Gliese 581g mystery: Scientist spotted ‘mysterious pulse of light’ from direction of new’Earth planet last year

Gliese 581g mystery: Scientist spotted ‘mysterious pulse of light’ from direction of new’Earth planet last year | Mail Online

An astronomer picked up a mysterious pulse of light coming from the direction of the newly discovered Earth-like planet almost two years ago, it has emerged.

Dr Ragbir Bhathal, a scientist at the University of Western Sydney, picked up the odd signal in December 2008, long before it was announced that the star Gliese 581 has habitable planets in orbit around it.

Xonia feat Deepcentral – My Beautiful One

YouTube – Xonia feat Deepcentral – My Beautiful One

Cameră video cu filmare Full HD şi Pico-proiector

Cameră video cu filmare Full HD şi Pico-proiector

BenQ îşi întăreşte poziţia pe zona foto-video prin lansarea S11, prima cameră video cu filmare Full HD şi Pico-proiector bazat pe tehnologia LED, încorporat. Imaginea redată de Pico-proiectorul BenQ poate atinge 50″, proiecţia putând fi realizată imediat după filmare.

5 Reasons to Ditch Your Digital SLR

5 Reasons to Ditch Your Digital SLR | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

There’s a new camera category in town. It’s EVIL, and it’s going to kick your DSLR’s ass. EVIL stands for Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens, and is our favorite acronym for cameras like the Olympus Pen, the Lumix GF1 and the Samsung NX10. These small, mirrorless, finderless cameras can fit in a pocket and outperform bulky DSLRs. Here’s why your next camera will probably be EVIL.

SANE overcomes nanofabrication grand challenges

SANE overcomes nanofabrication grand challenges – physicsworld.com

The first nanofabrication technique that overcomes the three “grand challenges in nanofabrication” has been unveiled by researchers in the US. The technique, dubbed solvent-assisted nanoscale embossing (SANE), could be used to make cheap large-area nanoscale patterns in applications like plasmonics, solar cells and data storage.

‘Self-repairing’ photovoltaics not damaged by the Sun

‘Self-repairing’ photovoltaics not damaged by the Sun – physicsworld.com

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have fabricated the first synthetic photovoltaic cell capable of repairing itself. The cell mimics the self-repair system naturally found in plants, which capture sunlight and convert it into energy during photosynthesis. The device could be 40% efficient at converting solar power into energy – a value that is two times better than the best commercial photovoltaic cells on the market today.

Physicists Convert Information Into Energy

Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: Physicists Convert Information Into Energy

The first demonstration of an information-heat engine could revolutionise the way nanomachines get their power.

INNA – Sun is UP (Official video)

YouTube – INNA – Sun is UP (Official video)

Complecșii metalelor tranziționale – Cheia originii vieții?

Complecșii metalelor tranziționale – Cheia originii vieții?

Există multe ipoteze în ceea ce privește originea vieții. Toate se lovesc însă de un paradox al naturii comparabil cu celebra întrebare cu oul și găina. Cum este posibil ca anumiți compuși organici de bază precum aminoacizii și nucleotidele să fi apărut înaintea catalizatorilor (proteinele sau ribozomii) care le formează?

Cercetătorii susțin că structuri asemenea citratului de fer ar putea fi secretul din spatele originii vieții.

Cercetătorii susțin că structuri asemenea citratului de fer, compus produs de numeroase bacterii, alge și plante, ar putea fi secretul din spatele originii vieții.

High doses of B vitamins can reduce brain shrinkage, memory loss, study finds

High doses of B vitamins can reduce brain shrinkage, memory loss, study finds – latimes.com

Smith’s group gave half the patients daily doses of a Swedish vitamin called Triobe Plus and half of them a placebo. The product, which is dispensed only by prescription, contains 0.8 milligrams folic acid, 0.5 mg cyanocobalamin and 20 mg pyridoxine hydrochloride. That is about 300 times the recommended daily intake of vitamin B12, four times the recommended dose of folate and 15 times the recommended dose of vitamin B6. “This is a drug, not a vitamin intervention,” said nutritionist Helga Refsum of the University of Oslo, a co-author.

