Uncategorized
- Computing
Games Theory
Online games can not only entertain but also provide valuable data for researchers tackling computer-vision and other tough computational problems.
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19807
It is ironic that this article describes a captcha [completely automated Turing test to tell computers and humans apart] and then goes on to demonstrate how to defeat it. An automated program that is supposed to pass this difficult computation test just has to forward the captcha image to a real person, at a different […]
- Agriculture
Herbal Herbicides
Scientists are tapping plants, and the self-defense chemicals they make, for new weed killers, many of which may find use in organic farming.
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19806
I find it absolutely incredible that anyone is seriously contemplating an escalation of “natural” herbicides as mentioned in this article. As there is no “additive” sprayed on the crop, no testing is likely in animal or human clinical trials. We in the first world must bear the brunt of this wholesale testing on populations, as […]
- Humans
Letters from the March 17, 2007, issue of Science News
Disputable thesis “Counterintuitive Toxicity: Increasingly, scientists are finding that they can’t predict a poison’s low-dose effects” (SN: 1/20/07, p. 40) took a wrong turn into Hormesis Swamp. The hormesis thesis has been thoroughly discredited by all major radiation organizations and professional societies, and its past conferences have been sponsored by tobacco companies and the U.S. […]
- Humans
From the March 6, 1937, issue
Machines creating new jobs, stopping smoke with sound, and conflicts over atomic structure.
- Earth
National Environmental Education Week
The third annual National Environmental Education Week will take place April 15-22, 2007, culminating with Earth Day on April 22. This site provides information about activities planned for that week. Go to: http://www.eeweek.org/
- Tech
Unlocking the Gaits: Robot tests locomotion switch
A blocky, bright-yellow robot that would look at home in a toy chest moves like a salamander, just as its inventors intended.
- Math
Functional Family: Mock theta mystery solved
Mathematicians have solved a legendary Indian mathematician's final problem.
- Earth
High and Dry: Pollution may stifle mountain precipitation
Trends seen in meteorological data gathered on a Chinese mountaintop suggest that air pollution reduces the amount of precipitation that falls in high-altitude regions.
- Math
Cutting a Pie Is No Piece of Cake
Mathematicians find that slicing a pie into fair pieces is harder than divvying up a sheet cake. The problem is that pie cuts are radial, not parallel.
- Humans
Bad Influence: TV, movies linked to adolescent smoking
White adolescents who have frequent exposure to television and R-rated movies are more likely to try smoking than are their peers with less exposure to these media.
