| science
and technology 2 |
if
you think cloning is simple, think again
“Jaenisch and his colleagues have found that 70-80 genes that
are normally expressed in developing mouse embryos are either inactive
or underactive in embryos cloned from adult cells. It's not clear what
all of these genes do, but they are usually switched on around the same
time as another gene, called Oct4.”
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science110303-2 |
11.03.2003 |
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| improved
technology—using germ viruses for vaccines
“Using bacteriophages to deliver vaccine components offers several
advantages over vaccination with naked DNA, says March. The DNA is protected
inside the protein shell of the virus making it longer lasting and easier
to store. In addition, bacteriophages have a large cloning capacity,
making large-scale production cheap, easy and extremely rapid”
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science110303 |
11.03.2003 |
| logic
and dna studies steadily merging
“In order for the body to grow, reproduce and remain cancer free,
the cells of the body must have a mechanism for both detecting DNA damage
and a feedback mechanism for telling the rest of the cell's machinery
to stop what it's doing until the damage may be fixed. This feedback
mechanism relies on checkpoints during different stages of the cell's
division cycle.”
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science040303 |
04.03.2003 |
| Happy
birthday, DNA — 50 years today 
“on 28 February 1953, Francis Crick walked into the Eagle pub
in Cambridge, UK, and announced something for which he would later share
a Nobel Prize.
"We have found the secret of life...." ”
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science280203-2 |
28.02.2003 |
| Bye-bye,
Pioneer!
“After more than 30 years, it appears the venerable Pioneer 10
spacecraft has sent its last signal to Earth. Pioneer's last, very weak
signal was received on Jan. 22, 2003.
NASA engineers report Pioneer 10's radioisotope power source has decayed,
and it may not have enough power to send additional transmissions to
Earth.”
—
“Originally designed for a 21-month mission, Pioneer 10 lasted
more than 30 years. It was a workhorse that far exceeded its warranty,
and I guess you could say we got our money's worth...”
Pioneer 10 was launched on March 2, 1972.
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science280203 |
28.02.2003 |
| new
camera image sensor technology claims
This article is an interesting discussion of the technology. The comments
on current CCD (charge-coupled device) technology are a bit too ‘disparaging’.
A good 3 Mb digital camera is a remarkably efficient, flexible and light
piece of kit.
This new camera sensor technology will have to show serious advantages
to draw a premium price and compete. The greatest nuisances with a good
CCD camera are slowness of responses in some circumstances and slowness
in processing dense images.
I wish the article had mentioned the number of pixels required to store
a picture. I shall look further. My current guess is around 10 million
pixels, clearly the real number will be an important issue in the storage
of images. The claimed parallel processing could improve the recycling
time between shots, relative to CCD technology, but presently I have insufficient
details. (These problem issues do not tend to be emphasised by marketing
departments!)
Here is the
manufacturer’s news release.
(Lead from Limbic)
related material
orange is tertiary:
the theory of colour
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science260203 |
26.02.2003
related material
orange is tertiary:
the theory of colour |
| claims
of future dna computing—breakthrough
For
a newsy report
“The machine is so small that a tiny droplet could hold up to
three trillion of these DNA computers, in total performing 66 billion
operations a second.”
—
“It was the first programmable autonomous computing machine in
which the input, output, software and hardware were all made of DNA
molecules. It can perform a billion mathematical operations a second
with 99.8% accuracy, the team said.
Most importantly, the new design incorporates a previously unknown
biochemical process that generates enough heat energy to power the device,
meaning in principle that a DNA computer can work without an external
energy source. ”
Abstract
available here
with access to pdf document for $5 (paper not examined).
for
the technically minded.
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science250203 |
25.02.2003 |
| new
technology nuclear engines
“The AFRL now has other ideas, though. Instead of a conventional
fission reactor, it is focusing on a type of power generator called
a quantum nucleonic reactor. This obtains energy by using X-rays to
encourage particles in the nuclei of radioactive hafnium-178 to jump
down several energy levels, liberating energy in the form of gamma rays.”
Weight is currently a problem.
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science230203 |
23.02.2003 |
| on
machine intelligence
far better presented than the common media drivel 
"We don't understand enough about how our own human software works
to come even close to replicating it on a computer," says Holland.
According to Holland, advances in software have not kept pace with
the exponential improvements in hardware processing power, and there
are many artificial intelligence problems that cannot be solved by simply
performing more calculations. While hardware performance continues to
double almost every year and a half, the doubling time for software
performance is at least 20 years.
