Author Archives: curiouscat

Google’s Secret 10GbE Switch

Google’s Secret 10GbE Switch, interesting speculation by Andrew Schmitt:

Through conversations with multiple carrier, equipment, and component industry sources we have confirmed that Google has designed, built, and deployed homebrewed 10GbE switches for providing server interconnect within their data centers. This is very similar to Google’s efforts to build its own server computers (excellent article here). Google realized that because its computing needs were very specific, it could design and build computers that were cheaper and lower power than off the shelf alternatives. The decision to do so had a profound impact on server architecture and influenced the market’s move to lower power density solutions that Sun (JAVA) , Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD) now embrace.

2nd Annual Science Blogging Conference

2nd Annual Science Blogging Conference will be held in North Carolina on January 19th (there are also pre-conference activities on the 18th). I unfortunately won’t make it but take a look and see if it is something you would enjoy. The program includes:

Open Science: how the Web is changing the way science is done, written and published with Dr.Hemai Parthasarathy
Blogging about the Social Sciences and Humanities with Martin Rundkvist and John McKay
Changing Minds through Science Communication: a panel on Framing Science with Chris Mooney , Jennifer Jacquet and Sheril Kirshenbaum

Open Laboratory 2007, an anthology of science blog posts will be published, as it was last year. Posts need to have been posted between 20 Dec 2006 and 20 Dec 2007 to be eligible. Submit your suggestions.

Gene Carnival

From Scienceroll’s carnival post – Gene Genie #19: Geneticalization

Matt Mealiffe at DNA and You talks about several genes linked to eye color.

Larry Moran, our favourite professor and author of Sandwalk, has a post about diversity and the major histocompatibility (MHC) loci.

PZ Myers at Pharyngula says mutations in the CFTR gene cause Cystic Fibrosis.

T. Ryan Gregory at Genomicron asks a strange question: Are you a cat genome person or a dog genome person?

Cool Crow Research

photo of crow vending machine

Very cool project – A Vending Machine for Crows

The goal of this project is to create a device that will autonomously train crows. Initially we’re training them to deposit dropped coins they find on the ground in exchange for peanuts, but eventually we hope to be able to train them to search and rescue, or to collect garbage, or who knows!
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This is the highest-risk segment of the machine’s operation. At this point coins alone are made available whenever the bird lands on the perch. However, should a bird peck or sweep coins off the tray and cause a coin to fall down the funnel, the device then produces some peanuts. This stage is designed to cement in the crows’ mind the relationship between coins going down the funnel and peanuts being made available.
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Finally we shift the device into its intended, and long-term state of only providing peanuts when coins go down the funnel. Nothing is otherwise provided aside from coins scattered around the device at the beginning of the project.

Joshua Klein Thesis presentation definitely watch this! (the webcast takes like 30 seconds before the talk starts – it is worth the wait). Watch a video from the University of Ithaca site (with Dr. Kevin McGowan).

Other sites that also are mentioned as possible sites: Dr. Anne Clark, University of Binghamton (with a captive population of crows); Dr. Natalie Jeremijenko (seed podcast), Dr. Carolee Caffrey, Harvard and Dr. James Ha, University of Washington. Read the Paper by Joshua Klein about the plans for the experiment.

Disrupting Bacteria Communication

Princeton scientists break cholera’s lines of communication

A team of Princeton scientists has discovered a key mechanism in how bacteria communicate with each other, a pivotal breakthrough that could lead to treatments for cholera and other bacterial diseases.

The mechanism is a chemical that cholera bacteria use for transmitting messages to each other, known as CAI-1, and has been isolated in the lab of molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler. Her team has shown that the chemical also can be used to disrupt the communication that exists among the bacteria, potentially halting the disease’s progress. The discovery could lead to an entirely new class of antibiotics.
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Higgins isolated the CAI-1 chemical, which occurs naturally in cholera. Then, Megan Pomianek, a graduate student in the laboratory of Martin Semmelhack, a professor of chemistry at Princeton, determined how to make the molecule in the laboratory. Higgins used this chemical essentially to control cholera’s behavior in lab tests.

The team found that when CAI-1 is absent, cholera bacteria act as pathogens. But when the bacteria detect enough of this chemical, they stop making biofilms and releasing toxins, perceiving that it is time to leave the body instead. “Our findings demonstrate that if you supply CAI-1 to cholera, you can flip their switches to stop the attack,” Higgins said.

Chemist Helen Blackwell of the University of Wisconsin-Madison praised the study, calling it a breakthrough for quorum sensing research, and possibly for medical science.

Smart Young Minds – Summer Jobs

At Janelia Farm (located in Northern Virginia and part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute) each undergraduate research scholar will spend his or her summer conducting research under the guidance and direction of a Janelia Farm lab head. The undergraduate research scholars program will run from June 9-August 15, 2008. On-campus housing will be provided to undergraduate research scholars. Each scholar will also receive a $4,500 stipend and reimbursement for travel to and from Janelia Farm. Apply. Article on the first year of the program – 2007.

