MetaFilter posts by mcgraw.
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Hey Summers: Male [monkeys] more susceptible to age-related cognitive decline.
"Gay men adopt male and female strategies. Therefore their brains are a sexual mosaic".
Exotic animals on the menu: Bush/Meat ‘05.
posted on Mar-2-05 at 9:59 AM
First starless, “dark galaxy” discovered.
Natural nuclear reactor found in Gabon.
NASA scientists revive 32,000 year-old bacterium.
Gin.
posted on Feb-25-05 at 9:37 AM
Who was this Gomphos I kept hearing about?
Luck in an ancient rabbit’s foot, Elkema?*
posted on Feb-18-05 at 11:28 AM
You humans have been around a lot longer than you were thought to have been here-- since at least 190,000 years ago. In 1967, the Omo fossils were thought to be about 130,000 years old.
posted on Feb-17-05 at 11:26 AM
Mathematics Behind Metabolism: Extending to all life and ecosystems the laws of quarter-power scaling.
posted on Feb-14-05 at 6:13 AM
When you create living, self-replicating cells from scratch in your lab, please include a barcode!
posted on Feb-10-05 at 7:31 AM
Nursing moms are aphrodisiacs, but if you're lonely tonight, don't let it get you down.
posted on Feb-9-05 at 7:28 AM
Supercomputer-on-a-chip microprocessor design revealed on heels of report that third generation DVDs may implement an holographic storage technique.
posted on Feb-7-05 at 11:34 AM
Sure, monkeys are willing to pay for pr0n, but will the robots?
posted on Feb-2-05 at 6:20 AM
Dark matter drifts through Earth so I'll spit to avoid the needle...
posted on Jan-28-05 at 7:30 AM
They’re petrifying wood in the lab next door.
I am certain they’re coming for me next.
posted on Jan-25-05 at 10:36 AM
Mysterious, high-energy celestial particles slam into Earth.
Zooming past our galaxy’s stellar graveyard? Information sent via teleportation as aging stars turn to Martini bar.
posted on Jan-13-05 at 8:19 AM
Upon this desiccating planet, will I employ religion to increase pain threshold. Why? So I may get my freak on.
posted on Jan-12-05 at 8:01 AM
If rats can distinguish between Japanese and Dutch , why would Elvis have looked like this at age 70?
posted on Jan-9-05 at 7:26 PM
Elephants of Sri Lanka. Three have been lost in a train wreck.
posted on Dec-23-04 at 7:40 AM
Cannibalism May Have Spread Anthrax in Hippos
posted on Dec-20-04 at 1:42 PM
Protecting the Cradle Kirkuk Air Base -- US Army Colonel works with Iraqi archaeological officials to protect nearby ancient sites.
Meanwhile at more secluded mounds, looters continue to plunder the sites and to erase the tangible record of the world's earliest civilizations. "When you come here at night, it looks like a city, there are so many lights," [Archaeological official Abdul-Amir] Hamdani said, looking out over the arid scrubland where thieves swarm after dark.
posted on May-25-04 at 10:41 AM
New Life Form? Doctors claim to have uncovered new evidence that the tiny particles known as "nannobacteria" are indeed alive and may cause a range of human illnesses. Other researchers disagree.
posted on May-24-04 at 7:50 AM
Box of Snakes 'Linked to Death' Little Rock, Ark. Police are investigating a link between a mysterious box of venomous snakes and the death of a business traveler whose body was found in a rental car last week.
posted on May-22-04 at 10:47 AM
Researching the Way of Wa
The 1400 year-old Japanese concept of "Wa" is derived from the ancient meaning of peace and harmony. When applied to business practices, it incorporates mutual trust between management and labor, harmonious... relations among employees on all levels...
