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POPSA man–mongoose–robot team takes on Sri Lankan minefieldsby
enbar Yesterday 10:45 PM A Sri Lankan engineer controls a robot which in turn guides a mongoose around a minefield. The mongoose sniffs for explosives and is trained to sit up when he finds one. The mongoose, by the way, isn't at risk; he's not big enough to trip a mine himself.
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POPSPossible Big Three Bailout: Political Context Pearlstein, a columnist for the Washington Post, weighs in on likely action inside the Beltway on auto biz. Later in the column, he concludes that "the best of a set of bad options might be for the government to step in and provide the Big Three with low-interest long-term loans, just as it did years ago with Lockheed and Chrysler." Note: GM's market capitalization is just under $6 billion, a shocking number given the company's $171 billion in latest-twelve-month revenues. Google's market cap is $144 billion.
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POPS"Brit firm to demo serious flying robo-saucer in 2009" http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/27/gfs_saucers_to_get_serious/ Oh great - the UK has more CCTV camera's than anywhere else; now they'll actually be able to follow us home. I guess it was inevitable the concept has featured in many Sci Fi scenarios over the years.
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POPSPakiston ruling coalition splits after six months Zardari is the Peoples Party's candidate to replace Musharraf as president. Now that he appears to be the front-runner, the Peoples Party is in no hurry to take away the president's power to dissolve Parliament – another sticking point with Sharif. "Zardari becoming the president would be the most unfortunate event in Pakistan's history," said engineer Raheel Rehman, 27. "A thug is going to be the president of this country," said palm reader Tawakkul Hussain, 35. "We have no options ahead of us. Once again, they are taking turns in power. This is Zardari's turn. After that, it will be Nawaz's turn. He is equally irresponsible and corrupt." The provincial and national assemblies will vote for the president Sept. 6.
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POPSCulture versus Biology: the Darwin Legacy This is a very good article, succinctly describing the ideological structures underlying the uses and interpretations of science; also on the humanities-sciences dichotomies. I have highlighted a short section as there is a contemporary championing of technological innovations especially in neuroscience towards a utopian future eugenically designed to eliminate the 'inferior' : such dangerous rhetoric is severed from all human values, history and ideology.
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POPS'Flexi-bee' could pre-empt varroa mite.
Of course there is the honey, but there is also the critical role bees play in pollination, particularly crop fertilization. The loss of honey bee populations has the potential to have a devastating effect in many crops that at the moment we take for granted. There are two suggestions. One is to prevent the mite laying by altering a chemical released by the bees. The other disrupts the life cycle of the mite. It doesn't have to be either/or, both approaches need to be tried, in addition to further suggestions. The main thing we have to worry about taking into account our record of 'fixing' problems in nature (we don't seem to be that good at it) Is that our efforts don't further endanger the bee populations At the moment however, if we do nothing we will lose the bees. There is the possibility, that bees will develop their own resistance to the mite naturally. Selective breeding may be an option. I would be more inclined to listen to a beekeeper than a geneticist,.
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