February 2012
Exotic new matter expected in ultracold atoms →
Just as NASA engineers test new rocket designs in computer studies before committing themselves to full prototypes, so physicists will often model matter under various circumstances to see whether something new appears. This is especially true of atomtronics, a relatively new science devoted to creating artificial tailored materials consisting of neutral atoms held in an array with laser beams, or...
Another mechanism discovered by which sulforaphane... →
Research in the Linus Pauling Institute has found a second mechanism by which foods rich in sulforaphane, such as broccoli, can help prevent cancer.
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“The world’s most difficult word to translate has been identified as “ilunga”...”
– BBC NEWS | Africa | Congo word ‘most untranslatable’ (via rhea137)
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“When a human being becomes a set of data on a website like Facebook, he or she...”
– Zadie Smith - Generation Why? (via soundinmylungs)
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theres nothing like buying a new book when you have 8183920188281 other books to read
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“The bruises go away, and so does how you hate, and so does the feeling that...”
– Jonathan Safran Foer (from Everything Is Illuminated)
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“Tell someone that you’ve got a drink problem, or an eating disorder, or your dad...”
– David Nicholls, Starter for Ten (via vashti)
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Can you feel your heart breaking? Study shows... →
shannsational:
The relationship between emotional and physical pain goes both ways: just as physical pain-relieving drugs can kill emotional pain, so too can emotional support — for example, holding a loved one’s hand — reduce physical pain.
Research even shows that emotional pain can sometimes activate brain regions that normally process only physical hurt. One recent study of people who...
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“So she had to satisfy herself with the idea of love — loving the loving of...”
– Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is Illuminated (via youthss)
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NOOSPHE.RE: Enriched with Information →
inthenoosphere:
New theory doesn’t limit consciousness to the brain (via ScienceNews)
As a scientist, Giulio Tononi’s goal is as lofty as it gets: He wants to understand how the brain generates consciousness. In his hunt, he and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin–Madison routinely use…
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“I don’t think that there are any limits to how excellent we could make life...”
– Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated)
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“What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of...”
– Werner Heisenberg
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“The problems of language here are really serious. We wish to speak in some way...”
– Werner Heisenberg
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Women 'have potentially endless supply of eggs' →
The prevailing wisdom has been that women have a finite number of eggs, that gradually diminish in number and quality until the menopause.
But British experts said the findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, “re-write the rule book” on this point and amounted to “a potentially landmark piece of research”.
The academics, led by Dr Jonathan Tilly of...
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Prions point to a new style of evolution →
The rogue proteins behind variant CJD, the human form of mad cow disease, have revealed their benign side. Prions, it seems, lie at the heart of a newly discovered form of near-instant evolution that provides life with a third way to adapt to potentially lethal environments. Crucially, it involves neither genetic nor epigenetic changes to DNA.
The conventional view is that new traits can only...
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Quantum dots control brain cells for the first... →
In an unlikely marriage of quantum physics and neuroscience, tiny particles called quantum dots have been used to control brain cells for the first time.
Having such control over the brain could one day provide a non-invasive treatment for conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, depression and epilepsy. In the nearer term, quantum dots could be used to treat blindness by reactivating damaged...
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Laws of physics may change across the universe →
New evidence supports the idea that we live in an area of the universe that is “just right” for our existence. The controversial finding comes from an observation that one of the constants of nature appears to be different in different parts of the cosmos.
If correct, this result stands against Einstein’s equivalence principle, which states that the laws of physics are the same...
Asteroid orbits modelled in a single atom →
Electrons can orbit the nucleus of an atom in the same way a class of asteroids orbits the sun. The work could allow for new levels of control over chemical reactions.
Many people picture atoms as mini solar systems, with point-like electrons circling a central nucleus. But early last century that model was displaced by the fuzzy uncertainties of quantum mechanics. Under quantum rule, you...
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