Nerd Passions

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Cassini Starts Saturn Grad School
Published July 7, 2008, 11:30 am in Discovery News - Space Tags:
After a four-year tour of Saturn, the Cassini probe is ready for round two.


Calpain Inhibitors Never Forget: Improving Memory In Alzheimer's Disease Mice
Published July 6, 2008, 5:00 pm in ScienceDaily: Latest Science News Tags:
Overactivation of proteins known as calpains, which are involved in memory formation, has been linked to Alzheimer disease. Researchers have now shown that two different drugs that inhibit calpains can improve memory in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, leading them to suggest drugs that target calpains might stop or slow down the memory loss that occurs as Alzheimer's disease progresses.


Rocketing Through Water: Space-age Swimsuit Being Tested At NASA
Published July 6, 2008, 5:00 pm in ScienceDaily: Latest Science News Tags:
Swimmers around the world are breaking records this year like never before, including at this week's U.S. Olympic trials. Some attribute it to extensive training as athletes prepare to compete at this summer's games in Beijing. Others say one factor may be a new swimsuit -- a space-age swimsuit made of fabric tested at NASA.


Rare Plants And Endangered Species Such As Tigers At Risk From Traditional Medicine
Published July 6, 2008, 5:00 pm in ScienceDaily: Latest Science News Tags:
Two reports from TRAFFIC, the world's largest wildlife trade monitoring network, on traditional medicine systems in Cambodia and Vietnam suggest that illegal wildlife trade, including entire tiger skeletons, and unsustainable harvesting is depleting the region's rich and varied biodiversity and putting the primary health care resource of millions at risk.


Quake panda gives birth to twins in China: state media
Published July 6, 2008, 1:09 pm in PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news Tags:
A giant panda evacuated after China's devastating earthquake in May gave birth to twins on Sunday, state media reported.


Swedish appeals court tries Ericsson officials for fraud: report
Published July 6, 2008, 1:08 pm in PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news Tags:
Five officials in Sweden from mobile phone operator Ericsson are suspected of defrauding several billion kronor (millions of euros), Swedish agency TT reported on Sunday.


'Public' online spaces don't carry speech, rights
Published July 6, 2008, 1:07 pm in PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news Tags:
(AP) -- Rant all you want in a public park. A police officer generally won't eject you for your remarks alone, however unpopular or provocative.


Liver donor's family, recipient unite online
Published July 6, 2008, 1:06 pm in PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news Tags:
(AP) -- They were precocious toddlers, both blond-haired and blue-eyed, separated by a thousand miles between Miami and a small Kentucky town.


Researchers identify new targets for RNAs that regulate genes
Published July 6, 2008, 1:05 pm in PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news Tags:
Tiny strands of genetic material called RNA - a chemical cousin of DNA - are emerging as major players in gene regulation, the process inside cells that drives all biology and that scientists seek to control in order to fight disease.


Geologists study China earthquake for glimpse into future
Published July 6, 2008, 1:03 pm in PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news Tags:
The May 12 earthquake that rocked Sichuan Province in China was the first there in recorded history and unexpected in its magnitude. Now a team of geoscientists is looking at the potential for future earthquakes due to earthquake-induced changes in stress.


Aggressive treatment of childhood eczema could help prevent asthma
Published July 6, 2008, 1:02 pm in PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news Tags:
The study, published online in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, calls for trials of aggressive therapies against childhood eczema in attempt to reduce the incidence of asthma in later life.


Battlestar Keeps On Keeping On, According To Six [Battlestar Galactica]
Published July 6, 2008, 1:00 pm in io9 Tags:

While the audience waits impatiently for the final half-season of Battlestar Galactica, the cast and crew have already moved on... kind of. Tricia Helfer has been talking about her experiences on the show, from how little she knew at the start to the reaction of the cast to the end of the show... even though that end keeps on staying out of reach.

Theoretically speaking about her upcoming role on USA's Burn Notice - it's no Psyche, let's face it, but it'll do for now - Helfer couldn't help herself from talking about the end of the show that made her famous. Possibly because they're not finished shooting yet:

[The last day was supposed to be] June 30, now it’s July 7, but I think it’ll kind be around July 12 that we finish. We’ve got a couple of very heavy episodes – not giving you a spoiler there, I just mean “heavy” in terms of a lot of work to get done. So I’m not sure what day it will be, but I bet it will go into the second week of July... I think they’re fantastic scripts. Obviously, it’s the end of the series, so things are going to be revealed, and all the questions are going to be answered. There’s a lot to fit in. I’ve heard some fans say, whoa, there’s so much in every episode, and that’s certainly not going to change in the last half of the season, there’s so much to get out there. It’s intense.

