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Difference Between the Male and Female Brain

2011-11-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

Mark Kastleman

Significant differences exist between the male and female
brains. Although what follows has been meticulously gathered
from the research and writings of leading scientists and
psychologists, it is by no means a hard and fast rule or
description of every man and every woman. Every person is
different and unique.

However, the facts clearly bear out that for nearly
all men and women there are significant differences between
the male and female brain. This means that in most cases,
men and women do not behave, feel, think, or respond in the same
ways, either on the inside or on the outside.

1.The male brain is highly specialized, using specific parts of one

hemisphere or the other to accomplish specific tasks. The female brain

is more diffused and utilizes significant portions of both hemispheres

for a variety of tasks.

2.Men are able to focus on narrow issues and block out unrelated information

and distractions. Women naturally see everyday things from a broader,

"big-picture" vantage point.

3.Men can narrowly focus their brains on specific tasks or activities for

long periods of time without tiring. Women are better equipped to divide

their attention among multiple activities or tasks.

4.Men are able to separate information, stimulus, emotions, relationships,

etc. into separate compartments in their brains, while women tend to link

everything together.

5.Men see individual issues with parts of their brain, while women look

at the holistic or multiple issues with their whole brain (both hemispheres).

6.Men have as much as 20 times more testosterone in their systems than

do women. This makes men typically more aggressive and dominant .

6.In men, the dominant perceptual sense is vision, which is typically not

the case with women. All of a woman's senses are, in some respects, more

finely tuned than those of a man.

7.Pornographers incorporate male/female differences into the design and

marketing of their wares. Just because something might not appeal to a

man doesn't mean that a woman won't be attracted to it and vice versa.

Scientists discover new blood pressure genes

2011-11-20T00:10:00.000-08:00

New genes affecting high blood pressure, a condition that causes more than 7 million deaths worldwide each year, have been uncovered by scientists at Queen Mary, University of London.

The study, published (17 November) in the American Journal of Human Genetics, reveals a new layer of understanding in the causes of high blood pressure, a major contributing factor towards the incidence of heart attacks and stroke.

Senior author on the paper, Professor Patricia Munroe from Queen Mary’s William Harvey Research Institute, said: “The new genes are an important discovery in tackling heart disease and stroke but now we need to further our understanding of the way these genes function.”

Professor Munroe, Dr Toby Johnson and others from Queen Mary, along with colleagues from other universities, analysed blood pressure measurements from 25,000 people. They used a custom designed DNA chip to study 50,000 sites along the human genome. By looking for sites where people with a particular DNA letter (A, C, G, or T) had unusually high or low blood pressure, they were able to identify genes that affect blood pressure.

“Although the number of people and the number of sites along the genome we studied might seem large, by contemporary standards this study was actually quite small. Nonetheless, we were able to make some very important discoveries,” she said. “We can say, therefore, that careful choices in our study design paid off, and as a whole the study was very cost-effective.”

The scientists identified a total of five new genetic variants associated with blood pressure, and also confirmed a number of previous discoveries.

First author on the study, Dr Johnson, also from the William Harvey Research Institute, said: “In discovering these genes we have taken another step towards understanding the biological mechanisms that affect blood pressure. Ultimately, this knowledge can lead to developing new treatments, or to help identify individuals who would benefit most from the treatments already available.”

One of the genes identified in the study is involved in the production of nitric oxide, a small molecule studied extensively by another group at the William Harvey Research Institute, for its blood pressure-lowering benefits.

Dr Johnson explains: “We found that the specific genetic variant identified in our study may affect how the nitric oxide-producing gene is turned on and off. In principle this could be used to develop alternative therapies for lowering blood pressure.”

This most recent work also revealed independent genetic effects at two of the genes previously identified in research led by the same team, indicating more complexities surrounding the role of genes in influencing blood pressure levels.

“We suspect that this might be the tip of the iceberg in terms of the role these genes play in affecting blood pressure,” Dr Johnson said. “We have a lot more work to do to get the complete picture of the way these specific genes function.”

Scientists Invent 'World's Lightest' Material

2011-11-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

Researchers have created a material that's so light it can rest comfortably on a dandelion seed head without disturbing the fluffy, delicate structure of the plant. The "ultralight metallic microlattice" invented by scientists at UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories, and Caltech is described in the nov. 18 issue of science.

The new materials super lightness is due to the way it has been constructed using interconnecting hollow nickel-phosphorous tubes which create a micro-lattice. The nickel-phosphorous tubes have a wall thickness of 100 nanometers, which is the equivalent of 1,000 times thinner than a human hair.

The new material is 100 times lighter than styrofoam,according to the reports. The secret to its lightness is a cellular architecture fabricated from hollow tubes that supports a material structure that is in reality 99.99 percent air, according to the research team that built it.

That means the material's density is less than one-thousandth that of water. And the stuff is pretty resilient as well—researchers said that when squashed to half its height, the material rebounds 98 percent of the way back.

"The trick is to fabricate a lattice of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair," lead author Tobias Shandler of HRL said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The new material uses weight efficient techniques, just like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, using a hierarchical lattice design. As an example the team explains that if the 7,300 tonnes of metal used to construct the Eiffel Tower were melted down the result would fill just six centimeters (2.4 in) of the structure’s 125 m2 (1,345 square ft) base.

As well as its ultra-low density, the team of researchers also explain that micro-lattice architecture of their new material provides it with extraordinarily high energy absorption. Allowing it to completely recover from compression exceeding 50 percent strain.

The material seen resting on a dandelion seed head in the picture above is 90 percent nickel, according to the Times, but Bill Carter, manager of the architected materials group at HRL, told the newspaper that it can be made out of other materials as well.

One UC Irvine researcher involved with the project suggested the ultra-lightweight material might be used for impact protection, and might have applications "in the aerospace industry, acoustic dampening, and maybe some battery applications," according to the Times.

The material behaves somewhat like a feather when dropped, floating to the ground, Carter told the paper.

"It takes more than 10 seconds, for instance, for the lightest material we've made to fall if you drop it from shoulder height," he said.

