StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, a cooperative computing project, helps find a prime that has nearly 13 million digits. LARGEST KNOWN PRIME NUMBER. Printing out all 13 million digits in 12-point type would create a number 30 miles long. But here are a few of the digits, from the beginning and the end of the full number.

Here’s a number to savor: 2^43,112,609-1

Its form is tidy and lovely: 2n-1

Anyone else turned on?

Largest prime number

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No doubt the conspiracy theorists will claim that the “hell demon” that floated ashore at Montauk Point on L.I. is the product of the Dept. of Agriculture lab at Plum Island (well, DHS Lab), but that’s bull! Its a chupacabra. Must have gotten caught in the current.

The close proximity of the Plum Island facility and the site of the Montauk Monster’s discovery had fueled speculation that the Monster of Montauk is property of the USDA and may have been an experiment gone wrong or a byproduct of improper disposal.

Meadow muffins!

Its a freakin’ Chupacabra! While the NY’er science community tries to figure out what it is, and while the anti-NBAF conspiracists try to prove that it is some type of mutation caused by the Plum Island facility research, and still others claim that the photo was photoshopped, all they need to do is ask a Texan about the Chupacabra. Go prove that it isn’t!

Chupacabra

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Using a spectrometer, Rice Univ. professor W.J. Llope has tested 25 commercially available types of granite from Houston-area dealers. He found countertops that could expose homeowners to 100 millirems of radiation in just a few months — the annual exposure limit set by the Department of Energy for visitors to nuclear labs.

While the typical response from the industry group representing the purveyors of granite kitchen countertops (Marble Industry of America) was that it was junk science. Dr. Llope’s information on this subject can be found here. His CV is here.

However, the Environmental Protection Agency has released a statement indicating that the granite countertops are safe.

For now, I’ll be happy with my upgraded formica, or maybe some Sylstone. But here’s a reassuring thought.

Jim Martinez, spokesman for the Marble Institute of America, said his group is putting together a board of experts to come up with a procedure for testing radiation levels in granite.

“We want to establish scientific standards and protocol that would allow consistent testing in a logical way,” he said.

Somehow, I just don’t think that this guy is as crazy as the Marble Institute of America wants to make him out to be. Certainly not with this list of publications.

EPA, Llope, Marble Industry of America, millirems

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Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind” was an anthem of my college years, Today, however, no less than T. Boone Pickens has concluded, that in fact, the answer is blowing in the wind. Alterative, renewable energy…all from natural air currents. Of course, environmentalists object to the large propeller towers because birds that fly into them, don’t fly out. The fact that some people do not believe that the plan will work, the Pickens Plan is to unlock the country from dependence on foreign oil by harnessing wind power.

“Sometimes it takes a crisis to awaken us from our slumber,” … “But once aroused, the American people can accomplish miracles”

With $58 million of his own fortune, Pickens plans to build the world’s largest wind farm in West Texas. There are plenty of detractors. The question is whether anyone is capable of proving Pickens wrong.

However, I continue to wonder why so many people object to exploration of renewable energy to unshackle at least part of our oil dependency. And if that is the case, why we wouldn’t also be serious about exploring the enormous power and energy generated by the waves in the oceans of the world.

ocean power, T. Boone Pickens, wave power, wind power

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Researchers are now reporting that an experimental immune system therapy using his own cells has put a male patient’s melanoma into a two year remission. The patient had suffered from melanoma in his lungs and groin. The Hutchinson Cancer Center reminds that this is only a small step forward, and is not ready for widespread use.

“It’s taken us many years to get to this point,” Yee says. “Hopefully, we’ll eventually streamline the process a bit, but it’s not something most labs do.”

No side effects were seen. Details of the melanoma patient’s case appear in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Published n the NE Journal of Medicine, the study describes this new approach.

The researchers grew T cells (that target a specific protein, or antigen, on the tumor cells) in the lab until they had a population they believed was large enough to destroy the cancer.

They infused five billion of the cloned cells into the patient. Two months later, PET (positron emission tomography) and CT (computed tomography) scans did not reveal any tumors—and the patient has remained disease-free for two years, Yee says.

“This is the first example that I can think of where someone actually grew CD4+ T cells outside the body and gave [them] back and got results,” says Willem Overwijk, an immunologist at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who was not involved in this study.

A small step, but an important step.

