Auteur : Morrow, James
New Scientist reports a worrying new variant as the cosmologists claim that astronomers may have provided evidence that the universe may ultimately decay by observing dark energy, a mysterious anti gravity force which is thought to be speeding up the expansion of the cosmos.Link (Via TDG)The damaging allegations are made by Profs Lawrence Krauss of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and James Dent of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, who suggest that by making this observation in 1998 we may have determined that the cosmos is in a state when it was more likely to end. "Incredible as it seems, our detection of the dark energy may provide evidence that the universe will ultimately decay," says Prof Krauss.
The vast freshwater ecosystem of the Amazon River is home to abundant animal life, and many of its species thrive by virtue of their ferocity. If one were to ask the locals which of the river's indigenous species is the most treacherous, a few might describe the roaming packs of carnivorous piranhas, or the massive anaconda snakes; but based on the general sentiment of the region, the most frequently uttered response would be "candirú."
The candirú is a tiny catfish which dwells in the depths of the Amazon River. These fish do not hunt in packs like the piranha, nor are they exceptionally large like the anaconda. In fact, the candirú is among the tiniest vertebrates on the planet, and it is sometimes referred to as the "toothpick fish" due to its small size and slender shape. Only a handful of people have had the misfortune of crossing paths with the candirú, but their experiences serve as cautionary tales to any who venture into the mighty river.
Though the candirú is a parasite, humans are not among its viable hosts. It lingers in the murky darkness at the river's bottom, quietly stalking its neighboring fish. Light is scarce in the soupy deep, but the candirú does not need to see… it can taste the traces of urea and ammonia that are expelled from breathing gills.
The tiny hunter shadows its prey, almost invisible due to its translucent body and small size. When the target fish exhales, the candirú detects the resulting flow of water and makes a dash for the exposed gill cavity with remarkable speed. Within less than a second it penetrates the gill and wriggles its way into place, erecting an umbrella-like array of spines to secure its position.
Unconcerned with the host's panicked thrashing, the firmly anchored parasite immediately nibbles a hole in a nearby artery with its needle-like teeth, feasting upon the bounty that gushes forth. Within two minutes the candirú's belly is swollen with the blood of its victim, and it retracts its gripping barbs. 
A candirú attached to a host fishThough it may seem that the exploited host fish has escaped, its injuries are so extensive that chances of survival are grim. Meanwhile the victorious attacker slinks back into the river's dark places to digest its meal.
There are many troubling stories regarding human run-ins with the candirú, though until recent years these were not given much credence by the medical community. It is not uncommon for people swimming or bathing in the river to urinate in the water, an action which creates tiny water currents that are rich in urea and ammonia. It seems that the tiny, slender catfish cannot always distinguish a urinating human from an exhaling fish gill, and on occasion it will attempt its trademark high-speed attack on some unfortunate soul.
Silvio Barbossa was one such soul. He was swimming in the Amazon River when he went head to head with the tiny parasite:
When the candirú successfully invades a human, it proceeds exactly as it would with a fish host. After entering the misidentified orifice, it quickly wriggles its way in as far as possible, often accompanied by the victim's frantic attempts to grip the slippery, mucus-coated tail. In the unlikely event that the panicked victim manages to grasp the fish, its backwards-pointing barbs would cause excruciating pain at each pull, and bring a quick end to the dramatic tug-of-war. Once inside, the parasite inches its way up the urethra to the nearest blood-gorged membrane, extends its spines into the surrounding tissue, and starts feasting.
For the candirú, this misguided journey is a one-way trip; its bloody banquet leaves it too swollen to escape. The only known retaliation against the invader is delicate and expensive surgery, or failing that, a folk remedy which combines two herbs to very slowly kill and dissolve the fish. Silvio was fortunate enough to have access to modern medical facilities, though he had to endure three days of profound agony before the fish was extracted by an awestruck urogenital surgeon.
DO NOT BACK UP, SEVERE URETHRA DAMAGESilvio's incident was the first officially confirmed report of a candirú attacking a human, but such leg-crossingly horrific tales have haunted the region for generations. According to legend, many men chose castration as an alternative to a slow, excruciating death back before surgery was an option.
