… Lunar Violence, BEAR Bots on the Battlefield, Qualified but Unemployed, the Weight of the Internet, Europe’s First Biodiesel Express, and we ask: Does “Heartbeat of America” Mean Anything to You?

Seven NASA astronauts are poised to launch into orbit tonight aboard the shuttle Atlantis to haul vital new solar arrays to the International Space Station (ISS). And amateur astronomers have the chance to see Atlantis as it flies over through the skies.

Today’s shuttle launch is scheduled for 7:38 p.m. EDT. However, NASA TV coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. You can watch from your computers HERE.

STS-117, the planned 11-day mission, is the 21st shuttle mission to the ISS.

And if you have forgotten how cool this is, if you’re so jaded that you’re no longer impressed by shuttle launches, or if you’re simply having trouble wrapping your head around just how big the universe is, perhaps this educational video will serve as a helpful reminder:

(Note: This video might possibly be found offensive by people who find an animated graphic of the universe’s human-like birth, um, offensive. On the other hand, we’re all adults here, so lighten up. That is all.)

Qualified but Unemployed?
There is a huge need for employable people in Norway right now. Companies in Oslo and Akershus counties are struggling to land trained staff.

Based on a survey of 2,100 firms in the two counties, the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Organization (NAV) estimates 22,000 people are needed to fill these jobs, an increase of over 60 percent compared to last year, according to the newspaper Aftenposten (via Fark).

A sampling of jobs in hot demand: computer consultant, electrician, nurse, security guard, cook and landscape gardener.

Before you pack up and make your way to Norway, though, it’s worth noting that as of last year, Oslo was also the world’s most expensive city.

Skin Cells Behaving Like Stem Cells
If a technique used in mice can be adapted to human cells, it would let scientists use a patient’s skin cells to generate new heart, liver or kidney cells that might be transplantable and would not be rejected by the patient’s immune system.

The New York Times reports:

In a surprising advance that could sidestep the ethical debates surrounding stem cell biology, researchers have come much closer to a major goal of regenerative medicine, the conversion of a patient’s cells into specialized tissues that might replace those lost to disease. The advance is an easy-to-use technique for reprogramming a skin cell of a mouse back to the embryonic state. Embryonic cells can be induced in the laboratory to develop into many of the body’s major tissues.

However, scientists say they cannot predict when they can overcome the considerable problems in adapting the method to human cells.

Click image for larger view.
Credit: NYT

Loudspeakers and Keyboards Printed on Paper
Swedish researchers are developing “talking paper,” a technology that could be used in many ways.

“In addition to advertising, it could help people with seeing problems use products or provide instructions on taking medication or even warn children of the risks of smoking cigarettes,” Kristina Brink, a professor at Mid Sweden University and coordinator of the Paper Four research project, told PC World this week.

The researchers have already shown how to use printable ink instead of wires or other embedded devices like chips in greeting cards to communicate signals on paper.

However, they also admit that without a way to print the interactive paper cheaply, their invention may never leave the lab. Their prototype is handmade (i.e., expensive), “but the idea is to be able to print on a large scale,” which would make it cheap, according to Brink.”

A new research phase starts later this year, in which the focus will be on using interactive paper in packaging. This phase follows the construction and successful testing last month of a prototype display that provides information about tourist attractions and examples of CD recordings.

Teddy Bear Robot in Battle
The United States military is developing a robot with a teddy bear-style head to help carry injured soldiers away from the battlefield. The Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot (BEAR) can scoop up even the heaviest of casualties and transport them over long distances through rough terrain.

New Scientist magazine this week reported:

A remote-controlled robot that will rescue injured or abducted soldiers, without putting the lives of their comrades at risk, is being developed for the US army. The 1.8-metre-tall Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (Bear) will be able to travel over bumpy terrain and squeeze through doorways while carrying an injured soldier in its arms.

The “friendly appearance” of the robot is designed to put the wounded at ease. The BEAR, which made TIME magazine’s “Best Inventions 2006,” is expected to be ready for testing within five years.

Credit: VECNA Technologies

The Weight of Knowledge… and Time Wasting
UK’s The Guardian asks, “Just how much does the Internet weigh?”

And it answers:

About two ounces (60 grams), or perhaps 0.2 millionths of an ounce (6 micrograms), depending which method you use to calculate the weight of the active electrons necessary to sustain the global network.

HERE‘s the science.

