Survival/Defense

Stealth mold genes take over human genome, jump to databases and chips!

“Earlier this year, molecular biologists announced that 20 per cent of nonhuman genome databases are contaminated with human DNA, probably from the researchers who sequenced the samples,” Technology Review‘s The Physics ArXiv blog said on Thursday. “Now, the human genome itself has become contaminated. Bill Langdon at University College London and Matthew Arno at Kings College [...]

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‘Extensive if not complete’ meltdown of three Fukushima reactors just 16 hours after the earthquake: coverup?

ScienceInsider (published by Science magazine) reported Tuesday May 17 that “over the last week, a combination of robotic and human inspections has led to the conclusion that the fuel assemblies in units 1, 2, and 3 were completely exposed to the air for from over 6 hours to over 14 hours and that melting was [...]

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A Darwinian explanation for the Fermi paradox [UPDATED 4/21/2011]

The Fermi paradox is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and the lack of evidence for, or contact with, such civilizations. As Enrico Fermi asked, “Where is everybody?” One answer is that extraterrestial life sufficiently advanced to be capable of interstellar travel or communication must be rare, since [...]

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EPA finds ‘slightly higher’ radiation levels in US [update 3/29]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found levels in filters in 12 of their radiation-monitoring stations “slightly higher” than those found by EPA monitors last week and a Department of Energy monitor the week before. But they are “still far below levels of public health concern,” the agency states. EPA’s samples were captured by [...]

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When we cannot predict

About a year ago, on Wednesday April 14th, I was on the way to London from JFK, when the pilot announced a slight delay into Heathrow in order to avoid the ash cloud coming out of the Icelandic volcano eruption. This was the first time I paid any attention to the subject. But once in [...]

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Nuclear radiation paranoid’s handy reference [UPDATED 3/22]

The Likely Radiation Distribution in Japan (March 19) Added 3/22: Iodine from plant detected in Tokyo: .046 µSv/hr. (438 µSv per year — about 4 chest x-rays); Fukushima Pref.: 21.9 µSv/hr. (191,844 µSv per year or 1918 chest x-rays). Dealing with radiation fears, potassium iodide requests: side effects include nausea, diarrhea, allergy, interference with the [...]

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A radical alternative to nuclear reactors

With deterioration of the nuclear reactor situation in Japan and radiation heading for Tokyo — in one extreme Pentagon scenario, catastrophic meltdowns and megadeaths in Japan, according to a source — many scientists are ramping up the search for alternates to earthquake-vulnerable nuclear power. “The Japanese Government has dissembled regarding the gravity of the failure [...]

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The questionable observer detector

Exclusive | Kevin W. Bowyer, Chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana is out to create a tool to reliably identify criminals who may be hanging out at the crime scene after the event. Their Questionable Observer Detector (QuOD) can process any available video clips of [...]

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