Interesting Reading…

Missing matter found in deep space - ” Astronomers have found some matter that had been missing in deep space and say it is strung along web-like filaments that form the backbone of the universe.”

Honda to launch new hybrid car next year - “Honda is planning to launch a new hybrid car (name not known yet) early next year in 2009. It will be first sold in U.S., Japan and Europe and then later more destinations may be added. Honda has made efforts to make this car affordable as well as efficient in terms of gas and electric use…”

Carbon nanotubes may be as harmful as asbestos - “One of the most promising materials for the future of technology, carbon nanotubes, might be as harmful as asbestos if inhaled, according to a new study published Tuesday in the scientific journal Nature Nanotechnology…”

Tidal power - “Off the coast of Ireland, history was just made. While windpower is taking off, and could soon produce as much as 20% of America’s power, harnessing energy from the ocean is still in it’s infancy…”

Lab-Grown Meat a Reality, But Who Will Eat It? - “Meat isn’t being cultured on the scale of Chicken Little yet, and because most carnivores don’t spend much time worrying where their meat comes from, there hasn’t exactly been a public demand. But there are in fact scientists who, despite little acceptance of what they do, are working this very minute to grow tissue-cultured meat…”

Quietly, wind farms spread footprint in U.S - “While only 1 percent of U.S. electricity comes from wind, it is attracting so much support these days that many in the industry believe it is poised for a growth spurt…”

Did Humans Colonize the World by Boat? - “Jon Erlandson shakes out what appears to be a miniature evergreen from a clear ziplock bag and holds it out for me to examine. As one of the world’s leading authorities on ancient seafaring, he has devoted much of his career to hunting down hard evidence of ancient human migrations, searching for something most archaeologists long thought a figment: Ice Age mariners. On this drizzly late-fall afternoon in a lab at the University of Oregon in Eugene, the 53-year-old Erlandson looks as pleased as the father of a newborn—and perhaps just as anxious —as he shows me one of his latest prize finds…”

Museum Kills Live Exhibit - “One of the strangest exhibits at the opening of “Design and the Elastic Mind,” the very strange show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that explores the territory where design meets science, was a teeny coat made out of living mouse stem cells. The “victimless leather” was kept alive in an incubator with nutrients, unsettlingly alive. Until recently, that is…”

Half of Americans on Medicine - “For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, a study shows…”

The first bionic eye - “Bionic eye consists of a video camera at the dimensions of the haricot bean grain implanted in the eyeball. The camera is connected to an artificial retina, which transmits moving images to the brain by the optic nerve…”

16 Top Museums of the world - “Sometimes a museum can be a destination in and of itself. Even if you don’t understand all of it, you most likely will leave feeling impressed and amazed. We compiled this list based on the popularity of the museums and the famous works of art they have in their possessions. So get out and take in a little culture on your next vacation or trip and stop by one of these museums!”

Comfort Food, for Monkeys - “New research suggests that eating fatty snacks may be a coping strategy for low-status primates…”

Selective Data and Global Warming - “Proper statistical analysis relies on a kind of blindness. Many of the things that you look for, you need to look for in a way that doesn’t rely on any a priori knowledge of the data. If you look at the data, and find what appears to be an interesting property of it, you have to be very careful to show that it’s a real phenomena - and you do that by performing blind analyses that demonstrate its reality…”

US begins to break foreign oil ‘addiction’ - “The US is starting to break its “addiction” to foreign oil as high prices, more efficient cars, and the use of ethanol significantly cut the share of its oil imports for the first time since 1977…”

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