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02/07/10 -
Injected fruit juice liquifies cancer
Scientists have identified a compound in the fruit of the native blushwood shrub that appears to "liquefy and destroy cancer with no side-effects", according to latest research. Found deep in the remnants of a 130 million-year-old rainforest, the fruit extract may yet hold the secret antidote to Australia's No.1 killer disease. Dr Gordon said a single dose injection of the extract, known as EBC-46, had been effective in 50 critically ill dogs and about a dozen cats and horses. "This is proving to be something exceptional," she said. "The tumour literally liquefies. "There is a rapid knock-down of the tumour, it disintegrates within 24 hours and we have a rapid healing response. "The biggest tumour we treated was the size of a Coke can in a dog, and that animal is fully healed and healthy." Dr Gordon said it had worked on skin cancers, such as carcinomas and melanomas, and bone cancer, and was a possible treatment for breast, colon and prostate cancer. / (Who would have thought to squirt this stuff into a tumor? Wonder what other juices and liquids might produce a similar effect? - JWD)
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
Temp sensitive Windmills don't spin in Cold Weather
Turbines, more than 100 feet tall, were installed last year in 11 Minnesota cities to provide power, and also to serve as educational symbols in a state that has mandated that a quarter of its electricity come from renewable resources by 2025. One problem, though: The windmills, supposed to go online this winter, mostly just sat still, people in cities like North St. Paul and Chaska said, rarely if ever budging. Residents took note. Schoolchildren asked questions. Complaints accumulated. No one knows for sure why these turbines do not. Officials believe there may be several reasons, but weather is the focus of much speculation. It is not as though turbines cannot function in cold places; thousands of them work perfectly well throughout Minnesota and the Midwest, the American Wind Energy Association is quick to note. But the 12 turbines in question, each 20 years old, spent their earlier years twirling in California. “If you were to move a car from California to Minnesota, say, you would need to change the fluids,” said Derick O. Dahlen, president of Avant Energy, which manages the windmills for the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency. Mr. Dahlen said workers were busy testing the turbines and, among other things, expected to add warming elements to gear boxes, oil and computers. In a month, he predicted, the turbines will be spinning smoothly.
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02/07/10 -
Lose weight at high altitude
A study of twenty men with an average BMI (body mass index) of almost 34 found they kept off the pounds they had shed for at least a month after finishing the experiment. Independent of any other change in lifestyle, the unique conditions appeared to increase metabolism, decrease appetite and lower blood pressure. Thin air is not nearly as rich in oxygen as the dense, more heavily compressed air found at sea level. The team studied the effect of living in high altitudes for one week while no other change was made to their exercise routine or food availability. At the end of the study at an air conditioned lab near the top of Germany’s highest mountain Zugspitze their body weight, food intake and blood pressure had dropped dramatically and these effects were still there four weeks afterwards. The researchers, whose findings are published in the journal Obesity, said the low levels of oxygen present at high altitudes could be responsible for an observed increase in leptin, a hormone thought to suppress appetite, although the causes of this need to be further studied. Dr Lippi said: “The lasting weight reduction seen at high altitudes is primarily due to an increased metabolism and decreased food intake, though the reasons behind these changes remain unclear and may be a temporary effect of the body acclimatizing to new surroundings.”
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
Electron microscope object scanned for free
The PSEM has a scan range of 100nm to 5mm and an imaging resolution of 25nm, capable of bringing the smallest samples into focus. ASPEX will scan submitted samples and then post before/after photos along with an analytical report online. This allows viewers to see what the sample looks like to the naked eye as well as under the PSEM. Anyone interested in having an item scanned can simply fill out the submission form and send in a sample for analysis, free of charge. The SEM Image Gallery shows the samples already scanned, including mold, cat hair, fly eyes, and more. Satisfy your curiosity; send your sample in today!
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02/07/10 -
Magnesium supplements to boost brainpower
Because it is difficult to boost brain magnesium levels with traditional oral supplements, Dr. Liu and colleagues developed a new magnesium compound, magnesium-L-threonate (MgT) that could significantly increase magnesium in the brain via dietary supplementation. They used MgT to increase magnesium in rats of different ages and then looked for behavioral and cellular changes associated with memory. “We found that increased brain magnesium enhanced many different forms of learning and memory in both young and aged rats,” says Dr. Liu. A close examination of cellular changes associated with memory revealed an increase in the number of functional synapses, activation of key signaling molecules and an enhancement of short- and long-term synaptic processes that are crucial for learning and memory.
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02/07/10 -
Superinsulating Aerogels - you could heat your home with a candle
Over 70 years ago, scientists invented aerogel, the least dense solid known to man, and an insulator four times more efficient than fiberglass or foam. Famously, according to Dr. Peter Tsou of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, "you could take a two- or three-bedroom house, insulate it with aerogel, and you could heat the house with a candle. But eventually the house would become too hot." Unfortunately, aerogels remained so expensive and unwieldy that only NASA used them with any regularity. However, thanks to recent production advances, aerogel insulation is now available and affordable for consumer purchase.
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02/07/10 -
Humans are aliens
The human race began as microbes brought to Earth by comets billions of years ago, according to a British scientist. "We are all aliens. We share a cosmic ancestry," Prof. Chandra Wickramasinghe, astrobiologist at Cardiff University, said in his paper carried in the Cambridge University's international journal of space biology. He said the first "seeds of life" were deposited on Earth 3.8 billion years ago by comets. "These then multiply and seed other planets. We are thus part of a connected chain that extends over a large volume of the cosmos," the professor said.
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02/07/10 -
Acne App Treats Your Zits With Your iPhone
A new app from dermatologist Dr. Greg Pearson called 'AcneApp' claims that it can cure acne and even improve wrinkles. The $1.99 app promises to improve your skin while you gab: it will project either red or blue light onto your face, which will, supposedly, kill bacteria and promote collagen growth. According to the app's description on iTunes, the dermatologist-developed treatment uses 420 nanometer blue light (which has antibacterial properties) and 550 nanometer red light (which is anti-inflammatory) to help your complexion. So does it work? Dr. Pearson told the New York Times in an interview, "This would have to go through a lot more clinical study before I could quantify its efficacy," Dr. Pearson said. But he said he was "fascinated by the concept that users would potentially be able to treat their acne while talking on the phone." Another dermatologist suggested that based on his studies, it would take some 88 treatments for users to see results.
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
AirCruise Luxury Helium Airships
Towering, kite-shaped airships could herald a new era of luxury transport following today's introduction of the Aircruise concept. Standing 98ft taller than Canary Wharf, packing 330,000 cubic metres of hydrogen gas and capable of lifting 396 tonnes, the Aircruise concept features penthouse apartments, bars and even dizzying glass viewing floors. Aircruise was created as the antithesis of a hurried, crowded passenger jet. London-based design and innovation company Seymourpowell wanted to rethink transport - on the premise 'slow is the new fast'. It could ferry 100 people from London to New York in a leisurely 37 hours as opposed to the seven it takes now by airplane. Standing 98ft taller than Canary Wharf, packing 330,000 cubic metres of hydrogen gas and capable of lifting 396 tonnes, the Aircruise concept features penthouse apartments, bars and even dizzying glass viewing floors. Aircruise was created as the antithesis of a hurried, crowded passenger jet. London-based design and innovation company Seymourpowell wanted to rethink transport - on the premise 'slow is the new fast'. It could ferry 100 people from London to New York in a leisurely 37 hours as opposed to the seven it takes now by airplane. Design director Nick Talbot says: 'The concept questions whether the future of luxury travel should be based around space-constrained, resource-hungry, and all too often stressful airline travel' Silent and pollution free, the Aircruise combines solar power with a primary hydrogen drive for a
cruising speed of around 90mph. It can fly up to a maximum of 12,000ft but if there are specific areas of interest en route it can drop down to a few hundred feet. Seymourpowell design director Nick Talbot said: 'The Aircruise concept questions whether the future of luxury travel should be based around space-constrained, resource-hungry, and all too often stressful airline travel.' He said the Aircruise straddles the line between a cruise ship and a floating hotel. Mr Talbot explained: 'In a world where speed is an almost universal obsession, the idea of making a leisurely journey in comfort is a welcome contrast.'
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02/07/10 -
US gov's emptying of vast Texan helium-tank dome 'wrong'
A hefty sci/tech body has said that the USA's current policy of selling off its enormous reserves of helium gas - which it keeps stored in a gigantic subterranean dome reservoir in Texas - is all wrong. This is partly because the plan is cocking up the global helium market, and partly because helium is vital for many activities dear to the hearts of Reg readers. Helium is indeed important stuff. It's also quite rare on Earth. Though the second-most-common element in the universe after hydrogen, small helium molecules are so light they escape into space once free in the atmosphere. Like natural gas, they can be trapped in underground rock formations - but they leak out a lot quicker. There wouldn't be any helium in or on Earth at all, goes the thinking, except that radiocative decay of uranium and thorium in the Earth's crust produces alpha particles. These are, of course, helium nuclei once they've slowed down. Thus there is a constant trickle of new helium being formed within the planet, enough that in some locations it builds up to extractable levels in subterranean gas pockets. Helium is also pretty expensive to store for any length of time, which means that normal natural-gas drilling and refining operations, producing helium as a waste product, would normally throw it away if there was no customer just then.
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
US plans crewless automated ghost-frigates
DARPA plans an entirely uncrewed, automated ghost frigate able to cruise the oceans of the world for months or years on end without human input. The new project is called Anti-submarine warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV), and is intended to produce "an X-ship founded on the assumption that no person steps aboard at any point in its operating cycle". The uncrewed frigate would have enough range and endurance for "global, months long deployments with no underway human maintenance", being able to cross oceans largely without any human input - communications back to base would be "intermittent", according to DARPA. DARPA specifies that the ACTUV must be able to conduct "safe navigation at sea within the framework of maritime law" - that is the International Rules for Prevention of Collisions at Sea, aka "Rule of the Road", which Royal Navy officers have to memorise almost word-perfect. Then, while weaving in and out of other ships, the crewless frigate must be able to stay on the trail of a well-nigh silent diesel-electric submarine running beneath the waves. Such subs are operated - albeit in small numbers - by various minor powers around the world, and are considered by some in the major navies to be a very serious threat. DARPA's idea would be that every time such a sub put to sea or was otherwise at a known location, an ACTUV would be put onto its tail - freeing up hugely expensive manned ships and subs from routine shadowing work. The thinking is that following such a submarine is fairly easily done compared to finding it in the first place. That might be true in this case, as DARPA specify that the ACTUV should be able to carry out "continuous overt trail of threat submarines", as opposed to following them secretly as manned US forces might. The robo-frigate would be able to simply get a lock on its prey using powerful active sonar, sending loud "pings" of sound into the sea and detecting the echoes from the sub.
