Russia plans to save Earth from collision with asteroid

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk

Russia's Armageddon plan to save Earth from collision with asteroid

Computer generated simulation of an asteroid strike on the earth 150m years ago. Photograph: Don Davis/AFP/Getty Images

clipped from www.thenorthernecho.co.uk

Scientists call for help to divert global killer

Could this happen in 2036?

NASA has calculated that the effect of the asteroid hitting the planet would be the equivalent of 65,000 nuclear explosions - at the same second.

Some scientists are already speculating that the asteroid should be classed as a potential "global killer" - a rock big enough to pose a possible extinction threat to mankind.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Russia 'plans to stop asteroid'

The head of Russia's federal space agency has said it will work to divert an asteroid which will make several passes near the Earth from 2029.

Anatoly Perminov told the Voice of Russia radio service that the agency's science council would hold a closed meeting to discuss the issue.

Any eventual plan is likely to be an international collaboration, he said.

clipped from vids.myspace.com

Apophis

clipped from www.youtube.com

Asteroid Impact (HD)

clipped from www.federalspace.ru

clipped from www.roscosmos.ru

Head of the Russian Federal Space Agency
Anatoly N. Perminov

clipped from www.aerospaceweb.org

Collisions with Near Earth Objects

The asteroid Ida and its satellite Dactyl

Approximate frequency of impacts with different sizes of objects

Close approach of 99942 Apophis predicted in 2029

A representation of the Torino Impact Hazard Scale based on probability and energy of impact

Sources:

1. Russia's Armageddon plan to save Earth from collision with asteroid | World news | The Guardian
2. Scientists call for help to divert global killer (From The Northern Echo)
3. BBC News - Russia 'plans to stop asteroid'
4. Video Apophis van JC - MySpace Video
5. YouTube - Asteroid Impact (HD)
6. Russian Federal Space Agency - Roscosmos |
7. О руководителях агентства
8. Aerospaceweb.org | Ask Us - Collisions with Near Earth Objects

Related:

1. News from The Associated Press
2. Russia Plans to Save Earth From Rogue Asteroid; ‘No Nuclear Explosions,’ Space Chief Promises (Updated) | Danger Room | Wired.com
3. Russia considering sending spacecraft to knock asteroid off path and prevent Earth collision - Science - Canoe.ca
4. Russian space chief Anatoly Perminov's grim warning over asteroid that could 'kill millions'
5. Russia in secret plan to save Earth from asteroid: official
6. Russia Considering Mission To Deflect Apophis | Gizmodo Australia
7. 99942 Apophis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
8. Russian Federal Space Agency - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
9. Anatoly Perminov - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
10. Asteroid Watch - jpl.nasa.gov

New Insights in the Information Processing of Neuronal Circuits

clipped from www.physorg.com

Researchers crack part of the neuronal code

Together with colleagues from the Graz University of Technology, scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt have succeeded in taking a step towards achieving this. They have shown that early processing stages in the brain gather information over an extended period.

clipped from www.labgrab.com

As Danko Nikolić from the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research and his Austrian colleagues Wolfgang Maass and Stefan Häusler have shown, the activity in early brain areas depends on stimuli that arose some time ago. "The brain functions like a jug of water into which stones are thrown and, as a result, generate waves," explains Nikolić. "The waves overlap but the information as to how many stones were thrown into the jug and when they were thrown in is retained in the resulting complex activity patterns of the fluid."

Sources:

1. Researchers crack part of the neuronal code
2. New Research On "Memory" in Neuronal Circuits | LabGrab

Related:

1. Max Planck Society - Press Release
2. PLoS Biology: Distributed Fading Memory for Stimulus Properties in the Primary Visual Cortex
3. Secrets of the Brain: Researchers decipher parts of the neuronal code
4. FWF Austrian Science Fund - Press - "Memory" in Neuronal Circuits
5. EPSRC-08 - Powered by Google Docs
6. IGI Homepage
7. Maass Wolfgang - Homepage
8. Department of Neurophysiology

Targeted Viral Marketing may be Less Effective

clipped from www.mindhacks.com

Trend setters may only be visible in rear view mirror:

clipped from www.fastcompany.com

Duncan Watts's research tells advertising execs precisely what they don't want to hear: All their clever (and lucrative!) targeted viral campaigning may ultimately be less effective than good old mass marketing.

Influentials

In the "two step" model of marketing, well-connected Influentials amplify a trend by relaying media messages out to the social periphery. Marketers can therefore focus on the few as a way of reaching the many.

Accidental Influentials

Watts's theory says the emergence of a trend depends not on Influentials, but on the susceptibility of the public to the "virus." Social-network effects are so complex, he says, that trends are basically random.

clipped from images.fastcompany.com

clipped from www.fastcompany.com

Igniting a Trend -- It's About Chance Not Choice?

