RMS Titanic Yields Mysterious Microbes

In 1912 when the RMS Titanic set sail on its maiden voyage from Southampton England to New York City, many speculated that the massive ship would prove unsinkable.  But then en route it encountered an iceberg that collided with the massive vessel ending the lives of 1,517 people including its captain.  But as this mysterious disaster has captured the imaginations of millions it still yields new mysteries almost every time it is investigated.  And now the latest mystery is the presence of some previously undiscovered passengers.  But unlike the other passengers, these did not have a ticket and most did not arrive on the vessel until years after it sank.



 
The new residents are a type of microbe previously undiscovered known as Halomonas titanicae were named after the ill fated ship.  And just as the vessel of its namesake, Halomonas titanicae will be a matter of scientific interest for quite some time.  The microbes live in the porous structures that are developed on top of rust as it turns the once proud ship into a tomb no doubt to be left to the annals of history for the coming centuries.

But even as the ship remains in its resting place never to rise again from the waters, a new breed of passenger somehow throughout the next 100 years stowed away on the ship and started multiplying in masse.  Halomonas titanicae, though previously unknown to scientists is proving quite the interesting specimen.  Though they were gathered up twelve years ago by the Mir 2 Robotic submersible pod, they have remained in laboratories without being discovered.

But just recently, researchers at Dalhousie University uncovered what appeared to be a new life form in laboratories.  And as they explored the organisms closer, they realized that it may have dramatic implications for the development of future seafaring technology and could change our views entirely on one of the constant threats to operations taking place in water - rust.

But the microbes and the rust on which they were discovered may soon be under scientific scrutiny as their discovery allows scientists to look more deeply into how the mysterious formations known as "rusticles."  Rusticles are icicle-like formations that often appear on sunken ships after they sink beneath the waves.  But up until recently the true meaning of their presence was largely unknown.  And far from the once long thought abandoned warehouses devoid of life, it turns out now that many bacteria may consider them home including the titanicae which allow for the formations to develop their strange stalagmite and stalagtite-like structures.  The formations are suspected to be the homes to many other bacteria as well.  What else will we discover as we explore this ancient watery tomb?  If there's anything this most recent discovery tells us, it's that we may not actually have to go out for another expedition in order to discover anything at all.  The rusting of vessels is also a very important point of research for many who suggest the discovery of these formations could even lead to cheaper ways of preventing rust in long

Volunteer Cyborg to Implant Camera in Head

Cybernetically enhanced humans are still pioneering new ways of augmenting themselves through the use of technology and with the integration of computerized chips into their own bodies.  And now one of these cybernetic frontiersmen is volunteering a section in the back of his own head to be implanted with a camera system to automatically survey his environment. The purpose of the implant?  Self expression.  He wishes to catch everything going on behind his back and have it transmitted to an art exhibit in Qatar.
The chip has already caused a stir amongst privacy advocates who suggest the endeavor will make public everything that goes on literally behind Wafa Bilal's back.  The tiny camera, estimated to be the approximate size of a contact lens will snap pictures periodically once every two minutes.  Assuming Mr. Bilal's project gets the green light with health officials, the move could be mimicked in due time by others.  While the technology exists to create more advanced camera implants, even including tiny video cameras as seen with homemade real life superhero "Eyeborg," the cost and size of the system were likely both factors in selecting what Mr. Bilal ultimately decided on.

The art exhibit in itself will likely be very interesting.  As one would expect, it is perceivable that filming the opposite side of everything going on in a college professor's life could yield some surprising results.  But even with this in mind, perhaps the most compelling aspect of this story is the way it paves for the future.  Futurists have suggested for years that the only thing keeping us from a world where technological questions of ethics are commonplace is  waiting period before they become contemporary.  In other words, as cameras get smaller it's only a matter of time before they become a part of more peoples' bodies.  And once that happens, it's easy enough to surmise that our planet will have a very real question about when and where camera surveillance is and is not occurring - particularly if the implants cannot be reliably turned off and on.  Think about everywhere you go being observed, and everything you see being transmitted to a remote area elsewhere.  Would this have an effect on what you do?

While privacy is obviously a concern for Mr. Bilal's students, what of other parties involved?  How would you act around a man the world was constantly tuning in to?  And if Mr. Bilal was able to transmit audio as well as pictures of his life, what conclusions would people draw about him?  In 1998 the film The Truman Show received mixed reviews for its take of a clandestine television corporation taking on every aspect of one man's life and transmitting it as a television show.  Are we soon to face a reverse scenario where Truman is running the show?  And if this is the case, what will we learn both about him and ourselves?  And what will the face of our planet look like when there is not one, but thousands of others like Bilal?

Robot Unveiled that "Feels Love"

Stefan Ulrich, German designer, and inventor of the newest bizarre robot has alleged that his robot can simulate a strange creature "falling in love" with its owner.  The robots are specially designed to hug and cling to their owners, though they don't actually have arms.  And these amorphous automatons are creating quite a bit of stir amongst some AI advocates who suggest once a robot has been invented that can fall in love, it has taken a significant step toward becoming more human.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately depending on who you ask, an understanding of the systems behind these robots suggests that perhaps the words "falling in love" may be a bit too ambitious to describe Ulrich's invention.  Still, the cuddle bots are designed to provide a PG rated level of affection with their owners by sensing their presence, their movements, and even the sensation of touch as they are petted.  Though they may not be the latest strain of super robots designed to take over the world, many of those interested in the subject of artificial intelligence are vociferously declaring it dangerous to start using words such as "love" with so simple a robot as the advanced machine Ulrich has put forward.