Jeanelia Farm also offers research campus fellows – We invite applications for fellows from biologists, chemists, computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians, neurobiologists and physicists who are passionate in their pursuit of important problems in basic scientific and technical research. JFRC Fellows are independent scientists, with labs of up to two additional members. Appointments are for a term of five years. We welcome applications from individuals at all career stages, as well as coordinated applications from groups of individuals.

We invite applications for group leader positions from biologists, chemists, computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians, neurobiologists and physicists who are passionate in their pursuit of important problems in basic scientific and technical research. JFRC group leaders will be independent scientists, similar to the HHMI investigators based at universities and independent research institutes, with labs of up to six additional members and an initial appointment of six years. We welcome applications from individuals at all career stages, as well as coordinated applications from groups of individuals.

New Theory of Everything

Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything

An impoverished surfer has drawn up a new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics, which as received rave reviews from scientists. Garrett Lisi, 39, has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends most of the year surfing in Hawaii, where he has also been a hiking guide and bridge builder (when he slept in a jungle yurt).
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Despite this unusual career path, his proposal is remarkable because, by the arcane standards of particle physics, it does not require highly complex mathematics. Even better, it does not require more than one dimension of time and three of space, when some rival theories need ten or even more spatial dimensions and other bizarre concepts. And it may even be possible to test his theory, which predicts a host of new particles, perhaps even using the new Large Hadron Collider atom smasher that will go into action near Geneva next year.
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Although the work of 39 year old Garrett Lisi still has a way to go to convince the establishment, let alone match the achievements of Albert Einstein, the two do have one thing in common: Einstein also began his great adventure in theoretical physics while outside the mainstream scientific establishment, working as a patent officer, though failed to achieve the Holy Grail, an overarching explanation to unite all the particles and forces of the cosmos.

Now Lisi, currently in Nevada, has come up with a proposal to do this. Lee Smolin at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, describes Lisi’s work as “fabulous”. “It is one of the most compelling unification models I’ve seen in many, many years,” he says.

Actual open access paper: An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything by A. Garrett Lisi
Reactions: A Theoretically Simple Exception of Everything – Upon further review, surfer’s new Theory of Everything severely deficient
Related: String Theory – CERN Pressure Test Failure – Webcasts by Chemistry and Physics Nobel Laureates

The Brain is Wired to Mull Over Decisions

New studies have identified a specific neural circuit in the brains of monkeys that is activated when they postpone acting on a decision. The circuit is thought to keep potential choices brewing in memory even after a decision has already been made.

The brain may continue to consider the options even after a decision is made because that extra consideration may sometimes result in a change of mind – and a possible reward, such as a tastier meal. The researchers said that their findings could offer important insight into the function of neural circuits that drive the brain’s memory and decision-making machinery.
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the researchers conducted experiments in which they required the monkeys to delay their decision. At the same time, the researchers recorded the electrical activity of neurons in a region called the medial premotor cortex—one of the brain regions involved in decision-making and motor choice.

“To our surprise, when the monkeys held the decision for several seconds, what we saw in the activity of these brain cells in the medial premotor cortex is that they were still remembering the sensory information on which the decision was based,” said Romo. “During that time the neurons were recalling the first stimulus, recalling the second, comparing the second against the first, and even reporting in their activity the categorical decision.”

New iRobot Product: Gutter Cleaning Robot

irobot Looj gutter cleaner

iRobot originally offered the Roomba vacuum cleaner. They have added several items to their inventory including a pool cleaner and floor washing. Their latest product is the iRobot Looj, a gutter cleaning robot. Place it in your gutter and it sweeps out debris (up to 60 feet). In October the Looj received the Digital Life award as the best Gift for Adults. It has also received the CES Innovations 2008 Award for best home appliance.

Find more cool products on our Gadgets and Gizmo page. Related: Huge PC monitor – Asimo Robot: Running and Climbing Stairs – Digital Pen – Toaster Design – Wired NextFest 2007 webcasts – Robo-Salamander

The Wonderful Life of a Cat

Cat’s daily routine baffles owner

Sgt Podge, a Norwegian Forest Cat, disappears from his owner’s home in Talbot Woods, Bournemouth, every night. The next morning, the 12-year-old cat can always be found in exactly the same place, on a pavement about one and a half miles (2.4km) away. His owner, Liz Bullard, takes her son to school before collecting Sgt Podge.
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It is thought Sgt Podge walks across Meyrick Park Golf Course every night to reach his destination
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Ms Bullard also makes the trip at weekends and during school holidays – when her son is having a lie in. She does not know why, after 12 years, Sgt Podge has begun the routine but explained that another woman who lived nearby used to feed him sardines, and that he may be on the look-out for more treats.
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Back at home, Sgt Podge has breakfast before going to sleep by a warm radiator.