Science and Souls (for geeks and spiritual explorers)
- Thread starter Bob Loblaw
- Start date
Bob Loblaw
Astralnaut
A Strange Lonely Planet Found without a Star
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/LonelyPlanet/
New IFLS episode
and Billl Nye has a new youtube channel w/ some great vids on NASA Juno mission
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTP7oKl8qFmlbOL-RqEbQAzin2t4sSBkx
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/LonelyPlanet/
New IFLS episode
and Billl Nye has a new youtube channel w/ some great vids on NASA Juno mission
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTP7oKl8qFmlbOL-RqEbQAzin2t4sSBkx
grokit
well-worn member
40 Years of Federal Nutrition Research Fatally Flawed
Published: October 10, 2013
Four decades of nutrition research funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may be invalid because the method used to collect the data was seriously flawed, according to a new study by the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina.
http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013101002310019.html
Published: October 10, 2013
Four decades of nutrition research funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may be invalid because the method used to collect the data was seriously flawed, according to a new study by the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina.
http://www.sciencenewsline.com/articles/2013101002310019.html
Bob Loblaw
Astralnaut
dead link for me. says photo removed?Found (stole) this from another forum. I'm a bit medicated, which may be why I find this strangely beautiful, and insightful:
Bob Loblaw
Astralnaut
no sweat, thanks for trying!
momofthegoons
vapor accessory addict
Bob Loblaw
Astralnaut
While the process doesn’t work on damage large enough to be seen with the naked eye, imperfections on the micro scale are efficiently repaired. Because many large defects are thought to be the result of accumulated micro damage, this technology could potentially protect against large breaks in the metal.
More info and video: http://bit.ly/19MZlsS
flashes of scenes from BSG....
momofthegoons
vapor accessory addict
While the process doesn’t work on damage large enough to be seen with the naked eye, imperfections on the micro scale are efficiently repaired. Because many large defects are thought to be the result of accumulated micro damage, this technology could potentially protect against large breaks in the metal.
More info and video: http://bit.ly/19MZlsS
flashes of scenes from BSG....
Reminds me of Terminator too....
Bob Loblaw
Astralnaut
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/...er-the-first-computer-programmer-was-a-woman/
A Day to Remember the First Computer Programmer Was a Woman
By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER
Hulton Archive, via Getty ImagesAugusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, is known as the first programmer, because she designed a program for the unbuilt machine.
In 1842, Ada Lovelace, known as the “enchantress of numbers,” wrote the first computer program.
Fast-forward 171 years to today (which happens to be Ada Lovelace Day, for highlighting women in science, technology, engineering and math), and computer programming is dominated by men.
Women software developers earn 80 percent of what men with the same jobs earn. Just 18 percent of computer science degrees are awarded to women, down from 37 percent in 1985. Fewer than 5 percent of venture-backed tech start-ups are founded by women.
Those statistics, released by Symantec, the security company, and the Anita Borg Institute, which works to recruit and promote women in tech, provide context for recent debates in Silicon Valley, like why Twitter has no women on its board.
Given that girls begin to shy away from computer science when they are young, because of a lack of role models and encouragement from parents and teachers, perhaps a short history lesson on Ms. Lovelace would be helpful.
She was the daughter of Lord Byron, the poet, who split from her mother shortly after her birth. Her mother encouraged her to pursue math to counter her father’s “dangerous poetic tendencies,” according to the University of California, San Diego.
Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley, some people sense change in the air.
“There’s a lot more focus than we’ve seen in the past, and a lot more hard conversations,” said Telle Whitney, chief executive of the Anita Borg Institute.
The Symantec and Anita Borg report tried to find a bright side — the wage gap is smaller in technology and engineering than it is in other fields, and the job opportunities are many.
Astia, which offers programs for women tech entrepreneurs, announced Tuesday a partnership with Google to expand its lunch series for introducing women founders to investors.
