Archive for the 'sci-tech' Category

New study amplifies warning on climate change

Published by
Gene Shinai
May 15, 2008 in Environmental Disaster, Government, Newz, The Environment and sci-tech. 1 Comment

From AFP Via Rawstory:

A wide-scale study published Wednesday has strengthened warnings, spelt out last year by UN scientists, that climate change is already on the march.

The paper, published in Nature, goes beyond the scope taken by a landmark report issued by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in February 2007.

In that document, the IPCC said man-made global warming was “likely” — within a probability of 66-90 percent — to have had a “discernible” effect on many physical and biological systems.

The new study, published in the British journal Nature, is written by many of the people who wrote the so-called Working Group I report, the first of a trio of major assessments released last year by the IPCC.

Its approach widens the net of data for making a fresh analysis.

It concludes “significant changes” are already occurring among natural systems on all continents, with the exception of Antarctica, and in most oceans.

“Humans are influencing climate through increasing greenhouse gas emissions,” said lead author Cynthia Rosenzweig of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the Columbia Center for Climate Systems Research.

“The warming world is causing impacts on physical and biological systems attributable at the global scale.”

The analysis is based on a trawl of hundreds of papers published in peer-reviewed journals, on data stretching back to 1970s.

These investigations covered phenomena as varied as the earlier leafing of trees and plants; the movement of species to higher latitudes and altitudes in the northern hemisphere in response to warmer weather; the shrinkage of glaciers and melting of permafrost; and changes of bird migrations in Europe, North America and Australia.

Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

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Exxon’s Founding Family Calls for Change

Published by
Gene Shinai
May 12, 2008 in Business/Finance, Energy, Human Interest/Society, Newz, Resources, The Environment and sci-tech. 0 Comments

From Celsias:

 If necessity is the mother of invention, it can also be the catalyst of change. Public Radio International reports that the Rockefeller family is taking on the CEO of Exxon Mobil, the company founded as Standard Oil by their great, great grandfather John D. Rockefeller in 1870. And this rare public engagement of the family in the inner workings of Exxon is not about current profitability, for which Exxon can boast record highs, but about lack of transition to renewable sources of energy. In fact, according to the Times Online, the press release from the Rockefellers came the day before Exxon Mobil was expected to unveil a $12 billion quarterly profit, the biggest in U.S. corporate history.

 

 The Rockefeller family is calling for a reduction in the power of the current CEO, Rex Tillerson, and the addition of an outside chairman. Their primary concern is one of economics; Exxon needs to start looking at alternative sources of energy because it is going to run out of oil. Currently Exxon is selling oil faster than they are replacing it. Volatility and nationalism in the Middle East and other oil producing countries will only increase the difficulty in doing so. The Rockefellers point to Exxon’s lack of research and development vis a vis its competitors in areas like wind and solar technology as a key source of frustration. The family, which holds a significant minority stake in the company, is not alone among shareholders in their frustration with Exxon’s position on renewables and the climate crisis in general. Robert Monks, one of Exxon’s shareholders, is quoted in the American Public Media story saying, “Exxon is enabled to go in public discourse and say the science is unsettled. Well the science is unsettled, because Exxon paid to have it unsettled.” (See here, here and here.)

 

 Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

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Tech Company Illegally Fires Cal Poly Student Workers for Unionizing

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 20, 2008 in Education, Government, Jobs, Labor, Newz, The Internet and sci-tech. 0 Comments

From LA IndyMedia by Cal Poly Community Activist Wednesday, Apr. 16, 2008 at 1:10 AM marginalized.student.workers@gmail.com

Pomona, Calif - After being subjected an unannounced pay cut from $10/hr to $8/hr, Cal Poly student marketing representatives Austin Garrido and Sarah Doolittle were fired by their employer, Uloop.com, for attempting to organize a worker’s union. The students were fired from their part-time jobs 20 minutes after posting a message in an online inter-company form announcing their intention to form a union. Doolittle and Garrido have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board. 

 

“My job with Uloop supported my education”, said Sarah Doolittle, a former Uloop student rep. “It’s disappointing that Austin and I were fired for choosing to exercise our legal right to form a union.”

 

According to the National Labor Relations Board’s website: “The NLRA [The National Labor Relations Act of 1935] forbids employers from interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of rights relating to organizing, forming, joining or assisting a labor organization for collective bargaining purposes, or engaging in protected concerted activities, or refraining from any such activity.”

 

Uloop.com is an online marketplace for college students currently operating in 50 campuses across America. The website hires two student representatives at each University who are in charge of promoting the site to fellow students.

“How can a company that caters to students, treat its own student workers so poorly?”, asked Austin Garrido, a former Uloop student rep. “You would expect better from a Silicon Valley high-tech company.” 

