1) - The Physics of Crystals 2) - History of the EV Gray Motor 3) - Browns Gas Water Torch Research & Applications 4) - Getting there and Saving on Gas Costs

$4 gas by Spring? and the latest Land of $5.40 gas - How to Increase Mileage and Decrease Fuel Costs for $15 - Read about it HERE

05/14/08 - Fuel Surcharge
Last week I sent a banjo to Minnesota, via UPS. The cost included a fuel surcharge of $2.31. I guess that's the new way of raising prices without actually raising prices. Airlines do it, and I guess everyone else will jump on the bandwagon. I won't be surprised if gas stations start charging a fuel surcharge to account for the fact that it costs more to get their gas delivered. At least UPS doesn't charge a convenience fee -- yet. After all, it's much more convenient for me to ship it using their service than drive it across the country myself. - Source

05/14/08 - Alternative fuel -- a back to the future proposition
Plug-in hybrids, that could provide a completely electrical ride for 40 miles, satisfying 78 percent of the average daily U.S. commute, are being developed by some of the major automakers. Unfortunately, they still appear to be a few years away from the showroom floor. It may surprise some Americans to learn that the electrical vehicle we wish we could buy now is not a new idea to the auto industry. In fact, the internal combustion engine we've grown up with was just one of three significant schools of automotive engineering thought. The first electric car was designed by William Morrison of Des Moines, Iowa, in 1891 (Men, Money and Motors, T. MacManus, Harper Bros. 1929). For whatever reason, maybe because they represented the older generation, Henry Ford didn't dig electric cars. Early on, steam-power was the third front in the engineering war over which technology would dominate the industry. Speed and absence of vibration were steam's external combustion engine virtues. The drawback was taking more than a minute to warm up before being able to drive away. Mostly it's a forgotten technology, but something reminiscent of today's pain revived the idea, even if it never reached full-scale production. During the Arabian oil embargo of 1973, Saab engineered a prototype steam-powered car. It used an electronically-controlled, lightweight, multi-parallel circuit generator about the size of a car battery that could generate 160 horse power. Quick start-up was achieved by storing compressed air which powered the car until sufficient steam-pressure was built up. What killed both steam and electric vehicles back in the day was invention of the electric starter for gasoline engines. Before that you had to use a hand crank to fire that baby up. In cold weather when the crankcase oil was thick this could be nearly impossible for anyone not having considerable upper body strength. Occasionally starting could be dangerous, with many an arm broken when the engine back-fired and spun the crank around like a shot. What a different world it might be today if electrical vehicles circa 1910 had left internal combustion buggies in the ditch instead of the other way around. - Source

05/14/08 - Politics, Agendas and Then… Science
In what is becoming a continuing battle between science, politics and special interest groups, more than half of the 1586 EPA scientists who responded to an independent survey from the Union of Concerned Scientists claimed they had experienced some kind of interference from lobbyists and political leaders. This interference usually came in the form of some sort of suppression or distortion of scientific findings, or the selective use of data to push forward a specific regulatory outcome. Some cases even included political figures directing a scientist to alter or omit inconvenient data from a report. Francesca Grifo of the Union of Concerned Scientists states, "Distorting science to accommodate a narrow political agenda threatens our environment, our health and our democracy itself." However, a government spokesman denies the administrative manipulation saying that scientific findings are merely being balanced with policy concerns. - Source

05/14/08 - UV Invention kills resistant diseases; MRSA to dust mites tremble
Inventor Ed Neister has developed the technology to kill Noroviruses, C. diff, MRSA and other problem viruses and bacteria using a section of the ultraviolet light, or UV, spectrum to bombard them with killing high-energy photons. Several of the units have been sold and are being tested in this country and abroad. The Neisters say their own research shows Sterilray is astoundingly effective, up to 10,000 times more deadly than chemical cleaners. But they are waiting for results from government and private industry now trying out the new units, and for word to spread that Sterilray performs as advertised. Then the market for their hand-held disinfection wands could be worldwide — and huge. The problem Sterilray targets has been quietly growing in hospitals worldwide as overuse of antibiotics has created strains of resistant microorganisms that cause everything from annoying intestinal distress in the case of the Norwalk virus to staph infections that can kill weakened patients. Several years ago, health officials began to see infections occurring outside hospitals. There is new awareness that adequate cleaning is needed not just in hospitals but also hotels, workplaces and public gathering places such as cruise ships. In 1993, there were fewer than 2,000 reported MRSA infections in U.S. hospitals. By 2007, 880,000 cases or 2.4 percent of all patients, were infected. MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, a staph superbug. How dirty are hospitals? A recent survey of 49 operating rooms in four New England hospitals found that over half the surfaces in the operating room that were supposed to be disinfected by hospital cleaners were left uncleaned," said McCaughey. The most common method has been to use a solution of various disinfecting chemicals and water, often a 10 percent bleach solution. In other applications, such as sewer plants, ultraviolet light has been used for years to incapacitate germs by exposing water to UV rays in what is known as the "germicidal" spectrum. This works by interfering with the germ's DNA so it cannot reproduce. This can come undone, however. After research in conjunction the University of New Hampshire, Neister found that by directing photons from the "far" UV spectrum he not only inactivated the germs' DNA but actually broke it up, killing them. Neister began working on manufacturing a small device that could generate far UV in a mobile disinfecting unit. He has applied for and has had 22 patents accepted related to the Sterilray light wand. Once Neister knew he'd found the right UV frequency, he focused on designing a functional device that could be carried from room to room and easily used by a cleaning worker. The first prototype of his light wand weighed 11 pounds. Neister since has reduced it to 4 pounds. It looks like a clothes iron with a thin light bulb tucked into its hot iron end. The wand emits a purplish light that is shined 2 to 6 inches above a surface to disinfect it. Results take less than a second. Its power comes from the larger power pack the wand is stored in. They will not be cheap, costing roughly $26,000 each. But the cost should come down as more units are produced. Ed believes his far UV frequency also will kill dust mites and allergens. Soon he plans to begin offering a home disinfection service for $100. Information about this will be available at www.sterilray.com. For more information about the company, Healthy Environment Innovations, go to www.he-innovations.com or call 879-0503. - Source

05/14/08 - Australian invention paves the way
An Australian invention has paved the way for lighter, stronger concrete with a smaller greenhouse footprint, by utilising the waste "fly-ash" from coal-fired power stations. It has the potential to capture all of the 14 million tonnes of ash particles churned out each year by Australian energy plants and turn them into a form of aggregate, which bonds with cement. Cement and concrete manufacture is estimated to generate about ten per cent of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions, but the inventors say it has the potential to slash emissions in the construction sector by 20 per cent. The new process involves baking the tiny fragments of ash caught in the filters of a power station, turning them into bricquettes, and crushing those to form a a strong, light, carbon-rich dust. Coal-burning power plants already capture almost all the fly-ash they generate, but much of it is not deemed commercially useful and is dumped in old coal mines or used for landfill. The reconstituted ash has been shown to be stronger than other fly-ash products being used in concrete overseas, meaning less energy-intensive cement is needed to bind the mixture. As well as making concrete, the ash can be used in bricks and paving stones. - Source

