Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Kilo Is Losing Weight
Attention scientists and drug dealers.
It's time to redefine the kilo. Scientists said Monday they were moving closer to coming up with a non-physical definition of the kilo after discovering the metal artifact used as the international standard had shed a little weight.
Researchers caution there is still some way to go before their mission is complete, but if successful it would lead to the end of the useful life of the last manufactured object on which fundamental units of measure depend.
At the moment, the international standard for the kilo -- the equivalent of around 2.2 pounds -- is a chunk of metal, under triple lock-and-key in France since 1889.
But scientists became concerned about the cylinder of platinum and iridium housed at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in Sevres, near Paris, after discovering it had mysteriously lost a tiny amount of weight.
Experts at the institute revealed in 2007 that the metal chunk is 50 micrograms -- 0.0000017 ounces -- lighter than the average of several dozen copies, meaning it had lost the equivalent of a small grain of sand.
They are now searching for a non-physical way of defining the kilo, which would bring it in line with the six other base units that make up the International System of Units (SI).
The Gilded Ancient Transylvanians
A dozen identical bracelets shaped like snakes, made 2,000 years ago of pure gold and weighing over 2 pounds each, were discovered in an archaeological site in the Transylvanian area of Romania that was inhabited by the ancient Dacian people who were contemporaries of the Romans.
There are no indications that they have ever been worn.
They may have been offerings to the Dacians' only god, Zalmoxis. may explain why the hoard rested undisturbed for thousands of years.
Block of Wood on Top of an Iceberg
How Did It Get There?
Photo: Jodie Smith
I’ve heard the Southern Ocean attracts a hardy individual but a block of wood on an iceberg is ridiculous.
This lonely piece of timber was spotted on the top of a small berg at 66 degrees south, just north of Commonwealth Bay.
Wildlife watchers near Aurora Australis’ bridge first thought it was a relaxing seal but it was soon apparent it was rectangular in shape.
How it got to such a prominent position, instead of just floating around, is anyone’s guess.
Scientists find that debris on certain Himalayan glaciers may prevent melting
A new scientific study shows that debris coverage — — pebbles, rocks, and debris from surrounding mountains — — may be a missing link in the understanding of the decline of glaciers.
All About Dinosaurs
A tiny cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex has been discovered in China with only a single claw on each upper limb.
Dating sheds new light on dawn of the dinosaurs
Careful dating of new dinosaur fossils and volcanic ash around them by researchers from UC Davis and UC Berkeley casts doubt on the idea that dinosaurs appeared and opportunistically replaced other animals. Instead — at least in one South American …
Triceratops: Not quite dead yet
Have faith, o ye lovers of Triceratops. For the battle over dinosaur taxonomic delineation has only just begun to rage.
Last summer, many of you expressed dismay when a team of scientists at Montana's Museum of the Rockies published research suggesting that Triceratops were actually just juvenile Torosaus. In your sadness, ye cried out, and Andrew Farke of the Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, California, saw your suffering and took pity upon you.
Farke reanalyzed the same set of fossils, and came to a different conclusion than the Museum of the Rockies team. The key was a skull that's long been classed as a third genera—called Nedoceratops hatcheri.
[The Museum of the Rockies team] called Nedoceratops an intermediate stage between Triceratops and Torosaurus. But [Farke] concluded that Nedoceratops was a distinct genera. In PLoS ONE, he reports that for the three genera to be different growth stages of a single dinosaur, "would require cranial changes otherwise unknown" in horned dinosaurs.In other words: However this shakes out in the end, though, you will be pleased to know that the name Triceratops is safe. Now, New Scientist says that because Triceratops was named before either Torosaurus or Nedoceratops, it's the moniker that takes precedence. So, either Triceratops are their own dinosaur, and the name stays. Or, the three genera are one, and they're all Triceratops.
Who's right? Horned dinosaur fossils are common as fossils go, more research is in progress, and more debate is sure to follow.
How "Jurassic Park" got Velociraptors wrong
The dinosaur called "Velociraptor" in the 1993 Jurassic Park movie was not actually a Velociraptor at all. They are much smaller, probably half the height of what you see in the film. If anything, that's a Deinonychus terrorizing everybody.
Depending on your particular sphere of geekery, this is either shocking news, or something you heard years ago and are sick of people complaining about. I'm closer to the latter, and I'd always assumed that the error was a simple case of Hollywood wanting a more impressive-looking monster. Not so, according to a 2008 article by dino-blogger extraordinaire Brian Switek. I saw this piece in a discussion on Twitter this morning, and was genuinely surprised to learn that the great Velociraptor/Deinonychus switcheroo had its origins in taxonomic confusion—similar, in some ways, to the debate currently going on with Triceratops and Torosaurus.