Can a robot feel love?  AI futurists say the answer is most certainly yes, but with a few asterisks.  First, we would have to establish what love is within certain parameters and take into account various differences in the concept of love.  By the end of the exercise, however, many have come to the conclusion that AI robots can feel love assuming love is something that can be defined.  The simple fact of the matter is, within a reasonable equation such as the one proposed, many of us, although knowing when something is or is not love, still have yet to agree upon a strict set of parameters that can define love to the satisfaction of the scientific community.

Sensors buried just beneath the creature's "skin" react to touch, color, and warmth indicating when someone around them is pleasant to be around.  This alone creates a simulation of love that Ulrich is confident will go a long way toward synthesizing affection.  In a recent interview with "The Sun," Ulrich outlined his motivation for undertaking the project, "People already bury themselves in possessions and shield themselves from real life with technology. So if robots and objects can fulfill all their emotional needs as well, why do they need other humans?"  The words, while seemingly innocent actually paint a strange picture on the state of human nature in the 21st century.  In our effort to control all aspects of our lives while affording others infinite freedom, are we really willing to lose the affection of human contact in favor of a synthetic alternative?  While this device alone is likely no danger to worldwide interpersonal relationships, it will be interesting to see how this device - and others like it - will catch on.  Will the strange amorphous robots become a new type of "meta-pet?"  Or will they simply be considered creepy in their attempt to subvert human contact?  It seems likely technology from this object could be used in teddy bears and children's dolls, but will likely not actually replace true human interaction.  Still, given sufficient time, will we reach a point where we cannot tell the difference?

Will Ours be the Last Generation to Die?

Scientists at Harvard Medical Institution have discovered a way to not only stop aging in mice, but actually turn their old and worn out organs into new and rejuvenated ones with a simple drug administered by a syringe.  Will the new miracle drug also be able to add years or even centuries to human existence?  Or will this youth in a needle drug turn out to be nothing but a pain?
The incredible experiment centered around the basic fundamentals of aging.  As cells divide, the ends of each strand of DNA has a barrier on it known as a telomere.  As cells divide throughout the natural course of life, eventually these telomeres become shorter.  As the telomeres eventually deteriorate - so does the human body's ability to divide healthy cells with no reduced structural quality.  When the telomeres get too short, the body starts to break down.  We know this process as aging.

So Ronald DePinho dared to ask the question, "What if this process could be stopped entirely?"  After genetically engineering a new type of mouse to be born without the ability to produce Telomares, they aged rapidly and the deterioration of their cells killed them.  But then afterward, the doctor began injections of the enzyme through a syringe and this brought back the cellular deterioration that had previously happened just as though the aging was a wound that needed to be healed.  If this technology were somehow applied to human cells in a way that worked effectively, it could mean future generations could be genetically modified to never age or die from age related diseases.

Of course such drastic genetic modification would not only be extremely difficult, but would raise several ethical questions as well.  Is it right to genetically modify your own children if you know they will never age or die?  What if the decision meant they would depend forever on injections in order to sustain their youth or risk dying?  And what effect would such a process have on the rest of the population down the genetic line?

Imagine attempting to explain age and dying to someone who will likely live for centuries and quite possibly never have to deal with concepts such as aging themselves.  How different would our society look?

Of course in addition to the negative aspects of such a possibility, there are numerous potential benefits as well.  Unfortunately, long before these potential drawbacks are fully understood there is a real possibility that the urgency of such genetic development could require it to be implemented long before the potential long term dangers could be understood.

Take into consideration the use of an irreversible medical system in the case of a great thinker whose expertise is needed to progress humanity, for example.

Of course the dependency on regular injections could eventually be removed from the equation entirely.  And by extending life, scientists could ensure those seeking the answers would be around for when the technology reached this level of development.

Thousands of Birds Drop Dead Unexplainably

New Years Eve saw the appearance of a very strange sight in the streets and fields around a small town in Arkansas.  Amid the litter of revelry from the night before, city officials found that thousands of dead blackbirds had been found to have fallen from the sky around town, but no one knows why.  What do you do when thousands of blackbirds mysteriously fall dead from the sky?  Investigators are scrambling to discover if this is a new dangerous disease or if it will remain an unsolved mystery like another one in 2010.


 
In 2010 we first brought you coverage of a story of hundreds of starlings that fell out of the sky and into one woman's garden over the course of only a few seconds.  The woman came home that night to investigate and was horrified to find hundreds of the birds simply laying on the ground outside her house.  The birds were so numerous she found it difficult to move into her house without nudging any of them.  Fearing a potential disease outbreak, she phoned the authorities and an animal control official was dispatched to her house where several samples were collected and more than a few tests were made.  The tests were the same in every case.  The birds had not been poisoned, showed o signs of distress, and had simply died unexpectedly of blunt trauma while flying in midair.  Of course no one saw anything that ran into the birds and apparently neither did the birds themselves.  Some speculated that an invisible wall had sprung up and soon talk of a UFO was brought up.  I remember contacting several people trying to get firsthand information about whether it could be a sudden hailstorm, thoroughly convinced I had solved the puzzle over the official explanation of just where these birds were coming from and why they were dying so suddenly out of nowhere.

