A GenX Liberal Geek's Take on Science and Finance in the News: March 2011

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

U of M researchers close in on technology for making renewable "petroleum" using bacteria, sunlight and carbon dioxide : UMNews : University of Minnesota

Looks like we are one step closer to solving our imported oil problem.

U.S. develops panic button for democracy activists | Reuters

Way to go State Department!

Using Heat to Cool Buildings - Technology Review

This one's really cool. Right now there are these things called adsorption chillers. They are powered by waste heat, and are able to use that waste heat to do the same job as the compressor in a Fridge or in your home A/C unit. In NYC, there are many powered by the steam waste heat from the power plants.

This article is about the work done by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to make the things potentially cost competitive with home A/C units. Okay that's great, but how do you "power" the thing at home; since no one has a steam connection from the local power plant? Solar water heaters are already cost effective over most of the continental USA; they can make hot water even on cold cloudy days. Even then, a simple electric heating element could be used in place of the solar water heater.

Still, though, in the times when the heat is the worst, this solar setup would work great; taking load off the grid, and removing your decadency on it for cooling if the grid goes down. This is great for self sufficient areas, places where power costs are high, military uses, and so on.

Amazon Beats Apple to Music Streaming - Technology Review

The article is very pro on it, and offers quite a few details. It being Amazon's new Cloud Drive service. What is it, a place on the Net to put your music to be able to stream it down to whatever device you want when you want. Free for up to 5gb of space, and it costs money to use more space than that.

I like the idea, although I'm not sure I'll use it.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

NASA Spacecraft Snaps 1st Photo of Mercury from Orbit | NASA's Messenger Mercury Mission | Mercury Photos, Solar System & Planets | Space.com

This is just too cool not to see. It's nearly haunting to see something like this.

VIDEO INTERVIEW: Leonardo Bonanni Talks About Sourcemap.org | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

The carbon footprint stuff aside, this is an interesting website that helps you track where all the parts of the products we buy come from. Perhaps you don't want to buy a product made, even in part, in a country that you don't like. At the very least, though, you'll find it interesting all the places that many things come from.

Are you America's Next Top Energy Innovator? | The Digital Home - CNET News

this is such a good idea. who cares if the National Labs lose money up front if they get equity in the start-up in trade. The potential gain, if even one or a few of these patents turn into a company, far out weighs any short term loss. What am i talking about, they are offering the patents for $1,000 instead of $10,000 to $50,000.

Maximum PC | How the New AT&T-Mobile Is Probably Going to Screw You Hardcore

Unfortunately, i think this is true for the exact same reasons as the author.

Visualized: Google charts the rise and fall of United States revenues -- Engadget

Scary to look at for those of us who live in NY; of course California might just be worse.

Fission Products in Seattle Reveal Clues about Japan Nuclear Disaster - Technology Review

Very interesting, and for the moment positive, information gathered by Seattle physicists about the reactor disaster in Japan.

In short, they found that it seems that only contaminated steam is being released, since the only radioactive elements that have made it to Seattle are water soluble. This is good news. Chernobyl, in contrast, spread lots of different radioactive elements as the fuel itself was exposed to the atmosphere. So, for now, things are not Chernobyl bad. I hope they stay that way.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Bombshell conclusion – new peer reviewed analysis: “worldwide-temperature increase has not produced acceleration of global sea level over the past 100 years” | Watts Up With That?

I don't need to add to this... It's just too wonderful.

New 'ray gun' can put out fires | TG Daily

This is actually really cool. About 200 years ago, people noticed that electrical fields can interact with fire. This makes sense, many compounds are electrically charged; water is negatively charged. (Fun experiment: Run a plastic comb through your hair a few times, and then allow a small stream of water to run out of your faucet. Bring the comb close to, but not touching the stream. The negative charge your hair gave to the comb will move the water without touching it.) Anyway, this due at Harvard figured out how to take that to the extreme. This is a new way to fight fires; by interrupting the chemical reaction by moving the chemicals apart.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

AFRL turns 1700 PS3s into a top 40 Supercomputer

AFRL has turned 1700 PS3s into one of the most powerful (top 40) super computers in the world. This is too funny, and may I add a wonderful use of commodity technology.

Their main selling point from the publication (highlighting mine):

Condor continues an AFRL Information Directorate tradition of
pushing the state-of-the-art in high performance computing (HPC).
It builds upon earlier innovations in real-time supercomputing,
embedded processing, and low cost HPC. The new Condor machine
achieves a 10X price-performance advantage, and a 15X powerperformance advantage over other large HPSs by combining
Playstation 3 gaming consoles and commercial graphics cards with
high performance servers. It is lean and green! It is also made freely
available to DoD research and development organizations and
their contractors.”

