Lulz Security posted files online which indicated they had been in the Senate network. However, none of the files appeared to be sensitive. “We don’t like the US government very much,” Lulz Security said at the top of a release. “This is a small, just-for-kicks release of some internal data from Senate.gov – is this an act of war, gentlemen? Problem?” it added. (via BBC News – Lulz attacks: US orders review as Senate site hacked)
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In the case of these biolasers, human kidney cells have been genetically enhanced to produce the proteins that make jellyfish glow.
These glowing cells were stuck between two tiny mirrors barely bigger than the cell itself, and when the cell was energized with blue light through a microscope, it fired out a bright green directional laser beam that was visible to the naked eye, just like a little laser pointer. Under a microscope, it looks like this:
(see above)
Currently, the researchers are working on ways to stick the mirror array inside the cell itself, and there’s still the problem of the energizing light source, but that could be solved by routing optical fibers directly through the body. Yeah, we’re talking about implanted fiber optic cabling. To power your laser cells. Welcome to science.
via Scientists combine humans with jellyfish to create living lasers | DVICE
Read moreRead moreTill now, scientists and multinational corporations promoting GM crops have maintained that Bt toxin poses no danger to human health as the protein breaks down in the human gut. But the presence of this toxin in human blood shows that this does not happen. Scientists from the University of Sherbrooke, Canada, have detected the insecticidal protein, Cry1Ab, circulating in the blood of pregnant as well as non-pregnant women. They have also detected the toxin in fetal blood, implying it could pass on to the next generation. The research paper has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication in the journal Reproductive Toxicology. They were all consuming typical Canadian diet that included GM foods such as soybeans, corn and potatoes. Blood samples were taken before delivery for pregnant women and at tubal ligation for non-pregnant women. Umbilical cord blood sampling was done after birth. Cry1Ab toxin was detected in 93 per cent and 80 per cent of maternal and fetal blood samples, respectively and in 69 per cent of tested blood samples from non-pregnant women.
Warren Ellis at Cognitive Cities Conference (by Cognitive Cities)
Read moreIn a request to industry earlier this month, SOCOM said it is looking to acquire a nondevelopmental radio for team members with a range of just over a mile. Requirements include the capacity to plug-and-play with Android devices through a USB or serial port and also to run on either a Windows or Android operating system.
SOCOM said it wants a radio that can transmit voice and data at the same time and comes equipped with both commercial and GPS receivers. The equipment also must be capable of running military applications, specifically applications like the Tactical Ground Reporting system, a map-based tool developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and now widely used by the Army in Afghanistan.
The game, which The Sims creator hopes to have up and running in a year, riffs off of the Sterling short story Maneki Neko.
“He describes a karmic computer that’s keeping a balance of payments between different people, and causing them to interact with each other in interesting ways to improve their lives even though they’re strangers,” Wright told Eurogamer in a new interview conducted at E3 in Los Angeles.
“They earn karmic points that are redeemed by having somebody else help them.”
Wright told Eurogamer that the Sterling-inspired game he’s working on is likely set for launch on tablets, smart phones and social networks such as Facebook.
What’s inspired Will Wright’s next game? News – – Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
the Gamification of Economics? this is very 20!!
Read more“There is a dramatic, nonlinear relationship between climate conditions and tundra fires, and what one may call a tipping point,” he said. Once the temperature rises above a mean threshold of 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) in the
June-through-September time period, he said, “the tundra is just going to burn more frequently.”
For the past 60 years, annual mean temperatures during this warm season have fluctuated between about 6 and 9 degrees Celsius (42.8 to 48.2 degrees Fahrenheit), with temperatures trending upward since 1995. In 2007, the year of the historic fire, the mean temperature was a record 11.1 degrees Celsius, while precipitation and soil moisture dipped to an all-time low.
Higher precipitation, if it occurs, could dampen the effects of higher temperatures, but only to a limited extent, said Philip Higuera, a professor of forest ecology and biogeosciences at the University of Idaho and a co-author on the study.
“As temperature rises, so too does evaporation,” he said. “So even if future precipitation increases, it’s likely that increased evaporation will result in overall lower moisture availability. This affects plants, but it also makes dead vegetation more flammable and fire prone.”
The Committee to Nuke Elysium 