Time is an illusion.

My friend got only 4 hours sleep then called me to say that when people talk about past lives, they are wrong, they are actually currently living the past life in another dimension.

Fungi lock depleted uranium out of harm’s way

Humble fungi found in most back gardens could help clean up battlefields contaminated with depleted uranium.

At present, sites can be partial decontaminated by physically collecting and disposing of fragments from shells. However, radioactive particles and dust from explosions remain in the soil, preventing full reclamation.

Now, a research team in Scotland has established that common fungi can grow on and chemically lock away the offending uranium. As their hyphal filaments sprawled across fragments of depleted uranium, the tubules gradually became coated in a yellowy mineral.

This, it turned out, locked the uranium into a chemical form inaccessible to biological organisms, and unlikely to dissolve into surface waters.

At twice the density of lead, depleted uranium is added to weapons to give them extra force to penetrate targets. But the complete fallout from exploding missiles is impossible to collect physically. This means that hazardous radioactive uranium-235 in the material, which can cause kidney toxicity and has been linked with nerve damage and lung cancer, can persist in the environment for decades.

Decades? That’s a bit of an understatement. It takes 4.5 billion years for DU to reach half it’s level of radiation! Read more about DU in the environment.

Eat your heavy elements

“The fungal-produced minerals are capable of long-term uranium retention, so this may help prevent uptake of uranium by plants, animals and microbes,” says team leader Geoffrey Gadd of the University of Dundee. “It might also prevent the spent uranium from leaching out from the soil,” he says.

Essentially, the fungi form uranyl phosphate minerals which stabilise the uranium. “They change its chemistry from being highly chemically unstable and reactive metallic uranium to one of the most chemically stable forms, thus preventing uranium migration through the food chain,” says Gadd.

Gadd says that any clean-up operation based on the fungi would be very low-tech. All that would be needed in practice would be to add moisture and nutrients to soil to help fungi flourish.

“You can go to just about any soil, and you’d find fungi that would lock away uranium,” he says. “You could literally pick them from your own back garden.”

Depleted deleted

But he cautions that the minerals probably couldn’t ever be considered harmless as they still contain uranium, and this could still be toxic if eaten. Nor have the Dundee team yet worked out a practical way to collect and dispose of the trapped uranium.

The finding itself was a bonus in research mainly aimed at tracing the environmental fate of uranium. “Our work is only very preliminary,” he says.

Ultimately, it might be possible to devise practical ways of using the fungi to decontaminate sites, Gadd says.

Journal reference: Current Biology (vol 18, R375). - ns

Researchers Target Tumors With Tiny ‘Nanoworms’

Scientists at UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara and MIT have developed nanometer-sized “nanoworms” that can cruise through the bloodstream without significant interference from the body’s immune defense system and—like tiny anti-cancer missiles—home in on tumors.

Their discovery, detailed in this week’s issue of the journal Advanced Materials, is reminiscent of the 1966 science fiction movie, the Fantastic Voyage, in which a submarine is shrunken to microscopic dimensions, then injected into the bloodstream to remove a blood clot from a diplomat’s brain.

Top 10 Useless Limbs (and Other Vestigial Organs)

These are really arguments for evolution and against intelligent design. The features animals have today had different uses when they were less developed.

#10 - The Wings on Flightless Birds

… Ostriches and cassowaries are among several birds that have wings that are vestigial. Besides the cassowary, other flightless birds with vestigial wings are the kiwi, and the kakapo (the only known flightless and nocturnal parrot), among others. In general, wings of a bird are considered complex structures that are specifically adapted for flight and those belonging to these flightless birds are no different. They are, anatomically, rudimentary wings, but they could never give these bulky birds flight. The wings are not completely useless, as they are used for balance during running and in flagging down the honeys during courtship displays.

#9 - Hind Leg Bones in Whales

Biologists believe that for 100 million years the only vertebrates on Earth were water-dwelling creatures, with no arms or legs. At some point these “fish” began to develop hips and legs and eventually were able to walk out of the water, giving the earth its first land lovers. …Despite the apparent uselessness, evolution left traces of hind legs behind, and these vestigial limbs can still be seen in the modern whale. There are many cases where whales have been found with rudimentary hind limbs in the wild, and have been found in baleen whales, humpback whales, and in many specimens of sperm whales. Most of these examples are of whales that had only leg bones, but there were some that included feet with complete digits. …

#8 - Erector Pili and Body Hair

The erector pili are smooth muscle fibers that give humans “goose bumps.” If the erector pili are activated, the hairs that come out of the nearby follicles stand up and give an animal a larger appearance that might scare off potential enemies and a coat that is thicker and warmer. Humans, though, don’t have thick furs like their ancestors did, and our strategy for several thousand years has been to take the fur off other warm looking animals to stay warm. …