The Earth’s biosphere is booming, data suggests that CO2 is the cause, part 2 | Watts Up With That?

Chinese scientists show that GW plus more CO2 in the air is increasing the amount of plants in the biosphere.

Steve McIntyre uncovers another trick – where are the academic cops? | Watts Up With That?

More lying in the GW record.

Tata, MIT Collaborate to Create Energy From Water, Bring Power to 3 Billion People | Fast Company

Solar power from water via Hydrogen. This is particularly interesting. basically they have a material that brakes water into hydrogen and oxygen when sun light hits it. ARPA-E is behind the funding.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The French battleground - Israel Opinion, Ynetnews

Oh, vey! The daughter of a true fascist versus a Jewish socialist stereotype. I can just see the Neo-Nazi's around the world drooling for that one.

Libya: US fighter jet crash lands in field near Benghazi - Telegraph

Well that sucks. At least the damn thing nosed in and burned up most if not all of the electronics. The good stuff on it should be useless to folks. That's one good thing.

The damn things are over 30 years old on average. Perhaps it's time for a replacement; even if we "just" buy more of them.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Kilimanjaro regaining its snow cap | Watts Up With That?

Uh oh, Al Gore, Mt. Kilimanjaro is regaining it's ice cap. The loss thereof, and it's current build back, is due to man. The thing is what man's doing is deforestation. Combine that with a recent drought, and you get less snow. As the rains are returning, the problem is going away.

The climate is changing, but humans are not doing that. Nevertheless, we can, and do, change the local climate.

"Red" rocker Sammy Hagar says abducted by aliens - Yahoo! News

Sammy Hagar had multiple alien contacts? Hmm, real or just attempt to get in the papers to help sell the book he is currently hawking?

I'm betting on the book.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Shock wave engines could triple fuel efficiency in hybrid cars | DVICE

This is interesting. Basically, it's an alternative style of rotary engine. Check this quote:

According to Michigan State University, the wave disk engine is about 20% lighter than a conventional engine and significantly cheaper to manufacture – a $500 OEM price for a wave disk generator that could power a car. But like all turbine-type engines, the wave disk engine is probably only able to provide high levels of efficiency when it’s at its optimal speed, meaning that it will likely be most useful to apply the technology to charge the batteries of an electric vehicle, rather than to drive the car alone.

They go on to say that, thanks to a DOE grant, they will have a 25kw version by the end of the year. Lighter is better when it comes to vehicles, particularly when it comes the engine and not something like the car's frame. Anyway, my real point is that one of these could replace the electricity generating engines like the type used in the Chevy Volt.

SCTech | Technical Bulletin - Permanent Anti-Fog Coating for Clear Optics on Your Fog-Free Products

I found this on Engadget, and it took more than a few jumps to get to the real article behind this whole thing.

Apparently the coating could be removed pretty easily with an abrasive. That being said, it would work awesomely in a ton of places.

Anti-Fog Performance - Plastic surfaces coated with AF-100 Anti-Fog resist fogging under a variety of conditions. The performance of the coating has been evaluated using the following exposure tests:

Breath Fog Test - No fog formation after direct breathing on the coated surface.
Shower Test - No fog formation after 45 minutes exposure to the warm moist air of a hot shower.
Hot Water Test - No fog formation after exposure to the vapor from a vessel containing 175 F water.
Freezer Test - No fog formation after transfer from a freezer to a humid environment.
Immersion Test - No loss of anti-fog properties after a 24-hour water soak (sample allowed to air dry).

From the article, it seems that tape wont damage it, but washing it with paper towels will. Hmm, that's odd. well, still i wouldn't complain about using this stuff. Hell, I love rainX.

Brazil is in a Class By Itself - FoxNews.com

Great commentary as to why we need to focus more on our relationship with Brazil. In short, it's booming, free, and big. A lot of the best things you can say about the USA, you can say about Brazil. Having traveled there two years ago, I have to say it was fantastic place to visit as well.

Obama Continues Latin American Trip in Brazil as Libyan Conflict Escalates - FoxNews.com

Obama was smart not to blow Brazil off for Libya. We need that free trade agreement with them, as their economy is starting to kick up. It will help both sides.

