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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Sustainability Solution to the Fermi Paradox

Click here for the PDF of Haqq-Misra and Baum's paper "The Sustainability Solution to the Fermi Paradox"



The Sustainability Solution to the Fermi Paradox

Jacob D. Haqq-Misra, Seth D. Baum
(Submitted on 2 Jun 2009)

No present observations suggest a technologically advanced extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) has spread through the galaxy. However, under commonplace assumptions about galactic civilization formation and expansion, this absence of observation is highly unlikely. This improbability is the heart of the Fermi Paradox. The Fermi Paradox leads some to conclude that humans have the only advanced civilization in this galaxy, either because civilization formation is very rare or because intelligent civilizations inevitably destroy themselves. In this paper, we argue that this conclusion is premature by introducing the "Sustainability Solution" to the Fermi Paradox, which questions the Paradox's assumption of faster (e.g. exponential) civilization growth. Drawing on insights from the sustainability of human civilization on Earth, we propose that faster-growth may not be sustainable on the galactic scale. If this is the case, then there may exist ETI that have not expanded throughout the galaxy or have done so but collapsed. These possibilities have implications for both searches for ETI and for human civilization management.

Click here for the PDF of Haqq-Misra and Baum's paper "The Sustainability Solution to the Fermi Paradox"

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Monday, December 28, 2009

Cutter


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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

OMG original content!!

Lifted straight out of MadTasty, but I did write this post... shit, is it possible that this is not mine anymore?
Yes, I Am 28 and I Still Eat Ramen

(Ed. Note:  Please also welcome this guest post from Tony, filling in for Alana)

Other possible titles: "Ramen Is an Ingredient, Not a Right."  Or further, "Ramen in Sheep's Clothing."

When I and many of my good friends fell off the employment wagon, we had to resort to cooking at home to save money. Thanks to Madtasty, I nearly ended my unemployment prematurely with a number of cooking fiascos that left me with mild food poisoning and a badly burned copy of Where's Mom, Now That I Need Her? It wasn't long before I reverted back to my old college habits of 40 ozs and ramen noodles. Safe and sound. I'd like to share one of my more blog-friendly triumphs, covering for Lady A, best cook ever, on a week when she is rather busy.

So, how does a self-respecting yuppie dress up ramen to take home to mom and dad? Just follow along. And, if your parents are separated, you can tailor this recipe to their individual tastes at many steps along the way.

You will need, clockwise from our hero in the bottom left: Ramen, Si Racha, frozen broccoli, boiling (or at least very hot) water (represented here by the pot), a bowl to eat out of, frozen shrimp, fresh cilantro, furikaki (advanced) and chopsticks (not pictured - you may substitute a fork).


Step 1:
Boil some water, note appropriate signage in background


Step 2:
While the water is boiling, unfreeze the shrimps and broccoli (we use frozen shrimp and broccoli because this is Ramen, people! and also its already cooked you just hafta heat it up! this takes about 4 x 1 minute intervals in my wimpy microwave. Plan accordingly.



Step 3:
Is not a step, it is a picture I have included about furikake. What the hell is furikake and why should I have it in my kitchen?

Furikake is a Japanese condiment intended to top rice, but I suppose it is an ingredient and can be used for whatever. It is made of seaweed and sesame and soy (for saltiness) and usually has fish or shrimp in it. I get the kind without fish cause it reminds me of fish food. But you can make that call yourself. Find this at Super 88 or moral equivalent. Its delicious and is not necessary, but it adds a little authenticity to have sesame and seaweed floating in your soup.



Step 4:
When the shrimp and broccoli are defrosted and are on their way to hot, just drop the Ramen on top and add flavor packet, Si Racha, cilantro and furikake to taste. I use about 2/3 the flavor packet, a good dollop of Si Racha, 10-15 cilantro leaves and a teaspoon of furikake.  You can also add lettuce at this step, but I think real asians use bok choy.


Step 5:
Just add water.


Step 6:
Stir to presentability



Step 7:
Wolf down standing in the kitchen at or near the breakfast bar and get to your favorite local watering hole.



Godspeed and good luck.

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Researcher Translation


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Monday, December 21, 2009

Cop with Gun at Snowball Fight | Does Not Play Well with Others

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Christine Ericsdotter – X-RAY ANALYSES OF SPEECH

From hundertmark



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Thursday, December 17, 2009

Isaiah Zagar | Philadelphia's Magic Gardens

Isaiah Zagar and Philadelphia's Magic Gardens 














Zagar has devoted himself to beautifying the South Street neighborhood since the late 1960s, when he moved to the area with his wife Julia. The couple helped spur the revitalization of the area by purchasing and renovating derelict buildings, often adding colorful mosaics on both their private and public walls. The first such project was Julia's still-thriving folk art store, the Eyes Gallery at 402 South Street.

















