October 2011

NASA Launches Special Satellite Watch Weather Patterns On Earth

"Data from the satellite will also help with the control of forest fires."

The goal of the special weather satellite that NASA launched recently is provide detailed data to study climate changes. It is the most advanced satellite for weather data in orbit to date. It is designed to collect more accurate data than other satellites that are currently orbiting the Earth. Scientists also hope that the data provide will help provide more accurate weather forecasts, especially sudden weather events such as tornados and cyclones. Data from the satellite will also help with the control of forest fires.

Army Treats PTSD With Virtual Dreams

The Army has invested in a project to develop a biofeedback therapy using virtual dreams to treat PTSD.

After nearly a decade at war, the United States is starting to understand the significant human costs of war after engagement. Military members that have completed their active duty, or even been placed on furlough, have returned to the States with horrific emotional scarring as a result of their combat experiences. Called “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” (PTSD), the psychological condition is characterized by an array of symptoms ranging from sleeplessness or nightmares to panic attacks and violent behavior. PTSD has even been blamed for deviant behaviors like drug addiction, homicide and suicide. According to Heal My PTSD, a support website, over 300,000 present and former service members suffer from PTSD, or 20% of the entire population of the armed services. Recent breakthroughs, however, may have an answer for victims of PTSD.

Decoding the Mind's Eye

Researchers find a way to recreate our visual perceptions using YouTube

The dream-viewing machine is a device that has recurred in science fiction for decades. Our own dreams, our own thoughts are so real to us--as real or realer than images on a screen--that it makes perfect sense that we'd be able to project them somehow. We feel as though we should be able to attach some electrodes and plug them into the nearest display to convey what our third eye sees.

Of course, the brain is no camcorder, and we can't just extract the recordings of the mind's eye. At least, not yet. But scientists at UC Berkeley are getting awfully close.

BioCurious Opens In the Bay Area for DIY Biotechs

(Please no sexual commenting...believe me, it's been done.)

Have you ever had the desire to experiment in a biology lab, replete with all of the necessary tech and equipment? Were you the kind of kid that wanted to try tons of things in the science class labs that were not on the worksheet? Do your hobbies include experimenting with genetic splices? If the answer to any of these is yes (or even ”sure”), you may be excited to learn about DIYBio, a new organization that is designed to attract and support “citizen scientists” as they dabble in the fields of biology and biotechnology. An outgrowth of DIYBio has been BioCurious, a Sunnyvale, CA organization that has mixed the openness and networking from DIYBio into a physical space where people in the Bay Area community can work with equipment, under a code of ethics and a community of experts, and collaborate on others’ ideas and projects in a collaborative atmosphere.

Brain Imaging Shows We're Hardwired for Optimism

Optimism has helped the species to be innovative and successful, but risk-taking can be dangerous.

Humanity is a pretty optimistic species. In terms of our evolution, we’ve had to be. Humans leapt into tiny canoes and migrated across vast oceans, optimistic that they would find new land at the end of their journey. We’ve built enormous cities, flown experimental aircraft, and put people on the moon, all with incredible (some might even say unrealistic) optimism about the outcomes. Despite what may be portrayed in the media, or what may be commonly socially accepted, as a species, we’re a pretty optimistic group of organisms. However, recent studies by neuroscientists have revealed that we may actually be hardwired for maintaining a positive outlook.

Magnetic Fields

 

I love the band the Magnetic Fields, but I don't know anything about magnetic fields. So I thought I would do a bit of research and talk about these little guys in a way that even music nerds could understand.

Electric fields are present in everything. Although these fields once were just a theory, a scientist named Michael Faraday hypothesized these fields to be fact and proved them to be real in nature. Modern day scientists have not only given these electromagnetic fields equations, but they have also found them to be more prevalent in nature. Also, scientists fear that electromagnetic fields found in everyday appliances could play a dangerous part in the health of humans.

Human Evolution Evident In Small Quebec Town

Natural Selection isn’t gone, we just don’t have the timeframe to see it. Until now.

Scientists have argued for decades that human evolution has stopped. Advances in technology, sanitation, medicine, and community standards have all but negated natural selection. The sick and infirm are living just as long, in many cases, as the perpetually healthy. Food, water, and shelter are more accessible than ever before. Fortunately for Darwin, a group of geneticists from the University of Quebec have uncovered evidence of biological evolution in humans within the last two hundreds years; a relative blink in evolutionary science, and within our contemporary frame of reference.