Slashdot: ScienceNews for nerds, stuff that mattersCancer Resistance Technique Moves To Human Trials- June 29, 2008 TaeKwonDood tips us to news that a new cancer resistance treatment is going into clinical trials after being quite successful at eradicating cancer in mice. Researchers discovered that certain white blood cells called granulocytes from cancer-immune mice were able to cure cancer in other mice. Now, doctors are putting out the call for healthy granulocyte donors in order to test how well it works on humans. The article quotes lead researcher Zheng Cui saying, "In mice, we've been able to...http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/322661040/article.pl Nuclear Explosions Key To Spotting Fake Art- June 29, 2008 Socguy writes "A Russian art curator, Elena Basner, is claiming to have a foolproof method for determining whether or not particular paintings have been created since 1945. She claims that isotopes released into the environment by man-made nuclear explosions have found their way into types of the natural oils used to make paints."Read more of this story at Slashdot.http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/322611230/article.pl Ares V Rocket Bigger and Stronger For Moon Mission- June 29, 2008 wooferhound writes "In a move to make the heavy-lift vehicle more robust (predicting an increased launch thrust requirement) to send four astronauts, a lunar lander plus supplies, NASA has announced the Ares V rocket will be beefed up to cater for our future needs to get man back to the Moon. This huge vehicle is now designed to carry payloads of over 156,600 lb (71,000 kg), some 15,600 lb (or 10%) more than the original concept. Ares V was originally designed to be approximately the same...http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/322439279/article.pl Casting Doubt On the Hawkeye Ball-Calling System- June 29, 2008 Human judgment by referees is increasingly being supplemented (and sometimes overridden by) computerized observation systems. nuke-alwin writes "It is obvious that any model is only as accurate as the data in it, and technologies such as Hawkeye can never remove all doubt about the position of a ball. Wimbledon appears to accept the Hawkeye prediction as absolute, but researchers at Cardiff University will soon publish a paper disputing the accuracy of the system."Read more of this story at...http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/322374106/article.pl NASA to Launch Solar Sail- June 28, 2008 arbitraryaardvark writes "Physorg reports that NASA will launch a solar sail around the end of July. It'll be the first of its kind; a previous attempt blew up. It's a small proof-of-concept gizmo, not a full-on spaceyacht. Solar sails operate on photon pressure from sunlight. They are well known to science fiction readers, otherwise not so much." C-net has coverage, too.Read more of this story at Slashdot.http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/322140166/article.pl Studies Show the Value of Not Overthinking- June 28, 2008 WSJdpatton writes "Fishing in the stream of consciousness, researchers now can detect our intentions and predict our choices before we are aware of them ourselves. The brain, they have found, appears to make up its mind 10 seconds before we become conscious of a decision — an eternity at the speed of thought. Their findings challenge conventional notions of choice, writes WSJ's Robert Lee Hotz."Read more of this story at Slashdot.http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/322037196/article.pl Anti-Evolution "Academic Freedom" Bill Passed In Louisiana- June 28, 2008 Ars Technica is running a story about recently enacted legislation in Louisiana which will allow school board officials to "approve supplemental classroom materials specifically for the critique of scientific theories" such as evolution and global warming. The full text of the Act (PDF) is also available. Quoting: "The text of the Louisiana Science Education Act suggests that it's intended to foster critical thinking, calling on the state Board of Education to 'assist teachers, principals, and..http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/321916852/article.pl Pieces of Ancient Earth May Be Hidden On the Moon- June 28, 2008 swestcott brings us a story from Space.com about the possibility of finding evidence for ancient Earth life on the moon. A team of scientists has published work confirming that meteorites originating from Earth could have remained sufficiently intact while colliding with the moon to allow the survival of biological evidence for life. Quoting: "Crawford and Baldwin's group simulated their meteors as cubes, and calculated pressures at 500 points on the surface of the cube as it impacted the lunar.http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/321788230/article.pl Where To Draw the Line With Embryo Selection- June 27, 2008 Tjeerd writes "There is currently a discussion going on in the Netherlands about embryo selection. The process means that when using in vitro fertilization, you can check what kind of genetic defects will definitely become activated during life. When embryos with those defects are identified, they can be avoided or destroyed. The next step the government is considering is to make it possible to select against genetic defects which might become active in life, such as breast and colon cancer. Of.http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/321688701/article.pl North Pole Ice On Track To Melt By September- June 27, 2008 phobos13013 writes "Recently released evidence is showing the North Pole ice is melting at the highest rate ever recorded. As a result, the Pole may be completely ice-free at the surface and composed of nothing but open water by September. As reported in September of last year, the Northwest Passage was ice-free for the first time known to man. The implications of this, as well as the causes, are still being debated. Are global warming experts just short-sighted alarmists Are we heading for a...http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/321539778/article.pl |