All our reactions to reading script [among the cast], we talked about it – some people broke down in tears, I felt like I was punched in the stomach. More so out of a mixture of feelings like, wow, that’s why this happened, but also [sadness about the end of an era] – I was sitting on a plane, and it was like, “This is the last ‘Battlestar’ script I’ll read.” So there was that mixed into it.

There’s some really heartwarming stuff, there’s some very damaging, sad stuff. It’s such a commentary on human behavior and social behavior and where our world is and can go. I find the last episode is quite fascinating, the study of life.

Just as fascinating was how little information Helfer was given about her character when the show started:

Ron Moore had put out a series bible at the beginning of Season 1. In it, he had written a couple of pages of backstory for every lead character. For Number Six, it was one line: “The machine as woman.” Everybody else had two or three pages! [laughs] I went to Ron and I said, “You’re killing me. I have no clue about this character.” And he said, “I can’t give you a backstory, because I haven’t decided everything about the Cylons yet.”

You see, while the Cylons may have had a plan, the people controlling the Cylons...? Not so much.

Tricia Helfer of 'Battlestar Galactica' puts the sizzle in 'Burn Notice' [The Watcher]

LegalTorrents Offers CC Works Via BitTorrent
Published July 6, 2008, 12:20 pm in Slashdot Tags:
An anonymous reader writes "A site called LegalTorrents has just launched that hosts trackers and seeds for digital media licensed under the Creative Commons license. ('We distribute content with the full permission of the rights holders and use the peer-2-peer file-sharing technology called Bittorrent.') The site even provides a way to donate money to artists you like. (LegalTorrents takes 15% off the top unless you are a member, which costs $50 one-time during the beta period.)" It's always good to see "legitimate" content distributed in ways that make it hard to demonize the distribution system itself — something Lawrence Lessig in particular has been doing for years, and his book "Free Culture" is one of the audiobooks available through LegalTorrents. Note that LegalTorrents has been around for a while now, rather than "just launched," but the current beta period won't last forever.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Is Manekin Robotto America’s Next Top Model? [Robots On The Catwalk]
Published July 6, 2008, 12:00 pm in io9 Tags:

Add fashion models to the list of professionals who could find themselves replaced by robots in the workplace. The Hyogo Prefectural Institute of Technology has introduced Manekin Robotto, a programmable robot designed to tread the catwalk. After the jump, we examine how this mechanical model stacks up against the flesh and blood version.

Physique: At 160 cm (approximately 5’3”) Manekin Robotto stands a good head below the recommended 5’8” for female models. She’s also surprisingly flat-chested and, let’s face it, a bit on the hippy side. But she wouldn’t be the first model in the industry to require implants and a little cosmetic soldering.

Weight: The robot model tips the scales at just over 66 pounds and rates a body mass index of 11.7, a number low enough to make human catwalkers vomit with envy. Unfortunately, it might also bar her from the runway. Following the malnutrition deaths of three models last year, European show organizers have required that models have a BMI of at least 18 to walk.

Cost: Despite the accompanying glitz and glamour, models in the US earn, on average, a mere $10.83 an hour. But even that paltry amount can’t compare with Manekin Robotto’s low, low price of $940. And that’s just the beginning of the savings. Robots don’t need to be schmoozed, run on far less blow, and tend not to complain when you fly them as cargo.

Appearance: Sadly, Manekin Robotto is cursed with a face only an engineer could love. Although not every fashion model is a classic beauty, Manekin Robotto’s cubic head and visible wires commit the cardinal sin of fashion: they would distract you from the clothes.

Verdict: Little more than a walking coathanger, Manekin Robotto won’t be getting the Tyra Banks seal of approval any time soon. But given that the robot model is economical, can be controlled from a PC, and is unlikely to hurl cell phones at assistants, models may find themselves looking over their shoulders on their next trip down the runway.

This humanoid robot may soon replace fashion models (or maybe not) [CrunchGear]

Keeping an Eye Out When Sites Go Down
Published July 6, 2008, 11:08 am in Slashdot Tags:
miller60 writes "Are major web sites going down more often? Or are outages simply more noticeable? The New York Times looks at the recent focus on downtime at services like Twitter, and the services that have sprung up to monitor outages. When a site goes down, word spreads rapidly, fueled by blogs and forums. But there have also been a series of outages with real-world impact, affecting commodities exchanges, thousands of web sites and online stores."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.