28 posts · 24,633 views
A daily updated blog of breaking science news mainly relating to astronomy and physics. You will find entertaining yet accurate spins and critique to science articles, and many links to other online sources for further reading.
DJ Busby
28 posts
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- November 27, 2012
- 12:33 PM
- 319 views
Ecstasy Used for Treating PTSD Proven Effective
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Just like medical marijuana, another illicit drug heals.... Read more »
Mithoefer, M., Wagner, M., Mithoefer, A., Jerome, L., & Doblin, R. (2010) The safety and efficacy of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: the first randomized controlled pilot study. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 25(4), 439-452. DOI: 10.1177/0269881110378371
- April 13, 2012
- 01:39 AM
- 821 views
A White Roof: So Simple It's Insane So Insane It Just Might Work
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Reflectivity might work better at mitigating global warming than focus on CO2... Read more »
Millstein, D., & Menon, S. (2011) Regional climate consequences of large-scale cool roof and photovoltaic array deployment. Environmental Research Letters, 6(3), 34001. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/6/3/034001
- April 8, 2012
- 08:50 PM
- 638 views
Simulations of Sand-Solid Impacts
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Math and computer simulation wizzes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have just taken a nice step forward in granular simulation by approaching the problem with math heretofore not applied to dynamic granular modeling. It's really quite impressive.
Narain and Gola's work may be favorable over previous methods both due to its 1) accuracy, as well as 2) the ability to trade off quality-over-precision / precision-over-quality as an easily implemented option. Whenever c........ Read more »
Narain, R., Golas, A., & Lin, M. (2010) Free-flowing granular materials with two-way solid coupling. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 29(6), 1. DOI: 10.1145/1882261.1866195
- March 15, 2012
- 09:31 PM
- 1,010 views
Caramel Color Carcinogens -- Bring Back Crystal Pepsi Part 2
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Recently in the news, 4-MEI in cola's caramel coloring includes a carcinogen. I explain the severity, and follow it up with my proposal for the resurrection of Crystal Pepsi.... Read more »
Chan, P., Hills, G., Kissling, G., & Nyska, A. (2007) Toxicity and carcinogenicity studies of 4-methylimidazole in F344/N rats and B6C3F1 mice. Archives of Toxicology, 82(1), 45-53. DOI: 10.1007/s00204-007-0222-5
National Toxicology Program (NTP, 2007). (2007) Chemical Meeting The Criteria For Listing As Causing Cancer Via The Authoritative Bodies Mechanism: 4-Methylimidazole. NTP Technical Report Series. info:other/NIH: 07-4471
Gardener, H., Rundek, T., Markert, M., Wright, C., Elkind, M., & Sacco, R. (2012) Diet Soft Drink Consumption is Associated with an Increased Risk of Vascular Events in the Northern Manhattan Study. Journal of General Internal Medicine. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-011-1968-2
- March 15, 2012
- 09:08 PM
- 690 views
Why It Failed -- Bring Back Crystal Pepsi: Part 1
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Why was Crystal Pepsi a failure?
The answer can be found by looking at experiments we've done on consumers' taste, expectations, and satisfaction with beverages on the market.... Read more »
Lawrence L. Garber Jr., Eva M Hyatt, & Richard G. Starr Jr. (2000) The effects of food color on perceived flavor. Journal of Marketing Theory And Practice, 59-75. info:other/ISSN: 10696679
- March 14, 2012
- 09:30 PM
- 687 views
Sonification: Listen To The Sun / Listen To CERN's LHC
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Solar storm data has recently been translated through a process called sonification into audio. CERN uses this technology too. Here are videos and explanations for both.... Read more »
Alberto de Campo, Natascha Hormann, Harald Markum, Willibald Plessas, & Bianka Sengi. (2005) Sonification of lattice data: The spectrum of the Dirac operator across the deconfinement transition. Proceedings of Science. info:other/PoS: LAT2005-152
Katharina Vogt, Robert H¨oldrich, David Pirr`o, Martin Rumori, Stefan Rossegger, Werner Riegler, & Matevˇz Tadel. (2010) A SONIC TIME PROJECTION CHAMBER. SONIFIED PARTICLE DETECTION AT CERN. International Conference on Auditory Display. info:other/ISBN: 0-9670904-3-1
- January 20, 2012
- 05:28 PM
- 722 views
Copyright Talk: The RIAA Bites the Hand That Feeds
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
The perpetrators seem to be the RIAA's best friends. They just haven't have realized it yet. This should be motivation enough for the RIAA's to halt their lobbying, at least until they learn to read. In a business sense, for them to push the legislation of SOPA/PIPA seems ridiculous, given this context, doesn't it?... Read more »
Marta Ceballos. (2003) An Overview of Copyright and Intellectual Property . Society for Economic Research on Copyright Issues. info:/
Bounie, D., Bourreau, M., & Waelbroeck, P. (2005) Pirates or Explorers? Analysis of Music Consumption in French Graduate Schools. SSRN Electronic Journal. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.739284
- January 15, 2012
- 08:09 PM
- 594 views
Avoiding Lasting Pain With Administration of High Dosage Spurts of Morphine
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
This discovery, in a nutshell, can be found in the last sentence of the abstract:
"Opioids thus not only temporarily dampen pain but may also erase a spinal memory trace of pain."... Read more »
Drdla-Schutting, R., Benrath, J., Wunderbaldinger, G., & Sandkuhler, J. (2012) Erasure of a Spinal Memory Trace of Pain by a Brief, High-Dose Opioid Administration. Science, 335(6065), 235-238. DOI: 10.1126/science.1211726
- January 4, 2012
- 09:39 PM
- 748 views
A Walkthrough To Find Credible Souces and Answers to the Controversies of Vaccines, Evolution, Holocaust, and Global Warming
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Where do you get your facts?
