Brainicane

Science editor Alan Boyle’s Weblog: The Hubble Space Telescope’s new wide-field camera sends down a crackling view of starbirth in a nearby spiral galaxy.

Posted on November 5th, 2009 under Science and Technology, General Science. Comments: None

Airbags have become a crucial part of the safety features in any modern car. Unfortunately, they only protect people in the front seats. To solve this problem, Ford has created a combination seat belt/airbag for passengers in the back of the vehicle.
The inflatable seat belts blow up upon impact of a certain force, quickly […]

Posted on November 5th, 2009 under Science and Technology. Comments: None

Doctors are warning expectant parents that at-home foetal heart rate monitors can give false reassurance.

Posted on November 5th, 2009 under Health and Medicine. Comments: None

Scientists have developed an atlas of the bacteria that live in different regions of the human body.

Posted on November 5th, 2009 under Health and Medicine. Comments: None

Household robots could be a means for spying, vandalism  and psychological attacks, according to a study presented at the International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing.

Posted on November 5th, 2009 under Science and Technology, General Science. Comments: None

The brief period of radio silence during the switchover makes it possible to listen for pulsars and other space entities that are otherwise drowned out

While most of the world looked forward to the switch from analog to digital TV for the sharper picture and clearer sound, astronomers around the US anticipated the changeover period for […]

Posted on November 5th, 2009 under Science and Technology. Comments: None

When humans eventually travel to Mars and beyond, they’ll have plenty to worry about along with the discomforts of eating freeze-dried food and drinking their own urine. A new report says they will probably be really sick, to boot — from flare-ups of E. coli, chicken pox or staph infections.
A host of microscopic stowaways could […]

Posted on November 5th, 2009 under Science and Technology. Comments: None

There was a time when a farmer simply tasted a clump of dirt to tell the fecundity of the soil. Now, a wide range of chemical analysis help instruct farmers on the optimal mix of fertilizer, pesticide and water. However, tests on soil samples are expensive and time consuming, and few farmers can afford to […]

Posted on November 5th, 2009 under Science and Technology. Comments: None

The Chalk River nuclear reactor in Ontario doesn’t sell a watt of electricity. Never has. But when it sprang a leak and shut down this spring, it threw a multibillion-dollar industry into crisis. Before it broke, the reactor produced nearly two thirds of the U.S. supply of molybdenum-99, or Mo-99, the isotope behind 16 million […]

Posted on November 5th, 2009 under Science and Technology. Comments: None