Happy New Years

Good News

SKorean scientists in AIDS breakthrough from PhysOrg.com

South Korean scentists said Friday they are closer to understanding how a protein found in both primates and humans blocks the progression of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the apes.

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Researchers identify new drug targets for cancer from PhysOrg.com

Solving a 100-year-old genetic puzzle, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have determined that the same genetic mechanism that drives tumor growth can also act as a tumor suppressor. Their findings could lead to new drug targets for cancer therapies.

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And the Bad News

Sex Ends as Seasons Shift and Kisspeptin Levels Plummet from PhysOrg.com

A hormone implicated in the onset of human puberty also appears to control reproductive activity in seasonally breeding rodents, report Indiana University Bloomington and University of California at Berkeley scientists in the March 2007 issue of Endocrinology. The paper is now accessible online via the journal's rapid electronic publication service.

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Possible Giant Squid footage

Japanese scientists herald live giant squid footage from PhysOrg.com

Japanese scientists have released what they say could be the first live video footage of the elusive giant squid, exposing some of the creature's underwater secrets.

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40 40

Finally a brake through for spintronics!

New magnetic polymers may advance spintronics technologies from PhysOrg.com

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have pioneered a new approach for making magnetic polymers that are held together with very strong hydrogen bonds. These polymers contain an innovative bifluoride, HF₂–, building block that allows a magnetically ordered state to be obtained. The development may help lead to new techniques for faster and more versatile computer chips, among other applications.

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Top Quark Found: Take that terrorists!

Team Detects 'Top Quark,' a Basic Constituent of Matter from PhysOrg.com

A group of 50 international physicists, led by UC Riverside’s Ann Heinson, has detected for the first time a subatomic particle, the top quark, produced without the simultaneous production of its antimatter partner – an extremely rare event. The discovery of the single top quark could help scientists better explain how the universe works and how objects acquire their mass, thereby assisting human understanding of the fundamental nature of the universe.

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Fusion scientist revives magnetic mirror machine with cool new idea

Fusion scientist revives magnetic mirror machine with cool new idea from PhysOrg.com

Since the development of the hydrogen bomb in the ‘50s, scientists have speculated that the power of fusion might serve as a renewable energy resource. Research has revealed the challenges of this goal, and although nothing close to such an application exists, recently, Professor Nathaniel Fisch from Princeton University has come up with a new idea for efficient fusion energy production based on the old concept of magnetic mirror machines.

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C. Columbus

Paintings for sale.

All paintings for sale $40.00
12" x 12" Price includes shipping to continental US all else add $10.00.
Money orders only. email me at djwetmouse@gmail.com for details.

Wetmouse in the Kiwi's house

Fossil bones of a mouse-sized creature that died between 16 million and 19 million years ago have been discovered on the South Island of New Zealand. It is the first hard evidence that the islands once had their own indigenous land mammals[...]

I should have bought these sneakers!

Comic Artists

Do yourself a favour and check out


Paul Pope's blog.


Chris Weston's blog.


Sean Philips' blog.

Cell Phones may not cause cancer but robots can still kick your ass at chess

Study Disputes Cell Phone-Cancer Link from PhysOrg.com

(AP) -- A huge study from Denmark offers the latest reassurance that cell phones don't trigger cancer. Scientists tracked 420,000 Danish cell phone users, including 52,000 who had gabbed on the gadgets for 10 years or more, and some who started using them 21 years ago.

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World Chess Champion Loses to Computer from PhysOrg.com

(AP) -- World chess champion Vladimir Kramnik lost his final game in a match against computer program Deep Fritz on Tuesday, ceding a hard-fought Man vs. Machine series 4-2.

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Levitate Me

Scientists have now levitated small live animals using sounds that are, well, uplifting.

In the past, researchers at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an, China, used ultrasound fields to successfully levitate globs of the heaviest solid and liquid—iridium and mercury, respectively. The aim of their work is to learn how to manufacture everything from pharmaceuticals to alloys without the aid of containers. At times compounds are too corrosive for containers to hold, or they react with containers in other undesirable ways [...]