Postcard of the Interwebs - 08 June 2022

 It has been a very, very, very long time since I have done one of these type of posts. Enjoy a sampling of things I find interesting on the interwebs.

A Hierarchy of Disagreement: How not to debate and disagree with others. Hint...do not only use emotion but do use common sense. 

The 2021 Conspiracy Chart: I had to look up several myself as I had no idea what they were. Quite hilarious but disturbing what people can delude themselves to think is true. Credit to Abbie Richards.

Password Length Strength: A great way to tell if your passwords are too easy.

A Rap Fan review of top 100 Rock Albums: Very well written brief on popular rock albums from a follower of rap. Great points of view.

Rectal Cancer Drug Trial 100% Effective: It was only a group of 18 but 100% success is unheard of.

Geometry of Parallel Parking: Very elegant and relaxing way of describing the process.

Power from Deep Ocean Currents: Japanese company INI has tested this after more than 10 years of testing.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 10 April 2019

Supernova to Blame for Meglodon Death: 2.6 million years ago a supernova occurred 150 light years away. This astronomic event may be what killed off mass amounts of ocean life and caused new mutations.

Implantable Weight Loss Device: The device makes you think you are full with electrical impulses generated by stomach motions. Removable too. Created by UW-Madison staff.

New Eggs eliminate Mass Male Chick Culling: I did not know that male chicks were killed by egg producers but now by determining which eggs are what sex, there will be more male eggs on your plate and in your recipes in the future.

Multiple Ways of Tying a Scarf: A video of a wonderful person showing ways to tie a scarf.

Stem Cells made into Insulin Producing Cells: Another way that medical science is helping with modern ills.

Imagine no pain but no Scars: Woman has gene that inhibits pain but she does not produce scars.

Open Technology Patents for Electric and Hybrid Car: Both Tesla and Toyota are doing their part for the environment by opening up their patents.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 19 December 2018

Major Information Site: Cool little site with lots of info from statistical data.

Antibiotic Trojan Horse: The antibiotic binds to Iron then is brought home to the bacteria. Healing ensues!

Water Exoplanets more Common: Research on astronomical data revealing that up to 35% of exo-planets may be made up of predominantly water on the surface.

Why people believe in Conspiracy Theories: In this one small study, schizotypy, dangerous world beliefs, and enhanced receptivity to lies all contributed to acceptance of conspiracies. Go figure!

Harvesting CO2 for useful items: Imagine harvesting CO2 to produce furniture, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other products! Smart people at Rutgers university have.

Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing: A study has shown that when helping someone whom is suffering, its best to just be with them and not agonizing over what to say because it will generally be the wrong thing.

More Accurate Carbon Dating: Two Chinese Stalactites that are 54000 years old have lots of quality carbon ratios (carbon 12 and 14). They are chopping it thinly, analyzing it, and using the results as a benchmark to estimate the age of items going back 54k years!

Postcard of the Interwebs - 12 September 2018

Indonesia Traditional Songs: This fellow is an ethnomusicologist and is traveling in Indonesia recording musicians and making them available to listen to. Cool.

Tolerance for Ambiguity leads to more Trust:  Interesting study at Brown University indicates that trust occurs more in groups that are more willing to accept uncertain outcomes.

All the Cities founded by Ancient Greece that still Exist: Very cool!

New way of Coating metal for Electronics: It bonds the platinum/gold mixture not for hardness resistance but by temperature resistance.

A Collection of Music Played at K-Mart: Seriously. For those that want a different kind of elevator music playing in the background, this guy has digitized a bucket load of tapes from the K-Mart he worked at.

Telling Depression from Bipolar: Using an MRI, the Westmead Institute can look at the neurons in the amygdala. This part of the brain reacts differently depending on the condition.
New Insulin Drug Repairs Pancreas: By regrowing the insulin making beta cells in the pancreas, it means no more insulin shots and a cheaper cost for government sponsored health care.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 13 June 2018

Membrane Water Filter that Separates the Salt from Water: Alan Turing first thought this up using mathematical biology to separate one substance from another.

