03/10/10 - Gasifying Biomass with Sunlight
Sundrop Fuels, a startup based in Louisville, CO, says it has developed a cleaner and more efficient way to turn biomass into synthetic fuels by harnessing the intense heat of the sun to vaporize wood and crop waste. Its process can produce twice the amount of gasoline or diesel per ton of biomass compared to conventional biomass gasification systems, the company claims. Gasification occurs when dry biomass or other carbon-based materials are heated to above 700 ºC in the presence of steam. At those temperatures, most of the biomass is converted to a synthetic gas. This "syngas" is made up of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which are the chemical building blocks for higher-value fuels such as methanol, ethanol, and gasoline. But the heat required for this process usually comes from a portion of the biomass being gasified. "You end up burning 30 to 35 percent of the biomass," says Alan Weimer, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. - Full Article Source

03/10/10 - Solar Industry Learns Lessons in Spanish Sun
Puertollano, home to the Museum of the Mining Industry, had two enormous solar power plants, factories making solar panels and silicon wafers, and clean energy research institutes. Half the solar power installed globally in 2008 was installed in Spain. Farmers sold land for solar plants. Boutiques opened. And people from all over the world, seeing business opportunities, moved to the city, which had suffered from 20 percent unemployment and a population exodus. But as low-quality, poorly designed solar plants sprang up on Spain’s plateaus, Spanish officials came to realize that they would have to subsidize many of them indefinitely, and that the industry they had created might never produce efficient green energy on its own. In September the government abruptly changed course, cutting payments and capping solar construction. Puertollano’s brief boom turned bust. Factories and stores shut, thousands of workers lost jobs, foreign companies and banks abandoned contracts that had already been negotiated. “We lost the opportunity to be at the vanguard of renewables — we were not only generating electricity, but also a strong economy,” said Joaquín Carlos Hermoso Murillo, Puertollano’s mayor since 2004. “Why are they limiting solar power, when the sun is unlimited?” For now, electricity generation from the sun’s rays needs to be subsidized because it requires the purchase of new equipment and investment in evolving technologies. But costs are rapidly dropping. And regulators are still learning how to structure stimulus payments so that they yield a stable green industry that supports itself, rather than just costly energy and an economic flash in the pan like Spain’s. - Full Article Source

03/10/10 - Leonard Nimoy to guest on 'Big Bang'?
The executive producer of The Big Bang Theory has revealed that he hopes to recruit Leonard Nimoy for a cameo appearance. Bill Prady told Entertainment Weekly that he will approach the Star Trek actor next season about a part in the comedy. "We'll probably make a general inquiry," Prady said. "And if there's enough interest, we'll develop a story. The fans have said that's the dream get, and we agree." Nimoy, who has made several guest appearance on Fringe, turned down a spot on Big Bang last season. Prady added that "there's always an issue with actors playing themselves, which most actors would rather not do" and joked that Sheldon could clone Nimoy for the part. - Full Article Source

03/10/10 - Cisco Says New Router to "Forever Change the Internet": 'When?'
Cisco made headlines today announcing a next generation router that will revolutionize the internet by increasing downloads to unheard of speeds. The Cisco press release makes the following claims about the CRS-3 router: It enables the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress to be downloaded in just over one second; every man, woman and child in China to make a video call, simultaneously; and every motion picture ever created to be streamed in less than four minutes. - Full Article Source

03/10/10 - Pelosi's latest Idiotic Statement
Nancy Pelosi said, "But we have to pass the [health care ] bill so that you can find out what is in it." - (Let's not read it all and correct it beforehand, just pass it and suffer the consequences...who isn't appalled by such faulty procedure and total lack of common sense? - JWD) - Full Article Source

