Science thread

[Waterfordlad]

[Old Dog]

Practical science:-

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking20.html

[i_like_cake]

A slightlñy Dull-ish story about the Mars Rover, but the comments underneath are truely... Earthlike...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/19979798

[LuckyDucker]

Toxic sugar

Cosmos, October 2012
by Clare Pain

Our love affair with sugar may have provoked an alarming health crisis, but you might be surprised just where the most harmful sugars reside.

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/featur...69/toxic-sugar

[mr chips]

That's interesting LD, thanks. Obviously not conclusive yet, but it does seem to tie in with other things I've read about corn-syrup in processed foods.

[Waterfordlad]

It will be interesting to see the US FDA and EU EMA's take on this from a public safety perspective

[i_like_cake]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20025626

Scientists convicted of manslaughter for failing to correctly predict an earthquake in Italy....

(actaully, gonna put this in a new thread)... This is bonkers.... Galileo anyone..

[Random_punter]

A bit pedantic and slightly incorrect.

The temperature is lower at higher altitudes

See Chips's Post below, and have a look at the wikipedia article on the speed of sound, there is a graph of temperature and speed of sound as you go through the atmospheric layers. The temperature where he broke the sound barrier would have been warmer than the temperature at the altitude that jets normally fly supersonic (I probably should have compared it to that rather than ground level if I am going to be relating the speed of sound to temperature, at ground level the pressure and air density make it a more complex thing than I am willing to put effort into figuring out.)

As for pedantic? Its the science thread, there shall be no mercy!

[Hellboy]

[taz]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20167361

[Hellboy]

Monthly new earth...
Today : HD 40307 g

http://phl.upr.edu/press-releases/fi...anetstarsystem
http://www.space.com/18390-super-ear...fographic.html

[Hellboy]

When Reddit can save your balls. Litterally.

[Old Dog]

He did, initial estimates by radar are 1,342km/hr, to be confirmed by the GPS on his suit. This is fast enough to break the sound barrier at ground level 1,236km/hr. Even if this is waaaaaay off, say by 200km/hr (not gonna happen), the speed of sound in the stratosphere is lower due to the higher temperature, the speed of sound up there is about 1100km/hr (rough number but should be within 50km/hr). So yeah, he went faster than sound for sure.

Here's the sonic boom!


http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/...=1242745960027

[No. 16]

Have a picture of the world...

In August 1969, humanity launched men higher than ever to space helped by science knowledge and new technologies, and walk on the moon, with fear that a incident could happen anytime.

In October 2012, humanity watch a man on space falling down to earth, helped by an old astronaut suit, a capsule with no engine, a parachute and a balloon, waiting for an incident that could make something new happen....

And we call that "progress" ?

Meh...20 miles high or 24 miles high? What's the bloody difference!? Joe Kittinger did it in 1960 with 1960's technology! (He had a leak in his glove and had to keep his hand over it to try to prevent bleeding out!)

Watch this and tell me if Felix is any braver! (or more conditionally insane)



I mean really! They didn't even have decent audio visual broadcast technology back then!

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/263390/

[Hellboy]

Meh...20 miles high or 24 miles high? What's the bloody difference!? Joe Kittinger did it in 1960 with 1960's technology! (He had a leak in his glove and had to keep his hand over it to try to prevent bleeding out!)

Watch this and tell me if Felix is any braver! (or more conditionally insane)


I mean really! They didn't even have decent audio visual broadcast technology back then!

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/263390/

Baumgartner is clearly brave ! And a little bit insane as all extreme adventurers.
The event itself was just useless.
And after that I wondered how it could make science going forward.
The commercial coverage just look like a status quo, or perhaps a backstep for science imho.
Looks like a Superbowl time off spot for Red Bull (looks what it was made for !)
But it's a cheap event compared to men sent to the Moon... 40 years ago !

[No. 16]

I understand you Hellboy. I'm just a little surprised at the hype considering I watched the video years ago of Joe Kittinger doing essentially the same thing - just 6k metres lower which seems like a small difference when you are talking well over 31k metres compared to 38k metres with technology that is 52 years newer.