Cassian Yee, Experimental Melanoma Treatment, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

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Once again, my friend Moon has outdone himself.  Included in this post is this little “ditty” from FOX News: Study: Masturbation May Prevent Prostate Cancer. 

Take it for what you will

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Buried chemical weapons have been discovered…in Washington DC and in Hawaii.

A section northwest of DC, Spring Valley, is also the location of American University.  During the first World War, the area was known as the American University Experimental Station.  Here, at Camp Leach, we had an R&D facility for chemical weapons…this is where American University is today, and where in 1993, a utility contractor unearthed First World War munitions.  Additional checking found chemical munitions on the Korean ambassador property abutting American University.  The cleanup was scheduled to begin in the fall of 2007.

Additionally, arsenic-contaminated soil was also removed from an area on American University.  AU is among 145 arsenic sites that will cost $11 million and take until 2011 to clean-up.  Also found at AU was a bottle containing a small amount of Lewisite, a blister agent and one containing mustard gas.  OOOPS!

Also, the U.S. Army is cleaning up some discovered phosgene munitions in Hawaii.  More than 70  WWII projectiles were discovered on an old Stryker brigade training range. All except one were filled with phosgene, which was a main chemical warfare agent for the U.S. Army during the Second World War.

The projectiles included a mix of 38 each 155 mm projectiles; 22 each 75 mm projectiles; 11 each 4-inch Stokes mortars; and a good number of liquid-filled (not chemical agent) mortar and artillery projectiles. The Army has been setting this disposal process up carefully over the past year.

As I wrote, buried WMD have been found. Double OOOPS!!!

American University, buried WMD, Hawaii, Washington DC

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A public forum was held in Southhold Long Island to guage community reaction to the possibility of resurrecting the National Bio Agro Defense Facility on Plum Island. Its probably accurate to say that hands down Long Islanders responded with a resounding, “Hell No!”

Plum Island is only 1.5 miles from Orient Point at the tip of Long Island. Its been there for 55 years. Some people believe that horrible things have happened there. Some people believe that man-life threatening diseases have escaped from the Plum Island facility - hoof and mouth, West Nile - to name just two.

The paramount question concerned safety procedures at Plum Island. If a new center were built there, they asked, what would protect against the failure of systems designed to keep dangerous organisms from getting out?

“The basic issue is very simple. They are trying to put a bio-level four laboratory in an area with just one egress,” said Sandra Sinclair, of Orient, pointing out that only one two-lane road is available for people trying to leave the area. “They don’t seem to have a realistic plan [for evacuation].”

The first environmental impact statement (EIS) on the new location is expected to be issued in the next few months with the final EIS should be released in the Fall. After the EIS is issued, a second series of public hearings will occur and then the final site selection will be made at least 30 days after the final environmental impact statement is released for public comment.

EDITORIAL COMMENT: I think that one of the important things to consider that many of the conspiracy theorists and “chicken littles” are ignoring is that the safeguards and securities measures being incorporated into the plans for the new NBAF incorporate knowledge of, and therefore correct all if not “just” many of the previous safety and security issues that have been disclosed. For example, does anyone really think that after last year’s power system shutdown at the CDC lab that certain backup power systems will not be built into the new facility? Undoubtably, opponents of the NBAF will raise the spectre of rampant virus and bacteria escapes into the local community. To think that the new facility will not be the most safe and secure BSL-4 in the World (if not the Universe) is beyond naive.

NBAF

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I had forgotten that I posted about John Kanzius and his machine last June, ““Man Invents Machine To Turn Saltwater Into Fire”,” until I noticed a visitor looking at the post. Tonight on CBS 60 Minutes there was another feature on this man who now has shown demonstrable progress of killing cancer cells (apparently of all kinds) with his radio wave machine.

What if we told you that a guy with no background in science or medicine-not even a college degree-has come up with what may be one of the most promising breakthroughs in cancer research in years?

[:]

His name is John Kanzius, and he’s a former businessman and radio technician who built a radio wave machine that has cancer researchers so enthusiastic about its potential they’re pouring money and effort into testing it out.

Here’s the important part: if clinical trials pan out-and there’s still a long way to go-the Kanzius machine will zap cancer cells all through your body without the need for drugs or surgery and without side effects. None at all. At least that’s the idea.

Here’s the video:

Invention through necessity. What they showed on CBS tonight seemed pretty compelling.