Karen Rowe, a commission ornithologist for the city said that this sort of thing has happened elsewhere, but the statement is perhaps accidentally misleading as while it does happen occasionally elsewhere it is actually extremely rare.  The whole reason this is news is because an ultra rare and very troubling thing has happened again.  Of course there's also the fact that Rowe has the all important job of ensuring panic doesn't set in on the town it took place in.

Fortunately for us all this sort of thing did happen before without any noticeable consequence for the town it took place in.  But what could be the explanation?  And could this mass dying of birds have anything to do with the incident that happened in Julie Knight's garden?  With any luck this latest incident will prove to be just as harmless and isolated as the other.

The official explanation is still being explored, but several of those proposed to make the event seem more normal are also fairly unlikely.  Included in these theories is one suggesting that the birds died as a result of sudden fireworks explosions resulting in trauma.  If this were the case, then fireworks all over the world would be regularly causing mass heart attacks in birds resulting in thousands of deaths every year.  Shortly thereafter the event would be occurring regularly at the fourth of July and New Years.  Another suggestion was a sudden hailstorm.  While I had proposed this in the Knight case, as this happened all over the city in the middle of winter it seems less likely that it could happen without evidence of the storm being left behind.

The evidence seems to suggest that all of these birds interacted with something that resulted in their deaths, but it didn't affect anything else.  As other birds didn't seem affected by it, this suggests possibly a disease that deals exclusively with blackbirds or even more likely a fast acting toxin that the birds flew into while in a flock.  As some started dying off they dispersed and eventually were also claimed by the toxin.  If no toxins are discovered in the bodies, however, the mystery will only deepen.  Perhaps they flew into a pocket where there was increased carbon dioxide.  The trauma could have been caused by the fall as they returned to Earth.

Hopefully in due time this mystery will be solved.

Mystery Missiles Still Making Appearances

Whatever you may think of the mystery of strange aerial phenomena, there has been quite a bit of coverage of so called mystery missiles in the past few months.  In November the devices seemed to be popping up all over the world, each one as enigmatic as the last.  And as the numbers piled up many people proposed everything from military test vehicles to secret satellite launches.  But after a brief lull at the end of December, a new contrail sighting has cropped up that seemingly has no explanation. The video taken by witnesses shows a single white stripe flying up into the sky and disappearing at a point.  Unlike traditional aircraft, the contrail doesn't appear to move at all horizontally across the sky, instead favoring a perfectly vertical trajectory into the atmosphere.  But even as this UFO video is being given the silent treatment by a media now more concerned with massive animal die-offs, some are speculating that this is further evidence that seems to vindicate the strange series of missile sightings at the end of last year.  But what is it?

The object appears to be distant, and in the middle of the desert it's possible it could have gone up without being seen at all.  But witnesses with a cell phone video taped the object as it shot up into the sky and this footage made it to the hands of a news team dedicated to getting the truth on the matter.  As they showed the footage to the world for the first time, the theories behind what it could be quickly started pouring in.

Could it be a military spy plane?  A military test vehicle with the ability to move straight up into the air is nothing new, but the speed, height, and incline seem to suggest a rocket propulsion system.  The fact that it leaves behind a fluffy white contrail could suggest fuel accelerants used in jets and rockets.  If it's a test vehicle, it is possible its driver could be a computer guidance system, and the passenger intended for it could be a weapons payload.  Missile tests are not generally broadcast and depending on the type of missile may actually violate international treaties.  And therefore, when nations test these weapons it is usually kept under strict secrecy.  But then would such a system be tested during broad daylight?

What about a private rocket system?  It's no secret that corporations are showing quite a bit of interest in the space program.  And with an increased dependence on GPS systems and satellites, there's no need to get materials into space than ever.  But why the secrecy?  Would it really be more difficult to simply lie about the cargo onboard the rocket than to build your own and secretly launch it?  And what could warrant such a clandestine operation?  And as with any question when dealing with corporate entities, if there is no profit in it, it's less likely they would engage in it.

Could a flying saucer be the cause?  Rather than call the object a UFO (it is, after all unidentified and clearly flying) let's just come right out and ask if the device could be a flying saucer or similar craft of unconventional Earthly origin.  But if this was the case, why would it need to leave a massive contrail behind it?  Witnesses worldwide have seen these objects and reported that they do not leave behind contrails.  In fact, the objects don't seem to leave behind any evidence of any kind often, and certainly don't have to use conventional rocket fuel to fly through the air.  At least not as far as we know.  If it was alien in origin, which is admittedly a sort of catch-all theory, why aren't more of these objects seen leaving behind a plume of smoke when they leave Earth?

So could it be a conventional aircraft viewed at a specific angle making the illusion that it's a missile?  Look at the video and try to imagine what angle the object would have to be at in order to create an illusion like this.  Then take into consideration that the object was spotted by multiple witnesses from different angles and all could agree on one central fact -that it was entirely unexplainable.

Collie Knows Over a Thousand Words

In an incredible piece of information from the amazing world of animals, Chaser the Border Collie has been studied at the University of Woffard (not Woofard) where they discovered that he understands the names of several hundred objects and can even understand the words for acquiring them.  The Collie is one of the masters of language, but is said to have the vocabulary prowess of a typical human being during early development.  Now if only we could teach him to "speak."
Chaser has been taught the names of several objects including typical nouns of several objects and then the words for what to do with them.  John Pilley and Alliston Reid gave Chaser extensive training on words and their meanings and now the border Collie can not only pick these objects out in a lineup, but can understand more complex commands that make "sit" "stay" and "roll over" look like child's play.  The researchers were looking to understand what the limits of dog training could be when it came to words and commands.  What they discovered was astounding.  Try as they might, they couldn't find any limit to how many words a dog could learn given sufficient training.  By the end, they had taught Chaser over 1,022 words and he showed no signs of slowing down.  Eventually, the test was concluded only because they ran out of time.