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
Renewable oil companies
The entry of oil companies into the realm of renewable energy could present major obstacles for the development of a sustainable economy that is not based on carbon resources, according to a report in the International Journal of Green Economics. Jack Reardon of the Department of Management & Economics, at Hamline University, in St. Paul, Minnesota, explains that how the transition from carbon to renewable proceeds will depend on whose values are solicited and whose voices are listened to in the process. He suggests that should the large international oil companies (IOCs) endeavor to enter this arena in a significant way that will present a possible obstacle to the transition that will preclude the emergence of democratic, distributed and green economics based on wind, solar, and other renewable resources. Ideally, green economics will see a switch from an energy intensive and consumption-focused society economy that perpetuates poverty, gender inequalities and environmental degeneration to one of sustainability that circumvents the carbon-based energy regime. If, however, present trends continue, then by 2030, global energy demand will increase 45%, with China and India accounting for just over half the increase and oil consumption will increase from 85 million barrels per day to 106 with all of the projected increase from non-OECD countries and four-fifths of the projected increase from China. Given such an unrelenting addiction to fossil fuels, it will not be a surprise if energy-related carbon dioxide emissions and the release of other atmospheric greenhouse gases will increase 45% by 2030. "Arresting this unsustainable and potentially catastrophic increase is a central focus of green economics," says Reardon. Given the monopolistic and powerful positions adopted by the oil companies since the beginning of the modern oil age in the nineteenth century, it is almost inevitable that their entry into the renewable arena will not be without problems. "A palpable lesson is that if oil companies enter the renewable industry, the latter could potentially be transformed along a hierarchical and centralized structure, which contravenes the widely dispersed and readily available nature of renewable energy sources, particularly wind and solar," Reardon fears. He suggests that now is the time to "map a democratic and equitable transition."
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
New ORNL system provides hybrid electric autos with power to spare
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed, fabricated and demonstrated a PHEV traction drive power electronics system that provides significant mobile power generation and vehicle-to-grid support capabilities. "The new technology eliminates the separate charging mechanism typically used in PHEVs, reducing both cost and volume under the hood," said Gui-Jia Su of ORNL's Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center. "The PHEV's traction drive system is used to charge the battery, power the vehicle and enable its mobile energy source capabilities." Providing more power than typical freestanding portable generators, the PHEV can be used in emergency situations such as power outages and roadside breakdowns or leisure occasions such as camping. Day-to-day, the PHEV can be used to power homes or businesses or supply power to the grid when power load is high, according to Su. The charging system concept, which is market ready, could also be used to enhance the voltage stability of the grid by providing reactive power, Su said.
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
'Green' experiment at City Hall stinks
There's been a stench coming from the second floor of City Hall -- and it has nothing to do with the steady stream of Chicago aldermen convicted on corruption charges. Waterless urinals installed to promote water conservation in the public men's room outside the City Council chambers have turned into a stinky mess. The odor got so bad that the "green" urinals are now being ripped out and replaced with the old-fashioned kind at a cost City Hall has refused to disclose.
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
Physicists Prove Teleportation of Energy Is Possible
Over five years ago, scientists succeeded in teleporting information. Unfortunately, the advance failed to bring us any closer to the Star Trek future we all dream of. Now, researchers in Japan have used the same principles to prove that energy can be teleported in the same fashion as information.
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
10 Bizarre Psychological Experiments
Magicians, hypnotists and needy women aren’t the only ones who enjoy playing mind games. Scientists quite like to screw with our heads too and over the years they’ve found some pretty strange ways of doing just that.
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
Madrid parking solution Multiparker 710
A novel mulilayer automated parking system. Click on the link to see the animation. The parking garage system shown is designed to hold up to 155 automobiles. Human attendants are not needed, all robotic tranport systems. / (Thanks to Bert for this update. - JWD)
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
You really can be bored to death, scientists discover
Researchers say that people who complain of boredom are more likely to die young, and that those who experienced 'high levels' of tedium are more than two-and-a-half times as likely to die from heart disease or stroke than those satisfied with their lot. More than 7,000 civil servants were studied over 25 years - and those who said they were bored were nearly 40 per cent more likely to have died by the end of study than those who did not. The scientists said this could be a result of those unhappy with their lives turning to such unhealthy habits as smoking or drinking, which would cut their life expectancy. Those who reported feeling a great deal of boredom were 37 per cent more likely to have died by the end of the study.
- Full Article Source
02/07/10 -
The Stan Meyer Estate and his 'Water Fuel Cell'
(I received this from Paul, longtime friend associate. - JWD) I received the following from a friend who is a retired US Air Force Colonel. What do you think about what he has to say?
- Videos of Meyers Estate - I never heard of this Meyers guy. I assume he was breaking down water to H and O then combusting. But, these flicks don't show how he separates the gasses, keeps them gaseous and then using them in an internal combustion engine. Did he do that?
There always was a ??? about if he was really breaking water into its 2 components. He has a modified sparkplug that supposedly not only fired the gaseous mixture, but broke down the water within the plug. I knew a man who was financially in for a $200,000+ and he took me with him for one of Stan's pitches. Rather interesting, this wealthy man, Mel Kramer, developed and illness which they couldn't stop and he died. It wasn't because of lack of money, as this man also started & owned the "HIPPLE CANCER RESEARCH CENTER" in Moraine, Ohio.
Then, it was not very long when Stanley and his brother were with 2 Brit's at the Cracker Barrel in Groove City, Ohio, When Stan got up, departed the table, went outside and through the window motioned for his brother to come out. Stan said he thought he was poisoned and they raced to the Columbus,
Ohio Hospital and in 2 hours Stan was DEAD!! Later on, his mechanic, who proclaimed knew the how to's of what Stan had, lived at our farm for about 1.5 years rent free and he could do what he pleased. He left of his own freewill without ever accomplishing anything. How many more similar stories would you like to hear???
Here are three Youtube Videos of the Meyer Estate. It would be a fun place to explore for a couple days;
Stan Meyers Estate Water Fuel Cell #1
Stan Meyers Estate Water Fuel Cell #2
Stan Meyers Estate Water Fuel Cell #3
(On a personal note from me to Paul...JWD) - Remember years ago when Dan Haley went out there with a couple of friends. He said they were impressed at first but Meyers kept hitting on each of them to buy a franchise for I think he said $5,000 each. He kept telling them how much money they'd make from this WHEN his technology came to market, but he would never give any date for it. What finally convinced them it was a con was they kept asking to see a demonstration of the water car and Meyers would say no. Finally he told them it did run, but only for a few miles before it would slug down and stop due to buildup on the hydrogen reactor electrodes. He'd have to take it apart and clean the electrodes to get it to run again. They had the money and the interest but felt Stan was just too eager for collecting frachise sales for a technology that was far from ready for the market.
Additionally, Stan Meyer was a speaker at a conference in Switzerland with Dale Pond, also a speaker. The speakers would eat together and one evening, Dale suggested to Stan what if you dissociated the water molecule inside the cylinder, like Keely suggested by using 42.8 khz. Dale explained it to him and Meyers didn't express any interest and blew it off. After his return to the US and a few months later, Meyer begin making claims he had developed a spark plug which could be installed in any engine to allow it to burn water. His claim was the spark plug ruptured the water molecule to release oxygen and hydrogen which was then exploded to power the cylinders. He never gave Dale Pond any credit for the idea nor did it ever come to market. It was just another fantastic claim to suck in gullible investors.
United States Patent 3,262,872
Rhodes July 26, 1966
Apparatus for the electrolytic production of hydrogen and oxygen for the safe consumption thereof
United States Patent 3,310,483
Rhodes March 21, 1967
Multicell Orthohydrogen Generator
United States Patent 4,107,008
Horvath August 15, 1978
Electrolysis method for producing hydrogen and oxygen
United States Patent 3,311,097
Mittelstaedt March 28, 1967
Hydrogen generator for comustion in automobiles
United States Patent 4,394,230
Puharich July 19, 1983
Method and apparatus for splitting water molecules
United States Patent 4,798,661
Meyer January 17, 1989
Gas generator voltage control circuit
United States Patent 4,936,961
Meyer June 26, 1990
Method for the production of a fuel gas
You can lookup any patent number or inventor name at the US Patent Office .
- Email Communication
Video #1 (of 3)
02/07/10 -
Cars for a Grand and trucks and motorcycles and boats!!!
You CAN buy a used car for $1,000 or even less. Believe it or not, there are thousands of people out there trying to sell a car for under a thousand bucks. Our software is constantly searching the internet gathering cheap used cars for sale, updating our used car listings every minute. But wait, I know what you are thinking. How can you possibly buy a decent car for under $1,000? We get that a lot, so in April of 2009 we bought a car for $899 from this website and drove it across country. Seriously, like 3800 miles from San Diego to Miami. It's on video, and actually got a bit of news coverage. Even CNN got in on it, which we thought was pretty cool. (And motorcycles, trucks and boats!)
