Snippets on Science and Tech today

Two recent moderate-high magnitude quakes at Kermadec Islands off NZ appear to herald the onset of the Antarctic summer. The first one (r7.1) appeared to be followed by subduction events off the American coastline, with one or two knock-ons off Sumatra. The second one (r6.5) has occured today, so, within 2-3 days this may exacerbate those same areas. Place your bets.

appy, I happened to check out Easy yesterday and saw that you were lonely over here. Your posts are very informative and interesting. Unfortunately, I have nothing of scientific significance to contribute to this page. My 13yo son is supposed to be doing the old Menthos in the Pepsi experiment in science today. I don't know how it works though.

Ooooh Stella, that experiment is fun to watch! There are lots and lots of websites and youtube videos of it. I messed around with it at home but wasn't patient enough to find a way to drop all the mentos in at once... There are theories about why it works on the internet too. My memory bank is totally unreliable these days, but I think it had something to do with the porous outer skin of the mentos.

Every tonne of concrete laid results in a tonne of greenhouse gase emissions. See more here:

http://www.monash.edu.au/pubs/monmag/issue16-2005/research/research-concrete.html

A new formulation for concrete, using slag instead of cement, has been developed which reduces the emissions to 0.14 tonnes per tonne of concrete.

Hello, All! I haven't been to this page in much TOO long, but life interferes. This, however, is news that affects all of us.

Report Warns that Tasmanian Devils Could Be Extinct in 25 Years
Animal ActionOdd News
Oct 16th 2008
By Lauren Ciraulo

Many know the Tasmanian devil as a snarling animated creature who terrorizes Bugs Bunny. But sadly, the waning whirlwind dust may settle soon for Taz's real-life counterpart.

According to a depressing report released last week by The International Union for Conservation of Nature, a quarter of all mammal species are endangered, and the most baffling case is the rapid decline of the Tasmanian devil. Over the past 12 years, their population has plummeted by more than half due to an infectious cancer known as devil facial tumor disease.

This unusual cancer is highly contagious and fast-moving. The Tasmanian devil's immune system doesn't recognize the diseased cells as foreign and won't attack them, causing the cancer to spread at a frightening speed.

There is a glimmer of hope, however, in the female Tasmanian devil's breeding habits. While they used to start reproducing at age two, more than 80 percent are now breeding in their first year, which could potentially offset the dwindling population.

In an incredibly sweet gesture, Warner Bros. has started a fund to save the Tasmanian devil. Let's hope a breakthrough is made so kids of the future don't know Taz totally as a fictional creature.

Here is a WOW!

From this news story: http://www.theage.com.au/national/world-first-as-scientists-turn-fat-into-beating-heart-muscle-cells -20081018-53nl.html

MELBOURNE scientists have created beating heart muscle cells from human fat — a world first that could benefit millions of heart attack victims.

The breakthrough — using adult stem cells extracted from fatty deposits and heart cells from rats — could revolutionise the wellbeing of heart attack survivors, as well as babies born with congenital cardiac defects, such as holes in the heart.

Check out this link if you would like to hear neurons 'chattering amongst themselves' to each other

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/today/tomfeilden/

d1 extracted DNA from a strawberry at a science expo today - you put a little bit in a plastic bag and put in 7 squirts of this stuff she can't remember but the lady said detergent would work and it breaks down the fatty membrane and then you shake it up and then add 4 squirts of methylated spirits and that clear snotty layer on top is the DNA.... ewewew.... that's how she described it...

SCOTCH tape is not only see-through, it can also "see through", for the product can be used to take X-rays, bemused scientists say.
Peeling tape from a roll of Scotch releases tiny bursts of X-rays that are powerful enough to take images of bones in fingers and hands, researchers have found.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,24540493-5014239,00.html

I can't believe Hawking is about to turn 67!

Einstein's proven right, 103 years later

It's taken more than a century, but Einstein's celebrated formula e=mc2 has finally been corroborated, thanks to a heroic computational effort by French, German and Hungarian physicists.

A brainpower consortium led by Laurent Lellouch of France's Centre for Theoretical Physics, using some of the world's mightiest supercomputers, have set down the calculations for estimating the mass of protons and neutrons, the particles at the nucleus of atoms.

According to the conventional model of particle physics, protons and neutrons comprise smaller particles known as quarks, which in turn are bound by gluons.

The odd thing is this: the mass of gluons is zero and the mass of quarks is only five percent. Where, therefore, is the missing 95 percent?

The answer, according to the study published in the US journal Science on Thursday, comes from the energy from the movements and interactions of quarks and gluons.

In other words, energy and mass are equivalent, as Einstein proposed in his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905.

For more see...
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=321863

Blood Exosomes Shown to Contain Tumor-Specific Genetic Information for Brain Cancer...
Exosomes are minute, natural membrane vesicles secreted by various types of cells of the immune system.The exosomes in the blood sample of a brain tumor patient contain the genetic signatures of the cancer cells. This offer a possibility of diagnosing and monitoring a variety of cancers from blood draws, rather than solely by invasive tissue biopsies.

Achoo..oh my this place has been deserted..lemme clean a bit..
and start with some lighter side of the science..

ok what is available??
how abt some puns??
What did the thermometer say to the graduated cylinder?
"You may have graduated but I've got many degrees"

another good one..
What did one electron say to the other electron?
Don't get excited.You'll only get into a state!

Oh Appy! Groan!

What did the hydrogen atoms say to the sulphur atom?


Let's get together and cause a stink around here.

The Doppler Orbitography and Radio-positioning Integrated by Satellite instrument is a microwave tracking system that can be utilized to determine the precise location of the ENVISAT satellite.

Currently there are about 50 ground beacons placed around the globe which cover about 75% of the ENVISAT orbit.

now wondering what is an ENVISAT??

Envisat (Environmental Satellite) is an Earth-observing satellite built by the European Space Agency.

Anu, Doris will be so excited that she has a namesake. Thanks for the information x