Technology
The Bottleneck Years by H. E. Taylor – Chapter 28
Posted by coby on February 20, 2013 The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 27 Table of Contents Chapter 29 Chapter 28 UNGETF, December 8, 2055 I looked forward to the first meeting of Group 7 with some trepidation. According to my email update it was on the seventh floor of the MacDonald building which housed the municipal offices downtown. I had…
Gene therapy cures dogs of type 1 diabetes
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on February 18, 2013 Diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar. The cause of high blood sugar differs for people with type 1 versus type 2 diabetes. For type 1 diabetics, the pancreas produces little or no insulin, the hormone responsible for lowering blood sugar. For type 2 diabetics, tissues in the body are not responsive to insulin, termed…
Weekend Diversion: Chess is Almost Solved!
Posted by Ethan on February 17, 2013 
“There are some things we do much better than computers, but since most of chess is tactically based they do many things better than humans. And this imbalance remains. I no longer have any issues. It’s a bit like asking an astronomer, does he mind that a telescope does all the work?” -Vishy Anand It…
Ubuntu Linux Made Easy
Posted by Greg Laden on February 17, 2013 
I checked out the book Ubuntu Made Easy: A Project-Based Introduction to Linux by Rickford Grant and Phil Bull (No Starch Press). With any book like this, the trick is matching it to the correct user. If you are the kind of person inclined to install the latest version of Ubuntu on your computer, you…
Smart Water; New Jobs
Posted by Peter Gleick on February 15, 2013 Invest in the future. And especially, invest in sustainable, effective job creation in the water sector. The result will be millions of new jobs – a significant result. That is the key message from a new analysis just released today by the Pacific Institute on sustainable water jobs in the United States. That study, Sustainable…
The Bottleneck Years by H. E. Taylor – Chapter 27
Posted by coby on February 13, 2013 The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 26 Table of Contents Chapter 28 Chapter 27 Eco 550 — Geoengineering, November 29, 2055 When I was a student, it was not unusual to hear that virtual glasses were going to revolutionize education. Veegees, as they came to be called, were internet connected computers that used the…
Understanding Peer Review
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on February 11, 2013 Ever wonder how to tell if “scientific” information that you find on the internet is believable or just plain bogus? I came across a website called Sense About Science that explains how research is published and how to determine if it is credible. They also give advice and answer questions about claimed scientific evidence. Here is a synopsis…
The Bottleneck Years by H. E. Taylor – Chapter 26
Posted by coby on February 7, 2013 The Bottleneck Years by H.E. Taylor Chapter 25 Table of Contents Chapter 27 Chapter 26 A Quiet Sunday, November 28, 2055 Sunday is a day of rest — theoretically. I had intended to have a quiet day, do some yard work and maybe touch up my Amazon report for Doc Y. I was awakened early…
Do crosswalk buttons really do anything? And other pseudoscientific matters
Posted by Greg Laden on February 6, 2013 
This is important stuff. Along the lines of whether or not Bigfoot is real. So let’s talk about it for a moment. The crosswalk buttons in my neighborhood work. At least some of them. Last summer and the summer before, Huxley and I would walk around quite a bit, crossing through intersections that at other…
Could Camels Cure Cancer?
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on February 4, 2013 Researchers from King Abdulaziz University (Jeddah) have tested the effectiveness of micro and nanoshells for delivering a substance from camel urine, PMF701, thought to be a cure for cancer. These findings will be presented at the 2nd Biotechnology World Congress (Feb 18-21). PMF701, not yet approved by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, is currently in…
