Tuesday, December 20, 2005

genetics Twins Comparison Suggests Genetic Risk for Dementia. On average, twins of people who have been diagnosed with dementia score lower on cognitive tests than do the twins of people without dementia, new research has found. The study, which included more than 100 Swedish twins age 65 and older, also found that, on average, identical twins of people with dementia have poorer cognitive skills than do fraternal (non-identical) twins of people with dementia. [Science Blog -] 10:40:47 PM    comment

privacy The Future of Tech And NSA Wiretaps. [Slashdot] 4:21:18 PM    comment

IP Cutting Through the Patent Thicket. [Slashdot] 3:03:02 PM    comment

open source OSS Watch - Documentation issues in open source. http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/documentation.xml Bravo to the OSS Watch guys for tackling this hoary issue straight on - the best way to fight 'fear uncertainty and doubt' is by talking about the issues and showing how one can address them. Not that I know of any open source project that have this problem, ahem, but this short piece contains the sensible advice to make mailing lists, chat logs, etc., accessible to search engines and bookmarking systems, as well as to encourage new users to contribute documentation as their first contribution to the project. - SWL [EdTechPost] 3:00:00 PM    comment

depression Antidepressants boost brain growth, scientists report. The beneficial effects of a widely used class of antidepressants might be the result of increased nerve-fiber growth in key parts of the brain, according to a Johns Hopkins study being published in the January 2006 issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry. [Science Blog -] 2:27:57 PM    comment

health Artificial light at night stimulates breast cancer in mice. Results from a new study in laboratory mice show that nighttime exposure to artificial light stimulated the growth of human breast tumors by suppressing the levels of a key hormone called melatonin. The study also showed that extended periods of nighttime darkness greatly slowed the growth of these tumors. [Science Blog -] 2:26:27 PM    comment

Culture 'Intelligent design' teaching ban. A US court rules against the teaching of intelligent design in schools as an alternative theory to evolution. [BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition] 11:45:47 AM    comment

health Ancient Chinese remedy shows potential in preventing breast cancer. A derivative of the sweet wormwood plant used since ancient times to fight malaria and shown to precisely target and kill cancer cells may someday aid in stopping breast cancer before it gets a toehold. In a new study, two University of Washington bioengineers found that the substance, artemisinin, appeared to prevent the onset of breast cancer in rats that had been given a cancer-causing agent. [Science Blog -] 9:27:48 AM    comment

speed First Flight of a Scramjet Powered by Jet Fuel. Alliant Techsystems, DARPA and the Office of Naval Research successfully ground-launched and flew a hypersonic scramjet-powered vehicle from the Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. in a pre-dawn launch on Saturday, Dec. 10. This was the first-ever free flight of a scramjet-powered vehicle using conventional liquid hydrocarbon jet fuel. The jet flew at speeds in excess of mach 5. (5*700=3500mph=1hr coast to coast -- BL) [Science Blog -] 9:26:16 AM    comment

privacy Students Ride Orwell Express. Arizona school district takes bus surveillance to a new level. Plus: Hybrid school buses prepare to graduate. From the Wired News blog Autopia. [Wired News] 8:34:08 AM    comment

Science Journal Says Wikipedia Is Fairly Accurate - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Wikipedia, the encyclopedia that relies on volunteers to pen nearly 4 million articles, is about as accurate in covering scientific topics as Encyclopedia Britannica, the journal Nature wrote in an online article published Wednesday. The finding, based on [Online Learning Update] 8:31:14 AM    comment

speed Double X-rays give 'speedy scan'. A hi-tech scanner has been developed which takes images in less time than it takes the human heart to beat. [BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition] 8:28:59 AM    comment

blogs in education Edublog Awards 2005 announces the winners. I have to agree that there are some outstanding examples here. George Siemens, who was honored for most influential post, also keeps an exceptional blog himself (blog|RSS feed). [Syndication for Higher Ed] 8:26:23 AM    comment

eLearning platform EDU Notes: Online teaching utilizes gaming technology Greenville Daily Reflector - Greenville,NC,USA ... The system fuses different technological elements, including a 3-D platform, a course management system, an electronic whiteboard and a slide presentation. ... 7:53:18 AM    comment