"Part of inventing," he said, "is trying to improve things, but it's partly just being bloody-minded and wanting to do things differently."

It is the birthplace of a new aeroplane hailed as "the fourth great breakthrough in aeronautical science". Leonardo da Vinci has skipped forward a few centuries and south a few hundred miles and taken up residence in the body of an expatriate American called Patrick Peebles....

....It is the classic story of the solitary, quietly cranky inventor riding his hobby horses, going his own way and dreaming up something stunningly new, precisely because he is not an expert - "not disadvantaged", as one of his admirers put it, "by knowledge"....

....The flame loudspeaker was an early invention: with a tiny earphone at the base, and a flame rising above it which amplified the sound. "It worked," he said, "but it wasn't very practical carrying a bottle of gas with your radio."....

...."Part of inventing," he said, "is trying to improve things, but it's partly just being bloody-minded and wanting to do things differently." (The Independent)

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At an average depth of 2 1/2 miles, this underwater desert is far removed from the life-sustaining sunlight of the surface

But these are the oases of the deep sea; almost half of the seafloor is made up of another, even greater prairie, the nearly featureless stretches of what oceanographers call the abyssal plain. At an average depth of 2 1/2 miles, this underwater desert is far removed from the life-sustaining sunlight of the surface, and without the chemical energy of methane seeps or hydrothermal vents life here trickles, rather than teems. Rare photos of the depths echo the barren moonscape where the Apollo astronauts first set foot on the lunar surface 35 years ago. The similarity is not coincidental; just as the moon is covered by a thick layer of dust accumulated over millenniums, the deep-sea floor is coated with layer after layer of delicate flakes of dead plankton, feces, and other organic particles, settling down from the waters far above. But while the lunar sediments were disturbed only by meteorites and Neil Armstrong's boot prints, the "marine snow" that accumulates on the deep-sea floor is home--and food supply--to populations of bacteria, worms, and the occasional deep-water fish. It can take seven hours just to lower a probe to the abyssal depths, notes Ron O'Dor, the senior scientist of the C oML project, so samples are rare. But on one recent German expedition, a single scoop of the bottom muck contained a nearly unbelievable 400 new species of worms, crustaceans, and other life. Even in the most barren stretches of the deep ocean, O'Dor says, there lurks "a huge amount of unknown biology."
(USNews.com)

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"They're autonomous, but that doesn't mean they're smart."

"They're autonomous, but that doesn't mean they're smart." (USNews.com)

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Pollutants cause huge rise in brain diseases

The numbers of sufferers of brain diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease, have soared across the West in less than 20 years, scientists have discovered.

The alarming rise, which includes figures showing rates of dementia have trebled in men, has been linked to rises in levels of pesticides, industrial effluents, domestic waste, car exhausts and other pollutants, says a report in the journal Public Health. (The Observer)

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Researchers know, however, the cosmos is dominated by other material which is invisible to current detection technologies.

Researchers know, however, the cosmos is dominated by other material which is invisible to current detection technologies. (BBC)

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Cassini finds new Saturn moons

The Cassini-Huygens mission in orbit around Saturn has discovered two new moons around the ringed planet.

The new discoveries take Saturn's total tally of natural satellites to 33. (BBC)

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That flyby, a swing by Earth in August 2005, is the first of many to help guide MESSENGER on its inward course to the heart of the solar system.

A NASA space probe is its final days on Earth before rocketing on a mission to understand Mercury, the solar system’s innermost planet, early Monday morning....

....That flyby, a swing by Earth in August 2005, is the first of many to help guide MESSENGER on its inward course to the heart of the solar system. Following that first Earth pass, the spacecraft will also swing by Venus, not once but twice – in October 2006 and June 2007. The spacecraft is expected to take its first look at Mercury in January 2008, on the first of three flybys of the inner planet – the second is set for October of that year, with the final pass in September 2009 – before reaching orbit in 2011. (Space.com)

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New Species of Underwater Bone-Eating Worm Found

Two new species of primitive worms that feed off the bones of dead whales have been discovered off the coast of California, scientists reported on Thursday.

The blind worms have no proper stomachs, but employ bacteria to help break down nutrients from the whalebones and feed them into rootlike organs, the U.S. and Australian researchers said.

The two new worm species are distantly related to worms found on underwater sea vents deep in the ocean and comprise their own new genus dubbed Osedax, which means "bone-devouring." (Reuters)

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Find a location away from bright lights and with a wide view of the sky.

Shooting star show set to start---The only equipment you'll need are your eyes and a modest amount of patience. Find a location away from bright lights and with a wide view of the sky. Bring a blanket or lounge chair so you can relax while looking up. (Space.com via MSNBC)

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Technology that enables entire rooms to be sealed off from mobile phone signals

Technology that enables entire rooms to be sealed off from mobile phone signals, ensuring that they will never disturb the peace again. The phone slayer, however, will be a model of discretion and blend into the background: it is wallpaper.

British scientists have found a way to mass-produce frequency-selective 'wallpaper' screens (FSS) on a large scale for the first time. The screens are metal grids designed in an intricate pattern which filter out some radio signals and allow others through, depending on their wavelength. They can be fitted to walls and covered with real wallpaper so they disappear from view. (The Observer)

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