The coolest part is seeing the gravitational pull of the sun affect its trajectory. You can clearly see it bend towards the sun.

Researchers at the University of London Institute of Psychiatry recently released a report showing that workers bombarded with phone calls, e-mails and text messages suffer a greater loss in IQ than marijuana users.

Glenn Wilson, a psychiatrist at King College London University, and his team of researchers monitored the IQ of 80 volunteers while they performed problem-solving tasks, first in a quiet environment and then while being distracted with e-mails and phone calls. The study found that people balancing a steady inflow of messages while attempting to work experienced a 10-point decrease in IQ , more than double the four-point drop caused by smoking marijuana.

The most damage was done, according to the survey, by the almost complete lack of discipline in handling emails. Dr Wilson and his colleagues found a compulsion to reply to each new message, leading to constant changes of direction which inevitably tired and slowed down the brain.

Christopher Kimble, from the University of York, UK, adds that the quality of information contained in communications can also be a major problem for workers. His own research, carried out within a large multinational company, shows that key employees, such as secretaries and IT support staff, can be particularly affected by misleading or incomplete emails. These increase the time required to complete the task, when a short phone conversation would have been much more efficient.

Wilson's research is no flash in the pan. Computer technology in its modern, interconnected form is dumbing down the population more rapidly than television. A study of 100,000 school children in over 30 countries around the world testified that non-computer using kids performed better in literacy and numeracy schools than PC-using children. Education experts have dubbed it the "problem solving deficit disorder".

A REG (Random Event Generator) is just a basic piece of equipment that spits out random patterns of zeros and ones, which is translated to a graph, where it produces a roughly constant, flat line. What's weird is that, when 9/11 happened, the graphed line from the Random Event Generator started to move up sharply, four hours before the planes even hit the twin towers.And the same thing happened 24 hours before the Asian tsunami, in 2004. What's even more, is that no one has been able to explain it, or disprove it.

The Global Consciousness Project (GCP), originating from Princeton, have named these random event generators "Electrogaiagrams" (EGGs) and are using them to test whether a human consciousness extends a field around the earth which can change the results of random events.They claim that when an important event occurs, such as the 9/11 terrorist attack or the Indian Ocean tsunami, the random event generators start to display patterns that should not exist in truly random sequences.

Not only does the GCP detect spikes of less-than-random activity around some important events, but according to the project it actually predicts them, too. In the aforementioned 9/11 attack there was a bizarre spike of non-random activity four hours before the attacks; as for the Indian Ocean tsunami, analysts say that the EGGs detected it 24 hours in advance. "We may be able to predict that a major world event is going to happen," says Roger Nelson, the project leader. "But we won't know exactly what will happen or where it's going to happen."

As it stands now it will be difficult for the GCP to predict events since they examine data from the EGGs after an event occurs. In each study, an important event is chosen, ranging from the funeral of Princess Di to an Oprah Winfrey special airing on television. They then analyze a certain timespan around the event to test if the EGGs created numbers that are conclusively too patterned to be random.

So could the Global Consciousness Project really be forecasting the future?

Cynics will quite rightly point out that there is always some global event that could be used to 'explain' the times when the Egg machines behaved erratically. After all, our world is full of wars, disasters and terrorist outrages, as well as the occasional global celebration. Are the scientists simply trying too hard to detect patterns in their raw data?

The team behind the project insist not. They claim that by using rigorous scientific techniques and powerful mathematics it is possible to exclude any such random connections.

'We're perfectly willing to discover that we've made mistakes,' says Dr Nelson (also working at Princeton University). 'But we haven't been able to find any, and neither has anyone else.

Our data shows clearly that the chances of getting these results by fluke are one million to one against.

That's hugely significant.' But many remain sceptical.

Professor Chris French, a psychologist and noted sceptic at Goldsmiths College in London, says: 'The Global Consciousness Project has generated some very intriguing results that cannot be readily dismissed. I'm involved in similar work to see if we get the same results. We haven't managed to do so yet but it's only an early experiment. The jury's still out.' Strange as it may seem, though, there's nothing in the laws of physics that precludes the possibility of foreseeing the future.

It is possible - in theory - that time may not just move forwards but backwards, too. And if time ebbs and flows like the tides in the sea, it might just be possible to foretell major world events. We would, in effect, be 'remembering' things that had taken place in our future.

