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Links o' the day

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Two out of three Irish who surf the net log onto social networking sites. They’re bloody addictive. (Irish Examiner)

The future of news: rational business decisions. Some US publications are making the conscious decision to scale back on some services because it costs too much per subscriber — with consequences for the quality of journalism. (Scholars and Rogues)

The Kennewick Men. Catholicgauze continues his look at the pre-Columban settlers of North America with a post on Kennewick Man, who was of Caucasoid rather than paleo-Indian origin.

Band releases album on floppy disk. It’s 74 minutes of music compressed to fit into 1.44mb. (PC Pro)

Egypt plan to green Sahara desert stirs controversy. Well it was grassland and forest a few thousand years ago… though it may deplete already sparse water sources. (Reuters)

Space habitats

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From Cosmos magazine:

Australian-led scientists have designed a new space habitat that might one day allow astronauts on the Moon or Mars to be 90 to 95 per cent self-sufficient.

The development of such as system could save billions of dollars in shuttle trips to re-supply lunar or space colonies and brings closer the vision of a human habitat on Mars.

The technology could also have applications on Earth to develop more sustainable farming techniques and improve recycling processes.

The astronauts — the current design is for 12 people living within the system for three years — would subsist on a largely vegetarian diet as they would be able to grow things like peanuts, wheat and tomatoes. Algae would help provide oxygen, although 100% self-sufficiency is impossible due to micro leaks and such.

It will be at least 20 if not 30 years before this technology is realised, but will be key to the settlement of the moon, Mars and elsewhere.

Artificial life's looking good

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The announcement of artificial life could be just weeks away, a synthetic chromosone inserted into a living cell.

Not only is this an extraordinary scientific breakthrough, it could be of enormous help weaning ourselves off oil — at least, that’s according to Dr Ari Patrinos.

He told Earth2Tech:

a designer organism could be developed to only perform certain tasks, like converting sugar to ethanol, which would result in a very efficient process. Natural microbes have other life priorities, like replication, he says, but a synthetic organism can be created to just perform one function.

This could happen within 10 years and produced “significant” amounts of friendly fuels.

I’m quite giddy at the prospect of artificial life, let alone the benefits it could bring in the fight against climate change. I’ve mused in the past about how science could help us to help ourselves, and this looks like more good news in that regard.

That said, any biological work comes with a risk of unforeseen consequences. Will mutations scupper this promising enterprise? Only time will tell.

An assassin's identity

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From the International Herald Tribune:

The independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper and Russian prosecutors know the identity of the man who killed Anna Politkovskaya, the newspaper’s correspondent who was slain in a contract-style killing last year, according to the newspaper’s editor and a special report.

But the identity of the person who ordered the killing has not been determined and the man who shot Politkovskaya has not been found and arrested, the editor said. He added that more time was needed to investigate the case.

The special report is apparently “not a full disclosure of what the editors know”. The paper is working with police on the case, although I have my doubts the authorities have the will to catch the guy.

The newspaper’s editor in chief Dmitry Muratov said: “My main task is not to give interviews and to write stories. I want the bastards in jail.”

Me too. Take ’em down.

Save your math for the war*

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An absolute gem unearthed by Frank Little of The Cedar Lounge Revolution:

Patricia Sullivan, a professor at the University of Georgia in the US, has devised a mathematical equation to predict the outcome of conflicts based on a detailed analysis of 122 military interventions involving the US, Britain, China, Russia and France since 1945.

She claims the equation is accurate in 78% of cases.

The equation is posted on Cedar Lounge, which notes Sullivan’s argument that “key determinant in many conflicts has been the attitude of the civilian population”. Winning hearts and minds is as vital in the aftermath of upheaval — a patten that can be found throughout history — as it is in domestic politics.

*If you get this reference I will be so utterly impressed you’ll get a blog post dedicated to you. Can’t say I’m not generous!