Welcome! This is the 5th edition of "Winds of Discovery", a report by Larry Ice of Correct-Amundo! that will take you on a wild ride across the spectrum of science and discovery.
Topics this week include: Cleveland; Brain Function; Stroke Effects; Tiny Propellors; Photovoltaic Film; Photovoltaic Polymers; Extreme Memory; Sun Patents; Humane Interface; Lab Silk; Dark Matter; Methane Rain; Hubble Scrapped; Titan Life; Smart-1; Douglas Adams; Petrified Wood; Global Warming; and 2 new ways to generate Hydrogen
If YOU have a link suggestion send it to discovery, here @windsofchange.net. Regular topics include:
- Cleveland has the upper hand in a bid to secure funding from the National Cancer Institute for a five year study of nanotechnology and its uses to diagnose and treat cancer.
- Scientists have discovered the specific regions of the brain that determine whether someone will look you in the eye or look away.
- Scientists discover that it's not so much the Calcium ions that get into cells during a stroke, it's the ones that don't get out of the cell that cause the most damage.
- Scientists have created a chemically powered nano-propellor.
- This company is using the nanotechnology to develop large sheets of photovoltaic film.
- Scientists in Canada are developing a spray on polymer based film that they claim will convert 30 percent of the sun's energy into electricity. Current solar cells can only convert 6 percent of the suns energy into electricity.
- Rambus is pushing a new eXtreme Data Rate Memory into the market. Will it repeat the strategic mistakes it made with the introduction of RDRAM a few years ago?
- Sun Microsystems has place 1600 patents related to Open Solaris in the Public Domain. This follows their opeing up the their source code earlier in the week.
- Jef Raskin has recieved funding for work on the Humane Interface, a way for computers to work with people, not the other way around. Expect something good from one of the original Apple employees who helped design the Mac.
- Hate spiders? Stay out of this lab - Scientists have spun the first lab-made spider silk/a>.
- A new study suggests that Dark Matter may have played an important role in the formation of the cosmos.
- It doesn't quite have the ring of the Weather Girls song, but it's raining Methane onTitan.
- The BBC is reporting that the federal budget does not include funding for the Hubble Rescue Mission.
- Scientists are studying the results of a Gas Chromatography Experiment on the Huygens Probe to determine the source of all that methane on Titan.
- Europe's Smart-1 probe has started snapping some incredible pictures using its "Arnie" camera. Yeah, I know, we've seen pictures of the moon before. But that was with 35 year old technology, not the latest digital technology. Check them out.
- Astronomers have named an asteroid for Douglas Adams, the author who penned "The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy".
- Scientists have successfully created Petrified Wood in the lab. Thank god, I was worried we'd run out.
- Scientists running a global climate model using shared time on volunteers PC's have seen some alarming results.
- Scientists have found a way to use half the energy previously used in high temperature electrolisis, a breakthrough in hydrogen production for fuel cells. Too bad it'll take new nuclear plant construction to supply the electricity we're going to need to make all that hydrogen.
- Fortunately, other scientists are working on ways to use sunlight to generate Hydrogen. If successful, this is a lot less expensive way to do it.
Please check back soon for another exciting edition of Winds of Discovery!