Potential Cure for Baldness: I do not care about my hair loss but do think this will make those who lose hair due to chemotherapy and other things much happier.

Trojan Horse Antibiotics: Layering bacteria killing drugs with attractors is one thing but to do it twice over will be able to kill gram positive and negative strains.

Mothers are better parents with better self control: From Brigham Young University, a study on mothers have found that those with a high level of control on their emotions and a high level of cognition make better parents. Makes sense for anyone in any aspect of life or as the great philosopher Yoda said, "Control Control. You must learn control!".

Secret of Longevity is your Gut: More and more studies are coming out showing the influence your gut bacteria have on overall health.

Sucking CO2 from the Air getting cheaper: A last ditch effort for sure but if carbon is monetized then it would be one of the tools in the fighting climate change toolbox.

Organic Matter on Mars: Methane could mean life and its been found by the Curiosity rover, that little rover that could, did, and keeps on going.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 09 May 2018

Respect, not communication, important in Marriage: Always my belief for a long time now proven in a study.

Viking Sunstones Aided Seagoing Navigation: What awesomeness in using the property of light moving through a lens to determine maximum brightness...all without seeing the light source clearly.

Hepatitis C Cure for Cheap: It took a non-profit to make the $300 cure which is a lot cheaper that the ~$80k from two pharmaceutical companies.

Learning Styles not True: Unfortunate as I have used similar models to explain different learning methods. Looks like I've been schooled!

Convert Waste Electronics Heat into Power: Called Pyroelectric energy conversion, it is a thin film that converts heat into energy. Apparently we waste 70% of this so good news once standard in equipment.

How to use Geology to detect long dead civilizations: By long dead its millions of years and there are several ways proposed.

Using Electrical Stimulation to Repair Spinal Cord Injury: UCLA is trying an interesting process for patients recover activity in their limbs. Non-invasive too.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 11 April 2018

Nanowood for Insulating: Yup, wood designed to utilize its heat blocking properties but be 30 times stronger than conventional materials.

Empathy is Partly Inherited: Interesting but the study did say that more research and verification is necessary. Also the same study found that those who were genetically low in emphatic genes were high with autism genes.

Nanowire lasers make Micro-Fusion: Using microscopic ordered wires, a laser heats it up for efficient generation of neutrons.

Ultrasound Explanation at Cuban USA Embassy: A reasonable possibility on the cause of the ear damage to personnel working there.

Brain knows what having Five Fingers is like: Even without some of the fingers. Woman lost a hand and she felt a phantom limb. Then felt as if she had five fingers though she was never born with them. Her brain either already had ability to know she was supposed to have five fingers or developed it. Cool right!

Galaxy found without Dark Matter: The only one found so far that does not appear to possess it according to observational calculations.

Vegetables grown in Antarctica: No soil, no sunlight, and no pesticides! All in preparation for remote human habituation on Earth and elsewhere.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 14 March 2018

Comet cause for the Mini Ice Age 16k years Ago: New research has found a likely culprit of one of our ice ages that forced those living nearer to the Northern climes to adapt and thrive.

New Antibiotic in Dirt: Who knew dirt has something we can use...several university and clinical studies over the years that's who. Now we will extract out of dirt something to fight off the latest superbugs.

Water Detected in another Solar System: By analysing starlight moving through an exoplanet's atmosphere, they not only detect water but also helium, CO2, sodium, and others based on how much the planet's atmosphere diffuses the light.

Disco lights and Pink Noise for Alzheimer: By inducing brainwave manipulation to prevent plaque in areas of the brain, this treatment could be a regular thing to forestall Alzheimer's.

Lasers to separate Liquids: Imagine the possibilities! Everything from advancements in manufacturing, ecological cleanups, and resplitting your tea from your milk because you put too much in the first time.

