Tag: science

Thomas Holbrook II | The *Nixed Report

On the week of Star Wars Day, there have been several incredible things. However, in the interest of time today, this week’s roundup will be kept brief.

Unix

A new snapshot of OpenIndiana has been released. Support for USB 3.0, more Intel GPU’s, and updated software are included in this release update. OpenIndiana is a derivative of OpenSolaris that uses the Illumos kernel.

Overlooked Pop Culture

Those who are visually impaired may have some hope. A student has been able to synthesize an artificial retina. Though there is a long way before human trials, it’s definitely showing some promise.

That’s all for this week. There will definitely be more next week.

The podcast has had hosts come and go over the last several months.  With each new episode, it became clear that more perspectives were needed.

Fortunately, it seems the right people come along at the right time.  We’re proud to announce that Curtis Warren will be joining the team.

Science has been an important factor throughout his life, and this background will help the show tremendously.

He also likes video games and has recently resumed playing Magic the Gathering after a lengthy hiatus.  He’s excited about the opportunity to bring his unique perspective to the podcast and had this to say:

I would like to share my compassion and passion for Nature, for gaming, and for Education. I’m a huge advocate for making use of the natural world and caring for others and I think that Gaming, Science, and Art are ways we can accomplish that and make the world a better place.

He makes his debut on tonight’s live recording session.

Ah, wonderful glorious scientific research.  It can bring about amazing discoveries, such as cures to diseases.

Unfortunately, one of those so called “possible cures” for AIDS turned out to be a false positive.  According to the New York Post:

Dr. Dong-Pyou Han spiked a clinical test sample with healthy human blood to make it appear that the rabbit serum produced disease-fighting antibodies, officials said.

$19 USD in grants were received, his “findings” were published in journals, and others wondered how he managed to pull it off.  Things were hunky dory until the National Institutes of Health checked the so called “serum” to find it had been spiked.

So remember, when someone says, “follow the science,” trust only after verifying.