City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

For Science! The Science Thread

Alpha-One

By Alpha-One,
Posted on: 2010-10-27 07:21 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture

 

Posted

The biggest full moon in 18 years

Tonight - Saturday, March 18, 2011 - the Moon is at perigee and full. The Moon should look especially large, as it is about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) closer to Earth than at apogee. The last time this happened was in March of 1993. The next one won't be until 2029. The Moon is rising at sunset. Check it out if you have a clear sky tonight.

 

Posted

New agents could help the body repair chronic wounds, and make the normal healing process work more quickly.
http://www.technologyreview.com/biom...71/?p1=MstRcnt


Nanotech for wound and tissue regeneration
http://www.kurzweilai.net/nanotech-f...e-regeneration


Brain Nerve Stimulation Could Speed Up Learning
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0413171327.htm


Reprogrammable Chips Could Enable Instant Gadget Upgrades
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37406/?a=f


StunRay disables your brain with inverse blindness
http://dvice.com/archives/2011/04/stunray-disable.php


Virgin Oceanic will explore the deepest parts of Earth’s five oceans
http://singularityhub.com/2011/04/14...e-ocean-video/






Older News


Two articles discussing Femtotech

http://hplusmagazine.com/2011/01/10/...le-technology/

http://hplusmagazine.com/2011/01/10/...ech-femtotech/


Watson’s Descendants Will Make You Obsolete
http://hplusmagazine.com/2011/02/18/...-you-obsolete/

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hero_of_Steel View Post
Watson’s Descendants Will Make You Obsolete
http://hplusmagazine.com/2011/02/18/...-you-obsolete/
...thus began the war against Skynet. Or perhaps Jack Williams' Humanoids, come to care for us. Maybe Asimov's robots.

Watson shows that these baby-steps computer programs are already challenging us in trivia and language comprehension -- in five years we'll never beat one. Big Blue crushes our chess masters with straight-up number crunching. And the entirely artificial Emily Howell composes music we can't distinguish from human-made work. 20 years ago a computer program debuted that could write high-school-level sports stories. Nowadays, the programs are so good that entire websites use them and they are nearly indistinguishable from regular sports reporting. Already computers are getting dangerously close to being able to write novels. And really, wouldn't a robot's prose be superior to anything named "Twilight"?

Insert cliche "welcome our overlords" message here.

As we contemplate our doom -- or at least the annexation of human creativity -- go read Atomic Robo, the single best comic going today and hope that our new metallic brethren are as benevolent and cool as he is.

The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironik View Post
Insert cliche "welcome our overlords" message here.
Bah! Why welcome them resignedly when you can join them? That's my plan if I live to see this stuff!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironik View Post
As we contemplate our doom -- or at least the annexation of human creativity -- go read Atomic Robo, the single best comic going today and hope that our new metallic brethren are as benevolent and cool as he is.
I love Atomic Robo!

"Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them."

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coin View Post
Just watched this with my son on my lap........awesome

He was very excited to see a real space rocket take off

Congrats, glad to hear it.




************************************************** *********




12 technology predictions for 2020
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43015182...ce-innovation/


X Prize Foundation is offering $10 million dollars to the team that creates a working mobile medical Tricorder
http://dvice.com/archives/2011/05/build-a-working.php


DARPA and NASA want your ideas for its 100-Year Starship project
http://www.popsci.com/science/articl...rship-concepts


ZeroTouch is a unique optical multitouch sensing technology using infrared sensors
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43028337...ience-science/

ZeroTouch in action (Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq2Ng14dV6E


Teen Discovers Promising Cystic Fibrosis Treatment
http://www.livescience.com/14138-tee...l-contest.html


Graphene enables speedy data pipe
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...eedy-data-pipe


A new porous carbon “sponge” that could be used for a better energy storing supercapacitor
http://www.kurzweilai.net/new-form-o...upercapacitors


MIT’s New Nav System Turns the Entire Dashboard into a Huge 3-D Interactive Display
http://www.popsci.com/technology/art...active-display


A method for making solar thermoelectric devices eight times more efficient
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...er-with-a-jolt


A Navy-funded nuclear fusion effort using an unconventional plasma device is operating as designed and generating "positive results" more than halfway through the project
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...rom-the-fringe


Intel redesigns transistors for faster computers
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42900413...s-us_business/


Telepresence robots take to the air
http://www.kurzweilai.net/telepresen...ake-to-the-air


Self-teaching humanoid robot
http://dvice.com/archives/2011/05/self-teaching-h.php


Computer Scientists Induce Schizophrenia in a Neural Network
http://www.popsci.com/technology/art...iculous-claims

 

Posted

Old Blood Impairs Young Brains & Young Blood Can Improve Old Brains
http://www.technologyreview.com/biom...64/?p1=MstRcnt


The space shuttle's successors
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14089297


NASA tests deep space capsule for launch and landing
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44213629...science-space/


NASA picks 3 pioneering tech missions for deep space
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44233774...science-space/


Flexible Stick-On Electronic Tattoos could provide irritation-free monitoring of heart, brain, and muscle activity.
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/38296/?p1=A3


10 Things Your Car Will Have By 2020
http://editorial.autos.msn.com/10-th...1998&GT1=22006


Navy's new explosive material increases the destructive power of missiles and artillery shells by a factor of five
http://dvice.com/archives/2011/08/navys-new-explo.php


DARPA is set to hand out $500,000 to an organization dedicated to studying just what it would take to travel to Alpha Centauri or another nearby star.
http://dvice.com/archives/2011/08/darpa-wants-to-1.php


IBM Announces Move Toward ‘Cognitive’ Computing.
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/08/.../?mod=yahoo_hs


More on IBM Chip
http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_n...rain-like-chip


$1 million gets you in orbit for a five-day stay in a space hotel
http://dvice.com/archives/2011/08/1-million-gets.php


Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory have designed a suitcase-sized nuclear plant that can power up to eight normal-sized homes.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44316742...ce-innovation/


Stanford University is offering 3 free online computer science courses
http://www.kurzweilai.net/more-free-...cience-courses


Are Keyboards on Laptops the Next Thing to Go?
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog...7084/?p1=blogs

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hero_of_Steel View Post
The space shuttle's successors
$1 million gets you in orbit for a five-day stay in a space hotel
http://dvice.com/archives/2011/08/1-million-gets.php
Going to wait a few years for when I get the cash, it gets cheaper, and is a lunar or Mars hotel.