'There's plenty of evidence that time may run backwards,' says Prof Bierman at the University of Amsterdam.

'And if it's possible for it to happen in physics, then it can happen in our minds, too.' In other words, Prof Bierman believes that we are all capable of looking into the future, if only we could tap into the hidden power of our minds. And there is a tantalising body of evidence to support this theory.

Dr John Hartwell, working at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, was the first to uncover evidence that people could sense the future. In the mid-1970s he hooked people up to hospital scanning machines so that he could study their brainwave patterns.

He began by showing them a sequence of provocative cartoon drawings.

When the pictures were shown, the machines registered the subject's brainwaves as they reacted strongly to the images before them. This was to be expected.

Far less easy to explain was the fact that in many cases, these dramatic patterns began to register a few seconds before each of the pictures were even flashed up.

It was as though Dr Hartwell's case studies were somehow seeing into the future, and detecting when the next shocking image would be shown next.

It was extraordinary - and seemingly inexplicable.

But it was to be another 15 years before anyone else took Dr Hartwell's work further when Dean Radin, a researcher working in America, connected people up to a machine that measured their skin's resistance to electricity. This is known to fluctuate in tandem with our moods - indeed, it's this principle that underlies many lie detectors.

Radin repeated Dr Hartwell's 'image response' experiments while measuring skin resistance. Again, people began reacting a few seconds before they were shown the provocative pictures. This was clearly impossible, or so he thought, so he kept on repeating the experiments. And he kept getting the same results.

'I didn't believe it either,' says Prof Bierman. 'So I also repeated the experiment myself and got the same results. I was shocked. After this I started to think more deeply about the nature of time.' To make matters even more intriguing, Prof Bierman says that other mainstream labs have now produced similar results but are yet to go public.

'They don't want to be ridiculed so they won't release their findings,' he says. 'So I'm trying to persuade all of them to release their results at the same time. That would at least spread the ridicule a little more thinly!' If Prof Bierman is right, though, then the experiments are no laughing matter.

They might help provide a solid scientific grounding for such strange phenomena as 'deja vu', intuition and a host of other curiosities that we have all experienced from time to time.

They may also open up a far more interesting possibility - that one day we might be able to enhance psychic powers using machines that can 'tune in' to our subconscious mind, machines like the little black box in Edinburgh.

Just as we have built mechanical engines to replace muscle power, could we one day build a device to enhance and interpret our hidden psychic abilities?

Dr Nelson is optimistic - but not for the short term. 'We may be able to predict that a major world event is going to happen. But we won't know exactly what will happen or where it's going to happen,' he says.

'Put it this way - we haven't yet got a machine we could sell to the CIA.'

But for Dr Nelson, talk of such psychic machines - with the potential to detect global catastrophes or terrorist outrages - is of far less importance than the implications of his work in terms of the human race.

For what his experiments appear to demonstrate is that while we may all operate as individuals, we also appear to share something far, far greater - a global consciousness. Some might call it the mind of God.

'We're taught to be individualistic monsters,' he says. 'We're driven by society to separate ourselves from each other. That's not right. We may be connected together far more intimately than we realise.'
For more details:
The Global Consciousness Project Homepage
Wikipedia entry on the Global Consciousness Project

Here on planet Earth, we're completely oblivious to the grand scale of things in the universe. Much the way we perceive dust particles as being insignifcant, universally speaking we are not much more than this. The scale of things is mind blowing!

So how small are we really? Click to open an awesome image that explains visually how massive some celestial objects really are. The Largest Known Star might take a bit to load since it’s an animated gif.

But be patient because it’s worth the wait.

The last star is called VY Canis Majoris, a hypergiant star located 5,000 light years from earth and is considered to be the largest star discovered in the universe.

The University of Michigan researchers said their accomplishment marks an advance toward super-fast quantum computing and data transmission.

The scientists used light to establish what's called "entanglement" between two atoms, which were trapped one meter apart in separate enclosures. They described entangling as similar to controlling the outcome of one coin flip with the outcome of a separate coin flip.

David Moehring, the lead author of the paper who did this research as a U-M graduate student, says the most important feature of this experiment is the distance between the two atoms."This linkage between remote atoms could be the fundamental piece of a radically new quantum computer architecture," said Professor Christopher Monroe, principal investigator of the research who has since moved to the University of Maryland.