Exercise in Old Age Good for Immune System: Well duh but nice to know research proves it.

Your Brain decides a course of action 10 seconds before you do it: This kinda makes you think what our consciousness is doing, eh, but also what your unconscious mind is capable of.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 07 February 2018

Sun comparison Video: Ever wanted to know what some suns look like for size beside one another? Then this great little video is for you. The universe is cool.

A Blood test for Cancer: It ONLY detects 70% of cancers but a simple blood test when seeing the doctor will make advance notice much appreciated for the people of the world.

Ancient Greek Islanders had plumbing 1000 years before others: On the Island of Keros, in the Cyclades, was a thriving populace and civilization around 2500BCE. The most recent excavation have found a metal plumbing system!

Self Healing Concrete with Fungus: The fungus lies dormant until exposed to oxygen and water. It then creates calcium carbonate to seal the crack. Genius!

3.5k Occult and Religious Manuscripts to be Digitized: And available for free because of Dan Brown. Really. He used the Ritman library when writing some of his books and donated 300k Euros to make it happen. You can download the catalogue here and when available they will be posted here.

Naked Mole Rats are Weird: They survive 18 minutes without oxygen, do not suffer the effects of aging, and rarely get cancer.  Still in the early stages if they have something in their DNA that humans can use but what about a new here...Super Mole!

20 Pieces of Music that Changed the World: Only available in Canada from CBC, myself and my wife have listened to six of them so far. They are very interesting and informative.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 10 Jan 2018

Ecologically Better Natural Gas Power: Using the CO2 burned to generate more power, the company "Net Power" is also attempting to sequester the leftover fumes and produce water from this process. Plant soon to be finished in Texas.

Dinosaur Tail found in Amber...and it had feathers!: How awesome is this! Could redo what many dinosaurs look like and help determine the intermediate species between reptile and avian.

Trees, Fungi, and Oxygen: A very interesting blog post on the history of the fungi that developed the ability to consume trees and created oxygen.

New Microbes in Antarctica: Opening another door to the avenues for searching for life off our planet, microbes on this one were found that live off of carbon monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, and hydrogen.

Alzheimer's Drug also treats Tooth Decay: The drug tideglusib turns off the GLU-3 enzyme, which stops dentine from forming.

A 19 year old Norwegian with a Spy Camera: A hidden camera from the 1890's! Lots of cool pics but kinda creepy.

Blocking/Eliminating the Tau Abnormal Protein could stop Alzheimer's: Oxford did a study on 17 patients using brain scans over time and concluded that there is a correlation between the spread of different types of tau filaments and the onset of Alzheimer's. Another possible piece of the puzzle.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 06 Dec 2017

Habitation Location for Moon Found: Lava tunnel found under our moon's surface that is a perfect place for a habitation area.

Exxon is committing over a Billion dollars to Green Energy: When one of the biggest companies promoting climate change denial is investing in renewable resources, you know progress is being made...even if its only for profit.

Chemical that retains unwanted thoughts found: There is hope for persons that suffer from anxiety, PTSD, depression, and schizophrenia if it can help the brain move on from mental blocks that prevent healing.

MRI devices made friendlier for Kids: Of course why not make the loud claustrophobic MRI machines friendlier to kids to scare them less. I would want them friendlier for me as an adult too!

Enceladus's Chance of Life Increased: Now that the oceans under the ice looks like it has existed for billions of years, the chance of life has grown. We'll see with the next probe there.

Brain Training to Delay Dementia: University of Indiana developed brain training exercises that have helped ten years after the mental exercises. Cool!

Sponges are Early Evolutionary Relatives: First to branch off and longest around. Cool!

Postcard of the Interwebs - 18 October 2017

Bacteria Eating Cancer Drugs: Apparently there exists bacteria that feed off of some cancer fighting drugs. Analysis of a person to determine if they have this bacteria could lead to providing antibiotics to help the healing.

