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6/30/08

Save your Strands from Summertime Damage




If you’re a swimmer like me, you know your hair can take a beating from chlorine and constant postswim showering and styling.To protect my hair from the pool water’s harsh, dehydrating chemicals, I always use a swim cap. Before I put it on, I finger-comb a thick hair mask through my hair. So then I’m getting a great workout and a deep-conditioning treatment. That’s my kind of multitasking. Of course, you also need to protect your hair when you’re on dry land: SELF found one study that showed five days of peak sun exposure (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) weakens hair by 36.2 percent -- and that weakness leads to lackluster, broken hair strands (possibly the reason your hair “won’t grow”). A hat or baseball cap will protect your hair, but that’s not always practical. (I can just see myself arriving at an important meeting with my floppy beach hat on.) Much easier to do: Use a spray-on UV-protecting styler (many brands offer this technology -- check the labels.) Apply it to damp hair and style as usual. It can build up, though, so be sure to shampoo at the end of the day.
By : Lucy Danziger/Yahoo Health

How many Species live in the Sea ?



NewScientist.com news service
Catherine Brahic

How many species are there in the sea?

Some 230,000 recorded so far, all of which will soon be available to anyone at the click of a mouse.
The World Register of Marine Species is launched today by the Census of Marine Life. Once complete, it will provide the first definitive list of all known species in the world's oceans.
The Register is freely accessible online and includes descriptions of the species and photos. It will allow both the public and scientists to identify species they come across and easily recognise entirely new species.
Until now censuses have been incomplete, focussing on single species or regions, making proper assessment of the impact of humans on oceans difficult. "Convincing warnings about declining populations of fish and other marine species must rest on a valid census," says Mark Costello of the University of Auckland, co-founder of the World Register.
Jesse Ausubel of the Sloane Foundation, which funds the Census of Marine Life, says he was first struck by the need to catalogue marine species in 2000, when he realised the UN Environment Programme's Global Biodiversity Assessment had little information on what lived in the sea.
Lack of a list
Ausubel asked the author of the report's only chapter on marine life, Frederick Grassle of Rutgers University, US, how many species there were in the sea. He was told that the best estimate was between 1 and 10 million.
"I asked him if he could at least give me a list of the species that were known at the time," says Ausubel. Grassle was embarrassed to admit he could not. "How could there not be a list in the year 2000 of what we knew to live in the oceans?" marvels Ausubel.
Since then, the Census of Marine Life has worked to establish such a list. With the help of experts worldwide, they are painstakingly reviewing and compiling published records of marine species. Much of the work has focussed on identifying species given different names that are in fact the same.
The sperm whale, for instance, has been found to have 4 different Latin names, and one sponge species, the breadcrumb sponge, has 56.
Millions more
So far, the catalogue contains 122,000 species, about half the estimated 230,000 known species. It should be complete by 2010.
But there are still millions more ocean species to be discovered. Meeting in Belgium on 20-21 June, marine taxonomists discussed Grassle's estimate of between 1 and 10 million total marine species.
"We think that a million is reasonable," says Ausubel, adding that experts have little idea what the upper limit could be. The group hope to be able to make a more informed guess once they have finished cataloguing those that have already been described.

6/24/08

FROZEN WAVES !






Nature is amazing!
The water froze the instant the wave broke through the ice. That's what it is like in Antarctica where it is the coldest weather in decades. Water freezes the instant it comes in contact with the air. The temperature of the water is already some degrees below freezing.
Just look at how the wave froze in mid-air!!!