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Unconfirmed report of Free Energy devices from China and India
Is this the true reason for the recent clampdown on sales of Chinese rare earth materials used in supermagnets? - Confidential sources now tell us that both China and India are about to unveil new electrical devices which will break the grip of the global energy & power cartels with breakthrough technology that bends the rules of physics in new and game-changing ways. One device, due out from China shortly is described as a "battery charger" which will support a fixed 2 KW load on a continuous basis. Yep - that unit which has an anticipated price point in the $2,000 (USD range/current exchange rates) also features a projected lifespan of 50-years and is a zero emissions device. Apparently, the new devices use certain rare earth/strategic metals and are the motivation for China putting the brakes on strategic mineral exports recently. This also plays into the reports that China's interest in going to the moon is more than a passing fancy. There may be desired materials there. The purported existence of a Chinese over-unity device suitable for commercialization may also play into why China "Renews opposition to Iran sanctions" on the one hand, while Iran's leadership is promising February 11th will reveal a strike against 'global arrogance' and we're left wondering if more than opposition to antigovernment demonstrations is in play. We hear the Chinese technology is not precisely perfect. Seems that due to the physics involved, the unit doesn't scale well; meaning that optimum efficiencies come in the 2 KW region and so larger installations, like homes, would need multiple units if air conditioning is required. More to the point, it works best when fed as a DC output into a large battery bank and yes, the Chinese have been getting large in battery development (which breakthrough US efforts continue in Utah in the quest for ever higher energy densities for storage media which run the gamut from conventional lead-acid to the more exotic zinc/air and the class called 'super-capacitors.' When the announcement comes, we're not looking for the Chinese to sell it as an 'over-unity device' (produces more energy than consumed), but simply they plan to call it a 'battery charger' and thus not offend conventional paradigm adherents who would have a problem acknowledging something out of their immediate understanding. The other project is described as an Indian-backed project which relies for its precious materials on deposits (at/near - we're not clear from our sources on this) the disputed Kashmir region along the hotly contested India/Pakistan border. Our sources tell us this machine is different than the Chinese. for one thing, it reportedly is capable of variable load handling. Thus, it will be more adaptable and we hear more scalable in size. rumor has it that certain Swedish officials are holding talks with the Indian company because there are unique power issues in the high latitudes and the Indian project may deliver under more adverse conditions. According to our sources, the Indian company unit can be scaled to 10 KW within the same box and uses different technology so there's potentially a ton more IP to be developed in the field. / (Thanks to Guy Alland for this headsup! - JWD)
- Full Article Source
Possibly related to this article - Lawrence TSEUNG, et al. (Magnetic) Zero Point Energy Converter - The Wang Shum Ho Prototype Electricity Generator was reportedly demonstrated to five Chinese Officials on Jan 15, 2007. Lawrence Tseung, a colleague of the inventor, has said the plan is to initially build four 5kW working units. One of these will be located in Beijing, another in Hong Kong and the third one at the United Nations in New York The fourth unit is to serve as a portable demonstration device. All will be made available to universities for academic validation. Then, 200 more will be produced. They intend to present one of these to each member country of the United Nations, as a gift from China. Mass production may begin in 2008. Tseung has written: "Devices of this nature are converting the electromagnetic wave energy that surrounds us all the time. Some call this Zero Point Energy. That energy is due to the rotational motion of the electrons. Unless the electrons stop spinning and fall into the nucleus, that electromagnetic energy exists.” "We are actually immersed in electromagnetic waves. When electrons rotating around the nucleus change orbits, they give rise to electromagnetic waves. Light is only one form of electromagnetic waves. We emit and receive electromagnetic waves all the time. Unless the electrons stop rotating and fall into the nuclei, there will be electromagnetic waves. Thus we are never in a CLOSED system. We are always in an OPEN system with energy interchanges. For example, we were in calm waters and good sunshine. If we did not know how to use solar panels, we might conclude that we were in a CLOSED system. We should use our muscle power to row the boat. The Lee-Tseung Patent information (PCT/IB2005/000138) states that Energy can be extracted (Lead Out, Lead Out, and Lead Out with Pulse Force) from Energy Fields via oscillation, vibration, rotation or flux changes. Energy Fields can be gravitational, magnetic, electric or electromagnetic." - Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Government should Follow Timelines, can't complete? MOVE ON!
Two things that would radically help our country, bring back all our troops to stop hemorraghing money for unwinnable wars and rebuild infrastructure to create jobs to improve our country. When our troops are out of other countries, the 'threat' of terrorism goes way down, thats when we disband Homeland Security to restore rights and let people travel freely. See the Preceptors for other ideas to improve our country and the world at large.
02/05/10 -
Elect A Corporation?
Following the Supreme Court decision implicitly granting corporations the right to free speech (by determining that political spending is a kind of speech), a corporation has decided to take what it believes to be "democracy's next step": It is running for Congress. With more than a twinge of irony, Murray Hill Incorporated, a liberal public relations firm, recently announced that it planned to run in the Republican primary in Maryland's 8th Congressional District.
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Over-Priced
Nine items that represent America's Biggest Rip-Offs.
* Text messages - 6,500% markup
* Movie theater popcorn - 900% markup
* 'Free' credit reports that'll cost you
* Name-brand painkillers - 60% markup
* Wine at restaurants - 500% markup
* College textbooks - $900 a year!
* Super gasoline - 15% markup
* Hotel mini-bars - 1,300% markup
* Hotel in-room movies - 200% markup
They left out cable TV. / (Aren't there laws against Gouging? - JWD)
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
'Wind bags' tested in Nottingham
Wind bags which would store excess energy from wind turbines as compressed air under the sea are being tested by a Nottingham University professor. Seamus Garvey's idea to hold air in bags the size of 10 double-decker buses, compressed by the sea, has been backed by E.On. The power company has invested £236,000 towards building two prototypes, which are now being tested in 15-tonne tanks. Mr Garvey said more storage of renewable energy was needed. Mr Garvey said currently energy from wind turbines has to be used when it is created, or lost. Using his invention, excess energy would be used to compress and pump air into underwater bags, anchored to the seabed. When energy demand is highest the air would be released through a turbine, converting it to electricity. Mr Garvey said: "These are like huge bicycle tyres under the sea where we are not just interested in putting the energy in, we have a way of getting it back out." He added that as the world moved towards using more renewable energy, storage was going to be crucial to avoid waste.
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
End of the Battery? Plastic stores Electricity
British scientists say they have created a plastic that can store and release electricity, revolutionising the way we use phones, drive cars - and even wear clothes. It means the cases of mobiles and iPods could soon double up as their power source - leading to gadgets as thin as credit cards. The technology could also lead to flexible computer screens that can be folded up and carried around like a piece of paper. And it could even be used to create 'electric clothes' that charge up as a person moves around and which slowly release heat when the weather gets cold. Dr Emile Greenhalgh, from Imperial College London's Department of Aeronautics, said the material is not really a battery, but a supercapacitor - similar to those found in typical electrical circuits. His team's prototype is around five inches square and wafer-thin and it takes five seconds to charge from a normal power supply
and can light an LED for 20 minutes.
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Wind power growth limited by radar conflicts
The most well-known obstacles to installing wind turbines are complaints over their visual impact and the potential for bird and bat deaths. But conflict with radar systems have derailed over 9,000 megawatts worth of wind capacity--nearly as much as was installed in the U.S. last year. "We're not going to put up more wind (in many locations) without conflict because radar systems and wind systems love exactly the same terrain...which is where the wind is at," said Gary Seifert, a program manager for renewable energy technologies at the Idaho National Laboratories, during a presentation at the RETECH conference here on Thursday. "It's really causing a challenge to meeting long-term goals." The problem is wind farms create "cones of silence" above them, making it difficult for primary radar systems to detect airplanes when they fly over them, Seifert explained. Planes with transponders can communicate with air traffic control towers, but smaller planes don't all have transponders. Because of radar issues, 2,100 megawatts of wind projects were held up, 5,100 megawatts were deferred, and 2,100 megawatts were abandoned, he said, citing data from a survey done by the American Wind Energy Association. Last year, 10,000 megawatts were installed in the U.S. Seifert said research could lead to technical fixes to address the problem, including upgrading the software within radar systems to better discern between a spinning turbine blade and an airplane. Turbine blades can also become more "stealthy," or less reflective and detectable by radars systems, he added.
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
USPTO Won't Accept Upside Down Faxes; Demands Resends
What do you do if someone inadvertently fed a page upside down into the fax machine? You simply turn the page over or, if you get an electronic version, use the reader software to rotate it. Apparently this is not within the standard operating procedures of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. No, if your fax comes in upside down, they send you a message in return saying that they can't accept it and to re-fax.
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Call for a Constitutional amendment on campaign financing
"Today, Larry Lessig announced his call for a constitutional convention to fundamentally address the problem of money in politics by passing a Constitutional amendment. he posted today." The procedural point is more fundamental, and comes in two parts: First, no one should distract Congress from the one good thing it could do right now -- pass the Fair Elections Now Act. That would be a huge victory; it is a possible victory; and we are defeating the cause of reform if we do anything that jeopardizes that possible win. And second, we all need to recognize that America is uncertain about how best to fix our government right now. From the Tea Party Right to the Progressive Left, there is agreement that something fundamental has gone wrong. But I believe that our frustrations share a common source -- an exasperation with the broken state of our political system -- even as we disagree passionately on what to do about it. The solution to that disagreement is democracy. We should begin the long discussion about how best to reform our democracy, to restore its commitment to liberty and a Republic, by beginning a process to amend the Constitution through the one path the Framers gave us that has not yet been taken -- a Convention.
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Wait, you can buy USB Rootkits in SkyMall?
"Easy To Use & Undetectable Total Computer Spying Tool Covertly Monitors Passwords, Chatting, Photos, Websites & More! Insert In USB, And In 5 Seconds Data Nano iBots Monitor All Computer Activity On ALL USER ACCOUNTS w/o Tell-Tale Hardware Left Behind. Covertly Record Everything A Person Does On A Computer. Remove Stealth iBot After 5 Seconds: No Hardware Left Behind. Undetectable By Most Anti-Spyware Applications. Store Up to 10,000 Screenshots & Virtually Unlimited Text. Total Surveillance - Record All Computer Activity - Even On Other User Accounts.
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Mini Ion Thrusters to power CubeSats
Right now, 10 to 15 Rubik’s Cube-sized satellites are orbiting high above Earth. Known as cube satellites, or “CubeSats,” the devices help researchers conduct simple space observations and measure characteristics of Earth’s atmosphere. One advantage is that they are relatively cheap to deploy... Paulo Lozano, the H.N. Slater Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, is designing a tiny propulsion system that could allow the satellites, which weigh about a kilogram and are used for tasks that don’t require precise orbit control, to travel great distances and perform more serious tasks, such as searching for planets outside our solar system. The technology, which is based on the process of extracting and accelerating charged ions, or atoms that have gained or lost an electron, could make CubeSats much more useful for organizations or countries that until now have had limited access to space. By changing the design from chemical to electric, and to one that relies on a simple power supply, Lozano has created a system that produces more efficient thrust — the force created when mass is accelerated in a certain direction — than that produced by a chemical-based system, which produces a low thrust per gram of propellant. About the size of a computer chip, the mini-thruster design also overcomes the size constraints of chemical propulsion and other forms of electric propulsion because it does not require a bulky chamber to burn (chemical) or extract ions from (electric) the propellant. Although other electric propulsion systems have been developed, Lozano’s is considered superior because it uses only one power supply.
