Nice photo of said mountain shadow

“A team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Milan has discovered some unexpected forms of liquid crystals of ultrashort DNA molecules immersed in water, providing a new scenario for a key step in the emergence of life on Earth.

CU-Boulder physics Professor Noel Clark said the team found that surprisingly short segments of DNA, life’s molecular carrier of genetic information, could assemble into several distinct liquid crystal phases that “self-orient” parallel to one another and stack into columns when placed in a water solution.”

A nice short video demonstrating Moebius transformations.

“…Only recently have data supported any direct role for the symbiotic bacteria in the gut of the termite in cellulose and xylan hydrolysis. Here we use a metagenomic analysis of the bacterial community resident in the hindgut paunch of a wood-feeding ‘higher’ Nasutitermes species (which do not contain cellulose-fermenting protozoa) to show the presence of a large, diverse set of bacterial genes for cellulose and xylan hydrolysis….” Full Slice

Commentary

“Chinese space officials are ready to flip Chang’e-1’s scientific instrument switch to the on position. The spacecraft has undergone a series of shakeouts since swinging into polar circular orbit around the Moon on November 7.

On Monday, the probe begins its year-long campaign of studying the Moon with a suite of devices, including a camera that is expected to relay its first image of the lunar landscape late this month.

Experts at the China National Space Administration (CNSA) feel that there’s enough fuel aboard Chang’e-1 that an extended mission — beyond the year of active duty — is likely….” Full Slice

Well, I was just skimming this. I do like my red meat, though.

My new desktop picture

“The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have successfully performed the world’s first high-definition image taking of an Earth-rise* by the lunar explorer “KAGUYA” (SELENE,) which was injected into a lunar orbit at an altitude of about 100 km on October 18, 2007 (Japan Standard Time. Following times and dates are all JST.)…The image taking was performed by the KAGUYA’s onboard high definition television (HDTV) for space use developed by NHK….” Full Slice

“Student researchers…spent much of October observing 3,120 New York City drivers at 50 intersections and, according to their study, 1 in 3 were using cellphones, smoking, eating, drinking or grooming while operating their vehicles.

The study…found that more than 1 in 5 of the drivers were observed talking on their cellphones — half of them on hand-held phones, which has been illegal in New York State since 2001. In addition, about 1 in 10 drivers were engaged in other distractions like eating hamburgers and French fries, drinking coffee or soda, applying makeup, and smoking cigarettes….” Full Slice

Study in PDF

…engineers turn out to be by far the most religious group of all academics – 66.5 per cent, followed again by 61.7 in economics [emphasis added by TC], 49.9 in sciences, 48.8 per cent of social scientists, 46.3 of doctors and 44.1 per cent of lawyers, the most sceptical of the lot. Engineers and economists are also those who oppose religion least (3.7% and 3.0%), and, together with the humanities, those who more strongly embrace it…

So, since I’ve had my Saturn SL2, I’ve driven it 110,000 miles. I’ve probably burned about 350 gallons of gas a year. All told, I’m at about 75% of the “Average American.” Still an egregiously high car-sootprint. These numbers include three trips cross-country, so my “non-exceptional” car-sootprint is even slightly lower.

I would guess that Finnegan’s car-sootprint is even smaller. My work-sootprint must be way out there.

“These small electric vehicles for two passengers would be parked throughout the city in stacks, which eliminates the residual space between cars. Users simply take the first car of the stack and drive away, and then return it to the back of another stack when they reach their destination.
Car stacks would be integrated to the city’s existing infrastructure, allowing for vehicles to be recharged while parked. Stacks could be located virtually anywhere within the electric grid, with critical mass in points such as airports, subway stops and train terminals, malls, etc.

The design uses a simple pivoting mechanism to fold the structure in a vertical position. Additionally, the back wheels are closer together, which allows for the next car to be interlocked.”

What is the area code for “last century, so”?

“Shit! Biobots! Run for your f**king life!”

“She cooks, she cleans, she lets me do what I want, and I can trade her in every 3 years.”

“He cooks, he cleans, he’s just as happy to snuggle, he always leaves the toilet seat down, and I can rent him out while I’m at work.”

“We demonstrate an unconventional and revolutionary method for selective inactivation of micro-organisms by using near-infrared femtosecond laser pulses…This strategy targets the mechanical (vibrational) properties of micro organisms, and thus its antimicrobial efficacy is likely unaffected by genetic mutation in the micro-organisms. Such a method may be effective against a wide variety of drug resistant micro-organisms and has broad implications in disinfection as well as in the development of novel treatments for viral and bacterial pathogens…” Full Slice

Paper in PDF