#7 - The Human Tailbone (Coccyx)

These fused vertebrae are the only vestiges that are left of the tail that other mammals still use for balance, communication, and in some primates, as a prehensile limb. As our ancestors were learning to walk upright, their tail became useless, and it slowly disappeared. It has been suggested that the coccyx helps to anchor minor muscles and may support pelvic organs. However, there have been many well documented medical cases where the tailbone has been surgically removed with little or no adverse effects. There have been documented cases of infants born with tails, an extended version of the tailbone that is composed of extra vertebrae. There are no adverse health effects of such a tail…

#6 - The Blind Fish Astyanax Mexicanus

In an experiment designed by nature, the species of fish known as Astyanax mexicanus, dwelling in caves deep underground off the coast of Mexico, cannot see. The pale fish has eyes, but as it is developing in the egg, the eyes begin to degenerate, and the fish is born with a collapsed remnant of an eye covered by flap of skin. These vestigial eyes probably formed after hundreds or even thousands of years of living in total darkness. As for the experiment, a control is needed; and luckily for us, fish of the same species live right above, near the surface, where there is plenty of light, and these fish have fully functioning eyes….

#5 - Wisdom Teeth in Humans

With all of the pain, time, and money that are put into dealing with wisdom teeth, humans have become just a little more than tired of these remnants from their large jawed ancestors. … There are two possible reasons why the wisdom teeth have become vestigial. The first is that the human jaw has become smaller than its ancestors? and the wisdom teeth are trying to grow into a jaw that is much too small. The second reason may have to do with dental hygiene. A few thousand years ago, it might be common for an 18 year old man to have lost several, probably most, of his teeth, and the incoming wisdom teeth would prove useful. Now that humans brush their teeth twice a day, it’s possible to keep one’s teeth for a lifetime. The drawback is that the wisdom teeth still want to come in, and when they do, they usually need to be extracted to prevent any serious pain.

#4 - The Sexual Organs of Dandelions

Dandelions, like all flowers, have the proper organs (stamen and pistil) necessary for sexual reproduction, but do not use them. Dandelions reproduce without fertilization; they basically clone themselves, and they are quite successful at it. Look at any lawn for the proof. If dandelions were to revert to sexual reproduction, they might not retain whatever traits they have that allow them to be pests to gardeners everywhere. If flowers can begin reproducing in this manner, does that mean animals, even humans could too? Asexual reproduction can be a good strategy in an environment that is constant if a species is well suited to those conditions….

#3 - Fake Sex in Virgin Whiptail Lizards (Vestigial Behavior)

Only females exist in several species of the lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus, which might seem like a problem when it comes time to propagate the species. The females don’t need the males though, they reproduce by parthenogenesis, a form of reproduction in which an unfertilized egg develops into a new individual. So basically, the females don’t need the males; they just produce clones of themselves as a form of reproduction. Despite the fact that it is unnecessary and futile to attempt copulation with each other, the lizards still like to try, and occasionally one of the females will start to “act like a male” by attempting to copulate with another female. The lizards evolved from a sexual species and the behavior to copulate like a male — to engage in fake sex — is a vestigial behavior; that is, a behavior present in a species, but is expressed in an imperfect form, which in this case, is useless.

#2 - Male Breast Tissue and Nipples

The subject of male nipples is a sensitive, and maybe confusing, topic to many. Those who wish to invalidate evolutionary theory might pose the question, “Was man descended from woman”? The answer, of course, is no. Both men and women have nipples because in early stages of fetal development, an unborn child is effectively sexless. Nipples are present in both males and females; it is only in a later stage of fetal development that testosterone causes sex differentiation in a fetus. All mammals, male and female, have mammary glands. Male nipples are vestigial; they may perform a small role in sexual stimulation and a small number of men have been able to lactate. However, they are not fully functional and, because cancer can grow in male or female breast tissue, the tissue can be dangerous.

#1 - The Human Appendix

In plant-eating vertebrates, the appendix is much larger and its main function is to help digest a largely herbivorous diet. The human appendix is a small pouch attached to the large intestine where it joins the small intestine and does not directly assist digestion. Biologists believe it is a vestigial organ left behind from a plant-eating ancestor. Interestingly, it has been noted by paleontologist Alfred Sherwood Romer in his text The Vertebrate Body (1949) that the major importance of the appendix “would appear to be financial support of the surgical profession,” referring to, of course, the large number of appendectomies performed annually. In 2000, in fact, there were nearly 300,000 appendectomies performed in the United States, and 371 deaths from appendicitis. Any secondary function that the appendix might perform certainly is not missed in those who had it removed before it might have ruptured. - livesci

Council orders man to take down Jolly Roger

A fireman has been threatened with legal action for flying a Jolly Roger outside his home for his daughter’s pirate-themed birthday party.