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Why the First Cowboy To Draw Always Gets Shot
"Have you ever noticed that the first cowboy to draw his gun in a Hollywood Western is invariably the one to get shot? Nobel-winning physicist Niels Bohr did, once arranging mock duels to test the validity of this cinematic curiosity. Researchers have now confirmed that people indeed move faster if they are reacting, rather than acting first."
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Police Want Fast Track To Get At Your Private Data
"According to this story on CNET, police again are pushing for new laws requiring ISPs and webmail providers to store users' private data for five years and also want a new electronic way of speeding up subpoenas and search warrants via police-only encrypted portals at all ISPs and webmail providers."
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Can You Trust Chinese Computer Equipment?
"Suspicions about China slipping eavesdropping technology into computer exports have been around for years. But the recent spying attacks, attributed to China, on Google and other Internet companies have revived the hardware spying concerns. An IT World blogger suggests the gear can't be trusted, noting that it wouldn't be hard to add security holes to the firmware of Chinese-made USB memory sticks, computers, hard drives, and cameras. He also implies that running automatic checks for data of interest in the compromised gear would not be difficult." The blog post mentions Ken Thompson's admission in 1983 that he had put a backdoor into the Unix C compiler; he laid out the details in the 1983 Turing Award lecture, Reflections On Trusting Trust: "The moral is obvious. You can't trust code that you did not totally create yourself. (Especially code from companies that employ people like me.) No amount of source-level verification or scrutiny will protect you from using untrusted code. In demonstrating the possibility of this kind of attack, I picked on the C compiler. I could have picked on any program-handling program such as an assembler, a loader, or even hardware microcode. As the level of program gets lower, these bugs will be harder and harder to detect. A well installed microcode bug will be almost impossible to detect."
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Remnants from the Russian Roswell Incident
This internationally famous UFO incident took place in 1986, on January 29, at 7:55 p.m. Some have called it the Roswell Incident of the Soviet Union. The information concerning this incident was sent to us by a number of Russian ufologists. At the edge of the site a tree-stump was found. It was burnt and emitted a chemical smell. The objects collected at the site were later dubbed as "tiny nets", "little balls", "lead balls", "and glass pieces" (that is what each resembled). Closer examination revealed very unusual properties. One of the "tiny nets" contained torn and very thin (17 micrometers) threads. Each of the threads consisted of even thinner fibers, tied up in plaits. Intertwined with the fibers were very thin gold wires. Soviet scientists, at such facilities as the Omsk branch of the Academy of Sciences, analyzed all collected pieces. Without going into specific details suffice it to say that the technology to produce such materials was not yet available on Earth...except for one disturbing account. To give an idea of the complexity of the composition of the pieces, let us look at the "iron balls". Each of them had its own chemical composition: iron, and a large mixture of aluminum, manganese, nickel, chromium, tungsten, and cobalt. Such differences indicate that the object was not just a piece of lead and iron, but some heterogeneous construction made from heterogeneous alloys with definite significance. When melted in a vacuum, some pieces would spread over a base, while at another base they would form into balls. Half of the balls were covered with convex glass-like structures. Neither the physicists nor physical metallurgists can say what these structures are, what their composition is. The "tiny nets" (or "mesh") have confused many researchers. It is impossible to understand their structure and nature of the formation. A. Kulikov, an expert on carbon at the Chemistry Institute of the Far Eastern Department of the Academy of Sciences, USSR, wrote that it was not possible to get an idea what the "mesh" is. It resembles glass carbon, but conditions leading to such formation are unknown. Definitely a common fire could not produce such glass carbon. The most mysterious aspect of the collected items was the disappearance, after vacuum melting, of gold, silver, and nickel, and the appearance-from nowhere-of molybdenum, that was not in the chamber to begin with. The site of the crash itself was something like an anomalous zone. It was "active" for three years after the crash. Insects avoid the place. The zone affects mechanical and electronic equipment. Some people, including a local chemist, actually got very sick. This Hill 611 is located in the area of numerous anomalies; according to an article in the Soviet digest Tainy XX Veka (Moscow, 1990, CP Vsya Moskva Publishing House). Even photos taken at the site, when developed, failed to show the hill, but did clearly show other locations. Members of an expedition to the site reported later that their flashlights stopped working at the same time. They checked the flashlights upon returning home, and discovered burned wires.
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Robotic Audi To Brave Pikes Peak Without a Driver
"A team of researchers at the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford (CARS) has filled the trunk of an Audi TTS with computers and GPS receivers, transforming it into a vehicle that drives itself. The car will attempt Pikes Peak without a driver at race speeds, something that's never been done."
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Stay Off the Grid, Win $10,000
"Last summer, Wired writer Evan Ratliff wrote a story about how people erase their identities and start over. After it ran, he tried to disappear — spending 25 days on the lam until a few enterprising Wired readers tracked him down through some brilliant hacking and sleuthing. Now we're going to try the experiment again. Evan, Wired, Loneshark Games and I are working with Universal Pictures to do another, similar contest connected to the new film Repo Men, and this time we want you to go on the run. We need four applicants willing to disappear from their lives from late February to late March. If they can stay hidden for that time period, they'll end up with $10,000 each."
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
Prayer Vs. Action
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
DARPA Aims for Synthetic Life With a Kill Switch
DARPA's mad scientists have undertaken a new program designed to create synthetic organisms, complete with a "kill switch." The project, dubbed BioDesign, is dumping $6 million into "removing the randomness of evolutionary advancement" by creating genetically engineered masterpieces. "Of course, Darpa's got to prevent the super-species from being swayed to do enemy work — so they'll encode loyalty right into DNA, by developing genetically programmed locks to create 'tamper proof' cells. Plus, the synthetic organism will be traceable, using some kind of DNA manipulation, 'similar to a serial number on a handgun.' And if that doesn't work, don't worry. In case Darpa's plan somehow goes horribly awry, they're also tossing in a last-resort, genetically-coded kill switch."
- Full Article Source
02/05/10 -
BEWARE geovisite.com and this type of redirect!
This took me many, many hours to figure out. I had installed this neat user location addin and didn't notice they had redirects in their code. Techs blamed it on Flash, viruses, malware, etc...not their fault they didn't know either. But by selective removal and blocking of all my cookies, I found that this idiot site would WRITE OVER the keelynet.com cookie which hostgator sends out and has never been a problem.
But the fake copy would open a 2nd browser with their host ad. I finally started removing whatever I had added and this geovisite crap was the latest...took it out and voila, the keelynet.com cookie is the correct one from hostgator and
no more redirects! Please watch for this and pass it around if others are having the same problem..here is the code these jerks used;
************CODE GEOCOUNTER***********
script type=text/javascript src=http://geoloc17.geovisite.com/private/geocounter.js?compte=845357667074 /script
noscript
a href=http://www.geovisite.com/en/directory/sciences_science-and-company.php target=_blank
img src=http://geoloc17.geovisite.com/private/geocounter.php?compte=845357667074 border=0 alt=science and company /a
Please do not change this code for a perfect fonctionality of your counter
a href=http://www.geovisite.com/en/directory/sciences_science-and-company.php science and company /a
/noscript
a href=http://mexico.mercadolib.com comprar de todo /a
***********END CODE GEOCOUNTER***********
After doing all this and sending my report back to hostgator security, I found an email in my box saying they had tracked the problem to the code from geovisite and this is what was embedded in the code that I couldn't see but which shows the redirect Erik and I had both found;
Further investigation into this matter reveals that this pop-up is being generated by the script geoloc17.geovisite.com/private/geocounter.js?compte=845357667074 that you have included into the page to display geo-location statistics. This code includes the following:
wini=window.open 91.121.16.4:84 promo.php compte=845357667074 path=012232
02/03/10 -
Tripping
When traveling, you can use Tripping to connect with local people who will introduce you to their towns, their cultures, their lives and their friends. You'll feel welcome everywhere you go and you'll end your trips with far more than photos and crinkled maps. Not going anywhere for a while? Tripping is also a great way to meet travelers who are visiting your city. In an instant, your life will become more colorful and you'll get to experience the world without ever packing a bag. Started by a few friends who are passionate about travel and technology, Tripping is about connecting good people around the world.
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
China sees sexual frustration causing social problems
Sexual frustration amongst migrant workers in China's booming southern province of Guangdong is leading to a host of social problems and must be tackled, state media on Saturday cited a local official as saying. Guangdong, China's export powerhouse, is home to about 30 million migrant workers, the most in the country. Many leave wives, husbands or children in their native villages to seek the higher wages factories pay compared with agricultural work. The China Daily quoted Zhang Feng, head of Guangdong's provincial commission of population and family planning, as saying these migrant workers suffered from "severe sexual repression."
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
Archeological Discoveries in 3000AD
Is this how they will read us?
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
More than 1,200 tiny quakes hit Yellowstone Park
Over eight days, more than 1,270 mostly tiny earthquakes have struck between Old Faithful and West Yellowstone. The strongest dozen or so have ranged between magnitudes 3.0 and 3.8. That's strong enough to feel - barely. The vast majority have been too weak to be felt even nearby. Likewise, online chatter about an imminent volcanic eruption in Yellowstone hasn't really picked up compared with the attention that a similar quake swarm drew just over a year ago. One Web site during last year's swarm carried a "Yellowstone Warning" urging everyone to flee the Yellowstone area, saying there was a risk of poisonous volcanic gases venting from the earth. Others have tied the Yellowstone volcano to the end of the world in 2012, as some people fancifully interpret the ancient Mayan calendar to predict. Relatively mundane fault slippage is believed to be causing the latest quakes, said Jamie Farrell, a researcher at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
California 'protects' Apollo 11 landing site on Moon
The site where Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in 1969, the first US landing, is now included on the state's register. The unusual move by the California State Historical Resources Commission aims to protect more than 100 items left by US astronauts on the Moon. They include tools, a flag, footprints, food bags and bags of human waste. The commission said California firms had worked on the Apollo project and their efforts had a historical value to the state. "It has a significance that goes way further than whether it came from a quarter million miles away or not," state historic preservation officer Milford Wayne Donaldson was quoted as saying by the New York Times newspaper. "They are all parts of the event," he said. The designation applies to everything left on the Moon by astronauts Neil Armstrong - the first man to walk on the Moon - and Buzz Aldrin, with a total weight of 5,000 lbs (2,270 kg). A number of items were jettisoned by the mission in order to make their module lighter for the take-off which began their journey back to Earth. However, the moon's surface is not included in the designation, because under international law no country or state can make a claim to it. The move aims to protect the site in the face of possible lunar missions in the future by other nations.
