for free, a good companion to the books (being that the books are based on these lectures)...

[Werd.... - Nanochick]

the Fynman lectures on physics on mp3

] The upper temperature limit at which life can exist has
] been extended to 121°C, 8°C higher than the previous
] record holder. The hardy organism, given the preliminary
] name Strain 121, was found at a "black smoker"
] hydrothermal vent on the floor of the northeast Pacific
] Ocean.

This is cool. Its amazing to think that there is an organism out there whose DNA doesn't degrade at such temperatures, and whos proteins stay folded correctly. It will be neat to see what comes out of this research, as proteins found in organisms such as this can be put to use creatively in biotech.

New Scientist

] Heads up, sharers of music, video and software files: If
] a prominent Michigan lawmaker has his way on Capitol
] Hill, you will soon be a felon.
]
] U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Detroit Democrat, is the
] sponsor of the Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner
] Protection and Security (ACCOPS) Act of 2003, which
] declares sharing a single copyrighted file online to be a
] felony.
]
] Because the bill doesn't specifically name the type of
] file, you could theoretically become a felon by copying
] and posting this very column on your Web site. (We frown
] on that sort of thing anyway, but webmasters, be warned.)
]
] Giving fake information to the folks who register domain
] names, the basic Internet Web addresses (such as
] freep.com), would be punishable by up to five years in
] prison and a fine. Using a camcorder to record a movie in
] a theater -- whether you share it or not -- would be a
] federal criminal offense.

HEATHER NEWMAN: 60 million file sharers could face prison, fine

] Armed with inexpensive, mass-produced gems, two startups
] are launching an assault on the De Beers cartel.
]
] Next up: the computing industry.
]
] By Joshua Davis
]
] Aron Weingarten brings the yellow diamond up to the
] stainless steel jeweler's loupe he holds against his eye.
] We are in Antwerp, Belgium, in Weingarten's marbled and
] gilded living room on the edge of the city's gem
] district, the center of the diamond universe. Nearly 80
] percent of the world's rough and polished diamonds move
] through the hands of Belgian gem traders like Weingarten,
] a dealer who wears the thick beard and black suit of the
] Hasidim.
]
] "This is very rare stone," he says, almost to himself, in
] thickly accented English. "Yellow diamonds of this color
] are very hard to find. It is probably worth 10, maybe 15
] thousand dollars."
]
] "I have two more exactly like it in my pocket," I tell
] him.
]
] He puts the diamond down and looks at me seriously for
] the first time. I place the other two stones on the
] table. They are all the same color and size. To find
] three nearly identical yellow diamonds is like flipping a
] coin 10,000 times and never seeing tails.
]
] "These are cubic zirconium?" Weingarten says without much
] hope.
]
] "No, they're real," I tell him. "But they were made by a machine
] in Florida for less than a hundred dollars."

Wired 11.09: The New Diamond Age

] A major power outage simultaneously struck dozens of
] cities in the United States and Canada late Thursday
] afternoon.
]
] Cities affected include New York; Cleveland, Ohio;
] Detroit, Michigan; Toronto and Ottawa, Canada. The power
] outage occurred shortly after 4 p.m. Officials said the
] outage does not appear to be related to terrorism.

CNN.com - Major power outage hits New York, other large cities - Aug. 14, 2003

interesting site. I also get a free subscription to "Small Times" because of my science geekiness....werd.

Howard Lovy's NanoBot

wilpig wrote:
] ] Scientists in China have, for the first time, used
] ] cloning techniques to create hybrid embryos that contain
] ] a mix of DNA from both humans and rabbits, according to a
] ] report in a scientific journal that has reignited the
] ] smoldering ethics debate over cloning research.
]
] Even though they claim most of the rabbit DNA was removed
] prior to the fusing, how valid of a test cell would these
] actually be? Without having 100% of the qualities of a normal
] cell how could we actually use these and get reliable results?

Actually pretty valid. They suck out the nucleus of the rabbit egg, which disposes of all the DNA. The only DNA left in the hybrid cell from the Rabbit is mitochondrial DNA, because mitochodria are in the cytoplasm. They do have 100% of the qualities of a normal cell...every part of a cell is there....its just that some parts (especially cytoplasmic parts) come from the rabbit egg, and the genetic material comes from the human cells. This is a useful thing, because researchers can use a system like this to get new stem cells without it being as unethically sound.

sorry...had to get all geeky there for a second:)

RE: Cloning Yields Human-Rabbit Hybrid Embryo (washingtonpost.com)

The band I went to see at "The Earl" tonight....they are very rad, and are touring the US right now. I recommend you check them out if they come near your town.

The Mercury Program

] For all they share economically and culturally, Canada
] and the United States are increasingly at odds on basic
] social policies -- to the point that at least a few
] discontented Americans are planning to move north and try
] their neighbors' way of life.

CNN.com - Dismayed Americans contemplate Canada - Jul. 19, 2003

] A vaccine using a harmless relative of the West Nile
] virus could offer a way to protect people against the
] disease, researchers in Australia said on Monday.

West Nile vaccine