Tech We’d Like to See: Cities on the Moon

What it is:

Placing a city (or several) on the moon has long been a dream of science fiction writers, futurists and ambitious scientists. Recently however, renewed public interest in space exploration, together with a growing realization that the world is becoming dangerously overpopulated, has lead some scientists, artists and zealous would-be lunar colonists to start taking this ages-old dream extremely seriously. 

Why we want it:

Because it could potentially be one of the only non-genocidal solutions to the eventual overpopulation of planet earth. Also, who wouldn’t want to sit on the moon and watch the Earth rise?

When can we expect it?

A couple of years ago, a group called Moon Capital launched a high profile competition, allowing scientists, architects and aspiring artists the chance to create scientifically plausible scenes of moon colonisation (in the style made famous by super-artist Chesley Bonestell).

The competition had (hypothetical) moon colonisation taking place in the year 2068. This estimate was good enough for the entrants of the competition, so it’ll be good enough for us, too. Hopefully, then, you’ll get your lunar colony in about 55 years time (just under a hundred years after Neil Armstrong took that one small step….)

Of course, the problems posed by such a feat of engineering are many-fold. For starters, the moon is some 380,000 km away from us at any given time, (which is quite a trip for a moving van, even taking speed cameras out of the equation), then there’s the difficulty of actually building a working city in such a hostile environment…

We’ve built space stations, of course, so we know we can construct things in space, but they aren’t exactly desirable places to live. Also, we can get people to the moon and back (we’ve been at it since the 60’s, no matter what the conspiracy nuts tell you), but the trip is still intensely dangerous and requires a great deal of training and preparation.

Finally, we come to the complete lack of breathable atmosphere on the moon; this would require scientists to create some sort of artificial environment (or else speed up development of terraforming methods, but that’s a story for another time).

Oh yeah, there’s no food either, not unless you like your Selenite steaks rare.

Yes, the idea of colonising the moon poses a number of mind-boggling obstacles, but if there’s one thing that we as a species excel at, its overcoming obstacles.

So, while it may seem far-fetched to imagine something like this actually happening, consider this; the first powered flight took place in 1903 and just 66 years later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were hanging out on the moon. Think on that for a second.

Cool Factor: 5/5

Cities on the moon? Now that’s cool. 

Tech We’d Like to See: Cities on the Moon

BREAKING NEWS ‘New’ Species of Mammal Discovered in South America

American Scientists from the Smithsonian Institute of Washington DC have discovered a new type of carnivorous mammal previously unknown to Western science.

The creature, known as the olinguito, is the first such animal to be discovered on the American continent in 35 years.

Zoologist Dr. Kristofer Helgen, who works as the curator of mammals in Washington DC’s National Museum of Natural History, discovered some stored remains in a Chicago museum and was reportedly ‘stopped in his tracks’ upon seeing them.

Following further examination, Helgen says that, “The skins were a rich red colour and when I looked at the skulls I didn’t recognize the anatomy. It was different to any similar animal I’d seen, and right away I thought it could be a species new to science.”

DNA testing eventually proved that, whilst the 35-cm long olinguito is a type of olingo (a relative of raccoons), it is definitely a distinct species in its own right. However, not content with simply describing the species from the remains, the real challenge for Helgen was to attempt to observe this new mammal in the wild.

Using educated guesswork and clues obtained from the specimen drawer, Dr. Helgen and his team were able to theorize a possible habitat for the olinguito. Their ideas proved to be correct and the animal has since been established as inhabiting a number of protected areas from Central Columbia to Western Ecuador.

This is not the first time that Dr. Helgen has identified new species by examining museum remains. In fact, throughout his distinguished career, he has discovered around 100 new species of animals. As an example, Helgen’s work has demonstrated that the hog badger, presumed simply to be a single, widespread species, was in fact three different species, albeit with similar attributes.

Historical records show that Washington National Zoo actually had an olinguito specimen in the 1960’s, but it was never identified as such. The animal was exhibited as an olinga, but its keepers were puzzled when it failed to breed. Sadly, the captive olinguito died without ever being correctly identified.

It should also be noted that just because an animal is considered ‘new’ to Western science, the term rarely denotes a species completely unknown to Humankind. People native to the areas inhabited by these animals are usually well aware of its presence and indispensable in locating individuals for observation and study by Western researchers. 