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
Wavepower Firm in for £40,000 award
Pulse Tidal, based at the Advanced Manufacturing Park Technology Centre, has developed the generator, which can be used in far shallower water than conventional wave power machines, opening the way for generating power from many new coastal locations. The company, which is developing a commercial version of its device after successfully testing a prototype working in the Humber Estuary, has been shortlisted for a Shell Springboard worth up to £40,000. Shell Springboard gives a financial boost to innovative, commercially viable business ideas that tackle climate change. James Smith, chairman of sponsors Shell UK, said: "Over the last five years, Shell Springboard has supported over thirty small businesses that have products for tackling climate change. "They have received no strings financial awards totalling £1.3 million. It's great to these businesses still coming through even in these tough times. Congratulations and best wishes for success to Pulse Tidal."
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
Hot-water 'Quooker' gadget could 'kill the kettle'
Introduced to the UK by a Dutch-based company three years ago, Quookers supply boiling water through a tap connected to a small tank hidden in a cupboard underneath the work surface or sink. Retailers say as many as one in three designer kitchens now features a Quooker, with one declaring that the device would "kill the kettle". What is more, despite costing nearly £800, nearly 10,000 of the taps were installed last year - an increase of 300% on the previous year. According to the Energy Saving Trust, kettles are one of the most used appliances in the kitchen with the average family brewing up around four times a day, a total of 1,500 times per year. However, retailers have praised the Quooker for being more cost-effective and labour-saving than the average kettle.
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
Lithium-Air battery
Chemists in the UK say that there's a way to break through the looming energy capacity barrier - by letting the batteries "breathe" oxygen from the air. Lithium ions shuttle between the two electrodes during charging and discharging, sending electrons around the external circuit to power a gadget in the process. The problem with that design is that the lithium cobalt oxide is bulky and heavy. The major barrier to increasing the energy density of these batteries is the positive electrode. Everyone wants to find a way to push up the amount of lithium stored there, which would raise the capacity. Chemists in the UK say that there's a way to break through the looming energy capacity barrier - by letting the batteries "breathe" oxygen from the air. The idea is borrowed from the zinc-air batteries used in hearing aids, which get their power reacting zinc with oxygen from air. So, scientists have begun designing a lithium-air battery. The new battery has a higher energy density than existing lithium ion batteries because it no longer contains dense lithium cobalt oxide. Instead, the positive electrode is made from lightweight porous carbon, and the lithium ions are packed into the electrolyte which floods into the spongy material. When the battery is discharged, oxygen from the air also floods through a membrane into the porous carbon, where it reacts with lithium ions in the electrolyte and electrons from the external circuit to form a solid lithium oxide. Reversible process - The solid lithium oxide gradually fills the pore spaces inside the carbon electrode as the battery discharges. But when the battery is recharged the lithium oxide decomposes again, releasing lithium ions again and freeing up pore space in the carbon. The oxygen is released back to the atmosphere. Most batteries have all the chemicals they need built in from the start. By using oxygen from the environment instead there is a saving in weight and volume because battery doesn't have to carry the reagents around inside. The new design is like a battery-fuel cell hybrid. Like a fuel cell it uses reactants from outside the system, while like a battery it also has internal reactants. Developments - Li-air batteries use a catalytic air cathode that supplies oxygen, an electrolyte and a lithium anode. The technology has the potential to store almost as much energy as a tank of gasoline, and will have a capacity for energy storage that is five to 10 times greater than that of Li-ion batteries, a bridge technology. The prototype device is said to have a capacity-to-weight ratio of 4000 milliamp per hours per gram - eight times that of a cellphone battery.
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
ATM skimmers: man, these things are scary
Brian Krebs continues to scare the pants off of me with his ongoing series on sophisticated ATM skimmers (devices that capture your card number, working with a hidden camera to catch your PIN). His slideshow of next-gen skimmers has me convinced that there's no way I'd notice a skimmer on an ATM that I was using: "According to Doten, the U.S. Secret Service estimates that annual losses from ATM fraud totaled about $1 billion in 2008, or about $350,000 each day. Card skimming, where the fraudster affixes a bogus card reader on top of the real reader, accounts for more than 80 percent of ATM fraud, Doten said."
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
Library of Unusual Materials
Inside the basement of King's College London's engineering department, Mark Miodownik curates a "cabinet of curiosities" for materials scientists. He started the collection in 2003 after noticing that his colleagues trashed all kinds of unusual materials at the end of their research projects. From News@Nature: His collection now includes more than 300 samples, including artificial skin made of rubber composites, and a material known as a superslurper that absorbs 400 times its own weight in water.... Miodownik trawls the globe in search of additions to his collection. On a recent trip to Australia, he found himself in the remote uranium-mining town of Broken Hill in New South Wales. He started hunting through antique shops there to find a special type of glass. Miodownik explains that in the early twentieth century people thought that radioactive materials had beneficial health properties. For this reason, they manufactured glassware containing uranium, especially in places such as Broken Hill that had an abundance of the element. In the Australian antique shops, Miodownik flashed an ultraviolet light on various glass pieces to find one that glowed, a sign that it contained uranium. When he found a bowl that did just that, he brought it back to London and added it to the library.
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
Could Cellphones be good for you?
The Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Florida’s reports that mice exposed to cell phone radiation did better than mice who weren’t on the phone. The radiation removed plaque buildups in their brains. Such deposits are believed to be a major cause of Alzheimer’s, which destroys memory. The mice were bombarded for two hours every day in structures that resembled apartment and condominium buildings. The radiation simulated the level that humans get by holding cell phones to their heads. This backs up a previous study by the University of Sunderland in England which claimed that Alzheimer’s could be reversed if patients wore helmets that bathed their brains in infrared light, which is at a lower electromagnetic frequency than cell phones emit. There’s more info on this at the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, j-alz.com. Click on “press releases.”
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
Super Strong Metal Foam Discovered
A North Carolina State University researcher has discovered what appears to be the strongest metal foam yet, capable of compressing up to 80% of it's original size under load and still retain the original shape. The hope is that this amazing material could be used in cars, body armor, or even buildings to absorb the shock from earthquakes. "Metal foam is exactly what you might think – a cellular structure made from metal with tiny pockets of space inside. What makes Rabiei’s metal foam better than others is that she’s been able to make the tiny pockets of space more uniform. And that apparently is what gives it the strength as well as elasticity it needs in order to compress as much as it does without deformation. Many tests are being performed in the laboratory to determine its strength, but so far Rabiei says that the spongy material has 'a much higher strength-to-density ratio than any metal foam that has ever been reported.' Calculations also predict that in car accidents, when two pieces of her composite metal foam are inserted 'behind the bumper of a car traveling at 28 mph, the impact would feel the same to passengers as an impact traveling at only 5 mph.'"
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
Electric Bicycles Surging In Popularity
"An accidental transportation upheaval began in China, where an estimated 120 million electric bicycles now hum along the roads, up from a few thousand in the 1990s. They are replacing traditional bikes and motorcycles at a rapid clip and, in many cases, allowing people to put off the switch to cars. The booming Chinese electric-bike industry is spurring worldwide interest and impressive sales in India, Europe, and the US. China is exporting many bikes, and Western manufacturers are also copying the Chinese trend to produce models of their own. From virtually nothing a decade ago, electric bikes have become an $11 billion global industry. In the Netherlands, a third of the money spent on bicycles last year went to electric-powered models. Industry experts predict similar growth elsewhere in Europe, especially in Germany, France, and Italy, as rising interest in cycling coincides with an aging population. India had virtually no sales until two years ago, but its nascent market is fast expanding and could eclipse Europe's in the next year. In China, electric bicycles have evolved into bigger machines that resemble Vespa scooters. These larger models are causing headaches for global transportation planners. They cannot decide whether to embrace them as a green form of transportation, or ban them as a safety hazard. Some cities are studying the halfway measure of banning them from bicycle lanes while permitting them on streets."
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
And Now, the Animated News
"'You have a lot of missing images, in the TV, in the news reporting,' explains billionaire Jimmy Lai. It's a gap that Lai's Next Media intends to fill with its animated news service. Artists lift details from news photos while actors in motion sensor suits re-create action sequences of stories making headlines. Animators graft cartoon avatars to the live-motion action, and the stories hit the Web. When news agencies didn't have footage of scenes from the Tiger Woods car crash, Lai's team raced to put together animation dramatizing the incident that became a YouTube sensation. Thus far, Lai has been denied a television license, but with or without his own station, he thinks his animations are headed for televisions worldwide. His company is currently in talks with media organizations to churn out news animations on demand using Next Media's graphic artists and software tools."
- Full Article Source
02/03/10 -
Why Time Flies By As You Get Older
An audio report on WBUR Boston addresses theories to explain the universal human experience that time seems to pass faster as you get older. Here's the 9-minute audio (MP3) . Several explanations are tried out: that brains lay down more information for novel experiences; that the "clock" for nerve impulses in aging brains runs slower; and that each interval of time represents a diminishing fraction of life as we age.
- Full Article Source
02/01/10 -
Interesting comments about EEstor
Unfortunately EEStor never made and will never make the supercapacitor described in the patent , because they ignore a well known physical effect, called “dielectric saturation”. Barium titanate has been used in capacitors for decades, due to its high dielectric constant . However, the dielectric constant drops as the electric field strength increases: http://www.nap.edu/books/NI000488/html/49.html and http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PR/v71/i12/p890_1 At a hypothetical field of 3500 Volts over a thickness of 12.76 micrometers, as proposed in the patent, the dielectric constant of barium titanate would be orders of magnitude lower than the claimed 18500, reducing capacity and energy density by the same factor… This has been discussed in more detail by Prof. Anatoly Moskalev on December 24th and 26th, 2006 in http://www.teslamotors.com/blog1/index.php?p=43 with an update on January 20th, 2007: http://www.teslamotors.com/blog1/?p=46 and on the other hand; The EEStor patent indicates that the ceramic material that they are using is a doped barium-titanate covered by US patent 6078494 assigned to U.S. Phillips Corp. That patent claims that the material has a capacitance with a low voltage dependence. The patent does not quantify the voltage dependence. The accelerated life test was performed at 1800 V/mm. The EEStor patent indicates the selected ceramic formulation has a dielectric constant of 33500 before further modification.
