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Apr. 17th, 2008
For those of us about to fly....
Apr. 17th, 2008 08:11 amUser friendly has been doing a series of comics about flying in Canada.
Start here and work your way up to today's strip.
Start here and work your way up to today's strip.
Marigolds grow in lunar-like soil - European Space Agency researchers have determined that by adding certain types of bacteria to crushed anthracite, which is similar to rock found on the moon, plants were able to grow without requiring additional nutrients. The bacteria extracted what they needed from the crushed rock and were able to then provide nutrients for the plants. One scientist postulated a future in which plants and bacteria were modified to survive the lunar climate.
Neanderthal speech reproduced - at least a small part of it. A US anthropologist used reconstructions of the Neanderthal vocal apparatus to generate sounds as they might have been produced by our ancient cousins. They determined that they lacked the ability to produce the subtle difference between "beat" and "bit", what they refer to as a a "quantal vowel". The BBC has a more complete story here. This research follows on an earlier finding that Neanderthals possessed a component of the FOXP2 gene that is believed to be critical to speech.
Mining the permafrost - A research team from Canada and Japan believe that they may be able to mine the Arctic permafrost for methane in a fashion that is commercially viable. No word on any potential environmental impacts.
Want military equipment? Check eBay - US government investigators were disheartened to learn how easy it was to obtain sensitive military equipment on sites like eBay and CraigsList. They were trying to determine the level of difficulty in countries or organizations opposed to the US obtaining such equipment or information. The answer? Not very difficult at all.
Neanderthal speech reproduced - at least a small part of it. A US anthropologist used reconstructions of the Neanderthal vocal apparatus to generate sounds as they might have been produced by our ancient cousins. They determined that they lacked the ability to produce the subtle difference between "beat" and "bit", what they refer to as a a "quantal vowel". The BBC has a more complete story here. This research follows on an earlier finding that Neanderthals possessed a component of the FOXP2 gene that is believed to be critical to speech.
Mining the permafrost - A research team from Canada and Japan believe that they may be able to mine the Arctic permafrost for methane in a fashion that is commercially viable. No word on any potential environmental impacts.
Want military equipment? Check eBay - US government investigators were disheartened to learn how easy it was to obtain sensitive military equipment on sites like eBay and CraigsList. They were trying to determine the level of difficulty in countries or organizations opposed to the US obtaining such equipment or information. The answer? Not very difficult at all.