Egypt Votes Freely for First Time in Half-Century - FoxNews.com

With the Lybian War, Japan's troubles, and everything else, let's not miss this milestone!

NASA milestone: MESSENGER spacecraft enters orbit around Mercury - CSMonitor.com

This is a big deal. Never before has any man-made object been put into orbit around Mercury; why, because it was too damn hard. NASA has now done it!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Toshiba and Hitachi LCD plants damaged, will shut down for a month -- Engadget

this means if you plan on buying a LCD in the next few months, it might be better to buy one sooner rather than later. i would watch this closely. Depending on how long they are down for, there could end up being a temporary shortage that would raise prices for a few months.

Power line connected to help cool Japanese reactor | Deep Tech - CNET News

1 of the 6 reactors has power; my read is it's the worst one. they are working on the others, and trying to get the pumps working again. I have my fingers crossed, perhaps the 'Luck of the Irish' will help our friends in Japan today.

The Associated Press: New York Times to start charging for website

The Associated Press: New York Times to start charging for website This is the way forward. it makes sense. i have no problem with it. i think the Wall Street Journal's approach; headlines and a paragraph for free; along with some articles; is the right way to go. The NYT seems to want to give you 20 free a month, and then charge you after that. This, too, seems quite fair to me. It will be interesting to see what happens next, as a plan sorts this all out.

the only real question is for people like me who are used to, and often do, read from many of these news sources, how much will I pay for how many newspapers? I can't say yet.

[FPD China] Samsung Unveils 55-inch Naked-eye 3D LCD TV -- Tech-On!

Glasses free 3d HDTVs are even closer. This prototype, 3 years or so from hitting the shelves, can do 2D or 3D tuned to 9 different viewing locations.

Keep waiting on 3D.

Super full moon

Biggest full moon in 20 years will happen Friday Mar 19. Why is this special, because the moon's orbit is not a circle, but somewhat elliptical.

Middle East Unrest: US Mulls Air Strikes, Gaddafi Forces Push On - CNBC

This may be too little too late, but Air Strikes are necessary if we want the rebels to win. Artillery, jets, and tanks, 1970s vintage in most cases, is still well above what the rebels can field.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Unique Japan tsunami footage boon to scientists

It seems this event was one of the best documented on film ever. Some good will come of this tragedy, since that film will help scientists make better tsunami forecasts in the future.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

NASA Studies Laser For Removing Space Junk - Technology Review

interesting idea... laser to remove space junk.

Cellular Technology That Told Japan An Earthquake Was Coming - Technology Review

This is technology that should be mandated on all cell towers. Cell phones are even more ubiquitious than tvs are, since we don't take our tvs with us. Having an emergency alert system that can send news and instructions via the cell towers is essential safety technology. Even if the things get knocked out by the event (hurricane, tsunami, earthquake, etc) then putting these things on a blimp/uav, would do the job.

The Missing Link Between Air Density And Wind Power Production - Technology Review

Turns out, quite obviously in hind sight, that wind power is also highly dependent on the density of the air. Air density changes with the weather, temperature, etc. Most wind turbines offer their power generation numbers assuming constant air density. It turns out, that it's not, and when you account for it, you get their output much more clearly.

Sadly, this is another knock for wind power as the variability only goes up. If we can get significant cheap electrical energy storage, then the problem goes away.

Reactors not going to Explode and Newer Nuclear Reactors May Not Have Failed in Japan - Technology Review

Newer Nuclear Reactors May Not Have Failed in Japan - Technology Review

I consider these folks, MIT, an authority of all things technical. If they say not to worry about the reactors melting down, and the do, then don't worry. We're good. Mind you these reactors are not going to be used again, but at least they won't go Chernobyl.

Interestingly, they think the newer designs wouldn't have failed. Certainly, a Thorium Liquid Fuel Reactor (LFTR) would not have failed. In one of those, the pumps supply the pressure that makes the critical mass to generate the heat. If the pumps fail, the pressure drops and the thing automatically shuts down. The critical mass is removed, and there is no threat. Also, since you can't make a bomb out of Thorium, and the reaction doesn't use explosive uranium nor does it create plutonium, it's not a proliferation threat. Beyond that, Thorium is cheap.

IF these LFTR reactors are so great, then why don't we use them; a little digging will show that the technology has been around just as long as the uranium ones, and Thorium is easier to find and more abundant in the Earth. Well, you see the people behind making the reactors was the Military. We needed them to make enough explosive plutonium for the Cold War. It made sense at the time, but the time is now past. It's now time for LFTR reactors.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Atlantis found? - UPDATE - Nat Geo program tonight

A followup on the Atlantic found has a National Geographic Program airing tonight that will explain the case being made by the researchers. Apparently, the place they found is 80 miles in land. This should be interesting.

