http://discovermagazine.com Science, Technology, and The Future http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/11/06/weekly-news-roundup-hairless-bears-narcoleptic-meerkats/ http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/11/06/weekly-news-roundup-hairless-bears-narcoleptic-meerkats/ • Where’s my fur coat? Hairless bear in Germany is the saddest thing ... Brett Israel http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/11/06/weekly-news-roundup-hairless-bears-narcoleptic-meerkats//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:00:05 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:00:05 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/pb_2ph6rfXo/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/pb_2ph6rfXo/ Environmental monitoring is often expensive, cumbersome, and ... Brett Israel http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/pb_2ph6rfXo//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:32:07 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:32:07 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/VtR_jOYnUzg/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/VtR_jOYnUzg/ A quick reminder: the Carl Sagan Day celebration will be at Broward ... Phil Plait http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/VtR_jOYnUzg//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:00:54 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:00:54 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/11/06/can-an-iphone-app-decipher-your-babys-cries/ http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/11/06/can-an-iphone-app-decipher-your-babys-cries/ A new baby translator is now available for your iPhone. It won’t ... Brett Israel http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/11/06/can-an-iphone-app-decipher-your-babys-cries//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:55:15 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:55:15 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Loom/~3/Em58sXgX7O8/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Loom/~3/Em58sXgX7O8/ Leave it to the Boston Globe’s Big Picture to pick out a staggering ... Carl Zimmer http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Loom/~3/Em58sXgX7O8//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:47:14 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:47:14 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/Gp6r1-HmKjc/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/Gp6r1-HmKjc/ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 3 Two studies in ... Eliza Strickland http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/Gp6r1-HmKjc//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:25:42 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:25:42 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/-3Hv4itLL6o/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/-3Hv4itLL6o/ Babies pick up their parents’ accents while still in the womb, ... Brett Israel http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/-3Hv4itLL6o//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:43:46 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:43:46 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CosmicVarianceBlog/~3/psocdR8JxM0/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CosmicVarianceBlog/~3/psocdR8JxM0/ Lead paragraph from the Times Online UK about the latest LHC snafu: The ... Julianne http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CosmicVarianceBlog/~3/psocdR8JxM0//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:23:45 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:23:45 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/so2UshoilMQ/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/so2UshoilMQ/ I was going to write about how Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and John Kerry ... Phil Plait http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/so2UshoilMQ//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:00:02 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:00:02 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/06/slate-reply-to-specter-up-we-need-a-national-dialogue-on-synthetic-biology/ http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/06/slate-reply-to-specter-up-we-need-a-national-dialogue-on-synthetic-biology/ My latest contribution to the Slate book club on Denialism is here. Most ... Chris Mooney http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/06/slate-reply-to-specter-up-we-need-a-national-dialogue-on-synthetic-biology//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:32:45 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:32:45 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/3v4yJQ_bbOw/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/3v4yJQ_bbOw/ OK, I know that some people see the face of their religious icons in ... Phil Plait http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/3v4yJQ_bbOw//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:30:39 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:30:39 +0000 http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/06-brain-like-chip-may-solve-computers-big-problem-energy http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/06-brain-like-chip-may-solve-computers-big-problem-energy Kwabena Boahen is working to create a computer that will fulfill his boyhood vision—a new kind of computer, based not on the regimented order of traditional silicon chips but on the organized chaos of the human brain. Designing this machine will mean rejecting everything that we have learned over the past 50 years about building computers. But it might be exactly what we need to keep the information revolution going for another 50. The human brain runs on only about 20 watts of power, equal to the dim light behind the pickle jar in your refrigerator. By contrast, the computer on your desk consumes a million times as much energy per calculation. If you wanted to build a robot with a processor as smart as the human brain, it would require 10 to 20 megawatts of electricity. “Ten megawatts is a small hydroelectric plant,” Boahen says dismissively. “We should work on miniaturizing hydroelectric plants so we can put them on the backs of robots.” You would encounter similar problems if you tried to build a medical implant to replace just 1 percent of the neurons in the brain, for use in stroke patients. That implant would consume as much electricity as 200 households and dissipate as much heat as