- Full Article Source
02/01/10 -
Optical WiFi
In January 2010 a team of researchers from Siemens and Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications (Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin) demonstrated the transmission of 500 MBit/s with white LED over a distrance of 5 metres (16 ft) or 100Mbit/s over longer distance using 5 LEDs. Penn State has achieved over twice the speed. The system uses a high-powered laser diode -- a device that converts electricity into light -- as the optical transmitter and an avalanche photo diode -- a device that converts light to electricity -- as the receiver. The light bounces off the walls and is picked up by the receiver. "Unless the walls are painted solid black, there is no need to worry about transmission within a room," said Jarir Fadlullah, graduate student in electrical engineering who presented the paper Tuesday (Jan. 27) at SPIE Phonotics West Conference in San Francisco, the paper will be published in the conference proceedings. The researchers tested infrared light, but the system also will work with visible light and ultraviolet light. "The optical system we have offers a very large bandwidth thus a very high speed," said Fadlullah. "We can send one gigabit per second or more over a gigahertz band."
- Full Article Source
02/01/10 -
New Life for Magnetic Tape
At IBM's Zurich Research Laboratories in Switzerland, researchers have developed a new tape material and a novel tape-reading technology. In combination, they can store 29.5 billion bits per square inch, which translates to a cartridge capable of holding around 35 terabytes of data--more than 40 times the capacity of cartridges currently available, and several times more than a hard disk of comparable size. The researchers used a relatively new magnetic medium, called barium ferrite. In cooperation with researchers from Fujifilm's labs in Japan, they orientated the barium ferrite magnetic particles so that their magnetic fields protrude perpendicularly from the tape, instead of lengthways. This means that more bits can be crammed into a given area, and the magnetic fields are stronger. Furthermore, these particles allow thinner tape to be used, meaning12 percent more tape can be stored on a single spooled cartridge. Increasing the density of data that can be stored on a tape makes it more difficult to reliably read information. This is already a problem because of electromagnetic interference and because the heads themselves will retain a certain amount of residual magnetism from readings. To overcome this, the IBM group developed new signal processing algorithms that simultaneously process data and predict the effect that electromagnetic noise will have on subsequent readings. Hard disks can store more data on a given surface area than magnetic tape, and the data on a disk can be read faster. But because hundreds of meters of tape can be spooled on a single cartridge, the overall volumetric data density of tape is higher, says Evangelos Eleftheriou, head of the Storage Technologies group at IBM Zurich. Crucially, tape storage is also much cheaper. "What's most important is the cost per gigabyte," says Eleftheriou. Solid state drives cost between $3 and $20 per gigabyte. In contrast, it costs less than a cent per gigabyte to store information on magnetic tape. In the third quarter of 2009, the global tape market was worth more than half a billion dollars.
- Full Article Source
02/01/10 -
New 'suicide' molecule halts rheumatoid arthritis
A Northwestern University scientist has invented a novel way to halt and even reverse rheumatoid arthritis. He developed an imitation of a suicide molecule that floats undetected into overactive immune cells responsible for the disease. Referred to as Casper the Ghost, the stealthy molecule causes the immune cells to self-destruct. The approach doesn't carry the health risks of current treatments. The new therapy, tested on mice, stopped the disease cold in 75 percent of the animals.
- Full Article Source
02/01/10 -
Blueberry Juice Improves Memory In Older Adults
In the study, one group of volunteers in their 70s with early memory decline drank the equivalent of 2-2 l/2 cups of a commercially available blueberry juice every day for two months. A control group drank a beverage without blueberry juice. The blueberry juice group showed significant improvement on learning and memory tests, the scientists say. "These preliminary memory findings are encouraging and suggest that consistent supplementation with blueberries may offer an approach to forestall or mitigate neurodegeneration," said the report. "Fresh blueberries. Scientists are reporting the first evidence from human research that blueberries - one of the richest sources of healthful antioxidants and other so-called phytochemicals - improve memory.
- Full Article Source
02/01/10 -
‘Cool’ sleeves fight fatigue
Liquid Cooling/Warming Garments in sleeve form apply heat or cold to a specific area of the body. Dancisak’s team is quantifying the delay in the time it takes to reach a state of functional muscle fatigue. They are currently analyzing data from their experiments, and early results indicate that temperature control can indeed stave off fatigue. The team first worked with women volleyball players and male baseball pitchers to determine how temperature control affected the athletes’ performances. In between sets and innings, the players wore the sleeve to cool down and then warm up muscles. “We noticed that there was about a 30 percent increase in maintenance of power with the volleyball players when they used the sleeves,” says Dancisak. “With the pitchers, we simply looked at pitching speed. Without the sleeve, their fastball declined. “But when they wore the sleeve in between innings, they were able to maintain their fastball speed through all seven innings. One of the pitchers actually increased his speed.” Dancisak recently applied the cooling sleeve to delay fatigue in a surgeon’s arms during surgery, reducing tremor and delaying fatigue in longer procedures.
- Full Article Source
02/01/10 -
More White Roof Studies
To help combat global warming and urban heating, we might just need to paint the town white. A new modeling study simulated the effects of painting roofs white to reflect incoming solar rays and found that it could help cool cities and reduce the effects of global warming. Cities are particularly vulnerable to climate change because of a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. The asphalt roads, tar roofs and other artificial surfaces that permeate cities absorb heat from the sun, making temperatures in urban areas on average 2 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 3 degrees Celsius) higher than in rural areas. "It's critical to understand how climate change will affect vulnerable urban areas, which are home to most of the world's population," said NCAR scientist Gordon Bonan, a co-author of the study, which will be detailed in an upcoming issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Reflecting light - White roofs could reflect some of that heat back to space and cool temperatures, because white surfaces reflect most of the light that hits them, while black surfaces absorb most of that light. (The amount of light that a surface reflects is known as its albedo.) Oleson and his team used a newly developed computer model to simulate the amount of solar radiation absorbed or reflected by urban surfaces. The model simulations, which are idealized representations of cities, suggest that, if every roof were entirely painted white, the urban heat island effect could be reduced by about a third. Such a reduction would cool the world's cities by an average of about 0.7 degrees F (0.4 degrees C), with the cooling influence more noticeable during the day, especially in the summer.
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02/01/10 -
You get one shot and we get you! - Airships can defeat roadside bombers
An ex-US air force officer has said that unmanned spy airships capable of defeating terrorist/insurgent bombers could have been in service years ago, saving many lives among US and allied troops. He says that the technology was "illegally" sidelined by senior officers determined to preserve satellite and aircraft budgets. The idea is that a spy airship would lurk high (say 60,000 feet) above an area of interest, with close-to-vertical line of sight view of a large area beneath (the steep downward look is important, as people or things get hidden behind buildings, terrain etc once one is looking more from the side). Most importantly, the spy dirigible would be monitoring the entire area all the time, not peering at just one part of it through a narrow-field "drinking straw view" sensor such as a normal electro-optical telescopic camera. The entire, huge, detailed picture would be recorded, so creating a record of every bomb-laying or ambush team as it left its home base or IED factory, travelled to the point of action and set up its trap. No feasible analysis could pick this out of the picture as it was happening: but once the bomb went off or the ambush took place it would be a simple matter to reverse the tape back to the moment it was set up, and then backtrack the enemy to their lairs - perhaps even to their homes. Presto: every time a bomb goes off or a patrol is attacked, all the enemy personnel involved are bagged. According to Herlik, this technology could have been in service years ago - but senior air force officers, despite having been ordered to sort it out, deliberately sidelined the idea. The DEW Line blog flags up the incendiary part of his remarks:
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02/01/10 -
Whitehouse to Triple Reactor Loan Bid to $54 Billion
obama will propose tripling loan guarantees for nuclear-power plants to more than $54 billion in his budget Feb. 1, according to two people familiar with the Energy Department plan. The loan guarantee is part of an effort to bolster nuclear- power production after obama called for doing so in his State of the Union address yesterday. Tomorrow, the Energy Department plans to announce formation of a panel to find a solution to storing the waste generated by nuclear plants.
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02/01/10 -
Tattoos - GET IT RIGHT before you Ink'em!
Every couple of months the department gets another Latin translation request for either a tattoo or a slogan of some sort. Most of them would be inane in English, so I suppose I should applaud the attempt to give their ink a little class but honestly, "Drive it like you stole it" is ridiculous in any language. Our most recent request is to render "Be Real" into the Roman tongue. I do not know where to begin, and so will not. I just keep picturing this person walking about with some Latin scrawl on his skin, accosted by friends and strangers, "Hey dude, what's your tat say?" He'll snort in derision, already accustomed to the question and ready, albeit grudgingly, to enlighten the unwashed masses. "It says Be Real. In Latin." The interrogator will nod sagely. "That's deep, man." In a fit of pique, I turned to the internet, ready to behold what other people were inscribing on their flesh in this language I hold so dear. The findings, my dear friends, were not unsatisfactory. Not in the least.
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02/01/10 -
Belousov–Zhabotinsky-like reaction from Mercury, Sulfuric Acid and Nail
A drop of mercury in a watch glass is covered with a solution of potassium chromate in concentrated sulfuric acid. An iron nail is positioned so that it nearly touches the mercury. Eventually, the mercury drop starts to beat rhythmically, like a beating heart. A close up view is shown. / A Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction, or BZ reaction, is one of a class of reactions that serve as a classical example of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, resulting in the establishment of a nonlinear chemical oscillator. The only common element in these oscillating systems is the inclusion of bromine and an acid. The reactions are theoretically important in that they show that chemical reactions do not have to be dominated by equilibrium thermodynamic behavior. These reactions are far from equilibrium and remain so for a significant length of time. In this sense, they provide an interesting chemical model of nonequilibrium biological phenomena, and the mathematical models of the BZ reactions themselves are of theoretical interest. An essential aspect of the BZ reaction is its so called "excitability" — under the influence of stimuli, patterns develop in what would otherwise be a perfectly quiescent medium. Some clock reactions such as Briggs–Rauscher and BZ using the chemical ruthenium bipyridyl as catalyst can be excited into self-organising activity through the influence of light.