David Waterman, 41, was ordered to take down the flag from his home in Ashtead, Surrey, by Mole Valley council because it breached regulations controlling advertising. The council acted after a complaint by a neighbour.

A letter dated April 21 said he had seven days to remove the 5ft by 3ft banner after which it would be “very likely to attract removal and or prosecution”.

Even though his daughter Madeleine’s eighth birthday has passed, Waterman said he was determined to keep the flag up as a matter of principle.

He paid £95 to apply for advertising consent for the £5 flag, although a letter told him it was “most unlikely that a favourable recommendation would be forthcoming”.

Waterman, who works at Battersea fire station in south London, said he was now in a position where he “couldn’t possibly take down the flag”.

“It’s a £5 flag, not hurting anyone, and they’re probably spending hundreds of pounds of our cash getting me to take it down,” the father-of-four told the Evening Standard. “That could be spent on improving the local area - it’s disgraceful.”

Another neighbour erected a Jolly Roger in support but took it down after receiving the same warning letter from the council.

A spokeswoman for Mole Valley district council said they visited both properties flying the flags and wrote to the owners informing them of the regulations.

The letters stated that although any resident was entitled to fly national flags outside their properties, the Jolly Roger was not allowed under the Outdoor Advertisements & Signs Regulations.

Waterman, a former trooper with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, blamed the complaint by his neighbour on a dispute about his children playing outside. -guk

Control freaks have a disease.  They need help.

Part Of Universe’s Missing Matter Discovered By XMM-Newton X-Ray Observatory

ESA’s orbiting X-ray observatory XMM-Newton has been used by a team of international astronomers to uncover part of the missing matter in the universe.

Ten years ago, scientists predicted that about half of the missing ‘ordinary’ or normal matter made of atoms exists in the form of low-density gas, filling vast spaces between galaxies.

All the matter in the universe is distributed in a web-like structure. At dense nodes of the cosmic web are clusters of galaxies, the largest objects in the universe. Astronomers suspected that the low-density gas permeates the filaments of the web.

The low density of the gas hampered many attempts to detect it in the past. With XMM-Newton’s high sensitivity, astronomers have discovered its hottest parts. The discovery will help them understand the evolution of the cosmic web.

Only about 5% of our universe is made of normal matter as we know it, consisting of protons and neutrons, or baryons, which along with electrons, form the building blocks of ordinary matter. The rest of our universe is composed of elusive dark matter (23%) and dark energy (72%).

Small as the percentage might be, half of the ordinary baryonic matter is unaccounted for. All the stars, galaxies and gas observable in the universe account for less than a half of all the baryons that should be around.

Scientists predicted that the gas would have a high temperature and so it would primarily emit low-energy X-rays. But its very low density made observation difficult.

Astronomers using XMM-Newton were observing a pair of galaxy clusters, Abell 222 and Abell 223, situated at a distance of 2300 million light-years from Earth, when the images and spectra of the system revealed a bridge of hot gas connecting the clusters.

“The hot gas that we see in this bridge or filament is probably the hottest and densest part of the diffuse gas in the cosmic web, believed to constitute about half the baryonic matter in the universe,” says Norbert Werner from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, leader of the team reporting the discovery.

“The discovery of the warmest of the missing baryons is important. That’s because various models exist and they all predict that the missing baryons are some form of warm gas, but the models tend to disagree about the extremes,” adds Alexis Finoguenov, a team member.

Even with XMM-Newton’s sensitivity, the discovery was only possible because the filament is along the line of sight, concentrating the emission from the entire filament in a small region of the sky. The discovery of this hot gas will help better understand the evolution of the cosmic web.

“This is only the beginning. To understand the distribution of the matter within the cosmic web, we have to see more systems like this one. And ultimately launch a dedicated space observatory to observe the cosmic web with a much higher sensitivity than possible with current missions. Our result allows to set up reliable requirements for those new missions.” concludes Norbert Werner.

ESA’s XMM-Newton Project Scientist, Norbert Schartel, comments on the discovery, “This important breakthrough is great news for the mission. The gas has been detected after hard work and more importantly, we now know where to look for it. I expect many follow-up studies with XMM-Newton in the future targeting such highly promising regions in the sky.” - sd

US boffin patents flying saucer

An American inventor has requested a patent on a ‘flying saucer’ powered by ionised plasma and helium.