[Hellboy]

A french soldier and a british one were ready to jump few kilometers higher than Baumgartner since 15 years, for their Armies Corp., they never did because of budget and "nothing new could be discovered".

Red Bull on the Red Planet, that could be a hell of a feat.

[McCloud]

irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 10:19
'Vegetative' patient communicates


A crash victim thought to have been in a vegetative state for more than a decade has been able to tell scientists he is not in pain.


Canadian Scott Routley, from London, Ontario, communicated with researchers via a brain scan, proving that he is conscious and aware.


It is believed to be the first time such a severely brain damaged patient has been able to provide clinically relevant information to doctors.


British neuroscientist professor Adrian Owen, who leads the research team at the Brain and Mind Institute of Western Ontario, said: “Scott has been able to show he has a conscious, thinking mind. We have scanned him several times and his pattern of brain activity shows he is clearly choosing to answer our questions. We believe he knows who and where he is.”


Prof Owen was speaking on a BBC Panorama programme to be broadcast tonight.


He said the breakthrough could lead to improvements in the treatment of severely brain damaged patients who cannot move or speak.


“Asking a patient something important to them has been our aim for many years,” he told the programme.


“In future we could ask what we could do to improve their quality of life. It could be simple things like the entertainment we provide, or the times of day they are washed and fed.”


Prof Owen’s team uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans to detect hidden awareness in patients and open up channels of communication.


The scans produce images of “active” regions of the brain by tracking the flow of oxygen-rich blood.


Patients are asked to imagine playing tennis or walking around their home — two thought processes that produce distinct patterns of activity in different parts of the brain.


By monitoring the activity on an fMRI scanner, the researchers can ask yes or no questions. One type of brain activity is taken as a “yes” and the other as a “no”.


Mr Routley suffered traumatic brain injuries when his car was in collision with a police vehicle. Until Prof Owen’s intervention, he was assumed to have been in a vegetative state for more than 12 years.


Vegetative state patients are not aware of their surroundings or capable of conscious thought.


Neurologist Professor Bryan Young, from University Hospital in London, Ontario, who has cared for Mr Routley for 10 years, said the scan results overturned all previous assessments of the injured man’s condition.


“He had the clinical picture of a typical vegetative patient — no emotional response, no fixation or following with his eyes,” said Prof Young.


“He didn’t have any spontaneous movements that looked meaningful and I was quite impressed and amazed that he was able to show these cognitive responses with fMRI.”


Prof Owen has previously shown that nearly one in five vegetative patients may in fact be conscious.


Another of his patients, road accident victim Steven Graham, was able to answer “yes” when asked if he knew about his two-year-old niece Ceili. Since she born after his car accident, this demonstrated that he was able to create and store memories.


The Panorama team spent more than a year filming several vegetative and minimally conscious patients taking part in pioneering research at the Brain and Mind Institute and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.


The programme, The Mind Reader: Unlocking My Voice, airs tonight at 10.35pm on BBC One.

[MrsMcGahan]

Maybe that will be the key to finally understanding Poite's refereeing.

[Hellboy]

Maybe that will be the key to finally understanding Poite's refereeing.

Wrong way. Try this.

[MrsMcGahan]

[No. 16]

Will it help decipher what he is actually thinking or trying to say when he uses the makey-upey hand signals?


Interpretation: Free kick. Where is the scrum half?

[SecondRowGal]

irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Tuesday, November 13, 2012, 10:19
'Vegetative' patient communicates


A crash victim thought to have been in a vegetative state for more than a decade has been able to tell scientists he is not in pain.


Canadian Scott Routley, from London, Ontario, communicated with researchers via a brain scan, proving that he is conscious and aware.


It is believed to be the first time such a severely brain damaged patient has been able to provide clinically relevant information to doctors.


British neuroscientist professor Adrian Owen, who leads the research team at the Brain and Mind Institute of Western Ontario, said: “Scott has been able to show he has a conscious, thinking mind. We have scanned him several times and his pattern of brain activity shows he is clearly choosing to answer our questions. We believe he knows who and where he is.”


Prof Owen was speaking on a BBC Panorama programme to be broadcast tonight.