6/23/08

Frozen Water Confirmed on Mars



These color images were acquired by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager on the 21st and 25th days of the mission, or Sols 20 and 24 (June 15 and 19, 2008). These images show sublimation of ice in the trench informally called "Dodo-Goldilocks" over the course of four days. In the lower right corner of the left image, a group of lumps is visible. In the right image, the lumps have disappeared, similar to the process of evaporation. (SD note: this image has been rotated 90 degrees CCW for image presentaion purposes.)by Staff WritersPasadena CA (SPX) Jun 23, 2008Scientists relishing confirmation of water ice near the surface beside NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander anticipate even bigger discoveries from the robotic mission in the weeks ahead.
"It is with great pride and a lot of joy that I announce that we have found proof that this hard bright material is really water ice and not some other substance," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of The University of Arizona, during a Friday news briefing to announce the confirmation of water ice.
"The truth we're looking for is not just looking at ice. It is in finding out the minerals, chemicals and hopefully the organic materials associated with these discoveries," said Smith.
The mission has the right instruments for analyzing soil and ice to determine whether the local environment just below the surface of far-northern Mars has ever been favorable for microbial life.
Key factors are whether the water ever becomes available as a liquid and whether organic compounds are present that could provide chemical building blocks and energy for life. Phoenix landed on May 25 for a Mars surface mission planned to last for three months.
"These latest developments are a major accomplishment and validation of the Mars program's 'follow-the-water' exploration framework," said Doug McCuistion at NASA Headquarters, Washington, director of the space agency's Mars Program.
"This specific discovery is the result of an outstanding team working with a robust spacecraft that has allowed them to work ahead of their original science schedule."
The key new evidence is that chunks of bright material exposed by digging on June 15 and still present on June 16 had vaporized by June 19.
"This tells us we've got water ice within reach of the arm, which means we can continue this investigation with the tools we brought with us," said Mark Lemmon of Texas A and M University, College Station, the lead scientist for Phoenix's Surface Stereo Imager camera.
Lemmon said the disappearing chunks could not have been carbon-dioxide ice at the local temperatures because that material would not have been stable for even one day as a solid.
The disappearing chunks were in a trench to the northwest of the lander. A hard material, possibly more ice, but darker than the bright material in the first trench, has been detected in a second trench, to the northeast of the lander.
Scientists plan next to have Phoenix collect and analyze surface soil from a third trench near the second one, and later to mechanically probe and sample the hard layer.
"We have in our ice-attack arsenal backhoeing, scraping and rasping, and we'll try all of these," said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, lead scientist for Phoenix's Robotic Arm.
Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., reported that an issue reported earlier this week related to producing thousands of duplicate copies of some file-maintenance data files has been diagnosed, and a corrective software patch will be sent to Phoenix within a few days.
Science operations continue in the meantime, though all data collected must be relayed to Earth on the same Martian day it is collected, instead of being stored to non-volatile memory when Phoenix powers down to conserve energy during the Martian night.
Images sent back Friday morning from Mars showed that the doors to the No. 5 oven on the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer opened part way. The instrument team is working to understand the consequences of this action.
earlier related reportPhoenix Mars Lander Delivers Soil Sample To MicroscopeTucson, AZ (SPX) Jun 22 - NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Saturday beamed back images showing that Phoenix's Robotic Arm successfully sprinkled soil onto the delivery port of the lander's Optical Microscope.
Mission scientists said enough of the fine-grained soil sample remains in the scoop of the lander's Robotic Arm for delivery to either the Wet Chemistry Lab or Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer. Both the Wet Chemistry Lab and the Optical Microscope are part of the Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer, or MECA, instrument.
"We want to deliver similar soil samples to all three instruments," said Ray Arvidson, the mission's lead scientist for digging activities, from Washington University in St. Louis.
The lander's Robotic Arm has been commanded to remain in an "up" position to hold the collected soil in the scoop until it can be delivered to the other instruments.
/Mars Daily

6/19/08

THE AMAZING AIR CAR !








The Compressed Air Car developed by Motor Development International (MDI) Founder Guy Negre might be the best thing to have happened to the motor engine in years.
The $12,700 CityCAT, one of the planned Air Car models, can hit 68 mph and has a range of 125 miles. It will take only a few minutes for the CityCAT to refuel at gas stations equipped with custom air compressor units. MDI says it should cost only around $2 to fill the car up with 340 liters of air!
The Air Car will be starting production relatively soon, thanks to India's TATA Motors. Forget corn! There's fuel, there's renewable fuel, and then there's user-renewable fuel! What can be better than air?