New test finds neutrinos still faster than light

2011-11-18T03:41:00.000-08:00

Finding that contradicts Einstein's theory of special relativity is repeated with fine-tuned procedures and equipment

The scientists who appeared to have found in September that certain particles that can travel faster than light have ruled out one potential source of error in their measurements after completing a second, fine-tuned version of their experiment.

Their results, posted on the arvix preprint server on friday morning and submitted for peer review in the Journal of High Energy Physics, confirmed earlier measurements that neutrinos, sent through the ground from Cern near Geneva to the Gran Sasso lab in Italy 450 miles (720km) away seemed to travel faster than light.

The finding that neutrinos might break one of the most fundamental laws of physics sent scientists into a frenzy when it was first reported in September. Not only because it appeared to go against Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity but, if correct, the finding opened up the troubling possibility of being able to send information back in time, blurring the line between past and present and wreaking havoc with the fundamental principle of cause and effect.

Around 20 neutrino events have been measured at the Gran Sasso lab in the fine-tuned version of the experiment in the past few weeks, each one precisely associated with a pulse leaving Cern. The scientists concluded from the new measurements that the neutrinos still appeared to be arriving earlier than they should.

"With the new type of beam produced by Cern's accelerators we've been able to to measure with accuracy the time of flight of neutrinos one by one," said Dario Autiero of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). "The 20 neutrinos we recorded provide comparable accuracy to the 15,000 on which our original measurement was based. In addition their analysis is simpler and less dependent on the measurement of the time structure of the proton pulses and its relation to the neutrinos' production mechanism."

In a statement released on Friday, Fernando Ferroni, president of the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics, said: "A measurement so delicate and carrying a profound implication on physics requires an extraordinary level of scrutiny. The experiment at Opera, thanks to a specially adapted Cern beam, has made an important test of consistency of its result. The positive outcome of the test makes us more confident in the result, although a final word can only be said by analogous measurements performed elsewhere in the world."

Since the Opera (Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus) team at Gran Sasso announced its results, physicists around the world have published scores of online papers trying to explain the strange finding as either the result of a trivial mistake or evidence for new physics.

Dr Carlo Contaldi of Imperial College London suggested that different gravitational effects at Cern and Gran Sasso could have affected the clocks used to measure the neutrinos. Others have come up with ideas about new physics that modify special relativity by taking the unexpected effects of higher dimensions into account.

Despite the latest result, said Autiero, the observed faster-than-light anomaly in the neutrinos' speed from Cern to Gran Sasso needed further scrutiny and independent tests before it could be refuted or confirmed definitively. The Opera experiment will continue to take data with a new muon detector well into next year, to improve the accuracy of the results.

The search for errors is not yet over, according to Jacques Martino, director of the National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics at CNRS. He said that more checks would be under way in future, including ensuring that the clocks at Cern and Gran Sasso were properly synchronised, perhaps by using an optical fibre as opposed to the GPS system used at the moment.

This would remove any potential errors that might occur due to the effects of Einstein's theory of general relativity, which says that clocks tick at different rates depending on the amount of gravitational force they experience – clocks closer to the surface of the Earth tick slower than those further away.

Even a tiny discrepancy between the clocks at Cern and Gran Sasso could be at the root of the faster-than-light results seen in September.

The team also rechecked their statistical analysis, confirming that the error on their measurements was indeed 10 nanoseconds. Some team members, including Stanco, had worried that the true error was larger. What they found was "absolutely compatible" with the original announcement, he says.

That was enough for Stanco to put his name to the paper, although he says six or seven team members are still holding out. The team was planning to submit the paper to a European physics journal on Thursday.

They are still running other tests, including measuring the length of a fibre-optic cable that carries information from the underground lab at Gran Sasso to a data-collection centre on the surface. The team is also trying to do the same test using another detector at the lab called RPC. That test will take another several months.

Even though he agreed to sign the paper, Stanco says: "I'm not so happy. From a theoretical point of view, it is not so appealing. I still feel that another experiment should make the measurement before I will say that I believe this result."

Skype Announces Facebook-to-Facebook Calling

2011-11-17T18:38:00.000-08:00

Skype Thursday announced that Skype and Facebook can now be linked from Skype’s end. With Skype’s new 5.4 Beta for Mac and 5.7 Beta for Windows, users can conduct a “Facebook to Facebook” call from within the Skype platform. It’s a major component of July’s announcement that Skype would be powering Facebook’s new video-chat feature.

Over the last year, the messages team has been working to make it easier to have one on one conversations with your friends. In November, we launched the new messages, which brings together your chats, texts, emails and messages all in one place.

Today I'm excited to introduce video calling and other improvements to chat.

To use the new feature, users must connect their Skype and Facebook accounts — this will upload all of your friends as contacts in Skype. Then it’s as easy as hitting “call” and connecting to your friends who are on Facebook chat. You can see their status updates, see if they are online, and also instant message them right from Skype.

Other features added on the new Beta versions of Skype include video rendering for Mac users and group sharing for Windows users with a Premium subscription. Users who are chatting-one on-one will also be able to screen-share while video streaming.

Skype announcement this morning said that this development is just another way to make it easier to connect to our friends, a way of “removing communication barriers.” While being able to import Facebook contacts effectively makes Facebook and Skype interchangeable as far as video-calling goes, if you are already Skyping, is connecting to Facebook just an extra step? If yes, it’s not a very big step, and does make sense if you are already logged into Skype. Connecting accounts gives users a lot more people to potentially chat with.

In the end, whether this feature is actually useful will depend on what you generally use the two different chat platforms for. Skype is usually used for voice/video calling, and people make “Skype dates,” where they open the application at the same time, and catch up this way. This is a long way of saying that Skype is used less spontaneously than Facebook for chatting/calling. Facebook’s chat is used more like AIM, where if you are on, you see who else is on, and go from there. If Skype is looking for a little more of that Facebook/AIM quality, this is a good move.

Google Music With Android Music Store, Artist Hub Launched.

2011-11-17T07:13:00.000-08:00

Google’s music service has been in beta since last May, and Google has now opened Google Music to everyone and also added in a range of new features which include their own music store.

First up is the Google Music service, which will let you store up to 20,000 of your own tracks in the cloud and then stream them to any device, and Google Music will automatically sync all your music across all your devices.