Discovered and described by Yale paleontologist John Ostrom in the 1960s, Deinonychus had a large sickle-claw on each foot, long arms with grasping hands, and a stiffened tail that would have helped the animal keep its balance as it ran after prey. The genus changed how people thought about dinosaurs, suggesting that they were much more active and dynamic than had been supposed previously.Finally, since this is a 'they got it wrong' post, it would be terribly remiss for me not to point out that, whether you're talking about Velociraptor or Deinonychus, a proper illustration should probably include feathers.
This new view of dinosaurs, in part, inspired the 1988 book Predatory Dinosaurs of the World by paleo-artist Gregory S. Paul. Not only was the volume chock-full of illustrations of feathered dinosaurs, but it also attempted to revise some dinosaur taxonomy. Paul noted the similarities between the skeletons of the Velociraptor from Mongolia and the Deinonychus skeletons from North America. They were so similar, in fact, that he decided to group the Deinonychus fossils under the name Velociraptor, as the older name took precedence according to the rules by which organisms are named.
Paleontologists did not agree with this change--Velociraptor was kept distinct from Deinonychus--but Paul's book was a hit with the general public. And one of the people who read the book was author Michael Crichton.
Smithsonian Dinosaur Tracking blog: You say "Velociraptor", I say "Deinonychus"
Researchers find smoking gun of world’s biggest extinction
About 250 million years about 95 per cent of life was wiped out in the sea and 70 per cent on land.
Researchers at the University of Calgary believe they have discovered evidence to support massive volcanic eruptions burnt significant volumes of coal, producing ash clouds that had broad impact on global oceans.
Researchers at the University of Calgary believe they have discovered evidence to support massive volcanic eruptions burnt significant volumes of coal, producing ash clouds that had broad impact on global oceans.
Monday, January 24, 2011
The Daily Drift
The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:Someone you haven't seen in a long time -- someone who may actually have moved or been away -- seems to have been making trouble for you from behind the scenes.
You may be right, but before you say or do anything that will put you in an irreparably bad position with them -- and with your public -- make absolutely sure.
Make a long-distance call and check your sources.
Some of our readers today have been in:
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Boulogne-Billancourt, Ile-De-France, France
Bilbao, Pais Vasco, Spain
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Maastricht, Limburg,Netherlands
London, England, United Kingdom
Sheffield, England, United Kingdom
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Boulogne-Billancourt, Ile-De-France, France
Bilbao, Pais Vasco, Spain
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Maastricht, Limburg,Netherlands
London, England, United Kingdom
Sheffield, England, United Kingdom
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Madrid, Madrid, Spain
as well as Malta, Bulgaria, Israel, Finland, Austria, Norway, Georgia, Mexico, Peru, Kuwait, Serbia, Bangladesh, Latvia, Greece, Scotland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Wales, Iran, Singapore, Poland, Taiwan, Sweden, Afghanistan, Belgium, Tibet, Croatia, Pakistan, Romania, Paraguay, Sudan, Vietnam, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Maldives, Qatar, Brazil, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, China, Iraq, Ecuador, Nigeria, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Paupa New Guinea, Moldova, Venezuela, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Norway, Finland and in cities across the United States such as Bottineau, Pekin, Bronx, Cheyenne and more.
Today is:
Today is Monday, January 24, the 24th day of 2011.
There are 341 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:
Belly Laugh Day
Beer Can Day
National Compliment Day
and
Talk Like A Grizzled Prospector Day.
Beer Can Day
National Compliment Day
and
Talk Like A Grizzled Prospector Day.
Don't forget to visit our sister blog!
Arizona shooting suspect pleads not guilty
Yeah, right!
The move by Jared Loughner's defense sets the stage for a drawn-out legal battle.
Also: Deadly blast at Moscow airport
Russian officials report 31 dead and 130 injured after an explosion rips through the arrivals hall.
Also: 
A suspected suicide bomber creates a horrific scene and puts Russia on edge.
Also: Fitness Guru Jack LaLanne Dies
Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru who inspired television viewers to trim down, eat well and pump iron for decades before diet and exercise became a national obsession, died Sunday.
He was 96.
LaLanne died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia Sunday afternoon at his home in Morro Bay on California's central coast.
Bus Drives Over Waterfall
Crazy or not? When flooding turns a roadway into a raging river and waterfall, an old school bus full of people crosses a river in Nicaragua.
