Tag: humans (page 2 of 17)

California Shrugged: No One Knows What’s Up With Frack Water

July 17, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Heather CallaghanSomething fishy is going on with California’s assessments and so-called fracking regulations…It is an unfortunate reality that good jobs are intertwined with what might be later construed as not only an environmental devastation but America’s next personal health devastation – hydraulic fracking.It is also unfortunate that while Americans flock to so-called “boom towns” for those good jobs, the jobs themselves are tied into the eb [...]

View Article Here Read More

Jurassic World of Genetically Modified Simulacra

June 29, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Jay Dyer, GuestJurassic World is the sometime sequel to whatever the last Jurassic film was. InJurassic Park, a ill-conceived theme park based on genetic resurrecting of the dinosaur all-star team. Now, Hollywood shows it’s gone fully green in recycling the same plot for a new audience of zombieswith Frankensaurus Rex. While the JurassicPlot (that’s a joke) is only a sliver different from the first, this time around genetic modifica [...]

View Article Here Read More

MAKE THIS VIRAL! FREE THE COLONIES!

May 21, 2015 / / 0 Comments

FREE THE COLONIES! MAY 30TH, 2015 It is time to take action again! It is time to take the destiny of our world and the Solar System in our own hands! Therefore we will meet in groups large and small, as individuals and couples, on May 30th this year. ...

View Article Here Read More

Major Lawsuit Targets Monsanto for Selling Cancer-Linked Herbicide

May 21, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Christina Sarich, GuestGlyphosate is harmful to humans and animals…Those claims that Monsanto made – that glyphosate was harmless to humans – well, the company is about to pay for that ‘false advertising’ in the form of a class action lawsuit put forth by the offices of T. Matthew Phillips in Los Angeles, California.In the lawsuit filed in California, Monsanto is accused of:The deliberate falsification to conceal the fact that glyphosate is harmful [...]

View Article Here Read More

Is an Abundance of Arsenic Found in Rice Increasing Risk of Cancer?

May 21, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Brett Wilbanks, Staff WriterArsenic is a common element found in nature. It occurs naturally in a variety of sources, from soil and water, to foods that we eat on a regular basis. There are several forms of arsenic, and some, particularly certain inorganic forms, are more harmful than others.According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, two compounds found in inorganic arsenic are known carcinogenic substances and are associated with a number of devastating health eff [...]

View Article Here Read More

Why Do We Still Vaccinate? – 25 Questions From A Former Vaccine Advocate

May 19, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Brian Rogers, Prevent DiseaseI used to be pro vaccine. I know the feeling of thinking others were just plain crazy and wrong for not vaccinating their children and themselves. ‘Irresponsible!’ I said when pointing my finger. I’d use the same old arguments about polio and small pox and how vaccines saved us from all those horrible diseases and just swallowing and regurgitating the propaganda I was brought up with. It was only recently, in 2009 that I started question [...]

View Article Here Read More

NASA Challenges People to Come Up With Designs for Mars Habitat –

May 18, 2015 / / 0 Comments





Excerpt from perfscience.com

The space agency NASA has asked public to submit designs for a Mars habitat. NASA, along with the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, is holding a competition to design and build a 3-D printed habitat for deep space explorations like journey to Mars.  The multi-phase 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge has been specifically designed to advance the additive construction technology that is needed to develop sustainable housing solutions for earth and beyond.  As per experts, shelter is among most basic and crucial requirement for humans but carrying bulks of material to build up a habitat during a deep space mission would unnecessarily take the place in cargo that could be used for something important.  The first phase of the competition that was announced on Saturday will run through September 27. This phase calls on participants to develop state-of-the-art architectural concepts that take advantage of the unique capabilities 3-D printing offers.  The top 30 submissions will be considered and judged. Also winners will be awarded with prize money of $50,000 at the 2015 World Maker Faire in New York.  Sam Ortega, Centennial Challenges program manager, said, “This challenge definitely raises the bar from what we are currently capable of, and we are excited to see what the maker community does with it”... 
The space agency NASA has asked public to submit designs for a Mars habitat. NASA, along with the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, is holding a competition to design and build a 3-D printed habitat for deep space explorations like journey to Mars.
The multi-phase 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge has been specifically designed to advance the additive construction technology that is needed to develop sustainable housing solutions for earth and beyond.
As per experts, shelter is among most basic and crucial requirement for humans but carrying bulks of material to build up a habitat during a deep space mission would unnecessarily take the place in cargo that could be used for something important.
The first phase of the competition that was announced on Saturday will run through September 27. This phase calls on participants to develop state-of-the-art architectural concepts that take advantage of the unique capabilities 3-D printing offers.
The top 30 submissions will be considered and judged. Also winners will be awarded with prize money of $50,000 at the 2015 World Maker Faire in New York.
Sam Ortega, Centennial Challenges program manager, said, “This challenge definitely raises the bar from what we are currently capable of, and we are excited to see what the maker community does with it”.
Furthermore the second phase of the competition is divided into two levels i.e., the (Level 1) Structural Member Competition and the On-Site Habitat Competition (Level 2).
The Level 1 focuses on the fabrication technologies that are needed to manufacture structural components from a combination of indigenous materials and recyclables, or indigenous materials alone.
On the other hand, the Level 2 challenges competitors to construct full-scale habitats using indigenous materials or indigenous materials combined with recyclables.
- See more at: http://perfscience.com/content/2141815-nasa-challenges-people-come-designs-mars-habitat#sthash.vtPiW4bW.dpuf