It's no question that dogs are incredibly intelligent animals.  In addition to being able to understand basic shapes and objects, they apparently can understand.  They would even combine the preset names and commands together to see if they could figure out what he would do.  After extensive training they found that Chaser not only understood the objects, but also more complex and abstract concepts behind them.  The true weight of Chaser's intelligence was astounding both to Pilley and Alliston, but left many questions still unanswered.  How far could an animal's intelligence be taken?  If given the proper stimuli, how complex could the commands get?  Could seeing eye dogs and other service animals one day be able to be communicated with and even communicate back in their own way?  And if so, what would they say?

While it's difficult to train a dog to do something such as express their feelings, a service animal might be able to use their training to communicate ideas about concrete objects and ideas.  "I see three people and one chair in this room," certainly doesn't seem to be beyond the understanding of a sufficiently (and extensively) trained dog given the circumstances surrounding this experiment.  Of course I wouldn't then also expect the same dog to be able to say something along the lines of, "I don't know about that carpet.  It doesn't seem to go well with the color scheme you have in here."  If for no other reason than dogs are colorblind.

In the beginning, dogs were thought to be dumb but trainable animals.  And as we continued to study them we discovered that their capacity for language was practically without horizon.  So how long before we truly understand just how far the canine consciousness can parallel our own?

Financial Skynet: The Economy Run by Machines

In May of last year one of the greatest drops ever seen by those involved in the US stock exchange took place and the average person had a very different perception of just what went on when it did.  Thinking a massive panic had ensued due to some little known tidbit of knowledge resulting in the stock plunge, after the recovery in the following days we all sighed a breath of relief.  But then it turns out the market is not actually run by people.  According to economists and the New York Times, 75% of all trade volume is done rapidly by computers with no humans involved.  And the next stock market collapse might just be one computer glitch away.


In 2006, the London Stock Exchange had 40% of its market under the influence of so called "Algo" or Algorithmic trading (also known as High Frequency trading).  By 2007 the majority of all trading going on in the stock exchange had become by automatic machines.  And today only a fraction of all trading on the stock exchange is done by something other than an automated machine.  The fact that the foundation of a large part of the economy happens automatically with no oversight due to supercomputers based both in and around the stock exchange as well as the rest of the US has some people concerned about transparency and a great deal more worried about the actions of a single entity wishing the world harm or to swindle others out of millions.

A single hacker, according to some experts, could take advantage of the problems inherent in the system and then destroy the lives of many people financially.  But there's another side to this that seems just as disturbing.  Right now the exclusive purpose of these computers is to interface with one another in order to make those who own the computers money.  With little human intervention in place, these various machines are essentially communicating and becoming one large machine.  And that's what runs no less than 75% of the stock market on any given day.  With computers deciding the fates of billions of dollars, a sufficiently powerful computer could in theory even honestly just find a way to beat the system and take up the greater part of the economy with only a few dollars at the beginning.  Of course that's an extreme scenario and seems fairly unlikely with the checks and balances in place.  Right?

Given enough time, a machine could generate millions of dollars by a combination of luck, a little bit of insight, and a lot of processing power.  And if that same computer were owned by someone who then manipulated the market, they could theoretically then have a bounty of resources to make their next move.

Of course at the moment this is mostly just the stuff of science fiction.  But it's unnerving to think that in a world where the world's governments are now taking active steps to fight against economic instability, computers are actually the ones in charge of the economy.  And rather than a simple problem of transparency, the investors themselves don't actually know what's going on in the market for the most part.  And now it's all becoming part of a vast and incredible machine who knows all that happens to its financial market.

A Digital Brain by 2029....!!!

Scientists have pointed out that as the limitations of the integrated circuit limit the ability of an artificially intelligent machine, the projected progress outlined by Moores Law will ultimately finally reach the edge of its limitations.  But as new developments in quantum computers come forth each passing year, the AI of tomorrow may use quantum computers already in development to function.  And as such, what can we make of Moore's Law which suggests a human digital brain could reach our desktops by the year 2029?

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of artificial intelligence is that Moore's Law has not, as so many have predicted, slowed down.  Rather, in 2008 the progress of transistors in computers has -in fact- sped up.  In 1990 the release of the 486 computer carried with it approximately one million transistors and was capable of playing tic tac toe extremely well, but only capable of playing chess at a beginner level.  It has been estimated that the human brain's cerebral cortex carries within it twenty billion neurons, and the entire brain houses somewhere around fifty billion.  If this analysis is to be believed, then the human brain is essentially equivalent in processing power to twenty-five Quad-Core Itanium Tukwila computer processors (developed in 2008).  Earlier this year a new type of transistor was developed that operated similarly to a human brain's.  If we were to take the processing power of the most advanced processors and put them together with these new neuron-like transistors would we ultimately create a facsimile of the human brain?  Unfortunately, not yet.  Such a device would only have an equivalent processing power to a human brain and would not necessarily be able to process information in a comparable way.