I'll go with, Crazy, man!
It's a Blond World
As a trucker stops for a red light, a blond catches up. She jumps out of her car, runs up to his truck, and knocks on the door.The trucker lowers the window, and she says “Hi, my name is Heather and you are losing some of your load.”
The trucker ignores her and proceeds down the street. When the truck stops for another red light, the girl catches up again. She jumps out of her car, runs up and knocks on the door. Again, the trucker lowers the window. As if they’ve never spoken, the blond says brightly, “Hi my name is Heather, and you are losing some of your load!”
Shaking his head, the trucker ignores her again and continues down the street. At the third red light, the same thing happens again. All out of breath, the blond gets out of her car, runs up, knocks on the truck door. The trucker rolls down the window. Again she says “Hi, my name is Heather, and you are losing some of your load!”
When the light turns green the trucker revs up and races to the next light. When he stops this time, he hurriedly gets out of the truck, and runs back to the blond. He knocks on her window, and after she lowers it, he says… ”Hi, my name is Mark. It’s winter in W.Va and I’m driving the SALT TRUCK!”
The Founders were in favor of socialized French-style government run health care
Well isn't that a wee bit inconvenient.
Forbes writer Rick Ungar is getting some attention for a piece arguing that history shows that John Adams supported a strong Federal role in health care. Ungar argues that Adams even championed an early measure utilizing the concept behind the individual mandate, which tea party wingnuts say is unconstitutional.Maybe Sarah Palin will put a target on John Adams now too.
I just ran this theory past a professor of history who specializes in the early republic, and he said there's actually something to it. Short version: There's no proof from the historical record that Adams would have backed the idea behind the individual mandate in particular. But it is fair to conclude, the professor says, that the founding generation supported the basic idea of government run health care, and the use of mandatory taxation to pay for it.
House repugicans take credit for jobs gains, only 19 days on the job
Yes, House passage of the health care reform repeal bill, which didn't even pass the Senate yet (and won't), somehow has already created jobs. (Maybe it was the reading of the Constitution on the House floor, I'm sure that created at least half a job.)
Ben Smith has the ridiculous brag (Senate members are claiming it too). And Dave Weigel has an economist ripping the claim.
The problem is, repugicans lie.
Ben Smith has the ridiculous brag (Senate members are claiming it too). And Dave Weigel has an economist ripping the claim.
The problem is, repugicans lie.
The danger is that this mantra of "we've created jobs" may eventually stick (death panels anyone?), regardless of whether they've created a single one.
If Palin comes to Australia, she will be arrested
Funny how some people take offense to what many consider to be death threats.
Hey, Palin go to Australia, why don't you
Hey, Palin go to Australia, why don't you
That's Corporate America For You
MasterCard and Visa will process donations for an organization that supports the KKK and which requires you to sign a statement confirming that you are a white racist.
But they will not process donations to Wikileaks.
But they will not process donations to Wikileaks.
The message from Corporate America
(So we can ship your job overseas and manufacture goods for less cost and then turn around and sell the goods back to you at higher prices.
Oh, wait, you don't have a job, now do you ... never mind - we'll go sell our goods elsewhere, sorry to have bothered you.)
Oh, wait, you don't have a job, now do you ... never mind - we'll go sell our goods elsewhere, sorry to have bothered you.)
USPS eyes huge closures
Half of the nation's existing post offices are being reviewed — eliciting fears in rural America.
Also: Teenager hit with own golf ball sues for millions
A 15-year-old boy is suing a Hillsboro, Oregon, golf course for $3 million after he was hit in the eye by his own golf ball. Alex Good was a member of the Liberty High Golf Team and was practicing last April at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club when the accident happened. His lawyer, Terrance Lee Hogan, said Good has had several surgeries and may have lifelong problems with his vision. Good is suing the golf course for negligence.
According to court documents, Good and his teammates were using the practice range. It was raining and the staff at Pumpkin Ridge put up an awning. When Good teed off his ball hit a metal post that was holding up the awning just inches in front of his driving mat. The ball ricocheted off and hit him in the left eye. Good’s lawyer is claiming Pumpkin Ridge should have known that metal pole was a danger and is therefore liable. Another lawyer, Geordie Duckler, looked at the case and said Good’s lawyer has an uphill battle and most cases like this are settled out of court.
