Caring for Your Introvert →
Another great article on introverts, this time from the Atlantic.
MSNBC highlights the unprecedented photos of the space shuttle docked with the International Space Station, all of which can be seen (and downloaded) in high-res from NASA's gallery.
Cloverton →
I've had a song by Cloverton stuck in my head all day, only to find out it's currently available as a free download from FreeCCM. Check out "Take Me Into the Beautiful" for yourself.
Networks Dominated By Rule of the Few →
Oddly, a network's layout barely mattered. The number of nodes needed to control a whole network mostly depends on the average number of connections per node, the researchers found. Sparse networks, such as the regulatory system controlling genes in a yeast cell, are pretty resistant to control; roughly 80 percent of the nodes need to be influenced to get the desired outcome. Dense networks, on the other hand, such as many social networks, were much easier to control: Influence roughly 20 percent of the nodes and the whole network responds.
"Here I Raise My Ebenezer" →
More than 250 years ago, Robert Robinson put quill to paper and composed the words of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." One of Christendom's most beloved hymns, it stirs the intellectual soul in much the same way modern worship stirs the emotional one.Relevant Magazine covers some of the history and meaning behind one of my favorite hymns.
Evidence for a New Particle Gets Stronger →
According to Giovanni Punzi, a member of Fermilab's CDF collaboration team, we're not at discovery yet, but we're getting tantalizingly close. The first results were generated using 4.3 inverse femtobarns of data; we're now up to 7.3fb^-1, the peak is not going away, and the results are now closer to the five standard deviation standard. In addition, the detector team has gone back and eliminated some alternative explanations, like background from top quark production.Yeah, I definitely had to go look up what a barn is; I didn't learn that in school. A new particle would be cool, though.
[Update] Tevatron's second detector shows no sign of the new particle after analysis of its results.
DNA Computer Calculates Square Roots →
The work, reported in Science, required 130 strands of DNA to work in a cascade of programmed chemical changes.
This result far surpasses any other published calculations or previous complexity. Reportedly, the system is also capable of mimicking the capability of a debugger or compiler. More technical information on the process is on Ars Technica.
3 Banks Process 95% of Spam Transactions →
According to research performed by a team from the University of California-San Diego, the University of California-Berkeley, and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, just three banks are used to clear more than 95 percent of spam funds.