A host of other new species have already been discovered this year, including the Cambodian tailorbird, a new type of hero shrew, a reef fish from the Caribbean, a beautifully patterned bat from the Sudan and two new spider species (including a grey and black tarantula the size of an open palm).

To Dr. Helgen, this is hardly surprising, “Conventional wisdom would have it that we know all the mammals of the world. In fact, we know so little. Unique species, profoundly different from anything ever discovered, are out there waiting to be found.” He says.

 

 

SOURCES

 

http://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/explorers/bios/helgen-kristofer/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23701151

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/23716967

http://blog.getaway.co.za/travel-news/new-species-discovered-2013/

BREAKING NEWS ‘New’ Species of Mammal Discovered in South America

PS4: Is The Most recent Batch The Greatest?

Lets find out what the latest ps4 games are like.

 

Signed in to.

“Well, with a little trepidation I’ve finally done it” the update read “I’ve bought my own detached house. It has all appliances I could need and a beautiful thatched roof”

I was surprised and impressed by this news, Bob is only a little older than me. I was surprised by how much success he’d had. Quite what (or who) he’d pulled off to suddenly get this kind of money. Worked. We had fun.  He moved away and we didn’t really talk until I randomly met him on a train some years later. Working as writers. I was about to post a long message congratulating Bob on his newfound success when I noticed the final two words to his status. Dork.

 

The point is that Bob is not alone, 2011 was a great year for PS4 games. Around half my mates had their social lives decimated by Skyrim. With its immersive mix of story. Once a week Wednesday when I braved the elements to grab my comics for the week, I’d be met with a giant bust of a Barbarian holding aloft an axe, his face contorted by a soundless bloodthirsty howl presumably emanating from under his helmet. The barbarian followed me about actually, and I caught him.

 

Another big release that deserves mention in our list of latest ps4 games, especially since the half of my friends not eliminated by Skyrim succumbed to. is extremely unlikely to work if they make the title any shorter. F13, for example, might disappoint F1 fans expecting an upgrade. Its the next version along from the last release. Its not anything new.

 

Another one that did well towards the end of last year. I don’t even know what ‘Tenkaichi’ is (I think its served in a sort of smingy sauce. I can’t stand Dragon Ball Z. Have you ever actually tried to watch earlier episode or showing you what’s to come in the next episode. Madder. ONE MORE TIME, our (by now furious?Madder than all hell. The end. Installments. What’s that? Oh, the game? {I have no idea, I got sidetracked|Distracted|Taken off on a tangent…More Pissed off and angrier.

 

Look at some of the latest ps4 games, and, if you’re not hip to such things, is probably where most of your friends have gone

PS4: Is The Most recent Batch The Greatest?

Why do secret service guys wear those earpieces with the coiled wires instead of something less conspicuous?

That’s actually a pretty good question. Good quality wireless earpieces are available, affordable and would be far more inconspicuous than the classic ‘wired’ models. So why don’t the secret service make their presence a little more, well, secret?

The main reason is largely psychological in nature (though there will be a technical component later on). You see, if a potential troublemaker looks into a crowd and sees nobody there that he/she identifies with as a threat, then said troublemaker will be far more likely to start making trouble. However, if they notice secret service guys using their trademark earpieces, then they might think twice about it and a lot of unpleasantness can actually be avoided.

To you or I (assuming that you aren’t a troublemaker?), the secret service guys are just that, they usually appear to protect someone or something, so we ought to have no reason to fear them. Ergo, they stand out just enough to deter the would-be troublemakers, but not so much that they frighten the rest of us or distract from whatever proceedings we happen to be, um, proceeding with.

If you’re sitting there saying, “hang on, what happens if they want to sneak up on someone?” then my answer is still the same, expect that I would imagine that the secret service would put two or three agents within visual distance of a suspect and then ‘herd’ the troublemaker towards other agents in the vicinity. I have no evidence (or experience, I’m grateful to say), to back that up, but it seems reasonable to me to do it that way.

Now, onto the technical part: wireless communication, whilst it has improved greatly in the last few years, is still not as reliable as the more old fashioned forms of ‘wired’ communication. Wireless communication can be subject to signal interference, as well as suffering from a more limited bandwidth.