Google announced a new online store and storage space yesterday called Google Music. The program, which has been compared to iTunes and Amazon mp3, is meant to be used on computers, phones and tablets.

Another huge part of the announcement yesterday was the Google Music Artist Hub, a music sharing network that has been drawing comparisons to BandCamp. In the announcement, Google representatives said that the market would be available to artists for a one-time fee of $25 with no annual fee to keep individual albums online.

Representatives also said the Artist Hub would give artists increased freedom by allowing them to change their album price at will. Artists will also be able to sell their tracks directly through their YouTube pages in the future. Google will pay the artist 70 percent of all sales and take 30 percent.

New Contact Lens Developed To Deliver Eye Medication In Controlled Doses

2011-11-16T08:28:00.000-08:00

A new type of contact lens has been created that has been designed to deliver eye medication to users in controlled doses. The new contact lenses have been developed by a team of biomedical and chemical engineers from Alabama’s Auburn University.It is something very new and interesting.

Normally drugs which have been administered to patients eyes are washed out within around 3o minutes after being applied. To help by-pass this wash out problem, the team has developed a disposable contact lens that can administer medication you the wearers eye, such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and/or anti-allergy drugs several times a day.

The team leader and chemical engineer Mark Byrne explains:

“Results indicate that our lenses release a constant drug concentration for the entire time the lens is worn. This is about 100 times better than the conventional therapy, which consists of drug delivery via eye drops. With numbers that impressive, this technology is a real game-changer.” - ”Eye drops and ointments make up more than 90 percent market share, but are an inefficient, inconvenient method,” – “Our lenses offer the increased efficacy and efficiency of drug delivery, which translates to better eye health.”

After Shiela..,katrina is now chikni chameli......

2011-11-16T02:43:00.000-08:00

After becoming a rage with item number Sheila ki jawaani, Katrina Kaif is set to gyrate to Chikni chameli in Karan Johar's remake of his father's 1990 critically acclaimedAgneepath.

Katrina is doing a full on item song in agneepath...Its a total swinging number called

"CHIKNI CHAMELI"

Agneepath is a remake of his father's 1990 critically acclaimed Agneepath were Amitabh bachan was playing the lead role. But here in Karan's Agneepath Hrithik Roshan will play the role of Big B.Priyanka chopra will be the female lead, Sanjay dutt and Rishi kapoor are the main villain.

The new Agneepath is being directed by debutant Karan Malhotra. Releasing January 26 next year.

Google Reveals Search Algorithm Changes

2011-11-15T05:55:00.000-08:00

Fresher, more recent results: Google has made improvements to how it ranks fresh content. This change impacts around 35 per cent of the total searches and better determines the appropriate level of freshness for a given query.

Google published all the details on its official blog. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which investigates violations of antitrust law claims that search process of Google can be biased towards its own business and operations or the search results may favor the company's other services, among other issues. Every year around 500 changes are made to the search operation. Recently 10 algorithm changes have been revealed by Google on its blog which ranges from how it treats web searches in less-common languages to refinements around the way it displays results.

As 69 percent of web search has been done worldwide by Google, analysts feel that these rankings can make or break a company's future depending.

In a blog post, the search giant has listed ten tweaks made to its algorithm as it seeks to be more transparent. This is seen as a move to face the antitrust regulators investigations which claim that the company’s search process might be biased toward its own business and operations.

It has also changed the way result freshness is handled for queries where a user has chosen a specific date range. This change will ensure that users get results that are most relevant for the date range that they specify.

Improving translations: For queries in languages where limited web content is available (including Hindi), Google will now translate relevant English web pages and display the translated titles directly below the English titles in the search results. Clicking on the translated titles will then take you to pages translated from English into the query language. This feature was previously available in Korean, but only at the bottom of the page.

Richer Snippets: This change will enable the use of more relevant text in snippets. Google will now pick text from the actual page content instead of just using text that is part of a header or menu. Also, people searching for software applications will now be able to see details like cost and user reviews within their search results. The change extends the coverage of application rich snippets, so they will be available more often.

Better page titles: Google looks at a number of signals when generating a page’s title, one of them being the anchor text in links pointing to the page. The company has decided that since boilerplate links with duplicated anchor text are not as relevant, it will put less emphasis on them. The end result of this is more relevant titles that are specific to the page’s content.

Relevant Image search: Google has also decided to retire a ‘signal’ in Image Search related to images that had references from multiple documents on the web.

Making things official: For the purpose of refining official page detection, Google has adjusted how it attempts to determine which pages are official. It will now rank official websites even higher in its ranking.

Autocomplete: Google has also improved on how Autocomplete handles IME queries (basically queries which contain non-Latin characters).

Several exciting Hindi movies lined up for released in 2012

2011-11-15T04:26:00.000-08:00

Talaash-title of aamirs next????

It was just yesterday that Aamir was upset with the media and his crew for calling his untitled film Dhuan. He soon announced that the title of the movie will be decided within a month. But things were sorted out quickly and the makers decided to name it as ‘Talaash’.

Talaash is directed by Reema Kagti and co-produced by Aamir, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. The suspense thriller will feature veteran actors like Rani Mukherjee, Kareena Kapoor and Aamir in lead roles.

Back in 2003, an Akshay Kumar – Kareena Kapoor movie was titled Talaash, but the film didn’t do well at the box office. Sharmila Tagore and Rajendra Kumar also starred in a movie with the same title more than 4 decades ago

Rakesh roshan on Krrish 3????

Since the first day of release for Krrish in 2006, fans have been clamoring to know about the next film in the Krrish story series. It has been a long wait, but finally we are getting some news about this highly anticipated film. Rakesh Roshan recently gave an interview and gave away a few tidbits about the film, however not nearly enough! Here are some highlights.

Though it seems like it should be called Krrish 2, it is actually Krrish 3. Mr. Roshan explained, “It’s a trilogy. Koi…Mil Gaya was the first, Krrish was the second, so the third in the trilogy will be Krrish 3. I know I will have to explain this to a lot of people because they will wonder what happened to Krrish 2.”

