Anti-whaling activists’ drone tracks Japan fleet
• The RawStory.comAnti-whaling activists intercepted Japan’s harpoon fleet far north of Antarctic waters on Sunday, they said, with the help of a military-style drone.
Contents Pages by Subject
Science, Medicine and Technology
Power failures disrupt Uganda grasshopper harvest
• The RawStory.comStanding in the glare of a 250 watt light bulb in the yard of his uncle’s house, Hilary Turyamugumya peers hopefully into the night sky in search of grasshoppers.
Security firm Stratfor suffers Anonymous hack
• The RawStory.comOnline “hacktivist” group Anonymous claimed Sunday it had stolen a trove of emails and credit card information from US-based security firm Stratfor’s clients, and vowed additional attacks.
The Cool Energy House Project Demonstrates U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Program Innovations
• Yahoo! NEWSThe Cool Energy House Project in Windermere, Florida, showcases energy innovations generated by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America program. The project will be shown in February in conjunction with the 2012 International Builders Show.
How Santa Delivers All Those Gifts by Christmas Morning
• Samantha Murphy via Yahoo!NewsSanta Claus needs a tremendous amount of tech backup to effectively deliver presents to every child’s house in the world before the sun rises.
Tilting at Water Turbines
• TechnologyReview.comA collection of weird and wonderful devices designed to harvest energy from the ocean.
The Swiss Army Knife Goes Digital
• David Zax TechnologyReview.comI often think that the smartphone is the Swiss Army knife of the digital age -- my iPhone springs forth apps much in the way that that iconic red multi-tool springs forth scissors, nail files, and blades.
Midwives Use Rituals to Empower Mothers
• arcleinThese are some of the findings from an Oregon State University researcher and licensed midwife who witnessed more than 400 home births in order to document an extensive list of practices utilized by midwives to express the symbolic difference between
Russian satellite crashes into Siberia after launch
• The RawStory.comA Russian satellite on Friday crashed into Siberia minutes after its launch due to rocket failure, the defense ministry said, in the latest humiliating setback for Russia’s embattled space programme.
World’s Data Centers Refuse to Exit Ice Age
• Eric Smalley via WIRED.comAmazon data-center guru James Hamilton alluded to this gag at a recent event in New York, using it to explain how data centers should treat power-sapping water chillers and air-conditioning units.
Amazon Builds World’s Fastest Nonexistent Supercomputer
• Cade Metz via WIRED.comThis fall, Amazon built a virtual supercomputer atop its Elastic Compute Cloud — a web service that spins up virtual servers whenever you want them — and this nonexistent mega-machine outraced all but 41 of the world’s real supercomputers.
Mysterious Metallic Space Ball Falls to Earth in Africa, Baffling Authorities
• Clay Dillow via PopSci.comA large metallic ball has fallen from the heavens and landed in a remote region of Namibia, spurring a lot of speculation about its origins and spurring local authorities to get NASA and the European Space Agency on the horn.
Mystery of Carole Myers
• arcleinThe Felsteads' search for answers to the many mysteries surrounding Carole's decline is now in its sixth year. Endless letters and FOI requests, alongside hours of legal research and long nights on the internet, have resulted in the collection of
Readied To Donate Organs, 21-Year-Old Emerges From Coma
• ABC News (video)Sam Schmid, an Arizona college student believed to be brain dead and poised to be an organ donor, miraculously recovered just hours before doctors were considering taking him off life support. Schmid, a junior and business major at the University of
Heavy Metal Removal Engineered Successfully
• arclein"We said, 'Let's use the attractive features of both methods by combining them in a cyclic process,'" Calo said.
Strange nuclear waste lint might be "biological in nature"
• .Savannah River Site scientists are working to identify a strange growth found on racks of spent nuclear fuel collected from foreign governments. The “white, stringlike” material was found among thousands of spent fuel assemblies submerged in deep
How a Decade of IEDs Has Reshaped Bomb Disposal Tech
• Clay Dillow via PopSci.comWhen American and coalition troops rolled into Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, they quickly began doing exactly what any military playbook said they should do
Sheila Nirenberg: A prosthetic eye to treat blindness
• www.ted.comAt TEDMED, Sheila Nirenberg shows a bold way to create sight in people with certain kinds of blindness: by hooking into the optic nerve and sending signals from a camera direct to the brain.
To Survive, Some Biofuels Companies Give Up on Biofuels
• Kevin Bullis via TechnologyReview.comGevo, a prominent advanced-biofuels company that has received millions in U.S. government funding to develop fuels made from cellulosic sources such as grass and wood chips, is finding that it can't use these materials if it hopes to survive.
Layer by Layer With 3-D printing
• David H. Freedman via TechnologyReview.comBut for a new engine coming out next year, GE thinks it has a better way to make fuel injectors: by printing them.
Marines’ Robot Cargo-Copter Takes Flight in Afghanistan
• David Axe via WIRED.comPakistan is still blockading NATO war supplies passing through the port of Karachi in response to last month’s killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers by an alliance air strike.
Nano-Engineered Bioconstructs Perform Photosynthesis Faster Than Nature Does
• Rebecca Boyle via PopSci.comScientists have been trying for a while now to recreate the process of photosynthesis, using sunlight and water to spark chemical reactions.
Bee Swarms and Human Cognition
• arcleinExperts say the insects even appear to have solved indecision, an often paralysing thought process in humans, with scouts who seek out any honeybees advertising rival nest sites and butt against them with their heads while producing shrill beeping so
Quantum Computing With Holograms
• TechnologyReview.comThe US Air Force is developing simple but reliable quantum computers that can be built with off-the-shelf components
Chemicals and Biofuel from Wood Biomass
• ScienceDailyA method developed at Aalto University in Finland makes it possible to use microbes to produce butanol suitable for biofuel and other industrial chemicals from wood biomass.
Your Next Suture Could Be Made of Shrilk, a Superstrong Synthetic Insectoid Material
• Clay Dillow via PopSci.comThe stuff of shrimp shells and exoskeletons makes for a strong, light, and biodegradeable replacement for plastics
A Solar Trade War Could Put Us All in the Dark
• Martin Green via TechnologyReview.comThe brewing solar trade war between the United States and China sullies what should be a triumphant moment in the global photovoltaic (PV) industry: the arrival of affordable solar electricity.
Military drone pilots found vulnerable to ‘clinical distress’
• Phil StewartFlying drone aircraft over Afghanistan from the comfort of a military base in the United States is much more stressful than it might seem, even for pilots spared the sacrifice of overseas deployment and separation from family and friends.
New Camera Captures Light in Motion
• Tom Simonite via TechnologyReview.comThe system records 0.6 trillion frames a second—good enough to follow the path of a laser beam as it bounces off objects.
A Brighter Way to Make Solar Cells
• Kevin Bullis via TechnologyReview.comA manufacturing method that uses light instead of heat wastes less energy and makes the cells more efficient.
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