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TheRealWazzar

Science

Frogs on the Verge of a Major Extinction

By Posted on 8.15.2008 6 Comments
Lots of amphibians (a third to a half of all species) are dying, and their deaths are the breaking-edge of what many scientists are calling the first mass extinction since the dinosaurs checked out 65 million years ago, researchers say in a new paper published online in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

8.15.2008 at 11:54pm - Comment by TheRealWazzar

Aww, why can't we make something else extinct, like Flies or Mosquitoes?
The Environment

Is Pollution Slowing Global Warming?

By Posted on 7.9.2008 12 Comments
Wait, now pollution is preventing global warming? That’s the conclusion of a recent study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, which says rising temperatures seen in Europe over the last few years result as much from the reduction of air pollution as from the creation of it. The research, which looked at the effects of aerosols on climate, confirms an older concept known as global dimming, and complicates our understanding of how mankind affects the climate.

7.10.2008 at 07:26am - Comment by TheRealWazzar

People of the future will laugh at us. Whether it's because we thought we could do something about global warming, or because we were so slow to understand and react to it properly. I just hope I'll get to laugh with them...
Cars

BMW Planning Electric Minis for California

By Posted on 7.9.2008 15 Comments
As California returns to requiring automakers to sell zero-emissions vehicles, BMW is apparently aiming to get in first on the gold rush. Automotive News reports BMW will export an electric version of its Mini to California. The state's zero-emissions vehicle program will require nearly 60,000 plug-in cars to be sold in the state between 2012 and 2014.

7.10.2008 at 07:08am - Comment by TheRealWazzar

So this would be the second time they've had electric Minis in California. Anyone seen the Italian Job?
The Environment

Watershed Moment

By Posted on 6.11.2008 5 Comments
This frothy flume is what 300,000 gallons of water per second looks like. A 60-hour surge of almost 75 billion gallons, it’s part of an effort to revitalize the ecosystem of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. Teams from the U.S. Geological Survey, the Grand Canyon Trust and 25 other agencies have been working together since 1995 to develop a plan that will mimic natural flooding to redistribute sediment that would normally wash downriver.

6.11.2008 at 07:18am - Comment by TheRealWazzar

If I calculated it correctly, that's an Olympic Pool spewing out of there every two seconds. Damn.
Gadgets

Border Security to Become Copyright Police?

By Posted on 5.30.2008 19 Comments
As if the security in airports and controls at border crossings weren't slow and intrusive enough, governments around the world are quietly passing laws to allow them to search the contents of your laptop and other electronic devices, like iPods and cellphones. A United States court last month gave border agents carte blanche to hold a laptop for days and even copy its entire contents. The UK government has given its agents authority to search computers at its borders for pornography. But in what may be the most baffling and cumbersome move of all, the US, Canada, UK, and other EU nations are working behind closed doors on a new trade agreement which could turn border agents into the copyright police.

5.31.2008 at 02:22am - Comment by TheRealWazzar

Who's pushing this? The RIAA? Is it another dying grasp for the control of the pre-internet days?
Gadgets

XO 2.0

By Posted on 5.22.2008 9 Comments
The XO laptop is back with a new look and a new design, at least in theory. Nicholas Negroponte unveiled photos of the upcoming XO-2 device this week, with an announcement that the revamped computer would be ready for delivery by 2010 and carry a price tag of $75. Gone is the green plastic keyboard, replaced instead with a second touch screen. The device can be opened to function like an electronic book, or it can be rotated to a more traditional laptop configuration, with the new screen assuming the role of virtual keyboard.

5.25.2008 at 06:30pm - Comment by TheRealWazzar

I don't think battery life will be that much of an issue. They'll probably be deployed with a winder to charge it.
Science

Duck-Billed Platypus Genes Analyzed

By Posted on 5.7.2008 12 Comments
An international team of scientists today published the first analysis of the genome sequence of Glennie, a female duck-billed platypus from Australia. Because the platypus occupies a unique branch on the tree of life, Glennie's genome could provide important clues about how humans and other mammalian species evolved. Like all mammals, the platypus nourishes its young with milk. But platypus babies hatch from eggs, a characteristic usually associated with birds and reptiles. By comparing the platypus genome with the genomes of other animals—including the human, mouse, dog, chicken and green anole lizard—the scientists hope to pinpoint which genes are common to all mammals, and when various traits have appeared or disappeared in the mammalian lineage.

5.10.2008 at 04:51am - Comment by TheRealWazzar

Ok whew, I thought we were being taken over by evolutionists. "Intelligent Design is bs, The "Theory" of evolution is all but proven." Can I have links to the proof, because last time I checked they were putting a few more thin bandages over a broken theory. Why do you all believe that everything you were taught in school is fact?
Gadgets

Gadget Myths—Exposed!

By Posted on 4.30.2008 12 Comments
The readers have spoken—and I shall heed your call! Based on the flurry of responses from a Grouse column last month (in which I bemoaned the snake oil sales tactics of the overpriced cable market), theres clearly a hunger out there for clarity when it comes to parsing the jargon-filled nonsense thats used to market consumer electronics. Hype is always to be expected when it comes to sales, but unfortunately sometimes conventional wisdom gets swept up in the hubbub and eventually we find ourselves believing in techie urban legends. Great for sellers, not so much for consumers. So taking my own advice, Im following the Gadgetry Golden Rule and passing on a five choice bits of somewhat counter-intuitive wisdom Ive had need for and which may inform your next purchase. Pay it forward—hit the comments section with your own, and spread the word.

5.4.2008 at 06:58am - Comment by TheRealWazzar

With a large number of megapixels on a small image sensor, noise is dramatically increased. So yes, you might be able get a photo of a squirrel on a distant mountain, but it will look horrible. There's no point in having more pixels if you photo looks nasty. Image quality counts.
Technology

Solar Systems Like Ours

By Posted on 4.14.2008 11 Comments
Less than fifteen years ago, the concept of an extrasolar planet orbiting a star much like our own was only a theory. Since that time, we've discovered nearly 300 extrasolar planets in all, but have consistently failed to find systems which orbit around stars resembling the sun. Today, the BBC is reporting on a find by astronomers from St. Andrews University of two gas giants on par with Saturn and Jupiter in orbit around a star half the size of our sun. While the finding is not a direct link to a system similar to ours, it does present an increased likelihood that our system is not unique.

4.15.2008 at 07:54am - Comment by TheRealWazzar

5000 years. That's pretty short.
Science

Lightning From Laser Beams

By Posted on 4.14.2008 4 Comments
Scientists have been trying to figure out how to stimulate lightning strikes with lasers for several decades, and now a group of European researchers have made an important advance. The group, led by Jerome Kasparian of the University of Lyon, used laser pulses to trigger electrical activity in thunderclouds passing over New Mexico's South Baldy Peak. By tweaking these laser pulses in the future, Kasparian thinks they should be able to create charged channels of molecules that act like conducting wires, and provide the lightning with a path to the ground.

4.15.2008 at 07:37am - Comment by TheRealWazzar

Does this mean that lightning could be directed into a specially built power station where it can be captured? It's probably unlikely or impossible, but it's food for thought.