Science, Technology & Health: March 2011 Archives
(HT: GeekPress.)
Shouldn't the robots set up an awesome virtual reality existence for humanity before they start sucking our energy for fuel?
iPod owners need never run out of battery again after researchers developed a way to power them using the movement of the human body.A team has created a tiny chip which uses natural motion to generate power for hand-held gadgets.
They hope that it could one day even use the human heart to power a range of devices including iPods and mobile phones - and do away with batteries entirely.
Haha, just kidding! I love you robots!
What happens when you accelerate Particle Man to nearly the speed of light and then ram him into the head of Person Man?
Bugorski was a researcher at the Institute for High Energy Physics in Protvino. Specifically he worked with the Soviet particle accelerator the synchrotron U-70. On July 13, 1978, Bugorski was checking a malfunctioning piece of equipment. As he was leaning over the piece of equipment he stuck his head through the part of the accelerator that the proton beam was running through. Supposedly, he saw a flash that was “brighter than a thousand suns” at this point. Interestingly, he did not feel any pain when this happened.The beam itself measured 2000 gray as it entered Bugorski’s skull and about 3000 gray when it exited on the other side. A “gray” is an SI unit of energy absorbed from ionizing radiation. One gray is equal to the absorption of one joule of radiation energy by one kilogram of matter. An example where this is commonly used is in X-rays. For reference, absorption of over 5 grays at any time usually leads to death within 14 days. However, no one before had ever experienced radiation in the form of a proton beam moving at about the speed of light.
Despite pro-Triangle Man propaganda, it appears that Particle Man is more powerful than previously thought.
A high-level argument for a one-way mission to Mars. I love the idea.
We envision that Mars exploration would begin and proceed for a long time on the basis of outbound journeys only. A mission to Mars could use some of the hardware that has been developed for the Moon program. One approach could be to send four astronauts initially, two on each of two space craft, each with a lander and sufficient supplies, to stake a single outpost on Mars. A one-way human mission to Mars would not be a fixed duration project as in the Apollo program, but the first step in establishing a permanent human presence on the planet. The astronauts would be re-supplied on a periodic basis from Earth with basic necessities, but otherwise would be expected to become increasingly proficient at harvesting and utilizing resources available on Mars. Eventually the outpost would reach self-sufficiency, and then it could serve as a hub for a greatly expanded colonization program. There are many reasons why a human colony on Mars is a desirable goal, scientifically and politically. The strategy of one-way missions brings this goal within technological and financial feasibility. Nevertheless, to attain it would require not only major international cooperation, but a return to the exploration spirit and risk-taking ethos of the great period of Earth exploration, from Columbus to Amundsen, but which has nowadays been replaced with a culture of safety and political correctness.
Space exploration has been timid for decades. Let's be bold. I expect there would be no shortage of qualified people willing to take a one-way trip to Mars.
WSJ has an article today about using a Nook Color as an Android tablet but I'm already way ahead of them! I bought a Nook Color last week and rooted it last night! I installed Honeycomb (Android 3.0) by following instructions at Android Central. It took less than 30 minutes.
There are still some bugs with Honeycomb on the Nook Color, but I'm sure they'll be improving over time. Very fun little toy, for not a lot of money.
Why can Barnes & Noble sell the Nook Color for under $200 while a Samsung Galaxy (same size tablet) costs $500? Well, the NC doesn't have a camera, GPS, or 3G modem, so that saves some money, but I bet the main reason is that B&N is following a different business model. B&N wants to make money by selling books, so it sells the hardware cheap. Apple, Samsung, Motorola, and other tablet manufacturers mark up their hardware 50%-100% above cost. No thanks!
Here's a fun rock-paper-scissors AI game that pits you against an adaptive computer opponent. You may be surprised to discover that it can beat you more than 50% of the time... that's because you aren't very good at being random, and the algorithm is very good at recognizing simple patterns. If you flip a coin you'll do better!
(HT: NW.)
Don't be fooled into thinking that environmentalists are altruists who care for nothing more than saving the earth: environmentalism is big business.
Environmental policy is not driven by tree-hugging activists, earnest liberal bloggers, or ecologically minded citizens. Instead, it flows from the lobbyists and executives of well-connected multinational corporations and built-for-subsidy startups that see profit in the loan guarantees, handouts, mandates, and tax credits Congress creates in the name of saving the planet.K Street is the epicenter of this green-industrial complex, and ground zero might be the firm founded by Democratic revolving-door earmark lobbyist Steve McBee.
McBee, a former top staffer for Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and powerful House Appropriations Committee member Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., reportedly wrote key provisions in the stimulus bill to open the spigot of green corporate welfare. Also, he has hired up the Capitol Hill staff at the center of big environmental legislative pushes like cap and trade.
Exploring corporate lobbyists' central role in Obama's "green energy" push provides us two important lessons. First, it reveals as hypocritical the Democratic attack that opponents of cap and trade and other green policies are simply shills for big business.
Second, it ought to heighten our skepticism that these "green" policies are really crafted with an eye to helping the environment -- they are more likely skewed toward the bottom line of lobbied-up Big Business.
The bold emphasis is mine, because I think it's valuable to highlight the feedback loop that feeds taxpayer money to environmentalists who then lobby the government for more taxpayer dollars. It's corrupt.