"In the final analysis, hardware is just a way of executing programs,"
says Holland. "It's the software that counts." Comparisons between the
brain and electronic hardware are also difficult to draw. For example,
the issue of "fanout" demonstrates the complexity of the brain over
even today's most sophisticated computers. Fanout refers to the number
of connections an element in a network can have to another element of
a network. Today's most complicated computers have a fanout factor of
about 10. The human brain, however, has a fanout of 10,000."
related material
the Turing
test and intelligence
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science150203-2 |
15.02.2003
related material
the Turing
test and intelligence |
| 27gb
dvd store coming next
“Blu-ray Disc technology allows for 27GB storage capacities on
a single-sided 12cm disc. DVDs hold 4.7GB of data”
“Blu-ray technology uses a short-wavelength blue-violet laser
instead of the red lasers in current optical drives to read data off
discs. The higher-capacity Blu-ray discs will enable the recording of
high-definition broadcasts, which offer better picture quality than
the more broadly available TV broadcasts”
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science150203 |
15.02.2003 |
| the
rise and rise of the net
complete with copious, gorgeous charts.
“While nearly three-quarters of users consider the Internet to
be a very important or extremely important source of information – a
ranking higher than for books, television, radio, newspapers, or magazines
– only half of users believe that most or all of the information online
is reliable and accurate. Even worse, more than one-third of users say
that only about half of the information they find online is reliable
and accurate.”
This is not ‘even worse’, this is very positive news. People
are far too willing to trust what is in the media. Any
intelligent, educated population will take anything in print, anywhere,
with considerable due caution.
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science100203 |
10.02.2003 |
| interesting
high tech telescope was pointed at columbia
“The precision of the imagery comes from a computerized system
that constantly corrects for distortions in the atmosphere by readjusting
the optics. A laser beacon is focused above the atmosphere creating
an "artificial star" as a reference point.
“From the ground, its fluctuations, like a real star's twinkling,
are continually monitored, and the information is used to make microscopic
adjustments to a telescope mirror. Hundreds of mechanical fingers push
and pull on the surface of the glass, changing its shape thousands of
times a second and compensating for the distortion.”
And here
is the photo in question.
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science090203 |
09.02.2003 |
| setback for australian
astro-scientists—
Canberra
bushfire destroys Mount Stromlo Observatory
“The historic 1.3 metre-diameter Great Melbourne Telescope, built
in 1868 and upgraded a decade ago to become one of the most sophisticated
in Australia, was lost, as was a larger, 1.9-metre instrument.”
—
“Destroyed was a $5million imaging spectrograph in Mount Stromlo's
workshop that was almost ready to be installed in Hawaii's gigantic
Gemini Observatory”
—
“Since 2000, Mount Stromlo has also been involved in a search
for swarms of small "Pluto-like" planets believed to dwell on the edge
of the solar system”
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science200103-2 |
20.01.2003 |
| arms
race and ant-ibiotics in the world of farmer ants
“By studying DNA sequences from ants, garden fungi and fungal
weeds, the research team was able to peer millions of years into the
past to see how this co-evolutionary system evolved. The researchers
learned that the ants, their garden fungi and the parasitic fungal weeds
have been living in a co-evolved, complex system for a very long time,
probably 50 million years or longer. During that time, they have been
locked in a never-ending evolutionary "arms race," in which the ants
and garden fungi are perpetually evolving new ways to control the parasitic
fungal weeds, and the weeds are perpetually developing new ways to continue
to infect fungus gardens.
“There is a fourth factor in the ant colonies, a kind of bacteria
that the ants cultivate on the outsides of their bodies. These bacteria
produce an antibiotic that specifically suppresses the growth of the
weed fungi, and the ants use this antibiotic to keep their gardens healthy.”
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science200103 |
20.01.2003 |
| decisions
in herd animals Another useful piece of data towards
understanding decision processes among herd animals; in this case among
small groups with some dominance structure.
For the very simple rules under which flocking (co-operative) behaviour
can be simulated, see the item on ‘boids’ and other links to
modelling
and game theory.
Note that, while individuals that compete maybe be at an advantage in
some situations, groups that co-operate among themselves will be more
successful than groups that compete (do not co-operate) among themselves.
For more detail see ‘intelligence’:
the misuse and abuse of statistics.