I continued forward to learn of Wa Shin Ryu, "the system that harmonizes the spirit," which I followed onward to Toki no Wa. Only then did I know that "I will see you again where the loops of time touch together."
posted on May-11-04 at 10:12 AM
The Great American Feud. Hatfield - McCoy timeline and photo gallery. 2003 VA news report on a truce between descendants of both families. Also, Congress has appropriated nearly $500,000 to improve feud sites for tourism. You can even help one of the families win a Reunion Marathon this June.
posted on May-10-04 at 9:59 AM
Microscopic fragments of plastic are a "major pollutant", floating in the ocean, settling on seabeds, and washing up onshore - with unknown consequences for marine ecosystems, according to a new study. "We've found this microscopic plastic material at all of the sites we've examined," [lead researcher] Dr Richard C Thompson [of University of Plymouth, UK] said. "Interestingly, the abundance is reasonably consistent. So, it suggests to us that the problem is really quite ubiquitous."
posted on May-7-04 at 9:30 AM
Walking DNA Scientists have created a microscopic walking robot using only the building blocks of life. The robot’s DNA legs move along a DNA footpath, taking a nanostroll in a bath of a liquid called a "nondenaturing buffer", which stops the DNA from falling apart.
posted on May-6-04 at 9:26 AM
Scientists have created a miniature medical computer out of DNA that can detect cancer genes in a test tube and respond by releasing a drug. However, an injectable version [of the nanoscale robots] would have to work inside cells, and that accomplishment could take decades. Says Shapiro: "I'm not sure it will be within my lifetime."
posted on May-5-04 at 8:34 AM
Hunting the Stanford University Lion Stanford University is now debating whether to send hunters into the hills surrounding campus to kill a mountain lion that may have mauled two horses pastured on university land. ................ ................STATE HUNTING REGULATIONS: Create mourning dove season for Minnesota Thirty-nine states allow hunters to take the most popular game bird in the nation, with Michigan set to become No. 40. .................... ................Cult Land Not for Hunting The polygamist cult that bought 1,300 acres of land near San Angelo will not be using it as hunting retreat after all.
posted on May-4-04 at 8:19 AM
Advanced methods of bomb detection and investigation. New equipment developed to scan cars and people, such as a parking lot device which quickly bathes the car's trunk in invisible neutrons, a procedure that makes materials inside the trunk emit gamma-rays that would indicate the presence of explosives. Also, a bomb disposal robot which take[s] fingerprints before blowing [a] package up.
posted on May-3-04 at 6:56 AM
DREAM WORLD Given that green tea provides a more effective and environmentally-friendly method of preparing computer hard disks, pulsars are used to study gravitational waves with great precision, solar cells made from nanocrystals are found to be much more efficient, and scientists have discovered evidence for the earliest known wildfire in Earth's history, 443 to 417 million years ago, it would be hard to make the case that what we are living in is not, in fact, a Dreamworld.
posted on Apr-27-04 at 1:11 PM
Oldest Jewelry Discovered In African Cave At least 75,000 years old, the find suggests that early humans had a complex sense of symbolism.
posted on Apr-16-04 at 7:40 AM
Absolutely, The Universe Could Be Funnel-Shaped At an extreme enough point, you would be able to see the back of your own head. It would be an interesting place to explore - but we are probably too far from the narrow end of the horn to examine it with telescopes. Frank Steiner’s Quantum Chaos group
posted on Apr-15-04 at 7:35 AM
Lung cancer 'different in women' Rates of lung cancer in women have increased significantly in recent decades while those for men have remained stable. Female smokers have a greater chance of developing lung cancer, and a higher risk of developing adenocarcinoma, which is the most common form of the disease. But women also have better survival rates, the researchers said.
posted on Apr-14-04 at 7:32 AM
Low-Income Children At Risk "Low-income children are disproportionately exposed to a daunting array of adverse social and physical environmental conditions," according to Gary Evans of Cornell University. Evans reviewed almost 200 studies to document the environment of childhood poverty in the current issue of American Psychologist (Vol. 59:2, 77-92, 2004). Public policy also tends to consider just one "magic bullet" at a time, Evans says. "To make a difference, we need to take a broader perspective for intervention.” What public policy changes would you suggest to protect and enrich the lives of children in low-income communities?
posted on Apr-13-04 at 6:31 AM
Nanochips The desire for boosting the number of transistors on a chip and for running it faster explains why the semiconductor industry, just as it crossed into the new millennium, shifted from manufacturing microchips to making nanochips. How it quietly passed this milestone, and how it continues to advance, is an amazing story of people overcoming some of the greatest engineering challenges of our time--challenges every bit as formidable as those encountered in building the first atomic bomb or sending a person to the moon.
