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Mountain Stage
2:32 pm
Thu September 27, 2012

The dB's On Mountain Stage

Credit Brian Blauser / Mountain Stage
The dB's.
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By editor

Originally published on Sun March 10, 2013 7:45 am

The newly reunited power-pop pioneers in The dB's make their first appearance on Mountain Stage, recorded live in Charleston, W.V. Often described as the band that filled the gap between Big Star and R.E.M. in the early '80s, The dB's helped change the course of guitar-driven power-pop for years to come.

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The Two-Way
2:11 pm
Thu September 27, 2012

Streams Of Water Once Flowed On Mars; NASA Says Photos Prove It

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Credit NASA
NASA says it has found proof that water shaped the rocks on the left, in a photograph taken by the Mars rover Curiosity (left). For comparison, the agency released an image of rocks from the Earth (right).
Credit NASA
Pathfinder, 1997: The first mission to land a rover on Mars, Pathfinder touched down in Ares Vallis, an ancient flood plain in the planet's northern hemisphere. Among the 2.3 billion bits of data sent back by the lander and its rover, Sojourner, were 15 chemical analyses of rocks and soil, which suggested Mars had once had liquid water and a thicker atmosphere.
Credit NASA
Spirit, 2010: When NASA's Spirit rover got stuck in Martian sand, it proved to be a lucky break: The spinning wheel churned up soil that provided evidence of rocks formed in the presence of water.
Credit NASA
Opportunity, 2004: Opportunity discovered tiny mineral spheres — nicknamed blueberries — poking out of rocks that were likely formed by water. Researchers using Opportunity's science instruments identified them as concretions rich in the mineral hematite, deposited by water saturating the bedrock.
Credit NASA
Curiosity 2012: A wider view of the outcrop of a former streambed shows bedrock that scientists believe was likely exposed by meteorites striking the surface of Mars.
Credit NASA
Curiosity, 2012: NASA says that water shaped the rocks on the left, in a photograph taken by the Mars rover Curiosity. For comparison, the agency released an image of rocks from the Earth (right).
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Originally published on Thu September 27, 2012 8:31 pm

NASA's Curiosity rover has found definitive proof that water once ran across the surface of Mars, the agency announced today. NASA scientists say new photos from the rover show rocks that were smoothed and rounded by water. The rocks are in a large canyon and nearby channels that were cut by flowing water, making up an alluvial fan.

"You had water transporting these gravels to the downslope of the fan," NASA researchers say. The gravel then formed into a conglomerate rock, which was in turn likely covered before being exposed again.

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The Two-Way
1:55 pm
Thu September 27, 2012

Hit In The Head In His First At Bat, Adam Greenberg Will Get A 2nd Chance

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Adam Greenberg, who's going to get another chance to bat, on NBC's The Today Show.
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On July 9, 2005, Adam Greenberg of the Chicago Cubs went to the plate for his first major league at bat.

One pitch later, his major league career was over.

Until now.

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The Two-Way
1:29 pm
Thu September 27, 2012

Netanyahu Calls For 'Red Line' On Iran; Rejects Palestinian's 'Libelous' Charges

Credit Lucas Jackson / Reuters /Landov
At the U.N. today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a graphic to show how far he says Iran will be by mid-2013 in a quest to develop nuclear weapons. He drew the red line to mark where he says Iran must be stopped.
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Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 10:48 am

Israeli Prime Minister laid out in some detail this afternoon his nation's case for taking stronger action against Iran and his nation's response to what he said are "libelous" accusations about how Israel treats Palestinians.

Taking to the stage just minutes after the head of the Palestinian Authority, Benjamin Netanyahu told United Nations delegates this afternoon that Israelis and Palestinians "won't solve our conflicts with libelous speeches at the U.N."

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Shots - Health Blog
1:28 pm
Thu September 27, 2012

Medical Electronics Built To Last Only A Little While

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Credit Fiorenzo Omenetto
An electronic circuit in its first phases of dissolution.
Credit Fiorenzo Omenetto / Tufts
Circuits like this one could be useful in implantable medical devices.
Credit Beckman Institute, University of Illinois
An electronic circuit begins to dissolve.
Credit The Beckman Institute, University of Illinois
The circuits are made of silicon, magnesium and a special kind of silk, all of which can be designed to dissolve after a fixed period of time.
Credit Fiorenzo Omenetto / Tufts
If these medical implants dissolve in the body, they could eliminate the need for surgery to retrieve them.
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By David Schultz

Originally published on Thu September 27, 2012 1:29 pm

Most engineers build things to last.

But a group of mechanical and electrical engineers are working on electronics that will break down in as little as a couple of days. On purpose!

The electronic circuits they're developing don't crash. It's more dramatic than that. They dissolve in liquid.

Sounds a little bit crazy, but circuits that work for a while then disappear could be pretty useful in medical devices implanted in the human body.

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