Like in Krrish, Hrithik will play three different roles, however it is actually only 2 people. director clarified, “In Krrish 3, Hrithik will play Rohit (the father) and Krishna (the son) who has the split personalities of Krishna and Krrish. It is not a triple role; it’s a double role. Krishna is the normal guy who goes to work like any regular young man and he becomes Krrish to save people… yes, like Superman. It’s a very difficult proposition since Krrish 3 has a lot of father and son scenes.”

Starring opposite Hrithik will be Priyanka Chopra once again, but taking on the bad guy role is Vivek Oberoi. “We needed a strong opponent and Vivek is a fantastic actor,” the director said. Apparently Vivek has been going through some rigorous training for his role. He also has had several meeting with the director to discuss his looks, his prosthetics and that final battle that we hear is going to be epic.

Now are you ready for the bad news? We have to wait quite a bit until we will get to see the final project! With so much involved Krrish 3 will not be released until November 1, 2013,

Several exciting Hindi movies lined up for released in 2012

Student of the Year:For the first time ever, a Karan Johar directed movie wont star Shahrukh Khan as the main protagonist. Instead it will feature 3 newcomers – Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt. Co-produced by Karan and SRK (Red Chillies Entertainment banner), Student of the year will be a romantic comedy with music by Vishal – Shekhar. This will be a true test for Karan who has so far onlyworked with established superstars. Student of the Year Release Date: Mid 2012.

Kya Kool Hai Hum 2 :The first part in the series directed by Sangeeth Sivan was one of the biggest hits of 2005 and Ekta Kapoor is keen on building the film into a Franchise, something that the makers of Golmaal and Dhamaal series have successfully done. Tusshar Kapoor and Ritesh Deshmukh will remain a part of the starcast, Neha Dhupia and Isha Koppikar have been replaced by Bipasha Basu and Angela Jonsson. Kya Kool Hai Hum 2 Release Date: April 6th 2012.

Barfee:After a disastrous outing with Kites, director Anurag Basu returns with a murder mystery starring Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and south Indian actress Ileana D’Cruz. Sources say, Ranbir’s character in the movie is deaf and dumb. This will be the first biggie of 2012. Barfee Release Date: January 12th 2012.

Housefull 2:Directed by Sajid Khan, Housefull was one of the Top 5 grossers of 2010. The second part in the series will have a combination of actors who were already a part of the first film and a few new faces. Asin, Zarine Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez are the new leading ladies while Kapoor brothers Rishi and Randhir are also a part of the film. Suresh Raina and cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni are rumoured to make special apperances. That’s not all, Rani Mukherji has an item number! Sajid sure has loads of surprises in store when Housefull 2 releases worldwide a week after IPL 5 on 1st June 2012.

Ek Tha Tiger :Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif return with a Yashraj Film directed by Kabir Khan (New York, Kabul Express). Little is known about the film apart from the fact that it’ll be a romantic thriller. And yes, the release date too. Ek Tha Tiger will clash with Akshay Kumar’s Housefull 2, in what will be the clash of the superstars! Ek Tha Tiger Release Date: June 1st 2012.

Dhoom 3:The Dhoom series is the most successful franchise in Bollywood and Dhoom 2 remains one of the biggest money-spinners ever. For the third part, we have arguably the most successful actor in Bollywood today Aamir Khan and this one is releasing during Christmas. The 300 crore mark could be breached for the very first time.

Once Upon A Time In Mumbai 2:The sequel to one of the best movies of 2010, several changes have been made to OUATIM 2. None of the main actors will be a part of the sequel to be once again directed by Milan Luthria. Akshay Kumar plays the role of Dawood Ibrahim (played by Emraan Hashmi in the prequel) and Sonakshi Sinha will be his love interest. Illeana D’Cruz from down south is also a part of the film. Once Upon A Time In Mumbai 2 Release Date: August 17th 2012.

Is Our Solar System Missing a Giant Planet?

2011-11-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

If you think interplanetary space is a dangerous place now, with asteroids screaming by at close range and comets crashing into planets with the force of multiple H-bombs, be grateful you weren't here 4 billion years ago or so. Back then, our solar system was still getting itself organized. Planets caromed around like so many billiard balls, their gravity whipping smaller objects both outward into deep space and in toward the sun. One consequence of the latter: the Late Heavy Bombardment, which pummeled the inner planets with a barrage of asteroid strikes that gave the moon a goodly fraction of the craters we see today. (Earth got slammed too, but erosion, submersion in the oceans and plate tectonics have cleaned up most of the scarring.)

It wasn't just asteroids that got flung around, however: a paper just published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters argues that the young solar system started out not with four giant planets but five. Once upon a time, says lead author David Nesvorny, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune had another sibling. But that fifth giant, perhaps as big as Neptune, perhaps only half that size, went too close to Jupiter — or Jupiter went close to it — and the nameless world was whipped out into space at a screaming 200,000 m.p.h. (322,000 km/h) or so. "After 4 billion years," says Nesvorny, in a masterpiece of understatement, "it's probably pretty far away."

The evidence for this long-departed planet comes out of complex computer simulations that try to reproduce the solar system as it used to be. To qualify as plausible, such a model has to set up the conditions that could evolve into the configuration we see today. That means all the planets have to wind up in the right places, as does the Kuiper Belt of comet-like objects out beyond Neptune, and as does a second, bigger bunch of comets — the Oort Cloud — that stretches a good fraction of the way to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star.

In 2005, a group of planetary astronomers came up with an idea that worked pretty well: the so-called Nice model (it was named not for its pleasant attributes, but for the French city of Nice, where most of the scientists were based). According to the Nice model, the four familiar giant planets were originally bunched up much closer than they are now. Thanks to millions of small encounters with comets and asteroids, and a few bigger ones with each other, Jupiter ended up moving inward, the other three moved out, the Late Heavy Bombardment happened on schedule, and the Oort Cloud and Kuiper Belt took shape just right.

At least that's the way it worked some of the times the model was run. To be really successful, however, a solar system model has to come up with the right answer over and over again, and when Nesvorny ran his own version of the simulation, it ended up throwing one of the four giant planets out into space. Or else it disrupted the inner planets, so Mars and Earth destroyed each other in a cosmic crash. Not ideal.