And two scientists, sponsored by Brown University, are hosting a mass Wikipedia editing session on Tuesday, for people to create and expand upon entries for women in science and technology.
Happy Ada Lovelace Day.
A Day to Remember the First Computer Programmer Was a Woman
By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER
In 1842, Ada Lovelace, known as the “enchantress of numbers,” wrote the first computer program.
Fast-forward 171 years to today (which happens to be Ada Lovelace Day, for highlighting women in science, technology, engineering and math), and computer programming is dominated by men.
Women software developers earn 80 percent of what men with the same jobs earn. Just 18 percent of computer science degrees are awarded to women, down from 37 percent in 1985. Fewer than 5 percent of venture-backed tech start-ups are founded by women.
Those statistics, released by Symantec, the security company, and the Anita Borg Institute, which works to recruit and promote women in tech, provide context for recent debates in Silicon Valley, like why Twitter has no women on its board.
Given that girls begin to shy away from computer science when they are young, because of a lack of role models and encouragement from parents and teachers, perhaps a short history lesson on Ms. Lovelace would be helpful.
She was the daughter of Lord Byron, the poet, who split from her mother shortly after her birth. Her mother encouraged her to pursue math to counter her father’s “dangerous poetic tendencies,” according to the University of California, San Diego.
Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley, some people sense change in the air.
“There’s a lot more focus than we’ve seen in the past, and a lot more hard conversations,” said Telle Whitney, chief executive of the Anita Borg Institute.
The Symantec and Anita Borg report tried to find a bright side — the wage gap is smaller in technology and engineering than it is in other fields, and the job opportunities are many.
Astia, which offers programs for women tech entrepreneurs, announced Tuesday a partnership with Google to expand its lunch series for introducing women founders to investors.
And two scientists, sponsored by Brown University, are hosting a mass Wikipedia editing session on Tuesday, for people to create and expand upon entries for women in science and technology.
Happy Ada Lovelace Day.
Quetzalcoatl
DEADY GUERRERO/DIRT COBAIN/GEORGE KUSH
Such an interesting documentary. I watched it last night. There's nudity as expected of "tribal" footage.
Edit: the thumbnail has nudity in it hahaha shit, here's the direct link
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SW0jzXTS6A
Edit: the thumbnail has nudity in it hahaha shit, here's the direct link
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SW0jzXTS6A
Bob Loblaw
Astralnaut
Gamers solve decade old HIV puzzle in ten days
Scientists from Washington University have been struggling for the past decade to decipher the complex structure of a enzyme that exhibits AIDS-like behavior, and which might hold a critical role in building a cure for the disease. Gamers playing spatial game Foldit have managed to collectively determine the enzyme’s structure in ten days.
Puzzle by the intricate structure of the M-PMV retroviral protein, an enzyme that plays a key role in the development of a virus similar to HIV, scientists have striven to find its chemical key for ten years now. Each enzyme has millions of possible combination in which it can fold its atom bonds, and determining its precise structure is a very laborious enterprise even for high-end computers with large processing power.
Ingame screenshot of the Foldit interface.
As a long-shot Washington University biologist sent the virtual 3D model of the M-PMV to the online game Foldit, where gamers folded and turned it into a myriad of combinations. Eventually, and remarkably enough, the gamers obtained the optimum one – the state that needed the lowest energy to maintain. Now unlocked, scientists have a concrete means of understanding how the enzyme works, and consequently how to attack it.
“This was really kind of a last-ditch effort. Can the Foldit players really solve it?” Firas Khatib, a biochemist at the University of Washington and the lead author on the recently published research paper told MSNBC. “They actually did it in less than 10 days.”
Foldit is a very simple game, which tackles biology’s biggest issue – folding proteins. To play the game you don’t need any biology background, just your native spacial reasoning skills. Motivation comes in the form of competition, and from this stand point, the game has been more than suitably designed. Basically you get scored for three factors: how well you pack the protein, how efficiently you hide the hydrophobics and how you clear the clashes. Trust me, it’s a lot simpler than it sounds.