“As a person goes up to address the ball with their golf club and strike the ball, what are the known dangers around them? If they see a known and obvious danger and yet they go ahead and strike the ball anyway, then they’ve assumed the risk – what a lawyer would call an assumption of risk,” Duckler said. “Even if it’s a 15-year-old, we hold 15-year-olds to certain levels of responsibility.” But he said his age could come into play.
“If this were the same facts, but the plaintiff was an experienced golfer in a tournament and knew all sorts of things about golf courses, and the risk of balls being hit, (there) probably would be no claim,” he said. Duckler said the word “accident” is not a legal term. Something can be an accident but still caused by negligence. That’s why some supermarkets put warnings on pumpkins that say, “Please lift carefully.” Representatives at Pumpkin Ridge said they can’t comment on the case until the lawsuit is over.
According to court documents, Good and his teammates were using the practice range. It was raining and the staff at Pumpkin Ridge put up an awning. When Good teed off his ball hit a metal post that was holding up the awning just inches in front of his driving mat. The ball ricocheted off and hit him in the left eye. Good’s lawyer is claiming Pumpkin Ridge should have known that metal pole was a danger and is therefore liable. Another lawyer, Geordie Duckler, looked at the case and said Good’s lawyer has an uphill battle and most cases like this are settled out of court.
“As a person goes up to address the ball with their golf club and strike the ball, what are the known dangers around them? If they see a known and obvious danger and yet they go ahead and strike the ball anyway, then they’ve assumed the risk – what a lawyer would call an assumption of risk,” Duckler said. “Even if it’s a 15-year-old, we hold 15-year-olds to certain levels of responsibility.” But he said his age could come into play.
“If this were the same facts, but the plaintiff was an experienced golfer in a tournament and knew all sorts of things about golf courses, and the risk of balls being hit, (there) probably would be no claim,” he said. Duckler said the word “accident” is not a legal term. Something can be an accident but still caused by negligence. That’s why some supermarkets put warnings on pumpkins that say, “Please lift carefully.” Representatives at Pumpkin Ridge said they can’t comment on the case until the lawsuit is over.
Find pension cash you're due
A few simple steps could help you obtain a more comfortable retirement.
Also: What Do All Numbers On Your Credit Card Mean?
Ever wondered what the numbers on your credit card mean? Do credit card companies pick them at random? Geographical location? Spending habits? Turns out all credit card companies follow the same set of rules.
Changes on the 1040 tax form
There are several important changes to be aware of before you file with the IRS this year.
Also: Strange reason credit scores fall
Even if you have excellent credit, banks can rank you lower than others.
Also: Where home values will rise
Prospects look best in these cities with rebounding economies and job growth.
Also: 
Easy remedies for a winter cold
You may never have thought to apply vapor rub to this part of your body.
Also: What to know about first aid
Is it all right to dab butter on a burned hand, and what's better for a sprained ankle — heat or ice?
Also: 
Inmate in trouble after Facebooking
South Carolina prison officials say they have seized a cell phone from an inmate who was updating his Facebook page from prison.
Bad Cops
Surveillance video shows Washington cop brutally attacking man, leaving him with catastrophic brain damage
Murder charge dropped due to Florida cop's false report
Wisconsin cop fired — but not charged? — for sexually assaulting a woman after he responded to her 911 call in July
After five years, the family of a Virginia optometrist killed by a SWAT team finally gets some closure
Second Denver cop/American Gladiator contestant is sued for excessive force
Virginia police pay $2M to settle lawsuit over unarmed man shot and killed by SWAT officer outside of his home
The script goes like this ...
Robber Approaches Convenience Store Clerk - Clerk Pulls Out Samurai Sword
Places everyone ... and Action!
Investigators say the clerk pulled out a samurai sword and chased Vinson out of the store into the parking lot. After a scuffle, authorities say the clerk made an attempt to corner Vinson, but the suspect was able to get away.
A K-9 deputy later sniffed out Vinson’s location. Authorities say they found him hiding in some bushes at an apartment complex. Lott says it was the courageous act of that store clerk that helped to bring Vinson to justice.
Honduras policemen arrested for robbing bank
Police in Honduras say six of their own officers have been arrested for allegedly trying to rob a bank.
Prosecutors say the policemen forced their way into the bank in the capital, Tegucigalpa and tied up the security guards at gunpoint. A passer-by raised the alarm and police fought a gun battle with the alleged robbers, injuring one of them.
A police spokesman said the six were "bad apples" who had sullied the name of the force. He said the agents had already been suspended, and would face the full force of the law.
Security Minister Oscar Alvarez said he would ensure the fight against corruption within the police force was sped up.