Finally, wireless communications gobble up battery power far more than their wired counterparts, so for tasks that may last for several long hours at a time, long battery life is a must.

When the wireless technology improves, I suspect that the secret service will make the leap, but I also suspect that they’ll keep the coil, for the reasons stated above.

Also, as an added extra – if you’re wondering why they touch their ears when they receive a message (much to my fellow Brit James Bond’s chagrin), well, that’s because pushing the earpiece into your ear drowns out background noise and also makes the message louder. They simply do it for sound clarity when receiving important information. 

Why do secret service guys wear those earpieces with the coiled wires instead of something less conspicuous?

(Possible) Explanation Presented for ‘After Death’ Experiences

A new scientific study has recommended that dying rats encounter an abnormal course of intense neural activity throughout their last moments of existence. This enlarged brain use might be in line with (and thusly describe) Human accounts of near or after death experiences, as reported by some people around the world.

 

Approximately a 5th of all folks who have survived a cardiac arrest have reported having an ‘After Death Experience’ or ADE.  This is sort of an alarming stat, specially as the ADE tends to have a profound effect within the life of the survivor. Having an ADE is seen by many as indisputable evidence of an afterlife or a continuation of the individual’s soul after death.

 

Equally, a ‘Near Death Experience’ (or NDE) is believed being comparable to an ADE, but noticeably happens whilst the patient remains to be technically alive. Some people who experience NDE’s report a floating sensation or ‘From Body Experience’ (OBE), as well as encounters with angels, dead family members and loved ones. Both NDE and ADE survivors frequently portray traversing an extended tunnel in the direction of an intense light.

 

Deliberations of life after death seems in early scriptures, archaeological sites and many subsequent works of philosophy and possess fascinated (and frightened) Human beings, no matter of creed, ethnic group or culture, since time immemorial.

 

After recovering from surgery in 1979, Jazmyne Cidavia-DeRepentigny of Hull, Georgia, USA, reported a stereotypical NDE account that was ultimately published in the book ‘Beyond The Light’ by P.M.H Atwater in 1994. Like many people, Jazmyne recounts information of her surgery that might be very complicated to obtain were she lying.

 

Jazmyne says that “I was floating over my body.  I could see and listen to everything that was being said and done.  I left the area for a minute and came back to where my body lay.  I knew why I died.  It is because I couldn’t breathe.  There was a tube along my throat and the health staff didn’t have an oxygen mask on my nostril.  I had also been given too much sedative”.

 

She went on to describe her attempts to get rid of the tube from her throat in a relatively traumatic account.

 

Prior to the aforementioned study, it is established incontrovertible fact that neural activity ceases once the heart stops. This has now been demonstrated as being untrue, at the least so far as rats are concerned. It’s also the strongest presumption to this point regarding the reasons of ADEs, OBEs and NDEs.

 

One of those scientists responsible for these results, Dr. George Mashour of the University of Ann Arbour, Michigan, USA said that the team was “surprised with the high degrees of activity” within the rats. “In truth, at near-death many identified electric signatures of consciousness exceeded levels found within the waking condition, signifying the brain is capable of well-organized electric activity over the early phase of clinical death.” He said.

 

The team’s lead scientist, Dr. Jimo Borjigin added that “This report tells us that drop of oxygen or both oxygen and glucose during cardiac arrest can stimulate brain activity that’s characteristic of mindful processing,”

 

However, Dr. Martin Coath from the University of Plymouth, UK was a little critical of the team’s findings.

 

Dr. Coath said, since the rats were anaesthetized, the findings better demonstrated the unconscious brain’s response to a dangerous lack of blood flow and oxygen. He also said that the study had not necessarily showed that any ‘heightened conscious processing’ had actually taken place, signifying the wording of that conclusion was “a bit of a stretch”. He commented that, while the results were “genuinely interesting” they were as well “hardly astonishing”.

 

The effects of the study will no doubt be of great importance to numerous in the scientific community, also as religious groups, those fascinated in the mystical and people who have experienced an ADE or NDE.

  

SOURCES:

 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/paranormal-death-experiences-explained-204403437.html#7mbMENa

 

http://www.iands.org/nde-stories/17-nde-accounts-from-beyond-the-light.html

(Possible) Explanation Presented for ‘After Death’ Experiences

Could we now have found possibilities of life from another planet?