But then we take into account the potential learning capabilities of social machines such as Kismet, which has a certain degree of interactive intelligence and even expressive features, and the powers of perception and reaction such as the TOPIO robot, which can play ping-pong, and somehow find a way for these machines to become creative using mathematical algorithms and suddenly the possibility of true Artificial Intelligence no longer becomes an issue left to the imagination of science fiction.  Instead, such a system would be able to interact with its environment in a way that would be difficult to distinguish from human interaction.  Additionally, such a system would almost certainly be able to then begin designing a new system of thinking that made programming as well as some forms of human problem solving a thing of the past.  It would then also at this point begin designing a more efficient means of improving itself.  At this point such a machine is at the threshold of reaching a singularity.  The future AI systems such a machine would design would be capable of designing better systems, and so on.

Current projections suggest we may have a realistic human brain in computer format by the year 2029, and this brain could be manufactured to help humanity at this level by not only conveying information, but developing and processing it.  And by that point will it be ethical to reprogram them or turn them off?

It's easy when dealing with this issue to let fear be the primary guiding judge of whether or not to explore this new horizon of technology.  But if humans have developed the capability of creating life, are we not by this point capable of transcending such basic emotions as fear of the unknown?  And what could we learn about ourselves if we created an entirely artificial yet wholly conscious entity?

Algae as Fuel

With the navy's move shifting toward newer and greener fuel bases, it's clear that the new fleet's primary concerns list fuel among their top priorities.  And now a ship running off of algae promises to be one of the most effective and interesting looking steps toward a military that not only protects the people of its nation but can utilize resources from almost any source, even growing its own fuel onboard or harvesting it from the sea.  The move is part of a cooperative to make the fleets entirely independent of fuel by the year 2020.

Listed among the possibilities for fuel sources in the year 2020 are nuclear reactors to power ships, solar panels to be used as backup and supplementary generators, and a new development - algae laced fuels.  The fuel currently being used relies on 50% algae and 50% diesel fuel.  The emissions have been hailed as being far less toxic and unlike ethanol, the fuel does not require a massive burning off of food crops in order to sustain it.  The claim that the emissions are less toxic than ethanol may be misleading as the term "toxic" does not necessarily mean lower carbon emissions, but the move is certainly a step toward a more sustainable and economically intelligent military.

The ship was first tested the 22nd of October during a training exercise involving several ships in a wargame-like scenario.  And the exercise has been hailed largely as a huge success.  Is this the military of the future?  Can we expect a green military concerned with its environment as much as it is with victory?

The development is not, however, motivated entirely by ecological interest alone.  In fact, the military in producing this algae driven fuel is in fact making a very intelligent tactical decision as well.  As fuel supplies are a concern in the United States, a lack of fuel or requiring fuel resources to be stockpiled and stored away may grind a military force to a halt.  If the fuel supply were disrupted in any large way, it could rush military forces in a predictable and tactically unsound way toward supply lines in an attempt to retake them.  But if the military were to run exclusively off of power sources that were easily replaced and even grown on the ships themselves this could drop the costs and the supply chain almost entirely from the equation.

But it's not quite the holy grail of military technologies just yet as development still must be made for growing and processing the fuel.  At the moment with the systems in place the algae based fuel systems can cost up to $23,320 per 55-gallon container.  And if this sounds outrageous, keep in mind it is only $24 per gallon over the current cost of diesel.  While the diesel itself is relatively cheap, its transportation requires such a large cost that in just a few years this and other technologies may actually save the military money in the long run in addition to being tactically superior.

Ice Cold at Center of the Sun an Atmospheric Research

The sun is a searing 9,941 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface. And yet one scientist says what lies beneath may not be so hot at all, as dark matter works to cool it at the center. Royal Holloway's Dr. Stephen West has a theory that the mysterious substance, which comprises an astonishing 80 percent of the universe, and whose very existence has been a subject of hot debate recently, actually has a lasting effect on the sun to chill it out.

Everyone is told that staring at the sun too long will cause you to go blind. And yet Dr. West, though studying the sun for years has only been endowed with brilliant insight. The unexpected find has Dr. West and his colleagues excited as they propose a study on the Sun to discover the mysterious energy. Dark matter is a substance that has never been created in a lab or even directly observed, though its effects can be seen every night with a high powered telescope as stars exhibit unexplained gravitational perturbations with which scientists can speculate more gravity (and therefore mass) must somehow invisibly exist.


And yet if this matter is affected by gravity, then Dr. West says, it can get caught up in other passing celestial bodies. One prime candidate would be the sun, which has been traveling through the galaxy for several million years with matter collecting within it. The sun must therefore have not only a small amount, but a great deal of dark matter built up within it. This collection would then be absorbed and travel to the center of the sun where it would collect in a massive pool at the center, cooling the sun as it takes in massive amounts of the mysterious energy. And if this were the case, then this Dark Matter would still exist in our very own dark matter collector, locked away behind two billion billion billion tons of helium and fire.


By creating and then studying several simulations on the effect this buildup could have, Dr. West has theorized that the heat from the core could be absorbed by dark matter and then repelled outward while the center cools. As a result, those comparing heat to the center of the sun may actually be wrong. According to this theory, the center of the sun could actually be freezing.


Dr. West goes on, as Science Daily reports, to speculate on the possibility that not only could dark matter be there as a chance occurrence of its travel through the stars, but could actually play an important role in solar physics. Although, before this possibility is confirmed, further study is warranted, including further study of Dark Matter such as the experiments scheduled at CERN the Large Hadron Collider and Fermilab.


