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Discussion of the Essence# programming language, and related issues and technologies. |
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Mechanics meets chemistry in new way to manipulate matter from PhysOrg.com
The inventors of self-healing plastic have come up with another invention: a new way of doing chemistry. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have found a novel way to manipulate matter and drive chemical reactions along a desired direction.
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I recently noticed quite a few hits on my website from people who wanted to know which country has the most time zones. I assume this was a school assignment of some sort.
The answer depends on the definition of "time zone." If a "time zone" is defined as simply an offset from Universal Time, then the answer is Russia (which has 11 different time zone offsets.) If a "time zone" is defined as "a location where the rules that determine the offset from moment to moment have been the same since at least 1970 or earlier" (which is the definition used by the Olson Time Zone Database, and is the one usually meant,) then the answer is the United States (which has 25 such time zones.)
Most countries only have one time zone, using either definition. Using the Olson definition, the only countries with more than one time zone are the United States, Russia, Canada, Australia, Greenland, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Spain, Congo (Democratic Republic,) Mexico, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Micronesia and Kiribati.
From New Scientist:
In 1998, just after he won a share of the Nobel prize for physics, Robert Laughlin of Stanford University in California was asked how his discovery of "particles" with fractional charge, now called quasi-particles, would affect the lives of ordinary people. "It probably won't," he said, "unless people are concerned about how the universe works."
Well, people were. Xiao-Gang Wen at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Michael Levin at Harvard University ran with Laughlin's ideas and have come up with a prediction for a new state of matter, and even a tantalising picture of the nature of space-time itself. Levin presented their work at the Topological Quantum Computing conference at the University of California, Los Angeles, early this month.
New Micromanipulator May Help Build Micro-Machines from PhysOrg.com
Future microscopic-sized machines assembled with micrometer or nanometer-scale parts will need to be made with devices that use tiny, agile "fingers" that can grip, lift and do the assembly work in a controlled, coordinated way.
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Buildup of damaged DNA in cells drives aging from PhysOrg.com
The accumulation of genetic damage in our cells is a major contributor to how we age, according to a study being published today in the journal Nature by an international group of researchers. The study found that mice completely lacking a critical gene for repairing damaged DNA grow old rapidly and have physical, genetic and hormonal profiles very similar to mice that grow old naturally.
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Physicists Modify Double-Slit Experiment to Confirm Einstein's Belief from PhysOrg.com
Work completed by physics professors at Rowan University shows that light is made of particles and waves, a finding that refutes a common belief held for about 80 years.
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Due to the changes at Planet Smalltalk, which have invalidated all URLs to old articles, and due to the fact that Google searches are still preferentially returning results to now-invalid URLs at Planet Smalltalk, I am republishing the following information:
Last Preparations Being Made for DST Bug from PhysOrg.com
(AP) -- Normally the switch to daylight-saving time isn't a big deal, but this Sunday, Jeff Ronner has to put people on the case.
...
"There's a lot to consider," Ronner said. "Something that seems as simple as turning a clock back has amazing and extensive implications in everything you touch here, because so many things are date- and time-stamped."
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[The title is misleading: The article discuses a solution to the puzzle as to why (physically) cortical cells are quickly silenced in responise to stimulation from the thalamus.]
Scientists explain inception of perception in the brain from PhysOrg.com
The taste of champagne, the sound of a train, the flash of a pop fly into left field – indeed all of human perception – begins in the brain’s center. That’s where sensory information passes from the thalamus to the neocortex for processing.
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