Weekend renovations

It was a busy weekend; we reorganized the main floor of the apartment. Photos under the cut for those who are interested.

( Weekend reno shots )

Invisible hearing aids and Killer Asteroids

Physics Org

Breakup event in the main asteroid belt likely caused dinosaur extinction 65 million years ago - A joint U.S.-Czech team from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and Charles University in Prague suggests that the parent object of asteroid (298) Baptistina disrupted when it was hit by another large asteroid, creating numerous large fragments that would later create the Chicxulub crater on the Yucatan Peninsula as well as the prominent Tycho crater found on the Moon.

Hot Ice to Lubricate Artificial Joints - A recent simulation has shown that thin layers of ice could persist on specially treated diamond coatings at temperatures well above body temperature, which could make ice-coated-diamond films an ideal coating for artificial heart valves, joint replacements, and wear-resistant prosthetics.

Discovery may help defang viruses - Researchers may be able to tinker with a single amino acid of an enzyme that helps viruses multiply to render them harmless, according to molecular biologists who say the discovery could pave the way for a fast and cheap method of making vaccines.

Pressure sensors in the eye - Sensors can monitor production processes, unmask tiny cracks in aircraft hulls, and determine the amount of laundry in a washing machine. In future, they will also be used in the human body and raise the alarm in the event of high pressure in the eye, bladder or brain.

Right breakfast bread keeps blood sugar in check all day - If you eat the right grains for breakfast, such as whole-grain barley or rye, the regulation of your blood sugar is facilitated after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was previously not known that certain whole-grain products have this effect all day. This is due to a combination of low GI (glycemic index) and certain type of indigestible carbohydrates that occur in certain grain products.

Texas Startup Says It Has Batteries Beat - An Austin-based startup called EEStor promised "technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries," meaning a motorist could plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles roundtrip between Dallas and Houston without gasoline. EEStor's secret ingredient is a material sandwiched between thousands of wafer-thin metal sheets, like a series of foil-and-paper gum wrappers stacked on top of each other. Charged particles stick to the metal sheets and move quickly across EEStor's proprietary material. The result is an ultracapacitor, a battery-like device that stores and releases energy quickly.

news@nature

Schizophrenia genes 'favoured by evolution' - The genes that underpin schizophrenia may have been favoured by natural selection, according to a survey of human and primate genetic sequences. The discovery suggests that genes linked to the debilitating brain condition conferred some advantage that allowed them to persist in the population — although it is far from clear what this advantage might have been.

Technology Review Feed - Tech Review Top Stories

Is a Virus Behind the Honeybee Plague? - Scientists have identified a likely culprit underlying the massive and mysterious plague that has killed off tens of millions of bees in the United States over the past year. By sequencing the DNA of every microbe inhabiting the bees, researchers have pinpointed a novel virus strongly linked to infected hives. The findings could help beekeepers protect their colonies. The research also suggests an effective new method for identifying infectious pathogens, be they from bees or humans.

Animation for the Masses - Computer-generated effects are becoming increasingly more realistic on the big screen, but these animations generally take hours to render. Now, Adobe Systems, the company famous for tools like Photoshop and Acrobat Reader, is developing software that could bring the power of a Hollywood animation studio to the average computer and let users render high-quality graphics in real time. Such software could be useful for displaying ever-more-realistic computer games on PCs and for allowing the average computer user to design complex and lifelike animations.

The Invisible Hearing Aid - Hearing aids help millions of people, but many resist them because they think wearing one carries a social stigma. Hearing aids also have serious lifestyle limitations: the hearing impaired can't wear them while showering or swimming, and most models are hard to wear while sleeping. Now, a new kind of hearing aid that aims to overcome these problems is in clinical trials. It's invisible and waterproof because all of its circuitry--including its battery and microphone--is in the user's head.

To teach or not to teach: Nature article

From: To teach or not to teach? by Chris Rowan

One of the biggest surprises of my fledgling academic career is how much I've come to enjoy teaching. Helping students to understand a difficult concept, or seeing their imagination gripped by a new idea, is immensely rewarding. But right now, indulging this passion is not without its dangers. I had a chance to ponder the conflicting risks and rewards during two weeks that I spent out in the field with my Johannesburg students, looking at some of the oldest rocks on the planet.

I enjoyed myself, and because good knowledge of the material is necessary to teach other people properly, I learnt a lot myself about what ancient lavas and sediments — the subjects of our study — could tell us about Earth 3.5 billion years ago.

On the other hand, it could be argued that the short-term nature of my position here means I can ill afford to spend time away from my research. Involving myself in teaching is 'good experience' to put on my CV, but counts for nothing without more tangible qualifications such as a good publication record.

It seems like a bit of a paradox. But to give myself the best chance of getting a teaching position in the future, I may have to ration how much teaching I actually do in the present.

His commentary makes sense given that what universities want is a strong track record of publishing rather than experience teaching.

Apple stuff: iPods and iPhones

Apple has, apparently, been busy. Now that they have sucked the cash out of the early adopters, they have reduced the price of the iPhone by $200(US), making some people very unhappy. Meanwhile, they released the new iPod with, to nobody's surprise, a touch-sensitive screen most recently seen on the iPhone, as well as WiFi capability. You can still by the "old" iPod, now redubbed the "iPod Classic" (kind of like Coke Classic). The new touch-iPod come complete with a version of Safari to make it easier to give money to companies like Starbucks with whom Apple has partnered.