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POPS"Supercomputers could revolutionize science more profoundly than at any time since Galileo" Supercomputing has made huge advances over the last decade or so, gradually packing on the ability to handle more and more data points in increasingly complex ways. It has enabled scientists to test theories, design experiments and predict outcomes as never before. But now, the new class of petaflop-scale machines is poised to bring about major qualitative changes in the way science is done. "The new capability allows you to do fundamentally new physics and tackle new problems," said Thomas Zacharia, who heads up computer science at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee"And it will accelerate the transition from basic research to applied technology
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POPS Invisibility cloaks could take sting out of tsunamis "I think that this is a great idea with much potential," says Ulf Leonhardt at the University of St Andrews, UK. "One could really imagine protecting coastlines by arrays of cleverly designed concrete poles." Such structures act like metamaterials, materials whose properties result from their structure not composition, and can be used to make invisibility cloaks for light, he says. But Guenneau cautions that large structures like islands and coastlines are unlikely to become invisible anytime soon, because building the many small islands needed to protect one is such a big job. "It's crazy – maybe only people in Dubai could do this," he adds, referring to the spectacular artificial islands built there. Smaller structures such as offshore oil platforms would be easier to protect, he says.
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POPSRight and wrong lessons from biology The opposite view stresses that evolution is an extremely effective way of searching parameter space, and that in consequence is that we should assume that biological design solutions are likely to be close to optimal for the environment for which they’ve evolved. Where these design solutions seem odd from our point of view, their unfamiliarity is to be ascribed to the different ways in which physics works at the nanoscale. At its most extreme, this view regards biological nanotechnology, not just as the existence proof for nanotechnology, but as an upper limit on its capabilities.
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POPSTests on sunscreen nanoparticles 'reassuring' I don't like the sound of it. They have found that Zinc Oxide is toxic to the immune system, and their results seem to show that the nanoparticles are not in the blood stream a few days later, but they can't say where they were. They looked in fluids, like blood and urine, when they could have been deposited anywhere. In the bones? In the marrow? In the liver? in muscle fibres? The studies are continuing and some of these places will be tested in mice. Why they didn't start with mice I don't know. They need a few more biopsies. They also say that it is likely to be cleared from the body before toxic concentrations built up. I'm sure that doesn't take into account some of the extremes people will go to to be 'sure' of getting sun protection. i.e. applying layer upon layer all day. Seems a lot more dangerous than sunshine. Still, perhaps they'll find out where it goes after further study.
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POPSThe house that shaped an architectural generation Since this small house came into being, the idea of deconstructing traditional elements and reassembling them according to obscure and abstract comments has become the norm in the industry, particularly for major public buildings. There is considerable controversy surrounding his work and the current state of Deconstructivism, though the influence of Gehry’s approach to design is unquestionably felt throughout the practice of global architecture today.
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POPSAssessment of WAR. Detailed
"The stories emerging from the less-gagged American media suggest two scenarios. The first is that Israel targeted Iranian supplies passing through Syria on their way to Hezbollah; the second that Israel struck at a fledgling Syrian nuclear plant where materials from North Korea were being offloaded, possibly as part of a joint nuclear effort by Damascus and Tehran. "The nuclear claims against Damascus were discounted so quickly by experts of the region that Washington was soon downgrading the accusation to claims that Syria was only hiding the material on North Korea's behalf. But why would Syria, already hounded by Israel and the US, provide such a ready-made pretext for still harsher treatment? Why, equally, would North Korea undermine its hard-won disarmament deal with the US? And why, if Syria were covertly engaging in nuclear mischief, did it alert the world to the fact by revealing the Israeli air strike? "The other justification was based in a more credible reality:"
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