Category: science
Where’s That Robot With My Damn Sandwich?
| April 13, 2013 | Posted by Tom Backhouse under science |
As I was idly masticating my breakfast sandwich this morning, I realised something; it’s already 2013. A whole 12 years have passed since HAL went a bit funny in interplanetary space, and it’s already three years since he was united with the floating consciousness of Dave Bowman and still no one has made me a robot. I once made myself one, sure, but it didn’t do a lot; it could follow a black line or not bump into things. I made it from a kit, which I got with a magazine as a kid. Every week I’d get my screwdriver out and add the next bit, and I can tell you, following a line while not bumping into things is bloody complicated. But still, it’s the future already! I’ve seen… more
Shark Finning: At the Jaws of Extinction
| April 8, 2013 | Posted by Zac Menzies under science |
I thought I would go about writing this after a recent event that has been labeled a ‘historic moment for conservation’. The CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) conference, Bangkok 2013 voted to adopt world wide management of certain shark species, it will require the 177 member states to present export permits showing the catch to be from sustainable sources, in this way it is hoped such shark species will be caught in a sustainable manner and that global populations will recover. The five species targeted are the Oceanic Whitetip, Scalloped Hammerhead, Great Hammerhead, Smooth Hammerhead and Porbeagle shark, all of which have suffered from over fishing for the shark fin trade. This is hugely significant as it is the first piece of global legislation… more
Resolutions right now
| August 28, 2012 | Posted by Huma Khan under lifestyle, science |
Sitting my exams back in July, results day seemed a lifetime away, let alone September, but alas the inevitable has occurred despite the momentary obliviousness in which the mind can blissfully shroud itself when faced with tasks of utmost imminence. Lacrimal glands all over the country have enjoyed a period of activeness (hopefully for tears of joy), greeting card industries have again made a killing and masses of students will be flooding shops to stock up on stationary. For us another year of intense academia is about to commence, which makes it all the more fitting to make our resolutions now. Envisage the following: a student arduously jotting notes is disturbed by an anxious looking parent armed with a handful of almonds.… more
Bark worse than its bite, or too hard to swallow?
| July 23, 2012 | Posted by Georgie Tindale under science |
Let’s take a minute to study these quotes: “We are about to embark on a course of enforced mass poisoning” “It has been blamed by doctors from the … National Health Federation for 35,000 cancer deaths every year” “The first ever lawsuits against the US government’s nuclear bomb programme concerned this … ” What do you think the old edition of The Ecologist is referring to? I can confidently assume that your answer was not the correct one: fluoride compounds in our drinking water. This was headline news in the August 2003 edition, which I recently procured at a junk swap, and although I am by no means politically aligned with the magazine this article did make me think. Is there… more
Lucid dreaming
| April 24, 2012 | Posted by Alaa Jasim under lifestyle, science |
” … Someone mentions it’s like a dream. I laugh and say that’s because I am dreaming. I am now lucid … “ The human mind is a weird, scary, almost alien place. It is evident that the mind is at its freest when we are asleep dreaming, where, if we are to believe the Freudian theory, our deepest desires and wishes are laid bare. Some also believe that our dreams represent the body healing itself, and the mind, to put it in mechanical terms, clearing out its hard drive to get ready for another day. But what about other types of dreaming? What about dreams that can lead to sleep disorders? Dreams we can influence? We all know that… more
Yuri’s Night: A low key celebration of one of the USSR’s few success stories
| April 15, 2012 | Posted by Tom Soden under science |
On April 12, 1961, in the barren desert steppe of Kazakhstan, a large rocket carrying a lone man blasted off into the unknown. The rocket, a modified R7 Semyorka (NATO designation: SS-6 Sapwood), was little more than a converted nuclear missile, carrying a small, undeniably Soviet-looking Vostok spacecraft instead of the 3-ton thermonuclear warhead for which it was intended. The occupant’s name, of course, was Yuri Gagarin. I’m telling you all this because last Thursday was the 51st anniversary of the first human spaceflight, a landmark achievement probably still unparalleled (except perhaps by the moon landings) in human history. Sure, technologically Sputnik was more important (for showing that orbital spaceflight was possible), but there is a big difference between sending… more
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
| April 4, 2012 | Posted by Jane Lu under culture, science |
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, written by Patrick Süskind, is a book of both horror and mystery, and I would say that it is by far the best book I have ever read. The book follows the story of Grenouille, a boy born in a Parisian fish market among a pile of fish heads and guts. As an orphan Grenouille was raised by a wet nurse, but he was soon given away to an orphanage (because he did not possess a smell) and later apprenticed to a tanner. In fact, Grenouille is gifted with an extraordinary talent that enables him to distinguish between even the most similar of smells. One day, while exploring Paris, Grenouille comes across a scent… more
Are you sleeping enough to stay alive?
| February 2, 2012 | Posted by Alaa Jasim under lifestyle, science |
When you visit the doctor, what are you asked? “How can I help you today?” or maybe “What are your symptoms?” But how frequently are you asked about your sleeping patterns? “Do you sleep well?” “Do you get as much sleep as you should?” “Do you often wake up in the middle of the night?” “Do you find it hard to drift off?” “Do you wake up still feeling lethargic?” These are all signs of insomnia – and insomniacs, believe it or not, are at a higher risk of serious disease and life-threatening illness than those who sleep well. Sleep is extremely important and I think people don’t appreciate just how significant a good kip is. High blood pressure, depression, diabetes. These… more
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
| January 5, 2012 | Posted by Alaa Jasim under lifestyle, science |
On November 3, 2011, I was diagnosed with the condition polycystic ovarian syndrome. Since then it’s become a personal mission of mine to inform people about it by raising awareness of what it is, what signs there are that point towards it, and what’s involved in being tested for it. It is a condition, in my opinion, that women need to know if they have so that they can start dealing with it and treating it as soon as possible. It took me three years, two sets of doctors and a hospital visit to get a diagnosis, and I don’t want anyone else to be in that position. What is polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)? Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a condition… more
Animal magic – “The Woman Who Thinks Like A Cow”
| December 14, 2011 | Posted by Georgie Tindale under reviews, science |
The irregular camera flicks on to a peach-covered bedspread in a room furnished with cream walls, a flickering television screen and the corner of a tropical plant just visible. On the bed sits an apparently alert husky dog with piercing blue eyes. She glances at the person behind the camera and looks up dumbly at the anonymous voice saying “I love you Mishka, I love you.” After several attempts from both the female and the male American voices, the husky opens her mouth, yawns, and squeaks out a vague “I love you too.” Although obviously tongue in cheek, the owners of the dog join a vast movement of scientists, researchers and pet owners in claiming that animals have a far greater… more
