Crazy News

AP - The glowing amber dot on a light switch in the entryway of George Tsapoitis’ house offers a clue about the future of electricity.

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A team of scientists at the University of Chicago will be using 22 million processor-hours to simulate the physics of exploding stars. The team will make use of the Blue Gene/P supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory to analyze four different scenarios for type Ia supernovae. Included in the link is a video simulation of a thermonuclear flame busting its way out of a white dwarf. The processing time was made possible by the Department of Energy’s INCITE program. “Burning in a white dwarf can occur as a deflagration or as a detonation. ‘Imagine a pool of gasoline and throw a match on it. That kind of burning across the pool of gasoline is a deflagration,’ Jordan said. ‘A detonation is …

Ant contributes a link spotted on Neatorama that may upset middle school Earth Science teachers, writing “LiveScience says Earth’s simple schematic is not core, mantle, and crust anymore. It is more like the gooey center of a chocolate morsel harboring peanut butter and honey. Inner Earth is far more nuanced than outward appearances would suggest. A new model is proposed in the May 2, 2008, issue of the journal Science.”Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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The New York Times is running a story about how using robots to perform surgical operations has been transformed from a controversial dream to reality. Dr. Frederic Moll abandoned his residency for Silicon Valley and helped to revolutionize the industry. The lengthy article also discusses some of his innovations. We’ve discussed various robot-assisted medical procedures in the past. From the Times: “‘I was struck by the size of the incision and injury created just to get inside the body,’ Dr. Moll says. ‘It felt antiquated.’ He took the idea to his employer, Guidant, a medical device company. Guidant decided that robotic surgery was too futuristic and too risky, so Dr. Moll rounded up backers, resigned, and in 1995, founded Intuitive …

OMNIpotusCOM writes “CNN is reporting an outbreak of Enterovirus 71 (or EV71), that has affected more than 3700 children and killed over 20, is creating concern for the visitors and athletes expected for the Beijing Olympics in August. The virus can cause ‘poliolike paralysis,’ according to the article.”Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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LiveScience.com - Dinosaursroamed, mammals started to flourish, the first birds and lizards evolved, and amassive supercontinent began to split apart on Earth about 180 million yearsago. Yet, the details of the breakup of one of the largest landmasses inhistory have stumped scientists until now.

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AP - Akhenaten wasn’t the most manly pharaoh, even though he fathered at least a half-dozen children. In fact, his form was quite feminine, which has puzzled experts for years. And he was a …