Though we may not ritually revere the sun as much as the Aztecs did, there is certainly a great deal of attention being given to our Solar friend even today. And with this incredible attention a sense of awe and wonder soon follows making it certain that we will be asking questions and studying for many years to come.

Design unveiled for world's fastest car

Farnborough:

A British team aiming to smash the current land speed record has unveiled the design of a pencil-shaped car that it hopes will travel at more than 1,000 miles (1,609 kms) an hour.

After three years of aerodynamic research, construction is about to begin on the Bloodhound Supersonic Car which will be powered by a jet engine and a rocket with the record attempt slated for 2012 in South Africa.

"We have fixed the shape," said Andy Green, the Royal Air Force fighter pilot who will drive the Bloodhound as it attempts to speed into the record books.

"Because of the modelling we have done, we know this shape will go to 1,000 miles an hour. Now we are actually going to get on and build it."

The same team, led by Briton Richard Noble, hold the current record of 763 mph set in 1997. At that stage Green became the first man to travel at supersonic speed on land, breaking the sound barrier.

Powered by a combination of a Typhoon fighter's jet engine and a Falcon rocket, the car unveiled at the Farnborough International Air Show will develop 135,000 horse power or 180 times the power of a Formula 1 car.

The record attempt, on a dry lake bed, will see it accelerate from stationary to 1,000 mph (1,609 kmph) in 4.5 miles (7.25 km) in 45 seconds.

But the team say their mission is not just to break the land speed record - they want to inspire the next generation of engineers and technologists.

Since the project was announced in October 2008 at the Science Museum in London, more than 1.5 million British school children have become involved in the Bloodhound Education programme.

A Mind Control Device

The Robotic Fish known as Robofish has been seen by scientists as the first step toward understanding and controlling fish schools in a laboratory.  Robofish is a sort of mind control device, though it only influences behavior rather than the minds of the fish who follow it.  It's essentially a fish designed to be lifelike enough to be mistaken as a stickleback fish by other fish.

The fish was demonstrated in a video found on the BBC's website where the gates to a tank are opened and the school remains crowded in a small area before suddenly the robotic fish shoots out of the tank followed with exact precision by others who suddenly share Robofish's interest for the outside world.  But to an outside observer, this first move would look more or less like a simple decision by the school as a whole.  This is because the fish are running on an instinct to follow the movements of others and act as a single entity.  When the most assured and confident of them is suddenly calling the shots the others naturally assume it is working on information it has gathered of the outside world.  This information can be the discovery of food, a predator, or some other need which ultimately results in the rest assuming they share a common goal.

Robofish is an interesting example of a group mentality being hijacked by an outsider.  Through use of Robofish scientists at Leeds University are actually able to control the movements of a school of fish.  It's unknown if the use of more Robofish in a single tank would actually increase the effectiveness of the followers, but it's eerie to watch as the device makes 90 degree turns and is quickly followed by the rest of the fish.  It's only when Robofish suddenly makes a turn away from the rest of the group that only a few investigate by observing, but ultimately decide it is making a choice to leave the group.

There are obvious application for robotic fish that could have far reaching advantages for those controlling fish schools to drive them away from ecological disasters.  An endangered species of any sort of pack animal may be able to be guided by a sufficiently convincing robot to move away from a dangerous area or toward more bounteous hunting grounds.  Unfortunately, this would have an understandable effect on the natural evolution of the creatures themselves, as any environmental factor can have, but it may be worth the cost if it allows the species to navigate this harsh period of mankind's quest to ensure the survival of biologically diverse ecosystems.

But it also raises an interesting analogy.  If Robofish were able to control schools of fish by manipulating the trends and pack mentality of the whole, how difficult would it be really to effectively manipulate human social trends as well?  Of course no one is suggesting that there are robotic people walking around guiding traffic, but in the years to come with the advancement of human understanding of group dynamics is it not possible that subtle movements could manipulate the vast reaches of mankind's progress through history by social engineering?  As tangential as it sounds, the difference is nothing more than a matter of how advanced the device is (such as television), and its purpose.

"God Helmet"

In the University of Sudbury, Canada, there is a device that reportedly synthesizes paranormal experiences by manipulating the brain by using electromagnetic stimulation at specific and complex frequencies and patterns. Test subjects report with relative consistency that their experiences using the "God Helmet" are so profoundly spiritual that they feel absolutely real. But does this make illegitimate the experiences of those who simply had the experiences outside of Dr. Michael Persinger's lab?

It's a deeply important and prevalent question. Is the paranormal an internal or an external force? And would the discovery of an internal source for consistent paranormal activity cause said activity to lose its paranormal "edge" and immediately cause it to become mundane? To examine the subject, let's take a look at the concept of near death experiences. Throughout time, near death experiences have manifest to people of all religious backgrounds, ages, and lifestyles with some regularity. Often these experiences are seen as sharing several themes in which the subject appears to see concepts and objects beyond their understanding along with strong emotions that either trigger inescapable fear and dispair or equally dramatic peace and understanding with the universe around them. It is the intensity of these emotions that often give them cause to change their entire lives (generally in a way they would consider to be better) and give hope to not only them, but those with whom they communicate. And there has been an incredibly thorough study of what exactly causes this going on since the 1970's. And Dr. Michael Persinger thinks he has the answer. Unfortunately, it is not one many want to hear.