The first step in being sane is to admit that you are insane.

 

Posted

Love science

Still waiting for the formula to turn people into catgirls!

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Baltar View Post
Chinese scientists want to capture nearby asteroids into Earth orbit & mine them.

http://dvice.com/archives/2011/08/chinese-want-to.php
I really have to wonder about a couple things here.

Could really be economically viable? How much ore could they extract in a limited time? And at how much of a cost?

I can see the potential value to those already in space making effective use of the materials at hand. But I am straining to see how the mineral wealth could be extracted in a manner that would be useful even if the risks can be managed.



Would they be blasting a chunk of for use with space based projects? Could they do that without sending it out of/into orbit.

Sounds more like a scientist was spit-balling ideas.

 

Posted

Astronomy fans - supernova nearby...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nati...-25-years.html

This should be visible for the next few nights - with the naked eye if you live somewhere clear of light pollution, with binoculars if you're in the city. Find the Plough, follow its "handle" and look just above and to the left to the Pinwheel (M101).

If you've got a decent telescope, you'll be able to see how it's lighting up its home cluster - and the tiny Vogon fleet a little bit closer than that.

Also, can I recommend http://www.universetoday.com/ - great SCIENCE news (bloody awful blog design, but hey).

Is it time for the dance of joy yet?

 

Posted

No you shouldn't be able to see it with the unaided naked eye. It should peak at around Magnitude 10 (higher the number, the dimmer it is). Perfect night sky naked eye limit is 6. Where I live, which is fairly dark but humid which hurts is around 4.5-5. Magnitude 10 is 10 to 12 times dimmer than what I can see unaided. Should be able to pick it out with ease with my 8" Meade however.

You can see M101 through a pair of 7x50 binoculars, it's still pretty much a smudge but you should be able to make out a bright point in it. Now which point is the supernova is another problem. There's quite a few closer stars in the vicinity that's as bright or brighter and since they are in front of the galaxy it's tough to tell unless you are so familiar with that part of the sky that it's obvious.

Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components

Tempus unum hominem manet

 

Posted

CERN claims faster-than-light particle measured
(Originally posted by McNum)
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/...d_8695154.html


Gamers solve molecular puzzle that baffled scientists for more than a decade
(Originally posted by MaestroMavius)
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...led-scientists


Scientists turn back the clock on adult stem cells aging
http://www.kurzweilai.net/scientists...em-cells-aging


Electrical stimulation of the brain leads to the production of new brain cells that enhance memory
http://www.kurzweilai.net/electrical...h-of-new-cells


UC San Diego Biologists Discover Genes That Repair Nerves After Injury
http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/sci..._09neurons.asp


Proton-based transistor could let machines communicate with living things
http://www.washington.edu/news/artic...-living-things


'Inexhaustible' source of hydrogen may be unlocked by salt water
http://live.psu.edu/story/55172





Older News


DARPA announced a new program called Living Foundries that will invest in and develop synthetic biology projects
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/26900/

 

Posted

NASA will charter up to three flights on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44903902...science-space/


Pentagon’s Secret Space Plane Could Be Astronauts’ Next Ride
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011...t-space-plane/


A biofuel cell that uses glucose and oxygen at concentrations found in the body to generate electricity.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15305579


Researchers in Texas, Australia, Canada and Korea have constructed carbon-nanotube yarns to build artificial muscles that twist like the trunk of an elephant but provide a thousand times higher rotation per length
http://www.kurzweilai.net/carbon-nan...ficial-muscles


New transplant technique could remove need for immunosuppressant
http://dvice.com/archives/2011/10/a-new-transplan.php


Using Gene therapy and stem cells to treat liver disease
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15272081

http://www.technologyreview.com/biom...e/38847/page1/


Researchers do precise gene therapy without a needle using electricity to “shoot” bits of therapeutic biomolecules through a tiny channel and into a cell in a fraction of a second
http://www.kurzweilai.net/researcher...thout-a-needle


Russian scientists and cosmonauts consider using volcanic tunnels to provide a natural shelter for a lunar colony
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44960440...science-space/


OmniTouch, a Kinect-like device makes any surface a touchscreen (including hands, arms and legs)
http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20...-a-touchscreen

 

Posted

On the topic of FTL neutrinos, it's possible that relativity was the answer all along. Emphasis on 'possible', as the scientists claim that the motion of the GPS satellites in orbit was accounted for.

@Demobot

Also on Steam

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hero_of_Steel View Post
OmniTouch, a Kinect-like device makes any surface a touchscreen (including hands, arms and legs)
http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20...-a-touchscreen
It's not a "kinect-like" device... man reporters are stupid. Kinect is just a low tech 3D camera that has softwhere that can recognize objects and formulate bone structure in a 3D space.

The hard part is the whole getting it to recognize a movement in the z-axis, especially minor z-axis moves. which is why kinect uses gestures or positions rather than forward motions.