Random Task

The Ig Nobels are here (and the Nobels are too, soon).

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/10/03/2381302.htm?site=science&topic=latest

Some of these are great:

"nutrition prize" to go to Dr Massimiliano Zampini [...] and Professor Charles Spence [...] who tricked people into thinking they were eating fresh potato chips by playing them loud, crunching sounds when they bit one.

A team at The University of Sao Paulo in Brazil won a special archaeology prize for showing how an armadillo can mess up an archaeological dig.

physicists who found out that anything that can tangle will tangle.

http://improbable.com/ig/winners/

This is cool.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/10/06/2382847.htm?site=science&topic=latest

"US researchers have found a way to make efficient silicon-based solar cells that are flexible enough to be rolled around a pencil and transparent enough to be used to tint windows on buildings or cars."

YAY SCIENCE!

Damn straight.

Nick loves science, but he hates communism.

Awww, do I Khrushchev?

Hey, check this out. This is really amazing.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=jOkpn0BN2HE

These monkeys have electrodes in their brain that record the brain activity associated with arm movement, then that information is translated so it can be used to control the bionic arm. Freaken awesome.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=645037

Priceless linking with the name of the thread. Bravo.

But seriously, that is sick, if true.

...I mean, honestly, who throws a shoe?

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/img/mammalST_A4.pdf

Check this one out. It's the coolest thing I ever saw. It’s a relatively new mammal family tree. There’s a short transcript from the catalyst episode it was shown in to explain it, or you can watch the short 5 min video.

Transcript and video

“and these are all the rodents, over a third of all living species of mammal.”
Holy hell.

I previously wrote:I was unaware. Apparently over 180 organisms' genomes have been sequenced.
http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/resources/sequenced_genomes/genome_guide_p1.shtml

Most of them are bacteria, sure, but still, that's pretty impressive.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/11/18/2422599.htm?site=science&topic=latest

Now chalk another one up on the list. The Kangaroo! Shazam.

Article wrote:"This has significant implications for cancer research," Renfree says, as the genes involved in embryonic diapause might be harnessed to switch off cancer.

Not to mention the general coolness factor.

I also wrote:This is cool.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/10/06/2382847.htm?site=science&topic=latest

"US researchers have found a way to make efficient silicon-based solar cells that are flexible enough to be rolled around a pencil and transparent enough to be used to tint windows on buildings or cars."

Now they got spray-on solar cells! Well, soonish.

Spray-on solar cells a step closer

“She believes the material could be sprayed on any surface that is exposed to sunlight.”

Nother article.

Telescopes capture another solar system

"Astronomers have captured the first direct images of a solar system of planets orbiting another star, while another group has used the Hubble space telescope to spot a planet orbiting a nearby star."

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/12/08/2440454.htm

Oh glory of glories. Oh heavenly testament to the eternal majesty that is God's creation.

...Holy macaroni!

They're almost ready to build new life... from scratch (sorta)! First man-made species! Bazaam!

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/10/23/2398928.htm

Article wrote:Peeling tape from a roll of sticky tape releases tiny bursts of x-rays that are powerful enough to take images of bones in fingers and hands

Technically it might have to be done in a vacuum, but still, that's cool.

Nano-pill may give insulin jab the flick
Some first steps on the path to ceating nano-dealies that alter our bodies. And it's also cool cos it helps people with diabetes.

New ink heralds printable semiconductors
Screens that can roll up like a scroll can't be far away! That means goodbye to the paper back. A long time coming...

Fossilised boa slithers into record books

I love huge shit.

Article wrote:Scientists have found the fossilised remains of the world's greatest snake - a record-busting serpent that was as long as a bus and snacked on crocodiles.

Article wrote:The size of the snake's vertebrae suggests the beast weighed 1135 kilograms and measured 13 metres from nose to tail.

Article wrote:"The snake that tried to eat Jennifer Lopez in the movie Anaconda is not as big as the one we found."

"At its greatest width, the snake would have come up to about your hips," says Associate Professor David Polly, a geologist at the University of Indiana.

Considering it's circumference I'm surprised how short it is. I want one twice the length of a bus damn it! Unless they mean those funky bendy buses, but I doubt they do.

Yeah, I thought it was kinda short too.

thirteen metres is fairly long.

Yeah. It's pretty big...I guess.

I saw a triple bendy bus the other day. Fucken crazy.

Anyway, I think this new super-snake could eat 6 Jennifer Lopez's.

Tom wrote:thirteen metres is fairly long.

Yeah but the longest Australian snake ever found was 8.5m and it was a lot narrower than that thing. I just think that considering its width it's the snake equivalent of a chode.

Wow, "chode." I hadn't heard that word in a long time. Nor did I think I would hear it any time soon. Thanks for bringing it back, Trev.

*sigh*