Episode #230
News Items
- Steorn Still At It
- Computer-Brain Interface
- Ancient Ruins of the Caribbean
- Octopus Coconuts
- Homeopathic Suicide
Who's That Noisy
- Answer to last week – the Vela Pulsar
Question # 1 – Holodeck Food
- Hi rogues, me here. In episode 107 Jay asked (paraphrase) ‘have you ever thought ‘what if you could eat whatever you wanted in any quantity consequence free”. I of course have thought about that- it occurred to me that one could do this in the Star Trek holodeck. Walk in gorge yourself on icecream and walk out empty. After a little more thought, I began to wonder- what would happen if you lived inside the holodeck for an extended time? When you walked out of there after living off ‘artificial’ stuff, would large sections of your body be composed entirely of holodeck stuff and dissapear? Maybe that’s a dumb question. Have fun, continue excellent work. JamesBoggs
Science or Fiction
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Item #1
Science
Researchers have developed a process for making boron nitride nanotubes, which they claim have superior qualities to carbon nanotubes and can be woven into macroscopic threads. http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2009/12/electromagnetic-fields-as-cutting-tools.jsp
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Item #2
Fiction
A new study finds that matching learning techniques, primarily audio vs video, to student preferred styles results in improved academic performance. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/afps-lsd121609.php
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Item #3
Science
New evidence suggests that mammoths were around as recently as 7,500 years ago – 5,600 years later than previous estimates. http://www.physorg.com/news180026128.html