05/14/08 - Finding new frontiers in energy investing
The progress of major civilizations has depended largely on finding new and better sources of cheap energy. Energy has even functioned as the catalyst for many of the world’s wars and continues to do so today. Xtreme Power Solutions provides a critical component for large-scale energy storage to wind and PV farms, replacement of peak-power plants and large, stand-by power capacity. Its batteries have virtually no energy loss, last for decades, are environmentally friendly and can be configured to megawatt quantities. They act like a capacitor with low resistance under load and can be charged and discharged at incredible rates. It is impractical to discuss energy without the presence of water. Over 50% of all electricity used in the U.S. is used to move water. Our investment in Ice Energy was specifically targeted to utilize low-cost, night-time electricity, and the 20-degree day/night temperature difference in some areas of the world to store air conditioning energy for use during the day. The inexpensive technology moves 95 percent of the peak electrical demand for refrigeration-based air conditioning to night, significantly lowering the cost of air conditioning and improving overall energy performance. SNTech, a Korean company that has discovered what may be the greatest single contribution to energy in this decade-a new electric motor design that reduces electrical consumption by 80 percent, while staying consistent with the cost of existing motors. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 60 percent of all electricity in the U.S. is consumed by electric motors. This single invention could free up enough energy to eliminate the need for constructing future power plants in our lifetime. Additionally, with over 1.2 billion electric motors sold each year in the U.S. alone, this company has the potential for truly breathtaking returns for its investors. ORYXE Energy’s fuel additive dramatically reduces pollution, however state regulators have yet to be convinced that this particular technology should be mandated. Another example of an energy investment facing regulatory approval is Ice Energy’s Ice Bear™ 50 technology. This company’s innovation is worth billions, but requires government regulation for electrical costs and must be negotiated utility by utility. - Source

05/14/08 - Danger of Outsourcing Electronics
Almost everything in the US military relies upon electronics. The economy thrives on electronic trading floors, nationwide networking and a 100% reliance upon business computers. Even the national infrastructure is tied heavily into microchips with computerized utilities and transportation systems. For the longest time, the fear of widespread shutdown came from nuclear EMP but now fear has rightfully turned to simpler, more mundane attacks - hidden kill switches. The DoD is concerned enough with the threat of unknown kill switches residing in much of its equipment that DARPA has been tasked heavily with coming up with a detection technique. The idea is very simple, a kill switch does not need to be embedded deeply into a system to make it shutdown, even if a common integrated circuit responded to an single number transmitted by radio and shut itself down, an entire system could turn off depending on the nature of the shutdown circuit - e.g. power supply. Part of the kill switch conspiracy hubbub was revived following the Israeli air strike against the alleged Syrian nuclear facility. Amazingly, the advanced Syrian radar warning systems "just failed." Could this impetus bring manufacturing back to domestic plants to impose better regulations and bring increased security? - Source

05/14/08 - Low-Energy Water Filtration
Most water-filtration technologies require a lot of energy to push water through membranes that eventually become fouled and need to be replaced. Both factors make water filtration costly for most applications. Now researchers at Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) have been able to overcome those challenges by incorporating scientific insights from the physics of toner particle movements into a low-energy water-filtration device that doesn't use membranes. PARC researchers call their device the spiral concentrator. It is a spiral-shaped, 50-centimeter-long piece of plastic tubing that's one millimeter in diameter. As water is pumped through one end of the device, particles in the water are pressed up against the walls of the tubing. Particles as small as one micron in size are separated out by centrifugal force and shunted away from the clean water via diverging forks in the spiral concentrator. The advantage of this approach is that it doesn't require as much energy as it would to push contaminated water through a membrane. Such membranes are typically built from resin and have many tiny holes perforated in them, ranging in size from a few micrometers to a few nanometers. The purifier requires a constant flow rate of water so that the movements of the particles conform to predicted patterns. That flow of water can be achieved with a low power pump that can be driven by a panel of solar cells. However, because the spin concentrator can separate particles no smaller than one micron in size, it can't remove bacteria. Scott Elrod, manager of the hardware systems laboratory at PARC, says that smaller particles could be separated out by adding alum to the water being filtered. Alum is used in water treatment plants to chemically bind small particles to larger ones, which can then be separated out using gravity. In the case of the spin concentrator, centrifugal force will supply the horsepower to remove those congealed particles. - Source

05/14/08 - Spiritual Water: Religion meets Consumerism
The instructions are simple: Read the Prayer ... Drink the Water ... Believe in God! Believe in Yourself! Spiritual Water, the faith-inspired venture of two Sunrise, Fla., businessmen, offers its drinkers clearer focus, positive thinking and connection to a higher power. The 11 bottles in the company's collection bear prayers and impressively detailed images of Jesus Christ, St. Michael and the Virgin Mary. Spiritual Water joins a broad slice of feel-good products -- Testamint, Bible Gum and other bottled waters -- emerging at the intersection of religion and commerce, entrepreneurship and pop culture. - Source

05/14/08 - New theory on Stonehenge: health center
The dig is looking closely at the presence of about 82 bluestones - a double circle of large rocks, some weighing as much as 4 tons, that were brought in during the second stage of Stonehenge, which began about 2150 B.C. and account for the first stone construction at the site. About 150 years later, these were rearranged and surrounded by a circle of the much larger sarsen stones that have become iconic of Stonehenge. Yet it is the bluestones, somehow hauled to the Salisbury Plain from the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire, Wales, that researchers say hold the key to the clouded mystery of Stonehenge. Darvill and Wainwright, the co-directors of the dig, found the Welsh site to be a center for ceremony and burials, where the springs that flowed below the rocks were regarded by ancients as having medicinal powers. They hope that by finding evidence to tie the stones from the Preseli Hills to those at Stonehenge, they will have an answer to the age-old mystery of the site's purpose. "There's people in the landscape buried here who have come here perhaps like pilgrims, in order to benefit from the things here," Darvill said. "You can imagine a big temple like this is going to have shamans, it's going to have witch doctors, it's going to have all the sorts of people who in prehistoric terms would look after those who were ill." Many of the remains uncovered during previous excavations show signs of ailments and, in some cases, prehistoric surgery. "One, for example, has a trepanation taken out of the top of the skull, a circular piece of bone taken out to relieve pressure on the brain. You've got to be feeling pretty unwell to let somebody get a flint blade and cut the top of your head off," Darvill said. - Source

05/14/08 - Losing a Home, Then Losing All Out of Storage
The foreclosure crisis is hitting yet another American locale: the self-storage center. As they lose their homes, people are turning to these humble cinderblock and sheet-metal boxes to store their stuff. But some people cannot keep up with their storage bills any better than they could handle their mortgage payments, and storage companies are auctioning off their property for a pittance. A cottage industry has developed to profit from these lost and abandoned items. The other day in this Chicago suburb, Stephanie Donahou and her son Marcus had only a moment to decide whether to bid on a unit in default. They could see a couch, a sewing machine, a fish tank, a washer and dryer, lots of Christmas wrapping paper, a television and other trappings of daily life. “This is someone's house,” Mrs. Donahou said. Her bid, for $160, was the highest. Mr. Donahou was not impressed. “Ma, you bought a junker,” he said, rooting through the material. They began to fill their U-Haul. Good material they would auction on eBay; middling stuff would go to yard sales. The auctioneer, Blair Auction & Appraisal, has been conducting sales at self-storage facilities in the Midwest for more than a decade. “If a site used to have 10 auctions, these days it has 15 or 20,” said Wayne Blair, the owner. At one site in Detroit, he auctioned off the contents of 45 units. - Source

05/14/08 - Stressed seaweed lives under a cloud of its own making
Stress among the plants can alter weather patterns, according to researchers at the Scottish Association for Marine Science and the University of Manchester. On an overcast day kelp are comfortable when the tide goes out, as they stay damp until it comes in again. But on a bright day they dry, releasing iodide. The iodide rises, causing clouds to form overhead, sheltering the kelp from the unwelcome sunshine. Frithjof Küpper, of the Scottish Association for Marine Science, who led the research, saidthat the salt helped to neutralise ozone in the atmosphere and, as it rose, “these chemicals act as condensation nuclei around which clouds may form”. - Source

05/14/08 - Social Media Influencing Investment Decisions
The study found that 25% of US online adults are engaged in social media specifically related to personal finance and investing. Furthermore, almost two-thirds of high-net-worth investors-defined as those with $100,000 or more in investable assets- claimed online peer-generated content about personal investing and finance has an influence on their financial purchasing behaviors and decisions. Christy White, chief of operations at Cogent Research, told Business Wire, “Purchasing decisions are being influenced by what investors are seeing on blogs, message boards and videos, and financial services companies will increasingly feel the impact on their bottom lines. The question firms should be asking is not ‘if,’ but ‘how quickly’ they can engage in social media.” - Source / Interested in investing in something that will make huge advances? Vanguard Sciences Lab Project.