the engine in a Porsche Boxster. “Energy efficiency isn’t just a matter of elegance. It fundamentally limits what we can do with computers,” Boahen says. Despite the amazing progress in electronics technology—today’s transistors are 1/100,000 the size that they were a half century ago, and computer chips are 10 million times faster—we still have not made meaningful progress on the energy front. And if we do not, we can forget about truly intelligent humanlike machines and all the other dreams of radically more powerful computers. Douglas Fox http://discovermagazine.com/2009/oct/06-brain-like-chip-may-solve-computers-big-problem-energy/key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:10:00 -0600 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:10:00 -0600 Print Article http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/11/06/lhc-shut-down-by-wayward-baguette-dropped-by-bird/ http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/11/06/lhc-shut-down-by-wayward-baguette-dropped-by-bird/ In truly French fashion, the Large Hadron Collider has shut down by… ... Brett Israel http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/11/06/lhc-shut-down-by-wayward-baguette-dropped-by-bird//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:38:43 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:38:43 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Loom/~3/3nw0OcGPbmw/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Loom/~3/3nw0OcGPbmw/ The Tangled Bank is now officially out; I’m getting word back from ... Carl Zimmer http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Loom/~3/3nw0OcGPbmw//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:38:27 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:38:27 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/06/droid-2-0-vs-iphone/ http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/06/droid-2-0-vs-iphone/ Motorola’s Anroid 2.0 phone debuts today with its slide-out ... Sheril Kirshenbaum http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/06/droid-2-0-vs-iphone//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:48:37 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:48:37 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/_ceHFud4NRo/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/_ceHFud4NRo/ News that an Iowa cat has been diagnosed with swine flu has sparked a new ... Eliza Strickland http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/_ceHFud4NRo//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:32:26 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:32:26 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CosmicVarianceBlog/~3/F0JH0PlKOmk/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CosmicVarianceBlog/~3/F0JH0PlKOmk/ It can’t be easy being the guy who has to introduce Albert Einstein. ... Sean http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CosmicVarianceBlog/~3/F0JH0PlKOmk//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:27:58 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:27:58 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/7vAiCCnTrPU/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/7vAiCCnTrPU/ Looking for something to do this weekend, and for the next month? Are you ... Phil Plait http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/7vAiCCnTrPU//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:00:45 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:00:45 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/06/al-gores-new-book/ http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/06/al-gores-new-book/ I’m quoted in USA Today this morning talking about Gore’s ... Chris Mooney http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/06/al-gores-new-book//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:00:10 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:00:10 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/UYM8SotHpoA/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/UYM8SotHpoA/ The hi-res Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s camera captured a pretty ... Phil Plait http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/UYM8SotHpoA//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:08:55 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:08:55 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/05/specters-first-reply-denialism-kills-people/ http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/05/specters-first-reply-denialism-kills-people/ It is now up on Slate and you can read it here. There are many good points ... Chris Mooney http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/11/05/specters-first-reply-denialism-kills-people//key_image Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:05:25 +0000 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:05:25 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/J5u_bHmVtEE/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/J5u_bHmVtEE/ Researchers may have taken a step towards curing the rare, inherited brain ... Eliza Strickland http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/J5u_bHmVtEE//key_image Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:31:42 +0000 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:31:42 +0000 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/vAgqL7fhiMA/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/vAgqL7fhiMA/ When 3-year-old Mark Blinder developed pain in his right arm, doctors ... Brett Israel http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80beats/~3/vAgqL7fhiMA//key_image Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:27:26 +0000 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:27:26 +0000 http://discovermagazine.com/videos/05-secrets-of-slithering-snakes http://discovermagazine.com/videos/05-secrets-of-slithering-snakes http://discovermagazine.com/videos/05-secrets-of-slithering-snakes/key_image Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:41:53 -0600 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:41:53 -0600 Video http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/Yh7wqygSe4w/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/Yh7wqygSe4w/ If you’re jonesing for some spacey stuff and maybe some critical ... Phil Plait http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BadAstronomyBlog/~3/Yh7wqygSe4w//key_image Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:00:06 +0000 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:00:06 +0000