"If society is ready to embrace a trend, almost anyone can start one. And if it isn't, then almost no one can."

Think about influenceability, rather than focusing on influence. Instead of focusing on individuals, focus on larger scale structures.

Sources:

1. Mind Hacks: Trend setters may only be visible in rear view mirror
2. Order Versus Chaos -- Mass Marketing --Duncan Watts | Fast Company
3. order-chaos.jpg (JPEG Image, 575x225 pixels)
4. Igniting a Trend -- It's About Chance Not Choice? | An Itinerant Mind | Fast Company

Related:

1. Is the Tipping Point Toast? -- Duncan Watts -- Trendsetting | Page 4 | Fast Company
2. Chicago Journals - Journal of Consumer Research
3. Duncan J. Watts - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
4. Collective dynamics of 'small-world' networks. [Nature. 1998] - PubMed result

Bacteria-Powered Machines

clipped from www.engadget.com

Bacteria taught to spin microscopic gears right round, could make for better solar panels

clipped from www.anl.gov

Argonne scientists use bacteria to power simple machines

Organisms turn microgears in suspended solution by swimming

ARGONNE, Ill. (Dec. 16, 2009) — Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University have discovered that common bacteria can turn microgears when suspended in a solution, providing insights for designs of bio-inspired dynamically adaptive materials for energy.

“The ability to harness and control the power of bacterial motion is an important requirement for further development of hybrid biomechanical systems driven by microorganisms," said Argonne physicist and principal investigator Igor Aronson. “In this system, the gears are a million times more massive than the bacteria."

clipped from www.northwestern.edu

clipped from www.research.northwestern.edu

clipped from www.research.northwestern.edu

Bacteria Power Micromachines - 12/15/2009

clipped from www.youtube.com

Bacteria turn tiny gears

clipped from www.youtube.com

Bacteria turn a tiny gear

Sources:

1. Bacteria taught to spin microscopic gears right round, could make for better solar panels -- Engadget
2. Argonne scientists use bacteria to power simple machines
3. Home : Northwestern University
4. Non-Equilibrium Energy Research Center at Northwestern University || Evanston Illinois
5. News || Non-Equilibrium Energy Research Center at Northwestern University || Evanston Illinois
6. YouTube - Bacteria turn tiny gears
7. YouTube - Bacteria turn a tiny gear

Related:

1. Bacteria Give Stirring Performance | Physical Review Focus
2. Bacteria-Powered Machines! - Forbes.com
3. Bacterial Micro Machines Turn Tiny Gears | Wired Science | Wired.com
4. Argonne scientists use bacteria to power simple machines
5. Working as a Team, Bacteria Spin Gears - The New York Times
6. Bacteria used to power simple machines: Organisms turn microgears in suspended solution by swimming
7. Argonne scientists use bacteria to power simple machines (w/ Video)
8. Bacteria-powered micromachines // Current

SPELCO's Gryphon Attack Glider

clipped from www.wired.com

Look Out Below! Wingsuits Pushed for Airborne Assaults

clipped from www.foxnews.com

Attack Wing: Glider Makes Waves With Stealth and Speed

It weighs only 30 pounds and can be fully weaponized for assault and rescue. It has a 6-foot jet-wing that is steered with handheld rotary controls connected to its rudder. And it can hide more than 100 pounds of combat gear in a built-in compartment.

The Gryphon attack glider, designed to penetrate combat zones at 135 miles per hour, could revolutionize the art of parachuting. It has got to be at the top of James Bond’s Christmas list this year.

clipped from www.spelco.eu

clipped from www.youtube.com

Gryphon Attack Glider Pics and video of the Gryphon attack wing, or attack glider as some call it, that alows a paratrooper to attack a combat zone at 135 miles per hour. Gryphon attack glider is a carbon-fiber stealth glider with an optional jet engine pack that delivers a special forces paratrooper straight to his target from up to 125 miles away.
Weight: 30 lbs.
Wingspan: 6 feet.

Sources:

1. Look Out Below! Wingsuits Pushed for Airborne Assaults | Danger Room | Wired.com
2. Attack Wing: Glider Makes Waves With Stealth and Speed - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News - FOXNews.com
3. SPELCO GbR
4. YouTube - Gryphon Attack Glider (FOX news)

Related:

1. Strap-on stealth jetplane for special forces • The Register
2. Special Forces Soldiers Could Be Zooming Into Combat Wearing Gryphon Stealth Wingsuits - Wingsuits - Gizmodo
3. SPELCO Gryphon attack wing
4. Look Out Below! Wingsuits Pushed for Airborne Assaults | Danger Room | Wired.com
5. Wingsuit soldiers: Yes, man really can fly | DVICE