One idea that had been floating around (so to speak) among planetary scientists, however, was the idea of the long-lost fifth giant planet, bunched up with the other four. "This result was not out of the blue sky," Nesvorny says. "Some of my colleagues even mentioned it in passing in the papers they published." Nesvorny added the fifth planet to his simulations — and it worked. More often than not, just as predicted, the extra planet was thrown into the void, a Neptune-size sacrificial lamb that changed things enough to keep Earth safe.

If it happened here, of course, it could happen in other solar systems — and in fact, a report last spring claimed the fleeting detection of 10 rogue Jupiters wandering through the depths of the Milky Way. "There's nothing physically mysterious about this," David Stevenson, a Caltech astronomer, told TIME in May. "It's a perfectly natural outcome."

It's so natural, in fact, that Stevenson himself made an even more audacious proposition more than a decade ago. The smaller the planet, the easier it is to fling into deep space, so a planet with the mass of Earth could be catapulted out with little gravitational effort at all. The real planet Earth wouldn't fare well in the frigid darkness between the stars. But, says Stevenson, it's plausible that some Earths could be more like mini-Jupiters, with a thick atmosphere of mostly hydrogen.

"Hydrogen," he says, "is well-known to be a greenhouse gas." On Earth, greenhouse gases trap the heat that flows in from the sun. In interstellar space, there is no solar heat. But there would still be heat rising from inside the planet, the result of radioactive minerals deep underground. "A hydrogen atmosphere," Stevenson says, "would trap that heat very efficiently." The result: while the top of the atmosphere would plunge to hundreds of degrees below zero, the surface would warm enough to keep water in liquid form.

Since water is essential to life, it's not impossible that such a vagabond Earth could harbor organisms — even intelligent life, as long as it could handle the noxious air. And since there are so many billions of stars in the Milky Way, there could be at least millions of these nicely insulated planets. Astronomers currently assume that their best bet for finding life in the universe is to look for an earthlike planet basking in the light of its parent star. Maybe they should be looking into the darkness instead.

True 3D Technology Emits 50,000 Dots In 3D Space.

2011-11-14T06:45:00.000-08:00

On 14 November 2011 the EU-funded Support Action EMC² is holding a one-day industrial workshop on the future of 3D media at the premises of the world-famous Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) in Berlin. EMC² is the first pan-European competence centre in Media Computing and Communication. The workshop draws together leading players from industry, research and government to explore trends, developments and future directions for 3D industry and research.THE FUTURE OF 3D MEDIA is an international event. It is designed to catalyse new thinking, new strategies and new partnerships in an increasingly important field of innovation. The event represents a unique convergence of media and communications industries, world-class research and European government.

This True 3D display technology, developed by Burton, uses a laser to creates luminous points of light at desired locations in air or underwater.

This system is an evolved version of technology co-developed by AIST and Keio University, first announced in 2006. It works by focusing laser light, to produce plasma excitation from the oxygen and nitrogen in the air. The researchers state that this is the world's first technology to show pictures without the constraint of a screen.

"Most current 3D devices project pictures onto a 2D screen, and make the pictures appear 3D through an optical illusion. But this device actually shows images in mid-air, so a feature of this system is that it enables 3D objects to be viewed naturally."

"This system can create about 50,000 dots per second, and its frame rate is currently about 10-15 fps.

The system works by focusing laser light to produce plasma excitation from the oxygen and nitrogen in the air, which allows it to display images mid-air. Since the images are in mid-air, it is also possible to create 3D objects that can be viewed as though they were real, floating 3D objects.

Could the idea of Star Wars style 3D holographic messages beamed out from R2D2 turn into a reality? Well, this new True 3D technology from Japan seems to suggest that it can.

First-Ever Artificial Blood Transfusion

2011-11-13T07:57:00.000-08:00

A French doctor has completed the first-ever artificial blood transfusion after extracting stem cells from a patient's bone marrow, which were then used to grow the red blood cells under laboratory settings. "After five days, 94 to 100 percent of the blood cells remained circulating in the body. After 26 days, 41 to 63 percent remained, which is a normal survival rate for naturally produced blood cells." The cells carried oxygen throughout the patient's body, just as normal red blood cells would.

Artificial blood may become a common reality, thanks to the first successful transfusion of lab-grown blood into a human. Luc Douay, of Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris, extracted hematopoietic stem cells from a volunteer's bone marrow, and encouraged these cells to grow into red blood cells with a cocktail of growth factors. Douay's team labeled these cultured cells for tracing, and injected 10 billion of them (equalling 2 milliliters of blood) back into the marrow donor's body.

The successful transfusion is a hugely important step in finding a solution to blood shortages, used everywhere from accident scenes to surgeries to battlefields. "The results show promise that an unlimited blood reserve is within reach," says Luc Douay, of Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris. Mass produced artificial blood, however, remains a distant prospect as only a small amount of blood was transfused in the experiment. To complete a real-life transfusion, 200 times the amount of blood used by Douay would be necessary.

Other attempts to synthesize blood have focused on creating an artificial blood substitute, rather than growing natural blood with artificial means. For example, Chris Cooper of the University of Essex in Colchester, UK, is working on a hemoglobin-based blood substitute that is less toxic than the protein in its unbound state. Artificial blood substitutes present a solution for transfusions after natural disasters and in remote areas. The artificial substitutes do not require refrigeration, unlike fresh and stem cell-grown blood.

The stem cell method has its own pros, though. "The advantage of stem cell technology is that the product will much more closely resemble a red cell transfusion, alleviating some of the safety concerns that continue around the use of the current generations of artificial products," says Cooper.

Soon, device to measure blood sugar levels from tears...

2011-11-13T00:40:00.000-08:00

Scientists are developing an electrochemical sensor device that has the potential to measure blood sugar levels from tears instead of blood, an advance that could save millions of diabetes patients from painful pricking tests.

In a report that appeared in ACS’ journal Analytical Chemistry, researcher Mark Meyerhoff and colleagues explained that about 5 percent of the world’s population have diabetes.