Follow the Japanese Reactor Situation live

here is the live link

Amazing Japanese Tsunami Video

check out this video!

Japanese Chernobyl

Japanese Chernobyl

This is an interesting article filed yesterday (Mar 13, 2011) about what is going on there from a reporter on the ground

Libyan War Update

Libyan War Update
Much is going on but it seems Gadhafi's forces are short on troops. It sounds like taking out his Air arm would be helpful to the rebels we so greatly want to win. Perhaps a few CAP missions are in order. I'm not eager to commit more American troops to another fight, but perhaps NATO can do it, with the USA supplying Air Refueling (NATO doesn't have that ability without us), and a carrier of ours there to back them up if they get into trouble.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

atlantis found?

Black Hole found in the "Eye of Sauron Nebula"

Black Hole found in the "Eye of Sauron Nebula"
Okay finding another black hole is not that big a deal, but as a Tolkien fan, discovering that fellow geeks named a nebula after that, is quite entertaining.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Another small step to better solar cells

Another small step to better solar cells

Just a link to a cool picture about some laser tech that will help make solar cells more efficient by making better wires to capture the electrons that the sun knocks loose in the silicon. Translation, some researcher at Purdue university is about to get a big check from the solar panel manufacturers.

Microsoft's OneVision Video Recognizer

Microsoft's OneVision Video Recognizer

This is very significant. This software, which I am assuming was running on a standard desktop, can capture your face and identify you on live video. This is 1984 Big Brother type technology. First, advertisers will love it, and use it to identify where you shop, and target ads at you personally. You saw this in Back to the Future 2, Minority Report, and tons of other SciFi movies. Second, and in all likelihood the order will be the reverse, Police/FBI/CIA organizations will deploy it to try to catch the bad guys. The problem is that you lose your privacy. This is a serious question, and as the commentator on the link suggests, is not one to be taken lightly. Still, I figure at airports, and places like that, I don't mind. After all, we already are telling them who we are, let alone see us naked. Don't get me started on the latter, and how much that makes me angry.

Anyway, the problem with the technology is that they can do it, and do it easily. I guarantee that cell phones, or other such devices will be doing it in 5-10 years. They are already extraordinarily powerful.

Oh Brave New World, here we come...

No Japanese Buildings failed in Quake

No Japanese Buildings failed in Quake

That's just great news!

Death Star Cookie Jar

DeathStar Cookie Jar
Okay, this isn't really news, but you have to admit, part of you wants this useless thing.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Ever want to see the Space Station from the Ground?

NASA Space Station Viewing Opportunities - New York City

General Siting Opportunities for the World

What was lost to most people, including me, was that the Space Station construction, after 15 years, is now officially complete. It won't stay up there forever, and with the literally acres of solar panels, the sunlight they reflect makes it easily visible from with the eye.

Maximum PC - 63 Facebook Tips and Tricks for Security

Maximum PC - 63 Facebook Tips and Tricks for security

just thought I'd share this one...

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Solar Powered Transparent 42inch Display from Samsung

Solar Powered Transparent 42inch Display this is so cool I am drooling my brains out for it. This is minority report tech now. This is the future of advertising windows. This is interative art. This is windows for tall building viewing areas. ( I invision this on the EPSB's 82 floor enabling people to discover the names of our landmarks simply by pointing at them.) This is windshields for cars, planes, vehicles in general. This is new goggles for skiing, motorcycles. This is everywhere!

Walmart Bans a Fire Retardant

The FEDs have only asked for a voluntary phase-out, but Walmart jumped the gun. While I have no particular reason to say whether or not this particular chemical is bad, or not, I like the idea of businesses taking the lead on things like this.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Cheaper LED lights to come

Cheaper LED Lights to come Company Bridgelux thinks they can cut the costs of LED lighting by 75% with a new process to use Silicon for the substrate, rather than other substrates. This sounds like a good idea to me considering how many chip makers there are out there. Just have them do it, and you get massive economies of scale.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Taxes and the Economy

I am watching a business news channel in my home of NYC. I just saw a commercial for doing business in Ontario CA, and the sole message of the commercial was that they have good (low) tax rates on business. Hmm, advertising in a high tax area (NYC) about lover taxes in the region across the border. Seems pretty obvious to me.

