cemery's blog

Robot wars may threaten humanity

February 27, 2008

As robots take to the battlefield, a robot expert and one-time judge of Robot Wars is raising concerns about the creation of autonomous killing machines.

Photo of a square moon

February 12, 2008

NASA's Cassini spacecraft sent back a remarkable photograph of Epimetheus, a square moon of Saturn.

Smoking kills Nintendos

February 5, 2008

According to chatter on gaming blogs and the anti-smoking organization, Action on Smoking and Health, Nintendo has traced problems with its popular Wii gaming systems to smoke build up.

Smoking addiction linked to genes

February 5, 2008

In a paper published last week, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania studied the genetics of 14,000 people from the U.S. and Europe and found two genes that produce brain proteins that bind to nicotine. By looking at a second group of 8,000 people, they found common features in the CHRNA5/CHRNA3 gene cluster, on chromosome 15, that predisposes people to become heavy smokers.

Naked mole-rats feel the pain

January 29, 2008

The dismal lot of the naked mole-rat just got worse.

About as ugly as a mammal comes and confined underground with little oxygen to breath, the buck-toothed, hairless creatures had one thing going for them: they felt no pain from acids that irritate the skin of other mammals.

University of Illinois scientists weren't having it. They've figured out a way to "rescue" the mole rats' sense of pain by inserting the gene for the neurotransmitter, Substance P, into their DNA.

Drunk and amorous

January 7, 2008

Researchers at Penn State say that getting flies drunk heightens their sex drive to a point where males either can't tell or don't care about the sex of the mate they're pursuing -- drunken males chased females and males alike. They also bump into each other and bump into the walls of their glass enclosure

Baltimore Sun science writers launch new blog

January 4, 2008

Three Baltimore Sun science writers, including myself, have launched a new blog called Science Matters. It's a place for us to offer science news and commentary - both serious and quirky - that doesn't fit in the paper.

Eds note: Baltimore Sun is a first-rate paper. This blog will be worth watching.