“Foldit attempts to predict the structure of a protein by taking advantage of humans’ puzzle-solving intuitions and having people play competitively to fold the best proteins,” states the game’s website.
“Since proteins are part of so many diseases, they can also be part of the cure.
Protein folding had proved to be one of the more popular uses for distributed computing
“Players can design brand new proteins that could help prevent or treat important diseases.”
The game allows players to chat with each other and collaborate, thus various gamers built up each others work and thus collectively managed to crack the code for the most energy efficient enzyme structure – the most important structure to study.
The reason why computers haven’t been able to do this, despite their evidently superior processing capabilities, is that they’re still far from being capable of having human-like spacial reasoning. Interestingly enough, Foldit records the players’ actions and processes them in an algorithm which will eventually help the AI behind the game to someday be able to compile successful structures on its own.
Seth Cooper, a University of Washington computer scientist and lead designer and developer of Foldit, is hoping that more scientists send them problems that fit within the Foldit format.
Scientists from Washington University have been struggling for the past decade to decipher the complex structure of a enzyme that exhibits AIDS-like behavior, and which might hold a critical role in building a cure for the disease. Gamers playing spatial game Foldit have managed to collectively determine the enzyme’s structure in ten days.
Puzzle by the intricate structure of the M-PMV retroviral protein, an enzyme that plays a key role in the development of a virus similar to HIV, scientists have striven to find its chemical key for ten years now. Each enzyme has millions of possible combination in which it can fold its atom bonds, and determining its precise structure is a very laborious enterprise even for high-end computers with large processing power.
Ingame screenshot of the Foldit interface.
As a long-shot Washington University biologist sent the virtual 3D model of the M-PMV to the online game Foldit, where gamers folded and turned it into a myriad of combinations. Eventually, and remarkably enough, the gamers obtained the optimum one – the state that needed the lowest energy to maintain. Now unlocked, scientists have a concrete means of understanding how the enzyme works, and consequently how to attack it.
“This was really kind of a last-ditch effort. Can the Foldit players really solve it?” Firas Khatib, a biochemist at the University of Washington and the lead author on the recently published research paper told MSNBC. “They actually did it in less than 10 days.”
Foldit is a very simple game, which tackles biology’s biggest issue – folding proteins. To play the game you don’t need any biology background, just your native spacial reasoning skills. Motivation comes in the form of competition, and from this stand point, the game has been more than suitably designed. Basically you get scored for three factors: how well you pack the protein, how efficiently you hide the hydrophobics and how you clear the clashes. Trust me, it’s a lot simpler than it sounds.
“Foldit attempts to predict the structure of a protein by taking advantage of humans’ puzzle-solving intuitions and having people play competitively to fold the best proteins,” states the game’s website.
“Since proteins are part of so many diseases, they can also be part of the cure.
Protein folding had proved to be one of the more popular uses for distributed computing
“Players can design brand new proteins that could help prevent or treat important diseases.”
The game allows players to chat with each other and collaborate, thus various gamers built up each others work and thus collectively managed to crack the code for the most energy efficient enzyme structure – the most important structure to study.
The reason why computers haven’t been able to do this, despite their evidently superior processing capabilities, is that they’re still far from being capable of having human-like spacial reasoning. Interestingly enough, Foldit records the players’ actions and processes them in an algorithm which will eventually help the AI behind the game to someday be able to compile successful structures on its own.
Seth Cooper, a University of Washington computer scientist and lead designer and developer of Foldit, is hoping that more scientists send them problems that fit within the Foldit format.
“The critical role of Foldit players in the solution of the M-PMV [retroviral protease] structure shows the power of online games to channel human intuition and three-dimensional pattern-matching skills to solve challenging scientific problems,” said the study, which was published by Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. “Although much attention has recently been given to the potential of crowdsourcing and game playing, this is the first instance that we are aware of in which online gamers solved a longstanding scientific problem.”
