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POPSThe surprising usefulness of sloppy arithmetic "A computer chip that performs imprecise calculations could process some types of data thousands of times more efficiently than existing chips." "Bob Colwell, who was the chief architect on several of Intel’s Pentium processors and has been a private consultant since 2000, thinks that the most promising application of Bates’ chip could be in human-computer interactions. A system that can tolerate inaccuracy in the input, Colwell argues, can also tolerate (some) inaccuracy in its calculations. The type of graphics processors found in most modern computers are another example, Colwell says, since they work furiously hard to produce 3-D images that probably don’t need to be rendered perfectly."
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POPSTalk to Yourself "...You know the answer to the problem: it just needs unlocking by you being clear with yourself..."
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POPSWhy are some people smarter? "If it's genetic, genes work through biology and, once we understand the biology, we have lots of ways to manipulate biology," says Richard Haier, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine. "In my mind, one of the important directions of this kind of research should lead to ways to improve intelligence on a neurochemical basis."
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POPSNew Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) at NASA
"Analyzing the spectrum of an object can tell us about its physical properties, including temperature, mass, and chemical composition. The atoms and molecules in the object actually imprint lines on its spectrum that uniquely fingerprint each chemical element present and can reveal a wealth of information about physical conditions in the object. Spectroscopy and spectrometry (the sciences of interpreting these lines) are among the sharpest tools in the shed for exploring the cosmos." "Many of the objects that the Webb will study, such as the first galaxies to form after the Big Bang, are so faint, that the Webb's giant mirror must stare at them for hundreds of hours in order to collect enough light to form a spectrum. In order to study thousands of galaxies during its 5 year mission, the NIRSpec is designed to observe 100 objects simultaneously. The NIRSpec will be the first spectrograph in space that has this remarkable multi-object capability. To make it possible, Goddard scientist
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POPSAda Lovelace Day (24 Mar) - Celebrate Women in Technology Ada Lovelace (1815-1852), Countess of Lovelace, is often credited with writing the first computer program. In her notes, Ada describes an algorithm for the analytical engine to compute Bernoulli numbers. It is generally considered the first algorithm ever specifically tailored for implementation on a computer.
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POPSDental Tales "Other doctors always look at you in a somewhat judging manner when you become ill, as if saying “what have you done to get sick like that". But with dentists, this is different. They just drill and fill and say to come again in a few months. Not a word about effective prevention... After all we brush, we floss, we eat healthy (or so we thought), but still have problems... The problem is how the blood sugar levels fluctuate and affect the rest of the system. After all our blood transports all the necessary minerals and vitamins to the various parts, including our teeth... High sugar levels in the blood cause the body to try to regain its balance, which takes time and during this time our immune system becomes vulnerable... Check out the 146 reasons why sugar is ruining our health: www.healingcancernaturally.com
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POPSThe Art of Productive Laziness "It is assumed that you are not stupid so you are already on the right hand side of the diagram, what you now need to do is hone your lazy skills in order to rise to the top right hand side of the diagram".
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POPSColorstrology A metaphysical world where color is your guide (go to site to find out 'your' color)... "The content in the site is strictly for entertainment purposes..."
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POPSClearest sign yet of dark matter detected "Had the experiment seen five events above the expected background, the claim for having detected dark matter would have been a lot stronger. Nonetheless, the team cannot dismiss the possibility that the two events are because of dark matter." "Space-based telescopes like PAMELA have seen particles that could be coming from the annihilation of dark matter in our galaxy. Similar sightings have been made by a balloon-based experiment called ATIC. Soon, the Large Hadron Collider will be starting to smash protons together in the hopes of creating dark matter."
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POPS"Blue Skies" versus "Goal-Oriented" Research The Large Hadron Collider at Cern near Geneva has now achieved the status of the most powerful particle accelerator and the biggest and most expensive experiment in history. Will it be worth its cost? (via @ProfBrianCox)
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POPSHow fast is your site? An experimental feature in Google's Webmaster Tools that shows you information about the speed of your site and suggestions for making it faster...
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POPSThe Big Picture of the Milky Way The image spans a mind-boggling area of 120 feet long (ca. 36.6 m) by 3 feet wide at its sides, bulging to 6 feet at the center of our humongous galaxy. The panorama represents the combined effort of two Spitzer survey teams, who used two of the onboard instruments.
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POPSSquare Twitter Co-Founder Launches New Mobile Payment System
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