Slashdot: ScienceNews for nerds, stuff that mattersCooking Stimulated Big Leap In Human Cognition- August 12, 2008 Hugh Pickens writes "For a long time, humans were pretty dumb, doing little but make 'the same very boring stone tools for almost 2 million years,' says Philipp Khaitovich of the Partner Institute for Computational Biology in Shanghai. Then, 150,000 years ago, our big brains suddenly got smart. We started innovating. We tried different materials. We started creating art and maybe even religion. To understand what caused the cognitive spurt, researchers examined chemical brain processes known to.http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/363316750/article.pl Home Science Under Attack In Massachusetts- August 12, 2008 An anonymous reader tips a guest posting up on the MAKE Magazine blog by the author of the Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments. It seems that authorities in Massachusetts have raided a home chemistry lab, apparently without a warrant, and made off with all of its contents. Here's the local article from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. "Victor Deeb, a retired chemist who lives in Marlboro, has finally been allowed to return to his Fremont Street home, after Massachusetts...http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/363138775/article.pl Smart Contact Lenses- August 12, 2008 Iddo Genuth writes "Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have recently designed a contact lens prototype with a built-in pressure sensor using a novel process that etches tiny electrical circuits within a soft polymer material. The new development could help glaucoma patients to measure their current risk factor, thus replacing the current methods which require constant visits to a clinician."Read more of this story at Slashdot.http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/363044276/article.pl Korea Delays Space Launch- August 12, 2008 Ashlynne9423 writes to tell us that South Korea has announced a delay to their first space launch. Holding off until the second quarter of 2009, the delays are being blamed in part on late delivery of the Russian-designed launch pad and ground equipment. "The Korea Space Launch Vehicle (KSLV) is intended to be the first space craft to reach orbit from a launch site in Korea. The two-stage KSLV-1 is being developed by Korea with Russian assistance. The lower first stage of the craft is built in..http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/362737305/article.pl Physics Nerds Rap About the LHC- August 12, 2008 Engadget has pointed out a small band of people even we can consider nerdy that decided to cut loose and demo CERN's fancy new toy, the Large Hadron Collider. The resulting music video is certainly enough to "rock you in the head," and maybe even enough to cause a rip in space-time. Between Alpinekat and Dr Spatzo, I think my iPod just got a new entry.Read more of this story at Slashdot.http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/362637189/article.pl |