posted on Apr-12-04 at 6:24 AM
Zepto science Scientists have developed a device able to measure the weight of a single cell, and they intend to weigh a virus next.
posted on Apr-7-04 at 1:22 PM
Frequent sexual intercourse and masturbation protects men against prostate cancer. From the article: "The good news is it is not related to an increased risk…"
posted on Apr-6-04 at 1:18 PM
Teenage lesbian or bisexual girls… are the worst hit by tobacco among all groups of young people, according to a new US study. "Antigay stigma and harassment, rejection from family and friends, and sometimes even physical violence can create a hostile environment for many young people coming to terms with their sexual orientation. This, combined with the tobacco industry's targeted marketing to lesbian and gay communities, is putting lesbian and bisexual girls in harm's way."
posted on Apr-5-04 at 1:12 PM
The highest suicide rate in the world has been reported among young women in South India by a new study. The research is of major importance, according to the World Health Organization, as it brings to light Asia's suicide problem. "I was surprised to find the rates were so staggeringly high," says paediatrician Anuradha Bose. “I wonder if it's just another manifestation of the gender bias." Stress factors… affect Indian women in particular, such as issues of marriage and dowry. How can the WHO address this unacceptable situation for young women in South India and elsewhere? The article notes that studies are under way in other countries where young women are under great social pressures, and more suicide prone, including China, Sri Lanka and Vietnam (and there are many others where this should be researched).
posted on Apr-2-04 at 8:26 AM
While the world has been “getting greener” during the past 25 yrs, human courtesy and civility have been “changing for the worse.”
posted on Mar-30-04 at 11:17 AM
Time to replace your old Periodic Table. ...a joint American-Russian team has found two new elements—numbers 113 and 115 on the periodic table—hinting at an impending breakthrough in creating novel forms of matter that will test our understanding of atomic behavior.
posted on Mar-29-04 at 11:12 AM
New biofuel would combine jet fuel and soya oil to slash consumption of fossil fuel, and help slow the rise in greenhouse gas levels...
posted on Mar-26-04 at 6:34 AM
Earth Woes The Earth may be on the brink of a sixth mass extinction on a par with the five others that have punctuated its history, suggests the strongest evidence yet. More here.
posted on Mar-19-04 at 9:09 AM
Monster, Claiming to Be Courtney Love, Goes on Rampage
posted on Mar-18-04 at 9:03 AM
Is this shite? Another [Estrogen] risk factor appears to be something that researchers call overthinking, a tendency to dwell on petty slights, to mentally replay testy encounters and to wallow in sad feelings. Studies show that this type of negative thinking is far more common in women than in men, and that it can be a harbinger of clinical depression. NYTimes article (registration req'd) about depression called "New Clues to Women Veiled in Black".
posted on Mar-16-04 at 9:39 AM
US Military Develops Robotic Exoskeleton. The Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton, or Bleex, is powered by an internal combustion engine, and can allow soldiers or rescue workers to carry heavy loads over long distances. Article is a follow-up to this story. Perhaps this is the first step towards robotic assistance for the physically impaired. (Aside: a thank you to Soyjoy, who is a good man indeed!)
posted on Mar-11-04 at 10:55 AM
Microsoft, AOL, Earthlink, Yahoo sue hundreds in six lawsuits More here (registration req'd). Nation's largest spammers targeted in first lawsuits under Congressional Anti-Spam Legislation.
posted on Mar-10-04 at 8:25 AM
Research Vs. Religion: Scientists Win Lawsuit Against Native American Tribes The 9,000 year old remains, found in Kennewick, Washington in 1996, will be made available for study, rather than being buried by tribes who had hoped to assert the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in this case.
posted on Feb-10-04 at 6:40 AM
Eh... I never liked high school anyway.
posted on May-16-03 at 8:11 AM
NY Times on female cruelty (subscription req'd) This is an insightful examination of cruelty by girls struggling for power in complex Middle School social hierarchies. Many points made about "girls" here also apply to young adult women -- at least the ones I know. In our tabloidized, materialistic culture, might adult women abandon such behavior someday? Link posted by Voyageman on a discussion page yesterday. Thank you Voyageman.
posted on Feb-26-02 at 8:55 AM
posted on Mar-2-05 at 9:59 AM
First starless, “dark galaxy” discovered.