03/10/10 - U.S. Sitting on Mother Lode of Rare Tech-Crucial Minerals
China supplies most of the rare earth minerals found in technologies such as hybrid cars, wind turbines, computer hard drives and cell phones, but the U.S. has its own largely untapped reserves that could safeguard future tech innovation. Those reserves include deposits of both "light" and "heavy" rare earths - families of minerals that help make everything from TV displays to magnets in hybrid electric motors. A company called U.S. Rare Earths holds the only known U.S. deposit of heavy rare earths with a concentration worth mining, according to a recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Light rare earths include the minerals ranging from lanthanum to gadolinium on the periodic table of elements, while heavy rare earths range from terbium to lutetium. Averting disaster - If developed, such deposits could help the U.S. avoid a possibly crippling rare earth shortage in the next decade. China has warned that its own industrial demands could compel it to stop exporting rare earths within the next five or 10 years. - Full Article Source

03/10/10 - Fishing Banned!?!
No more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing some of the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters. Nnot really a surprise for fishing industry insiders who have negotiated for months with officials at the Council on Environmental Quality and bureaucrats on the task force. These angling advocates have come to suspect that public input into the process was a charade from the beginning. "When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) completed their successful campaign to convince the Ontario government to end one of the best scientifically managed big game hunts in North America (spring bear), the results of their agenda had severe economic impacts on small family businesses and the tourism economy of communities across northern and central Ontario," said Phil Morlock, director of environmental affairs for Shimano. "Now we see NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the administration planning the future of recreational fishing access in America based on a similar agenda of these same groups and other Big Green anti-use organizations, through an Executive Order by the President. The current U.S. direction with fishing is a direct parallel to what happened in Canada with hunting: The negative economic impacts on hard working American families and small businesses are being ignored. "In spite of what we hear daily in the press about the President's concern for jobs and the economy and contrary to what he stated in the June order creating this process, we have seen no evidence from NOAA or the task force that recreational fishing and related jobs are receiving any priority." Consequently, unless anglers speak up and convince their Congressional representatives to stop this bureaucratic freight train, it appears that the task force will issue a final report for "marine spatial planning" by late March, with President Barack Obama then issuing an Executive Order to implement its recommendations — whatever they may be. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Growing arteries could lead to 'biological bypass' for heart disease
Coronary arteries can become blocked with plaque, leading to a decrease in the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart. Over time this blockage can lead to debilitating chest pain or heart attack. Severe blockages in multiple major vessels may require coronary artery bypass graft surgery, a major invasive surgery. "We found that there is a cross-talk between the two signaling pathways. One half of the signaling pathway inhibits the other. When we inhibit this mechanism, we are able to grow arteries," said Simons. "Instead of using growth factors, we stopped the inhibitor mechanism by using a drug that targets a particular enzyme called P13-kinase inhibitor." "Because we've located this inhibitory pathway, it opens the possibility of developing a new class of medication to grow new arteries," Simons added. "The next step is to test this finding in a human clinical trial." - (Balderdash, why must they always complicate simple things. As discovered by Matthias Rath and Linus Pauling way back in 1994, you could just clean out the plaque naturally by taking megadoses of Lysine and Vitamin C which cleans out the circulatory system. - JWD) - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - “Flying Saucer” Programme Approved
Government of Ulianovsk region recently approved the long-term project of flying saucer construction. The project is aimed at developing and building a revolutionary transportation device – aerostatic thermoballasted aerial vehicle. This new vehicle doesn’t depend on time of the season and provides high lifting capacity, low fuel consumption, almost unlimited flying range and flight duration. The vehicle doesn’t need airdromes and complex terrestrial infrastructure. This project was approved by Russian government last November. New aerial vehicle is useful for military men, medics, rescuers, and etc. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Pirate Adventure Cruise
To The Point Cruise Lines is excited to offer the ultimate adventure cruise, along the pirate-infested coast of Somalia... - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Razor Blade Tip
Today I found out how to drastically increase the life of your shaver razor blades, such as Gillette or Schick Brand razors. This trick is incredibly simple and just as incredibly effective. It will also save you a nice chunk of change over time and make all your dreams come true… For instance, Gillette Fusion Brand razor cartridge sets typically will run you about $27 per set of 12, which will typically only last you a few months and less if you actually go by their expiration "strip" in determining when the cartridge needs replaced. With the below method, I have now gone about eight months using the exact same cartridge and the blades on the cartridge are as sharp as when I first popped the cartridge on. I have no idea how long this will keep up, but now a package of 12 cartridges is apparently going to last me at least 12 years or more. Here's the secret (it requires a pair of jeans):