Virgin Biofuel Train Sets Off
Europe’s first regular passenger train service powered by biofuel set off on its maiden journey across Britain yesterday with the soon-to-be prime minister hailing the launch for its help in combating global warming.

“This is the first time in Europe a monitored trial of biodiesel on passenger trains has taken place,” Virgin CrossCountry Managing Director Chris Gibb told Reuters, which went on to report:

Virgin Trains will initially only run one of its trains on a 20 percent biodiesel blend for a six-month trial but Branson said his whole fleet might eventually be converted to run on a biofuel blend, which would cut its carbon dioxide emissions by up to 14 percent.

Finance Minister Gordon Brown, who will soon take over from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Virgin’s British billionaire Richard Branson were at the send-off of the Virgin train, which runs on a blend of diesel and biodiesel.

Branson has committed to spending all the profits from his airline and rail business to combat global warming by cutting carbon emissions. He also plans next year to have a test flight for one of his passenger aircraft using a biofuel.

Woman Not Prosecuted for Staring at Police Dog
A woman facing jail time for “staring” at a police dog had charges against her dropped earlier this week in Vermont after a prosecutor viewed videotape of the alleged crime.

A cop says the woman was intoxicated and stared at his police dog in a “taunting/harassing manner” last July while officers were investigating a reported melee, according to The Associated Press.

A State’s Attorney says it would be difficult to prove that the woman’s behavior met the statutory standard for cruelty to animals.

It’s Just the Nighttime, Baby
A British resort town is deploying extra police during full moons, convinced of a link between the lunar cycle and violence. According to their records over the past year, crime in the south-coast town is correlated with the lunar cycle, with more violent incidents occurring at full moon, reports UK’s The Independent.

In a paper published earlier this year, Michal Zimecki of the Polish Academy of Sciences claimed to have identified a link between lunar cycles and criminality. Zimecki wrote in “The Lunar Cycle: Effects on Human and Animal Behavior and Physiology,” that a full moon can affect behavior and health, often triggering an escalation in crime and hospital admissions.

According to New Scientist‘s space blog, “It’s hardly a new theory”:

[In] recent decades correlations have been found between the moon’s phases and a whole range of human [behaviors], not just crime but heart attacks, childbirth, absenteeism, eating and internet use. But these studies haven’t stood up well to independent scrutiny, and it’s also difficult to find any plausible mechanism.

Nonetheless, convinced that the link is significant, the police there are planning to deploy more police officers in future whenever the moon is full, according to The Guardian.

(Photo credit: Universal Pictures)

This is Even Crazier than Lunar Violence
J.D. Power and Associates this week released the latest version of its annual Initial Quality Report, the industry benchmark for new-vehicle quality measured at 90 days of ownership, and Ford Motor Co. grabbed more individual awards than any other automaker for the first time since 1998 — supplanting Toyota as leader of the pack.

Ford ranked highest in five of 19 segments in this year’s annual rankings. That’s two better than in 1998 — the last time a U.S. automaker was on top — when Ford tied with Toyota and Honda.

Toyota grabbed the top spot in 11 segments last year, but captured only four this year

Ford Motor Co. also had four of the top 10 brands in a benchmark annual U.S. survey of new-vehicle quality. The Dearborn automaker earned segment awards for the Ford Mustang, Lincoln Mark LT, Lincoln MKZ, Mercury Milan and Mazda MX-5 Miata. (Mazda is 33.4 percent owned by Ford.)

So, despite mass firings massive restructuring, plant closings, revenue losses, etc., etc., etc., Ford’s “Way Forward” may actually include vehicles that can still win awards for quality of design and quality of production? Who’d a-thought?

Who Cares?
A beer that hailed from Germany once had a certain distinctive stature — similar to chocolate from Belgium or electronics from Japan. However, recent research from Anderson Analytics has found that when it comes to college-age consumers, a brand’s country of origin is unimportant.

In today’s globalized world, consumers seem to care more about quality and price over geographic boundaries — and heritage — (with the possible exception of automobiles), at least among campus-age consumers. In fact, many of those surveyed incorrectly identified where certain brands came from.

All of this leads us to ask whether the days of jingoism and flag-waving are numbered — and whether marketing tactics such as the “Heartbeat of America” and “This is Our Country” are flat-lining.

Is the time for evoking a brand’s country of origin in its marketing over?

Let us know in the comments below.

Cheers.