John Kanzius

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A very large percentage of you will never see anything like this (or care for that matter).  I am not interested at all in this one (I don’t even understand the subject).  For the uninitiated, this is what a request for a proposal from the government looks like. Without DARPA and other programs like it, this Nation’s technical and scientific requirements would go unmet. Some still do (go unmet).

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency often selects its research efforts through the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) process. The BAA will appear first on the FedBizOpps website, http://www.fedbizopps.gov/, and Grants.gov website at http://www.grants.gov/. The following information is for those wishing to respond to the BAA.

DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of Quantum Entanglement Science and Technology (QuEST). Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in the fundamental understanding of quantum information science related to “small” quantum systems. Specifically excluded is research which primarily results in incremental improvement to the existing state of practice or knowledge.

Considerable progress has been made in recent years in understanding the fundamentals of quantum information science on both experimental and theoretical sides. In spite of this progress, many fundamental issues remain unresolved and many fundamental challenges remain. The objective of the QuEST program is to identify and address the most important outstanding challenges and opportunities, both experimental and theoretical, related to “small” coherent quantum systems, and resolve or exploit them to enable revolutionary advances in the field. In this context, “small” refers to quantum systems with minimal quantum resources (e.g. number of coherent qubits, entanglement, quantum memory, etc.). Results of such research are expected to lead to revolutionary advances in quantum information science and technology.

It takes alot of experience to even understand how to write these things. My work isn’t anywhere near as complex as this subject matter. But, welcome to my “day job.”  Any questions?

BAA

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Think of it as the perfect excuse to sit in front of the TV for the next few weeks and do nothing but watch the NCAA tournament.  At least that’s what one clinic in Oregon thinks.  Listen to the commercial for the procedure and see if you’re convinced.

“Research shows four out of five guys want to schedule their vasectomy before a major sports event.” Where do they research that? Anyway, clinic’s ad promises to send each patient a recovery kit of sports magazines, free pizza delivery and a bag of frozen peas (don’t’ ask, but peas are more malleable than say huge chunk of ice).

I can’t think of a better way, can you?  Dr. Walker of the clinic says, “Most guys bounce back in a couple of days,” but “Unfortunately, some stay down longer.”  

The clinic reports it has filled 15 of its available 24 slots.  That is to say the doctors will do 12 patients on March 19, the day before the first tipoffs of the NCAA Tournament, and another dozen for March 26, before the tournament’s second week…

I’m too old and too squeamish for stuff like this…sort of like, well, its not time for that yet…I need a grandson first before I have to worry.

Final Four, vasectomies

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Avoiding a future deep impact syndrome…with the shooting down of the U.S. Spy Satellite, the question of dealing with a real life “Deep Impact” (1998), students in the Technion Institute’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering recently developed a model for deflecting heavenly bodies that could damage Earth.  The model was developed out of fear that an asteroid (Apophis) could collide with Earth in 2036.

In the 1998 movie, “Deep Impact,” Robert Duvall sacrificed his life and his crew in a successful effort to destroy the larger of the two asteroids — The Technion model was been created and was presented at a competition of NASA and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.  The plan?  Here’s a depiction of the spacecraft.

Check out the paper.

Apophis, Deep Impact, roids, Technion Institute

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In attempting to delve into the perceptual differences that often exist in coupled relationships, I came across this bit of information that may begin to explain why wives have such a hard time accepting the reality that men can be gloriously happy being apparently consumed with some activity but actually doing absolutely nothing.  I wish to thank my wife and the University of Pennsylvania for this inspiration.

RESULTS from the TODAY Show Sex Differences Study

Hypothesis
We predicted that women would perform better on the Emotion Test while men would score higher on the Spatial Test.
Results Summary
The results for the study are shown below. As we had predicted, women scored higher on the Emotion Test across age and education categories, while men consistently scored higher on the Spatial Test. In addition to this finding, the results indicated that women chose correct responses more quickly than men on the Emotion Test, while men responded faster than women on the Spatial Test.

Study Finds Men’s Brains Deteriorate at Greater Rate - Men may lose their verbal abilities faster than women as they age, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania reported today.

Their study of 34 men and 35 women from 18 to 80 years old found that deterioration in the brain, especially the left side, which controls language and verbal abilities, was two to three times faster in men.

