September 2009
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Daniel Johnston - Story of an Artist
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Scientists Find Successful Way To Reduce Bat... →
Scientists at the University of Calgary have found a way to reduce bat deaths from wind turbines by up to 60 percent without significantly reducing the energy generated from the wind farm. The research, recently published in the Journal of Wildlife Management, demonstrates that slowing turbine blades to near motionless in low-wind periods significantly reduces bat mortality.
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Stimulating Sight: Retinal Implant Could Help... →
Inspired by the success of cochlear implants that can restore hearing to some deaf people, researchers at MIT are working on a retinal implant that could one day help blind people regain a useful level of vision.
The eye implant is designed for people who have lost their vision from retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration, two of the leading causes of blindness. The retinal...
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Millions at Risk as Deltas Sink →
Most of the world’s major river deltas are sinking, increasing the flood risk faced by hundreds of millions of people, scientists report. Damming and diverting rivers means that much less sediment now reaches many delta areas, while extraction of gas and groundwater also lowers the land. Rivers affected include the Colorado, Nile, Pearl, Rhone and Yangtze. About half a billion people live in...
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Killing Cancer Like A Vampire Slayer: New Drug... →
Like vampires, cancer tumors require an ample supply of blood to stay alive. Without fresh blood for sustenance, cancer cells shrivel up like raisins and die…. (more @ ScienceDaily)
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Magnetism Observed In Gas For The First Time →
For the first time, MIT scientists have observed ferromagnetic behavior in an atomic gas, addressing a decades-old question of whether it is possible for a gas to show properties similar to a magnet made of iron or nickel… (more @ ScienceDaily)
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Genetic Engineering to Cure Color Blindness →
Scientists say they are a step closer to curing colour blindness using gene therapy. A US team were able to restore full colour vision to adult monkeys born without the ability to distinguish between the colours red and green….
Until now scientists had not thought it was possible to manipulate the adult brain in this way. It was considered that adding new sensory information, such as...
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Mafia Sank Ships of Toxic Waste →
A shipwreck apparently containing toxic waste is being investigated by authorities in Italy amid claims that it was deliberately sunk by the mafia. An informant from the Calabrian mafia said the ship was one of a number he blew up as part of an illegal operation to bypass laws on toxic waste disposal. The sunken vessel has been found 30km (18 miles) off the south-west of Italy. The informant said...
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Taking Showers Can Make You Ill →
Showering may be bad for your health, say US scientists, who have shown that dirty shower heads can deliver a face full of harmful bacteria. Tests revealed nearly a third of devices harbour significant levels of a bug that causes lung disease. Levels of Mycobacterium avium were 100 times higher than those found in typical household water supplies…. (continues @ BBC News)
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Gender-Bending Fish Widespread In U.S. →
A survey of fish in rivers and streams around the country shows that a large percentage of male bass have acquired feminine characteristics. Scientists say it’s the biggest survey of this gender-bending condition in U.S. waters. And while they can’t be sure of the cause, they suspect industrial and pharmaceutical chemicals are the culprit…. (continues @ NPR)
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Fossils From Animals And Plants Are Not Necessary... →
The findings are revolutionary since this means, on the one hand, that it will be much easier to find these sources of energy and, on the other hand, that they can be found all over the globe…. (more @ ScienceDaily)
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Writing Messages That Vanish Spontaneously →
INVISIBLE ink has a lengthy history. As early as the first century AD, Pliny the Elder wrote that the sap of a tithymalus plant could be used to render a message invisible to prying eyes. More recently, legions of schoolchildren have penned invisible messages using lemon juice. And to prove that even these days the stuff is not just a childish prank, part of the evidence that convicted Rangzieb...
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Indian Villagers Flee Elephants →
Hundreds of villagers have been forced to take shelter in camps in the Indian state of Orissa after repeated attacks by a herd of elephants. Seven people have been killed and several others injured in attacks by a herd of 12-13 elephants over the past few weeks in Kandhamal district. Over 2,500 people living in 45 villages have been affected by the attacks, district chief Krishen Kumar said. Wild...
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Monkeys Follow Economic Rules Of Supply And Demand →
A monkey that has acquired the sole power to hand out apples is generously rewarded with grooming sessions by the other monkeys in its group. But as soon as another monkey can hand out apples as well, the market value of the first monkey is halved. The monkeys therefore unerringly obey the law of supply and demand…. (continues @ ScienceDaily)