Japan Companies unite to bring Robots to Homes



The companies complained that Japan has not supported robotics in the same way as South Korea, which last year set up a 100 billion-won (10 million-dollar) fund to encourage innovation and is planning the world's first robot theme park by 2013.by Staff WritersTokyo (AFP) June 18, 2008Four Japanese companies joined together Wednesday in a bid to create a mainstream market for robots and to stay a step ahead of rising competition from South Korea.
The companies -- Tmsuk, ZMP, VStone, Business Design Laboratory Co (BDL) -- said they were forming a loose federation to exchange technology with one another and market their products together overseas.
Japan has been a leader in robotics, frequently making headlines for humanoids that do everything from playing the violin to babysitting to helping the elderly.
But while industrial robots are commonly put to use in Japan, companies have struggled to find a mass consumer market for humanoids, in part because of the prohibitive costs.
The companies said they together hoped to sell a total of 200,000 to 300,000 robots within the next five years, some 10 times what they sell now.
"In the coming decade, we believe robots will widely enter into our everyday lives. They have proven to be effective in services, education and entertainment," the four companies said in a joint statement.
"However, in order to expand their contribution to the overall national economy, it is essential not to stop at research and development but to directly engage in market operations," the newly created Federation for the Market Creation of Next-Generation Robots said.
As Japan ages, household robots could include BDL's "ifbot," a white robot with green eyes and a flashing smile that can prevent dementia among the elderly by quizzing them, singing songs or giving health advice.
Tmsuk president Yoichi Takamoto warned Japan's standing could be overtaken by high-tech neighbour South Korea, which has set a goal of a robot in every household by as early as 2013.
"I think that Japan's robotics technology is still number one, but I'm not sure how long that will be. South Korea is working quite hard in this field," said BDL president Kenji Kimura.
The companies complained that Japan has not supported robotics in the same way as South Korea, which last year set up a 100 billion-won (10 million-dollar) fund to encourage innovation and is planning the world's first robot theme park by 2013.
"In Japan we are trying to start a robot business but at this rate, I don't know whether that will ever happen," Tmsuk's Takamoto said.
/RoboSpace/SpaceDaily

Is it ICE or SALT on Mars ?


scientists in the three weeks since the Phoenix lander began digging into Mars' north pole region to study whether the arctic could be habitable.
Shallow trenches excavated by the lander's backhoe-like robotic arm have turned up specks and at times even stripes of mysterious white material mixed in with the clumpy, reddish dirt.
Phoenix merged two previously dug trenches over the weekend into a single pit measuring a little over a foot long and 3 inches deep. The new trench was excavated at the edge of a polygon-shaped pattern in the ground that may have been formed by the seasonal melting of underground ice.
New photos showed the exposed bright substance present only in the top part of the trench, suggesting it's not uniform throughout the excavation site. Phoenix will take images of the trench dubbed "Dodo-Goldilocks" over the next few days to record any changes. If it's ice, scientists expect it to sublimate — or go from solid to gas, bypassing the liquid stage — when exposed to the sun because of the planet's frigid temperatures and low atmospheric pressure.
"We think it's ice. But again, until we can see it disappear ... we're not guaranteed yet," mission scientist Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis said Monday.
Even if it's not ice, the discovery of salt would also be significant because it's normally formed when water evaporates in the soil.
Preliminary results from a bake-and-sniff experiment at low temperatures failed to turn up any trace of water or ice in the scoopful of soil that was delivered to the lander's test oven last week. Scientists planned to heat the soil again this week to up to 1,800 degrees, said William Boynton of the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Phoenix landed in the Martian arctic plains on May 25 on a three-month, $420 million mission to study whether the polar environment could be favorable for primitive life to emerge. The lander's main job is to dig into an ice layer believed to exist a few inches from the surface.
The project is led by the University of Arizona and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The lander was built by Lockheed Martin Corp.

Thousands of new plant & animal were discovered in 2007


Thousands of new plant and animal species were discovered in 2007, though only 10 were bizarre enough, lethal enough or just plain cool enough to garner spots on a new Top-10 list.
Each year, the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) at Arizona State University issues the Top 10 New Species list, which spotlights flora and fauna described during the previous year, so in this case 2007.
The new list includes lethal animals like a box jellyfish (Malo kingi) - named after Robert King, who apparently died after he was stung by this species - and the Central Ranges Taipan (Oxyuranus temporalis), now thought to be one of the most venomous snakes in the world.
And a dragon millipede, whose shocking-pink exterior would put a 1980s fashionista to shame, gets a spot on the list. Rather than setting trends, the arthropod uses its gaudy coloration to alert predators of its toxicity.
Some species made it onto the list due to their modern monikers, including the Michelin Man, a succulent plant from Western Australia that resembles the rotund tire guy. Also on the list: an ornate sleeper ray from the east coast of South Africa that was named after the Electrolux vacuum cleaner brand due to the animal's ability to suck up prey in the water.
While scientists discover thousands of species each year, with an estimated 16,969 species considered new to science in 2006, plenty of plants and animals are waiting to be found. Scientists estimate 10 million or so species exist on Earth, with 1.8 million species described since Carl Linnaeus developed the modern system for naming plants and animals in the 18th century.
"Most people do not realize just how incomplete our knowledge of Earth's species is or the steady rate at which taxonomists are exploring that diversity," said Quentin Wheeler, an entomologist and director of IISE.
The international committee was chaired by Janine Caira of the University of Connecticut, and included scientists from across the globe, including the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Spain and New Zealand.
/Livescience/Yahoo

6/17/08

CAMERA WITH ABILITY TO "SEE" UNDER CLOTHES !