An out of body experience is one where a person who is near death perceives themselves leaving their body and stepping outside of it into a room where they quickly find themselves drawn to a tunnel with a light at the end of it. As they travel down this tunnel, they are often met with spiritual imagery that is significant to them. Usually it's positive and hopeful, but occasionally it is negative and terrifying. As they go through the experience they often are told at the end that they must return to Earth for reasons beyond the understanding of the patient having the experience, and they awaken shortly thereafter. Is this a Jungian concept of death and transformation manifest into a dream state brought on by incredible trauma and stress? Or is the brain perceiving an external world which is triggered by this stress and trauma?


Dr. Persinger's study has shown that those wearing the "god helmet," a motorcycle with electrodes attached to it that bombard areas of the brain with specific magnetic frequency, can manifest any number of hallucinations ranging from speaking with dead relatives to seeing ghosts to actually feeling death and the experiences that follow.


But to say the god helmet can consistently explain the paranormal as a hallucination would be comparable to claiming that a television proves that the people on it were fictional. Is it not possible for the experiences to parallel real experiences without necessarily proving or disproving the existence of these concepts outside of the self?

Exorcism Via Internet

A Brazilian man claiming to be possessed by a dybbuk, or spirit, sought the spiritual guidance of Rav Chaim Kanievsky through friends of his. What he received was the first documented case of an exorcism performed via the internet telephone program Skype. It was a far different scene from exorcisms performed in films and was the first such "remote" exorcism performed by a Rabbi using the internet.

When Rav Chaim first heard the pleas of a small group of friends who said their friend was possessed, he asked several questions in order to ascertain whether this was indeed a dybbuk or merely mental illness manifesting as some form of supernatural oppression complex. When he ascertained that the demon appeared to be real, he recommended they speak with a more expert Rabbi on the subject of dybbuks. He recommended Rav Shteinman who forwarded them to Rav Dovid Batzri who is a well respected expert in the field of exorcisms. Unfortunately Rav Batzri was in Israel far from the Brazilian man's home. The solution? Patch Rav Batzri in through a live Skype feed and attempt the exorcism remotely.


As the exorcism began through live video, they did not connect with the entity and the exorcism failed. Of course this was no surprise to Kanievsky, who declared that remote exorcism would not be more successful via video phone as the person's presence was required for the ritual to succeed. Curently the Brazilian man is recovering from the exorcism, but it is unknown if the ritual was a success. After the Skype experiment failed, his friends arranged for him to travel to Israel where the exorcism took place under the guidance of myriad Rabbis, but including Kanievsky and Shteinman.


The inability of Rabbis to perform an exorcism may sound like bad news, but consider this: If an exorcism fails through an internet connection it would stand to reason that evil spirits (using a generalized editorial term) cannot travel directly via information but require some form of vessel in order to transport themselves. This may be good news for those who genuinely believe themselves afflicted by the ghosts of haunted websites or email chain letters. So this would put to rest the concept of spectral negative energy traveling through email altogether.


It may sound laughable, but the sheer number of chain letters traveling through the information superhighway at any given moment driven by superstition is absolutely staggering. If the experiment performed by Rav Batzri was any indicator of ghostly transferal through the electronic medium then these were sent out of false fears "just to be safe."


On the other hand, every medium throughout history that developed also evolved mystically. First it was images, hieroglyphs, and runes that were magically imbued or likewise cursed. Then it was the spoken word, incantations, and chants that held magical power. After that it was books, such as the Egyptian book of the dead. Film has now been likewise magically imbued, but it is now the internet that appears to become an almost haunted spectral place. How do we know the images of ghosts we so casually transmit from one place to another and the texts we have running through the very space around us and encompassing everywhere a wireless internet port is available isn't likewise haunted somehow?

Regeneration

Scientists have discovered that there is a gene within us all that prevents fast healing and limb regeneration, and that it can be turned "off" in some mice.  The discovery hopes to harbor in a new age where organ donation will not be required for patients to recover from damaged tissue, and we could grow our arms and legs back even if they were crippled beyond repair or removed entirely.

The P21 Gene, as it is called, was first discovered in creatures such as flatworms, which can turn from one organism into two if cut in half.  Could scientists one day sever an arm and hope to recover an entire human from the tissue?  Academics from the Wistar Institute have many speculating that this science fiction theory may one day soon become a reality.

The primary difference between a damaged animal with typical healing associated with those with the P21 gene and those lacking the gene has to do with how cell tissue forms after the damaged tissue begins the healing process.  Traditionally, the P21 gene results in damaged tissue turning into a scar, and closing up a wound in the simplest way possible.  The P21 gene, when turned off, allows for the development of a blastema, which is a source of rapid cellular development.  The structure allows all cells of damaged animals to behave more like embryonic stem cells than typical cells of adult humans.  The embryonic cells have within them the blueprints for the greater whole and move to make that whole more like the original.  Scientists hope to be able to deactivate the P21 gene after birth temporarily and be able to allow for a cellular re-growth of damaged limbs and organs that could result in life long after normal cellular regeneration would stop.

Imagine losing a finger in a carpentry accident.  Normally the wound would have to be cauterized and/or succored, then the area where the wound was would eventually close up leaving scar tissue.  But you would in the end be minus a finger.  With the P21 cellular regeneration, DNA from the healing cells would regenerate the finger slowly and re-grow it complete with bones, nerve endings, and all other required elements into what would eventually become a new digit just like the first.

