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Scientists Have Developed Magnetic System that Mimics the Behavior of a Wormhole

By on August 23, 2015 in Science/Technology 0
jah~ (CC BY-NC 2.0)

jah~ (CC BY-NC 2.0)

A team from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) has developed a magnetic system that mimics the behavior of a wormhole. While it is not an actual wormhole, what they did “was make a propagating magnetic field invisible.”

Jonathan O’Callaghan via IFL Science:

The research, by a team from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), was published in the journal Scientific Reports. They describe how they created a small sphere about 45 millimeters (1.8 inches) across, made of a spherical ferromagnetic (one that can become magnetized) surface, a spherical superconducting layer, and an inner ferromagnetic sheet wound in a spiral. The superconducting layer was made of superconducting strips glued to a sphere, and the entire device needed to be submerged in liquid nitrogen for the superconductor to work. The magnetic field was supplied at one end by a current passing through a coil.

When the magnetic field entered the sphere at one end, the researchers showed how it would appear at the other end as an isolated monopolar-like field – but within the sphere itself, there was no trace of the magnetic field. 

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Researchers Encounter ‘Bigfoot’ in Missouri, say it Made Donkey Sounds

By on August 23, 2015 in Mystery 0

Randy Savig, a 50-year-old Bigfoot researcher, and his research partner, Bernie, claim to have encountered the always elusive creature. They provided the above audio recording, but no video.

via Cryptozoology News:

“The whoop vocals came from about 30 degrees to the right of the subject we were watching,” he says. “They almost seemed to be an alarm. With the audio contamination from the tree frogs and the bugs this time of the year, recording good clear audio is next to impossible, but if you use headphones to listen to this it is easier to hear what is going on.”

But these vocals reportedly became something else. As the two men were closely monitoring the being behind the bushes, the “donkey” sounds began.

“Odd. It was as if it was attempting to mimic a donkey. There are mules on a farm about a mile and a half ,as the crow files, but really sound off from audio we got from them before.”

The two men said that the animal then “dropped down” and that it became “too dark to see anymore”.

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Skydiving spiders show off their gliding skills

By on August 23, 2015 in Science/Technology 0

By dropping spiders from tree tops, researchers are discovering how they maneuver their bodies in the air.

via New Scientist:

These jungle spiders free fall with style. After being dropped from the tops of trees, the spiders shown in this video are typically able to soar to the nearest tree trunk, providing the first evidence that spiders can glide.

Stephen Yanoviak from the University of Louisville in Kentucky and his colleagues filmed spiders of the genusSelenops as they were released from a height of 24 metres during tests at a research station in the Amazon rainforest in Peru.

Characterised by a flat body, which has earned them the nickname “flatties”, they quickly right themselves and get into a posture similar to that of skydivers. Then they head for a tree trunk more than 90 per cent of the time, travelling up to 5 metres horizontally while steering with their forelegs.

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White supremacist convicted in plot to kill Obama with ‘death ray’ device

By on August 23, 2015 in News 0

ObamaKKK death ray devices?!? Read on via the Guardian:

A New York white supremacist was convicted by a federal jury on Friday of plotting to use a remote-controlled radiation device he called “Hiroshima on a light switch” to harm Muslims and President Barack Obama.

After less than three hours of deliberation in US district court in Albany, New York, the jury unanimously found Glendon Scott Crawford guilty of all three charges against him.

Crawford, 51, wearing a gray suit and eyeglasses, showed no emotion as judge Gary Sharpe read the verdict.

He was convicted of use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to build and use a radiological dispersal device. He was also convicted of distributing information with respect to a weapon of mass destruction.

“Glendon Scott Crawford was a terrorist who attempted to acquire a weapon of mass destruction and to use it to kill innocent members of the Muslim community,” said Richard Hartunian, US attorney for the northern district of New York.

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Armed With ‘Advanced Killing Technology,’ Humans Act as Planet’s ‘Super-Predators’

By on August 23, 2015 in Environment, News 0
Brown bear eating salmon at Katmai National Park. (Photo: Christoph Strässler/flickr/cc)

Brown bear eating salmon at Katmai National Park. (Photo: Christoph Strässler/flickr/cc)

This post originally appeared on Common Dreams. See more of Andrea Germanos’ articles here.

Humans are exceeding the bounds of natural systems and acting as “super-predators,” a new report finds.

The analysis by researchers from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, University of Victoria (UVic), and the Hakai Institute, and published in the journal Science, looked at over 300 studies that compared human hunter predation and that of non-humans. Whereas other predators are largely able to hunt at sustainable rates, humans, equipped with “with advanced killing technology and fossil fuel subsidy,” are killing adult prey at a much higher—and unsustainable—rate.

“Our wickedly efficient killing technology, global economic systems, and resource management that prioritizes short-term benefits to humanity have given rise to the era of the human super predator,” stated Dr. Chris Darimont, science director for Raincoast and Hakai-Raincoast professor at the UVic.… Read the rest

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Modafinil Is The First Smart Drug That Really Works

By on August 23, 2015 in News 0

Scientists say it is time to have an ethical debate about whether Modafinil should be “condoned or condemned,” reports the Telegraph:

A ‘smart drug’ taken by one in four students at Oxford University really does boost brain power and colleges need to consider whether it should be banned, scientists have said.

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Modafinil is currently available on NHS as a treatment for narcolepsy but surveys have suggested that a fifth of university students use it to enhance performance for revising and exams after it was linked to improved cognition.

Oxford University and Harvard Medical School looked at 24 studies into modafainil and have concluded that it really does improve thinking skills, particularly in long complex tasks. It was also found to help with planning, decision making, flexibility, learning and memory, and creativity.

It is the first ‘smart drug’ found to actually work and it appears to have few side effects, say researchers.

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