 

Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

  

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Man Invents Air-Powered Motorcycle in Garage

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 17, 2008 in Energy, Newz, The Environment and sci-tech. 0 Comments

From Ecogeek:

We love backyard inventors. Sometimes, we have to take things we hear from them with a grain of salt, though. Like, if someone told me that they made a motorcycle that was powered by air, I might not immediately believe them. But looking at this bike, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it :
  1. Was built in someone’s garage
  2. Works exactly as described
  3. Is powered 100% by air

Of course, when I say “works exactly as described” the description isn’t all that exciting. The top speed is about 18 mph, and it can only go 7 miles before the air pressure runs out. But this is, after all, a guy in his garage…a lot more power could probably be pulled by tweaking his configuration.

Jem Stansfield, a University of Bristol graduate with a degree in aeronautics, created the bike by strapping two high-pressure tanks onto the side of his Puch moped. The tanks are basically scuba tanks. He uses the (yes, mostly coal-fired) electricity from his house to fill the tanks. The power is then “stored” there, much like a battery, ready for use.

 Article Continues @ Sourced Site.

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Administration Claimed Immunity to 4th Amendment

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 3, 2008 in Domestic Spying, Human Rights, Newz, Politics, The Executive Branch and The Internet. 0 Comments

From Slashdot.org:

 The EFF has uncovered a troubling footnote in a newly declassified Bush Administration memo, which asserts that ‘our Office recently [in 2001] concluded that the Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations.’ This could mean that the Administration believes the NSA’s warrantlesswiretapping and data mining programs are not governed by the Constitution, which would cast Administration claims that the programs did not violate the Fourth Amendment in a whole new light — after all, you can’t violate a law that doesn’t apply. The claimed immunity would also cover other DoD agencies, such as CIFA, which carry out offline surveillance of political groups within the United States.

 

Article Continues @ Sourced Site. 

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US Cyber Command Wants Greater “Attack” Mentality

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 3, 2008 in Military, Newz and The Internet. 0 Comments

From Slashdot.org:

 ”Lieutenant General Robert J Elder, Jr, a senior figure in US Air Force Cyber Command (AFCYBER), has told ZDNet UK thatcommunication issues are hampering the division’s co-ordination. ‘IT people set up traditional IT networks with the idea of making them secure to operate and defend,’ said Elder. ‘The traditional security approach is to put up barriers, like firewalls — it’s a defense thing — but everyone in an operations network is also part of the [attack] force. We’re trying to move away from clandestine operations. We’re looking for real physics — a bigger bang resulting in collateral damage.’”

 Article Continues @ Sourced Site. 

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FCC chairman rejects Skype petition

Published by
Gene Shinai
April 2, 2008 in Business/Finance, Newz, Policies and Procedures, Telecoms and The Internet. 0 Comments

Via Yahoo NewsLy PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology WriterTue Apr 1, 4:08 PM ET

 LAS VEGAS - The Federal Communications Commission should reject a petition byeBay Inc.’s Skype division to require wireless operators to allow any device on their networks, the agency’s chairman said Tuesday.To applause, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told an audience at the CTIA Wireless trade show that the industry’s recent push toward openness makes such a rule unnecessary.

 

Skype, which provides free voice calls and videoconferencing over Internet connections, asked the commission in February 2007 to apply the 1968 Carterfone decision to wireless networks. The decision opened AT&T’s wireline network to phones not made by the monopoly phone company.

Martin cited Verizon Wireless’ decision to open its network to any device or application by the end of this year, and the participation by T-Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel Corp. in Google Inc.’s Open Handset Alliance, which is developing new software for phones.

 

“In light of the industry’s embrace of this more open approach, I think it’s premature for the commission to place any other requirements on these networks,” Martin said. “Today I’m going to circulate to my fellow commissioners an order dismissing the petition by Skype that would apply Carterfone requirements to existing wireless networks.” 

 

EBay said it was disappointed in Martin’s statement.

 

Article Continues @ Sourced Site. 

 

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Comcast agrees not to interfere with file-sharing

Published by
elophan
March 27, 2008 in Newz and The Internet. 0 Comments

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) — Comcast Corp., an Internet service provider under investigation for hampering online file-sharing by its subscribers, announced Thursday an about-face in its stance and said it will treat all types of Internet traffic equally.

Since user reports of interference with file-sharing traffic were confirmed by an Associated Press investigation in October, Comcast has been vigorously defending its practices, most recently at a hearing of the Federal Communications Commission in February.

Consumer and “Net Neutrality” advocates have been equally vigorous in their attacks on the company, saying that by secretly blocking some connections between file-sharing computers, Comcast made itself a judge and gatekeeper for the Internet.