Hopefully, a reliable source.
So what's an online reliable source, and how can a regular Joe get a hold of this information?
A very easy way to be confident is to make sure that you're reading from an .edu or .gov page. One of the easiest (and quickest) ways to find your topic is through the citations on Wikipedia. Some people doubt the validity of Wikipedia in fear of hecklers. The nature or self-maintaining issue of Wikipedia aside, the citation........ Read more »
Bonhoeffer J, & Heininger U. (2007) Adverse events following immunization: perception and evidence. Current opinion in infectious diseases, 20(3), 237-46. PMID: 17471032
Demicheli V, Jefferson T, Rivetti A, & Price D. (2005) Vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella in children. Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online). PMID: 16235361
Committee on Revising Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. (2008) Science, Evolution, and Creationism. The National Academies Press. info:/9780309105866
Boykoff, M., & Boykoff, J. (2004) Balance as bias: global warming and the US prestige press. Global Environmental Change, 14(2), 125-136. DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2003.10.001
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- December 21, 2011
- 09:12 PM
- 527 views
Ironic: Anti-Prejudice Experiments Show that Our Efforts are Making Things Worse
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
A brilliant and game changing set of experiments on anti-prejudice efforts has been released in the Journal Psychological Science. The hypothesis, which proved to stand up, said that self-motivated reasoning provides a greater influence against prejudice than a "controlled" approach, pressure exerted from outside sources.... Read more »
Legault, L., Gutsell, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2011) Ironic Effects of Antiprejudice Messages: How Motivational Interventions Can Reduce (but Also Increase) Prejudice. Psychological Science, 22(12), 1472-1477. DOI: 10.1177/0956797611427918
- December 12, 2011
- 03:51 PM
- 3,241 views
Unified Theory BS: I Debunk "The Schwarzschild Proton" by Nassim Haramein
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
The unification of forces, sought after for a long time, and the incompatibility of standard mechanics of gravity on the quantum scale has been a holy grail of sorts for physicists to resolve. Now if we look at the nature of standard black holes, not protons, we can't forget that they exist as a singularity on a quantum level. All we know of black holes then should apply to these schwarzschild protons. This new theory debunks black hole evaporation. Stephen Hawking will be angered.
Stro........ Read more »
Nassim Haramein. (2010) The Schwarzschild Proton . AIP. info:other/
- November 27, 2011
- 05:24 PM
- 665 views
Sapolsky Religion Lecture Dissected Part 1/6
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Sapolsky admits that this brilliant lecture is often met with considerable resistance by some religious types. Here, my goal is to dissect his lecture and provide adequate scholarly references to clarify and validate his argument; to reaffirm that his lecture is based on unbiased science.... Read more »
Wright, P., Gill, M., & Murray, R. (1993) Schizophrenia: Genetics and the maternal immune response to viral infection. American Journal of Medical Genetics, 48(1), 40-46. DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.1320480110
Torgersen, Svenn. (1985) Relationship of Schizotypal Personality Disorder to Schizophrenia: Genetics. Schizophrenia Bulletin , 11(4). info:/
Laguerre A, Leboyer M, & Schürhoff F. (2008) [The schizotypal personality disorder: historical origins and current status]. L'Encephale, 34(1), 17-22. PMID: 18514146
Owen, M., Williams, H., & O’Donovan, M. (2009) Schizophrenia genetics: advancing on two fronts. Current Opinion in Genetics , 19(3), 266-270. DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2009.02.008
Kurotaki, N., Tasaki, S., Mishima, H., Ono, S., Imamura, A., Kikuchi, T., Nishida, N., Tokunaga, K., Yoshiura, K., & Ozawa, H. (2011) Identification of Novel Schizophrenia Loci by Homozygosity Mapping Using DNA Microarray Analysis. PLoS ONE, 6(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020589
- Medicine
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- Co
- Pathology
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- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Clinical Psychology
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- Educational Psychology
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- Sensation and Perception
- October 31, 2011
- 06:04 PM
- 614 views
Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Vic Tandy on Ghosts and Infrasound
