SciScoop Science Blog

Lounging with a Sumo

Andrew at Sumolounge.com sent me one of their giant beanbags to review and perhaps mention on the site. I spent a few days lolling around in the TV room with it, manipulating it into different shapes and trying to persuade my wife to come and share it...

Japanese Develop New IC with MRAM + Arithmetic Unit

Hitachi and a Japanese university has developed a new chip containing both 'logic' (arithmetic unit) and an MRAM (spintronics-based) chip. Placing memory and logic together makes it quicker and the MRAM means that the memory does not have to be 'refreshed' all the time (it's non-volatile).

Cancer Myths Debunked

There are many myths about cancer and its causes. For instance, environmental factors are not the big risk many people assume while established risk factors, such as drinking alcohol are ignored. The first global survey on the topic of cancer misconceptions was published today by Roy Morgan Research and Gallup International on behalf of the International Union of Against Cancer (UICC).

Dawkins, Fart of God

"Hah hah you f**king dumb*ss, I hope you get hit by a church van tonight and die slowly" "I hope you die slowly and you f*cking burn in hell you damned blasphemy and you should realize that your entire life has been a delusion" "Your destiny is all f*cked up you f*cking atheist" "Go f*ck yourself, you sir are an absolute *ss" "Your famed intelligence is nothing more than the fart of god" "You suck, go burn in hells" Just some of the wonderful fan emails received by Professor Richard Dawkins, from which he reads in this great clip.

Thirteen Planets Orbit the Sun

Mark Sykes says that if a non-stellar object is massive enough to be almost spherical and it orbits a star, then it ought to be called a planet. With this definition the solar system will become a 13-planet system.

The End of Oil? Not Yet!

There are some things most people today know about oil. * Global oil output is going to plummet * Prices are going to rise forever * The transition to alternative energy will be long and painful * There will be more `oil wars' and industrial civilization may collapse * Oil and gas will cause catastrophic climate change The problem is that these ideas are wrong.

A Bright Future for OLED Lighting

The Research Institute for Organic Electronics (RIOE) from Japan focuses on developing the world-leading technology to put the Organic EL lighting into practical use. They have put up a page showing what the future will look like with OLED lighting. There are several OLED 'lamp' prototypes shown, and a nice video with more examples.