http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out An unabashed nerd's guide to science, technology and cyberculture. If you you use an RSS reader, here is the feed for Geeking Out: XML. en-us ryeguy123@yahoo.com 2009-08-17T21:00:00-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 An unabashed nerd's guide to science, technology and cyberculture. If you you use an RSS reader, here is the feed for Geeking Out: XML. The trillions of points of data needed to model the explosion of a star would take three years just to download, and scientists are maxing out computer processing applying this data in simulations. Using parallel processing and more efficient organization... http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/17/simulating_a_supernova.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out The trillions of points of data needed to model the explosion of a star would take three years just to download, and scientists are maxing out computer processing applying this data in simulations. Using parallel processing and more efficient organization... 14281403@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-17T21:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/16/god_on_the_brain.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out NPR has compiled their five part series on god in the brain into a nice flash presentation. Lot’s of thought-provoking material here. NPR God in the Brain Series Credit: NPR... 14281303@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-16T21:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/15/a_flight_simulator_for_flies.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out To learn how a bow fly is able to perform the aerial acrobatics and precision maneuvers required to avoid our fly swatters, researchers have created a flight simulator for flies where they can plug electrodes into the fly’s brain and... 14281203@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-15T21:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/14/diane_fossey_vs_the_driver_ant.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out The late Dian Fossey describes digging for gorilla bones and waking up to find the gravesite overrun with driver ants, which swarm like a river devouring all in their path. Driver Ants Credit: Mehmet Karatay... 14281103@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-14T21:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/13/searching_for_amelia_earharts.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out Researchers at the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery are looking for DNA evidence to prove that Amelia Earhart landed on Nikumaroro Island and was stranded there, eventually perishing. Amelia Earhart... 14281003@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-13T21:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/12/computer_images_of_prehistoric.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out Taking 3,000 X-rays of fossils between 359-299 million years old reveals 3-D images of ancient spiders, which did not spin silk, but did have diverse evolutionary adaptations by which we may infer what life was like for them. Eophrynus, 300... 14280903@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-12T21:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/08/mickey_mouse_evolved_for_our_l.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out Micky Mouse’s evolution from his early appearance to a softer, more cuddly and juvenile appearance was the same adaptive measure young mammals use to appeal to adults. Mickey Mouse Evolution The 50-year evolution of Mickey Mouse provides another example of... 14088203@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-08T01:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/07/vanishing_head_illusion_dispro.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out One of the favorite arguments of Creationists is that evolution couldn’t have produced complex structures like the human eye. In fact, we have a very good understanding of how eyes evolved, from light-detecting cells in photosynthesizing microbes that allowed them... 14088103@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-07T01:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/06/swarming_red_crabs_on_christma.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out Every year, red crabs migrate in huge herds across Christmas Island to spawn, walking a kilometre a day, while they cannot walk for more than five minutes normally. Now scientists have found the crabs are driven by the release of... 14087703@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-06T01:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/05/amphibians_mating_by_the_full.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out Tonight, when the next full moon comes out, think about the fact that researchers have discovered the world’s amphibians are in synchronized mating. You might even try impressing your date with this information! Mating Frogs Credit: minipixel, Everything is Permuted,... 14087803@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-05T01:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/03/sweat_allows_us_to_withstand_b.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out This animation by Lev Yilmaz about a Colonial-era experiment to see how much heat a human can withstand demonstrates how incredibly effective sweating is:... 14087603@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-03T20:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/02/america_saves_23_quadrillion_b.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out USA! USA! Energy use in America dropped 2.3 quadrillion BTU’s in 2008 from 2007, with the biggest drops in the industrial and transportation sectors, increases in commercial and residential use, increases in wind and nuclear power, and more than 50... 14087503@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-02T20:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/08/01/the_un_is_prepared_for_extrate.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out The United Nations has an Office for Outer Space Affairs, which will be responsible for arranging a meeting between the UN Secretary General and any extraterrestrials who may show up on Earth… they also do plenty of more important work,... 14087403@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-08-01T20:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/07/31/thomas_jefferson_uber_geek.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out Enjoy Wired Magazine’s photo-tour of Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello, where he tried to bring science gadgets into every aspect of his life. Monticello reflected in Fish Pond Credit: afagen... 14087303@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-07-31T20:00:00-05:00 http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/entries/2009/07/30/sea_snakes_need_freshwater_too.html?cxntfid=blogs_geeking_out Sea snakes evolved from land to the sea, which means the ocean is like a desert to them, and they must find freshwater to hydrate. The article also delves into the adaptations other species use to eliminate excess salt from... 14087203@http://www.dailyadvance.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/geek/ 2009-07-30T21:00:00-05:00