05/14/08 - Hydrogen Cars Won't Make a Difference for 40 Years
Experts say it will be 40 years or more before hydrogen has any meaningful impact on gasoline consumption or global warming, and we can't afford to wait that long. In the meantime, fuel cells are diverting resources from more immediate solutions. "As a climate strategy, it's not very good," said Dr. Joseph Romm, executive director of the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions and author of The Hype About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate. "We don't have the time." Climate experts and alternative-fuel researchers, including some hydrogen proponents, agree that hydrogen is at best a long-term solution. In the short and medium term, however, other technologies offer far greater benefit at far less cost: Cleaner internal combustion engines, hybrids and plug-in hybrids. - Source

05/14/08 - Ron Paul's forces quietly plot GOP convention revolt against McCain
The forces of Rep. Ron Paul have been organizing across the country to stage an embarrassing public revolt against Sen. John McCain when Republicans gather for their national convention in Minnesota at the beginning of September. According to a recent Boston Globe tally, Paul has a grand total of 19 Republican delegates to Romney's 260, Huckabee's 286 and McCain's 1,413. In the last three months, Paul's forces, who donated $34.5 million to his White House effort and upward of a million total votes, have, as The Ticket has noted, been fighting a series of guerrilla battles with party establishment officials at county and state conventions from Washington and Missouri to Maine and Mississippi. Their goal: to take control of local committees, boost their delegate totals and influence platform debates. Paul, for instance, favors a drastically reduced federal government, abolishing the Federal Reserve, ending the Iraq war immediately and withdrawing U.S. troops from abroad. Paul, who's running unopposed in his home Texas district for an 11th House term, still has some $5 million in war funds and has instructed his followers that their struggle is not about a single election, but a long-term revolution for control of the Republican Party. - Source

05/14/08 - Cornflakes in cereal killer warning
CLIMATE change could lead to "killer cornflakes" with the most potent liver toxin ever recorded, an environmental health conference has been told. The effects of the toxins, known as mycotoxins, have been known since the Middle Ages when rye bread contaminated with ergot fungus was a staple part of the European diet, environmental health researcher Lisa Bricknell of Central Queensland University (CQU) said. "People started suffering mass hallucinations, manic depression, gangrene, abortions, reduced fertility and painful, convulsive death," Ms Bricknell told the 10th World Congress on Environmental Health in Brisbane today. "The rye bread, which was known as the staff of life, quickly became known as the sceptre of death." The damage was done not from a single exposure but from many small doses of the toxins over a long period of time. Mycotoxins can appear in the food chain as a result of the fungal infection of crops in the field or in storage, either by being eaten directly by humans, or by being used as livestock feed. - Source

05/14/08 - Solutions ala Ghandi
Being able to free your MIND--being able to escape the mindset of a slave--and then trying to help others do the same, will not only reveal a power and a freedom you never knew you had, but will plant the seed which will, slowly but surely, grow into the solution that will end all tyranny. As Steven Biko said, the greatest weapon the oppressor has is the mind of the oppressed. So are you ready to wrench YOUR mind out of the grip of your enslavers? Or are you still too attached to the cult of "government"? Peasants must never be allowed to realize the power they have. Their power can be "deadly" to your regime, even if they do not resort to violence at all. Gandhi led millions of people in India in a bizarre "revolution" that crippled British control of the country. Amazingly, they did this without any violence. To a large extent, they defeated an empire by doing nothing. Mere passive noncompliance with the commands of an empire (a.k.a. "doing nothing"), if done by enough of the subjects, spells certain doom for any tyrant. If one day all of your victims decide not to pay your "taxes" any more, there is nothing you can do to preserve your power. If they all decide to ignore your laws, your "laws" cease to exist. Always remember: your "authority" exists only in the minds of the peasants. If they ever stop perceiving you as an "authority," your reign is over. And it probably won't even be a dramatic, violent end. Instead, you may simply fizzle into irrelevant oblivion, as the peasants, including your enforcers, simply "forget" to bow to your will. They won't even need to oust you; they will simply ignore you out of existence. Choose any historical tyrant and imagine what would happen if one day everyone in his regime woke up and said: "That guy is looney-tunes, and I'm not listening to him any more (and his mustache looks stupid too)." Would they then feel the wrath of the tyrant? Nope, because there would be no one to enforce that "wrath." The power of every tyrant is 100% illusion, and you darn well better know how to keep that illusion alive if you want to stay in power. - Source

05/14/08 - Talk to the Dead with the Alpha Phase Descent video synch
Central to communicating with the dead is inducing a receptive state. My new technique is the first to use tested scientific principles to induce such a state via what's known as an Alpha Phase Descent. The receptive state induced by the Alpha Phase decent is achieved by synchronizing the brains Alpha waves to 10 hertz by using a 'stroboscope' which is essentially a high intensity light that flashes in quick succession. I then combine this with tested proven self hypnosis methods - techniques most often associated with deep meditation. Test my technique; use this Alpha Phase Video Synch to induce the receptive state you need for talking with the dead. Read warning statement before you begin. For more information on this technique click here. Sit comfortably in front of your computer. Once the Alpha Phase Descent Video Synch begins to roll, focus on it. Do not look anywhere but at the screen and listen intently to the instructions. - Source / Additional info for experimenting with this type of claim posted years ago on KeelyNet as 'the PsychoManteum'.

05/11/08 - Mosquitoes vs. Listerine
The best way of getting rid of mosquitoes is Listerine, the original medicinal type. The Dollar Store-type works, too. I was at a deck party awhile back, and the bugs were having a ball biting everyone. A man at the party sprayed the lawn and deck floor with Listerine, and the little demons disappeared. The next year I filled a 4-ounce spray bottle and used it around my seat whenever I saw mosquitoes. And voila! That worked as well. It worked at a picnic where we sprayed the area around the food table, the children's swing area, and the standing water nearby. During the summer, I don't leave home without it.....Pass it on. / OUR FRIEND'S COMMENTS: I tried this on my deck and around all of my doors. It works - in fact, it killed them instantly. I bought my bottle from Target and it cost me $1.89. It really doesn't take much, and it is a big bottle too so it is not as expensive to use as the can of spray you buy that doesn't last 30 minutes. So, try this, please. It will last a couple of days. Don't spray directly on a wood door (like your front door), but spray around the frame. Spray around the window frames and even inside the dog house if you have one. Also can be used to dab any bites you receive. It will stop the itching quicker and go away faster. / (This shared with us all courtesy of Linda Veach, wife of our late, great friend Jack Veach, thanks Linda! - JWD) / Reader David sent the following; "Mosquitoes vs. Listerine *The best way of getting rid of mosquitoes is Listerine, *the original medicinal type*..." - Snopes reports this as *false*. / We had a big rain two days ago so some mosquitos were buzzing in my house. I had bought a bottle of the original listerine for $5.40 here in Mexico, plus a spray bottle. When I tried to sleep, at least 2 mosquitos were on bombing runs, so I sprayed my bedsheets and NO MORE MOSQUITO ATTACKS the entire night! If it just repels them, I'm happy with that. I will try it again as the summer progresses but so far, it has worked for me. JWD: - Source