Though such brushes with the candirú are exceedingly rare in statistical terms, it is wise to heed the advice of the locals, and avoid urinating in the Amazon River at all costs. When the natives of the Amazon speak, one would be foolish not to listen. They are privy to some of the world's most horrible truths.
More info:
Straight Dope article on Candirú
Animal Planet segment on the Candiru
Wikipedia: Candirú
Topic suggested by fellow author Gerry Matlack
Futurama returns Nov. 27 in a feature-length straight-to-DVD movie, Futurama: Bender's Big Score, the first of four films planned for release by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
In today's episode of Boing Boing tv: Mad Professor Mark Frauenfelder shows us how to make a motor with simple materials. A perfect office time-waster! And Xeni Jardin interviews Bahar Shahpar, a designer participating in the EcoNouveau project who makes chic, environmentally-friendly clothing. Video Link.
Oh dear. Nobel laureate and grand wizard candidate James Watson has decided to take the Coulter Route in trying to sell his latest book.
One of the world's most eminent scientists was embroiled in an extraordinary row last night after he claimed that black people were less intelligent than white people and the idea that "equal powers of reason" were shared across racial groups was a delusion.
James Watson, a Nobel Prize winner for his part in the unravelling of DNA who now runs one of America's leading scientific research institutions, drew widespread condemnation for comments he made ahead of his arrival in Britain today for a speaking tour at venues including the Science Museum in London.
The 79-year-old geneticist reopened the explosive debate about race and science in a newspaper interview in which he said Western policies towards African countries were wrongly based on an assumption that black people were as clever as their white counterparts when "testing" suggested the contrary. He claimed genes responsible for creating differences in human intelligence could be found within a decade.
This isn't his first bizarre statement:
In 1997, he told a British newspaper that a woman should have the right to abort her unborn child if tests could determine it would be homosexual. He later insisted he was talking about a "hypothetical" choice which could never be applied. He has also suggested a link between skin colour and sex drive, positing the theory that black people have higher libidos, and argued in favour of genetic screening and engineering on the basis that "stupidity" could one day be cured. He has claimed that beauty could be genetically manufactured, saying: "People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think it would great."
This Indian Jones themed home theater doesn't have a list of super-impressive AV gear. But it does have a model of the monkey, gold idol, and 1/2 scale ark from Raiders, and replicas from Last Crusade like the Grail, and a set of Indy-ish jacket, hat, whip, and torches. Better than the Star Wars theater? I'm not sure. I mean, they mixed movies, so it's, like, not authentic, even if it is awesome. More photos over at Electronic House. [Electronic House]
Andy Woerner and his crazy rocketeer friends have built a 21-foot long X-Wing model that can actually fly. Yes, this is a real X-Wing powered by four solid-fuel rocket engines complete with radio-controlled moving wings. It blasts off in California next week, and we talked with Andy about the project, and how they expect it will do. All the details and a full construction gallery after the jump.
The X-Wing model is huge. At 21 feet long and with a wingspan of over 19 feet it is, in fact, big enough to fly a kid in. However, knowing that it will be powered by solid-fuel rockets, they wouldn't put a kid, dog, monkey or Gizmodo editor inside, even if it uses three full parachutes to land.
After drawing the plans using CAD software, Andy's team and his friends at Polecat Aerospace used laser cutting to make the pieces out of Baltic Birch wood. They also used solid aluminum for some parts, like the rods which are the pivot point for the wings.
Why solid aluminum rods? For the most impressive part of the project to work, not only does the axis have to be strong enough to support the stress of the launch but also it has to allow the wings to change position from folded to open while in flight—or, in the words of Red Leader, putting them in attack position, the X that gives the Rebel aircraft its name.
The wings, including the root sections and the outer panels are about 8' long and weigh 60 pounds a piece, including the motors. The motion mechanism had to be able to move all four of these simultaneously, while keeping them in position relative to each other. Additionally, the motion hardware had to be strong enough to keep the wings in position once they were at the extents of their travel.
They used an electric motor from a RC helicopter, reducing its 40,000 revolutions per minute to generate enough torque to move those massive wings. Still, the wings will take 35 seconds to travel from open to closed. Hopefully, they will be able to change before the flight ends, so they can get the full effect in the air.
