On Marijuana | The Great Tennessee Marijuana Cave
Law enforcement officers in Tennessee make the greatest underground discovery since Tutankhamen’s tomb was unearthed in the Valley of the Kings
Category: News
The Psychology of Abu Grahib
Philip G. Zimbardo – Finding Hope in Knowing the Universal Capacity for Evil – New York Times
You had the C.I.A., civilian interrogators, military intelligence saying to the Army reservists, “Soften these detainees up for interrogation.”
Those kinds of vague orders were the equivalent of my saying to the S.P.E. guards, “It’s your prison.” At Abu Ghraib, you didn’t have higher-ups saying, “You must do these terrible things.” The authorities, I believe, created an environment that gave guards permission to become abusive — plus one that gave them plausible deniability.
Chip worked 40 days without a single break, 12-hour shifts. The place was overcrowded, filthy, dangerous, under constant bombardment. All of that will distort judgment, moral reasoning. The bottom line: If you’re going to have a secret interrogation center in the middle of a war zone, this is going to happen. Continue reading “The Psychology of Abu Grahib”
Home on the Revenge
A city councilman, Mark Easton, lives in this neighborhood. He had a beautiful view of the east mountains until a new neighbor purchased the lot below his house and built. Apparently the new home was 18 inches higher than the ordinances would allow, so MarkEaston, mad about his lost view, went to the city to make sure they enforced the lower roof line ordinance. Mark and his new neighbor had some great arguments about this as you can imagine – not great feelings. The new neighbor had to drop the roof line – no doubt at great expense.
Recently Mark Easton called the city and informed them that his new neighbor had installed some vents on the side of his home. Mark didn’t like the look of these vents and asked the city to investigate. When they went to Mark’s home to see the vent view, this is what they found… Continue reading “Home on the Revenge”
Creature that has not had sex for 100m years
Creature that has not had sex for 100m years-News-UK-Science-TimesOnline
A tiny creature that has not had sex for 100 million years has overturned the theory that animals need to mate to create variety. Analysis of the jaw shapes of bdelloid rotifers, combined with genetic data, revealed that the animals have diversified under pressure of natural selection.
Researchers say that their study “refutes the idea that sex is necessary for diversification into evolutionary species”.
The microscopic animals, less than four times the length of a human sperm, are all female, yet have evolved into different species that fill different ecological niches. Two sister species were found to be living together on the body of a water louse. One of them specialised in living around the louse’s legs and the other stayed close to the chest.
Russia to Iran: Pay Up
Russia Blog: Russia to Iran: Pay Up
The Islamic Republic of Iran is apparently running short on cash. According to the International Herald Tribune, the Iranian regime has twice failed to pay $25 million in monthly payments to Rosatom, Russia’s atomic energy agency, for work already completed on the Bushehr nuclear reactor.
Rosatom executives have confirmed that the Iranians failed to make their payment in full for the month of January and have not paid at all for this month. As a result, Rosatom has cancelled plans to deliver civilian-grade nuclear fuel to the reactor next month and is threatening to delay work at Bushehr. Russia is not willing to subsidize Iranian energy projects anymore than it was willing to keep subsidizing the former Soviet republics with cheap natural gas.
The Council on Foreign Relations recently released a report describing the decline of Iranian oil and gas production due to mismanagement and a lack of new investment. Last month MSNBC reported that the U.S. has secretly cut a deal with Saudi Arabia to boost Saudi production, thereby decreasing world oil prices and putting more economic pressure on Tehran (it costs the Saudis about half as much to pump a barrel of oil out of the ground as the Iranians). Russia Blog predicted that the U.S. might pursue this strategy to financially squeeze the mullahs in our post The Long War in the Middle East and Russian Oil back in August 2006.
Antarctic Glaciers’ Sloughing Of Ice Has Scientists at a Loss
Antarctic Glaciers’ Sloughing Of Ice Has Scientists at a Loss – washingtonpost.com
Wingham, of University College London, and Andrew Shepherd of the University of Edinburgh said satellite radar readings show that overall, each year the ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica amounts to about 10 percent of the rise in the global sea level, which totals about one-tenth of an inch per year. The net loss of Antarctic ice is estimated to be 25 billion metric tons a year, despite the growth of the ice sheet in East Antarctica.
In Greenland, glaciers appear to be moving more quickly to sea because melting ice has allowed the sheet to slide more easily over the rock and dirt below. In Antarctica, the loss is believed to be associated with the breaking off into seawater of ice deep under the ice sheet with little-understood internal dynamics that put increased pressure on the massive ice streams.
Cell phones safe to use in hospitals
Cell phones safe to use in hospitals: U.S. study
Calls made on cell phones do not affect hospital medical devices, U.S. researchers said on Friday, but store anti-theft alarms might make implanted heart devices misfire.
Tests at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota showed normal use of cell phones, also called mobile phones, caused no noticeable interference with patient care equipment, they said. Dr. David Hayes and colleagues said their tests suggest the ban is unmerited. They tested cell phones using two different technologies from different carriers, switching them on near 192 different medical devices. During 300 tests run over five months, they reported no trouble with the equipment
Angry Whale Attacks Boat, Kills Japanese Fisherman
Maybe all of the Japanese government’s attempts to undo the current whaling Ban made it back to this young 50 ton whale.
And here is another harrowing whale of a tale from a diver in the Dominican Republic.
The Sky Is Falling. Really.
The Sky Is Falling. Really. – New York Times
AMERICANS who read the papers or watch Jay Leno have been aware for some time now that there is a slim but real possibility — about 1 in 45,000 — that an 850-foot-long asteroid called Apophis could strike Earth with catastrophic consequences on April 13, 2036. What few probably realize is that there are thousands of other space objects that could hit us in the next century that could cause severe damage, if not total destruction.
On the promising side, scientists have a good grasp of the risks of a cosmic fender-bender, and have several ideas that could potentially stave off disaster. Unfortunately, the government doesn’t seem to have any clear plan to put this expertise into action.
Meteorite Collision simulation
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.558961&w=425&h=350&fv=]
Record meteorite hit Norway
Hydrogen Storage Technology Breakthrough
Hydrogen Storage: UNBF Researchers Achieve Technology Breakthrough — March 7, 2007 – News@UNB
Hydrogen gas is typically stored under pressure in large metal cylinders, approximately four feet high. These cylinders are heavy and expensive to transport. Since they are under pressure, they also pose a safety hazard.
“We’ve reached a milestone with our ability to condense hydrogen into a usable solid,” said Dr. McGrady. “The next step is to produce a safe, compact storage system for the compound that is both lightweight and affordable.”
The research is expected to produce reversible hydrogen storage materials that can be processed into a powder for use in limitless commercial applications. Continue reading “Hydrogen Storage Technology Breakthrough”