Zagar started working on the Magic Gardens in 1994 in the vacant lot nearby his studio. He began by constructing a massive fence to protect the area from harm and then spent the next fourteen years excavating tunnels and grottos, sculpting multi-layered walls, and tiling and grouting the 3,000 square foot space. The installation pays tribute to Zagar's many artistic influences, as well as the events and experiences of his life.








Hours & Admission

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11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Friday and Saturday
11:00 am - 8:00 pm

Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day

Please visit our News & Events Page for changes to our open hours, due to special events or private rentals.


Admission

Self-guided tour

Adults
$4
Youth 6-12 years
$2
Kids 5 and under
FREE

Guided Site Tour
Adults
$7
Youth
$5


Guided Walking Tour
                 Adults $6
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Bionic Eye Opens New World Of Sight For Blind

Lifted straight out of NPR

wide: A graphic shows a retinal prosthesis implanted in a human eye.
Courtesy Second Sight Medical Products, Inc.
This retinal prosthesis has been implanted in the eyes of 32 patients. The device receives wireless data from the camera which it then translates into electronic signals that are sent to the brain, restoring sight.
text sizeAAA
October 20, 2009

Stem cells and electronics can help restore vision to people who've been blinded by retinal diseases, scientists reported in Chicago at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
Diseases of the retina cause blindness by damaging the cells that line the back of the eye, where images of the world are normally transformed into nerve impulses that go to the brain.
"There's very little therapeutic treatment out there right now for people with diseased retinas," says Brian Mech, a vice president of Second Sight Medical Products in Sylmar, Calif.
But Second Sight is hoping to change that. The company has developed an experimental bionic eye that has been tried in more than 30 patients with macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa.

Bionic Eye Helps Blind See

This animation shows how the retinal device translates a visual image taken by the camera on the patient's glasses into electrical impulses that the brain understands as sight.

Building An Artificial Retina
Each patient wears a pair of glasses that incorporates a video camera, Mech says. The video signal from the camera is sent to an implant on the eye itself, which in turns communicates with an array of electrodes attached to the patient's retina.
And those electrodes do what the old retina can't anymore: send electrical signals to the brain that allow sight.
Mech says it usually takes patients' brains a little while to make sense of the new signals.
"They learn to use the device better over time," he says. "Someone that has had the device for a year will do better than they did at three months."
The artificial eye uses just 60 electrodes to replace millions of retinal cells. Mech says that means the restored vision is rudimentary, so people can find doors and follow lines on the floor. But most can't read, and those who can are only able to make out very large letters.
At the neuroscience meeting, Second Sight presented a study showing that patients could use the artificial eye to tell which direction an object was moving.
Despite the limitations of the artificial eye, Mech says patients who have received one tend to get emotional when they realize they can see even a little bit.
"There's a lot of crying, a lot of smiling," he says. "It's a sensory input that they haven't had in a very long time, and so they're excited."
A slide of repaired retina cells.
EnlargeCourtesy Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
This slide from researcher Robert Aramant shows repaired retina cells 7 weeks after receiving the transplantation of fetal retinal cells.
Growing New Retina Cells
A team led by Robert Aramant of the University of California, Irvine, offered a different approach to restoring sight.
Since the 1980s, Aramant has been working to fix retinas damaged by diseases including macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.
And for several years now, the team has been treating patients using fetal retinal cells. Their approach is to retrieve an intact sheet of fetal retinal cells and transplant the entire sheet into a damaged eye.
The transplanted cells then mature the same way they would in a developing fetus, creating all the layers of a normal retina, Aramant says.
The team has treated just 10 patients so far, because of funding constraints. But Aramant says seven of those patients got better, including one woman whose vision went from 20-800, which is severely impaired, to 20-200, which is good enough for many daily tasks.
After treatment, Aramant says, the woman was able to play computer games, write emails, and read a large-print version of Reader's Digest.
Also at the meeting in Chicago, scientists presented studies showing ways to create new light-sensitive molecules in the eye, and to use stem cells to grow specific types of retinal cells.

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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

This Week in Parasitism




From the guys who brought you This Week in Virology , my #1 podcast, comes This Week in Parasitism
twip_200The first episode of our new science podcast, “This Week in Parasitism“, is now available.
This Week in Parasitism (TWiP) is a podcast about eukaryotic parasites hosted by Vincent Racaniello and Dick Despommier. Following in the path of their podcast ‘This Week in Virology’ (TWiV), they strive for an informal yet informative conversation about parasites which is accessible to everyone, no matter what their science background.
As science Professors at Columbia University, they have spent their entire academic careers directing research laboratories focused on parasites (Dick) and viruses (Vincent). Their enthusiasm for teaching inspired them to reach beyond the classroom with new media. TWiP is for everyone who wants to learn about parasites in a relaxing way.
On episode 1 of TWiP, Vincent and Dick provide an overview of parasites and parasitism.