'The Evolution of Matter' and 'The Evolution of Forces' on CD
Years ago, I had been told by several people, that the US government frequently removes books they deem dangerous or 'sensitive' from libraries. Some are replaced with sections removed or rewritten so as to 'contain' information that should not be available to the public despite the authors intent. A key example was during the Manhattan Project when the US was trying to finalize research into atomic bombs. They removed any books that dealt with the subject and two of them were by Dr. Gustave Le Bon since they dealt with both energy and matter including radioactivity. I had been looking for these two books for many years and fortunately stumbled across two copies for which I paid about $40.00 each. I couldn't put down the books once I started reading them. Such a wealth of original discoveries, many not known or remembered today. / Page 88 - Without the ether there could be neither gravity, nor light, nor electricity, nor heat, nor anything, in a word, of which we have knowledge. The universe would be silent and dead, or would reveal itself in a form which we cannot even foresee. If one could construct a glass chamber from which the ether were to be entirely eliminated, heat and light could not pass through it. It would be absolutely dark, and probably gravitation would no longer act on the bodies within it. They would then have lost their weight. / Page 96-97 - A material vortex may be formed by any fluid, liquid or gaseous, turning round an axis, and by the fact of its rotation it describes spirals. The study of these vortices has been the object of important researches by different scholars, notably by Bjerkness and Weyher. They have shown that by them can be produced all the attractions and repulsions recognized in electricity, the deviations of the magnetic needle by currents, etc. These vortices are produced by the rapid rotation of a central rod furnished with pallets, or, more simply, of a sphere. Round this sphere gaseous currents are established, dissymetrical with regard to its equatorial plane, and the result is the attraction or repulsion of bodies brought near to it, according to the position given to them. It is even possible, as Weyher has proved, to compel these bodies to turn round the sphere as do the satellites of a planet without touching it. / Page 149 - "The problem of sending a pencil of parallel Hertzian waves to a distance possesses more than a theoretical interest. It is allowable to say that its solution would change the course of our civilization by rendering war impossible. The first physicist who realizes this discovery will be able to avail himself of the presence of an enemy's ironclads gathered together in a harbour to blow them up in a few minutes, from a distance of several kilometres, simply by directing on them a sheaf of electric radiations. On reaching the metal wires with which these vessels are nowadays honeycombed, this will excite an atmosphere of sparks which will at once explode the shells and torpedoes stored in their holds. With the same reflector, giving a pencil of parallel radiations, it would not be much more difficult to cause the explosion of the stores of powder and shells contained in a fortress, or in the artillery sparks of an army corps, and finally the metal cartridges of the soldiers. Science, which at first rendered wars so deadly, would then at length have rendered them impossible, and the relations between nations would have to be established on new bases." - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Hybrid fusion: the third nuclear option
Hybrid nuclear fusion combines the two forms of nuclear power, fission and fusion, in a single reactor. This has several advantages over fission alone: it minimises the environmental impact, reduces risks, enlarges reserves of nuclear fuel and is more flexible to operate. Hybrid reactors have other advantages too. One is that the fission reaction can burn a range of fuels, including the long-lived high-level nuclear waste produced in conventional fission reactors. It "transmutates" these waste products into isotopes that decay over a hundred years rather than tens of thousands. Not only does this eliminate some of the nuclear industry's waste problems, it also potentially helps to rid the world of plutonium and other weapons-grade materials. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - The Arizona Solar Bullet: Tuscon to Phoenix in 33 minutes
A campaign is underway in Arizona to initiate studies and build support for the world's first solar-powered bullet train. Intended to travel at speeds up to 220 MPH, the train is proposed to run between Tucson and Phoenix with stops at seven stations along the I-10 corridor. It is also expected to have a zero-energy footprint due to its route-long solar array. Arizona may be the only place worldwide with both sufficient sunlight and sufficient population density to launch such a project today. This is a unique opportunity to benefit from the rapid growth of solar technologies in coming decades, including R&D in our own labs and companies. And once it is possible to travel swiftly between Phoenix and Tucson, economic opportunity of all kinds will accelerate. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Tata Nano EV – World’s Cheapest Electric Car - the new Model T