[lead from Limbic]
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science180103-2 |
18.01.2003 |
| satellite
surveys of wisconsin’s 8000 lakes 
(Wisconsin is between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior; that is, it is
a northern Mid-West state.)
“To aid in the satellite inventory, Self-Help volunteers took
secchi readings on lakes for the past three years
while the Landsat satellite passed overhead, gathering its own electronic
images of these and other lakes. Back at UW-Madison, researchers correlated
the conventional water-clarity data with the corresponding Landsat data.
Lillesand says in this way, secchi readings from fewer than 400 lakes
made it possible to estimate the clarity of all other lakes in the satellite’s
images without sampling each of them by hand.
“Landsat uses picture elements, or pixels, that are 98 feet square
at ground level. It takes approximately 160 million of these pixels
to cover the entire state.”
Steadily, satellite imaging is increasing in usage for land and sea management,
for fire watch and control, tracking land usage, polluting by tankers
at sea etc. This site shows the work on the ground being used to improve
the interpretation of satellite mapping. Doubtless, the methods will bring
great benefits to much human activity and monitoring.
The site is also demonstrates excellent use of the web.
Further interesting pages:
- Index
page with many link including maps and satellite images.
- An
index with thumbnails to all manner of interesting satellite
images from around the state giving some idea of potential use of the
resource.
- A zoomable and modifiable map is available here.
Note: There are many ways of measuring light attenuation
in the oceans. A common method involves the use of a Secchi disk, a weighted
round white disk about 30 centimetres in diameter. The Secchi disk is
lowered into the ocean to the depth where it disappears from view; its
reflectance equals the intensity of light backscattered from the water.
[from Enc. Brit.]
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science180103-2 |
18.01.2003 |
| is
re-evolution possible?
“It appears that the genetic instructions to make wings has been
preserved from the group's (stick insects) collective cockroach ancestry.
In evolution, there is a principle that boils down to use it or lose
it, Whiting said. If a species no longer needs a particular trait, for
example legs, future generations would gradually be born legless.
“Over 50 million years, the genetic code for growing wings in
stick insects should have degraded or started to disappear. Of the roughly
3,200 species of stick insects, about 40 percent have wings today.
“ "These insects show that the underlying blueprint is preserved
in working order," Whiting said. ”
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science180103 |
18.01.2003 |
| the
bio-chemical genie struggles to get out of the bottle
Another exciting move forward as the artful human monkey starts to fiddle
with the nature of life.
“Expanding the genetic code: the world’s first truly unnatural
organism.”
Look out Quatermass, they’re catching you up.
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science150103 |
15.01.2003 |
| The ultimate fibre
dream – spider silk
But spiders can’t be farmed. They’re cannibalistic. So....
“Goats bred by Nexia Biotechnologies in Montreal contain a spider
gene that causes a spider-gene protein to be expressed in their milk.
The protein is being used in a new fiber that’s five times as strong
as steel, with potential application in bulletproof vests.”
“The spider has taken the same amino acids that are in your hair,
skin, body and has put them together to make a beautiful continuous
filament with perfect crystillinity. And it’s truly biological,
no high temperatures or noxious chemicals needed for manufacturing.”
[National Geographic Magazine,pp. 60,66,67; January 2003]
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science120103 |
12.01.2003 |
| butterfly
uses all aerodynamic principles known
More here
on insect flight.
and potential
applications—
toys, exploring difficult environments and, inevitably, spying.
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science100103 |
10.01.2003 |
| a
ring around ‘our’ galaxy
looks to be of interest—but not something i understand!
“The stars weigh, on average, more than our sun. The ring is estimated
to contain a mass equal to about 1 billion suns, which would represent
only about 1 percent of the galaxy’s total mass, .....”
Bluddy nora, it’s big out there!
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science090103-2 |
09.01.2003 |
| new
truffle genus found
“An Australian scientist has made a discovery which is electrifying
world fungal biology....”
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science090103 |
09.01.2003 |
| a
step towards understanding the biological clock
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science080103-2 |
08.01.2003 |
| clearing
ice from power lines
“It runs off small power units placed along the lines every 100
kilometres or so. The signal does not reduce electricity transmission
through the cables, and because it uses around 50 watts per 100 kilometres
of line it should cost a fraction of what it normally takes to keep
the lines clear.”
More unemployment!
the web address for this article is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science2.htm#science080103 |
08.01.2003 |
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