Download TWiP #1 (41 MB .mp3, 57 minutes)
Subscribe (free) in iTunes, by the RSS feed or by email
Send your questions and comments to twip@twiv.tv

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Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal | Bigotry

From SMBC comics

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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

flipped


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Tuesday, December 1, 2009

We Landed on the Moon! (LCROSS Impact Data Indicates Water on Moon)





LCROSS Impact Data Indicates Water on Moon


Click here for more images of the results.

The argument that the moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water.

Secrets the moon has been holding, for perhaps billions of years, are now being revealed to the delight of scientists and space enthusiasts alike.

NASA today opened a new chapter in our understanding of the moon. Preliminary data from the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicates that the mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009 impacts into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus cater near the moon’s south pole.

The impact created by the LCROSS Centaur upper stage rocket created a two-part plume of material from the bottom of the crater. The first part was a high angle plume of vapor and fine dust and the second a lower angle ejecta curtain of heavier material. This material has not seen sunlight in billions of years.






















"We're unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbor and by extension the solar system. It turns out the moon harbors many secrets, and LCROSS has added a new layer to our understanding," said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.


Scientists have long speculated about the source of vast quantities of hydrogen that have been observed at the lunar poles. The LCROSS findings are shedding new light on the question of water, which could be more widespread and in greater quantity than previously suspected.

Permanently shadowed regions could hold a key to the history and evolution of the solar system, much as an ice core sample taken on Earth reveals ancient data. In addition, water, and other compounds represent potential resources that could sustain future lunar exploration.

Since the impacts, the LCROSS science team has been working almost nonstop analyzing the huge amount of data the spacecraft collected. The team concentrated on data from the satellite's spectrometers, which provide the most definitive information about the presence of water. A spectrometer examines light emitted or absorbed by materials that helps identify their composition.

"We are ecstatic," said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Multiple lines of evidence show water was present in both the high angle vapor plume and the ejecta curtain created by the LCROSS Centaur impact. The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water."

The team took the known near infrared spectral signatures of water and other materials and compared them to the spectra collected by the LCROSS near infrared spectrometer of the impact.

"We were only able to match the spectra from LCROSS data when we inserted the spectra for water," said Colaprete. "No other reasonable combination of other compounds that we tried matched the observations. The possibility of contamination from the Centaur also was ruled out."

Additional confirmation came from an emission in the ultraviolet spectrum that was attributed to hydroxyl, one product from the break-up of water by sunlight. When atoms and molecules are excited, they release energy at specific wavelengths that are detected by the spectrometers. A similar process is used in neon signs. When electrified, a specific gas will produce a distinct color. The ultraviolet visible spectrometer detected hydroxyl signatures just after impact that are consistent with a water vapor cloud in sunlight.

Data from the other LCROSS instruments are being analyzed for additional clues about the state and distribution of the material at the impact site. The LCROSS science team along with colleagues are poring over the data to understand the entire impact event, from flash to crater, with the final goal being the understanding of the distribution of materials, and in particular volatiles, within the soil at the impact site.

"The full understanding of the LCROSS data may take some time. The data is that rich," said Colaprete. "Along with the water in Cabeus, there are hints of other intriguing substances. The permanently shadowed regions of the moon are truly cold traps, collecting and preserving material over billions of years."

LCROSS was launched June 18, 2009 as a companion mission to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After separating from LRO, the LCROSS spacecraft held onto the spent Centaur upper stage rocket of the launch vehicle, executed a lunar swingby and entered into a series of long looping orbits around the Earth.

After traveling approximately 113 days and nearly 5.6 million miles (9 million km), the Centaur and LCROSS separated on final approach to the moon. Traveling as fast as a speeding bullet, the Centaur impacted the lunar surface shortly after 4:31 a.m. PDT Oct. 9 with LCROSS watching with its onboard instruments. Approximately four minutes of data was collected before the LCROSS itself impacted the lunar surface.

Working closely with scientists from LRO and other observatories that viewed the impact, the LCROSS team is working to understand the full scope of the LCROSS data. LRO continues to make passes over the impact site to give the LCROSS team additional insight into the mechanics of the impact and its resulting craters.

What other secrets will the moon reveal? The analysis continues!

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Living in Emergency | Doctors Without Borders







Untitled from LivinginEmergency on Vimeo.

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Tarzan Fail

Via Failblog

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