The Architecture of Memory
Most of us think of memory as a chamber of the mind, and assume that our capacity to remember is only as good as our brain. But according to some architectural theorists, our memories are products of our body’s experience of physical space. Or, to consolidate the theorem: Our memories are only as good as our buildings.
In the BBC television series “Sherlock,” the famous detective’s capacious memory is portrayed through the concept of the “mind palace“—what is thought to be a sort of physical location in the brain where a person stores memories like objects in a room. |  |
Ruins a memento of Iraqi Christians' glorious past
NAJAF, Iraq (AP) -- A hundred meters (yards) or so from taxiing airliners, Iraqi archaeologist Ali al-Fatli is showing a visitor around the delicately carved remains of a church that may date back some 1,700 years to early Christianity.
The church, a monastery and other surrounding ruins have emerged from the sand over the past five years with the expansion of the airport serving the city of Najaf, and have excited scholars who think this may be Hira, a legendary Arab Christian center. "This is the oldest sign of Christianity in Iraq," said al-Fatli, pointing to the ancient tablets with designs of grapes that litter the sand next to intricately carved monastery walls. |  |
Mars Rover Landing a Success—What Happens Now?
The rover has landed.
At 1:31 a.m. ET Monday, the Curiosity rover's "seven minutes of terror" evaporated in a swirl of fine-grained soil as six aluminum wheels touched the red planet for the first time. NASA had nailed the riskiest Mars landing ever.
Now Curiosity's two-year search for signs of life begins, with the kind of extended stretch and warm-up you might expect after a cramped, yearlong flight—as detailed here in an excerpt for the new National Geographic e-book Mars Landing 2012.
At 1:31 a.m. ET Monday, the Curiosity rover's "seven minutes of terror" evaporated in a swirl of fine-grained soil as six aluminum wheels touched the red planet for the first time. NASA had nailed the riskiest Mars landing ever.
Now Curiosity's two-year search for signs of life begins, with the kind of extended stretch and warm-up you might expect after a cramped, yearlong flight—as detailed here in an excerpt for the new National Geographic e-book Mars Landing 2012.
Is ruling in the genes? All presidents bar 1 are directly descended from a medieval English king
What do Barack Obama, Thomas Jefferson, George W. Bush and the other past U.S. presidents have in common? Besides holding the coveted title of commander-in-chief, it appears that all of them but one are cousins.
The remarkable discovery was made by 12-year-old BridgeAnne d’Avignon, of Salinas, California, who created a ground-breaking family tree that connected 42 of 43 U.S. presidents to one common, and rather unexpected, ancestor: King John of England. ‘They all have the trait of wanting power,’ d’Avignon told the station WFMY. King John, also known as John ‘Lackland’, is renowned for signing the Magna Carta in 1215, which limited the monarch’s power and helped form the British Parliament. |  |
US Philosopher Given $5M Grant To Study Immortality
A University of California at Riverside (UCR) philosopher will be placed in charge of a new project analyzing the concept of immortality after receiving the largest grant ever presented to a humanities professor at the school, various media outlets reported last week.
According to a July 31 UCR press release announcing the grant, the university announced that philosopher John Martin Fischer would oversee research on all aspects of immortality, including near-death experiences and the impact that believing in life-after-death has on human behavior.
According to a July 31 UCR press release announcing the grant, the university announced that philosopher John Martin Fischer would oversee research on all aspects of immortality, including near-death experiences and the impact that believing in life-after-death has on human behavior.
Amazon deforestation falls again
Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has fallen again in the past 12 months, according to preliminary data published by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research.
The reduction follows the passing of Brazil's Forest Code in April, which green campaigners say weakened forest protection measurements, despite a partial veto by president Dilma Rouseff of the most controversial elements. Data from satellite images shows a 23% reduction in deforestation from August 2011 to July 2012 against the previous year, with 2,049 sq km being cleared compared with 2,679 sq km in the previous 12 months. |  |
Turkmenistan to plant huge forest in Aral Sea region
Turkmenistan is allocating tens of millions of dollars to plant trees in a region neighbouring the stricken Aral Sea, state newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan said Tuesday.
"A project has been developed to target environmental problems in the Aral Sea zone, which entails planting greenery over 20,000 hectares on the eastern bank of the Sarygamysh lake," the newspaper said. |  |
Leaky water pipes problem solved by Sheffield engineers
Leaky pipes are a common problem for the water industry: according to Ofwat, between 20 and 40 per cent of our total water supply can be lost through damaged pipes. Developing more accurate ways of finding leaks would enable water companies to save revenue and reduce their environmental impact.
The system invented at Sheffield tests pipes by transmitting a pressure wave along them that sends back a signal if it passes any unexpected features, such as a leak or a crack in the pipe’s surface. The pressure wave is generated by a valve fitted to an ordinary water hydrant, which is opened and closed rapidly. The wave sends back a reflection, or a signal, if it encounters any anomalous features in the pipe. The strength of that signal can then be analysed to determine the location and the size of the leak. |  |
Extreme Heat Linked to Global Warming
As relentless heat wave has followed relentless heat wave across the United States this summer, conversations have increasingly turned to the role of global warming in extreme weather events. A new study solidifies the link.