Avatar may soon be keeping your safe in the skies

is profiling okay if a machine does it instead of a machine

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Sharks get protection in Marshall Islands

This is good, but we need a lot more of this!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Beating cancer with immune cells

now this is some interesting stuff!

Increasing processor efficiency by 'shutting off the lights'

What does this very technical article mean? Well it boils down to one thing. By adding about 10% to the cost of a processor, it should save you about 20% in power costs by sullying only the power the chip actually needs.

This process is less wasteful, thus mobile chips will last longer. Desktop processors can be pushed harder, higher clock speeds, because there is less wasted energy and less waste heat. Cool stuff.

Hollywood’s eco hypocrisy | Watts Up With That?

This one points to a short film on Youtube correctly calling Robert Redford a eco-hypocrite.

I am all about alternative energy, in spite of my belief that humans are not causing Global Warming. For 7 years now, I have purchased my electric power (I live in NYC and have no need for a car) from Wind and Hydro sources only at a 15-30% premium over standard local power company(Consolidate Edison) rates; the price varying over time. I only replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs and now have a couple of LEDs; a 40w and 20w equivalent used for reading. I can afford the higher costs of this electricity and these bulbs (the bulbs are actually cheaper when you consider the energy and replacement costs over the life of the LED vs CFL or incandescent bulb). The point is that I practice what I preach. For the record, I perfer the idea of getting power without buring something. While CO2 is not a threat in my evaluation, certainly soot, and the other products of combustion are not good. Why not stop getting our energy that way if we can. Since I, and now my wife and I, can afford it, why not? My big thing is that CO2 regulations will force people to do it, particularly those who can least afford it. This is why people like Redford piss me off so much. They can afford it, even more than I can, but choose not to. At the same time they want to force others to. Do as I say, not as I do? Screw them! After all, in all of the USA except Alaska and parts of our northern states, solar thermal IS cost effective, and has been for many years. It will save you money, without government incentives in less than 5 years. Look it up. It's true. There's a reason the military is going nuts for all of this stuff.

Weather Channel and Weather.com: the survey says….. | Watts Up With That?

Consensus on Global Warming; caused by humans? I think not.

In point of fact, i think the very idea of a consensus being the end of the debate is foolish. Take something as non-controversial as "What killed the dinosaurs?" There's been consensus many times in my 34 years on this Earth. The problem is the consensus keeps changing after some renegade unearth's some new evidence supporting a changing conclusion.

With regards to Earth's climate, it's foolish to say that it has not always been changing. In NYC's Central Park, you can see evidence of the last glaciation. It's clear climate has changed. The only question is whether or not humans are are impacting that change. To some degree, I am sure we are. With all of our farming, roads, towns and cities, we have certainly changed the face of the Earth. The question is whether or not our changes are impacting the Earth's climate in a strong enough way to change the rate and possibly the direction of the current change. Of that, I am not convinced. There are very powerful forces, the Sun greatest of all, at work here, and we are only beginning to understand them.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

How National Security Depends on Better Lithium Batteries: Scientific American

Key stats from the article: current lithium-ion batteries store roughly 400 watt-hours per kilogram

We need roughly 700 - 800 (w-h)/kg for electric cars to work, and we need it cheap so that we can deploy these things everywhere.

The article quotes a new tech that could get us 1300, and that's exactly why ARPA-e is funding it. Let's hope this works out.

The Curious Properties Of Ripples On Icicles - Technology Review

Just a fun little thing about icicles. It's nice to see that even something as mundane and common as icicles still has some mysteries for us to explore.

Squeezing More Energy Out of Batteries - Technology Review

It really does seem like we're almost there. quoting the article:

The biggest challenge for electric vehicles remains bringing down the size and cost of their batteries. For them to compete with conventional vehicles, some experts estimate, battery costs must come down by about 75 percent

The emphasis is mine in the quote, but the point is that 75%, while sounding like a lot, really isn't. This article quotes a new cheap method that should enable us to get 10% to 30% of it. There are many start-ups that I have heard about, admittedly some more likely to pan out than others, that with a variety of different approaches could easily close that 75% gap. This is the part that I am excited about. The dream would be something like EEStor's technology which is promoted to be cheap, energy dense, have a low loss rate, and extraordinary high cycle counts. One can only hope that one of these technologies pans out. with proper batteries, then Solar and and Wind, let alone electric cars, become viable technologies.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Advertisers Will Pay for Your Next Power Up - Technology Review

This is really an interesting idea, and one I don't mind at all.