(Xinhuanet) -- A British company has developed a camera that can detect weapons, drugs or explosives hidden under people's clothes from up to 25 meters away, according to British media reports Monday.
The T5000 camera, created by a company called ThruVision, uses what it calls "passive imaging technology" to identify objects by the natural electromagnetic rays -- known as Terahertz or T-rays -- that they emit.
The high-powered camera can detect hidden objects, both metallic and non-metallic items, from up to 25 meters away and is effective even when people are moving. It does not reveal physical body details and the screening is harmless, the company says.
The technology, which has military and civilian applications and will be unveiled at a scientific development exhibition sponsored by Britain's Home Office on March 12-13.
ThruVision came up with the technology for the T5000 in collaboration with the European Space Agency and from studying research by astronomers into dying stars.
The technology works on the basis that all people and objects emit low levels of electromagnetic radiation. Terahertz rays lie somewhere between infrared and microwaves on the electromagnetic spectrum and travel through clouds and walls.
Depending on the material, the signature of the wave is different, so that explosives can be distinguished from a block of clay and cocaine is different from a bag of flour. /Editor: An Lu

6/16/08

HOW OLD IS THE EARTH ?


Measurements made in the 18th century were based on the rate of the Earth's cooling and vastly underestimated the age of the Earth to be in the hundreds of thousands of years.
Later guesses by esteemed scientists like Charles Darwin (who proposed 306.7 million years) and Lord Kelvin (who made several erroneous proposals spanning hundreds of millions of years) were moderate improvements.
The ability to accurately date our planet—which formed out of debris left behind by the birth of the sun—developed with the understanding of radioactive decay. Radioactive substances release subatomic particles at a very steady rate. Sometimes the age of an object can be determined by comparing present amounts of a radioactive substance with the supposed original amount in the object. Uranium is a particularly well-understood, naturally radioactive element. By measuring lead to uranium ratios in ancient rock samples, in 1953 scientists deftly put Earth's age at 4.5 to 4.6 billion years, an estimate that stands today.
/Livescience

AMAZING STRIPED ICEBRGS





Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions.
Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with meltwater and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form.
When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a green stripe.
Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea.

