dracodraconis | Tech stories for 27-June-2008

Pheonix finds Martian soil much like Earth - After completing the first ever wet chemistry analysis performed on another planet, scientists discovered that Martian soil is a bit salty, but has enough to support growing plants like asparagus. The only thing missing was organic carbon. It was described by one researcher as being like soils found in some places in Antartica.

RFIDs might interfer with some medical devices - A study recently published in the JAMA demonstrated that some RFIDs caused electromagnetic interference with some medical devices, such as ventilation machines and syringe pumps. This has important implications for hospitals that have made increasing use of RFIDs to track everything from sponges to bedpans.

Volcanoes under the Arctic ice - well, at least until the ice is gone (possibly by September). An international team has found evidence of explosive vulcanism consisting of extensive fields of volcanic ash. The Gakkel ridge, that crosses through the Artic ocean and is spreading at a rate of 6 to 14 mm each year. What makes the find unusual is that it was believed that explosive vulcanism was impossible at depths greater than 3 km due to the immense weight of water pressing down, but deposits have been found at a depth of almost 4 kilometres.

Girls just as competitive as boys, just in a different way - A study of competitiveness among pre-school children concluded that girls are just as competitive as boys, but where boys use aggression, girls use social exclusion to control others.

ICANN approves rules expanding domain names - according to the new rules, domains can use any word in the English language, opening he door for domains like .ebay and .sex. After all, the internet IS for porn.