There is ongoing effort to develop technologies to monitor glucose without the need of pricking your finger. Some of the technologies include, transdermal device, Raman spectroscopy through skin, fluorescent hydrogel, etc. Scientists have successfully developed an electrochemical sensor device that can measure blood sugar levels from tears instead of blood. This could save the world’s 350 million diabetes patients the discomfort of pricking their fingers for droplets of blood used in traditional blood sugar tests. A report appears in ACS journal Analytical Chemistry.

Scientists at the University of Michigan have developed an electrochemical glucometer that has shown good results comparable to traditional blood glucose testing, but uses only 4–5 μL of tears. An amperometric needle-type electrochemical glucose sensor is deployed for tear glucose measurements in conjunction with a 0.84 mm i.d. capillary tube to collect microlitre volumes of tear fluid.

This technology is an effort to reduce pain out of diabetic patients from pricking their fingers. Are you thinking would you rather cry by pricking your finger or to product tear to perform this tear test?

Nano-SIM cards are coming up next!

2011-11-12T08:32:00.000-08:00

Giesecke & Devrient, a German technology company,yesterday announced a sim card, that's just two-thirds the size of the Micro-SIM. The company says the new Nano-SIM enables manufacturers to produce devices that are even thinner while offering an equivalent, if not better, level of wireless performance.

G&D's nano-SIM is 30 percent smaller than the micro-SIM cards that have only just started to be adopted by carriers and manufacturers. G&D says that the new nano-SIM is 60 percent smaller than conventional, full-sized SIM cards, as well as 15 percent thinner.

The new nano-SIM card measures a mere 12mm x 9mm in size, which means that the card and its receptacle in a phone take up less space than regular SIM cards or even micro-SIM cars, allowing manufacturers to build smaller, thinner devices or to make use of the extra room for larger displays, batteries, or other components.

The new Nano-SIM could find its way into mobile devices as early as next year.Technically, this is first time in 20 years the SIM's circuitry itself has been significantly changed. This is because the Micro-SIM shares the same circuit size and thickness as the regular SIM, making it possible for anybody to reduce the regular SIM into a Micro-SIM by using a sim cutter. You won't be able to transform a regular SIM into a Nano-SIM this way.

G&D says the Nano-SIM has been in testing with various mobile network operators and its standardization is expected to be implemented through the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) by the end of the year. Back in May, Apple put forth plans for a smaller version of the Micro-SIM to ETSI. So maybe the Nano-SIM is exactly what Apple has been waiting for.

The new Nano-SIM is backward-compatible with older devices via adapter solutions to ensure the Nano-SIM can be integrated into all existing GSM-based mobile devices, G&D says.

G&D says that an adapter is available that allows the nano-SIM to be used in micro-SIM and regular SIM compatible devices. The company expects the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to make the nano-SIM card an officially supported standard by the end of the year.

Facebook To Change Privacy Settings

2011-11-11T22:25:00.000-08:00

Facebook has come under quite a bit of criticism in the last over it privacy settings, and now it looks like the worlds largest social network may change its privacy policies, which is good news for Facebook users.

Facebook is near an agreement that will settle a case with the Federal Trade Commission by making all of its privacy settings opt-in instead of opt-out That means that you will not share anything with anyone by default, unless you specifically choose to do so.

5 Facebook Privacy Settings You Should Change Now

1. Control your tags.

Tagging is one of the most common ways that people can represent you online (by attaching your name to a picture or location) without your prompting. To stay on top of these virtual taggers, click on the top right-hand corner of your screen and select “Privacy Settings” in the dropdown. Then, go to the “How Tags Work” section, where you can enable options like tag review before tags appear on your profile, controlling who checks you into places with them, etc. It’s best to err on the side of choosing the locked and most privatized settings, then changing them later if you need to.

2. Decide who sees what when it comes to what you watch and read online.

Apps that link to your Facebook account (like those from The Washington Post, Hulu and Pandora, for example) can share each article you read, TV show you watch or song you listen to via your timeline. To share only some of this information or none at all, modify the apps in the privacy settings by clicking “Edit” next to the app.

3. Limit the ticker.

Right now, there are no direct ticker settings; any post that is open to everyone will be shown on the ticker. To bypass the ticker, customize sharing either manually in each post (when you hover over the top right side of each post, a custom icon appears with a dropdown where you can choose who can see this post) or via the general privacy settings for all posts. (Make sure your privacy settings are set to only allow friends or friends of friends to view your activity.)

4. Keep your phone number private.

If you’ve added a mobile phone to your Facebook account, your phone number might be posted for all of your Facebook friends to see. To ixnay your number from your growing contact lists, head to the “Mobile Settings” tab in your “Account Settings” and unclick “Share My Phone Number With My Friends.”

5. Slow social ads.

Facebook pairs your “likes” with advertising to help marketers target your friends. But if you’d like to “like” a product without it being shown alongside ad copy on your friends’ profiles, edit the “Social Ads Settings” in the “Facebook Ads” section of your “Account Settings” and keep your endorsement out of the mix.

Cube Laser Virtual Keyboard price in india,features and specification ..

2011-11-11T01:05:00.000-08:00

Cube Laser Virtual Keyboard-this tiny device laser-projects a keyboard on any flat surface… It really is true future magic at its best. The Cube Laser Virtual keyboard is a matchbook-sized rectangular device, which will emit a red light that simulates a keyboard onto pretty much any flat surface. With this device, you have all the form and function of a normal keyboard, but it takes up less than a third of the space.

Product Features

   * Projects a full-size laser keyboard onto any flat surface
    * Allows the convenience of full-size typing in a tiny form factor
    * Connects wirelessly via bluetooth to iPhone, iPad, many Smartphones and most Laptops
    * Mouse mode allows you to use your finger as a mouse rather than typing when using with a laptop.
    * Rechargeable battery lasts for 150 minutes of continuous typing
    * Charges via USB. No drivers to install
Product Specifications
    * Compatibility: iPhone 3GS/4, iPad (iOS4), Blackberry tablet, Android 2.0 and higher, Windows Phone 7, Windows XP/Vista/7, Mac OS
    * Interface: Bluetooth HID and USB 2.0
    * Keyboard Layout: 19mm sized QWERTY layout
    * Detection rate: Up to 400 characters per minute
    * Operating Surface: Most flat opaque surfaces
    * Battery duration: Approximately 150 minutes, 700mAh built-in rechargeable battery

Price of Cube Laser Virtual Keyboard in india is around RS 13,990.