6/14/08

Explorers Find 1780 British Warship in Lake Ontario


SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A 22-gun British warship that sank during the American Revolution and has long been regarded as one of the "Holy Grail" shipwrecks in the Great Lakes has been discovered at the bottom of Lake Ontario, astonishingly well-preserved in the cold, deep water, explorers announced Friday.
shipwreck enthusiasts Jim Kennard and Dan Scoville used side-scanning sonar and an unmanned submersible to locate the HMS Ontario, which was lost with barely a trace and as many as 130 people aboard during a gale in 1780.
The 80-foot sloop of war is the oldest shipwreck and the only fully intact British warship ever found in the Great Lakes, Scoville and Kennard said.
"To have a Revolutionary War vessel that's practically intact is unbelievable. It's an archaeological miracle," said Canadian author Arthur Britton Smith, who chronicled the history of the HMS Ontario in a 1997 book, "The Legend of the Lake."
The finders of the wreck said they regard it as a war grave and have no plans to raise it or remove any of its artifacts. They said the ship is still considered the property of the British Admiralty.
Although the vessel sits in an area where the water is up to 500 feet deep and cannot be reached by anyone but the most experienced divers, Kennard and Scoville declined to give its exact location, saying only that it was found off the southern shore.
The sloop was discovered resting partially on its side, with two masts extending more than 70 feet above the lake bottom.
"Usually when ships go down in big storms, they get beat up quite a bit. They don't sink nice and square. This went down in a huge storm, and it still managed to stay intact," Scoville said. "There are even two windows that aren't broken. Just going down, the pressure difference, can break the windows. It's a beautiful ship."
Smith, who was shown underwater video of the find, said: "If it wasn't for the zebra mussels, she looks like she only sunk last week."
The dark, cold freshwater acts as a perfect preservative, Smith said. At that depth, there is no light and no oxygen to hasten decomposition, and little marine life to feed on the wood.
The Ontario went down on Oct. 31, 1780, with a garrison of 60 British soldiers, a crew of about 40, mostly Canadians, and possibly about 30 American war prisoners.
The warship had been launched only five months earlier and was used to ferry troops and supplies along upstate New York's frontier. Although it was the biggest British ship on the Great Lakes at the time, it never saw battle, Smith said.
After the ship disappeared, the British conducted a sweeping search but tried to keep the sinking secret from Gen. George Washington's troops because of the blow to the British defenses.
Hatchway gratings, the binnacle, compasses and several hats and blankets drifted ashore the next day. A few days later the ship's sails were found adrift in the lake. In 1781, six bodies from the Ontario were found near Wilson, N.Y. For the next two centuries, there were no other traces of the ship.
Explorers have been searching for the Ontario for decades, and there have been numerous false finds over the years, said Eric Bloomquist, interpretative programs manager at Old Fort Niagara.
Kennard, an electrical engineer who has been diving for nearly 40 years and has found more than 200 wrecks in the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, the Finger Lakes and in the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, began searching for the Ontario 35 years ago but quit after several frustrating and fruitless years.
Six years ago, he teamed up with Scoville, a diver who developed the remote-controlled submersible with students from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Since then, the pair have found seven ships in the lake.
Over the years, Kennard obtained documents from British and Canadian archives on the Ontario, including the ship's design plans. Even then, it took the pair three years of searching more than 200 square miles before they found the vessel earlier this month.
After locating the wreck with the sonar, the explorers used the submersible to confirm their find, documenting their discovery with more than 80 minutes of underwater video.
"Certainly it is one of the earliest discovered shipwrecks, if not the earliest," said Carrie Sowden, archaeological director of the Peachman Lake Erie Shipwreck Research Center of the Great Lakes Historical Society in Vermillion, Ohio. "And if it's in the condition they say, it's quite significant."
A rare feature that helped identify the ship: the two crow's nests on each mast. Another was the decoratively carved scroll bow stem. The explorers also found two cannons, two anchors and the ship's bell.
The clincher was the quarter galleries on either side of the stern — a kind of balcony with windows typically placed on the sides of the stern-castle, a high, tower-like structure at the back of a ship that housed the officers' quarters.
Kennard said he and his partner have gathered enough video that it will not be necessary to return to the site. He added that they hope to make a documentary about the discovery.
There are an estimated 4,700 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, including about 500 on Lake Ontario.
/Yahoo News

IMPORTANCE OF SLEEPING



I used to pull all-nighters back in college, forcing myself to stay awake to cram for an exam or finish a paper on art history, my major. I did it because I thought it would help me get ahead, but in the end it always set me back—I wound up tired, cranky and unproductive the next day. Even though I've grown up (and wisened up) since then, I still have trouble convincing myself to crawl into bed at night: I keep a running tally of all the things I haven't crossed off my to-do list—reading manuscripts, prepping for a TV appearance, even laundry! And I'm always tempted to stay up just a bit longer to get everything done before morning. So what stops me from burning the midnight oil? Not only has personal experience proved that I'll be more stressed (not to mention less chipper) when I'm sleep-deprived, but studies suggest that not getting adequate zzz's can increase your risk for heart disease and depression, and even cause weight gain (ever found yourself heading to the fridge or the vending machine when you're tired? I have!). Try these tips to help relax before you hit the sack:
Unplug
Avoid having long conversations on your cell phone before bed: Researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit found that people who were exposed to the slight radiation that emanates from cell phones took longer to fall asleep and spent less time in the deep stages of slumber.
Make Your Bedroom a Haven
Draw the blinds and turn on a fan or a soothing CD of nature noises to block out distracting sounds. Swapping ordinary bedroom bulbs for yellow ones (GE makes a 25-watt version sold at drugstores) can help you feel more tranquil as you're getting ready to nod off. Consider treating yourself to a cozy new comforter or putting flowers on your nightstand so that being in your bedroom—and sleeping!—becomes something you look forward to.
Say Thanks
Once you're under the covers, take two minutes to reflect on the things you're grateful for. Studies show that practicing grateful thinking makes people more optimistic. And going to sleep with happy thoughts will help you sleep more soundly.
/Yahoo Health

6/13/08

New Glass-Surface Keyboard




Glass surface inputting is the new hotness for almost every gadget maker today. From from the iPhone to Microsoft’s Surface technology, flat is where it’s at. Introducing the flattest full size QWERTY keyboard to date, “No-key Keyboard” by Kong Fanwen. Consisting of just a glass surface, camera and lighting, this alternative keyboard concept will use the latest motion capture technology to watch your fingers nervously select just the perfect smiley for your online bantering.
Designer: Kong Fanwen/yanko Design