View Article Here Read More

Hawking: Humans may lose to machines in a hundred years or so without even knowing it.

May 17, 2015 / / 0 Comments






Excerpt from esbtrib.com


Stephen Hawking, the scientist and not Stephen King, the novelist has made some dire predictions about the coming conquest of humans by their own creations, robots. King can write something about this in effect but he will have a hard time surpassing the number one robot movie of all time, the terminator.
Humans’ dependence on electronic technology to make their life comfortable and much easier may one day backfire on them. The scientist said that humans have become so complacent that they may not survive in the future.
In a conference held just recently, Hawking noted that robots and artificial intelligence could take over the world and conquer mankind in the next 10 decades. By 2115, the world will cease to exist as we know it today. While speaking at the Zeitgeist conference held in London, Hawking explained that humans need to come to terms with how they should go forward and not fall into complacency with how robotics and artificial intelligence are taking over without them even knowing it.
“One can imagine such technology outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers, out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even understand. Whereas the short-term impact of AI depends on who controls it, the long-term impact depends on whether it can be controlled at all”, he continued.
(Hawking continued to explain3ed that technology advancements that outsmarts financial markets, creating more and better inventions than humans, putting world leaders  under its influence and coming up with advanced weaponry are slowly putting humans at a disadvantage. Researches should be made considering what AI would mean for humans.
.Creation of Ai would be in no doubt the greatest achievement of what humans can do if they can do it. It might also their last act if they’re not careful about it.
Humans’ have notoriously slow biological evolution and their ability to challenge the AI is almost none existent compared to what the machines can muster. Elon Musk agrees with Hawking about the dangers posed by AIs.

View Article Here Read More

Report: No endangered animals in 200 zoos across the US!

May 17, 2015 / / 0 Comments




Excerpt from thenextdigit.com

On May 15, the 10th anniversary of Endangered Species Day has been kicked off across the United States, which sees a series of wildlife awareness events with the participation of over 200 zoos. These zoos across the country restricted access to a few of their endangered animals and birds to make visitors feel the non existence of such species.
Ohio’s Akron Zoo also participated in the awareness event, where it shrouded Sumatran tigers from visitors, with only limited access to visitors to capture a glimpse of the endangered tiger species. In Dallas Zoo, authorities kept the African penguins were kept away from visitors’ sight, while allowing those visitors who commit to eat sustainable seafood, switching off lights when not in use and such kind of conservation efforts.

Ohio’s Akron Zoo’s director of marketing and guest services David Barnhardt revealed that the zoo will be using this event to launch their own program SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) where the zoo will create awareness of saving endangered animals. SAFE is sponsored by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. He also said,
“Through SAFE we will pull all of these resources we have available to us and develop action plans, raise awareness and engage the public to help these endangered species.”
Endangered Species Day is an opportunity for every humans to learn about the importance of animals, especially endangered species, and day to day actions they can take to protect these species, according to the Endangered Species Coalition. The Endangered Coalition not only sponsors events in the states, but also provides toolkits for zoos which interested in its own endangered species awareness programs such as SAFE.
Dallas Zoo has initiated a program in February 2015, named as the Wild Earth Academy, which educates people about endangered species. Ben Jones, Wild Earth Academy’s Senior Director and Dean, said in a statement:
“There’s a balance in nature and it’s very evident that that balance is becoming imbalanced, it’s shifting. We have to do our part to use the resources that we have, but not use them up.”
The Coalition also produces the yearly report “Vanishing: Ten American Species Our Children May Never See” – listing the top 10 most endangered species during the time of reporting. 2014’s ‘Vanishing’ report listed endangered animals like the Monarch butterfly, Mountain yellow-legged frog (extinct from southern Sierra Nevada), North Pacific right whale, great white shark (California/Mexico), little brown bat (extinct due to white-nose syndrome, an illness caused by a deadly fungus from Europe), whitebark pine, rusty patched bumblebee, greater sage-grouse, polar bear and snake river sockeye salmon.