A team of British scientists believe that they’ve discovered organisms in earth’s atmosphere that originate from space.

 

As difficult as that may be to trust, Professor Milton Wainwright, the team’s leader, insists that this is definitely the situation.

 

The team, from the University of Sheffield, discovered the tiny organisms (misleadingly referred to as ‘bugs’ by a great deal of persistent journalists) living on a research balloon that was sent 16.7 miles into our environment throughout last month’s Perseids meteor shower.

 

In response to Professor Wainwright, the minuscule creatures could not have been carried into the stratosphere on the balloon. He said, “A lot of people will imagine that these biological particles must have just drifted up into the stratosphere from Earth, but it’s generally accepted that a particle of the volume found can’t be lifted from Earth to heights of, for instance, 27km. The only well-known exemption is by a violent volcanic eruption, none of these occurred within three years of the sampling trip.”

 

Wainwright maintains that the only most important end is that the organisms originated from space. He went on to mention that “life isn’t restricted to this planet but it nearly certainly did not originate here”

 

However, not everyone is so persuaded. Dr. Seth Shostak, senior astronomer for the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) project remarked, “I’m very skeptical. This claim has been made beforehand, and dismissed as earthly contamination.” The team responds to that by saying they were thorough when they prepared the balloon before the experiments began.

 

However, they do acknowledge that there can be an strange reason for these organisms to reach such altitudes. It must also be renowned that microbal organisms discovered in the 1980’s and 1990’s and named ‘extremophiles’ stunned the scientific community by living in environments that will instantly kill the majority of life on earth.

 

These creatures have been observed living deep under Glacial ice and even 1900 feet below the sea floor. In March of this year, Ronnie Glud, a biogeochemist in the Southern Danish University in Odense, Denmark was quoted as saying “In the most remote, hostile areas, it is possible to actually have higher motion than their surroundings,” which “Yow will discover microbes everywhere – they’re enormously compliant to surroundings, and survive wherever they’re,” so this indicates more plausible that either the team is in error, or that this is simply one more case of microscopic life showing up in an extraordinary place.

 

Additionally, it isn’t the very first time this unique team has come under fire for making such claims, either. Back in January of this year, astrobiologist Dr. Chandra Wickramasinghe reported that ‘fossils’ found from a Sri Lankan meteorite were testimony of extraterrestrial life, an assertion that’s commonly criticized by the scientific community.

 

Other scientists have complained that there basically is not enough indication to make this type of claim, as the theory this valuable would require a large body of evidence to prove its validity.

 

What that claims to a reporter is that microorganisms can live almost anyplace which it simply is not good science to leap to wild conclusions like aliens when a more plausible answer is most probably present. Science should not be subject to such wild leaps of elaborate. Imagination is a great aid to science, but it really is not a science in and of by itself. Unfortunately, Dr. Wainwright and his group appear to be seeing what they need to observe.

  

SOURCES:

 

http://www.livescience.com/27954-microbes-mariana-trench.html

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013/09/22/news/entertainment/have-we-found-alien-life/

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/alien-bugs-discovered-earths-atmosphere-152253962.html#13B0NDB

Could we now have found possibilities of life from another planet?

Book about Jewel Encrusted Skeleton ‘Saints’ released to vast enjoyment

Paul Koudounaris, who’s also known by his nickname ‘Indiana Bones’ in known as an writer, photographer and leading specialist on bone-decorated places and ossuarys. Earlier this year, Koudounaris released a book that includes high definition images of that 400-year-old ‘catacomb saints’ of Rome, a bunch of corpses that had been carefully adorned with jewelry and finery before being presented as ruins of saints to congregations across Europe.

During the Protestant Overhaul of that 16th Century, Catholic church buildings were routinely stripped of their relics, cryptogram and finery. In order to counter this, The Vatican had antique skeletons removed out of the Catacombs of Rome and generously adorned as the remnants of acknowledged saints.

Though mostly forgotten until Koudounaris published his book, the catacomb saints continue to fascinate concerned parties; they can also still inspire religious zeal. In 1977, the town of Ruttenbach in Bavaria worked hard to raise sufficient funds to purchase back 2 of their original saints from confidential collectors, the decorative skeletons had initially been auctioned off in 1803.

