Mystery ‘dark flow’ extends towards edge of universe – space – 16 November 2009 – New Scientist

SOMETHING big is out there beyond the visible edge of our universe. That’s the conclusion of the largest analysis to date of over 1000 galaxy clusters streaming in one direction at blistering speeds. Some researchers say this so-called “dark flow” is a sign that other universes nestle next door.

In SUSY we trust: What the LHC is really looking for – physics-math – 11 November 2009 – New Scientist

Supersymmetry was a bold idea, but one with seemingly little to commend it other than its appeal to the symmetry fetishists. Until, that is, you apply it to the hierarchy problem. It turned out that supersymmetry could tame all the pesky contributions from the Higgs’s interactions with elementary particles, the ones that cause its mass to run out of control. They are simply cancelled out by contributions from their supersymmetric partners. “Supersymmetry makes the cancellation very natural,” says Nathan Seiberg of the Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton.

That wasn’t all. In 1981 Georgi, together with Savas Dimopoulos of Stanford University, redid the force reunification calculations that he had done with Weinberg and Quinn, but with supersymmetry added to the mix. They found that the curves representing the strengths of all three forces could be made to come together with stunning accuracy in the early universe. “If you have two curves, it’s not surprising that they intersect somewhere,” says Weinberg. “But if you have three curves that intersect at the same point, then that’s not trivial.”

This second strike for supersymmetry was enough to convert many physicists into true believers. But it was when they began studying some of the questions raised by the new theory that things became really interesting.

One pressing question concerned the present-day whereabouts of supersymmetric particles. Electrons, photons and the like are all around us, but of selectrons and photinos there is no sign, either in nature or in any high-energy accelerator experiments so far. If such particles exist, they must be extremely massive indeed, requiring huge amounts of energy to fabricate.

Such huge particles would long since have decayed into a residue of the lightest, stable supersymmetric particles, dubbed neutralinos. Still massive, the neutralino has no electric charge and interacts with normal matter extremely timorously by means of the weak nuclear force. No surprise then that it is has eluded detection so far.

When physicists calculated exactly how much of the neutralino residue there should be, they were taken aback. It was a huge amount – far more than all the normal matter in the universe.

Beginning to sound familiar? Yes, indeed: it seemed that neutralinos fulfilled all the requirements for the dark matter that astronomical observations persuade us must dominate the cosmos. A third strike for supersymmetry.

QED pe înţelesul tuturor – partea 1
QED pe înţelesul tuturor – partea a 2-a
QED pe înţelesul tuturor – partea a 3-a

Carenta de vitamina D creste alarmant riscul cardiac si de deces – DoctorH Actualitate – HotNews.ro

Alimente care contin vitamina D sunt: pestele gras (hering, sardina, somon), untura de peste (morun, ton, calcan), galbenus de ou, unt, lapte integral si lactate nedegresate. Vegetalele nu contin aceasta vitamina . Spre deosebire de celelalte, vitamina D poate fi produsa in organism. Procesul de sinteza a vitaminei D este declansat de razele ultraviolete.

Filme 2009 – District 9 (2009)

“When dealing with aliens, try to be polite, but firm. And always remember that a smile is cheaper than a bullet…”

Cand vine vorba de District 9, pana si cei mai mari anticinematografici o sa plece capul in fata filmului eveniment al anului 2009. Prezenta termenului “eveniment” este justificata aici prin ceea ce este cu adevarat District 9. Adica genul de revelatie cinematografica, o intalnire de gradul 3 cu sf-ul acela de mult ravnit si totusi pierdut, ratacit prin marile studiouri care arunca cu bani si bugete imense in speranta de a da lovitura.

Cel care a dat lovitura este de fapt Peter Jackson, producatorul acestei inspirate miscari revolutionare pe piata filmelor stiintifico-fantastice din ultima vreme. La carma acestui proiect este regizorul Neill Blomkamp, care face din District 9 o continuare fidela la scurtmetrajul sau din 2005, Alive in Joburg.

District 9 (2009) – IMDb user comments

I will not go far into detail because I would prefer to not spoil anything. This is unlike any sci-fi we have seen in years. Forget Terminator 3 and 4, forget the AVP movies, forget all those laughable sci-fi movies, this film is what we have been waiting for. An original idea, an original concept, brilliantly executed, great CGI, good acting, it just has it all. We have seen many aliens come to earth movies, but this is different, I will not say why though. That is for you to find out when you see it, which I HIGHLY recommend you do.

This movie, quality-wise, matches up with the popular Sci-Fi films we love. The original Alien, the original Predator, The Matrix, Star Wars, etc. While I enjoyed those ones more because they are classics, this one clearly meets the standards we expect today when it comes to quality. A big driving force behind this, in my opinion, is the fact that high esteemed Peter Jackson is behind this project as the producer. After seeing his masterful Lord of the Rings saga, anyone can see that he knows what he is doing.

As far as movies for this year, this is definitely top 5 so far on my list (Up, Star Trek, 500 Days of Summer, HP6, and District 9). Thank you Jackson and Hollywood for finally producing the best Sci-Fi in years. If this movie does not make its way to IMDb top 250 then I will be in awe.

British man given bionic butt

IT manager Ged Galvin has been given a pioneering ‘bionic bottom’, following a motorcycle accident which left him with massive internal injuries.

He now uses a remote control to open his bowels.

The Very High Seas: AI War: Fleet Command | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

It’s a Sins of the Solar Empire meets Supreme Commander meets Simply Nothing Else, and I think a lot of you will find this very intriguing. The site’s here, the demo’s here and here’s the trailer’s…

Signature of consciousness captured in brain scans – life – 12 November 2009 – New Scientist

It’s very exciting work,” says neuroscientist Raphaël Gaillard of the University of Cambridge, who was not involved in the work. “The use of a reproducibility measure to disentangle conscious and non-conscious processes is genuinely new.” Gaillard has previously shown that coordinated activity across the entire brain is one of the signatures of consciousness .

Salk Institute Scientists Research How Animals Regrow Body Parts – NYTimes.com

The best possible kind of regenerative medicine would surely be to entice the body to use nature’s own methods to regrow a damaged limb or organ. The genes that made the structure in the first place are still present in every cell of the body but somehow repressed. Could they not be reactivated to make the patient as good as new?