05/11/08 - 75MPG Hybrid Electric Car powered by 5HP Lawnmower Engine
Dave's Opel CT is a hybrid electric vehicle. That is, the car is driven by an electric motor . . . but that powerplant's "juice" is generated with the help of an ordinary, fuel-stingy lawn-mower engine! Now the fact that the system works isn't really surprising. What's amazing is that the crossbreed hookup performs so well! According to David, the Opel has not only a virtually unlimited range (when driven prudently), but also a top speed of 90 miles per hour . . . and emits a minimum of pollutants as it tools along the highway. Better yet, the car can-if need be-run on its batteries alone for short in-town hops . . . and will never be "stranded" as long as there's fuel in the "on board" generator! Mr. Arthurs is the first to admit that there's nothing "new" to the system he's developed . . . in fact, all the technology incorporated into his design has been available for about 35 years, just waiting for someone to put two and two together and make the whole thing work. In essence, David has utilized a small gas lawn-mower engine to drive a generator, which-in turn-supplies the vehicle's drive motor with electricity. To do so, he first removed the Opel's original power-plant and installed a 400-amp DC motor/ generator (actually a jet engine's starting motor) in its place. (Since there's no need for a clutch in Dave's setup, the stock unit was pulled out and the main shaft of the drive motor was fastened directly to the input shaft of the car's transmission.) Then, to provide a consistent source of power for this motor (and to supply an energy storage bank), the engineer installed four 12-volt, heavy-duty automobile batteries-in series-which are "fed" by a 100-amp generator that's run off a 5-horsepower lawn-mower engine. Plans for the Hybrid car, item number 1764 are available for $25 at www.MotherEarthShopping.com or by calling 800-234-3368. / (Thanks to Glenn Watkins for this URL. - JWD) - Source

05/11/08 - Gas prices jump nearly 3 cents Overnight
Gas prices jumped nearly 3 cents overnight to a new national record of nearly $3.65 a gallon Thursday, while oil prices paused from their own climb to record highs and succumbed to mild profit-taking. At the pump, the average price of a gallon of regular gas nationwide rose 2.7 cents to a record $3.645, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Diesel prices also rose, adding 0.9 cent to match a record national average of $4.251 a gallon. - Source

05/11/08 - Marks Solar Power Converter
A SOLAR POWER CONVERTER THAT MAY CUT THE COST OF SUNLIGHT-SPAWNED HOME ELECTRICITY BY AS MUCH AS 90% has been patented by Alvin M. Marks. The device, called the Lepcon, uses submicron antennas on a glass plate to convert sunlight into high-frequency alternating current, which is then changed by a miniature circuit to direct current. The inventor estimates the cost of electricity from the Lepcon at about 500 per watt, as compared to the $5.00 per watt typical of conventional silicon-crystal photovoltaic equipment. Mr. Marks also claims a 75% efficiency rate for his invention (versus a theoretical 20%, and a thus-far-achieved 8% to 10% rate, for standard solar cells). If mass-produced, a 100-square-foot Lepcon roof panel would cost about $1,500 and generate sufficient power for a small household. A photovoltaic array producing the same output would cost approximately $75,000. (The catch, of course, is that the Lepcon is not yet commercially available, and may not be for quite some time.) - Source / 1986 New York Times article about NEW PLASTIC SOLAR DESIGN PROMISES EFFICIENT POWER - Mr. Marks says solar panels made with Lepcon or Lumeloid, the materials he patented, could turn 70 to 80 percent of the energy from sunlight they receive into electricity. Most photovoltaic cells are only about 15 percent efficient. The electricity would cost three or four cents per kilowatt hour, as against about 10 cents a kilowatt hour for commercially generated electric power. Most photovoltaic cells produce energy for around $1 per kilowatt hour. Lepcon, which was a preliminary design, consists of glass panels covered with a vast array of millions of aluminum or copper strips, each less than a micron or thousandth of a millimeter wide. As sunlight hits the metal strips, the energy in the light is transferred to electrons in the metal, which escape at one end in the form of electricity. The solar panel uses molecular diodes called "diads." The Lumeloid process includes the diads in a stretch-oriented electrically conductive polarized film. The polarizing molecules act as antennae to convert light photons to electric power. Efficiencies as high as 72% appear possible. There are as yet no large-scale working prototypes of Mr. Mark's invention, and some scientists have expressed caution in assessing it. ''It is beyond our technological fabrication capability at present,'' said Dr. Edward D. Wolf, the director of the national research facility for submicron structures at Cornell University, who has studied Mr. Marks's work. ''But it's an interesting concept.''

05/11/08 - Energy In The Slow Lane
Everyone seems to have a "story" to share. By that, I'm referring to a recollection, or perhaps an energy legend, of something that was once heard, but then never heard of again. My story goes like this: When I was in grade school, we were handed a small publication each week called the Weekly Reader, which offered stories on current events and other tidbits with an emphasis on science, history, mathematics or other academic realms. I recall reading one particular story around 1970 or so about a man in New England who had invented a device that could stretch gas mileage in vehicles far beyond normal levels. To prove his point, he attached the device to the engine of a school bus and drove it from New Hampshire to Washington D.C. on one tank of gas. He wanted to demonstrate to lawmakers what his wondrous little device could do for energy conservation in this country. Now, I'll grant you that the bus probably had a huge gas tank, but the fact that it could travel so far on one tank of fuel struck me as amazing. Thus, my story ends with this question: What happened? As I said, it seems everyone knows a story like this. They've heard of people developing devices that could operate a vehicle on pure alcohol, or could stretch gas mileage out to 80 miles a gallon. They've heard of things like Willie Nelson's biofuel efforts. The rumors and dreams go on and on. But then something happens - or nothing happens. Perhaps, some of us tend to speculate, the oil companies are making sure these revolutionary devices simply vanish from the marketplace. Are they ensuring that Americans consume oil by generous gulps and not prudent sips? Are we being kept addicted to fossil fuels in the names of greed and profit? I honestly don't know. All these tales and legends of great new devices that could alter the way we operate automobiles remain little more than rumors, in spite of the fact that these things should have been happening for decades, and they should be happening now. Instead, we are held hostage to the distant past and/or a dead-end (energy) future. - Source

05/11/08 - First Person R/C Plane, Almost as Good as Actually Flying
The Pilot View FPV 2400 is a (wireless) camera system that can strap on any R/C plane and stream images to the pilot, who wears video goggles below. Range is about 1 kilometer over the 2.4Ghz spectrum, and the video quality from such systems really isn't so bad (hit the jump for an example clip). At $550, it's a commitment, and seemingly a tad risky to strap onto an even more expensive, properly-weighted R/C plane. - Source

05/11/08 - China eyes overseas land in food push
Chinese companies will be encouraged to buy farmland abroad, particularly in Africa and South America, to help guarantee food security under a plan being considered by Beijing. The move comes as oil-rich but food-poor countries in the Middle East and north Africa explore similar options. Libya is talking with Ukraine about growing wheat in the former Soviet republic, while Saudi Arabia has said it would invest in agricultural and livestock projects abroad to ensure food security and control commodity prices. China is losing its ability to be self-sufficient in food as its rising wealth triggers a shift away from diet staples such as rice towards meat, which requires large amounts of imported feed. China has about 40 per cent of the world’s farmers but just 9 per cent of the world’s arable land. Some Chinese scholars argue that domestic agricultural companies must expand overseas if China is to guarantee its food security and reduce its exposure to global market fluctuations. - Source