"Now that the technique has been demonstrated, it should be possible to scale it up to networks of many interconnected components that will eventually be necessary for quantum information processing," Monroe said. The research by Monroe, lead author David Moehring and colleagues is reported in the Sept. 6 issue of the journal Nature.

"The separation of the qubits in our entangled state is the most important feature," Moehring said. "Localized entanglement has been performed in ion trap qubits in the past, but if one desires to build a scalable quantum computer network (or a quantum internet), the creation of entanglement schemes between remotely entangled qubit memories is necessary."

In this experiment, the researchers used two atoms to function as qubits, or quantum bits, storing a piece of information in their electron configuration. They then excited each atom, inducing electrons to fall into a lower energy state and emit one photon, or one particle of light, in the process.

The atoms, which were actually ions of the rare-earth element ytterbium, are capable of emitting two different types of photon of different wavelengths. The type of photon released by each atom indicates the particular state of the atom. Because of this, each photon was entangled with its atom.

By manipulating the photons emitted from each of the two atoms and guiding them to interact along a fiber optic thread, the researchers were able to detect the resulting photon clicks and entangle the atoms. Monroe says the fiber optic thread was necessary to establish entanglement of the atoms, but then the fiber could be severed and the two atoms would remain entangled, even if one were "(carefully) taken to Jupiter".

Each qubit's information is like a single bit of information in a conventional computer, which is represented as a 0 or a 1. Things get weird on the quantum scale, though, and a qubit can be either a 0, a 1, or both at the same time, Monroe says. Scientists call this phenomenon "superposition." Even weirder, scientists can't directly observe superposition, because the act of measuring the qubit affects it and forces it to become either a 0 or a 1.

Entangled particles can revert automatically to the same position once measured, for example always ending in 0,0 or 1,1.

"When entangled objects are measured, they always result in some sort of correlation, like always getting two coins to come up the same, even though they may be very far apart," Monroe said. "Einstein called this 'spooky action-at-a-distance,' and it was the basis for his nonbelief in quantum mechanics. But entanglement exists, and although very difficult to control, it is actually the basis for quantum computers."

Scientists could set the position of one qubit and know that its entangled mate will follow suit. Here's a reasonable example.

There are 100 pennies. Someone breaks them into two piles and hands one pile to each of two people, who go into separate rooms. Person 1 counts their pennies and finds that he has 71 pennies, and knows, because there are 100 pennies, that Person 2 must have 29 pennies.

That's most of it. Now, imagine that Person 1 can change the number of pennies he has, but not the total number of pennies in the system, nor where the other pennies are. So if Person 1 chooses to have 69 pennies instead of 71 pennies, he would know instantly that Person 2 has 31 pennies now, and not 29. Likewise, person 2, seeing he has 31 pennies, knows person 1 must have changed from 71 to 69.

This is two people, who are entangled with respect to how many pennies they have.

Now, to make it more realistic, you have to add randomness. Let's say Person 1 wants to go from 71 pennies to 69 pennies. And goes to 69 pennies. Now, person 2, seeing they have 31 pennies now, is not sure that person 1 actually chose to go from 71 to 69 pennies. Just that Person 1 must now have 69 pennies. And of course, you can check. Person 2 opens the door and hollas, "I have 31 now - did you mean to drop from 71 to 69?"

So… we add distance. Let's make person 1 and person 2 a hundred miles apart, in a building with no outside means of communication (no phones, no Internet, etcetera). Now, when Person 2 sees he has 31 pennies instead of 29 pennies, he has no way to know if that was a random change, or the result of Person 1 choosing to have 69 pennies, but he knows how many pennies other person has.

Entanglement provides extra wiring between quantum circuits, Monroe says. And it allows quantum computers to perform tasks impossible with conventional computers. Quantum computers could transmit provably secure encrypted data, for example. And they could factor numbers incredibly faster than today's machines, making most current encryption technology obsolete (most encryption today is based on the inability for man or machine to factor large numbers efficiently).
Source: University of Michigan

Red Bull is a popular energy drink. It should provide a quick energy boost. But, do you know what is actually in it?

