Friday, July 31, 2009

Map of Ancient Roman City Unearthed

Ancient Roman City Rises Again -- Curry 2009 (730): 1 -- ScienceNOW
Altinum was eventually abandoned entirely. Most of the ancient city's stones were stolen in the Middle Ages to be reused elsewhere. Land-reclamation efforts in the 19th century turned the area from marsh into farm fields. "Altinum is unique because it was not built upon in later times," Mozzi says. Previous archaeological excavations have focused mainly on the city's necropolis, located outside the walls; this is the first-ever glimpse of the city's layout.


Wednesday, July 29, 2009

T. Rex Proteins Again

The Scientific Method in action.  Repeating the previous experiment supports the results: proteins isolated from a T. Rex fossil appear genuine.

Reexamination of T. rex verifies disputed biochemical remains
The scientists describe reanalysis of the T. rex data and also report finding evidence of substances found in collagen. "In summary, we find nothing obviously wrong with the Tyrannosaurus rex [analysis from 2007]," the report states. "The identified peptides seem consistent with a sample containing old, quite possibly very ancient, bird-like bone, contaminated with only fairly explicable proteins. Hemoglobin and collagen are plausible proteins to find in fossil bone, because they are two of the most abundant proteins in bone and bone marrow."


Monday, July 27, 2009

How do you mend a broken heart?


Sounds preferable to having your chest cracked, no?

Stem Cells Not The Only Way To Fix A Broken Heart
Researchers appear to have a new way to fix a broken heart. They have devised a method to coax heart muscle cells into reentering the cell cycle, allowing the differentiated adult cells to divide and regenerate healthy heart tissue after a heart attack, according to studies in mice and rats reported in the July 24th issue of the journal Cell.


Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Neanderthal speared by a human

It looks possible that 50,000 years ago, at least one human threw a spear at a Neanderthal, hit him and perhaps lead to his death weeks later.

Human Stabbed a Neanderthal, Evidence Suggests | LiveScience
Newly analyzed remains suggest that a modern human killed a Neanderthal man in what is now Iraq between 50,000 and 75,000 years ago. The finding is scant but tantalizing evidence for a theory that modern humans helped to kill off the Neanderthals.


Friday, July 10, 2009

Benedict XVI on Intellectual Property

I wonder how he feels about copyright?

Patent Law Blog (Patently-O): The Pope on Patents
In a recently published encyclical letter, Pope Benedict XVI has taken a stand against strong patent rights because of they way that the exclusive rights of patents tend to promote wealth inequality at the expense of development in the world's poorest countries.

"On the part of rich countries there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual property, especially in the field of health care."


Thursday, July 9, 2009

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Pandora Caps Free Streaming in Response to Royalty "Deal"

The terms of the deal swill allow Pandora to continue ... but at a price their listeners may not be willing to pay.

Lifehacker - Pandora Caps Free Streaming at 40 Hours per Month - streaming radio
The bad news, at least for daily streamers, is that free accounts will be limited to 40 hours per monthly period. Users can then pay $0.99 to unlock streaming for the rest of the month


Thursday, July 2, 2009

Ornitopter Video

Cool: artificial humming bird.

'First-ever' flight of robotic ornithopter announced • The Register
Vid Famous crazycraft company Aerovironment has won a $2.1m contract to further develop its robotic "Nano Air Vehicle" (NAV), which flies and hovers using flapping wings like a hummingbird. The company has also released a video of the innovative craft in test flights.