Tag Archives: Science

Great Scientist ≠ Good at Math

Posted on by

“Many of the most successful scientists in the world today are mathematically no more than semiliterate.  Pioneers in science only rarely make discoveries by extracting ideas from pure mathematics. Most of the stereotypical photographs of scientists studying rows of equations on a blackboard are instructors explaining discoveries already made. Real progress comes in the field writing notes, at the office amid a litter of doodled paper, in the hallway struggling to explain something to a friend, or eating lunch alone. Eureka moments require hard work. And focus.  Ideas in science emerge most readily when some part of the world is studied for its own sake.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323611604578398943650327184.html

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Millions, possibly billions of dollars awarded to scientists for duplicate studies

Posted on by

“Big Data computation at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech reveals that over the past two decades funding agencies may have awarded millions and possibly billions of dollars to scientists who submitted the same grant request multiple times — and accepted duplicate funding. An analysis led by Harold R. Garner, a professor at Virginia Tech, not only indicates that millions in funding may have been granted and used inappropriately, it points to techniques to uncover existing instances of duplicate funding and ways to prevent it in the future.”

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/01/30/duplicate-science-funding-agencies-may-have-awarded-millions-and-possibly-billions-of-dollars-to-scientists-for-duplicate-studies/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Sun Storm Forecast: Tiny Chance of Havoc

Posted on by

“It was the biggest geomagnetic storm in recorded history. The Sun hurled billions of tons of electrons and protons whizzing toward Earth, and when those particles slammed into the planet’s magnetic field they created spectacular auroras of red, green and purple in the night skies — along with powerful currents of electricity that flowed out of the ground into the wires, overloading the circuits.  Scientists say it is impossible to predict when the next monster solar storm will erupt and whether Earth will lie in its path. What they do know is that with more sunspots come more storms, and this fall the Sun is set to reach the crest of its 11-year sunspot cycle.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/science/space/on-the-watch-for-a-solar-storm.html?_r=4&pagewanted=all&

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Scientists create ‘superbrain’ by connecting thoughts of two rats

Posted on by

“Scientists on Thursday said they had enabled a rat to help a fellow rodent while the animals were a continent apart but connected through brain electrodes.  With electrodes imbedded in its cortex, a rat in a research institute in Natal, Brazil sent signals via the Internet to a counterpart at a university lab in Durham, North Carolina, helping the second animal to get a reward.  The exploit opens up the prospect of linking brains among animals to create an ‘organic computer,’ said Brazilian neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis.  It also helps the quest to empower patients stricken with paralysis or locked-in syndrome, he said.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/28/scientists-create-superbrain-by-connecting-thoughts-of-two-rats/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Artificial Leaf Generates 100 Watts of Power from Dirty Water

Posted on by

“This development all of a sudden makes it practical to bring this solution to places like Africa, where power is undependable. Each one of these artificial leaves is capable of producing 100 watts of power, enough to keep the lights on at night, and a few more will keep a small refrigerator running. In the first world, putting these at the waste water outflows on houses can help with a household’s power needs and ease up on the grid.  We’re still a few years away from seeing this as a viable solution on large scales, but hey, but the time the artificial leaf does hit the market, you should be able to run 15 light bulbs from a single plate. Isn’t that something?”

http://www.technologytell.com/hometech/95319/artificial-leaf-power-from-water/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

American teenager designs compact nuclear reactor

Posted on by

“The American teen, four years after designing a fusion reactor he planned to build in the garage of his family’s home, has designed a small reactor capable of generating 50-100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power as many as 100,000 homes.  The reactor can be made assembly-line style and powered by molten radioactive material from nuclear weapons. The relatively small, modular reactor can be shipped sealed with enough fuel to last for 30 years.  His reactors are designed to spin turbines using gas instead of steam, meaning they operate at temperatures lower than those of typical nuclear reactors and don’t spew anything if there is a breach.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/01/american-teenager-designs-compact-nuclear-reactor/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Dan Ariely: What makes us feel good about our work?

Posted on by

Dan Ariely: What makes us feel good about our work?

“What motivates us to work? Contrary to conventional wisdom, it isn’t just money. But it’s not exactly joy either. It seems that most of us thrive by making constant progress and feeling a sense of purpose. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely presents two eye-opening experiments that reveal our unexpected and nuanced attitudes toward meaning in our work. (Filmed at TEDxRiodelaPlata.)”

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Scientists discover earthquakes can create new ‘economic-grade gold deposits’

Posted on by

“Solid gold can be deposited in Earth’s crust ‘almost instantaneously’ during earthquakes, said a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.  The gold is formed when a tremor splits open a fluid-filled cavity in the Earth’s crust, causing a sudden drop in pressure.  This, in turn, causes the fluid to expand rapidly and evaporate, and any gold particles that had been dissolved in it to ‘precipitate almost immediately’, said a Nature press release.  The researchers said much of the world’s known gold was derived from quarts veins that were formed during geological periods of mountain building as long as three billion years ago.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/17/scientists-discover-earthquakes-can-create-new-economic-grade-gold-deposits/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

The End of the Battery – Getting All Charged Up over Supercapacitors

Posted on by

“‘Is this for real?’  Doug was referring to an article in the recent issue of Nature Communications on a novel way to mass-produce so-called superconductors on the super-cheap – using no more equipment than the average home CD/DVD burner. Hacked together by a group of research scientists at UCLA, the ingenious technique is a way of producing layers of microscopically nuanced lattices called graphene, an essential component of many superconductor designs. It holds the promise of rapidly dropping prices for what was until now a very expensive process.”

http://www.caseyresearch.com/node/41786

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet

Scientists use 3D printer to make tissue-like material

Posted on by

“British scientists have used a custom-made 3D printer to make living tissue-like material that could one day serve medical purposes, according to findings released Thursday.
The material is made up of thousands of connected water droplets, encapsulated within lipid films, that can carry out some of the functions of human cells.  These ‘droplet networks’ could be the building blocks of a new technology used to pass on drugs and, down the road, could even replace damaged tissue, said a statement from Oxford University, where the scientists are based. Their findings were published in Friday’s issue of the US journal Science.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/04/scientists-use-3d-printer-to-make-tissue-like-material/

Scan to Donate Bitcoin to Freedomwat.ch Staff
Did you like this?
Tip Freedomwat.ch Staff with Bitcoin
Donate via Installed Wallet