Neil @ tumblr

Earth News - In pictures: Yucatan wonders

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:57:38 +1100

Earth News - In pictures: Yucatan wonders

Tiny metal particles have been shown to cause changes to DNA...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:21:49 +1100

Tiny metal particles have been shown to cause changes to DNA across a cellular barrier - without having to cross it.

Tiny tech sparks cell signal find

A sharp-eyed camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:44:40 +1100

A sharp-eyed camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted the Phoenix lander encased in dry ice in the depths of winter on the northern polar plains of Mars.

Orbiter camera sees ice-covered Phoenix lander

Although Pratchett has publicly raged against Alzheimer’s...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:31:27 +1100

Although Pratchett has publicly raged against Alzheimer’s and announced at the Alzheimer’s Research Trust Conference last year that he would “eat a dead mole’s arse” if he thought it would cure him, he says he has come to terms with death.

Fighting to keep the fantasy alive

Argleton: the phantom town that Google created

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:02:51 +1100

Argleton: the phantom town that Google created:

Neither Google, nor the company that supplies its mapping data for this part of Britain, were able to explain how the phantom town made its way on to Google Maps, The Telegraph said.

“This study has important implications for estimates of...

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:16:11 +1100

“This study has important implications for estimates of the total biodiversity of free-living micro-organisms,” says Thierry Heger of the Swiss Federal Research Institute in Lausanne, Switzerland. The fact that microbes can travel huge distances makes it less likely that there are large numbers of endemic species, Heger says.

Microbes’ globe-trotting has made them less diverse

At 2100, on 29 October 1969, engineers 400 miles apart at the...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:56:40 +1100

At 2100, on 29 October 1969, engineers 400 miles apart at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and Stanford Research Institute (SRI) prepared to send data between the first nodes of what was then known as Arpanet.

Celebrating 40 years of the net

Drought beats cotton giant Cubbie Cubbie Station sits on the...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:32:56 +1100

Drought beats cotton giant Cubbie

Cubbie Station sits on the upper reaches of the mighty Murray-Darling river system, and its water storage capacity is equal to that of Sydney Harbour.

“It’s an amazingly engaging sequence, because it is...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:37:07 +1100

“It’s an amazingly engaging sequence, because it is so beautiful and graceful, and yet totally observed,” says Adam Chapman, a BBC producer who helped film the behaviour with cameraman Doug Anderson.

Ghostly ‘dance of a sea dragon’

Scientists estimate there are anywhere between 50 million and...

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:27:25 +1100

Scientists estimate there are anywhere between 50 million and 120 million red crabs on the island. And every year they make their pilgrimage towards the ocean to breed. It is while they make these journeys that the crabs suffer casualties. Mr Orchard estimates the red crab road toll is over 500,000 every migration season.

Red crabs march across Christmas Island

The original Gateway Bridge took six years to build, from 1980...

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:04:31 +1100

The original Gateway Bridge took six years to build, from 1980 to January 1986, and cost $90 million. The second bridge will take three years to build - from March 2007 to mid-2010 - and cost, reportedly, $1.88 billion. That is $350 per metre, compared with $92 per metre for the original bridge.

Two Sections Of Second Gateway Bridge Scheduled To Join Tonight

Drawn half a millennium ago and then swiftly forgotten, one map...

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:54:09 +1100

Drawn half a millennium ago and then swiftly forgotten, one map made us see the world as we know it today… and helped name America. But, as Toby Lester has discovered, the most powerful nation on earth also owes its name to a pun.

The map that changed the world

The Brisbane Lions’ Fitzroy faithful are up in arms over...

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:23:40 +1100

The Brisbane Lions’ Fitzroy faithful are up in arms over the AFL club’s decision to change the logo it adopted in their merger 13 years ago.

Lions logo change dents Fitzroy pride

“When you look out on the horizon, you’d think that...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:45:08 +1100

“When you look out on the horizon, you’d think that it was a smoke coming off a fire until you see that it’s just manoeuvring just above the horizon and it’s just like a wave of birds.”

Budgies flock to outback town

"Nearly 150 web experts and developers will descend on Canberra this weekend for a mass ”geek..."

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:25:20 +1100

“Nearly 150 web experts and developers will descend on Canberra this weekend for a mass ”geek sleepover”, building applications and mash-ups through the night using government data.”

- Geeks go wild in Canberra

“Lugosi died during production, and it shows.” What...

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:23:32 +1100

“Lugosi died during production, and it shows.”

What directors do when actors drop dead

‘Freezer plan’ bid to save coral The prospects of...

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:43:21 +1100

‘Freezer plan’ bid to save coral

The prospects of saving the world’s coral reefs now appear so bleak that plans are being made to freeze samples to preserve them for the future.

Wellcome Image Awards 2009 - had the pleasure of seeing these...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:12:00 +1100

Wellcome Image Awards 2009 - had the pleasure of seeing these last Thursday.

Genome analysis changes diagnosis A critically ill Turkish boy...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:51:05 +1100

Genome analysis changes diagnosis

A critically ill Turkish boy has had his life saved after scientists were able to read his genome quickly and work out that he had a wrong diagnosis.

Nigel Tao: Sydneysider Googler Part Of Google Wave Team Tao, 30,...

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:12:25 +1000

Nigel Tao: Sydneysider Googler Part Of Google Wave Team

Tao, 30, is part of the team at Google Australia that created the product and, perhaps fitting for a software company such as Google, comes from a rich lineage of maths geniuses.