Still, the breakthrough is amazing by all means. Next time somebody tells you you’re wasting time playing a video game, you can always show them this article and tell them you’re helping saving the world.
Read more at http://www.zmescience.com/research/...d-hiv-puzzle-in-ten-days/#OP9IQdhYJxr87gBR.99
Still, the breakthrough is amazing by all means. Next time somebody tells you you’re wasting time playing a video game, you can always show them this article and tell them you’re helping saving the world.
Read more at http://www.zmescience.com/research/...d-hiv-puzzle-in-ten-days/#OP9IQdhYJxr87gBR.99
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Bob Loblaw
Astralnaut
WANT THIS BONG!!!
Bob Loblaw
Astralnaut
The superconductor, iron tetraboride (FeB4), has a nanoindentation hardness of 65 GPa, close to that of diamond. It was observed by researchers at approximately 3 Kelvin (K). Its existence was predicted from advanced electronic structure computations in 2010 and 2011. Researchers at the time predicted that at very high pressures, iron and boron would form the previously unobserved compound FeB4 and that this compound would superconduct when cooled to cryogenic temperatures. It is hoped the work will aid in the discovery of new superconductors using computational algorithms.
Read more: http://bit.ly/17Mesfo; http://bit.ly/1cX4Je3
The image shows the crystal structure of FeB4 predicted from first principles and confirmed experimentally. The iron atoms are embedded in a rigid 3D framework formed by boron atoms. Credit: Binghamton University
Read more: http://bit.ly/17Mesfo; http://bit.ly/1cX4Je3
The image shows the crystal structure of FeB4 predicted from first principles and confirmed experimentally. The iron atoms are embedded in a rigid 3D framework formed by boron atoms. Credit: Binghamton University
Bob Loblaw
Astralnaut
a word on words...
and
a little pandering to the masses
if she had little arms on the white tank top it woulda been funnier
and
a little pandering to the masses
if she had little arms on the white tank top it woulda been funnier
........all in the name of science of course(good for the Soul).
grokit
well-worn member
It's here...
Columbia University students design low cost humanoid "Rosie the Robot"
By Francis X Govers III
October 16, 2013
Talos tries to be helpful by retrieving a spoon for one of the researchers at the Columbia University Robot Lab
A team of students at Columbia University, led by Jason Ravel, has taken inspiration from a number of sources, including the Turtlebot by Willow Garage, Boxie the Robot from MIT, and Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons, to design a human-sized general purpose robot called Talos. Built for just US$800, this low cost robot has arms, a face, and can answer voice commands.
At the base of the Talos robot is an iRobot Create robot platform, which provides locomotion and an ability to sense walls and stairs. Above that is a standard laptop, while the body of the robot is a cardboard tube with a box on top that forms the robot’s head and face. Connected to its tubular body are two mechanical arms with hands from OWI Robots for picking up objects and shaking hands, while its face features lights in the eyes that change color in response to various commands. Sitting atop its head is a Microsoft Kinect 3D sensor for detecting 3D objects, walls, and doors.
This first version of Talos was designed to carry out several simple functions. The original concept was to use the robot for telepresence operations, like guarding the lab at night. The robot can retrieve an object and bring it to a person; it can respond to several simple voice commands, like “follow me” or “shake hands”; it can be controlled by a remote application on a tablet computer; and it can dance, as an entertainment function.
The Talos project was borne out of a humanoid robot design class, when the professor told this group of students that it was just too expensive to build or buy a human-sized robot. Jason Ravel and his team took that as a challenge, and set out on their quest to create a low cost humanoid. Ravel said that they learned why robot motors are so expensive when they tried using inexpensive motors for the robot's arms that performed poorly.
"The price of robot motors needs to come down," he said in an interview with Gizmag. A positive experience from Talos was using the Microsoft Kinect 3D sensor, which uses a pattern of infrared light to see 3D objects. "The 3D point cloud software was well written and easy to use," he said.
