Nanotubes made of carbon which were exposed to tomato seeds caused the plants to sprout and ripen sooner. These tubes are but a 1/50,000 the width of a human hair, and form a good representation of the developing science called nanoagriculture.

The University of Arkansas scientists believe the nanotubes increased the water penetration amounts inside the seeds at the time of plant germination. These plants amassed almost 58% of the  moisture they were given, compared to non-nano exposed seeds at about 40%. The enhanced seeds grew up to twice aster and weighed twice as much. These results could have substantial affects on such industries as agriculture and energy, including biofuel production. The mechanism of how these nanotubes work to increase water absorption is unclear at this time.

MySpace and Facebook are discussing the possibility of sharing content. The 2 social media sites differ somewhat in how they use content at this point. MySpace users typically respond to content that has value to other users on the site, whereas Facebook users congregate more based on friendship networks. Facebook intends for users to be able to share MySpace content with its Connect feature, which allows users to discuss and share content seen on a partner website.

Recently, MySpace added a new music service in the US and Australia, which allows users to add audio tracks to profiles and can be purchased for Apple’s iTunes store. Should be interesting to see how the talks evolve into a new agreement between these two large social networking sites.

As part of its launch of the Windows 7 operating system, Microsoft partnered with Burger King in Japan to sell a 7-patty hamburger. The Windows 7 Whopper rises over 5 inches in height and has the appropriate price of 777 Yen (about $8.50). Hungry customers can buy it for only 7 days only. Microsoft is hoping that Windows 7 will be more user-friendly than its Windows Vista, which has been criticized by experts and novices alike.

Do note that the Windows 7 Burger contains almost 1,000 calories, and plenty of cholesterol. Microsoft is known for its offbeat advertising campaigns, such as the Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld TV ads. Overall, the Windows 7 release is more subdued than previous major product releases and should prove interesting to see if this is indeed a monster success.

An independent U.S. panel regarding NASA’s moon mission has informed the White House it should abandon that mission. The panel concluded in its 155 page report that instead of the new rocket, Ares, currently on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, NASA should have focused on a bigger one for reaching Mars.

Norman Augustine, is chairman of the panel reviewing, and is advocating either landing on a nearby asteroid or one of the moons of Mars. This could be accomplished quicker than returning to the moon in 15 years as NASA intended to do.

The current moon-Mars plan is restrained by budgetary cuts and physics. The panel suggested 8 options for NASA’s continued missions: 3 are “flexible path” options for exploring places other than the moon and, eventually reaching Mars. Landing a vessel on the moon and then relaunching back requires plenty of fuel due to the moon’s gravity, but less so from other celestial objects.

I am someone that certainly doesn’t always agree with what the White House does, however having never seen the actual White House I would really like to one day visit it.

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Google is planning to release a music search and purchase for downloadable songs. The music search results will include buying functionality, images of singles, album artwork, news inks, video and lyrics, as well as song previews. This should be similar in its display to Google’s financial news section.

Song previews and purchasing will be offered through Lala and iLike. This is clearly an alternative to the popular Apple iTunes service. This idea was suggested to Google a year ago by companies such as: Sony, Universal, Warner, and EMI.

Lala and iLike will share revenues whereas Google will gain revenue from advertising within the search results pages. It is important to note here that music sales have decreased in the last 7 of eight years and music providers keep searching for ways to increase their revenues.

A recent study shows that a majority of college students are risking permanent hearing damage due to the usage of personal music players. The study group was requested to listen to the Brian Adams single  “Summer of 69″ using an iPod.

After asking a group of college students to listen to the rock song by Brian Adams on their music players, the
University of Southern Mississippi scientists looked at the device volume and found out that approximately 55% of the users could in time sustain lasting hearing loss. The sound levels exceed 85 decibels and, to be considered harmful, they would need to be on for 8 hours. About 26% had a volume between 70 to 85 decibels, and only 19% lowered the volume below 70 decibels.

The students were also permitted to pick their own music, and when rap music reached as high as 100 decibel and rock music reached as high as 107 decibels. Notably, the loudest average volumes, reached 88 decibels for pop music and 89 decibels for country music.

The man who invented the web as we know it today has disclosed his is regretting the addition of slashes at the web addresses. The name of the inventor is sir Tim Berners-Lee admitted that using forward slashes is a waste of time and paper.

Slashes seemed like a good idea at the time since it was a convention of computer programming back in 1990. A majority of current web browsers add those automatically so only the WWW and the rest of the domain is needed. The remarks were made following a question by a New York Times reporter of anything he would like to alter if he had the chance. There are a few other oddities that remain from the early day of the web, and we’ll have to wait and see if this one stays for good.

A new hydrogen-powered aircraft developed by the US Navy has been tested to fly almost an entire day without need for refueling. The aircraft known as the Ion Tiger, is an unmanned air vehicle managed to set an unofficial record for a fuel-cell flight. Such technology would reduce the number of launches and landings necessary.

Hydrogen fuel cells create electricity through the combination of hydrogen and oxygen, resulting only in heat and water as byproducts. The result in this aircraft is a 550-Watt (0.75 horsepower) fuel cell that is said to be as much as quadruple in its efficiency as compared to an internal combustion engine. The aircraft weighs about 37 pounds and can haul a 4- to 5-pounds.

Such small aircrafts are nearly invisible from the ground, which makes them useful for surveillance, missile launch, and communication.

TeleCuba, a Miami company has declared recently that the United States government has allowed it to lay the first optical fiber cable extending from the U.S. to the country of Cuba. The intent is to reduce substantially the cost of calling Cuba and increase the Internet accessibility for more Cubans.

Back in April, the federal government has lessened the restrictions, existing for decades now, including those limiting telecom links. The company intends for the cable to be operating by mid 2011. TeleCuba still requires an approval by the Cuban government before work can begin. Additionally, although cost cutting will be possible with the technology, the Cuban government will be in a position to determine rates, and is expected to restrict access and full usability of the Internet.

Complaints have been filed by AT&T that Google Voice, a messaging and calling service, is blocking calls to rural areas where it is known that local phone providers charge high fees. The Federal Communications Commission(FCC) had contacted Google with a letter asking for information regarding its Voice service. This service allows people to sign up for a single phone number that is then able to route incoming calls to mobile, office or home phones. Additional features include making calls international calls, at affordable rates.

The complaint by AT&T has had asserted that Google Voice limit rural areas in order to save costs related to rural access charges. AT&T and other large telecom providers are required to provide service for such areas.