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02/01/10 -
Researchers Synchronize Blinking 'Genetic Clocks'
Scientists recently synchronized these bacterial "genetic clocks" to blink in unison and engineered the bacterial genes to alter their blinking rates when environmental conditions change. "Synchronization of clocks and oscillators in general has been a fascinating subject for physicists and applied mathematicians for centuries," said Tsimring. "This began with the Dutch mathematician and astronomer Christiaan Huygens, who is credited with its serendipitous discovery in 1665 when he suspended a pair of nearly identical pendulum clocks (which he invented and patented some 8 years earlier) on the same wooden beam." "Synchronization plays a crucial role in physics and biology as a way of self-organization of highly regular behavior with less that perfect components. This phenomenon has a myriad of applications in modern technology, from communication networks to GPS. Our study demonstrates how inherently noisy gene oscillators can operate together with beautiful synchronicity and regularity once coupled together in a specific way." The researchers constructed devices to precisely control the sizes of the bacterial colonies between two different scales: a micron, or a millionth of a meter, and a millimeter, or one-thousandth of a meter. At the micron scales, Hasty said the cells in the colonies oscillate synchronously from 50 to 90 minutes, a period that can be tuned externally. But at the longer, or millimeter scales, he noted, the time for diffusion of the signal becomes more important, allowing the researchers to actually observe the propagation of the signal through the colony. "The use of quorum sensing is a promising approach to increase the sensitivity and robustness of the dynamic response to external signals," said Hasty. "In nature, synchronization typically helps stabilize a desired behavior arising from a network of intrinsically noisy and unreliable elements. We think the synchronized genetic clock sets the stage for the use of microbes as a macroscopic biosensor with oscillatory output, or applications of using a synchronized periodic signal in drug delivery."
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02/01/10 -
Liquid glass: the spray-on miracle that could revolutionise manufacturing
It sounds too good to be true: a non-toxic spray invisible to the human eye that protects almost any surface against dirt and bacteria, whether it is hospital equipment and medical bandages or ancient stone monuments and expensive fabrics. But true it is. The spray is a form of "liquid glass" and is harmless to living things and the wider environment. Tests have revealed an astonishing variety of potential uses for the liquid glass, from protecting vineyards against fungal attacks to coating medical implants with non-stick, antibacterial surfaces. Scientists have even used it to spray fabric with an invisible, dirt-resistant film – emulating the fictional invention of unstainable clothing in the 1951 Ealing comedy The Man in the White Suit. The secret of liquid glass is that it forms an ultra-thin film between 15 and 30 molecules thick – about 500 times thinner than human hair. On this nanoscale – a few millionths of a millimetre thick – liquid glass turns into a highly flexible invisible barrier that repels water, dirt and bacteria, yet is resistant to heat, acids and UV radiation but remains "breathable". A family-owned German company called Nanopool holds patent rights on the technology behind the liquid glass, which emerged from research at the Institute for New Materials in Saarbrücken. The liquid glass is composed of almost pure silicon dioxide, the chemical constituent of quartz or silica, the most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust. It is quite inert and has no known harmful impact on the environment, unlike many of the domestic and industrial cleaning products its use could help to reduce. The "easy-clean" properties of the liquid glass could lead to drastic cuts in the amount of potentially toxic cleaning agents used in factories, offices, schools, hospitals and the home, as well as cutting the costs of labour and the amount of time spent scrubbing surfaces. It works by forming a highly water-repellent or "hydrophobic" layer that resists dirt and bacteria, so that treated surfaces can be quickly be washed clean with plain water, according to Neil McClelland, Nanopool's UK project manager. The secret of the glass's unique properties lies in the way it is manufactured so that it can be sold in a solution of water or alcohol, depending of the type of surface to be covered. When sprayed on a surface, the glass solution forms a flexible, ultra-thin film that generates strong electrostatic forces that bind it to the material in question, yet repel water from the opposing, exposed surface. "In essence, we extract molecules of silicon dioxide from quartz sand and add molecules of water or ethanol depending on which surface is being coated. The really clever part is that there are no added nano-particles, resins or additives – the coatings form and bond due to quantum forces," Mr McClelland said. When bacteria or other microbes land on the glass surface they are not killed, but they cannot divide and replicate easily, he said. This imparts a natural, antibacterial property to the layer of liquid glass similar to the silver-ion surfaces used to protect some kitchen equipment, but with a longer-lasting effect, Mr McClelland claimed. "Very soon almost every product you purchase will be protected with a highly durable, easy-to-clean coating ... the concept of spray-on glass is mind boggling," Mr McClelland said.
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02/01/10 -
Solar Innovations
The U of M had a $1.2 million budget for the project and invested more than $750,000 in the structure. “Not an affordable housing model by any means,’’ laughed Handeen. But the upfront investment belies the fact this prototype could lead to affordable copies, and that the gee-whiz technology it utilizes is ready for the market. “We’re right there,’’ said Handeen of the solar technology the house employed. “It’s coming out and it’s coming out quick.’’ Like other houses in the competition, the U of M house relied on an array of rooftop solar panels to produce electricity and heat. But it also used two-sided solar panels to shade a deck area while converting both direct and ambient light into electricity. Inside, the Minnesota house captured attention for its electro-chromatic windows produced by Sage Glass of Faribault. With the turn of a switch, a tiny electrical current can tint the widows to reduce solar gain by as much as 60 percent and help keep the house cool on sunny, summer days. An undergraduate student’s invention also made the house unique. A desiccant dehumidifier uses common road salt to remove the humidity from summer air and as a result, greatly reduce the electricity needed to cool it down. Only the most energy efficient devices were allowed inside. Fourth-generation LED lights, and a large LED TV that needed only 30 watts of electricity, were among them. An electric induction stove did the cooking: Electromagnetic waves cause the steel and cast iron pots to heat, greatly reducing the electricity required while offering the same heating precision and speed as that of natural gas stoves. Competition rules limited the size of the house to no more than 800 square feet. The Minnesota version had 550 square feet of open, interior space with an attached deck. Rubber bladders hidden underneath the deck held rain water for use in irrigating.
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02/01/10 -
`Novel ideas must get encouragement'
"Promote creativity towards new ideas and inventions," said former director of IIT-Mumbai, Prof Ashok Misra, at the ongoing convocation week of Lucknow University (LU) on Saturday. Higher education should provide an ambience for creativity and innovations. It is assuming an even bigger role with time. No wonder, the developed countries have a high quality of it. Institutes should play a role in the development of high quality manpower, new knowledge, advanced technologies, inventions and intellectual property. More than 70% of Nobel laureates come from educational institutions. "We have to think about it and bring the level of research here at par with developed countries", he said. Certainly this does not mean that only sciences be encouraged but also the social sciences. This will encourage inventions in an ethical manner, he said. "People with new ideas should be encouraged," he said. There are various fields where inventions are needed like food and resource management, energy generation and distribution, healthcare, waste management, ecological balance and terrorism besides others. "Can we have a technology that can help warn against threats of terrorism," he said. To bring out the best creative talents inter-disciplinary research should be encouraged. "We need to have some invention capital," he said. Money is easy to get but idea is more difficult to come. The revenue from patents in India is about 0.4% of the world share. Besides, India must not be accounting for more than 2% of world share of research papers.
"People are at the heart of knowledge economy and hence we need to invest in people", he said.
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02/01/10 -
What's Clogging Your Computer? Try DiskPie
Running out of hard disk space slows down your computer. How can you find your space hogs? We ran “Disk Pie,” a Windows program that gives you a pie chart and a list of offenders. We found old installation files, old backup sets, and several junk videos. Each item on the list showed how much space it was taking up. A couple of programs couldn’t be deleted, but just seeing them there reminded us to go to the Windows “Control” panel and uninstall them. We were surprised that so much old stuff was still around. It took us five minutes to reclaim over 50 gigabytes, almost a third of our drive. To remove junk, right-click a file and choose “move,” “copy” or ”delete.” When finished with your “C” drive, click on other drives attached to your computer. Disk Pie is part of PC Magazine’s utilities library. You can buy it there for $8. If you subscribe to the utility library for $20 a year, you get an unlimited number of free downloads. (via http://oncomp.com/)
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02/01/10 -
Evolving Robots Learn To Prey On Each Other
"Dario Floreano and Laurent Keller report in PLoS ONE how their robots were able to rapidly evolve complex behaviors such as collision-free movement, homing, predator versus prey strategies, cooperation, and even altruism. A hundred generations of selection controlled by a simple neural network were sufficient to allow robots to evolve these behaviors. Their robots initially exhibited completely uncoordinated behavior, but as they evolved, the robots were able to orientate, escape predators, and even cooperate. The authors point out that this confirms a proposal by Alan Turing who suggested in the 1950s that building machines capable of adaptation and learning would be too difficult for a human designer and could instead be done using an evolutionary process. The robots aren't yet ready to compete in Robot Wars, but they're still pretty impressive."
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02/01/10 -
"Perpetual Motion DeLorean" Scammers Face $26M Judgment
"Back in 2002, we discussed a story about the so-called 'Perpetual Motion DeLorean,' which could 'supposedly go "hundreds of miles" at speeds over 100MPH without stopping to recharge.' More than seven years later, the final shoe has dropped on this saga, with a $26 million judgment against Carl Tilley and his wife, who propagated this scam that ran for several years. Probably the height of its audacity was when Tilley told his shareholders in May of 2002 that GE had offered $2 billion 'sight unseen' to buy out the technology."
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02/01/10 -
Using Infrared Cameras To Find Tastiness of Beef
"Might we one day be able to use our cell phone cameras to pick out the best piece of meat on display at the market? Some Japanese researchers seem to hope so. A team of scientists is using infrared camera technology to try and determine the tastiest slices of high-grade Japanese beef. The researchers believe that the levels of Oleic acid found within the beef strongly affect the beef's tenderness, smell, and overall taste. The infrared camera can be tuned to pick out the Oleic acid levels through a whole slab, a process that would be impossible to do with the human eye. While the accuracy is still relatively low — a taste test this month resulted in only 60% of participants preferring beef that was believed to have had a higher level of Oleic acid — the researchers hope to fine tune the process for market testing by next year."
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02/01/10 -
Can we trust Electronics in Critical Car systems?
