| Science and Medicine |
| Three Americans win '09 Nobel Prize in Medicine for work on chromosomes and telomerase: The ends of our chromosomes are called telomeres. Every time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter--- until they get too short and the cell dies, causing aging. In cancer, the enzyme telomerase adds bits of DNA to make the cancer cells longer, thus keeping the cancer cell from dying. Read the details for yourself at http://www. nytimes.com/2009/10/06/science /06nobel.html?_r=1&hp |
| The '09 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded “for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication.” Winners were Springer author Charles Kuen Kao, who receives half of the 1.4 million dollar prize, and Williard S. Boyle and George E. Smith share the other half. Kao’s research on optical fibers led to the discovery of ultrapure glass fibers which can transmit light signals 100 kilometers. This is five thousand times as much as the fibers available in the 1960s. Today glass fibers form an elementary part of the circulatory system that nourishes our communication society. These low- loss glass fibers make global broadband communication such as the Internet possible. Light flowing through thin threads of glass carries most of the telephony and data traffic in all directions. This way, we can send emails, music, pictures and videos around the world in less than a second. The whole length of glass fibers from around the world measures over one billion kilometers, hourly increasing by thousands of kilometers. Read more. |
| Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Prize-winners used X-ray crystallography to map the structure of the ribosome, the cell's protein- making factory, which allows pharmaceutical researchers to make new, more effective antibiotics. The $1.4-million prize will be shared equally by Thomas A. Steitz of Yale University; Venkatraman Ramakrishnan of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, who was born in India but is now a U.S. citizen; and Ada E. Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. Read more. |
| Saudi Arabia Opens Research University Oct. 9, 2009: I (Jan) read a fascinating article today in The Washington Post about King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, a postgraduate-level research university which opened in September in Thuwal, 50 miles north of Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Most of the students are from 61 other countries, about 15 percent are Saudi, and they are allowing Saudi women to attend classes among men. (They're getting flak from the mullahs for doing so, however.) The kingdom is trying "to transform itself into a global scientific center rivaling those in the US, Europe, and Asia." Boasting a 10-billion dollar endowment, they're doing research on alternative energy sources and potable water, and have one of the world's fastest supercomputers. I've known very little about Saudia Arabia, but this king sounds very forward-thinking. Google KAUST university for more info. |
| STRING THEORY Read BrewsterRockit's explanation, then Wikipedia's simplified version |
| SKYPE Video Service April 5, 2010 Thanks to Gary There is a video call service called SKYPE available at skype.com for free downloads. Anyone with a web cam on their computer can join up for free and do free video calls to any other person in the SKYPE directory. No phone lines, internet service. It is really great for family, friends and business associates to be able to see them as you converse. It is especially great with grandchildren. You might want to let classmates know about this free service with free video calls. Web cams are not expensive, I just saw a 750p Microsoft LifeCam at Sam's for under $60. 750p is very good, less expensive ones are also available. Coaster I receive no remuneration, affection or commendation for promoting skype or the purchase and use of any web cams. I do so solely for the good of all mankind and service to our society, truth, justice and the American way of life. However, voluntary gratuities are accepted at my PayPal account (use my email address). |