Hyperloop from Montreal to Toronto in 39 minutes!: 640 kilometers in 39 minutes while surrounded by vacuum? Sign me up!

Sunlight to Make CO2 Into Fuel: Berkley labs has been able to use photosynthesis to make ethanol and ethylene. Another way to help the planet!

Babies Try Harder when they see Adults Try Harder: Apparently if children, as information absorbing organisms, see a person do something with ease they get frustrated if they cannot do the same. Yet if they see an adult struggling and then succeed they are more willing to continue trying. Even more impetus for us to learn how to do new things with our children.

Quantum Computing Development: The University of Tokyo has developed a new way to conduct quantum computing by utilizing a light loop system. They just need to come up with a way to correct errors.

Life Started because of Collapsing Bubbles: Apparently the conditions inside bubbles, extreme temperatures and pressure, could have been just the right push for microorganisms to start chemical reactions and then multi-cellular life.

Magic Mushrooms help Depression: Another study that indicates the psilocybin in magic mushrooms help those who suffer from depression by "rebooting" the brain...for weeks after one dose.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 20 September 2018

New Alzheimer's Drug: Promising new drug, from the Technical University of Munich, has worked on animals and is soon to go to human trials with 1000 participants. Original paper is here.

Tardigrade Secrets Revealed: Imagine a tiny creature (1 mm or less) that can withstand radiation, extreme hot and cold, and can come back to life after being drained of water. Now imagine that the DNA sequence has been determined...and could have uses for life suspension (medical, space).

Evolution due to Physics: What if cells combined together in order to consume more energy and expend more of it? If you want to hear more then click as this theory will interest you.

Growing Seaweed for the Planet and Profit: Seaweed sucks up CO2, cleans the nearby water, makes it better for fish and shellfish production, and you can harvest the seaweed for commercial use too. Sounds win win.

Teaching Philosophy to Kids help them in School: In particular: math, thinking critically, and preventing totalitarianism/zealotry. Lets get schools started on it!

Good Sleep important for preventing Mental Disorders: Seems obvious to me but now its backed by testable science.

Plastic Eating Fungus Found in Trash Dump: Theorized by research it has been found in the wild. Could help decompose plastic faster than having it sit around.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 02 August 2017

Nuclear Fusion Power Gets Closer: Using heavy ions, in the form of gas or pellets, to slow down runaway elections to generate fusion. A little bit closer.

Roman Concrete: What have the Romans ever done for us...perhaps millennia lasting buildings once the exact combination is found by these researchers.

Better Solar Power Collection: Why use one cell when multiple layers will generate more electricity?

Yeast used to clean up Heavy Metals:Who knew?

25% of Genome used, not 80%: As more is learned, science corrects itself.

Longhand is better than Laptop: Now I know if I ever go to university...or write that one book thats in me.

Targeted Exercises:Want to improve something...do specific exercises.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 17 May 2017

No Scar Tissue Procedure: Great for those suffering injuries.

Universal Language?: A little article speaking about the theory of a root language or, as the article also suggests, that the human brain has commonalities that enable language to be formed.

NASA Research now Free: Cool!

Personalities Traits Copied when Young: Young kids learn from parents and this study shows they also learn social behavior from one another.

Harsh upbringing leads to Risky Behavior: Another study that shows children and teens that are harshly treated consistently do less well in school and are more likely to engage in counter-social behavior.

Using Perovskite Mineral for Energy Production: is experimenting with a modified mineral to generate energy using solar, thermal and movement at room temperatures. Full testing begins next year.

200 Free Art Books: Interested in art? Would you like an art book? How about 200 from the Guggenheim?

Postcard of the Interwebs - 11 Jan 2017

Parkinson's Passed on By Fecal Bacteria: Interesting study which, with more research, may lead to more attention to the digestive system in overall health.

