Archive for July, 2010
Are We Losing Interest in the Gulf Coast Oil Spill?
Interesting post from Jolie O’Dell on Mashable:
We’re losing interest in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill just a few weeks after it became a big media topic — and long before we’ve even made a dent in cleaning up after this mess — if Internet search and discussion trends are to be believed.
An estimated 100 million gallons or more of oil have surged into the Gulf of Mexico. Spread by wind and underwater currents, the pollution has drifted toward coastal areas, coating wildlife and natural environments in thick layers of crude oil.
Yet on Twitter, Google, blogs and even YouTube, we’re already wrapping up our collective discussion of the oil spill and how to repair its damage.
Alternative Marketing for Vuvuzelas
With the World Cup finished there has been a deafening quiet without the constant noise of vuvuzelas. To make sure that all those horns don’t go to waste we’ll have to get creative about different ways to use them. Vuvuzelas make noise, Guitar Hero is a game based on noise, the two seem like a perfect match. Maybe Vuvuzela Hero will catch on.
Genetically Modified Salmon Near FDA Approval
Photo: Atlantic salmon
While most people are wondering what will happen to the fishing industry in the Gulf, Massachucettes geneticists are raising quick-growing Atlantic salmon. Les Blumenthal of McClatchy Newspapers writes:
WASHINGTON — They may not be the 500-pound “Frankenfish” that some researchers were talking about 10 years ago, but a Massachusetts company says it’s on the verge of receiving federal approval to market a quick-growing Atlantic salmon that’s been genetically modified with help from a Pacific Chinook salmon.
Though genetically engineered crops such as corn and soybeans have been part of the American diet for several years, if the Food and Drug Administration approves it, the salmon would be the first transgenic animal headed for the dinner table.
“I would serve it to my kids,” said Val Giddings, who worked as a geneticist at the U.S. Agriculture Department for a decade before becoming a private consultant.
The financial rewards could be enormous.
Aquaculture is already an $86…
How Facts Backfire: A Surprising Threat to Democracy — Our Brains
This article reminds me of Stephen Colbert’s character: “I don’t like books, they’re all fact, no heart.” Seems like political scientists are finally paying more attention to “Truthiness“. Joe Keohane writes in the Boston Globe:
It’s one of the great assumptions underlying modern democracy that an informed citizenry is preferable to an uninformed one. “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1789. This notion, carried down through the years, underlies everything from humble political pamphlets to presidential debates to the very notion of a free press. Mankind may be crooked timber, as Kant put it, uniquely susceptible to ignorance and misinformation, but it’s an article of faith that knowledge is the best remedy. If people are furnished with the facts, they will be clearer thinkers and better citizens. If they are ignorant, facts will enlighten them. If they are mistaken, facts will…
Japanese Artist Maps History of the World’s Nuclear Explosions (1945–1998)
Over 2,000 detonations! Really informative. Duncan Geere writes on Wired.com (UK):
A Japanese artist named Isao Hashimoto has created a series of works about nuclear weapons. One is titled “1945—1998″ and shows a history of the world’s nuclear explosions.
Over the course of fourteen and a half minutes, every single one of the 2,053 nuclear tests and explosions that took place between 1945 and 1998 are is plotted on a map.
After a couple of minutes or so, however, once the USSR and Britain entered the nuclear club, the tests really start to build up, reaching a peak of nearly 140 in 1962, and remaining well over 40 each year until the mid-80s.
It’s a compelling insight into the history of humanity’s greatest destructive force, especially when you remember that only two nuclear explosions have ever been detonated offensively, both in 1945. Since then, despite more than 2,000 other tests and billions of dollars having been spent on their development, no nuclear warheads have been used in anger.