Natural nuclear reactor found in Gabon.
NASA scientists revive 32,000 year-old bacterium.
Gin.
posted on Feb-25-05 at 9:37 AM
Who was this Gomphos I kept hearing about?
Luck in an ancient rabbit’s foot, Elkema?*
posted on Feb-18-05 at 11:28 AM
You humans have been around a lot longer than you were thought to have been here-- since at least 190,000 years ago. In 1967, the Omo fossils were thought to be about 130,000 years old.
posted on Feb-17-05 at 11:26 AM
Mathematics Behind Metabolism: Extending to all life and ecosystems the laws of quarter-power scaling.
posted on Feb-14-05 at 6:13 AM
When you create living, self-replicating cells from scratch in your lab, please include a barcode!
posted on Feb-10-05 at 7:31 AM
Nursing moms are aphrodisiacs, but if you're lonely tonight, don't let it get you down.
posted on Feb-9-05 at 7:28 AM
Supercomputer-on-a-chip microprocessor design revealed on heels of report that third generation DVDs may implement an holographic storage technique.
posted on Feb-7-05 at 11:34 AM
Sure, monkeys are willing to pay for pr0n, but will the robots?
posted on Feb-2-05 at 6:20 AM
Dark matter drifts through Earth so I'll spit to avoid the needle...
posted on Jan-28-05 at 7:30 AM
They’re petrifying wood in the lab next door.
I am certain they’re coming for me next.
posted on Jan-25-05 at 10:36 AM
Mysterious, high-energy celestial particles slam into Earth.
Zooming past our galaxy’s stellar graveyard? Information sent via teleportation as aging stars turn to Martini bar.
posted on Jan-13-05 at 8:19 AM
Upon this desiccating planet, will I employ religion to increase pain threshold. Why? So I may get my freak on.
posted on Jan-12-05 at 8:01 AM
If rats can distinguish between Japanese and Dutch , why would Elvis have looked like this at age 70?
posted on Jan-9-05 at 7:26 PM
Elephants of Sri Lanka. Three have been lost in a train wreck.
posted on Dec-23-04 at 7:40 AM
Cannibalism May Have Spread Anthrax in Hippos
posted on Dec-20-04 at 1:42 PM
Protecting the Cradle Kirkuk Air Base -- US Army Colonel works with Iraqi archaeological officials to protect nearby ancient sites.
Meanwhile at more secluded mounds, looters continue to plunder the sites and to erase the tangible record of the world's earliest civilizations. "When you come here at night, it looks like a city, there are so many lights," [Archaeological official Abdul-Amir] Hamdani said, looking out over the arid scrubland where thieves swarm after dark.
posted on May-25-04 at 10:41 AM
New Life Form? Doctors claim to have uncovered new evidence that the tiny particles known as "nannobacteria" are indeed alive and may cause a range of human illnesses. Other researchers disagree.
posted on May-24-04 at 7:50 AM
Box of Snakes 'Linked to Death' Little Rock, Ark. Police are investigating a link between a mysterious box of venomous snakes and the death of a business traveler whose body was found in a rental car last week.
posted on May-22-04 at 10:47 AM
Researching the Way of Wa
The 1400 year-old Japanese concept of "Wa" is derived from the ancient meaning of peace and harmony. When applied to business practices, it incorporates mutual trust between management and labor, harmonious... relations among employees on all levels...
