Tag: science

3.2 ga oil

this is an old article, but i was curious, and the oldest oil ever found is 3.2 ga old.

Australian scientists have discovered the world’s oldest oil in rocks that date back 3.2 ga. The find suggests that oil-forming microorganisms were widespread very early in the Earth’s history.

Interspecies fishing

wow. reminds me of the uplifting of dolphins

They have been reported to exist in Australia, India, Mauritania, Burma, and the Mediterranean, but the best known are in Brazil. In parts of southern Brazil, human fisherman have been cooperating with dolphins for many generations. If fishermen clap just the right way, dolphins will herd fish into the desired areas of fishermen, in muddy lagoon areas. The dolphins perform a distinctive kind of dive to signal to the humans it is time to cast the net for the fish. Only some individual dolphins are able (willing?) to do this well, perhaps the others belong to the 47%. The dolphins which cooperate with the fisherman are also more social, more socially connected, and more cooperative with other dolphins

What it takes to explore

This is nuts

In the story of how European Space Agency researchers are scrambling to locate—and possibly move—the Philae probe, which they successfully landed on Comet 67P 2 days ago, there’s an interesting comment about computer vision and the perception of exotic landscapes.


“It’s an entirely manual process, because the complex and bizarre landscape of comet 67P defies any kind of automated search. We don’t have an algorithm for this”

Amazing Randi

For almost 60 years, he has been offering up a cash reward to anyone who could demonstrate scientific evidence of paranormal activity, and no one had ever received a single penny. But he hates to see them lose. “They’re always rationalizing. There are always reasons prevailing why they can’t do it. They call it the resilience of the duped. It’s with intense regret that you watch them go down the tubes.”

Taste Spoon

If they can make healthy foods taste good, that would be something.

If Dinner is missing some zing, a spoon studded with electrodes could help. It creates tastes on your tongue with a pulse of electricity. The utensil may add some extra flavour for people who shouldn’t eat certain foods.

Different frequencies and magnitudes of current through the electrodes can create the impression of saltiness, sourness or bitterness. By boosting the flavour of plain foods, a tool like this could be useful for people with diabetes or heart issues who have been ordered to cut down on salt and sugar.

To see how well the electric utensils could fool diners, 30 people tried them out in a taste test with plain water and porridge. The spoon and bottle were judged 40-83% successful at recreating the tastes, depending on which one they were aiming for. Bitter was the hardest sensation to get right. Some testers were distracted by the metallic taste of the electrodes.

Age Mindset

On several measures, they outperformed a control group. They were suppler, showed greater manual dexterity and sat taller. Perhaps most improbable, their sight improved. They looked younger. The experimental subjects had “put their mind in an earlier time,” and their bodies went along for the ride. The results were almost too good. They beggared belief. “It sounded like Lourdes”