Extreme Abdominal Pain Decoded: Speaking about digestive health, a handy info graphic on the subject.

If the Planets were as Far Away as the Moon: Another info graphic on relative sizes of objects in our solar system relative to that of the moon.

Device to Sniff for Diseases: Back to the field of medicine, a sniffing Star Trek tricorder!

How to Figure Out your Future: A good method to plan for not just your future but for anything you are planning towards.

Concussion Biomarker: Determining  concussions using sound. Cheap, quick, and easy.

Alzheimer's Drug can Fix Your Teeth: A side effect of this drug is to regenerate the dentine on your teeth from the outside in.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 7 December 2016

The Richer You Are the less You See of those not Rich: Interesting psychological study.

Sweetgrass an Effective Mosquito Repellant: Used by First Nations people and successfully tested for effectiveness vs DEET.

Inner Life of the Cell: A video on the cell in all its wonder.

BAM (Becoming a Man) program: Looks like an exceptional program to reduce crime and improve grades by teaching how to control harmful impulse behavior. It is also backed by peer review and studies.

Nuclear Waste Batteries: Just make waste into diamonds and add some coating and viola! Energy that can last a bit longer than mankind has recorded history!

Magic Mushrooms Help with Depression: What if a single dose of a medicine could help a person with depression and anxiety for half a year? Its called psilocybin and with two studies it shows it works.

Chocolate Bars with Less Sugar and Same Taste: Nestle is working on chocolate with restructured sugar. This will reduce the amount of sugar by 40%.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 26 October 2016

DaVinci's Codex Hammer: Bought by Bill Gates for over 30 million. Provided free online or for under $20 on your iDevice.

Should you Catcall Her?: A respectable flowchart by Playboy on when to or not to catcall a woman.

Putting Time in Perspective: Excellent way to grasp the concept of time in large scales, in comic form.

Population Growth is Decreasing: UN article on the decreasing of the world's population. I guess ZPG will never happen now.

Climate Change Evidence Growing: Excellent article refuting the claims of deniers.

Changing CO2 to Ethanol cheaply: Even though renewable energy production is getting cheaper than coal, this process will enable existing coal plants create ethanol from CO2 waste.

Migraines Could be Caused by Gut Bacteria:What else will bacteria in our systems be linked to. We are quite the interesting sum of our parts.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 14 September 2016

Radiation Dose Chart: An XKCD infographic on how much of a dose you get for various activities compared to one another.

New and More Eco Way to Smelt Metals: MIT has developed, by accident, a way to smelt metals using electricity rather than heat.

Ultrasound used to Wake Person from Coma: Cool idea to be used in certain circumstances.

Timeline of Earth's Temperature: Another well done comic by XKCD.

90 Companies responsible for Climate Change: List of companies responsible (along with the consumers that support them) for the above temperature change. Along with cows. They make a lot of methane.

Real Shelf Life of Foods: Is this can of food still safe. Head here to find out.

USA Hate Group Map: Interactive map of a lot of hate groups in the USA. Probably not all of them. Sad.

Postcard of the Interwebs - 31 August 2016

Bronze Age Site Preserved by Fire: Fire hit this British village quickly 3000 years ago and now provides a snapshot into daily life.

Exoplanet Synopsis Poster: Infographic displays 500 exoplanets (1/4 of those found) before October 2015. Over 3500 have been discovered currently.

NASA Science Research Free: All the results of the research it funds is now available for everyone!

Battery Power can be doubled: This MIT graduate has discovered a way to double the life of lithium-ion batteries and make it half the size.

Personal Bee Hive: How would you like your own personal beehive? Now imagine that you can turn a tap to get your honey out!

Magnetic Bacteria to Combat Cancer: An interesting way to focus the healing medium to the injury.

Nearest Star has Probable Life Sustaining Planet: So which nation or person will be funding the first probes here. Only ~4 light years away.