He said the breakthrough could lead to improvements in the treatment of severely brain damaged patients who cannot move or speak.


“Asking a patient something important to them has been our aim for many years,” he told the programme.


“In future we could ask what we could do to improve their quality of life. It could be simple things like the entertainment we provide, or the times of day they are washed and fed.”


Prof Owen’s team uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans to detect hidden awareness in patients and open up channels of communication.


The scans produce images of “active” regions of the brain by tracking the flow of oxygen-rich blood.


Patients are asked to imagine playing tennis or walking around their home — two thought processes that produce distinct patterns of activity in different parts of the brain.


By monitoring the activity on an fMRI scanner, the researchers can ask yes or no questions. One type of brain activity is taken as a “yes” and the other as a “no”.


Mr Routley suffered traumatic brain injuries when his car was in collision with a police vehicle. Until Prof Owen’s intervention, he was assumed to have been in a vegetative state for more than 12 years.


Vegetative state patients are not aware of their surroundings or capable of conscious thought.


Neurologist Professor Bryan Young, from University Hospital in London, Ontario, who has cared for Mr Routley for 10 years, said the scan results overturned all previous assessments of the injured man’s condition.


“He had the clinical picture of a typical vegetative patient — no emotional response, no fixation or following with his eyes,” said Prof Young.


“He didn’t have any spontaneous movements that looked meaningful and I was quite impressed and amazed that he was able to show these cognitive responses with fMRI.”


Prof Owen has previously shown that nearly one in five vegetative patients may in fact be conscious.


Another of his patients, road accident victim Steven Graham, was able to answer “yes” when asked if he knew about his two-year-old niece Ceili. Since she born after his car accident, this demonstrated that he was able to create and store memories.


The Panorama team spent more than a year filming several vegetative and minimally conscious patients taking part in pioneering research at the Brain and Mind Institute and Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.


The programme, The Mind Reader: Unlocking My Voice, airs tonight at 10.35pm on BBC One.

Wow, that's going to throw a fairly large spanner into the euthanasia/living will can of worms!

[Balla Boy]

Wow, that's going to throw a fairly large spanner into the euthanasia/living will can of worms!

I'd like my living will to state that I'd like my chips cashed in at the point that I was communicating through brain scans.

[SecondRowGal]

I'd like my living will to state that I'd like my chips cashed in at the point that I was communicating through brain scans.

Yeah, me too, and maybe it's a good thing that they can finally communciate with the people in a vegetative state, so that they can say "pull the plug", etc., but what an amount of suffering... 12 years lying in a bed, unable to do anything... ANY-THING at all... It doesn't bear thinking about.

[McCloud]

Yeah, me too, and maybe it's a good thing that they can finally communciate with the people in a vegetative state, so that they can say "pull the plug", etc., but what an amount of suffering... 12 years lying in a bed, unable to do anything... ANY-THING at all... It doesn't bear thinking about.

Very scary.

[No. 16]

Even the part about "what type of entertainment" they want is horrifying itself. The whole thing is horrifying, but I even shuddered at the thought of someone putting MasterChef Ireland on for me every day! God I would so want to die! I mean the Australian one is sooo much better. Imagine if someone assumed you'd like to listen to chart hits like Bruno Mars or Taylor Swift of a Sunday...What if you can feel itch but can't scratch! It's total Alfred Hitchcock horror! Wanting to scream and die and being trapped! In a living hell!

[JoeyFantastic]

Yeah, me too, and maybe it's a good thing that they can finally communciate with the people in a vegetative state, so that they can say "pull the plug", etc., but what an amount of suffering... 12 years lying in a bed, unable to do anything... ANY-THING at all... It doesn't bear thinking about.

Terrifying alright, the Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a great book about Locked-In syndrome but at least he could comminicate with the world. 12 years. Hard to imagine what that would do to someone.

[i_like_cake]

This is beautiful....

http://workshop.chromeexperiments.com/stars/

If you can ... zoom out to the milky way scale... very cool....

[Hugged Rugger]

amazing that he would even be sane enough to respond after 12 years. i suspect my brain would be demented at that point