A GenX Liberal Geek's Take on Science and Finance in the News: October 2010

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Researchers find a stable way to store the sun's heat (w/ Video)

This is really interesting. Storing heat in a chemical bond. IF, and it's a big IF, they can find a cheaper chemical that can do it, they'll have something very useful.

The age of “civilization in peril” | Watts Up With That?

Now this is a great article. i totally agree.

Africa's tech explosion promises economic growth

Now this is great news. Perhaps the internet, and these data cables, will finally start to enable Africa to pull itself up to the level of the rest of the world. Won't that be a wonderful thing! Lord knows well intended giving of lots of money from the West for the last generation or two hasn't done much.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Technology Review: 70 mpg, without a Hybrid

good news all around, i'd say

Technology Review: A $1.50 Lens-Free Microscope

Real hope in teh battle against malaria; a cheap, easy way to diagnose it. one that is cheap enough to be used where the cases are the most common!

Logitech Revue with Google TV torn down, netbook specs found within -- Engadget

huh, while i love the technology, i am not excited by the 2+ year old hardware for that price. no, i think i'll wait on one of these for a while; although i will have "a" google tv device, certainly it won't be this one.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

The stupefying pace of glacier melt in the 1940s | Watts Up With That?

Yeah, I just have to post this up. The science on climate change is not decided.

More than that, the climate has never been constant. It's always changing. The question that should be asked is whether or not humans are the cause. Since the climate has always changed, isn't likely that the current climate change is caused by nature. Now, we, humans, may be changing things, but again, of course we are. You can't pave over, farm, and otherwise use as much land as we have without changing things. The urban heat island effect is proof of that.

So, again, the real question, is if we are messing things up. Well, lots of plant studies have proven that all plants we use do better in a high carbon environment. So, that's not a problem.

What about hot versus cold? Read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. That was during the Little Ice Age. Cold sucks. Crops fail. People die. Warm is better.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Gulf corals in oil spill zone appear healthy

Good news... they say they will continue to monitor it; also good news.

Virgin spaceship to pass new milestone - Yahoo! News

Another step on the way to the future! Silly I know, but honestly private sub-orbital flights are awesome! This really will be the start of a better future.

And, of course, just like NASA, naming their first ship Enterprise, I love it all the more like the good Trekkie that I am.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Merck Shingles Vaccine Effective in Adults in 50s - FoxNews.com

this is interesting, and must might be great news. it seems it has a 70% effective rate.

Technology Review: Cheap Diesel-Powered Fuel Cells

In general, I am excited about this. More efficient fuel cells, electrical energy generation in general is a good thing. Since these things work on diesel, then bio diesel can be used for them in the future if it ever becomes viable.

GE Unveils Hybrid Halogen-CFL Light Bulbs for 2011! | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

Interesting idea, but realistically, I'm not excited about it. I'm more into the LEDs; I bought the one that Home Depot started selling a few months ago; the 40w equivalent, and it works well as a reading light. this hybrid CFL would be good in a few places.

Netflix 'now primarily a streaming company,' could offer DVD-less plan this year -- Engadget

The article mentions that Netfilx is planning on offering a streaming only plan, and eventually possibly charging extra fro DVDs just as they do for Blue-Ray disks. I have some mixed feelings about this. i like having the disks, because i use them on my pc at work. At the moment, I still watch most of my movies at home; where I have a high speed connection, but at work I can't use the bandwidth. I think a lot of folks fall into that category. Mind you if the streaming only plan was cheaper, as theoretically it should be, then I wouldn't mind at all. My current costs are fine.

I am also excited about the 1080P streaming that can work with the PS3. Hopefully, that will expand. I am not an owner of a PS3 or any blue-ray device. Sadly, I bought an HD-DVD. Oops. Still, I'm coming around to it. The idea of the Google Box sounds great to me, and I want one of those to go with my HDTV. I'm thinking of one of them with a Blue-Ray player would be great, and I'm hoping either the PS3 will get a google tv option. Either that, or I'll buy a box. Sony's $400 option sounds pretty good, but we'll see.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Old Military Planes to Tree Bomb Deforested Areas | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

This is pretty cool. The C-130 is a wonderful plane which I've had the opportunity to ride on one occasion. Retasking it to plant trees is a great idea that could help out in a lot of places in the world. they could have a huge impact n teh Sahel!

The image on the link is one of defensive flare's being dropped; not trees!

End of the Earth Postponed - Yahoo! News

looks like the link to the Modern Calendar to the Mayan Calendar is off by 50 to 100 years in either direction, meaning that the world already ended a few decades ago, or will end in a few decades.

This whole idea was so stupid it was painful to think about. I'm hoping, although doubting, we can put it to rest. I mean geologically speaking, the world will end at some point. At the very latest, the Sun will become a red giant. At that point it will expand so much that the Earth will be inside the star, and will be destroyed. That event will happen in about 4-6 billion years, unless Humanity or our progeny comes up with some way to prevent it. Between now and then, lots of things could happen that could destroy the world let alone humanity. Shoemaker-Levy-9 hitting the Earth instead of Jupiter certainly would have!

So, sure we're goners, but likely not for a long time.

EEStor Ultracapacitors: Battery Revolution begins with Electric Cars?: Yet Another EEStor Patent Allowance: Method of preparing ceramic powders using chelate precursors

Could this be what stands between EEStor and a reveal? Is EEStor real? Is it vaporware? The fact that they keep getting a steady stream of patents makes me think the answer is "yes" to all the questions except for my "vaporware" question. I certainly hope it's real.

Time will tell.

Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: How to Surf a Supersonic Shock Wave

Pretty cool if you ask me. Pratical uses? Well, as they say in the article, for determining the paths of meteorites as they breakup in the atmosphere. Beyond that, I'm sure the Air Force is curious. This would help explain the dynamics of launching a missile from a supersonic aircraft; something that is done regularly. It would also help explain how MIRVs would work on multi-warhead ICBMs. All of those things work, but new science can offer better control, and more possibilities.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Shooting for the Sun - Magazine - The Atlantic

I really hope this guy has the next big thing in power.

Technology Review: A Long-lasting Universal Flu Vaccine

This article is just about a promising early vaccine that has a lot of potential to give long term protection against the most common varieties of the flu. It offers mild protection against one major class (H1N1 - Swine Flu), moderate protection against another class (H5 - Avian Flu), and absolute protection against the most common type (H3). Sadly, it's only proven in mice. They are moving on to testing it in better human analog animals now. This has the potential, though, to be a big help; providing immunization for decades. Even if it only is effective for the H3 variety, it's still going to be a big help.

Monday, October 18, 2010

In Kansas, Climate Skeptics Embrace Green Energy - Series - NYTimes.com

I don't like the tone of the article. Climate change is real; anyone who's heard of the last Ice Age, knows it's real. The question is if Humanity is causing anything. Me, I'm not buying the idea, but I won't go into that argument now.

But, my real point is that the idea of efficiency is a good idea. I use a 40-watt equivalent LED bulb as a reading light, and lots of CFLs. Not buying power from from overseas is also a good idea; keep the money here. Not wasting power is also a good idea. That's the main thrust of the article, even if much of it is condescending to those of us who have my opinion on GW/Climate Change