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Descriptions of the science behind a phenomenon concerning the human eye, which stands to be the root cause of a portion of "ghost sightings."... Read more »
Vic Tandy, Tony R. Lawrence. (1998) The Ghost in the Machine. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. info:/
- October 29, 2011
- 09:09 PM
- 641 views
Using An Array of Cameras to Accurately Model a Flickering Flame
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
This experiment in the fluid dynamics video demonstrated that a three-dimensional flame can be reconstructed by combining images from multiple cameras using synthetic aperture imaging.... Read more »
Preston Murray, Jonathon Pendlebury, Dale Tree, & Tadd Truscott. (2011) Flame Reconstruction Using Synthetic Aperture Imaging. arXiv. arXiv: 1110.3700v1
- October 27, 2011
- 03:29 AM
- 569 views
Fluid Dynamics In Slo-Mo: Liquid Rings
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
I explain an experiment in fluid dynamics, accompanied with a video... Read more »
Seungho Kim, & Ho-Young Kim. (2011) Liquid ring. arXiv. arXiv: 1110.3703v1
Drelich J, & Chibowski E. (2010) Superhydrophilic and superwetting surfaces: definition and mechanisms of control. Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids, 26(24), 18621-3. PMID: 21090661
- October 26, 2011
- 04:07 AM
- 623 views
Fluid Dynamics In Slow Motion: How Flowers Catch Raindrops
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Using cameras able to film in the ultra-slow-motion we've all come to love, this study has produced something truly beautiful.... Read more »
Guillermo Amador, Yasukuni Yamada, & David Hu. (2011) How flowers catch raindrops. ArXiv. arXiv: 1110.3993v1
- April 6, 2011
- 04:41 PM
- 1,148 views
Starburst Galaxies
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
New studies on starburst galaxies we released recently. These scientists use the Hubble Space Telescope to inspect these starburst galaxys' stellar halos, outer stellar envelopes comprised of intermediate to old age stars. ... Read more »
Agnieszka Ryś, Aaron J. Grocholski, Roeland P. van der Marel, Alessandra Aloisi, & Francesca Annibali. (2011) Hubble Space Telescope study of resolved red giant stars in the outer halos of nearby dwarf starburst galaxies. A. arXiv: 1104.0899v1
- March 19, 2011
- 08:14 PM
- 1,161 views
Looking at the Bending of Light Around the Multiple Galaxy Collisions in "Pandora's Cluster"
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
-----
A new arXiv paper has been released analyzing Pandora's Cluster of galaxies.
"Creation of cosmic structure in the complex galaxy cluster merger Abell 2744"
As you can see from the paper's title, the technical name for Pandora's Cluster is Abell 2744. This area of the sky is in a state of extreme cosmic violence. We're witnessing a rare situation where there are multiple galaxies smashing
... Read more »
J. Merten, D. Coe, R. Dupke, R. Massey, A. Zitrin, E. S. Cypriano, N. Okabe, B. Frye, F. Braglia, Y. Jimenez-Teja.... (2011) Creation of cosmic structure in the complex galaxy cluster merger Abell 2744. MNRAS. arXiv: 1103.2772v1
- March 16, 2011
- 03:42 PM
- 938 views
Despite Mounting Fears, Our Future is Nuclear Fusion: Point and Counterpoint
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
Nuclear fission reactors are building up quite a bad reputation at the moment. Instead of dissecting the flaws and strengths of our current nuclear power plants, I like to focus on the near future, perhaps as close as the 2030's, where nuclear FUSION plants might reign. ... Read more »
Michael Dittmar. (2011) The Future of Nuclear Energy: Facts and Fiction: An update using 2009/2010 Data. arXiv. arXiv: 1101.4189v1
- February 19, 2011
- 08:00 AM
- 1,425 views
How Our Valentines Day Solar Flare Helped Our Astronauts In Orbit
by DJ Busby in Astronasty
In light of the recent solar flare, here's a breakdown of the radiation we're exposed to, how we're shielded, and how solar flares can actually protect our astronauts.... Read more »
B. F. Rauch, J. T. Link, K. Lodders, M. H. Israel, L. M. Barbier, W. R. Binns, E. R. Christian, J. R. Cummings, G. A. de Nolfo, S. Geier, R. A. Mewaldt, J. W. Mitchell, S. M. Schindler, L. M. Scott, E. C. Stone, R. E. Streitmatter, C. J. Waddington, M. E. (2009) Cosmic-ray origin in OB associations and preferential acceleration of refractory elements: Evidence from abundances of elements 26Fe through 34Se. Astrophys.J.697:2083-2088,2009. info:/arXiv:0906.2021v1
Svensmark, H., Bondo, T., & Svensmark, J. (2009) Cosmic ray decreases affect atmospheric aerosols and clouds. Geophysical Research Letters, 36(15). DOI: 10.1029/2009GL038429
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