2002.09.23
More popular science links --
Science News:
Hole in the Middle:
Are midsize black holes the missing link?
"The presence of midsize black holes may explain how supermassive black
holes form, Gebhardt notes. One clue is that despite their extraordinary
difference in mass, both midsize and supermassive black holes obey the
same rule: Their mass is 0.5 percent that of the hub of stars and gas
that surrounds them. That pattern suggests that black holes within
globular clusters merge to build supermassive black holes. And this
suggests that the merging of globular clusters built the cores of
galaxies, Gebhardt adds."
Astronomy:
Painted
Moon.
"Earlier this month, news headlines were abuzz proclaiming the possibility
that Earth has a second moon. Almost from the start, astronomers suspected
the newfound object orbiting Earth wasn't natural, but they couldn't yet
prove it. Now, two University of Arizona researchers have the first direct
evidence that the enigmatic object is a Saturn V rocket stage from the
Apollo era."
Science News:
Veggie Bites: Fossil
suggests carnivorous dinosaurs begat vegetarian kin.
"Scientists describing the new species say its remains provide the first
distinct dental evidence for plant-eating habits among theropod dinosaurs,
a class made famous by its carnivores, including Tyrannosaurus rex....
The large worn areas on Incisivosaurus' front teeth, as well as smaller
ones on most of its cheek teeth, indicate that upper and lower teeth made
contact during chewing, as they do in modern herbivores."
I may not be a bio-anything (I never even took college biology), but
I've always suspected this --
Nature:
DNA codes own error
correction. Genetic alphabet is like computer parity code.
"DNA's double helix consists of two twisted molecular strands bound
together by hydrogen bonds. The four building blocks of each strand
are called nucleotides. Their names are adenine, thymine, cytosine and
guanine, and are abbreviated to A, T, C and G. These four stick together
very selectively: A to T, and C to G." ...
"... genetic information became encoded in A, T, C and G ... not just by
chance but a result of the parity code that this subset of molecular
building blocks forms."
Scientific American:
Why
does fat deposit on the hips and thighs of women and around the stomachs of men?
"For women, this so-called sex-specific fat appears to be physiologically
advantageous, at least during pregnancies.... The potbelly, on the other
hand, is a typical male form of obesity that has no known advantage and
can be life threatening."
2002.09.17
I've haven't posted any "popular science" links recently because I've
fallen behind on my popular science reading. Anyway --
Science News:
Missed ZZZ's, More
Disease? Skimping on sleep may be bad for your health.
Nature:
Rivers ran with
gold three billion years ago.
"The arguments about how South Africa's Witwatersrand Basin became laden
with gold have raged ever since the deposits were discovered. More gold
has come from these 7,000 square kilometres than from any continent --
about 50,000 tonnes over 120 years, nearly half of all the gold ever mined."
Green Gabbro:
New Moon Over Kentucky.
"Possibly the coolest thing to happen this year: Earth got a new moon...."
2002.09.11
William Saletan, Slate:
Don't fetishize Sept. 11.
"Why, then, do we focus on anniversaries? Why do we in the media
organize our coverage around them? Because we can plan easily for them.
In the age of terrorism, it is the worst of all possible reasons: We
know they're coming. We know exactly what they are and exactly when
they'll happen."
> Don't spend the day being bummed out!
2002.09.04
Wall Street Journal (free):
IM takes off in corporate
world. Technology commonly used by teens catches on with elders.
"`Having someone in your contact list deepens your relationship,' adds
Francis deSouza, president of IM Logic Inc. a Boston provider of IM
software add-ons. `It's like being in a cubicle with someone. After a
year, you actually become friends.'"
> I've never used IM, and I keep thinking, "Maybe I'm missing something."
Then I think, "Maybe I can keep on missing it."
2002.09.03
Conversation between my wife and my six-year-old son during a long
car drive this Labor Day weekend:
"Do you think Santa Claus will bring me coal this year?"
"No, Christopher, I don't think you'll get coal for Christmas."
"But I wouldn't mind if he did bring me some, because, you know, I like rocks."