Glucose (Sugar)
Like most popular soft drinks, Red Bull is largely sugar water. Cells use sugar and can rapidly convert it into energy of course, but studies have debunked the existence of "sugar high".

Taurine
Known as 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, taurine is an aminosulfonic acid that was originally isolated from bull bile almost 200 years ago. Now made synthetically, taurine has wide-ranging effects even from the amount found in a single can (1 gram): Recent studies have shown that taurine can influence (and possibly reverse) defects in nerve blood flow, motor nerve conduction velocity, and nerve sensory thresholds.
There has been some controversy over the effects of high levels of taurine on the body. It is believed to be unfounded but there are certain countries that prohibit the sale of Red Bull: its sale is actually prohibited in Denmark, France, Uruguay, and Norway. In France, Only energy drink without Taurine are sold.

Glucuronolactone
It has be known to improve memory and concentration. Users generally believe it fights fatigue and increases well-being. So little research has been done on glucuronolactone (and most of it 50 years ago) that almost all information about it is mere rumor. It has received some notoriety due to urban legends that it was a Vietnam War-era drug manufactured by the American government and that it was banned due to several brain tumor-related deaths. The rumor has since been proven false.

Inositol
A carbohydrate found in animal muscle (sometimes called "meat sugar"), inositol is turning out to be a wonder drug that significantly reduces depression, panic attacks, agoraphobia, and obsessive- compulsive disorder but, due to its low quantity, you should drink hundreds of cans to get its benefits.

Niacin
Niacin is a B vitamin that helps in energy formation. It metabolizes energy from fat and carbohydrate. Niacin also increases the "good cholesterol" (HDL) by preventing the formation of triglycerides but, unfortunately, there isn't enough niacin in a Red Bull to have this benefit.

D-Pantothenol
D-Pantothenol is also known as vitamin B5, or Pantothenic acid. It is known to improve mood and boost energy. D-Pantothenol help turn fat into energy and increases metabolism.

Pyridoxine HCL
Also known as Vitamin B6, Pyridoxine HCL helps red blood cells to form and provides better oxygen utilization. It also help to break down sugar that you have stored in your body to use for energy.

Caffeine
All the things this drink is supposed to do for you (increase concentration and reaction speed, improve emotional state, and boost metabolism) are well known effects of this distant cousin of cocaine. Like alcohol, nicotine, and antidepressants, caffeine readily crosses the blood brain barrier. Once in the brain, the principal mode of action of caffeine is as an antagonist of adenosine receptors. The reduction in adenosine activity results in increased activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine, largely accounting for the stimulatory effects of caffeine.
Caffeine can also increase levels of epinephrine (adrenaline) and serotonin, causing positive changes in mood.
One can of Red Bull contains 80mg of caffeine (equivalent to one cup of coffee). Click on the table below to know what are the drinks with an higher level of caffeine.

The world's smallest and thinnest RFID tags were introduced this year by Hitachi. Tiny miracles of miniaturization, these RFID chips (Radio Frequency IDentification chips) measure just 0.05 x 0.05 millimeters.

The previous record-holder, the Hitachi mu-chip, is just 0.4 x 0.4 millimeters. Take a look at the size of the mu-chip RFID tag on a human fingertip.

Now, compare that with the new RFID tags. The "powder type" tags are some sixty times smaller.

The new RFID chips have a 128-bit ROM for storing a unique 38 digit number, like their predecessor. Hitachi used semiconductor miniaturization technology and electron beams to write data on the chip substrates to achieve the new, smaller size.

Hitachi's mu-chips are already in production; they were used to prevent ticket forgery at last year's Aichi international technology exposition. RFID 'powder,' on the other hand, is so much smaller that it can easily be incorporated into thin paper, like that used in paper currency and gift certificates.

But Kodak has gone one step further and has recently patented digestible tags that are harmless and intentionally fragile.
The tags would be covered with soft gelatin that takes a while to dissolve in the stomach. After swallowing a tag a patient need only sit next to a radio source and receiver. They stop working when exposed to gastric acid for a specific period of time, providing a subtle way to monitor a patient's digestive tract.
Kodak says that similar radio tags could also be embedded in an artificial knee or hip joint in such a way that they disintegrate as the joint does, warning of the need for more surgery

Nice use of Photoshop to create a recursive paradox and a self-fulfilling prophecy at the same time.