Cool facts and articles

[Plutonic Panda]

The true meaning behind the Wizard of Oz?

Turns out the book and movie may be an economic fairy tale about America in the late 1800s – and gold.

Read more: 'The Wizard Of Oz' And The Gold Standard - Business Insider

[Plutonic Panda]

Smallest reptile in the world....

Sphaerodactylus nicholsi



- https://www.facebook.com/IFeakingLov...028839/?type=1

[Plutonic Panda]

Stonehenge Mystery Revealed - Business Insider

[Plutonic Panda]

Gravitational Waves

I have found this to be extremely interesting

Possibly the biggest science story of the year—or the most embarrassing slip up—was the claim to have found evidence of a gravitational wave from the birth of the universe. Meanwhile, the search for gravitational waves from more local events, such as neutron stars in tight orbits, continues.

But what are gravitational waves? The first thing is to distinguish them from gravity waves, which are altogether different. Gravity waves include such familiar concepts as water waves on the ocean. They occur when something disturbs a fluid and gravity draws it back, creating an oscillation around the mean level.

Gravitational waves, on the other hand, are altogether more exotic. Their existence relies on the concept of spacetime, as described by Einstein in his general theory of relativity. To us it looks like the world is three-dimensional, while time seems to be something utterly different. However, Einstein envisaged these as a single topological space.

- What Are Gravitational Waves? | IFLScience

[ctchandler]

I thought this was interesting. And of course, my friend from London had to get her "catty" remark in. She was a teacher/principal (officially called "head teacher") and retired several years ago.
C. T.
We had some Univ news today as well, that our colleges are crowing about.
Out of the top 6 universities in the world, 4 are British (English actually - take that Scotland!) including
2 in London. The other 2 are American - MIT top and Harvard 4th.

1. MIT.
2. Joint second Cambridge and Imperial College London.
4. Harvard.
5. Joint fifth Oxford and University College London.

19 of the top 100 are British and 28 American. Not bad for a country our size.
We always punch above our weight in Further Education. Must be something to do with
the preparation our students get when they're younger from our brilliant teachers!!!
QS world university rankings 2014: top 200 | Higher Education Network | The Guardian

[Teo9969]

21 out of the Top 25 and 61 of the Top 100 countries are all English speaking. This is not particularly surprising because college (or as the rest of the English speaking world says: university) makes a particularly excellent place for international students to work on their English.

That being said, our government should find a way to incentivize some of these students who come to these top-tier universities to stay and work in the country after they graduate. There are a lot of ways you could develop a program, but for instance, a school could apply to the government to be part of the program, having to meet certain standards as an academic institution (or even a specific college in a particularly university), and upon acceptance would be eligible for small grants from the government to take international students. Those international students could then be eligible for a work-visa and tax credits to stay in the United States if they graduate having met certain criteria (honors or cum laude or whatever).

It would be a great way to encourage the brightest students of the world to come to our universities and for our universities to make a more concerted effort to get the brightest students in the world studying and eventually contributing to our society.

[Plutonic Panda]

This is pretty incredible!

Scientists make quantum leap, teleport data from light to matter

We're one step closer to creating the Ansible communicator in "Ender's Game," the warp drive envisioned by Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre and a "Star Trek"-style Transporter.

Or we can at least keep thinking that while scientists do the hard, incremental physics required to keep us dreaming of those kinds of future advancements. This time the progress comes from a research team out of the lab of Professor Nicolas Gisin in the physics department at the University of Geneva.

The team achieved teleportation of the quantum state of a photon -- in this case, it's known as the photon's polarization -- to a crystal-encased photon more than 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) away. The distance breaks the previous record of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) set 10 years ago by the same team using the method. This marks the latest success in a series of experiments the group, led by physicist Félix Bussières, has been conducting over the last decade in an effort to better understand quantum data transfer with ever-newer technology.

The results, which were achieved in March, were published in the journal Nature Photonics on September 21.

In this particular experiment, the researchers stored one photon in a crystal, essentially creating a solid-state memory bank. They sent another photon of a different wavelength 25 kilometers away through optical fiber, whereupon they had it interact with a third photon. Because the first two photons were entangled -- a quantum property meaning the particles could speak to another across an infinite distance -- the interaction sent the data to the photo stored in the memory bank, where the team was able to retrieve it.