The Occult World of C.G. Jung
C. G. Jung in 1910.
Via the Fortean Times:
He knew that inside the temple the mystery of his existence, of his purpose in life, would be answered. He was about to cross the threshold when he saw, rising up from Europe far below, the image of his doctor in the archetypal form of the King of Kos, the island site of the temple of Asclepius, Greek god of medicine. He told Jung that his departure was premature; many were demanding his return and he, the King, was there to ferry him back. When Jung heard this, he was immensely disappointed, and almost immediately the vision ended. He experienced the reluctance to live that many who have been ‘brought back’ encounter, but what troubled him most was seeing his doctor in his archetypal form. He knew this meant that the physician had sacrificed his own life to save Jung’s. On 4 April…
Apple Deleting Mentions of Consumer Reports’ Negative iPhone 4 Review on its Support Forums
Since when did Apple get in the Thought Police business? What happened to this company? Paull Miller writes on EndGadget:
In case Apple has somehow managed to perfect the art of selective disremembrance across a wide population, here’s a refresher: Consumer Reports has thrown down the gauntlet, stating that it “can’t recommend” the iPhone 4 until the antenna issues are fixed, issues that its labs and ours have verified quite substantially. Apple apparently isn’t happy about that, and has taken to deleting threads about the Consumer Reports article from its support forums.
Now, Apple deleting threads from its support forums is nothing new; outside of “regular” moderation, the company routinely deletes discussion of hardware flaws that it’s not ready to ‘fess up to, or just generally negative lines of thought about its products. Good thing the internet’s a big place, and if Apple’s not going to admit the antenna issue, there are plenty…
Interview: What’s It Like To Be A Robot?
That was the starting topic of New York Times reporter Amy Harmon’s interview with Bina48, a cutting edge humanoid robot housed at the Terasem Movement Foundation in Vermont. There’s long way to go before robots develop the conversational skills necessary to blend in with the general public, although they could pass as disturbed weirdos — Bina48’s answers were often confusing, sometimes creepy, and occasionally cheeky.
Unity and Autonomy In Spain After World Cup
“We are a nation, we decide ourselves,” waved on Catalonian flags. With the united celebration in Spain after the World Cup final, domestic concerns for Catalonia’s autonomy still persists. Over a million people marched in the streets of Barcelona after Catalan was declared, yet again, that the region would not be recognized as a nation. BBC reports:
The demonstration comes a day after a constitutional court declared that there was no legal basis to recognise Catalonia as a nation. The ruling also said the Catalan language should not take precedence over Castilian Spanish.
It followed a challenge to the region’s statute by the opposition People’s Party, which favours Spanish unity. The statute of autonomy was approved by Catalan voters in a 2006 referendum. It gave greater powers to the regional parliament in taxation and judicial matters.
Unsung Heroes of Hardcore: Life’s Blood
From Nick Pell at Red Star Times:
Since it dovetails nicely with the book I am working on and I like writing about it, I have decided to start a new regular feature [at the Red Star Times] called “Unsung Heroes of Hardcore.” It’s similar to Soundtrack of My Life, but will focus specifically on relative unknowns of hardcore. I say relative unknowns because if you’re into hardcore you’ve probably heard of a lot of this stuff. I’m trying to keep it on the obscure end of things. Today’s Unsung Heroes of Hardcore are a lesser known band from the late-80s NYHC scene called Life’s Blood.
Steven Seagal Speaks Out Against BP (From The Past)
In the final scene of 1994’s On Deadly Ground, which many call one of the worst movies of all time, Steven Seagal gives an out-of-place speech that now is more relevant than ever. I wish there were a way he could deliver a few well-placed karate kicks to BP execs to underline his argument.
Everybody Draw Muhammad Day! Threat
"Everybody Draw Muhammad Day!" cartoon by Molly Norris
“Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” is a satirical cartoon that Molly Norris had drawn in response to the censorship of South Park’s episode featuring Muhammad.
With constant threats sent to artists who have depicted images of Muhammad, Norris is no exception. Anwar al-Awlaki ranted in Inspire, an English-language Al Queda magazine, about the potentially fatal results if such artists continue to draw blasphemous caricatures.
He has most recently added Norris to hit list. The NY Daily News details:
A CHARISMATIC terror leader linked to the botched Times Square car bomb has placed the Seattle cartoonist who launched “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” on an execution hit list.
Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki — the radical who has also been cited as inspiring the Fort Hood, Texas, massacre and the plot by two New Jersey men to kill US soldiers — singled out artist Molly Norris as a “prime target,” saying her…
Harvey Pekar’s Annoyance of Life; Ended.
Photo: Davidkphoto (CC)
Yep, he’s finally gone, unfortunately. Harvey Pekar – Dead at 70.
