cancer

NLN — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:58:40 -0500

Consuming two or more soft drinks per week increased the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by nearly twofold compared to individuals who did not consume soft drinks, according to a report in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Virtual pioneer Jaron Lanier warns: Machines make bad masters

NLN — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:32:18 -0500

"People have to be able to make money off their brains and their hearts," Jaron Lanier was telling me. "Or else we're all going to starve, and it's the machines that'll get good."

Scientists identify first genetic variant linked to biological aging in humans

NLN — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:09:34 -0500

Scientists announced today (7 Feb) they have identified for the first time definitive variants associated with biological ageing in humans. The team analyzed more than 500,000 genetic variations across the entire human genome to identify the variants which are located near a gene called TERC.

Introspection

Peter Hankins — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:27:32 -0500

Introspection, the direct examination of the contents of our own minds, seems itself to be in many minds at the moment.

A quantum leap in quantum computing

NLN — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:59:47 -0500

A major hurdle in the ambitious quest to design and construct a radically new kind of quantum computer has been finding a way to manipulate the single electrons that very likely will constitute the new machines' processing components or "qubits."

An answer to another of life's big questions

NLN — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:27:17 -0500

Monash University biochemists have found a critical piece in the evolutionary puzzle that explains how life on Earth evolved millions of centuries ago.

Prion leaves lasting mark on memory

NLN — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:52:17 -0500

Prions are a special class of proteins best known as the source for mad cow and other neurodegenerative diseases. Despite this negative reputation, according to a new report in the February 5th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, a prion may also have important and very positive roles in brain function.

Quantum mechanics at work in photosynthesis

NLN — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:46:56 -0500

A team of University of Toronto chemists have made a major contribution to the emerging field of quantum biology, observing quantum mechanics at work in photosynthesis in marine algae.