Derren Brown's Blog, page 58

December 2, 2010

US embassy cables culprit should be executed, says Mike Huckabee

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"The Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee has called for whoever leaked the 250,000 US diplomatic cables to be executed.


Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination at the last election but is one of the favourites for 2012, joined a growing number of people demanding the severest punishment possible for those behind the leak, which has prompted a global diplomatic crisis.


His fellow potential Republican nominee Sarah Palin had already called for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be "hunted down", and an adviser to the Canadian prime minister has echoed her comments.


Huckabee said: "Whoever in our government leaked that information is guilty of treason, and I think anything less than execution is too kind a penalty."


He added, according to Politico: "They've put American lives at risk. They put relationships that will take decades to rebuild at risk. They knew full well that they were handling sensitive documents they were entrusted.


"And anyone who had access to that level of information was not only a person who understood what their rules were, but they also signed, under oath, a commitment that they would not violate. They did … Any lives they endangered, they're personally responsible for and the blood is on their hands.""


Read more at The Guardian

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Published on December 02, 2010 01:23

How to create temperatures below absolute zero

"ABSOLUTE zero sounds like an unbreachable limit beyond which it is impossible to explore. In fact there is a weird realm of negative temperatures that not only exists in theory, but has also proved accessible in practice. An improved way of getting there, outlined last week, could reveal new states of matter.


Temperature is defined by how the addition or removal of energy affects the amount of disorder, or entropy, in a system. For systems at familiar, positive temperatures, adding energy increases disorder: heating up an ice crystal makes it melt into a more disordered liquid, for example. Keep removing energy, and you will get closer and closer to zero on the absolute or kelvin scale (-273.15 °C), where the system's energy and entropy are at a minimum.


Negative-temperature systems have the opposite behaviour. Adding energy reduces their disorder, and hence their temperature. But they are not cold in the conventional sense that heat will flow into them from systems at positive temperatures. In fact, systems with negative absolute temperatures contain more atoms in high-energy states than is possible even at the hottest positive temperatures, so heat should always flow from them to systems above zero kelvin.


Creating negative-temperature systems to see what other "bizarro world" properties they might have is tricky. It is certainly not done by cooling an object down to absolute zero. It is, however, possible to leap straight from positive to negative absolute temperatures."


Read more at New Scientist

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Published on December 02, 2010 01:02

'Trillions' of Earths orbit red stars in older galaxies

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"Astronomers say the Universe may contain three times the number of stars as is currently thought.


Their assessment is based on new observations showing other galaxies may have very different structures to our Milky Way galaxy.


The researchers tell the journal Nature that more stars probably means many more planets as well – perhaps "trillions" of Earth-like worlds.


The Yale University-led study used the Keck telescope in Hawaii.


Continue reading the main story

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Start Quote


There are possibly trillions of Earths orbiting these stars"


Professor Pieter Van Dokkum

Yale University

It found that galaxies older than ours contain 20 times more red dwarf stars than more recent ones.


Red dwarfs are smaller and dimmer than our own Sun; it is only recently that telescopes have been powerful enough to detect them.


According to Yale's Professor Pieter van Dokkum, who led the research, the discovery also increases the estimate for the number of planets in the Universe and therefore greatly increases the likelihood of life existing elsewhere in the cosmos.


"There are possibly trillions of Earths orbiting these stars," he said. "Red dwarfs are typically more than 10 billion years old and so have been around long enough for complex life to evolve on planets around them. It's one reason why people are interested in this type of star.""


Read more at BBC News

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Published on December 02, 2010 00:46

December 1, 2010

Partial reversal of aging achieved in mice

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"Harvard scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute say they have for the first time partially reversed age-related degeneration in mice, resulting in new growth of the brain and testes, improved fertility, and the return of a lost cognitive function. In a report posted online by the journal Nature in advance of print publication, researchers led by Ronald A. DePinho, a Harvard Medical School (HMS) professor of genetics, said they achieved the milestone in aging science by engineering mice with a controllable telomerase gene. The telomerase enzyme maintains the protective caps called telomeres that shield the ends of chromosomes.