05/11/08 - Britons throw away third of all food
British consumers throw out a third of all food bought, worth some 10 billion pounds (12.7 million euros, 19.5 million dollars), a study showed Thursday. The average household throws food worth 420 pounds each year into the waste bin, rising to 610 pounds for those with children, said the study by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap). This includes 1.3 million unopened yoghurt pots, 5,500 whole chickens and 440,000 ready meals, it said. "These findings are staggering in their own right, but at a time when global food shortages are in the headlines this kind of wastefulness becomes even more shocking," said Environment Minister Joan Ruddock. - Source

05/11/08 - HOWTO detect hidden video cameras
With one hand, hold up the toilet paper tube to your eye. With your other hand, hold up the flashlight at about eye level and point it away from you. With one eye, look through the tube and scan the room. If there are any small points of light bouncing back, inspect it further. It might be a camera. - Source

05/11/08 - Aspergia: 20M of us around the world and Most don't even know it!
Aspergers' Syndrome is one of several autism spectrum disorders (ASD) characterized by difficulties in social interaction and by restricted, stereotyped interests and activities. Asperger syndrome is named after Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger who, in 1944, described children in his practice who lacked nonverbal communication skills, failed to demonstrate empathy with their peers, and were physically clumsy. People with Asperger syndrome display behavior, interests, and activities that are restricted and repetitive and are sometimes abnormally intense or focused. They may stick to inflexible routines or rituals, move in stereotyped and repetitive ways, or preoccupy themselves with parts of objects. Individuals with AS may collect volumes of detailed information on a relatively narrow topic such as dinosaurs or deep fat fryers, without necessarily having genuine understanding of the broader topic. Unlike those with autism, people with AS are not usually withdrawn around others; they approach others, even if awkwardly, for example by engaging in a one-sided, long-winded speech about a favorite topic while being oblivious to the listener's feelings or reactions, such as signs of boredom or haste to leave. / Asperger's isn't a disease or an illness. It is a unique set of traits, which is very likely to be the driver behind some of the greatest human achievements to date. It is speculated that Einstein himself had Asperger's as did many other prominent historical personalities. Asperger's is the single minded determination behind invention and innovation, and the ability to create something different to standard thinking. Human minds are locked within their barriers of social acceptability. Asperger's allows the expansion beyond this. Our focus and single mindedness, coupled with a range of special skills allow us to excel in places where others never could. There are of course social trade-offs, but as we grow more aware, we can start looking after our community, creating solutions for our needs in a way never thought of before: social meetings with our own special structures, organisations with our focus to drive them, and, of course, support to those young Aspergians. children who need to learn that they are different only from those around them. In the land of Aspergia they share the traits and background of others. - Source

05/11/08 - Wi-Fi devices warn Doctors of Heart Attacks
The Bluetooth wireless technology that allows people to use a hands-free earpiece while making a mobile telephone call could soon alert the emergency services when someone has a heart attack, Ofcom predicts. The communications regulator said that sensors could be implanted into people at risk of heart attack or diabetic collapse that would allow doctors to monitor them remotely. If the “in-body network” recorded that the person had suddenly collapsed, it would send an alert, via a nearby base station at their home, to a surgery or hospital. - Source

05/11/08 - Aeroscraft
The Aeroscraft, which purports to be the "FOURTH DIMENSION OF FLIGHT." Having your own personal blimp certainly sounds nifty enough. Sort of like a big yacht, but without the piracy worries and (perhaps) the ability to steer around a few storms. It doesn't seem they've actually built any yet, and there's no price listed, which almost certainly means what it usually means. The Aeroscraft is designed and built on the basis of a new concept in flight. This remarkable idea grew out of the belief that there is a more comfortable way to fly than simply applying a luxury upgrade to an existing airframe and re-naming it. - Source

05/11/08 - Portable Tropical Windmills
OVER 2,000 INEXPENSIVE, LIGHTWEIGHT "TROPICAL WINDMILLS" are now pumping water in rural Colombian villages. The 180-pound units, designed with Vnited Nations backing, can be transported by four-wheeldrive to remote locations and installed by ranch hands using only simple tools and an illustrated manual .... THE WORLD'S LARGEST SOLAR POND is at Fort Benning, Georgia, where a system involving eighty 200-foot-long water-filled black plastic modules and 3.6 miles of pipe supplies 6,500 troops with 500,000 gallons of hot water daily .... WIND ENERGY WILL SUPPLY 10% OF ISRAEL'S ELECTRICITY by the mid-1990's, according to government energy experts .... THE WORLD'S FIRST WATER COLUMN POWER PLANT will open in Norway in 1985. Expected to generate up to one million kilowatthours per year, the facility, built into bedrock, will utilize atmospheric pressure created by wave impact to drive a turbine - Source

05/11/08 - Mortuaries Mull Dissolving Bodies as Alternative
Since they first walked the planet, humans have either buried or burned their dead. Now a new option is generating interest — dissolving bodies in lye and flushing the brownish, syrupy residue down the drain. - Source

05/11/08 - Faux skylights and windows
The Sky Factory deals in fake skylights and windows. Their SkyCeilings and Luminous Virtual Windows are photos of the outside that fit into standard ceiling or window grid systems. Fluorescent and LED backlighting is also available. It's like having a piece of Vegas in your own home! Seen here is a backlit Luminous SkyCeiling installed in a medical procedure room. - Source

05/11/08 - Hybrid Risk - Hybrids and Electromagnetic Fields
ALMOST without exception, scientists and policy makers agree that hybrid vehicles are good for the planet. To a small but insistent group of skeptics, however, there is another, more immediate question: Are hybrids healthy for drivers? There is a legitimate scientific reason for raising the issue. The flow of electrical current to the motor that moves a hybrid vehicle at low speeds (and assists the gasoline engine on the highway) produces magnetic fields, which some studies have associated with serious health matters, including a possible risk of leukemia among children. With the batteries and power cables in hybrids often placed close to the driver and passengers, some exposure to electromagnetic fields is unavoidable. Moreover, the exposure will be prolonged — unlike, say, using a hair dryer or electric shaver — for drivers who spend hours each day at the wheel. Some hybrid owners have actually tested their cars for electromagnetic fields using hand-held meters, and a few say they are alarmed by the results. - Source

05/11/08 - Woman Helps Cops Find Men Who Stole Her Laptop
A Westchester woman who had her laptop stolen was able to connect to the computer, photograph two suspects and give the photos to police. White Plains Police say they used the photos to arrest Edmon Shahikian, 23, of Katonah and 20-year-old Ian Frias of the Bronx Wednesday night. Police say they recovered most of the $5,000 worth of electronics stolen from the woman's White Plains apartment back on April 27. Police say the woman was called from a friend asking if she was online. The victim said no and was told by the friend that her computer showed her as being on the Internet. At that point the victim signed onto another computer and used the "Back to My Mac" program to determine that her stolen MacIntosh laptop was on the Web. She then used the stolen computer's camera to photograph Shahikian. - Source

05/11/08 - Video Camera shoots 2000 frames per second
This video camera shoots 2000 frames per 1 second. The Japanese man bursts this yellow balloon with a pin, and the latex disappears around the back of the water that is its contents. Then, we see the quantity of water suspended in mid-air, because the speed of the replay is slowed down tremendously. This is the opposite of the incredible time lapse photo experiments done by Harold Edgerton. / (Thanks to Paul Carlson for this URL. - JWD) - Source

05/08/08 - Check Gas Prices Online: 11 Handy Tools
Crude oil prices keep breaking through record high prices, and it is quickly reflecting itself at the fuel pumps. About the only thing you can do is try to find the cheapest prices, but you can waste as much in gas driving around as you will by finding it, and that’s where gas pricing location sites come in handy. Just log in and see where the best prices are, and save yourself all of that driving around. We’ve covered the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom for you, so start price hunting! - Source

