Tag: science
New developments in the Tetris world – now it helps reduce mental trauma
Tetris. Always with the bloody Tetris. We’ve had Tetris ice cubes, Tetris chocolate, another kind of Tetris ice cubes, Tetris watches, Tetris furniture and even Tetris MADE REAL – now it’s time for life-affirming Tetris making people better news.
Basically, some doctors have been using the timeless obsessive/compulsive block-tidying puzzle game to relieve the symptoms of stress sufferers. They found that playing Tetris 30 minutes after being exposed to harrowing imagery…
Scientists develop "Sex Chip" to stimulate pleasure in the brain
Technology previously used to treat Parkinson’s Disease has been directed elsewhere. Scientists claim to have developed a chip that can be implanted into the brain and used to deliver “feelings of pleasure”.
The target of the chip is the Orbitofrontal Cortex. Just behind the eyes, it’s the bit of your noggin that’s associated with pleasure derived from food and sex. The implementation is still a bit clunky at the moment – you have to run a wire from the chip in the brain to a heart pacemaker, which I imagine isn’t too comfortable. Neurosurgery professor Tipu Aziz, said:
“There is evidence that this chip will work. A few years ago a scientist implanted such a device into the brain of a woman with a low sex drive and turned her into a very sexually active woman. She didn’t like the sudden change, so the wiring in her head was removed.”
(via the Telegraph)
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Forcefields invented, evil geniuses rub hands with glee
Before you get too excited, we’re not talking about keeping the Borg in the brig here. However, scientists have developed a gadget called “Envirostat”, which will allow them to keep individual cells in a force field of sorts. That means that they can assess the individual cell response to a single variable, while other conditions are kept stable.
The application is in the development of drugs and biofuels, where scientists want to be able to assess the impact of adding something, without feedback mechanisms clouding the response. Still, if you’re an amoeba with enemies, I’d watch out if I were you. Video of the tech in action over the jump.
Commission urges action over nanotechnology pollution
Here’s something new for the tabloids to get angry about without understanding. The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution has recommended “urgent regulatory action” over the microscopic materials present in sun creams, sports clothing and medicine.
The commission warns that although hundreds of consumer products are already in the marketplace that use nanoparticles, we have an ‘almost complete lack of knowledge’ regarding their long-term effects on human health and the environment. The report says many nanoparticles are so poorly understood that scientists don’t even know how to check their safety.
FAKE SCIENCE: Alternate universe-generation kit, yours for $20
We really haven’t been paying enough attention to the part of science that deals with multiple universes.
Because, from next month, you will be able to buy one of these – a make-your-own-universe kit. It’s based around some fancy science that states there’s an infinite number of possible alternate universes, and more are created each time any kind of measurement is taken that defines one particular place. Or something along those lines…
"Deepest ever" living fish has been found and filmed – Celebrity Fish Big Brother reportedly in the works
A team from the UK and Japan has managed to track down and film the deepest ever living fish. They found the 17-strong shoal chillin’ (literally) in a trench in the Pacific, 7.7km down from the surface. One of the scientists, Monty Priede from the University of Aberdeen, described the fish as “surprisingly cute”.
Humans hit evolutionary limit – here's how SCIENCE should intervene and make man BETTER
According to some scientist, humans have stopped evolving. This means we’re not going to get any better – at least not naturally.
So I propose science steps in to make us better, seeing as Mother Nature can’t be bothered any more. Here’s how. These are the evolutionary steps scientists need to introduce to our gene pool ASAP.
1. SIDE EYES
Seeing as our ears are always in use listening to MP3s of 1980s cover versions, it’s hard to hear cars, bicycles and lorries coming toward you. I therefore suggest moving our eyes to the sides of our heads, like horses, so we’re less likely to step out in front of buses because we can’t hear them coming. You never hear about horses never get run over because they’re too busy listening to the new Oasis album to listen out for cars, do you?
2. WIDER EAR CANALS
Dunno about you, but my ear holes are never big enough to accommodate all these so-called “in ear” earphones. You know, the ones you’re supposed to ram right in. I ram them in so hard it hurts and my brain pops, yet they still fall out after three minutes when the cable snags on my shirt. I therefore suggest we evolve wider ear holes for better audio clarity and comfort “on the go”…
Mathematicians discover the largest prime number… EVER!
Scientists claim to have discovered the largest prime mumber yet – it’s 2^43,112,609-1. That’s just a short way of typing it – it’s actually 13 million digits long. It nets them a prize of US$100,000 from the Electronic Frontier Foundation…
Professor given $100,000 to study World of Warcraft; Survey says MMO players aren't fat
Pictured left is one of the luckiest ladies alive. The National Science Foundation in the USA has decided to grant her, Prof. Bonnie Nardi, $100,000 of American taxpayer’s money to study World of Warcraft. Or, to be specific, why Americans make more modifications to the game than Chinese players do. Gosh, that’s a lot of money.
Shiny Video Preview: USB Microscope
While Lucy gets to play with nifty little camcorders, I get to fully geek-out with the previously-reported USB microscope. Ever wanted to see what the Queen’s nose looks like up close? Now you can. I don’t recommend, however, that you point it at a tower block and look into people’s rooms though. You could get in really big trouble doing that. Oh… I’ve, er.. got to go. The police have just showed up…