The researchers said the gender differences “suggest that female sex hormones may protect the brain from atrophy associated with aging.”

“That may have some implications for trying to look at the possibility of retarding the death of cells,” said Ruben C. Gur, a professor of neuro-psychology at the university, who led the study. But that possibility needs to be examined in further research, he added. [:]

Sex Differences Found in Proportions of Gray and White Matter in the Brain: Links to Differences in Cognitive Performance Seen

Head size correlates statistically with intelligence, a not-widely known fact &endash; greater cranial volumes are linked to higher intelligence. The correlation, while small, has been reported in multiple studies. And because, on average, men’s bodies are bigger than women’s, their heads too are larger than women’s. So, one might reasonably expect men to be more intelligent than women. This is not the case, however &endash; men and women consistently score equally on intelligence tests. For neuroscientists, this paradox has long presented a puzzle. If head size correlates with intelligence, and women have smaller heads, why don’t they have lower intelligence?

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center now report new findings that may help explain the conundrum: Women have a higher proportion of gray matter to cranial volume than men.

So now for the real pièce de résistance, something that my wife sent me this morning in an email titled, “This Explains It.” Now, we all know that the meaning of “it” varies from person to person, and based on this post, I would expect that readers would realize that the meaning of “it” also varies between men and women.  So here, for your viewing, and to elucidate on the wonderment of the differences between men and women is a short (about 5 mins.) film that is worth the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxtUH_bHBxs

mens and womens brains, University of Pennsylvania

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The future will bring us closer and closer to tomorrow, and tomorrow is more and more today.  Pleo is the brainchild of Caleb Chung, cocreator of the Furby, whose new company, Ugobe, was intended to be the next step in the evolution of robotic toys that exhibit social behaviors and learn from experience.

Ugobe’s vision was “of life-forms that people could bond with,” says the company’s CTO, John Sosoka. Pleo, he says, “exhibits stunning organic movement and dynamic behaviors unlike other robots in the market.”

● It nuzzles its head against its owner’s cheek in an apparent display of affection.
● It crouches and wags its tail like a dog that wants to play
● It cranes its neck to let out long, plaintive cries.
● Pleo’s emotive states include joy, sorrow, and anger.
● It can also be drowsy or even sick

Expressive bot: Pleo exhibits “happy,” one of its several emotive states.
Credit: Ugobe

Pleo’s hardware consists of 38 sensors, 14 motors, and more than 100 custom-designed gears. Light sensors and a camera in Pleo’s nose help it detect objects, color, and edges. Sound sensors allow some degree of “hearing” when “[Pleo] is still, and it is quiet,” Ugobe says. Eight capacitive touch sensors line Pleo’s shoulders, back, legs, head, and chin.

Pre-orders for this robo-toy started in June 2007 and they became available last week for a price of $349 per dino. Of course, you’re buying a robot that looks dinosaur…according to Tom Hershner, event coordinator of Robot Village…”there’s nothing else of that caliber of realism,” partly, he says, because of “the look of it.”

Should also see Your Robotic Personal Assistant

Aside from the Roomba, robots haven’t made much progress infiltrating American homes. But researchers at Stanford University have developed software that overcomes one of the biggest challenges: teaching a robot how to pick up an object it has never encountered before. The robot’s software suggests that the best way to pick up something new is by determining the most grabable part of the object–the stem of a wineglass, the handle of a mug, or the edge of a book, for instance.

Other Storm posts on robots, robotics and bots.

dino bot, dinosaur robot, Pleo

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On Sept. 10, 2001, Donald Rumsfeld asked that question of the unaccounted for $2.3 trillion.  Where did it ho?  Perhaps unconnected, perhaps not, is the question of a secret U.S. Space Program running parallel to NASA.  See this video on the “War on Waste.”

 Jane’s Intelligence Briefing, 1997 - No. 1: “The aero-diamond’s aerospike engine and diamond platform could propel the craft to speeds of Mach 14.”

You think?  Well, I don’t know the answers.  But its clear that most people don’t either.

Do Black Budget Trillions Support A Secret American Space Program?
Part 1: Secret American Military Space Program?
Part 2: Secret American Military Space Program?

Also refer to Secret American Military Space Program?

Do you know the answers?  The “truth is out there.”

aero diamonds aerospike engine, Janes Intelligence, Roswell, UFOs

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