Before 1980, excessively hot summers were practically non-existent. More recently, found a new study, summers that averaged 3.3 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than normal have become common – covering about 10 percent of land area around the globe each year – up from an average of just a few tenths of a percent in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. In some recent years, super-hot summers have struck as much as 20 percent of the Northern Hemisphere. |  |
Building blocks of life came from deep Earth
The rise of the first complex life depended on vital metals brought up to the Earth's surface from far below in vast granite deposits, a new study argues.
Metals like copper, zinc and molybdenum are essential ingredients for certain enzymes and proteins. These are needed for life forms with a complex internal structure, known as eukaryotes, to evolve. Without these metals the history of life could have been very different; plants and animals made of many cells could have taken hundreds of millions more years to develop, if they appeared at all. |  |
Physicists gain new insights into the remote control of quantum systems
An international collaboration led by physicists of the University of Vienna shines new light on the question of the resources required for achieving quantum information processing. The scientists demonstrate that less demanding resources, which are easier to prepare and to control, can be used for quantum-enhanced technologies. In the experiment, which is published in Nature Physics, the researchers achieve remote quantum state preparation without requiring entanglement as a resource.
A fundamental characteristic of quantum physics is the fact that two or more particles can exhibit correlations stronger than classically allowed. This unique characteristic applies particularly to quantum entanglement... |  |
Guinea pig hearts beat with human cells
Damaged skin and liver can often repair themselves, but the heart rarely heals well and heart disease is the world's leading cause of death. Research published today raises hopes for cell therapies, showing that heart muscle cells differentiated from human embryonic stem cells can integrate into existing heart muscle[1].
“What we have done is prove that these cells do what working heart muscles do, which is beat in sync with the rest of the heart,” says Chuck Murry, a cardiovascular biologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, who co-led the research. |  |
Chemotherapy can backfire and boost cancer growth: study
Cancer-busting chemotherapy can cause damage to healthy cells which triggers them to secrete a protein that sustains tumour growth and resistance to further treatment, a study said Sunday.
Researchers in the United States made the "completely unexpected" finding while seeking to explain why cancer cells are so resilient inside the human body when they are easy to kill in the lab. |  |
Mediterranean Weed May Kill Tumor Cells
Scientists from Maryland’s Johns Hopkins University, in conjunction with Danish researchers, have developed a drug using a Mediterranean weed that can target tumor cells and destroy them.
The extraordinary drug travels undetected through the bloodstream until it encounters a tumor cell, where it is activated by specific proteins. It destroys the tumor cells, neighboring cancer cells, and the blood vessels that act as their supply, but spares healthy cells and blood vessels. |  |
Genes Tell Intricate Tale of Jewish Diaspora
A new genetic map paints a comprehensive picture of the 2,000 or so years in which different Jewish groups migrated across the globe, with some becoming genetically isolated units while others seemed to mix and mingle more.
The new findings allow researchers to trace the diaspora, or the historical migration, of the Jews, which began in the sixth century B.C. when the Babylonians conquered the Kingdom of Judah. Some Jews remained in Judah under Babylonian rule, while others fled to Egypt and other parts of the Middle East. Jewish migrations have continued into the present day. |  |
Two separate extinctions brought end to dinosaur era
The mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was almost unprecedented in its size. There may be a simple reason why three-quarters of Earth's species disappeared during the event – there were actually two extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous, each devastating species in distinct environments.
Famously, the dinosaurs met their end when a massive meteorite crashed into Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula around 65 million years ago. The extinction paved the way for the rapid evolutionary diversification of mammals. |  |
Vegetarianism, Eating Disorder: Worrisome Relationship Among Women
There are many valid reasons to be a vegetarian (see: the environment, your health, and the dismal state of the meat industry, for starters). But what if you go vegetarian to help disguise and aid an eating disorder?
New research suggests a large percentage of women with eating disorders may be doing just that. Women suffering from eating disorders are four times more likely to be vegetarian than women without eating disorders, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. |  |
Soldiers uncover 27 ancient bodies on Salisbury Plain
Soldiers have unearthed 27 bodies during an archaeological dig on Salisbury Plain.
Troops from The Rifles, injured in Afghanistan, were excavating the 6th Century burial site at Barrow Clump, as part of a programme of rehabilitation. The bodies, including Anglo-Saxon warriors, had been buried with a range of personal possessions. Rifleman Mike Kelly said: "As a modern day warrior, unearthing the remains... fills me with overwhelming respect.". |  |
Curiosity rover Mars landing – as it happened
05.44am: Good morning and welcome to our live blog of one of the most hair-raising landings ever attempted by Nasa: the Mars Science Laboratory mission and its intrepid Curiosity rover.
5.45am: During the descent, the spacecraft must shed tungsten weights to shift its centre of gravity, fly through the Martian atmosphere, pop a huge parachute, fire retrorockets, and finally lower the car-sized rover to the ground. In these "seven minutes of terror", the spacecraft will go from 13,000mph to a standstill on the Martian surface. Touchdown is due at 6.31am BST. |  |
Solar superstorm could kill millions, cost trillions
Washington: US weather has been lousy this year, with droughts, heat and killer storms. But a solar superstorm could be far worse.
A monster blast of geomagnetic particles from the sun could destroy 300 or more of the 2,100 high-voltage transformers that are the backbone of the US electric grid, according to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Even a few hundred destroyed transformers could disable the entire interconnected system. There is impetus for a group of federal agencies to look for ways to prepare for such a storm this year as the sun moves into an active period called solar maximum, expected to peak in 2013. |  |
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