I continued forward to learn of Wa Shin Ryu, "the system that harmonizes the spirit," which I followed onward to Toki no Wa. Only then did I know that "I will see you again where the loops of time touch together."
posted on May-11-04 at 10:12 AM
The Great American Feud. Hatfield - McCoy timeline and photo gallery. 2003 VA news report on a truce between descendants of both families. Also, Congress has appropriated nearly $500,000 to improve feud sites for tourism. You can even help one of the families win a Reunion Marathon this June.
posted on May-10-04 at 9:59 AM
Microscopic fragments of plastic are a "major pollutant", floating in the ocean, settling on seabeds, and washing up onshore - with unknown consequences for marine ecosystems, according to a new study. "We've found this microscopic plastic material at all of the sites we've examined," [lead researcher] Dr Richard C Thompson [of University of Plymouth, UK] said. "Interestingly, the abundance is reasonably consistent. So, it suggests to us that the problem is really quite ubiquitous."
posted on May-7-04 at 9:30 AM
Walking DNA Scientists have created a microscopic walking robot using only the building blocks of life. The robot’s DNA legs move along a DNA footpath, taking a nanostroll in a bath of a liquid called a "nondenaturing buffer", which stops the DNA from falling apart.
posted on May-6-04 at 9:26 AM
Scientists have created a miniature medical computer out of DNA that can detect cancer genes in a test tube and respond by releasing a drug. However, an injectable version [of the nanoscale robots] would have to work inside cells, and that accomplishment could take decades. Says Shapiro: "I'm not sure it will be within my lifetime."
posted on May-5-04 at 8:34 AM
Hunting the Stanford University Lion Stanford University is now debating whether to send hunters into the hills surrounding campus to kill a mountain lion that may have mauled two horses pastured on university land. ................ ................STATE HUNTING REGULATIONS: Create mourning dove season for Minnesota Thirty-nine states allow hunters to take the most popular game bird in the nation, with Michigan set to become No. 40. .................... ................Cult Land Not for Hunting The polygamist cult that bought 1,300 acres of land near San Angelo will not be using it as hunting retreat after all.
posted on May-4-04 at 8:19 AM
Advanced methods of bomb detection and investigation. New equipment developed to scan cars and people, such as a parking lot device which quickly bathes the car's trunk in invisible neutrons, a procedure that makes materials inside the trunk emit gamma-rays that would indicate the presence of explosives. Also, a bomb disposal robot which take[s] fingerprints before blowing [a] package up.
posted on May-3-04 at 6:56 AM
DREAM WORLD Given that green tea provides a more effective and environmentally-friendly method of preparing computer hard disks, pulsars are used to study gravitational waves with great precision, solar cells made from nanocrystals are found to be much more efficient, and scientists have discovered evidence for the earliest known wildfire in Earth's history, 443 to 417 million years ago, it would be hard to make the case that what we are living in is not, in fact, a Dreamworld.
posted on Apr-27-04 at 1:11 PM
Oldest Jewelry Discovered In African Cave At least 75,000 years old, the find suggests that early humans had a complex sense of symbolism.
posted on Apr-16-04 at 7:40 AM
Absolutely, The Universe Could Be Funnel-Shaped At an extreme enough point, you would be able to see the back of your own head. It would be an interesting place to explore - but we are probably too far from the narrow end of the horn to examine it with telescopes. Frank Steiner’s Quantum Chaos group
posted on Apr-15-04 at 7:35 AM
Lung cancer 'different in women' Rates of lung cancer in women have increased significantly in recent decades while those for men have remained stable. Female smokers have a greater chance of developing lung cancer, and a higher risk of developing adenocarcinoma, which is the most common form of the disease. But women also have better survival rates, the researchers said.
posted on Apr-14-04 at 7:32 AM
Low-Income Children At Risk "Low-income children are disproportionately exposed to a daunting array of adverse social and physical environmental conditions," according to Gary Evans of Cornell University. Evans reviewed almost 200 studies to document the environment of childhood poverty in the current issue of American Psychologist (Vol. 59:2, 77-92, 2004). Public policy also tends to consider just one "magic bullet" at a time, Evans says. "To make a difference, we need to take a broader perspective for intervention.” What public policy changes would you suggest to protect and enrich the lives of children in low-income communities?
posted on Apr-13-04 at 6:31 AM
Nanochips The desire for boosting the number of transistors on a chip and for running it faster explains why the semiconductor industry, just as it crossed into the new millennium, shifted from manufacturing microchips to making nanochips. How it quietly passed this milestone, and how it continues to advance, is an amazing story of people overcoming some of the greatest engineering challenges of our time--challenges every bit as formidable as those encountered in building the first atomic bomb or sending a person to the moon.
