MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'exploration'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:56:39 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158891&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F008253.html As long as we do not have warp drives will it ever be worth it for humans to travel to other stars and back again? A New York Times article on a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) grant to study what it would take for humans to travel between the stars makes an interesting claim: travel between the stars would take so long that whoever went out would not return. An actual human launching is at least a couple of centuries away and, barring the invention of Star Trek-like warp drives, could take additional centuries to complete. Whoever goes on such a journey will not be coming back. The idea is that either a robot carries back findings or... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158891 Tue, 23 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0100 5158891 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028157&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0mz-qkeeVw4%2F By Gene HealyMy Washington Examiner column this week is on the final flight of the Space Shuttle, and what looks to be the withering away of the manned space program. In 2004, President Bush announced plans for a moonbase and an eventual Mars mission. But last year President Obama effectively cancelled the moonbase, and has exhibited little desire to liberate Mars. That’s good news, I argue: “We are retiring the shuttle in favor of nothing,” Michael Griffin, Bush’s NASA administrator, wailed to the Washington Post recently. Here, as usual, “nothing” gets a bad rap. I’ll be “in favor of nothing” until the advocates of federally funded spaceflight can come up with an argument for it that doesn’t make me spray coffee out my nose. NAS... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028157 Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:36:37 +0100 5028157 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4470409&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Forgan-generation-building-a-beating-heart%2F2011.02.12 The National Geographic Channel is currently featuring the latest in organ generation technology in its “Explorer” series. Here’s a snippet from the full show: Check your local listings for times. Link: Explorer: How to Build a Beating Heart… *This blog post was originally published at Medgadget* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4470409 Sat, 12 Feb 2011 23:00:55 +0100 4470409 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4281313&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fpregnant-teacher-stops-a-school-fight-but-loses-her-baby%2F2010.12.22 When a pregnant woman goes to work and ends up with a dead baby, something is terribly wrong. Lissedia Batista was a 27-year-old Spanish teacher who taught at Exploration Academy in the Bronx and was sixteen weeks pregnant. Given today’s economy, I’m certain that Batista was grateful to have a job with the New York City Board of Education. As a native New Yorker, I am keenly aware of how competitive it is to land such a position. Working for the Board of Education traditionally meant job security — a pension and a strong union that took care of its members.  Like many young teachers, Batista had compassion. She attempted to stop a fight between two male students, was pushed out of the way, and subsequently fell to the floor. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital, but unfort... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4281313 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:00:48 +0100 4281313 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3665940&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fskinny-dipping-on-the-moon-%25e2%2580%2593-science-class-field-trip-of-the-future%2F photo: Thinkstock It would be way more fun if the moon were filled with cheese, but it actually contains water. And not just a little trickle, either – all the water in the moon’s interior could create a one-yard-deep ocean covering its entire surface. The perfect depth for a nice little moonlight swim in the lunar sea. Not impressed? This is 100 times the amount of water that researchers previously thought was on the moon. But if we plan on surfing up there in the future, NASA will need to design sleeker space suits. The current ones look kinda bulky. via National Geographic Post from: BlissTree Skinny-Dipping on the Moon – Science Class Field Trip of the Future? (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3665940 Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:54:04 +0100 3665940 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3569778&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007180.html Weightlessness (or higher background radiation) in space messed up genes that control stress and immune response. Yet another example of how we need to be able to genetically reengineer ourselves in order to move off-planet. We evolved on this planet and are adapted to a pretty narrow range of conditions. Tucson, Ariz. -- Astronauts are known to have a higher risk of getting sick compared to their Earth-bound peers. The stresses that go with weightlessness, confined crew quarters, being away from family and friends and a busy work schedule - all the while not getting enough sleep - are known to wreak havoc on the immune system. A research group led by immunobiologist Ty Lebsack at the University of Arizona... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3569778 Fri, 14 May 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3569778 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3556041&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007167.html the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council says NASA's budget is weighted too far toward human space flight and not enough toward basic research. WASHINGTON — The decline of basic research at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration jeopardizes the agency’s ability to study and explore the cosmos, a review panel of scientists and engineers said Tuesday. The findings could bolster the arguments of the Obama administration that NASA’s current effort to send astronauts back to the Moon is too expensive and is siphoning too much money from other programs. The president’s $19 billion budget for NASA in the 2011 fiscal year would cancel the Moon program, known as Constellation, and replace it with the development of technologies intended... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3556041 Tue, 11 May 2010 23:00:00 +0100 3556041 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3408339&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F007055.html This study enabled them to observe precisely how dark matter evolved in the universe and to reconstruct a three-dimensional map of the dark matter and use this to test Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. I find the idea of an accelerating universe depressing. Is the universe going to gradually spread out until each atom is by itself?... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3408339 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0100 3408339 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3089243&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006790.html Rocky planets as small as 5 times Earth's mass have been found orbiting stars in our neighborhood. These results suggest we will find a lot more solar systems with planets closer to our own in size. Have intelligent dinosaurs developed on some and do they see us hominids as revolting enemies? Or as tasty snacks? Washington, D.C. — Two nearby stars have been found to harbor "super-Earths"― rocky planets larger than the Earth but smaller than ice giants such as Uranus and Neptune. Unlike previously discovered stars with super-Earths, both of the stars are similar to the Sun, suggesting to scientists that low-mass planets may be common around nearby stars. "Over the last 12 years or so nearly 400 planets... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3089243 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3089243 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3026642&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006737.html Will China's lack of democracy give it a leg up in the next wave of human space exploration? Michael Hanlon argues the next big step in space exploration takes too much time for a democracy to fund it. It may simply be that space exploration is incompatible with US democracy. A Mars shot would take four presidential terms at least. No president will ask taxpayers to fund something he won't be around to take credit for. He's probably right given the way we've approached space exploration to date. As long as we approach space exploration as something to do with small incremental improvements in technology we are going to spend vast sums for stunts of little lasting significance (e.g. the... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3026642 Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3026642 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2939254&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006664.html But can we ever get to them? HOW many universes are there? Cosmologists Andrei Linde and Vitaly Vanchurin at Stanford University in California calculate that the number dwarfs the 10500 universes postulated in string theory, and raise the provocative notion that the answer may depend on the human brain. I want to travel between universes far more than I want to travel between stars in this universe. What I'd really like to find: Universes that causally split off from this universe hundreds or thousands of years ago. How did history turn out if a small event caused different decisions 300 years ago? Different people would be born. Accidents would play out differently. Splitting universes causally much further back would lead... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2939254 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0100 2939254 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2803859&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006539.html Dreams of a human trip to Mars run up against limits to allowable human radiation exposure. But calculations by Cucinotta and his colleagues suggest the trip would not meet NASA's... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2803859 Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2803859 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2796372&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006535.html NASA is working on software to allow future Mars robots to make more decisions. SOMETHING is moving. Two robots sitting motionless in the dust have spotted it. One, a six-wheeled... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2796372 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2796372 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2657597&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006410.html Carlos Cotta and Álvaro Morales of the University of Malaga take a slightly novel approach to the question of "where the heck are the space aliens anyhow?". If intelligent life... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2657597 Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100 2657597 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2284422&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F006064.html We humans aren't adapted to the zero gravity conditions of orbit or the lower gravity conditions of the Moon and Mars. This poses a problem for efforts to establish permanent... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2284422 Sun, 22 Mar 2009 04:00:00 +0100 2284422 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2107753&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005878.html I hear Gene Wilder yelling "Its alive! Its alive! Its alive!". Methane on Mars might be a sign of biological activity below the surface. (same here) WASHINGTON -- A team... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2107753 Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100 2107753 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2065309&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005817.html Orbital Sciences Corp has won a $1.9 billion contract to carry 20 metric tons of cargo to the International Space Station in 8 flights. Think about those numbers. That's $95... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2065309 Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2065309 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1717177&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F005468.html Getting to another lifetime seems unlikely even using the most advanced technologies. The major problem is that propulsion -- shooting mass backwards to go forwards -- requires large amounts of... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1717177 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1717177 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=870418&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004584.html Google has announced a new prize for putting a rover robot on the Moon and the prize seems suspect to FuturePundit. Nearly 40 years after the USA beat the Soviets... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=870418 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0100 870418 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=758669&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004419.html A substantial portion of the people who spend long periods of time at the poles suffer serious psychological problems. While some people on polar expeditions savor a gratifying sense of... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=758669 Wed, 25 Jul 2007 04:00:00 +0100 758669 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=707644&cid=t_252803_87_f&fid=34902&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.futurepundit.com%2Farchives%2F004361.html Steven Howe, director of Idaho National Laboratory's Center for Space Nuclear Research, says a nuclear upper stage rocket could carry cargo from Earth's orbit to the moon more cheaply than... (Source: FuturePundit) FuturePundit blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=707644 Sun, 01 Jul 2007 04:00:00 +0100 707644