View Article Here Read More

How to make oxygen on Mars: Nasa plans to use oxygen cocktail to support human colony

May 16, 2015 / / 0 Comments

An Indiana firm is developing a method to make oxygen on Mars for Nasa. Bacteria and algae will use Martian soil as fuel to pump out oxygen. Mars could be scattered with biodomes containing the organisms. And future astronauts could use this oxygen to survive on the surface (artist's illustration shown)
An Indiana firm is developing a method to make oxygen on Mars for Nasa. Bacteria and algae will use Martian soil as fuel to pump out oxygen. Mars could be scattered with biodomes containing the organisms. And future astronauts could use this oxygen to survive on the surface (artist's illustration shown)

Excerpt from dailymail.co.uk
  • An Indiana firm is developing a method to make oxygen on Mars for Nasa
  • Bacteria and algae will use Martian soil as fuel to pump out oxygen
  • Mars could be scattered with biodomes containing the organisms
  • And future astronauts could use this oxygen to survive on the surface

If humans land on Mars in the 2030s as planned, one thing that will be essential to their survival will be self-sufficiency, as they won’t be able to take too much cargo with them.

With this in mind Nasa is testing whether oxygen can be created from Martian soil, without having to carry it all the way from Earth.

The innovative method would see bacteria or algae use the soil as fuel, pumping out usable oxygen in the process for astronauts on the surface.

Nasa has been working with Techshot Inc of Greenville, Indiana to develop this method in a so-called ‘Mars room’, which mimics the conditions on the red planet.
It is able to simulate the atmospheric pressure on the planet, in addition to the day-night temperature changes and the solar radiation that hits the surface.

In experiments, certain organisms were capable of producing oxygen from Martian soil - known as regolith - and they also removed nitrogen from it. 

‘This is a possible way to support a human mission to Mars, producing oxygen without having to send heavy gas canisters,’ said Eugene Boland, chief scientist at Techshot.

‘Let’s send microbes and let them do the heavy-lifting for us.’
The research is part of the Nasa Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Programme.

It’s envisioned that biodomes could be scattered across the surface to produce the oxygen needed for humans to survive.

The oxygen produced could also be stored for later use.

But while experiments on Earth are all well and good, the scientists want to test their method actually on Mars in the near future.

The 'Mars room', shown, is able to simulate the atmospheric pressure on the planet, in addition to the day-night temperature changes and the solar radiation that hits the surface. In experiments certain organisms were capable of producing oxygen from Martian soil inside the laboratory
+3
The 'Mars room', shown, is able to simulate the atmospheric pressure on the planet, in addition to the day-night temperature changes and the solar radiation that hits the surface. In experiments certain organisms were capable of producing oxygen from Martian soil inside the laboratory

When humans land on Mars in the future (artist's illustration of the landing shown), they will need to be as self-sufficient as possible
When humans land on Mars in the future (artist's illustration of the landing shown left), they will need to be as self-sufficient as possible.




To do so, an upcoming rover - such as the 2020 Mars rover - could carry small container-like devices with Earth organisms inside.

The containers would be buried a few inches underground in certain locations, to see how successful they are at producing oxygen.

Sensors inside the container would detect how much oxygen was made, and report the findings back to a satellite in Mars orbit.

The scientists note that the container would be sealed tightly, to prevent the organisms being exposed to - and possibly contaminating - the Martian surface.

But if proven successful, future explorers on Mars may use multiple biodomes like this to produce the oxygen they need to survive.