It can usually be operated with multiple input devices like pc keyboard, a computer mouse, a headmouse, and an eyemouse

Nokia Gem Concept Smartphone

2011-11-10T05:42:00.000-08:00

Nokia GEM concept phone is very interesting

Nokia has released details of a new concept smartphone called the Nokia Gem, and what makes this concept interesting from other ones that we have seen as it features no screen.

When Nokia isn’t busy refining or making real phones, it looks like the company spends a lot of time working on futuristic and advanced concept devices. The Finnish mobile giant recently introduced a new concept phone on its official blog called the Nokia GEM. The first thing you’ll notice about the phone is how it’s completely made out of displays. Every inch of the device can be used to display images and text, and can be interacted with.

Functions can be accessed from both the front and back of the phone, and the appearance of your phone will be determined by what app is running at that time. If you run the camera app, for instance, the Nokia GEM will look like a camera, and running the map app will turn it into a GPS system. Text and images can be wrapped around the contour of the device, which can lead to some interesting interactions being used on the phone.

It certainly seems like an interesting idea,although it will be a few years before we see devices like this being made available.

Lavasa hill city project gets government nod...

2011-11-10T00:29:00.000-08:00

The ministry of environment and forests’ clearance was granted on the condition that the developer is given the green light by the local state pollution board, and that various regulations are followed throughout construction

Lavasa's multi-crore hill city project near Pune overcame the green hurdle with Union Environment Ministry granting clearance for its first phase subject to "strict compliance" of certain terms and conditions.

The Ministry's decision came after the Maharashtra government filed a case against the promoters of Lavasa Hill City for alleged violations of the Environment Protection Act (EPA).

Filing of the case under the EPA was one of the key pre-conditions of the Environment Ministry for granting clearance to the first phase of the project.

The ministry had laid down five pre-conditions, as suggested by the Expert Appraisal Committee, for Lavasa to comply with before grant of environment clearance.

These conditions include demarcation of land usage which includes open spaces, diverting five per cent of its expenses for corporate social responsibility, creation of an environment restoration fund, which in turn will be monitored by a verification and monitoring committee and a submission by the company that violations would not be repeated.

Skin ‘Sees’ UV Light to protect against sunshine.

2011-11-09T21:10:00.000-08:00

It's not just your eyes that sense the light. Your skin contains photoreceptors like those in the retina, allowing it to mount an immediate defence against damaging ultraviolet radiation.A light-sensitive receptor (rhodopsis) previously thought to exist only in the eye has been found in human skin cells, detecting certain wavelengths of ultraviolet light to protect DNA from damage. Skin cells, called malanocyte, send out calcium ion signals to produce the pigment melanin. Until now, scientists knew only that melanin production occurred days after UVB radiation had already begun damaging DNA.

“As soon as you step out into the sun, your skin knows that it is exposed to UV radiation,” said Elena Oancea, assistant professor of biology in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology at Brown University. “This is a very fast process, faster than anything that was known before.”

In lab experiments with melanocytes, researchers discovered that the cells contain rhodopsin, which unleash calcium ion signals that instigate melanin production. The team first looked to see whether UV light instigated a calcium signaling response. They found nothing. But guessing that the skin might sense light in the same way that the eyes do, they added retinal, a co-factor of opsin receptors including rhodopsin.

However,there are still some questions,One is whether rhodopsin is acting alone or in concert with another yet undiscovered receptor. Another is whether melanocytes immediately begin exporting melanin to other kinds of skin cells for protection or whether they keep the early supply for themselves.

Rick Sturm at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, isn't convinced that "seeing" the light offers the skin much protection against damage, though. "Immediate tanning does not protect against UV-induced sunburn or DNA damage," he says.

Tobii EyeAsteroids Game Is Controlled By Your Eyes, Rather Than A JoyStick

2011-11-09T04:10:00.000-08:00

If you find using a joystick a little restrictive and not particularly to your liking perhaps this new EyeAsteroids arcade game created by Tobii Technology might be more up your street. Rather than using a traditional joystick to control your ship the game uses your eyes.

EyeAsteroids tracks the movements of your eyes and then translates these actions, by simply looking at asteroids you can now shot them to pieces. As expected Tobii explains a player’s response and reaction times are vastly improved when they are compared to joystick controls.

The Eye Asteroids cabinet is a one-off design which is being used to promote the eye tracking technology Tobii has developed and will be touring the world over the coming months and might even make an appearance at Tobii’s CES booth in January.

NEW ELEMENTS JOIN THE PERIODIC TABLE

2011-11-08T20:51:00.000-08:00

November 8,2011
New additions to the periodic table are artificial elements forged in laboratories that are so unstable they exist for just fractions of seconds. The names for elements 110, 111 and 112 - darmstadtium, roentgenium and copernicium, respectively - had already been approved by the International union of pure and applied chemistry(IUPAC).

These are large super heavy elements ,that can only be created in the laboratory and quickly break down into other elements.....

You may even own a periodic table containing these names. It wasn't until Friday, however, that physicists attending the annual meeting of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) in London rubber-stamped these choices and the accompanying symbols: Ds, Rg and Cn. This completes the final stage of the official element naming process - for now.

Copernicium ,discovered in1996,was named after astronomer,Nicolaus copernicus and roentgenium,discovered in1994,has been named for physicist Wilhelm roentgen...

"The proposed names will be released for public review in the not too distant future," says John Corish of the University of Dublin, who is a member of IUPAC."

IDC Q3 report is out, Samsung overtakes Apple in smartphones

2011-11-08T18:49:00.000-08:00

It wasn't actually a secret that samsung has surpassed apple in smartphone shipments for Q3 2011, but now the research firm IDC has confirmed just that. Samsung is now the smartphne king, putting Apple in second place, and Nokia in third.

Put into perspective, 20 percent of all the smartphones in the world are Samsung branded, which is a huge leap over last years' 8.8 percent. In contrast, Apple has dropped its smartphone share from 17 percent to 15 percent, and Nokia has been doing even worse, dropping from 28 percent to just 14 percent.

