Science

New Enzyme Promises to Reduce Ethanol Costs

Posted by paneuropeanyank

University of Maryland research that started with bacteria from the Chesapeake Bay has led to a process that may be able to convert large volumes of all kinds of plant products, from leftover brewer's mash to paper trash, into ethanol and other biofuel alternatives to gasoline.

The secret to the process is a Chesapeake Bay marsh grass bacterium, S. degradans. Researchers found that the bacterium has an enzyme that could quickly break down plant materials into sugar, which can then be converted to biofuel.

Theresearchers were unable to isolate the Bay bacterium again in nature, but they discovered how to produce the enzyme in their own laboratories.

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Good news! Black hole won't destroy Earth

Posted by Jeff from MSNBC

This potential "black hole factory" has raised fears that a stray black hole could devour our planet whole. The Lifeboat Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to safeguarding humanity from what it considers threats to our existence, has stated that artificial black holes could "threaten all life on Earth" and so it proposes to set up "self-sustaining colonies elsewhere."

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You'd Look Sweet Upon the Seat of a Spaceship Built for Two

Posted by newshogg from Wired

Fancy this trip?

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French folk song is 'world's earliest recording', beating Edison by 11 years

Posted by Jeff from Times Online

American researchers have pieced together a 10-second audio clip of a French folk song which they believe is the oldest recognisable recording of the human voice.

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Who's your daddy? Answer's at the drugstore

Posted by Jeff from MSNBC

After two decades, Sean Reid of Surrey, British Columbia, discovered that he had a son. Fred Turley of Des Plaines, Ill., learned he didn’t have a daughter. And Wendy Lieb of Lewis Center, Ohio, made certain she wasn’t going to be a grandmother quite yet.

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Church of Scientology\\\\\\\'s \\\\\\\'Operating Thetan\\\\\\\' documents leaked online - Wikinews,

Posted by theangryindian from Wikinews

Wikinews has obtained \\\\\\\'Operating Thetan\\\\\\\' (OT) documents of the Church of Scientology which were leaked via Wikileaks. Although some portions of the manual have been leaked previously, this is believed to be the first time the full unedited version has been leaked.

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Upright Walking Began 6 Million Years Ago, Thigh Bone Comparison Suggests

Posted by Sandyenglish from Science Daily

A shape comparison of the most complete fossil femur (thigh bone) of one of the earliest known pre-humans, or hominins, with the femora of living apes, modern humans and other fossils, indicates the earliest form of bipedalism occurred at least six million years ago and persisted for at least four million years. William Jungers, Ph.D., of Stony Brook University, and Brian Richmond, Ph.D., of George Washington University, say their finding indicates that the fossil belongs to very early human ancestors, and that upright walking is one of the first human characteristics to appear in our lineage, right after the split between human and chimpanzee lineages. Their findings are published in the March 21 issue of the journal Science.

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