"The gas pedal system used Toyota Motor Co.'s recall crisis was born from a movement in the auto industry to rely more on electronics to carry out a vehicle's most critical functions. The intricacy of such systems, which replace hoses and hydraulic fluid with computer chips and electrical sensors, has been a focus as Toyota struggled to find the cause for sudden acceleration of vehicles that led the company to halt sales of eight models this week." / Earlier this decade, Toyota began using a new type of electronic accelerator. In the past the gas pedal of a vehicle was connected to a cable that opened the throttle on the engine to increase speed. The all-electronic type Toyota began using has sensors that detect how hard and fast a driver is pushing on the gas pedal, and sends signals telling the engine computer whether to accelerate or slow down. Toyota has said its latest problem happened because condensation from heaters caused increased friction in the gas pedal, making it stick in some cases, making the problem a mechanical one and not an issue of electronics. But some critics are questioning why Toyota's system didn't include a brake override system to stop the vehicles
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02/01/10 -
DIY Texting System For Really Underground Radio
"Sixteen-year-old Alexander Kendrick has created a device that allows texting and other data transfer from almost 1000 feet underground. The tech could allow rapid emergency communication with the surface and opens the potential for scientific measurements without the need to continually visit (and disturb) the cave environment."
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DVD - the Physics of Crystals, Pyramids and Tetrahedrons
This is a wonderful 2 hour DVD which presents one man's lifelong study of pyramids, crystals and their effects. Several of his original and very creative experiments are explained and diagramed out for experimenters. These experiments include; 1) transmutation of zinc to lower elements using a tetrahedron, 2) energy extraction from a pyramid, 3) determining mathematic ratios of nature in a simple experiment, 4) accelerating the growth of food, 5) increasing the abundance of food, 6) how crystals amplify, focus and defocus energy, 7) using crystals to assist natural healing, 8) how the universe uses spirals and vortexes to produce free energy and MORE... - $20 DVD + S&H / Source to Buy and Youtube Clip
'The Evolution of Matter' and 'The Evolution of Forces' on CD
Years ago, I had been told by several people, that the US government frequently removes books they deem dangerous or 'sensitive' from libraries. Some are replaced with sections removed or rewritten so as to 'contain' information that should not be available to the public despite the authors intent. A key example was during the Manhattan Project when the US was trying to finalize research into atomic bombs. They removed any books that dealt with the subject and two of them were by Dr. Gustave Le Bon since they dealt with both energy and matter including radioactivity. I had been looking for these two books for many years and fortunately stumbled across two copies for which I paid about $40.00 each. I couldn't put down the books once I started reading them. Such a wealth of original discoveries, many not known or remembered today. / Page 88 - Without the ether there could be neither gravity, nor light, nor electricity, nor heat, nor anything, in a word, of which we have knowledge. The universe would be silent and dead, or would reveal itself in a form which we cannot even foresee. If one could construct a glass chamber from which the ether were to be entirely eliminated, heat and light could not pass through it. It would be absolutely dark, and probably gravitation would no longer act on the bodies within it. They would then have lost their weight. / Page 96-97 - A material vortex may be formed by any fluid, liquid or gaseous, turning round an axis, and by the fact of its rotation it describes spirals. The study of these vortices has been the object of important researches by different scholars, notably by Bjerkness and Weyher. They have shown that by them can be produced all the attractions and repulsions recognized in electricity, the deviations of the magnetic needle by currents, etc. These vortices are produced by the rapid rotation of a central rod furnished with pallets, or, more simply, of a sphere. Round this sphere gaseous currents are established, dissymetrical with regard to its equatorial plane, and the result is the attraction or repulsion of bodies brought near to it, according to the position given to them. It is even possible, as Weyher has proved, to compel these bodies to turn round the sphere as do the satellites of a planet without touching it. / Page 149 - "The problem of sending a pencil of parallel Hertzian waves to a distance possesses more than a theoretical interest. It is allowable to say that its solution would change the course of our civilization by rendering war impossible. The first physicist who realizes this discovery will be able to avail himself of the presence of an enemy's ironclads gathered together in a harbour to blow them up in a few minutes, from a distance of several kilometres, simply by directing on them a sheaf of electric radiations. On reaching the metal wires with which these vessels are nowadays honeycombed, this will excite an atmosphere of sparks which will at once explode the shells and torpedoes stored in their holds. With the same reflector, giving a pencil of parallel radiations, it would not be much more difficult to cause the explosion of the stores of powder and shells contained in a fortress, or in the artillery sparks of an army corps, and finally the metal cartridges of the soldiers. Science, which at first rendered wars so deadly, would then at length have rendered them impossible, and the relations between nations would have to be established on new bases."
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High Voltage & Free Energy Devices Handbook
This wonderfully informative ebook provides many simple experiments you can do, including hydrogen generation and electrostatic repulsion as well as the keys to EV Gray's Fuelless Engine. One of the most comprehensive compilations of information yet detailing the effects of high voltage repulsion as a driving force. Ed Gray's engine produced in excess of 300HP and he claimed to be able to 'split the positive' energy of electricity to produce a self-running motor/generator for use as an engine. Schematics and tons of photos of the original machines and more! Excellent gift for your technical friends or for that budding scientist! If you are an experimenter or know someone who investigates such matters, this would make an excellent addition to your library or as an unforgettable gift. The downloadable HVFE eBook pdf file is almost 11MB in size and contains many experiments, photos, diagrams and technical details. Buy a copy and learn all about hydrogen generation, its uses and how to produce electrostatic repulsion. - 121 pages - $15.00
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KeelyNet BBS Files w/bonus PDF of 'Keely and his Discoveries'
Finally, I've gotten around to compiling all the files (almost 1,000 - about 20MB and lots of work doing it) from the original KeelyNet BBS into a form you can easily navigate and read using your browser, ideally Firefox but it does work with IE. Most of these files are extremely targeted, interesting and informative, I had forgotten just how much but now you can have the complete organized, categorized set, not just sprinklings from around the web. They will keep you reading for weeks if not longer and give you clues and insights into many subjects and new ideas for investigation and research. IN ADDITION, I am including as a bonus gift, the book (in PDF form) that started it all for me, 'Keely and his Discoveries - Aerial Navigation' which includes the analysis of Keely's discoveries by Dr. Daniel G. Brinton. This 407 page eBook alone is worth the price of the KeelyNet BBS CD but it will give you some degree of understanding about what all Keely accomplished which is just now being rediscovered, but of course, without recognizing Keely as the original discoverer. Chapters include; Vibratory Sympathetic and Polar Flows, Vibratory Physics, Latent Force in Interstitial Spaces and much more. To give some idea of how Keely's discoveries are being slowly rediscovered in modern times, check out this Keely History . These two excellent bodies of information will be sent to you on CD. If alternative science intrigues and fascinates you, this CD is what you've been looking for... - Full Article Source
09/23/09 -
Hypnosis CD - 3 eBooks with How To Techniques and Many Cases
If you have a few minutes, you might want to read my page on hypnosis and all the amazing things associated with its application. Included is an experience I had when I hypnotized a neighbor kid when I was about 14. As well the hypnotic gaze of snakes, the discovery of 'eyebeams' which can be detected electronically, the Italian Hypnotist Robber who was caught on tape with his eyes glowing as cashiers handed over their money and remembered nothing, glamour and clouding the mind of others, several methods of trance induction and many odd cases, animal catatonia, healing, psychic phenomena, party/stage stunts, including my favorite of negative hallucination where you make your subject NOT see something...much more...if nothing else, its might be a hoot to read.
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14 Ways to Save Money on Fuel Costs
This eBook is the result of years of research into various methods to increase mileage, reduce pollution and most importantly, reduce overall fuel costs. It starts out with the simplest methods and offers progressively more detailed technologies that have been shown to reduce fuel costs. As a bonus to readers, I have salted the pages with free interesting BONUS items that correlate to the relevant page. Just filling up with one tank of gas using this or other methods explained here will pay for this eBook. Of course, many more methods are out there but I provided only the ones which I think are practical and can be studied by the average person who is looking for a way to immediately reduce their fuel costs. I am currently using two of the easier methods in my own vehicle which normally gets 18-22 mpg and now gets between 28 and 32 mpg depending on driving conditions. A tank of gas for my 1996 Ford Ranger costs about $45.00 here so I am saving around $15-$20 PER TANK, without hurting my engine and with 'greener' emissions due to a cleaner burn! The techniques provided in this ebook begin with simple things you can do NOW to improve your mileage and lower your gas costs. - $15 eBook Download / Full Article Source to Buy
New Vanguard Sciences eBooks - Save a Tree! eBooks make great gifts!
Shape Power - Dan Davidson's analysis of the mysterious pyramid energies, Keely's aether force, Reich's orgone energy, Schauberger's diamagnetic energy, plus a host of others, and shows how shape and materials interact with the universal aether to modify the aether into electromagnetic, gravitic, and various healing energies... - Shape Power Youtube
The Physics of the Primary State of Matter - published in the 1930s, Karl Schappeller described his Prime Mover, a 10-inch steel sphere with quarter-inch copper tubing coils. These were filled with a material not named specifically, but which is said to have hardened under the influence of direct current and a magnetic field [electro-rheological fluid]. With such polarization, it might be guessed to act like a dielectric capacitor and as a diode...
$5 Alt Science MP3s to listen while working/driving/jogging
No time to sit back and watch videos? Here are 15 interesting presentations you can download for just $5 each and listen to while driving, working, jogging, etc. An easy way to learn some fascinating new things that you will find of use. Easy, cheap and simple, better than eBooks or Videos. Roughly 50MB per MP3.
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15 New Alternative Science DVDs & 15 MP3s
An assortment of alternative science videos that provide many insights and inside information from various experimenters. Also MP3s extracted from these DVDs that you can listen to while working or driving. Reference links for these lectures and workshops by Bill Beaty of Amateur Science on the Dark Side of Amateur Science, Peter Lindemann on the World of Free Energy, Norman Wootan on the History of the EV Gray motor , Dan Davidson on Shape Power and Gravity Wave Phenomena, Lee Crock on a Method for Stimulating Energy , Doug Konzen on the Konzen Pulse Motor, George Wiseman on the Water Torch and Jerry Decker on Aether, ZPE and Dielectric Nano Arrays. Your purchase of these products helps support KeelyNet, thanks!
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Want to make a difference? If you have the funds, check out;