The team at Columbia included; Ravel, the team leader; Anton Mayer and Marc Howard for mechanical design; and Alexandros Sigaras who designed the software and the remote control application. Marc Howard was also the robot dance instructor. According to the team, “the song 'I'm Sexy and I Know It' by LMFAO was chosen as the default song because the robot excels at a wiggle-based dance.”
Ravel sees the robot project as an open source hardware platform that other robotics students could expand and modify as the software is built on an open architecture that allows for expansion and the addition of new abilities. His team see Talos as a model for a lower-cost humanoid robot that can function in a home or office environment.
Next steps in the project will be improving the object recognition and retrieval capability. The team will also be working on new navigation functions that use landmarks and can make maps as the robot roams around.
Ravel and his team introduce Talos in the following video:
Sources: Columbia University Robotics Group, Jason Ravel
More pics: http://www.gizmag.com/low-cost-talos-robot-columbia-university/29244/?utm_source=Gizmag Subscribers&utm_campaign=59d2742f08-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-59d2742f08-90584037
Columbia University students design low cost humanoid "Rosie the Robot"
By Francis X Govers III
October 16, 2013
Talos tries to be helpful by retrieving a spoon for one of the researchers at the Columbia University Robot Lab
A team of students at Columbia University, led by Jason Ravel, has taken inspiration from a number of sources, including the Turtlebot by Willow Garage, Boxie the Robot from MIT, and Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons, to design a human-sized general purpose robot called Talos. Built for just US$800, this low cost robot has arms, a face, and can answer voice commands.
At the base of the Talos robot is an iRobot Create robot platform, which provides locomotion and an ability to sense walls and stairs. Above that is a standard laptop, while the body of the robot is a cardboard tube with a box on top that forms the robot’s head and face. Connected to its tubular body are two mechanical arms with hands from OWI Robots for picking up objects and shaking hands, while its face features lights in the eyes that change color in response to various commands. Sitting atop its head is a Microsoft Kinect 3D sensor for detecting 3D objects, walls, and doors.
This first version of Talos was designed to carry out several simple functions. The original concept was to use the robot for telepresence operations, like guarding the lab at night. The robot can retrieve an object and bring it to a person; it can respond to several simple voice commands, like “follow me” or “shake hands”; it can be controlled by a remote application on a tablet computer; and it can dance, as an entertainment function.
The Talos project was borne out of a humanoid robot design class, when the professor told this group of students that it was just too expensive to build or buy a human-sized robot. Jason Ravel and his team took that as a challenge, and set out on their quest to create a low cost humanoid. Ravel said that they learned why robot motors are so expensive when they tried using inexpensive motors for the robot's arms that performed poorly.
"The price of robot motors needs to come down," he said in an interview with Gizmag. A positive experience from Talos was using the Microsoft Kinect 3D sensor, which uses a pattern of infrared light to see 3D objects. "The 3D point cloud software was well written and easy to use," he said.
The team at Columbia included; Ravel, the team leader; Anton Mayer and Marc Howard for mechanical design; and Alexandros Sigaras who designed the software and the remote control application. Marc Howard was also the robot dance instructor. According to the team, “the song 'I'm Sexy and I Know It' by LMFAO was chosen as the default song because the robot excels at a wiggle-based dance.”
Ravel sees the robot project as an open source hardware platform that other robotics students could expand and modify as the software is built on an open architecture that allows for expansion and the addition of new abilities. His team see Talos as a model for a lower-cost humanoid robot that can function in a home or office environment.
Next steps in the project will be improving the object recognition and retrieval capability. The team will also be working on new navigation functions that use landmarks and can make maps as the robot roams around.
Ravel and his team introduce Talos in the following video:
Sources: Columbia University Robotics Group, Jason Ravel
More pics: http://www.gizmag.com/low-cost-talos-robot-columbia-university/29244/?utm_source=Gizmag Subscribers&utm_campaign=59d2742f08-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-59d2742f08-90584037