Prosecutors say the policemen forced their way into the bank in the capital, Tegucigalpa and tied up the security guards at gunpoint. A passer-by raised the alarm and police fought a gun battle with the alleged robbers, injuring one of them.
A police spokesman said the six were "bad apples" who had sullied the name of the force. He said the agents had already been suspended, and would face the full force of the law.
Security Minister Oscar Alvarez said he would ensure the fight against corruption within the police force was sped up.
No one will sell sodium thiopental to American executioners
American states are unable to execute their prisoners by lethal injection, thanks to an end to US production of sodium thiopental. Foreign health authorities prohibit selling sodium thiopental if it is to be used in lethal injections, and they will not buy drugs from pharma companies who sell sodium thiopental for that purpose. As a result, the sole US manufacturer, Hospira, has discontinued production of the drug, and no foreign manufacturer will sell to the US. Executions in California and Oklahoma have been delayed as a result of the shortage.
Now the US manufacturer, Hospira, says that it will stop production entirely after a bid to start making sodium thiopental in Italy stalled when the Rome government said it would only license manufacture if the drug was not used in executions. Hospira said it intended to manufacture sodium thiopental to serve hospitals but "could not prevent the drug from being diverted to departments of corrections for use in capital punishment procedures".
"We cannot take the risk that we will be held liable by the Italian authorities if the product is diverted for use in capital punishment," the company said.
Thomas Edison's 1911 Predictions for 2011
The 23 June 1911 issue of the Miami Metropolis featured predictions by Thomas Edison about life in America one hundred years hence. Here’s a selection from of prophecies of “the Wizard”, as the author refers to Edison:But the traveler of the future, says a writer in Answers, will largely scorn such earth crawling. He will fly through the air, swifter than any swallow, at a speed of two hundred miles an hour, in colossal machines, which will enable him to breakfast in London, transact business in Paris and eat his luncheon in Cheapside.
The house of the next century will be furnished from basement to attic with steel, at a sixth of the present cost — of steel so light that it will be as easy to move a sideboard as it is today to lift a drawing room chair. The baby of the twenty-first century will be rocked in a steel cradle; his father will sit in a steel chair at a steel dining table, and his mother’s boudoir will be sumptuously equipped with steel furnishings, converted by cunning varnishes to the semblance of rosewood, or mahogany, or any other wood her ladyship fancies.
What do you think life will be like in the year 2111?
Celebrating 76 Years of a Disposable Culture and Lousy Beer
Image credit weburbanist
Wired notes that January 24 is the anniversary of the sale of the first can of beer, in 1935. Wired claims that "Compared to glass, the cans were lightweight, cheap, and easy to stack and ship. Unlike bottles, you didn't have to pay a deposit and then return the cans for a refund." So it was hugely popular and now only 3% of Americans drink beer from refillable bottles.Article continues: Celebrating 76 Years of a Disposable Culture and Lousy Beer
California's "big one" may not be an earthquake at all
California's "big one" may not be an earthquake at all, but a devastating megastorm that would inundate the central valley, trigger widespread landslides and cause flood damage to 1 in 4 homes in the state.
Weird science finds booze makes its conductors super
We anxiously await superconducting tequila: It's not actually the booze that's superconducting, but it can improve the superconduction of another material.
Greenland's 2010 Ice Melt Season Up To 50 Days Longer Than Normal
It may be bitterly cold in the northeast US right now, unusually frigid along much of the East Coast, but Greenland and the Arctic are practically balmy--15-20°F above normal in December, as the New York Times points out. Going along with that is some new research showing that Greenland's past ice melt season was exceptionally long, with some areas having an extra 50 days of melting in 2010.
Article continues: Greenland's 2010 Ice Melt Season Up To 50 Days Longer Than Normal
Chimps Wear Personalities on their Mugs
People can gauge aggressiveness in their evolutionary cousins' expressionless faces.
Finally Baby-Making Time For One of a Kind Tortoise?
Photo credit: Wikipedia / Creative Commons
If Lonesome George suffers from performance anxiety, it's hard to blame him. At the ripe old age of nearly 100, the last-of-his-kind Galapagos tortoise has been charged with preserving his species' genetic legacy by reproducing -- and so far it's been slow going. For the last 20 years, George has tried and failed to sire offspring with his previous mates, but things may soon be looking up. Last week, conservationists introduced old George to two eligible young lady tortoises thought to be more closely matched to his nearly extinct species -- and they're hoping that it just might finally be baby-making time this sole survivor.Article continues: Finally Baby-Making Time For One of a Kind Tortoise?
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