There is, however, a downside to creatures with an inactive P21 gene.  The P21 gene is used largely to prevent cancer.  Luckily, mice with reported inactive P21 genes have not reported any increase in cancer.  Hopefully this trend will continue as research is done on humans.  Cellular division on this scale is virtually unprecedented in humans.  If scientists can find a way to render the P21 inactive, it could revolutionize the medical industry forever.  As with most things, however, many people fear that the technology will not be developed if there is no money in it.  But there are incredibly potent avenues for research to become quite profitable, as the process itself would no doubt be a very expensive one.  In the future, we may no longer have to worry about losing organs and/or limbs if this research becomes as fruitful as scientists hope.

"Power Armor"

In the fictional battlefields of sci-fi future specially trained soldiers are often depicted as using "power armor" to help them jump incredibly high, lift vehicles over their heads, and carry incredibly heavy equipment without being weighed down by its encumbrance.  So called Power Armor was once thought as a fantasy, but developers in Japan have embraced the idea and developed powered exoskeletons for law enforcement.

 

The suits have jointed motors that take the strength of the user and amplify it.  If a user lifts up a 100 lb dumbbell, but can only lift 70 lbs the suit can pick up the slack.  Sensors indicate the weight of the object, and cut the difference making a 100 lb dumbbell feel as though it weighed a far easier 50 lbs.  The suit itself braces the back and arms lifting as much as it can and distributing the rest to the user's muscles.  There is also a voice recognition system that takes commands the user gives.  For example, there is a considerably different muscle response from jumping over a vehicle to lifting a heavy crate.  Though the suits are not yet designed to be able to jump like this, it serves as an example of future dexterous endeavors that may be undertaken by the developers.

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology's Professor Shigeki Toyama is leading a team working to develop the power-suits.  Toyama is planning on developing a corporation to start production and sales of the power suits before December of this year.  Soon the product could be sold to law enforcement and military contracts, but also could be useful in warehouses and on farms where strength is key.

What will the cost be?  If you're planning on reenacting your favorite scene from Aliens using one of these suits you may have to pay one million yen (equivalent to $12,500 US) unless you want to wait until mass production halves the cost of the suit, which the makers estimate will likely happen shortly assuming demand for the suits is high enough.  Unfortunately, these suits are not being currently considered for sales overseas.  Of course this is natural at the moment, since the development stage is testing the market for a new product like this that has never been seen before.  It is likely that there will soon after be limited access in the US and then eventually a sister company will be set up that will produce the suits for military and industrial contracts shortly afterward.

Potential developments from this product would also be incredibly useful for astronauts should they ever find themselves on a planet surface such as Mars.  If the motor functions can amplify strength, they could also be calibrated to assist Mars explorers in gathering materials without worrying about their muscles becoming too used to the light surface of Mars.

Will the future of technology be implementing suits to enhance the strength of its users?  It's no secret that mobility is of the greatest importance to the military.  And if technological strength can be translated into physical strength, then it seems there will be far more physical powerhouses in the battlefield of tomorrow.

The Girl Who Never Ages

A young girl is under the scrutiny of scientists who say she may be one of the most important finds in the often sought fountain of youth.  The girl has been alive for seventeen years, but still looks and behaves like a one-year-old child.  She weighs 16 lbs and is only 30 inches in height.  Most people who see her say Brooke Greenberg is only a toddler.  But Brooke Greenberg is almost old enough to vote.  Scientists say the child is suffering from a rare genetic mutation.  And if scientists map her genome as they are hoping to do, they may find out why.

Brooke, age 17

When many scientists look at Brooke Greenburg, they see an opportunity to discover why we age.  When her mother sees her, she sees the girl who will never grow up - literally.  Researchers at the University of South Florida School of Medicine, led by Richard Walker, have suggested that the girl's rare condition is an opportunity for the team to study something that they have been attempting to uncover for years: why we age.  There are several theories, but the actual mechanics behind the aging process are often unclear or misleading.  "If we can compare her genome," Walker says, "to the normal version then we might be able to find those genes and see exactly what the do and how to control them."

Age is a matter that all humans have to come to terms with at some point in their lives.  We are born, we reach a peak age, and then we begin gradually to deteriorate before we die.  But what about a world where we didn't age?  That's the question several scientists are proposing.  If genes could be studied accurately, then not only could the aging process potentially be halted, there are some who suggest it could even be (in some ways) reversed.  Of course this field of research is still new, and there are a thousand different avenues of research that could help the whole world.

Meanwhile, life for Melanie and Howard Greenberg goes on in the suburb where they live.  It's a struggle as they continue to help Brooke through her life as an eternal toddler, changing her, rocking her to sleep, and attempting to teach her to speak.  Brooke crawls, smiles, and giggles when tickled, but has not yet mastered the art of speech.  In addition, she has suffered several potentially deadly illnesses and conditions.  But the girl who may hold the future in her genes is not without hope.  As research into her condition continues she may not only help others, but herself as well.  Scientists have already discovered that parts of her body are aging, just at different speeds.  Those researching her case have suggested that it's likely that her genes have been damaged in such a way that it makes it difficult for her body to coordinate the rate at which her body develops.  Scientists suggest if they could only figure out which gene, they could switch it on and off at will.  And maybe switching it on in Brooke would help her develop into an adult.  Would it be possible to then stop aging for the rest of us?