05/08/08 - Focusing on Solar's Cost
Sunrgi, which emerged out of stealth mode last week, has created a concentrated photovoltaic system that uses a lens to focus sunlight up to 2,000 times onto tiny solar cells that can convert 37.5 percent of the sun's energy into electricity. Stronger concentrations of sunlight allow engineers to use much smaller solar cells, making it more economical to use higher-efficiency--but higher-cost--cells. Sunrgi, for example, will use cells based on gallium arsenside and germanium substrates. Sunrgi estimates that its system will be capable of producing electricity at a wholesale cost of five cents per kilowatt-hour. Prototypes have been built and tested both in the laboratory and in the field, and the company expects to start commercial production in 12 to 15 months. The intense heat created by concentrating the sun so much can reduce both the efficiency and the life of the solar cell. At 2,000 times sun concentration, temperatures can exceed 1800 °C--similar to the heat from an acetylene torch, and hot enough to melt the solar cell. - Source

05/08/08 - CCTVs Don't Work in the UK
"People who give up a little bit of liberty for a little bit of security deserve neither, the saying goes. But what happens when people give up so much liberty their entire country resembles an Orweillean dystopia — but the pervasive monitoring doesn't help to solve any crimes? That's what is happening in the United Kingdom today. While the Guardian tries to put a good spin on the entire fiasco, the fact remains that CCTVs only help with 3% of all street robberies, the very crimes they were supposed to be best at protecting. Should England finally move to eliminate its troubling state surveillance program?" - Source

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

05/08/08 - Phone-unlocking SIM-shim
This SIM unlock is made of a very thin piece of FPC (0.10mm) with a Microcontroller mounted on, that goes between your Operator's SIM card & the phone's SIM socket. Because of it's very thin & slim design it fits into almost all phone's on the market and can also be easily removed again. It's got Gold Immersion and makes perfect contact with the card and the socket at ALL times. - Source

05/08/08 - Americans worry about ongoing gasoline price hike
A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Monday found 94 percent of respondents expect they will have to pay 4 U.S. dollars a gallon (1 gallon equal to 4.55 liters) sometime this year and 78percent said they figure it will hit 5 dollars. The national average price for gasoline stands at 3.61 dollars per gallon Monday. Consumers' fears that they will have to pay more have intensified, the poll finds. A year ago, 79 percent thought gas would cost 4 dollars per gallon by the end of 2007 and only 28 percent feared about the cost of 5 dollars per gallon. At the same time, high prices seem to be easier to swallow now than it has been for most consumers in the past. Of the more than 1,000 American adults surveyed in the poll, conducted April 28-30, 60 percent said high fuel prices have caused hardship for them or their household. - Source

05/08/08 - Solar Lanterns Transform Lives in Malawi, Africa
The average African household uses 55 or so liters of kerosene per year, at an approximate cost of £80 [US $158]. This contributes to health problems as the burning of kerosene inside houses is a major cause of respiratory illness, fires, burns, accidental poisonings, eyesight problems and death in the developing world. Kerosene is far more expensive and far less efficient than electric lighting: the cost of useful light energy ($/lumen hour of light) for kerosene is 325 times higher than the inefficient incandescent bulb and 1,625 times higher than compact fluorescent light bulbs. The training that SolarAid is doing involves teaching your Malawians to convert a standard, medium sized kerosene "hurricane" lanterns (not pressurized or "tilly" lanterns) into LED solar lanterns. Conversion of the lanterns involves putting rechargeable AA batteries into the chimney and using 3.3V, 25mA LEDs (wired in parallel) to direct light down onto an improvised cone reflector, which sits over the top of the old wick. The reflector is constructed from locally collected materials such as aluminium foil, gift wrap, or the inside of a cigarette packet, and is configured in a conical shape to provide uniform reflection. The torches are guaranteed for three years. Batteries are designed to be recharged up to 1000 times without "memory effect." SolarAid tests have shown a solar LED lantern can go for up to 10 days non-stop on a single battery charge, meaning the batteries could last 20 years or more if only used once a week. The batteries are recharged with one-watt solar panels, which are made locally with imported amorphous silicon and wooden frames. The PV panels do not degrade over time and are sold in the West with at least a 10-year warranty. All other components can be replaced when needed as they are sourced locally. - Source

05/08/08 - 5 Psychological Experiments That Prove Humanity is Doomed
Psychologists know you have to be careful when you go poking around the human mind because you're never sure what you'll find there. A number of psychological experiments over the years have yielded terrifying conclusions about the subjects. Oh, we're not talking about the occasional psychopath who turns up. No, we're talking about you. The experiments speak for themselves:... - Source

05/08/08 - Hawaii Man's Invention Really Cookin'
The solar oven looks more like a children's slide, but it will fry foods, bake bread and boil water. The oven is really a long, double-walled vacuum tube filled with vegetable oil that sits in a reflective-compound parabolic curve -- a fancy name for a solar funnel that focuses sunlight on the tube. The outside of the tube is cool to the touch. But the inside reaches temperatures as high as 400 degrees -- 300 degrees on a cloudy day. "I was in Tibet, and I followed three Tibetan girls through the mountains one day. An hour and a half out, an hour and a half back just to get to the nearest tree areas. Everything else denuded on the mountain. I've seen it in these countries," said inventor John Grandinetti. "Solar cooking would work to eliminate misery and save the forest and improve the environmental conditions." The solar tube only costs about $21. The frame and insulation are made from inexpensive materials. And it has another use: With clean water becoming a worldwide problem, the solar oven gets hot enough to boil water, which will purify it. The solar cooker can perform solar pasteurization in 15 minutes. It can pasteurize more than a gallon of water on a sunny day. - Source

05/08/08 - The Future of American Power
Despite some eerie parallels between the position of the United States today and that of the British Empire a century ago, there are key differences. Britain's decline was driven by bad economics. The United States, in contrast, has the strength and dynamism to continue shaping the world -- but only if it can overcome its political dysfunction and reorient U.S. policy for a world defined by the rise of other powers. - Source

05/08/08 - Indian claims duplication of Meyers Water Fuel Cell
On June 27th, 2007, U.S. Patents 4,936,961 and 5,149,407 by the late Ohio inventor Stanley A. Meyer expired, and his technology for the Water Fuel Cell fell permanently into the public domain in the United States. Inventor Ravi Raju now claims suppression by Indian authorities for his production of volumes of hydrogen gas using 12vdc pulsed at 0.51 amps. See the video selection for operation. / (Thanks to Paul Carlson for the headSup on this. - JWD) - Source

05/08/08 - As Gas Costs Soar, Buyers Flock to Small Cars
Soaring gas prices have turned the steady migration by Americans to smaller cars into a stampede. In what industry analysts are calling a first, about one in five vehicles sold in the United States was a compact or subcompact car during April, based on monthly sales data released Thursday. Almost a decade ago, when sport utility vehicles were at their peak of popularity, only one in every eight vehicles sold was a small car. The switch to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles has been building in recent years, but has accelerated recently with the advent of $3.50-a-gallon gas. At the same time, sales of pickup trucks and large sport utility vehicles have dropped sharply. In another first, fuel-sipping four-cylinder engines surpassed six-cylinder models in popularity in April. - Source