Speaking in raw numbers, Samsung has shipped 23.6 million smartphones, while Apple managed to ship 17.1 million units for the same period. The Taiwan based HTC managed to score in the top five for the first time in its history with a rise in shipments from 7.1 percent to 11 percent in just a year.

Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst at IDC also put his thoughts on the results.

"Samsung’s position will be a challenge to maintain. Apple’s fourth-quarter launch of the iPhone 4S and lower pricing of older models will certainly boost volumes, and Nokia’s recent launch of Windows Phone smartphones marks the beginning of a new era for the company."

JAMMU AND KASHMIR

2011-11-08T05:58:00.000-08:00

The glorious history of Jammu & Kashmir tells us about Kashyapa who had drained a lake to produce this heaven on Earth. Hence this land was also referred to as Kashyapamar. The region has been a major caravan route since the ancient times providing China and other countries of the worldto have trade relationships with central Asia. The various religious and cultural groups which have settled in the mountain regions of Jammu & Kashmir have made it the cultural heart of the country.

The history of the state speaks of the empires of valiant kings, the placid lakes, the greenery of the forests and the amazing rivers. In the 9th century Raja Jamboolochan founded Jammu. In 1832, Jammu was merged with Kashmir by Gulab Singh. Dogras, Pahadis, Gujjars and Gaddis are some of the tribes found in this state.

According the great epic of Mahabharata, the Kambojas had ruled Kashmir since its formation. It had a republican system of government under Kamboj. Later Panchalas established their sway. Peer Panjal, a modern part of Kashmir is a witness to this fact. Panjal is simply a distorted form of the Sanskritic tribal term Panchala. The Muslims had prefixed the word “peer” to it in memory of one Siddha Faqir and the name changed into Peer Panjal.

The Mauryan emperor Ashoka is believed to have established the city of Srinagar. Kashmir was also a great seat of learning for Buddhism. Buddhist monks from East and Central Asia visited this land in the 4th century AD. It is also said that the Buddhist monk Kumarajiva, born to an Indian noble family, studied Dirghagama and Madhyagama in Kashmir under Bandhudatta. He later became a prolific translator who helped spread Buddhism in China. Hence Kashmir was dominated by Buddhists during this period.

In mid 12th century Muslims invaded Kashmir. During Muslim rule Kashmir had a composite culture which was laid by Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism. Unlike Mughal Emperor Akbar, Muslim rulers like Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin were tolerant to other religions in their territory of Jammu. However, rulers like Sultan Sikandar Butshikan of Kashmir (AD 1389-1413) were ruthless towards people coming from different communities in their territory. He destroyed temples and images of Hindu deities. Brahmins were compelled to accept Islam. Many of the Brahmins, rather than abandoning their religion and country, poisoned themselves and some left their native homes.

In 1820 Maharaj Gulab Singh got the Jagir of Jammu from Maharaj Ranjit Sigh. Jammu & Kashmir became a single geographical and political entity due to an agreement signed on March 16, 1846 between the British Government and Gulab Singh. This Treaty handed over the control of Kashmir state to the Dogra ruler of Jammu who had earlier annexed Ladakh. This laid the foundation of Dogra dynasty. Thus a new state comprising of three distinct regions came to being with Maharaja Gulab Singh as its founder ruler.

Hari Singh was the last ruler of Kashmir. After India got its freedom in 1947, the land was divided into two parts – India and Pakistan. Most of the princely states of India were united to form the Indian Union. Kashmir was an independent state ruled by Raja Hari Singh. He decided to join India due to great similarity in culture and other social aspects. The “instrument of accession” was signed between Lord Mountbatten and Raja Hari Singh in terms of defense, external affairs and rehabilitation of refugees.

The total area of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is 222,236 sq kilometers but about 78,114 sq. kilometers has been occupied by Pakistan. The total area also includes 42,685 sq kms which has been occupied by China. It should also be mentioned that out of the total area occupied by Pakistan, 5130 sq kms has been handed over to China.

The areas occupied by Pakistan comprise of the so-called "Azad Kashmir" (referred to as POK for Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) and the Northern Areas of Gilgit, Baltistan and Hunza, etc. Pakistan does not trust the administration of POK to handle the Northern Areas which Islamabad considers strategically vital. The Northern Areas which have been incorporated into Pakistan are five times the size of the area designated as ‘Azad Kashmir’.

What is Android and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich?

2011-11-08T01:01:00.000-08:00

Android, the name has gained massive popularity over the Internet, tablets and Smartphone marketplace. Android was developed and designed by the search giant, Google; Google Android is an operating system for smartphones and tablets.Well, Android 4.0 or Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich is a latest version of Android OS, which is currently under development phase. But there are lots of smartphones and tablet makers are waiting for Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich release. Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich is latest and newest version of Google Android which is expected to release at the end of September or November this year.
With the iPhone 5 strappingly whispered to fall in either September or October, it appears as however the search giant has loaded up their mortars to arrival let off at Apple with their greatly projected Android 4.0 revise, called "Ice Cream Sandwich." Primary broadcasted at Google I/O 2011, there is still a immense compact of ambiguity nearby the upcoming edition of Android, but credit to information from numerous sources, we have educated that it should be showing up on devices in October. We say devices, rather than phones, because Ice Cream Sandwich will not be a phone-exclusive platform;

Redmond Pie explained that, as per them, has facts of Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich planning. The basis states that the initial gadget, which might be either a mobile or a tablet, will be launched in October to fight with Apple's forthcoming-generation iPhone which is robustly anticipated to introduce either in September or October.

It is realized that Android 4.0 will come up with around USB Hosting which will permit one to exploit virtually every device with the tablet series from an Xbox regulator for games to a keyboard/mouse for surfing and additional stuffs. You will also have the capability to incorporate a USB tool to work particularly with an app. So a spirit monitor used with a fitness app, such as.

Android 4.0 will have the capability to road your look so in its place of you attempting to move around to get into the camera, the camera will auto-focus on to you in its place. It will also be practical in video conferencing because the camera will move to you when you begin talking and then move to whoever speaks so you don't waste time attempting to move your device consistently the you would like to spotlight it on anyone in picky.