Subrata Roy, an aerospace engineer at the University of Florida, has filed the patent for a Wingless Hovering Micro Air Vehicle.

The vehicle is only 15cm wide and will not be leaving the atmosphere, but the design nevertheless looks feasible.

The saucer is filled with helium to offset the weight of batteries and an electric motor which ionises the air around the rim of the craft into plasma, which is then circulated around the craft to generate lift.

“The wingless design of specific embodiments can allow operation with no rotating or moving components,” according to the filing.

“Additional embodiments can allow active response to the surrounding flow conditions.

“The issue of low lift to drag ratio and degradation of airfoil efficiency due to the inability of laminar boundary layers attachment can also be significantly reduced, or eliminated.”

Roy claimed that the device could operate in relatively high winds and carry a payload. -yahoo

Patents for circular winged aircraft go way back.

Hiccup man pins hope on surgery

from news.bbc.co.uk posted with vodpod

Sightings of Strange Lights in Saltcoats

AFTER last week’s reports of strange lights over the skies of Saltcoats, the Herald office has been inundated by readers who also spotted the bizarre lights on Sunday, April 27.

So far there has been no logical explanation for the strange sighting but there have been suggestions of a meteor shower and Chinese lanterns.

Anne Duff, 45 of Auchanshangan Drive, Saltcoats believes it could have been a meteor shower and said: “I only caught the tail end of the lights. When I saw them, four of them were fading away and then one light appeared brighter than all the others. I think it could have been a meteor shower as they sort of disintegrated into the sky.

“My daughter and her friend had been driving home and spotted the four lights before I did. She said they looked like a meteor shower as they broke up rapidly and sort of burned out but she isn’t sure as they came from the earth rather than going from the sky to the ground.

“I really don’t know how to explain them myself. They were very different and definitely not an aircraft but it was really nice to see.”

However, another local resident, Allison Thompson, who took pictures on her camera phone, is convinced that they are not a meteor shower but could well be aliens.

She said: “I saw five lights in the sky near my house on Dykesmains Road. They were very high up and were like orange balls of fire. They didn’t fade away at first but three of them turned into squares and flew off into the clouds.

“It is very strange and I am sure they weren’t a plane or a meteor shower. The fact that they turned into squares is just too weird.”

However, there could be another reasonable explanation. One woman from Saltcoats who wishes to remain anonymous said: “These lights are not alien space crafts. We had a garden party on Sunday night around 9.30pm and set of Chinese lanterns which were bought on Amazon.” - ard

Physicists Create Universe Smaller Than a Marble

Image from Pingnews

At Lancaster University, they’re unraveling the secrets of how to build a universe. In fact, they have already formed one, or something very much like it. This scientific breakthrough lies in the bottom of a chamber no larger than your pinky finger, filled with helium and cooled to 0.0003 degrees Fahrenheit above absolute zero.

By placing helium in a state which most closely resembles the form it held at the beginning of the universe, scientists have created an opportunity for the gas to go through several low-energy evolutions. These defects in space-time, are represented by tiny whirlpools in the helium, which are created by the rapid expansion, and equally rapid slowing of the expansion; something that it’s believed our own universe did at the big bang and in the moments thereafter.

How, then, did our universe go from whirlpools that could fit in a thimble to galaxies larger than our imaginations can properly comprehend? Physicists, ever ready with their dry wit, have deemed these phenomena “inflation.” Nobody knows how this works or why, this happened; vast amounts of energy aren’t something you’d like to replicate in a lab. Black holes and supernovas aren’t pleasant lab partners. It’s quite evident to the researchers however, that inflation, or something very much like it took place and, lacking the ability to do field research of lab trials, they have built scale models. This is where the tiny galaxies come in.

The theory being presented by the physicists in Lancaster University is that inflation is the product of violent competition: a series of collisions between universes known as “3-branes;” a term related to string theory which I’m frankly not smart enough to explain to you. Suffice to say that our universe is one, because it exists in 3-5 dimensions.

What the string theorists claim is that in a collision of two 3-branes, or two different modes of pure helium like that containing the mini-galaxy, the universe will rapidly expand and stop instantly, mimicking the halting advance of the universe’s growth. Remarkably, when super cooled helium in different phases is mixed, it does exactly that: symmetries in the solution disappear, and aberrations form; the first step in several that lead to the forming of galaxies out of nothing. The secrets of the universe it seems, aren’t safe for long.

source - via wierdpost