05/08/08 - Molecular Action May Help Keep Birds on Course
If the hypothesis is true, that the planet's magnetic field lines -- which arch around Earth from north to south -- may be plainly visible to birds, like the dashed line in the middle of a road. The work, described online yesterday in the journal Nature, was conducted in a test tube and does not prove that birds actually use the mechanism. And researchers aligned with a competing model say they are not convinced. But by identifying for the first time a molecule that reacts to very weak magnetic fields, the experiments prove the plausibility of a long-hypothesized method of avian navigation that has had a credibility problem because no one had ever found a molecule with the required sensitivity. "This is a proof of principle that a chemical reaction can act as a magnetic compass," said Peter Hore of the University of Oxford, who with fellow chemist Christiane Timmel led the research. - Source

05/08/08 - Pork, chicken prices may rise in next wave of food inflation
Americans may be getting another helping of food inflation, and it seems likely to come from higher prices for chicken and pork. Overall food inflation could double this year, lifted by the rising costs of fuel, corn and soybeans, some analysts predict. Food inflation hit 4 percent last year, up from 2.4 percent in 2006. While beef prices were already high, chicken and pork prices didn't reflect record costs for feed and fuel. That's poised to change as chicken and pig producers who have been losing money slaughter more animals to decrease the supply and raise the prices they can charge. Higher food inflation would further challenge shoppers who are already limiting themselves to sale items and store brands as they contend with the worst food inflation since 1990. - Source

05/08/08 - Breastfeeding boosts intelligence
Breastfeeding really does boost intelligence, a major study has shown. Researchers looked at almost 14,000 children for more than six years and found that those who were breastfed did significantly better in IQ tests. - Source

05/08/08 - Stuart Jeffries on the rise of Freeconomics
Anderson's freeconomics thesis is that more and more goods and services are being provided for free and that those businesses that fail to follow suit are likely to go to the wall. "As much as we complain about how expensive things are getting, we're surrounded by forces that are making them cheaper," Anderson wrote in a recent article that will form the basis of a book called Free, to be published next year. "Forty years ago, charity was dominated by clothing drives for the poor. Now you can get a T-shirt for less than the price of a cup of coffee, thanks to China and global sourcing. So too for toys, gadgets and commodities of every sort. Even cocaine has pretty much never been cheaper (globalisation works in mysterious ways)." - Source

05/08/08 - Destabilization of the Earth–Moon triangular Lagrangian points
It seems that, a very long time ago, Earth may have had more moons that just the modern one. Having rocks the size of small buildings smash into the planet as the result of their orbits decaying doesn't sound like too much fun. I wonder if they'll be able to correlate a mass extinction or two with such events? - Source

05/08/08 - US Electronic Fingerprints in Syria?
The Israel Air Force's stunning, undetected flight through Syria's air defenses late last year -- as part of a raid on a suspected nuclear facility -- bears electronic fingerprints similar to those left in Baghdad by the U.S. in 1991 and 2003, say U.S. military and IT industry specialists. So what did the U.S. forces do in Iraq in 1991 and 2003 to confound air defenses, communications and the ability to command forces in the field? Drones were used to lure enemy radars into giving away their positions and identity and distracted them from the actual raiding aircraft. Carbon-fiber warheads were used to shut down main-frame computers used for air defense integration (in 1991) and an apparent computer attack on municipal power distribution (in 2003) was used to turn lights off and on in various neighborhoods. There also were campaigns of intimidating e-mail notes and phone calls to various officials and functionaries saying "we know who you are, where you are and what you're doing," says a computer warfare specialist. - Source / (This reminded me of the mysterious Hurwich device. - JWD)

05/08/08 - Tank on Empty? How much further can you go?
Help solve a mystery that has puzzled mankind for years... How far can you go after the gas light in your car comes on? Find your car's stats here! - Source

05/05/08 - Airtab Vortex Generators to Increase vehicle Mileage
Airtabs™ are small, efficient air flow streamliners that are the first practical solution for reducing drag at the back of large vehicles and the tractor/trailer gap. Airtabs™ are designed to work on trucks, trailers, straight trucks, cargo vans, RVs and Buses. Any big box going down the road at highway speeds. Drivers report dramatic handling improvements, better visibility behind in rain, fewer gear changes and less driver fatigue. Airtabs™ keep the rear of you vehicle clean because there is no longer a vacuum pulling in dirt and grime - your tail lights remain clear longer. Our customers are seeing fuel savings of between 2 to 4% annually. Airtabs™ meet vehicle width regulations. (4.76” long, by 3.25” wide, and stick out only 1") Airtabs™ are quick and easy to fit. 3 per lineal foot, down the sides and across the top at the back of the vehicle. Airtabs™ work in concert with existing air management kits. The Airtab® shape has been tested in test track, wind tunnel and over-the-road evaluations. / From a reader; "Saw your post on the fans on semi truck fairings today & thought you might want to check out www.airtab.com They have sold these magical gems all over the world for the past 5 years or more. They're Vortex Generators that are self sticking & go on the back sides and top of anything box shaped moving down the road at highway speeds of 40mph or more. Have 12 of them on my 2001 Dodge Stratus trunk & mileage went from 27.1 mpg to 32.0 mpg doing 65 - 70 mph on interstate driving. Check out their website. Every little bit helps and these babies will pay for themselves in no time flat." (Thanks to Norm E. for this headsup on yet another gas saving technique that we all can use. - JWD) - Source

05/05/08 - Fan-assisted trucks
Travel at 70 mph on a motorway, and approximately 65 per cent of the fuel you burn goes to overcoming aerodynamic drag. So even a slight reduction in drag will significantly improve fuel consumption. This is a particular problem for lorries and buses. Kambiz Salari at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and colleagues say that much of the drag from a "bluff body" such as bus or truck comes from the air vortices generated behind the vehicle as it moves. So instead of making these vehicles more wedge-shaped, significant fuel economies can be made by modifying their behind. Salari has designed a set of fans to be fitted to the back of a cab or trailer that inject air into the air flow in a way that significantly reduces the turbulence it generates. This should in turn improve fuel economy, although the patent does not say the scale of the potential gains. - Source

05/05/08 - David Bowling's Continuous Charging Device
David Bowling says he has developed a device that will put out a continuous 12 volt electrical current which he has then been using to run motors, small appliances, and charge batteries. "The more you load it, the more it puts out," he said. The device, which is presently proprietary, requires a battery on the input side, and involves a motor; but he says the amount of power on the output side is far more than what is going in. In one set-up, he had one battery charging six, which were then being used to run various motors; and he was then rotating one of the output batteries into the input side, to keep the system running. "I have used it to charge a battery, drain the battery under a load, and recharge the battery. I have charged that same battery 30 times using the device. It will charge the battery in about half an hour or so, and as many batteries wired to it in parallel as I care to connect up (so far)." He recharged his Dad's solar battery array (24 6-volt batteries) using his system in just over an hour. His dad said that it would have taken around five hours for the solar panels to charge it to that same point. Other things he has powered in the past two weeks since first making this discovery include a shop vac, a reciprocal saw, and light bulbs. He says it is easy to build. "Anyone could build it." And it is cheap. "For less than ten dollars you can have a working model." That scaled-down model wouldn't put out 12 volts, but it would prove the principle, he said. The 12-volt model could be replicated for less than $200.00. / (Thanks to Hank M. for the headsup on this. - JWD) - Source

05/05/08 - Key to Hunger Problem - Stop Sending Food
Rapidly increasing world food prices have already led to political upheaval in poor countries. The crisis threatens to tear apart fragile states and become a humanitarian calamity unless countries get their agricultural systems moving. Now, with conference committee negotiations over the final shape of the Farm Bill at a critical stage, Congress needs to change the foreign food-aid program and help avert this calamity. The Bush administration has urged, rightly, that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) be allowed to buy food locally, particularly in Africa, instead of only American-grown food. / Sam Kinnison says – From an appearance on Rodney Dangerfield’s “It’s Not Easy Being Me,” 1984.” - Source