Acetaminophen Helps Heartache

Acetaminophen Helps Heartache

How is it possible that acetaminophen relieves the pain of having your feelings hurt? It turns out that scientists have long known there is some overlap in how the brain senses both physical injury and social rejection. Both experiences initiate electrical activity in the areas of the brain known as the dorsal anterior singulate cortex and anterior insula. This lead the researchers to suspect that a pain reliever such as acetaminophen, which relieves physical pain by affecting the central nervous system, might by the same mechanism relieve emotional pain. Turns out they were right.

Irish scientists may have cure for Type 2 Diabetes

Irish scientists may have cure for Type 2 Diabetes | Irish News | IrishCentral

The scientists have discovered that a hormone known as IAPP, which gets deposited in the pancreas, is the trigger for the disease.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes and can be caused by major weight gain.

The researchers have published their findings in the leading journal, Nature Immunology.

“We have found what might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in type 2 diabetes,” said Dr Seth Masters, lead author of the publication.
It is the existence of the substance known as Islet Amyloid Polypeptide (IAPP), Prof O’Neill said.

“We have come across a key protein in the body called IAPP. This irritates the immune system in the body,” Prof O’Neill said. “It is a breakthrough because nobody has come across this before.”

The effect of IAPP is to ramp up the immune response where it occurs in the pancreas.

Pills could be developed to stop the formation of IAPP the scientists said.

Richard Feynman explains magnets, sort of (VIDEO)

YouTube – Feynman ‘Fun to Imagine’ 4: Magnets (and ‘Why?’ questions…)

Seven Evolutionary Leftovers in Your Body

Seven Evolutionary Leftovers in Your Body – DivineCaroline

Wings on a flightless bird, eyes on a blind fish, and sexual organs on a flower that reproduces asexually—the casual observer might ask, what’s the point? But these vestigial organs and structures, once useful in an ancestor and now diminished in size, complexity, and/or utility, carry important information and give us clues to our evolutionary past.

Though humans often think of vestigial organs as useless little fixtures that sometimes, as in the case of the appendix, cause us extreme anguish, we wouldn’t know nearly as much about macroevolution as we do now without their presence. In On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin used vestigial organs as evidence for evolution, and their presence has helped define and shape our phylogenetic trees.

Why the Leftovers?
Contrary to what most think, vestigial doesn’t necessarily mean useless; in some cases, we may just not yet know exactly how the organ is used in its current incarnation. (The human thymus was once thought to be vestigial). Because these structures can be traced back through the ancestors, they essentially serve as a marker of evolution; no organism can have a vestigial organ that hasn’t been found in its forefathers. For this reason, you won’t ever find feathers on a mammal or gills on a primate.

Similar in concept to vestigial structures are atavisms, which are the reappearance of a structure or trait that isn’t found in the immediate ancestors. For instance, whales and dolphins have been found in nature with hind limbs; this rare occurrence is due to the reemergence of a trait they inherited from their terrestrial ancestors.

Humans also contain structures that mark where we came from and perhaps, which structures’ evolution will take care of over time.

First truly habitable exoplanet found

First truly habitable exoplanet found | TG Daily

The Gliese 581 system has already yielded evidence of a number of exoplanets. This one, though, is in the ‘Goldilocks zone’ where the temperature could be bearable, liquid water could exist on the surface and an atmosphere be sustained.

The team that discovered it, led by astronomers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, says it’s the most Earth-like exoplanet yet discovered.

“Our findings offer a very compelling case for a potentially habitable planet,” said Steven Vogt, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. “The fact that we were able to detect this planet so quickly and so nearby tells us that planets like this must be really common.”

Gliese 581g is one of two newwly-discovered planets orbiting the red dwarf star, bringing the total number found in the system to six, the most yet discovered in a planetary system other than our own.

Gliese 581g has a mass three to four times that of the Earth and an orbital period of just under 37 days. Its mass indicates that it’s probably a rocky planet, and that it has enough gravity to hold on to an atmosphere.