As humans age, low levels of telomerase are associated with progressive erosion of telomeres, which may then contribute to tissue degeneration and functional decline in the elderly. By creating mice with a telomerase switch, the researchers were able to generate prematurely aged mice. The switch allowed the scientists to find out whether reactivating telomerase in the animals would restore telomeres and mitigate the signs and symptoms of aging. The work showed a dramatic reversal of many aspects of aging, including reversal of brain disease and infertility.


While human applications remain in the future, the strategy might one day be used to treat conditions such as rare genetic premature aging syndromes in which shortened telomeres play an important role, said DePinho, senior author of the report and the director of Dana-Farber's Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science. "Whether this would impact on normal aging is a more difficult question," he added. "But it is notable that telomere loss is associated with age-associated disorders and thus restoration of telomeres could alleviate such decline." The first author is Mariela Jaskelioff, a research fellow in medicine in DePinho's laboratory."


Read more at Harvard Science (Thanks Christopher C)

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Published on December 01, 2010 01:10

Dinosaurs and David Attenborough at the Natural History Museum

"One moment you're being guided through the basics of evolution by the comforting presence of Sir David Attenborough, the next, a dinosaur prances across the empty space in front of you.


The magic is augmented reality, a technology that blends CGI graphics and a live video stream. The Natural History Museum is claiming it as a first for any museum.


The new interactive film Who Do You Think You Really Are? opens to the public today and takes the audience on a journey back through their evolutionary past. As well as the animated Coelophysis, other stars of the show include Homo erectus strolling along a virtual catwalk, and an intricate tree of life with roots sprawling from the lighting rig to the floor.


Each seat in the Attenborough Studio is fitted with its own handheld touchscreen computer. A specially built kid-proof orange iPad if you like – robust enough to be dropped on the floor several times a day.


These "windows into the past" allow you to rotate a human skull, compare strands of DNA and play with an elephant's milk tooth. They even take your picture, which is then instantly splashed on the screens around the auditorium. As if that weren't enough, you can tap in your email address to continue the quest to find out how closely related we are to bananas back at home or in the classroom.


"We wanted to use a whole arsenal of media and technologies," says Alisa Barry, executive producer of the film, "We have peppered the studio with infra-red. This allows the camera in the handheld computers to track movements and position the animation correctly."


It's always a challenge to keep teenagers entertained and focused for 45 minutes, so how did they react to the first screening? "They loved it," says Barry. "They laughed in the right places, but were also very quiet, even telling each other to shhhhhh at some points. I'm very relieved!"


Sir David may the best science teacher you could ever hope to have, but even he can't stop teenagers bursting into fits of giggles at the mere mention of Homo erectus."


Read more at The Guardian (Thanks @XxLadyClaireXx)

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Published on December 01, 2010 00:34

Without a guide humans walk in circles

"Scientists have confirmed the popular belief that without anything to guide them humans really do walk in circles. It suggests we shouldn't trust our senses when lost. The research, originally commissioned by a popular science TV program in Germany, is published in the journal Current Biology.


Psychologist and author Dr Jan Souman, of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, says it's well known that people can walk in a straight line if they are in a known environment. "But I was trying to simulate what happens when you get lost and try to find your way out," he says. Souman conducted his experiments in a forest in Germany and parts of the Sahara Desert in Tunisia.


Volunteers were dropped off, in either the desert or forest, and shown which direction to walk towards, he says. 'They walked for about four hours." Souman says those people walking in the forest, on a day when the sun was visible, were able to use it as a guide. "They walked basically perfectly straight," he says. But when the sun disappeared, Souman says, the volunteers walked in circles.


Souman says in the desert volunteers walking when the sun was visible didn't walk in a straight line, but instead veered slightly to the left or right. "This is probably because in the desert there is nothing to give you a reference." He says at night, without the assistance of the moon, the volunteers didn't walk in exact circles either. "One guy turned completely back around on himself so he was going the opposite way he started.""


Read more at ABC (Thanks Christopher C)

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Published on December 01, 2010 00:09

November 30, 2010

Coops' charity moustache

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Coops, like my mother and many more of you, has embraced Movember and grown quite the handsome pair of lovelies under his nostrils. It is soon time for him to divest himself of the hairy stripes and once again resemble the baby chimp we have known and loved for so long. Will you donate something towards the Prostate Cancer Charity before he cuts, shaves and moisturises tonight? If you'd like to do this, you can do so here, and your personal level of happiness will be raised by a tiny but important fraction after doing something so kind.