View Article Here Read More

Stephen Hawking Says Artificial Intelligence Will Take over Humanity in the Near Future

May 15, 2015 / / 0 Comments





Excerpt from regaltribune.com

Technology has advanced so much that some scientists fear that one day robots will take over the world and humans will not be able to do anything about it.  
One of those scientists is Stephen Hawking, the most famous physicist and cosmologist in the world.
Hawking stated during a recent conference that robots and artificial intelligence in particular, could conquer humanity in the next 100 years.
The renowned scientist spoke at the Zeitgeist conference held in London, saying that computers will one day overtake us humans with their artificial intelligence and this could happen in less than 100 years.
Hawking added that if this happens, humans need to be sure that the robots have similar goals, or else.
But this is not the first time the author of “A Brief History of Time” made this kind of “doomy” statements about the future of humanity at the robotic hands of artificial intelligence.
At the beginning of this year, Stephen Hawking expressed his opinions on this matter, saying that artificial intelligence will advance so much that it could bring the end of human race.
Also, in an interview for BBC Hawking said that even though A.I. is not a threat to us humans at the present time, in the future the robots would get more intelligent, bigger and much stronger than their makers, the humans.
The scientist added that robots would start to redesign themselves and will evolve at an increasing rate that humans will not be able to keep the pace.
Hawking added that:
“Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.”
And Hawking is not the only famous scientist who has a gloomy vision regarding our future.
Ellon Musk, Tesla Motors CEO, said that artificial intelligence poses a real threat to human race.
According to Musk, humans must be extremely careful about artificial intelligence, because it could turn out to be our “biggest existential threat”. Musk even compared A.I. with a “demon”.
However, not every scientist envisions a dark future for human race. While many think of artificial intelligence as the driving force behind robots, A.I. is also used to power many devices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and apps.
Artificial intelligence is also used to protect emails from receiving spam.
Giant companies like Google and Facebook are currently working on developing new systems, which will one day lead to advanced artificial intelligence.

View Article Here Read More

Rats try to rescue others in distress, suggesting they feel empathy

May 13, 2015 / / 0 Comments


Rats were even more likely to choose helping over getting a treat

Excerpt from cbc.ca

Calling someone a rat isn't a compliment about their character – but a new study suggests that maybe it should be.

Rats that see another rat struggling in a pool of water will open a door to rescue it, even if they could open a different door to get a chocolate treat instead.

Rats that knew what it was like to be wet and struggling in the pool were even quicker to help.
"Our findings suggest that rats can behave prosocially and that helper rats may be motivated by empathy-like feelings towards their distressed cage mate," Nobuya Sato, lead author of a study, said in a statement.

The study was published this week in the journal Animal Cognition.

Sato and his team at Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan designed experiments involving pairs of rat cage mates, either two males or two females.


'Helper rats may be motivated by empathy-like feelings,' suggests Nobuya Sato, a Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan research and lead author of a study released this week. (Andre Penner/Associated Press)


The two were placed in separate compartments separated by a transparent wall and door – one compartment that was dry and empty, and one filled with a deep pool of water and sheer walls that made it impossible to climb out. The door could be opened by the rat on the dry side, allowing the other rat to climb out of the pool.

Motivated by helping

Rats on the dry side of the cage were quick to open the door if they saw their cage mates struggling in the water, but not if the pool was empty or contained a stuffed toy rat. If no water was in either compartment, they also didn't open the door. That suggested that they were motivated by helping and not just opening the door for fun.

The researchers reversed the roles and found that rats were quicker to learn to open the door and rescue their cage mate if they had previously experienced a similar struggle in the pool.
"This modulation of learning by prior experience suggests that the helping behaviour observed in the present study might be based on empathy," they wrote.

In another experiment, rats in the dry compartment could choose between two different doors.
  • One that allowed them to rescue their cage mate from the pool.
  • Another that provided access to a chocolate cereal treat. 
More than half the time, rats chose to rescue the other rat first – especially if they were trained to open the door in a similar rescue scenario rather than being trained to open the door in order to access a food treat.

"These results suggest that for all rats, helping a distressed cage mate has a higher value than obtaining a food reward," the researchers wrote.

The results are similar to those in a previous experiment by different researchers, in which rats rescued other rats trapped in an acrylic tube. Still, there has some debate about whether this type of helping behaviour exists among animals other than primates such as monkeys and humans.

View Article Here Read More

US Government Admits Americans Have Been Overdosed on Fluoride

May 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Dr. MercolaThe US government has finally admitted they’ve overdosed Americans on fluoride and, for first time since 1962, are lowering its recommended level of fluoride in drinking water.1,2,3About 40 percent of American teens have dental fluorosis,4 a condition referring to changes in the appearance of tooth enamel—from chalky-looking lines and splotches to dark staining and pitting—caused by long-term ingestion of fluoride during the time teeth are forming.In some areas, fluoro [...]

View Article Here Read More
Older posts Newer posts

Deep Space Leaderboard 728x90

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License.
unless otherwise marked.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy



— Up ↑ —