- Scientists make quantum leap, teleport data from light to matter - CNET

[Mel]

ROBOT TROUSER SNAKE stiffens to MOUNT slippery mounds ? The Register

[Plutonic Panda]

Type in you zip code and see how you rank vs. the rest of the country

The 'Best' Zip Codes In America - Business Insider

[ctchandler]

Type in you zip code and see how you rank vs. the rest of the country

The 'Best' Zip Codes In America - Business Insider

Darn, I'm moving from #836 to #5,439 and both places are in the OKC metro area.
C. T.

[Mel]

ctc, you mage me laugh with this little snap: "British (English actually - take that Scotland!) ".

[Plutonic Panda]

[Plutonic Panda]

Cancer Destroying Cells!

Scientists Turn Stem Cells Into Cancer-Destroyers

Stem cells have been produced that can release chemicals that kill cancer cells, offering a path to fight particularly hard to access tumors.

Stem cells have become a focus of medical research for their capacity to turn into the cells that make up the body's organs. They also can be engineered to produce Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE), a chemical toxic to brain tumors cells.

PE can already be produced outside the body and administered as a way of fighting brain cancer, but this approach has been found to have limitations. Dr. Khalid Shah of Harvard Medical School said, “Cancer-killing toxins have been used with great success in a variety of blood cancers, but they don't work as well in solid tumors because the cancers aren't as accessible and the toxins have a short half-life."

To get round this problem, Shah wanted to find a way to keep on producing the anti-cancer agents, preferably while having reached into the tumors' core.

In Stem Cells, Shah has announced success, at least with mice.

“A few years ago we recognized that stem cells could be used to continuously deliver these therapeutic toxins to tumors in the brain, but first we needed to genetically engineer stem cells that could resist being killed themselves by the toxins,” Shah says. “Now, we have toxin-resistant stem cells that can make and release cancer-killing drugs.”

PE will kill any cell it can get inside, but other labs have succeeded in making it and other cytotoxins enter cancer cells but be resisted by normal cells.

- Scientists Turn Stem Cells Into Cancer-Destroyers | IFLScience

[Plutonic Panda]

WOW!!!

8 Mindblowing Facts About Eyes - Business Insider

[Plutonic Panda]

Pretty insane. Not much and no way I'd be sleeping in the kitchen!

This Is The Apartment You Can Rent For $1200 In London



Read more: London's Shoe Box Flat - Business Insider

[Plutonic Panda]

Cool infographic and article about Mars Journey!



- NASA's Journey to Mars | NASA

[Plutonic Panda]

Superfast Clotting Agent Could Save Many Lives | IFLScience

[Plutonic Panda]

This is cool!

Ravens Have Social Abilities Previously Only Seen In Humans | IFLScience

[Plutonic Panda]

Tallest buildings that were never completed.



- 10 Tallest Buildings Never Finished - Business Insider

[Plutonic Panda]

Underground parks a solution to overcrowded cities?



- Solar Technology Could Make Underground Parks In Cramped Cities Possible | IFLScience

I really like it.

[Plutonic Panda]

Researchers Closer To Using Light Instead of Wires In Computers | IFLScience

[Plutonic Panda]

Hmmmm, this is interesting



- http://www.iflscience.com/health-and...-about-******s

[Plutonic Panda]

Ultrasound Used To Create 3D Shapes In Mid Air That Can Be Seen And Felt

You may not have heard of it before, but haptic technology is all around us. The buzz of your smartphone as you tap the keys, or the rumble of your Wii controller as you smash a tennis ball are both haptic effects. But this touch feedback technology has uses far beyond enhancing your game experience; it’s used in rehabilitation of stroke patients and even surgical training. Now, scientists have invented a new method of haptic feedback using ultrasound, which creates 3D haptic shapes in mid-air that can be seen and felt.

The researchers, who are based at the University of Bristol, envisage that this innovative technology could transform the way that we use 3D haptic shapes. It could lead to touchable holograms to augment learning, or enhanced gaming experience by allowing users to feel features of the game, such as a football. It could even have a place in medicine, for example by allowing surgeons to physically feel tumors by exploring CT scans.

- Ultrasound Used To Create 3D Shapes In Mid Air That Can Be Seen And Felt | IFLScience

[Plutonic Panda]

NASA Announces Plans To Send Astronauts To Mars In Mid-2030s | IFLScience

[Plutonic Panda]

Stunning Photos Of Dried Whisky Under A Microscope | IFLScience