posted on Apr-12-04 at 6:24 AM
Zepto science Scientists have developed a device able to measure the weight of a single cell, and they intend to weigh a virus next.
posted on Apr-7-04 at 1:22 PM
Frequent sexual intercourse and masturbation protects men against prostate cancer. From the article: "The good news is it is not related to an increased risk…"
posted on Apr-6-04 at 1:18 PM
Teenage lesbian or bisexual girls… are the worst hit by tobacco among all groups of young people, according to a new US study. "Antigay stigma and harassment, rejection from family and friends, and sometimes even physical violence can create a hostile environment for many young people coming to terms with their sexual orientation. This, combined with the tobacco industry's targeted marketing to lesbian and gay communities, is putting lesbian and bisexual girls in harm's way."
posted on Apr-5-04 at 1:12 PM
The highest suicide rate in the world has been reported among young women in South India by a new study. The research is of major importance, according to the World Health Organization, as it brings to light Asia's suicide problem. "I was surprised to find the rates were so staggeringly high," says paediatrician Anuradha Bose. “I wonder if it's just another manifestation of the gender bias." Stress factors… affect Indian women in particular, such as issues of marriage and dowry. How can the WHO address this unacceptable situation for young women in South India and elsewhere? The article notes that studies are under way in other countries where young women are under great social pressures, and more suicide prone, including China, Sri Lanka and Vietnam (and there are many others where this should be researched).
posted on Apr-2-04 at 8:26 AM
While the world has been “getting greener” during the past 25 yrs, human courtesy and civility have been “changing for the worse.”
posted on Mar-30-04 at 11:17 AM
Time to replace your old Periodic Table. ...a joint American-Russian team has found two new elements—numbers 113 and 115 on the periodic table—hinting at an impending breakthrough in creating novel forms of matter that will test our understanding of atomic behavior.
posted on Mar-29-04 at 11:12 AM
New biofuel would combine jet fuel and soya oil to slash consumption of fossil fuel, and help slow the rise in greenhouse gas levels...
posted on Mar-26-04 at 6:34 AM
Earth Woes The Earth may be on the brink of a sixth mass extinction on a par with the five others that have punctuated its history, suggests the strongest evidence yet. More here.
posted on Mar-19-04 at 9:09 AM
Monster, Claiming to Be Courtney Love, Goes on Rampage
posted on Mar-18-04 at 9:03 AM
Is this shite? Another [Estrogen] risk factor appears to be something that researchers call overthinking, a tendency to dwell on petty slights, to mentally replay testy encounters and to wallow in sad feelings. Studies show that this type of negative thinking is far more common in women than in men, and that it can be a harbinger of clinical depression. NYTimes article (registration req'd) about depression called "New Clues to Women Veiled in Black".
posted on Mar-16-04 at 9:39 AM
US Military Develops Robotic Exoskeleton. The Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton, or Bleex, is powered by an internal combustion engine, and can allow soldiers or rescue workers to carry heavy loads over long distances. Article is a follow-up to this story. Perhaps this is the first step towards robotic assistance for the physically impaired. (Aside: a thank you to Soyjoy, who is a good man indeed!)
posted on Mar-11-04 at 10:55 AM
Microsoft, AOL, Earthlink, Yahoo sue hundreds in six lawsuits More here (registration req'd). Nation's largest spammers targeted in first lawsuits under Congressional Anti-Spam Legislation.
posted on Mar-10-04 at 8:25 AM
Research Vs. Religion: Scientists Win Lawsuit Against Native American Tribes The 9,000 year old remains, found in Kennewick, Washington in 1996, will be made available for study, rather than being buried by tribes who had hoped to assert the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in this case.
posted on Feb-10-04 at 6:40 AM
Eh... I never liked high school anyway.
posted on May-16-03 at 8:11 AM
NY Times on female cruelty (subscription req'd) This is an insightful examination of cruelty by girls struggling for power in complex Middle School social hierarchies. Many points made about "girls" here also apply to young adult women -- at least the ones I know. In our tabloidized, materialistic culture, might adult women abandon such behavior someday? Link posted by Voyageman on a discussion page yesterday. Thank you Voyageman.
posted on Feb-26-02 at 8:55 AM