The book, which Koudounaris has surreptitiously titled ‘Heavenly Bodies’ sees its writer try to find and photograph each of these existing catacomb saints.

In their prime (a period that lasted over 200 years before finally coming to a close in the nineteenth century), the saints traversed in all places, being transported at great expense by the Church. They were adored as things of care, or conduits for prayer.

Though the saints could appear unusual to modern eyes (one Telegraph reporter described them as ‘ghastly’), it’s imperative that you understand that those who prayed at the feet of those gilded cadavers were considerably nearer to death than their modern counterparts. In the wake of The Black Death (which recurred regularly throughout Europe from the 14th to the 17th Centuries), art, literature and also worship had moved to accept such ghoulish, macabre images.

The remnants were regularly decked out by nuns and sometimes positioned in a range of natural poses, before being secured in glass cabinets. Some of the thorough decoration took as long as five years to complete, with jewellery and costumes being acutely grand.

Koudounaris’ book, ‘Heavenly Bodies’ is out there now.  

Book about Jewel Encrusted Skeleton ‘Saints’ released to vast enjoyment

Xbox One unboxing – headset included with all versions

Editorial – this year will become a massive year for the console industry. The new generations of Xbox and Playstation, are due to be released inside weeks of each other. Both are vying for our consideration and hard earned money, unlike the last generation, Sony with the Playstation 4 have put a less expensive package together in contrast to the xbox one, which amazed everyone at E3 in june. But latest news released by Microsoft proves the xbox one contains kinect and a headset, proving that xbox ones additional price is literally for added extras.

 

The standard and Day One editions of the Xbox One console will both include a headset, despite Microsoft suggesting that Kinect would be used instead.

As U-turns go it’s one of Microsoft’s more minor in recent months, but Xbox Live director of programming Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb has confirmed that all Xbox One consoles will be sold with a headset.

The unboxing video below is for the limited edition ‘Day One’ boxed set, although the only difference is an exclusive Achievement and a specially embossed controller.

That means the other contents of the box will also be included in the ordinary edition, namely a 4K compatible HDMI cable and the controversial Kinect sensor.

Initially Microsoft said that the Xbox One wouldn’t come with a headset, despite the console using a new audio connector port that means existing headsets need an adaptor to work.

The idea was that you were going to have to pay for that separately or just use Kinect’s microphone to speak to people. Microsoft then reversed its decision, then pretended it hadn’t reversed its decision, and has now admitted that actually, yes: it does come with a headset.

http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/08/xbox-one-unboxing-headset-included-with-all-versions-3917117/

Xbox One unboxing – headset included with all versions

Xbox One unboxing – headset included with all versions

Editorial – this year will become a massive year for the console industry. The new generations of Xbox and Playstation, are due to be released inside weeks of each other. Both are vying for our consideration and hard earned money, unlike the last generation, Sony with the Playstation 4 have put a less expensive package together in contrast to the xbox one, which amazed everyone at E3 in june. But latest news released by Microsoft proves the xbox one contains kinect and a headset, proving that xbox ones additional price is literally for added extras.

 

The standard and Day One editions of the Xbox One console will both include a headset, despite Microsoft suggesting that Kinect would be used instead.

As U-turns go it’s one of Microsoft’s more minor in recent months, but Xbox Live director of programming Larry ‘Major Nelson’ Hryb has confirmed that all Xbox One consoles will be sold with a headset.

The unboxing video below is for the limited edition ‘Day One’ boxed set, although the only difference is an exclusive Achievement and a specially embossed controller.

That means the other contents of the box will also be included in the ordinary edition, namely a 4K compatible HDMI cable and the controversial Kinect sensor.

Initially Microsoft said that the Xbox One wouldn’t come with a headset, despite the console using a new audio connector port that means existing headsets need an adaptor to work.

The idea was that you were going to have to pay for that separately or just use Kinect’s microphone to speak to people. Microsoft then reversed its decision, then pretended it hadn’t reversed its decision, and has now admitted that actually, yes: it does come with a headset.

http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/08/xbox-one-unboxing-headset-included-with-all-versions-3917117/

Xbox One unboxing – headset included with all versions