Thank you, please carry on.


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Published on November 30, 2010 10:10

Journey to the edge of the universe

National Geographic presents the first accurate non-stop voyage from Earth to the edge of the Universe using a single, unbroken shot through the use of spectacular CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) technology. Building on images taken from the Hubble telescope, Journey to the Edge of the Universe explores the science and history behind the distant celestial bodies in the solar system.


This spectacular, epic voyage across the cosmos, takes us from the Earth, past the Moon and our neighboring planets, out of our Solar System, to the nearest stars, nebulae and galaxies and beyond – right to the edge of the Universe itself. When you finish this video, you will walk away from it with an awareness that you never had before, of the unseen astronomically massive universe that we float around on like a spec of dust in the ocean.


This video takes you on a journey through the universe as if you are watching a Sci Fi adventure. Yet you constantly have to remind yourself that what you're seeing is really out there.


Here's the full documentary below:

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Published on November 30, 2010 02:31

The surreal treehoppers

"Last week's Nature highlighted the sculptures of Alfred Keller (1902-1955), and the example, a model of the Brazilian treehopper Bocydium globulare, struck me as one of the weirdest animals I've ever seen:"


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Martin Kemp describes Keller's work:


"Keller was trained as a kunstschmied, an 'art blacksmith'. From 1930 until his early death he was employed by the Berlin Museum für Naturkunde (Museum of Natural History), painstakingly labouring over his recreations of insects and their larvae. Each took a year to complete. Keller worked first in plasticine, from which he cast a model in plaster. This plaster reference model he then recast in papier maché. Some details he added, cast in wax, with wings and bristles in celluloid and galalith (an early plastic material used in jewellery). Finally he coloured the surfaces, sometimes with additional gilding. The levels of patience and manual control Keller exercised were incredible. His fly, for example, boasts 2,653 bristles.


. . . Keller was a sculptor of monumental one-off portraits. Each model is a masterpiece, with no effort spared. It is difficult to see how such a skilled artisan could survive in today's museums, with their emphasis on cost analysis. Keller's exacting models may be things of the past, yet they are far from obsolete. Like the great habitat dioramas, they exercise a magnetic attraction.


The first thing a biologist does on seeing a model like this is think, "This can't be real," and resorts to some Googling. Sure enough, it's a real insect. Here are two photos:"


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Read more at Why Evolution Is True

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Published on November 30, 2010 00:51

3D printing offers ability to print physical objects

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"As Christmas fast approaches, millions will opt to spare themselves the crowded high street and instead settle down in front of the computer and do their shopping there. Yet buying online has always had one key disadvantage: you have to wait. Not only that, but the inability to touch a product, try it on, feel how heavy it is or do anything else you would do on your typical high street excursion prevents online shopping being the perfect experience. But technology is now coming online that could allow you to receive your goods straight away. As the cost of 3D printing hardware begins to drop, bespoke, printable products may be about to hit the market.


Freedom of Creation is a design and research company exploring the capabilities of what, in the industry, is known as rapid prototyping. Janne Kyttanen is the company's founder and creative director. "Imagine the potential of this for the fashion industry," he told Digital Planet on the BBC World Service. "I can measure your body, in 3D, and I can make you perfectly fitting garments in the future without any sewing and stitching, making the needle and the thread obsolete." His company is now producing products for companies including Asics, Tommy Hilfiger and Hyundai.


Away from the fashion world, 3D printing has many applications for the developing world. The ability to produce specially designed objects from a computer offers exciting possibilities for making vital tools in poorer, hard to reach areas. One scheme that is looking to capitalise in the technology is RepRap, short for Replicating Rapid Prototyping, which offers a cheap way of replicating objects – including the printer itself. "It's a 3D printer that prints out a kit of parts for another 3D printer," explained Dr Adrian Bowyer from the University of Bath."


Read more at BBC News (Thanks Shaun H)

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Published on November 30, 2010 00:17

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