The Cabal - Full Feed

Google's 'Social' Gmail: Could It Really Work?

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:06:16 -0800

Google's social networking component for Gmail will reportedly aggregate updates from friends into single tweet-like status updates. (Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/188830/googles_social_gmail_could_it_really_work.html)

Getting a Grip on Online Buzz

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:56:01 -0800

Viralheat's new analytics package allows for in-depth analysis of discussions about their products on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, including sentiment analysis, which calls for fairly sophisticated algorithms and processing power. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/web/24503/?a=f)

An Early Warning System for Cancer

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:46:52 -0800

A new screening tool developed by scientists in Denmark, comprising a microarray system that analyzes patients' blood, could detect the presence of autoantibodies as a warning sign of cancer. [pic] Overexpression of cancer-associated short glycan (sugar chains) structures (green) on proteins in cancer cells. (Kirstine Lavrsen) (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/24505/)

Excommunication, Canadian style.

Hoser Bluenoser — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:50:12 -0800

Excommunication, Canadian style. [more inside]

An experiment with strangers

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:40:02 -0800

Comedian Mark Malkoff wanted to see if he could get people to carry him across Manhattan. To augment his reality, he used Twitter, and procured the services of a film crew.
Ostensibly, his goal was to demonstrate that New Yorkers are a lot friendlier than their reputation. Regardless of anything else that one might conclude from watching his clip, there is something undeniably reassuring and most definitely touching about his [...]

85 ways to add magic to your world

BlueHorse — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:10:08 -0800

85 ways to add magic to your world [more inside]

Alvin Toffler, Jamais Cascio, and more weigh in on the “Next Big Thing”

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:35:06 -0800

Foreign Policy magazine has opinions from several thinkers on the subject of the “Next Big Thing.” Foreign Policy: The Next Big Thing Highlights: Jamais Cascio: Resilience (Nothing terribly new, but worth while) Parag Khanna: Neomedieval (Don’t like the ‘neomedieval’ term, and I think it’s a better of description of how things really work now than as future speculation, but [...] Related posts:

Outlaw Biology

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:40:04 -0800

Outlaw Biology was a DIY biology symposium held January 29-30 at UCLA. Here’s a list of workshops that may or may not have occurred: 1. Bioweathermap, Jason Bobe. With field-trips to the UCLA Arboretum and Hammer Museum (in cooperation with Machine Project 2. Learn to Design a DNA-based nanostructure using cadnano software, Philip Lukeman 3. Paint colorful [...] Related posts:

Interview with Metafilter Founder Matt Haughey

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:21:13 -0800

Me: You’ve said your advice for entrepreneurs is to avoid venture capital. Can you explain that a bit? Matt: I have so many friends in the technology industry who are so obsessed with getting funded. And they’re confusing that with getting paid and it being money. People see it as free money, and it’s not. A [...] Related posts:

No joke: South Carolina now requires ’subversives’ to register

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:00:42 -0800

Above: screenshot of the PDF form subversives are required to fill out. The headline says “no joke” but I’m not convinced this is real: Terrorists who want to overthrow the United States government must now register with South Carolina’s Secretary of State and declare their intentions — or face a $25,000 fine and up to 10 years [...] Related posts:

Follow-up essay on why you shouldn’t go to grad school in the humanities

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:48:18 -0800

Here’s the original essay. There was also a previous follow-up that I missed. She was the best student her adviser had ever seen (or so he said); it seemed like a dream when she was admitted to a distinguished doctoral program; she worked so hard for so long; she won almost every prize; she published several [...] Related posts:

Scientists identify first genetic variant linked to biological aging in humans

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:03:49 -0800

The risk of age-associated diseases including heart disease and some types of cancers are more closely related to biological rather than chronological age, European researchers have found, showing that telomere lengths depend on the presence of gene variants near a gene called TERC. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news184769662.html)

By tracking water molecules, physicists hope to unlock secrets of life

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:57:07 -0800

Rockefeller University researchers have discovered how interaction between water molecules paves the way for understanding how water can be manipulated to facilitate or prevent substances from dissolving in it, an advance that could impact every corner of society, from reforming agricultural practices to improving chemotherapy drugs whose side effects arise from their solubility or insolubility in water. (Source: http://www.physorg.com/news184840368.html)

U.S. Solar Market to Double in the Next Year

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:52:34 -0800

The United States is likely to be the world's largest market for solar power in a few years and this year's solar installations could double, reaching a gigawatt of capacity. The growth had several likely causes, including decreasing prices for solar panels and installation costs, and increasing state incentives. (Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/24498/?a=f)

Pentagon Looks to Breed Immortal 'Synthetic Organisms,' Molecular Kill-Switch Included

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:42:29 -0800

Darpa is investing $6 million in a project called BioDesign to develop creatures that are genetically engineered to bolster cell resistance to death. (Source: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/02/pentagon-looks-to-breed-immortal-synthetic-organisms-molecular-kill-switch-included/)

Parisian Love

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:14:32 -0800

Google's superbowl TV ad dramatizes the personal meaning of Web searching. (Source: )

Picture of the day

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:58:09 -0800

Z. Hong Zhou at the University of California, Los Angeles and colleagues have shown that the RNA and proteins in the rabies and vesicular stomatitis viruses wind together in a precise order, starting at the top of the bullet form, to form two nested helices. [pic] (Z. Hong Zhou / Science) (Source:

Found: Hawking's initials written into the universe

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:50:45 -0800

The Wilkinson Anisotropy Microwave Probe (WMAP) team points out that if something as unlikely as Hawking's initials can be found in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, the chances of finding other apparently improbable patterns may also be quite high, and asks readers to mark the shapes they find in the CMB image. "If you think you can see your initials, the face of Jesus or a unicorn, mark it in this interactive [...]

Unplugged: Goodbye cables, hello energy beams

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:39:15 -0800

Wireless power transmission, resonant magnetic coupling, infrared lasers are three methods of charging home appliances currently being researched, but safety concerns have been voiced. (Source: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527461.300-unplugged-goodbye-cables-hello-energy-beams.html?full=true)

Scientists make a leap in quantum computing

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:59:27 -0800

Princeton University and UC Santa Barbara scientists have succeeded in trapping one or two individual electrons to form spin qubits (quantum bits), allowing the electrons to behave quantum-mechanically for a long period of time. Previous experiments affected all the electrons uniformly in their immediate surroundings and were slow. ...

Quantum photosynthesis

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:13:46 -0800

Physical chemist Gregory Scholes of the University of Toronto and his colleagues have observed that energy introduced to light-harvesting systems of two species of photosynthetic algae acted in a distinctly quantum manner, even at ambient temperatures. In these algae, bilin pigments, like other light-harvesting antenna molecules, absorb solar photons, which excite their electrons. ...

You gotta love this! (Boomdeyada!)

oneswellfoop — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:00:08 -0800

You gotta love this! (Boomdeyada!)
Based on the comic based on the commercial, featuring an All Star Cast, kinda. [more inside]