They also accused Comcast of stifling delivery of Internet video, an emerging competitor to the cable company’s core business.

Comcast has said that its practices were necessary to keep file-sharing traffic from overwhelming local cable lines, where neighbors share capacity with one another. On Thursday, Comcast said that by the end of the year, it will move to a system that manages capacity without favoring one type of traffic over another.

The company initially veiled its traffic-management system in secrecy, saying openness would allow users to circumvent it. But on Thursday, Werner said the company would “publish” the new technique and take into account feedback from the Internet community.

Comcast has been hampering the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol, which together with the eDonkey protocol, accounts for about a third of all Internet traffic, according to figures from Arbor Networks. The vast majority of that is illegal sharing of copyright-protected files, but file-sharing is also emerging as a low-cost way of distributing legal content — in particular, video.

Peer-to-peer file-sharing “has matured as an enabler for legal content distribution,” Werner said. “So we need to have an architecture that can support it with techniques that work over all networks.”

Comcast now says it is in talks with BitTorrent Inc., the company founded by the creator of the protocol, to come up with better ways to transport large files over the Internet. The companies said they want to work out these issues privately, without the need for government intervention.

FCC commissioners have indicated that they take the issue seriously, and commission Chairman Kevin Martin has voiced objections to secret traffic management. More…

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Ready for some good news? Check out this medical breakthru!

Published by
elophan
March 24, 2008 in Health, Newz and sci-tech. 0 Comments

Many thanks to our moderator Lotti for the link!

Three years ago, Lee Spievack sliced off the tip of his finger in the propeller of a hobby shop airplane.

What happened next, Andrews reports, propelled him into the future of medicine. Spievack’s brother, Alan, a medical research scientist, sent him a special powder and told him to sprinkle it on the wound.

“I powdered it on until it was covered,” Spievack recalled.

To his astonishment, every bit of his fingertip grew back.

“Your finger grew back,” Andrews asked Spievack, “flesh, blood, vessels and nail?”

“Four weeks,” he answered.

Andrews spoke to Dr. Steven Badylak of the University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine and asked if that powder was the reason behind Spievack’s new finger tip.

“Yes, it is,” Badylak explained. “We took this and turned it into a powdered form.”

That powder is a substance made from pig bladders called extracellular matrix. It is a mix of protein and connective tissue surgeons often use to repair tendons and it holds some of the secrets behind the emerging new science of regenerative medicine.

“It tells the body, start that process of tissue regrowth,” said Badylak.

Badlayk is one of the many scientists who now believe every tissue in the body has cells which are capable of regeneration. All scientists have to do is find enough of those cells and “direct” them to grow.

Check out the rest of this amazing story, complete with video, here!

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Global warming rushes timing of spring

Published by
Gene Shinai
March 19, 2008 in Agriculture, Extinction, Newz, The Environment and sci-tech. 0 Comments

Via Yahoo News:

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON - The capital’s famous cherry trees are primed to burst out in a perfect pink peak about the end of this month. Thirty years ago, the trees usually waited to bloom till around April 5.

In central California, the first of the field skipper sachem, a drab little butterfly, was fluttering about on March 12. Just 25 years ago, that creature predictably emerged there anywhere from mid-April to mid-May.

And sneezes are coming earlier inPhiladelphia. On March 9, when allergist Dr. Donald Dvorin set up his monitor, maple pollen was already heavy in the air. Less than two decades ago, that pollen couldn’t be measured until late April.Pollen is bursting. Critters are stirring. Buds are swelling. Biologists are worrying.

“The alarm clock that all the plants and animals are listening to is running too fast,”Stanford University biologist Terry Root said.

Blame global warming.

The fingerprints of man-made climate change are evident in seasonal timing changes for thousands of species on Earth, according to dozens of studies and last year’s authoritative report by the Nobel Prize-winning international climate scientists. More than 30 scientists told The Associated Press how global warming is affecting plants and animals at springtime across the country, in nearly every state.

What’s happening is so noticeable that scientists can track it from space. Satellites measuring when land turns green found that spring “green-up” is arriving eight hours earlier every year on average since 1982 north of the Mason-Dixon line. In much ofFlorida and southern Texas and Louisiana, the satellites show spring coming a tad later, and bizarrely, in a complicated way, global warming can explain that too, the scientists said.

Biological timing is called phenology. Biological spring, which this year begins at 1:48 a.m. EDT Thursday, is based on the tilt of the Earth as it circles the sun. The federal government and some university scientists are so alarmed by the changes that last fall they created a National Phenology Network at the U.S. Geological Survey to monitor these changes.

The idea, said biologist and network director Jake Weltzin, is “to better understand the changes, and more important what do they mean? How does it affect humankind?”

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