Harvey was many things to many people. He did great things in his life, but the one thing he couldn’t do was stop being Harvey Pekar.
The world is better for it.
You will be missed, Harvey.
Story at cleveland.com.
Sir, Your Liver Is Ready: Welcome to the Brave New World of Bioprinting Organs
Dave Bullock writes in WIRED’s Raw File:
Say goodbye to donor lists and organ shortages. A biotech firm has created a printer that prints veins using a patients’ own cells. The device could potentially create whole organs in the future.
“Right now we’re really good at printing blood vessels,” says Ben Shepherd, senior research scientist at regenerative-medicine company Organovo. “We printed 10 this week. We’re still learning how to best condition them to be good, strong blood vessels.”
Most organs in the body are filled with veins, so the ability to print vascular tissue is a critical building block for complete organs. The printed veins are about to start testing in animal trials, and eventually go through human clinical trials. If all goes well, in a few years you may be able to replace a vein that has deteriorated (due to frequent injections of chemo treatment, for example) with custom-printed tissue grown from…
Mom Claims Her Son Is In ‘Extensive Therapy’ After Viewing Manga in the Library
Brian Hughes writes in the Northwest Florida Daily News:
A Japanese serial graphic novel genre popular with young teens has raised the ire of a Crestview mother whose teenage son got hold of an adult version of the genre from the Crestview Public Library. “Manga” depicts highly stylized adventure and, occasionally, violence in fantasy settings.
Margaret Barbaree, founder of a citizens’ group called Protect Our Children, presented examples from a manga book to the Crestview City Council last week that she described as “graphic” and “shocking,” taken from material she said is “available to children” at the Crestview Public Library.
“My son lost his mind when he found this,” Barbaree said of the manga book from which her examples were taken. She said her son had removed the book unsupervised from the library’s general stacks last summer and put it in his backpack. She has kept it ever since.
“Now he’s in a home…
When Will A High-Speed Rail Plan Bring More Fast Trains to the U.S.?
Photo: H. T. Yu. Taichung Station, Taiwan (CC)
Stuart F. Brown writes in Scientific American:
America is an absurdly backward country when it comes to passenger trains. As anyone who has visited Europe, Japan or Shanghai knows, trains that travel at nearly 200 miles per hour have become integral to the economies of many countries. With its celebrated Tokaido Shinkansen bullet trains, Central Japan Railway has for the past five decades carried billions of passengers between Tokyo and Osaka in half the time it would take to fly.
A new Madrid-to-Barcelona express train runs at an average speed of 150 miles per hour; since its inception two years ago, airline traffic between the two cities has dropped by 40 percent. In contrast, Amtrak’s showcase Acela train connecting Boston to Washington, D.C., averages just 70 mph. That figure is so low because many sections of the Acela’s tracks cannot safely support high speeds, even…
Nothing Good in This One-Year Projection of the Gulf Coast Oil Spill (Video)
Cyriaque Lamar posted on io9.com this interesting research from the University of Hawaii. Cyriaque Lamar writes:
Researchers at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa have created a simulation of the potential spread of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill over 360 days. Their hypothetical scenario? All sorts of bad.
Researchers at Mānoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) have created a model that charts the oil’s possible path over the course of approximately a year:
Mythical Unicorn or Mutated Deer? (Video)
From Discovery News: Legend met reality recently as Italian researchers discovered a deer with a rare abnormality — a single antler growing from the middle of its head. Rossell Lorenzi tracks the find.
Monkey Terrorists in Afghanistan
Monkey see monkey do? or Human do, then train monkey so less humans have to do? Chinese news source, Peoples Daily Online (人民 网) reads:
Afghanistan’s Taliban insurgents are training monkeys to use weapons to attack American troops, according to a recent report by a British-based media agency.
Reporters from the media agency spotted and took photos of a few “monkey soldiers” holding AK-47 rifles and Bren light machine guns in the Waziristan tribal region near the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The report and photos have been widely spread by media agencies and Web sites across the world.
According to the report, American military experts call them “monkey terrorists.”
As a form of cruel political means, wars are launched to meet political goals through conquest, devastation, assaults and other means.
In a sense, the emergence of “monkey soldiers” is the result of asymmetrical warfare. The United States launched the war in Afghanistan using the world’s…