The wings also hold the engines. Andy told us they are using "four solid rocket motors which are Class M, the kind that produce a red flame"—which as you probably know, it's also the same color of the X-Wing engines' glow.
Even with the aluminum rods, however, there's the possibility of structural damage. We asked Andy about how he expected the flight to go: "it's likely we will have a structural failure in the wings, but we are hoping it will hold."
If it holds, the X-Wing will be fully recoverable. It won't land on its own, but Andy pointed out that they "will use parachute recovery, with three man-rated chutes which will have radio control deployment," like the wings position control.
When I first learnt about the project there was one thing that didn't click for me: why the X-Wing? It doesn't seem to have the right shape to be a rocket. Maybe a better option would have been an Y-Wing or A-Wing. But an X-Wing? Well, according to Andy, "it was the one design from Star Wars that made the most sense to try to scale for rocket power." And on top of that, it just looks cool. I completely agree.
The X-Wing will launch next week, on October 10, and we can only wish the project the best of luck. Godspeed Andy and friends, godspeed. [Polecat Aerospace - Thanks Andy for your time and Anthony for the heads up]
U.S. television hit series Heroes is getting its own series of tie-in novels. Heroes: Saving Charlie will be the first title by author Aury Wallington, about the show’s time-travelling character Hiro’s attempt to save smalltown waitress Charlie from serial-killer supervillain Sylar. The novel covers the full six-months Hiro spent in the past with Charlie. The hardcover book goes on sale in late December, 2007 from Del Rey in the U.S., and can be pre-ordered.
Benoit Fredette
Having access to football information when there isn't a radio, TV, or internet around can be a tricky situation. One of the options s to ask someone the score of a game, but in case you are home alone, it is impossible to do so, in the end you keep wondering if your team lost the match, or if next week's game is easy, or if the stats are good.
Well, with the SportsCast Wireless Football Scoreboard you are able to check all that information, and much more. The Scoreboard works wirelessly (connects to a satellite) to get game stats about a specific game, which are updated every 15 minutes. This solution means that you don't need a TV, a computer, or a radio, in order to know how your football team is performing.
Besides the game-by-game stats details, the SportsCast is also able to display information about schedules, standings, scores and so on. There are even special features related to regular, playoff season, pre-season, and off season.
This digital scoreboard needs 4AA batteries to work, and it might take up to 30 minutes to get a signal from the satellite, so you got more chances if you place the device close to a window.
One strange detail is that there is no need to pay for a subscription, it is all for free, that is, after paying $100.
If you are really interested in the SportsCast Wireless Football Scoreboard, the review made by a customer at Brookstone might clarify your ideas:
This neat little gadget has only two flaws, it uses the Patriots in its advertising, and the graphics are uninspiring. They look just like the newspaper.
But, that familiarity makes the information clear and concise. It's a fun and valuable resource and would make a great gift for anyone who is locked in the office all day and wants to take a glance at the scores or standings from the weekend.
Guest post by Tiago of Gadgetizer
The second Palm-island in Dubai, Palm Jebel Ali, is an enlarged version of the Palm Jameirah. The enlargement is an extra ring between the palm itself and the outer ring. This extra ring consists of houses on stilts that are grouped in such way that the piers form characters and that the characters form a poem by H.H. Sh. Mohammed bin Rashid, a prince of Dubai, that roughly translated by Skyscrapercity says:
Take wisdom only from the wise,
Not everyone who rides a horse is a jockey.
It takes a man of vision to write on water,
Great men rise to great challenges.
It reminds me of the attempts by the Maya and Egyptions to create respectivly land-art and pyramids to freeze positions of the planets and stars. Jencks argues in his book Iconic Building that every Iconic Building should celebrate nature. Difference here is that this poem refers to ego’s and not to nature.
| From: Benoit Fredette Pour Pascal: Savais tu que le 4ieme allait sortir bientot??
Sincerement, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yes, fridges can hold any bottles and cans, but if you find one camouflaged as a photocopy paper box in the office supply room, you know that it can only hold one thing: beer. Or in my case, Guinness. And tequila, Cointreau and limes too. [Dethroner]