05/05/08 - Liquid invention that could help in fight against drugs
Ross Penninton developed a substance to try to stop drug-taking. In 2005 the Chronicle carried out an investigation into cocaine use in Newcastle and found traces of drugs on toilet seats and sinks in pubs, bars and public buildings. Ross, who works in Team Valley, said: “It’s a liquid plastic with an aggregate in it to stop people taking drugs like cocaine from basins and toilets by making the smooth surface rough. “You brush the plastic on to the surface and that will make it almost impossible for someone to take cocaine from that surface. “It lasts for around 30 days and works with porcelain so it would be great for pubs and clubs.” - Source

05/05/08 - Naturmobil: Cart runs on ‘horse power’
Unlike traditional horse-drawn vehicles, the horse rides inside, behind the driver, protected by an all-weather canopy. And thanks to a lightweight polycarbonate frame and complex gearing, it can reach speeds of up to 80km/h – although its cruising speed is a more sedate 20km/h. The horse walks on a fibreglass treadmill, generating enough power to move the 300kg Naturmobil along on six motorcycle wheels. Mirhejazi says it produces enough surplus energy to charge a small battery which powers the buggy’s lights, electrical system, and can even take over from the horse when Neddy needs a rest. When the horse’s body temperature gets too hot for comfort, a sensor attached to its side transmits its temperature reading to a controller which automatically turns off the treadmill and switches the vehicle to run on battery power. Neddy can then rest for 20 minutes before the back-up power runs down. - Source

05/05/08 - Researchers claim photovoltaic cell advance
Scientists at the University of Tel Aviv in Israel claim they have found a way to construct efficient photovoltaic cells costing at least a hundred times less than conventional silicon based devices, and with similar or better energy conversion efficiency. The reactive element in the researchers' patent pending device is genetically engineered proteins using photosynthesis for production of electrical energy. The scientists applied genetic engineering and nanotechnology for the construction of a hybrid nano -- bio, solid state device. According to the researchers, although using photosynthesis for photovoltaic application is not new, their specific technique is the first to enable the production of useful photosynthesis-based photovoltaic cells. - Source

05/05/08 - Patent to Overcome the Second Law of Thermodynamics Rejected
‘According to the specification, the invention raises a ferrofluid out of a reservoir by a magnetic column into a mass. The ferrofluid then escapes a "gradually decreasing magnetic field which holds it up against gravitational force" and is drawn away via tubular element by a capillary force aided by Brownian motion. At the end of the tubular element, drops of this ferrofluid accumulate and drop back into the reservoir below, spinning a wheel along their downward paths. Thus, the movement of the ferrofluid imparts mechanical energy upon the wheel. Speas claims that because this ferrofluid is moved and adds energy to the paddle wheel "without input into the system other than ambient thermal energy," it is proof that the second law of thermodynamics is not inviolate – an object of the invention.’ - Source

05/05/08 - Eye Ailments Cured by Dry Heat (Dec, 1934)
EYE inflammations are being successfully treated with dry heat by a new and ingenious apparatus introduced at the annual meeting of the American College of Proctology. The electric controlling unit automatically heats and circulates water through hollow rubber pads held over the eyes by the patient. The temperature of this water is constantly controlled by the physician. - Source

05/05/08 - City engineer gets patent for solar energy innovation
A City-based engineer Prabhakar Wawge, has come up with a solar water heating system, which can be used in multistoried building without using terrace area. It can be used as a wall integrated solar water heating system and does not require any pumping mechanism for circulation. The invention is based on the fin and tub arrangement of the absorber of the collector, which allows it to be used in multistoried building. It also does not need long pipeline to be carried out.Another highlight of the system is that this mechanism will not require cold water tank at the height of 6 feet as it will work with 2 feet head that is normally available at all places. - Source

05/05/08 - Russia can make billions selling fresh water
“All jokes aside, Russian fresh water supplies may equal oil and gas supplies,” Vadim Altaev, the Vice President of the Union of Bottled Water Manufacturers, said in an interview with Bigness.ru. “Specialists from many countries forecast that water will become number one product in the foreseeable future. We can dispense with oil, but we cannot dispense with water. Russia has one of the world’s greatest fresh water reserves,” he stated proudly. According to Altaev, there are numerous fresh water resources in Russia: in the north, in the Arctic Ocean, in the south and in Siberia. - Source

05/05/08 - Taser International Wins Lawsuit to Change Cause of Death
"Taser International recently started a legal campaign against medical examiners who claimed tasers contributed to the cause of death for several people. On Friday, an Ohio judge ruled in favor of the stun gun manufacturer (free registration may be required). While they do have a number of scientific studies on which they establish their claims, it's interesting that the alternate cause of death they champion — excited delirium — appears only in police reports on the deaths of difficult or drug-addled inmates, not in medical textbooks. Of course, that may change soon — Taser is funding and promoting research on the subject. Coroner reports such as the ones in this case contributed to the UN's opinion that taser use is torture." - Source

05/05/08 - Electronic Warfare Insects Coming Soon
"British defence giant BAE Systems is creating a series of tiny electronic spiders, insects and snakes that could become the eyes and ears of soldiers on the battlefield, helping to save thousands of lives, and they claim that prototypes could be on the front line by the end of the year. A fascinating development to be sure, but who thinks this won't be misused domestically for spying and evidence gathering?" - Source

05/05/08 - US patent for common Mexican bean revoked
In the 1990s, a Colorado man named Larry Proctor purchased some beans at a market in Mexico. He selectively bred them for a few years and claimed to have invented "a new field bean variety that produces distinctly colored yellow seed which remains relatively unchanged by season." He called it the "Enola bean," and was granted a "20-year patent that covered any beans and hybrids derived from crosses with even one of his seeds." His claim of 60 cents per pound of beans sold in the US "caused a steep decline in exports of such beans from Mexico to the USA, according to Mexican government sources." Today, the United States Patent and Trademark Office revoked Proctor's patent claims. (via boingboing.net) - Source

05/05/08 - Diet treatment call for epilepsy
A special high-fat diet helps to control fits in children with epilepsy, a UK trial suggests. The number of seizures fell by a third in children on the "ketogenic" diet, where previously they had suffered fits every day despite medication. The diet alters the body's metabolism by mimicking the effects of starvation, the researchers reported in the Lancet Neurology. - Source

05/05/08 - FLV To MP3 Online Converter/FLV URL (YouTube's) Converter
Convert your FLV files (YouTube's videos) to MP3 fast. It's 100% free. - Source

05/05/08 - Government lawmaking Jacks up Prices
When it comes to soaring gasoline prices, we need a federal government that does less. Less contributing to the problem, that is. As lawmakers and presidential candidates offer a number of proposals to lower pump prices, they should keep in mind that past laws and regulations have made matters worse. Washington ought to eliminate these mistakes rather than repeat them. - Source

05/05/08 - A Price Drop for Solar Panels
Solar electricity is about to get much cheaper, industry analysts predict, because a shortage of the silicon used in solar panels is almost over. That could lead to a sharp drop in prices over the next couple of years, making solar electricity comparable to power from the grid. High demand generated by government subsidies worldwide and a shortage of processed silicon have kept prices for solar-generated power much higher than average electricity prices over the past few years. Solar power is more than three times the cost of electricity from conventional sources, according to figures from the industry tracking firm Solarbuzz and the United States' Energy Information Administration. - Source

05/02/08 - For Exxon Mobil, $10.9 Billion Profit Disappoints
Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, said Thursday that its first-quarter net income rose 17 percent, boosted by surging oil prices. But even as it posted the second-most profitable quarter