Month: January 2012

My Daily Tweets 01.30.12

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Earth’s Van Allen Radiation Belt’s Charged Electrons Heading for Space not Surface

van-allen-radiation-belts

The increase in solar activity has become quite obvious on Earth, thanks to the increase in auroras caused by geomagnetic storms, but while astronomers had previously believed that the Earth might be stripped temporarily of its radiation belts, causing the charged electrons to inundate the atmosphere, new data has shown that the deadly particles will actually be blown back into space.

Read more @ SciTechDaily

iPhone Lens Wallet: for Serious iPhonetographers

As more and more people ditch their point-and-shoot cameras in favor of their iPhones, it becomes necessary to find a way to lug around all those add-on lenses that you’ve got. Check out Photojojo’s iPhone Lens Wallet, which lets you carry them around easily enough, without cramping your style.

iphone lens wallet 01

Read more @ Technabob

Sony Cybershot DSC-TX200V: 18.2 MP, 1080p/60 Video, and Covered in Glass

You got to hand it to Sony, they do occasionally release some really cool products, like this new Sony Cybershot DSC-TX200V which was just announced. It’s a compact camera that sports the highest resolution for a point-and-shoot camera yet. It’s also sandwiched between glass plates, so it does look quite fetching.

sony cybershot tx200v 01

Read more @ Technabob

Scientific Study Proves Blogging Therapeutic for Teens

happy-teen-blogging

Over the recent years, with the boom in texting and online social networks, teenagers have been developing new ways of dealing with their emotional problems. A new study has shown that there is a therapeutic value in blogging. While many people see writing as a form of therapy, the study highlighted the issue faced by teens.

Read more @ SciTechDaily

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: The Ethics of Brain Boosting

neurons-firing-tdcs

Prominent Oxford neuroscientists are teaming up with ethicists to consider the issues raised by brain stimulating techniques. They recently spoke on BBC’s Radio 4 morning program to have a discussion. The most promising stimulation, called transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) can be used to improve language, math, memory, problem solving, attention span, and even movement.

Read more @ SciTechDaily

NDM-1 Super Bacteria Scares Medical Community in India

superbug-gene-ndm-1

In Indian hospitals, over 50% of bacterial infections are now resistant to commonly used antibiotics. Surveys have shown that many widespread pathogens in India are also resistant to powerful, broad-spectrum antibiotics. In 2010, a team of scientists analyzed bacterial infections in New Delhi and found that 24% could resist the hospital’s last resort intravenous antibiotics, carbapenems, and 13% had a super-resistant gene, New Delhi metallo-ß-lactamase 1 (NDM-1), that conferred resistance to carbapenems and 14 other antibiotics.

Read more @ SciTechDaily

Lab Experiment to Determine if Antimatter Weighs More than Baryonic Matter

CERN-antimatter

Physicists at the University of California, Riverside, have set forward lab experiments to determine if antimatter behaves differently in gravity than baryonic matter. This could provide an explanation why the Universe doesn’t seem to have much antimatter and why it’s expanding at an ever increasing rate.

Read more @ SciTechDaily

Bus-Sized Asteroid Barely Misses Earth

asteroid-impact-earth

An asteroid about the size of a bus shaved by Earth in what’s been described as a near miss. However, experts weren’t concerned that it might have impacted. This isn’t uncommon and these types of asteroids are hard to see except when they come quite close to Earth.

Read more @ SciTechDaily

Self-Healing Polymer Mechanism Rediscovered After 60 Years

self-healing-polymer

There’s been a lot more research into self-healing organic polymers, but it’s only recently that a self-healing mechanism from more than 60 years ago was rediscovered. The process, which is called siloxane equilibration, allows silicone rubber that’s been cut in half to completely repair itself through heat-activated reversible bonding.

Read more @ SciTechDaily