Recently in Science & Technology Category

Apple's iphone is one of the most coveted phone on this planet. We know it's not just a phone, but what else does it do, and what information is stored on the device? Two geeks, Pete Warden and Alasdair Alla, talk about how they've stumbled upon the data on the iphone that can used to track users' movements. They discuss how they've mapped out the longitude and latitude from the data in the database and how that tells a story of their trips and locations.

What does this mean to us? How can this information be used to help us, to hurt us? Technology has made our lives easier, but with it comes ethical and moral questions. Be aware. Be informed.

Our space travels provide us with knowledge about other planets and their environments. The focus is on Pluto and its icy thin atmosphere which is thought to be made up of nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide. What would it be like to live there? Can it support life? Is there life on other planets? These are some existential questions regarding the viability of life on other planets. Fascinating!

Knowledge is acquired through experimentations in science. Molly celebrates Create a Vacuum Day by conducting her own experiment, "Egg in a Bottle." She lights up three matches, throws them in to a bottle, puts an egg on top of the rim of the bottle to create a seal as the bottle heats up. The egg squeezes through the rim as the interior of the bottle cools down. Quite entertaining!

Post September 11, nothing is the same. People's sense of security have been shattered. To ensure public safety, a new X-ray machine that can see through passengers' clothes will be tested at London's Heathrow airport. The four month trial started in October. Though invasive, some passengers do not seem to mind. They are concerned about their safety first. Civil rights activists are calling the x-rays voyeuristic. Read more.

Just because you spent almost a decade in college (some people longer) and end up with a job, doesn't mean it's a good one. I know a lot of people who are waking up to that fact. Too bad so many people go into the field of science for all the wrong reasons. The November issue of Popular Science magazine released a list of the worst jobs in science, based on 19 criteria. Some of them pay well, others don't. Here are the top 3 worst jobs in science.

1. Anal-wart researcher
2. Worm parasitologist
3. Lab-animal veterinarian

Read more.

Poor cats. Just to please those of us who are allergy to them, a Los Angeles biotech company is planning on messing with the genetics of cats through RNA interference to suppress a gene in cats that's responsible for the allergy.

At the steep price of $3,500, those of us who have to own one of those genetically altered cats will soon be able to enjoy them, allergy-free. How far will we go with altering nature? What are the long-term consequences of our experimentations? Read more.

Everyone has a cell phone now, at least it seems that way. Parents get their kids on the family plan and they they are on it all the time. What is going to happen to them when they get into their 20s? Knowing that mobile cell phone use might increase our risk of developing the head tumor, would people change their habits? Have cell phones infiltrated human existence so much that it's going to be hard for people to live without the convenience?

The "Interphone," a Swedish study revealed that people who used cell phones for ten years or more doubles the risk of getting acoustic neuroma, a benign tumour. The turmor grows on the nerve connecting the ear to the brain. It is normally a rare occurence, 1 in 100,000. But with the long usage of mobile phones, the chances could double. that grows on the nerve connecting the ear to the brain. The study involved 148 patients and 600 controls. Like most modern conveniences in life, it's hard to determine the dangers of usage until much later, when people start developing problems. Read more.

Is it art or is it science? Find out for yourself. Whatever it is, it's intriguing, fascinating, and disturbing. The human body, what lie beneath the skin literally, are revealed in dissected human cadavers. These were people who when they were alive chose to donate their body to science and education. Exhibits involving human bodies are making their way around the world.

I've found out at least 3 different continents where dissected body parts are on display. I went to see Body Worlds at the California Science Center three weeks ago and was thoroughly disturbed by it. It reminded me of my horrifying experience dissecting cadavers.

I didn't want to write about it but after I see that it's becoming a globally phenomenon, I started feeling obligated to talk about my experience. The aborted babies and woman with her dead fetus still in her shocked me. Regardless of what anyone's view is on abortion, what I saw were lives cut short. The jars contained fetuses in different stages of development. The exhibit is not about politics. That's for the viewer to decide on individually. I thought the exhibit called into question issues of beauty and mechanics. The flayed bodies resembled each other. Although I had to confront my own fears of death and the dead, "Body Worlds" was definitely worth seeing.

The German anatomist Dr. Gunther von Hagens who invented plastination in 1977, is the man behind the exhibit. If you are in China, you could also visit "Body World Exhibition in Nanjing." That exhibit opened on August 6. Also opening on August 6 is another dissected body parts exhibit in Europe. Although not by Gunther von Hagens, it also explores the inner world of the human body. Dr Roy Glover, Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Michigan, acts as the Chief Medical Director and spokesman for the "Bodies Revealed Exhibition."

If you are interested in conservation of energy, visit the London Science Museum. It has come up with creative ways to convert matter to energy. Make sure you use the toilets there because your waste can be convert to electricity to help power the museum. Admission to the museum is free. It's an interesting proposal. Society should be considering more creative ways such as this to conserve and create energy. If this could be done with human waste, electricity and power can be generate in other ways too. Read more.

Jesica Santillan, 17-year-old, had undergone a heart-lung transplant of a mismatched blood type at Duke University Hospital, and died February 21, 2003. Afterwards, some people are trying to figure out what went wrong. In comes the vultures - the press and attorneys to clean up the remains. Jesica was the daughter of illegal Mexican immigrants. It seems to be true that people sometimes are more famous dead than alive. Motivated by sympathy, greed, fame and glory, Nancy Rommelmann contacted Mack Mahoney who established Jesicaís Hope Chest (JHC), a foundation to help pay for the girlís life-saving operation, to ask if she could help. Primarily she wanted to write Jesica's story and bind it up in a book. Read more.