India’s Tata Nano EV, world’s cheapest car, transformed into the world’s cheapest electric car, went on display at the Geneva Motor Show. The Tata Nano EV seats four, has a predicted range of about 80 miles and will go from zero to about 35 miles per hour in a blistering 10 seconds. The car has super-polymer lithium-ion batteries, which Tata says provide superior energy retention. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - At Witz' End - It's the Battery, Stupid!
The Volt has long been rumored to retail for about $40K, and the Leaf will likely come in at a hair under $30K (now that Nissan has decided it will be sold battery included). The Volt should run about 40 miles on its 16 kWh pack – using just half its stored energy to head off safety issues and preserve its life – before its thrifty IC engine kicks in to keep it going. The Leaf promises "up to" 100 miles from its 24 kWh, depending (as always) on temperature, terrain, time of day, speed and driving style. The going OEM rate for li-ion packs today is an estiimated $1,000-1,200 per kWh. At the lower end of that range, Volt's pack is a $16K bill and Leaf's $24K -- 80 percent of (my) estimated price for the car. Both companies insist they will not pay anywhere near that much, especially once they're building their own packs, but lop that in half to $500/kWh, and it's still $8K and $12K! - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Preventing Urination to control disease-spreading mosquitoes
Cornell researchers have found a protein that may lead to a new way to control mosquitoes that spread dengue fever, yellow fever and other diseases when they feed on humans: Prevent them from urinating as they feed on blood. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology has identified a protein from the renal tubules of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that appears to be involved in promoting urination as they feed on blood. When mosquitoes consume and process blood meals, they must urinate to prevent fluid and salt overloads that can kill them. Also, "they have to undergo rapid urination when feeding, or they can't fly away," said Peter Piermarini, the paper's lead author and a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Klaus Beyenbach, a professor of biomedical sciences in Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine and the paper's senior author. "Too much weight will impair the mosquito's flight performance, like an aircraft with too much payload. [If they get too heavy,] they may become more susceptible to being swatted by their host or eaten by a predator," said Piermarini. The researchers discovered a key protein expressed in the mosquito's renal system that contributes to urination. In lab experiments, Piermarini, Beyenbach and colleagues demonstrated that blocking the protein's function in the renal tubules with a drug reverses the enhanced rates of urination that would occur during blood feeding. "Thus, blocking the function of this protein in natural populations of mosquitoes may limit their ability to survive the physiological stresses of a blood meal and to further transmit viruses," said Piermarini. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Link Between Obesity and Germs in the Intestine
Germs in the gut may help drive appetite, says new research into the link between obesity and bacteria. Previous studies have shown that overweight people and normal-weight people harbor different types and amounts of microbes that naturally live in the intestine. To determine why, scientists are peering into mice. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Mattel Mindflex hack shocks you into serenity
Okay, we're in love with this delightfully evil Mattel Mindflex hack, which delivers an electric shock if you don't remain calm, but we have to wonder: wouldn't this thing be amazing if you hooked it up in reverse and punished not thinking enough? / The guys over at Harcos Labs connect a brainwave reader to an electro-shock unit. Ouch! You can read the how-to on our site: http://www.harcoslabs.com - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Frozen Vegetables More Nutritious Than Fresh Vegetables
Frozen vegetables can often contain more nutrients than fresh vegetables, a report has claimed. Up to 45 per cent of important nutrients are lost in fresh vegetable by the time they are consumed. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - This Car Runs on Coffee
The wacky UK invention comes in the form of a converted 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco that downs about 56 espressos per mile, the Daily Mail reports. That should only cost about 25 to 50 times the cost of running a car on gas. The concept came out of the BBC1 science program called "Bang Goes the Theory," and will go on a 210-mile drive between Manchester and London that consumes about 11,760 espressos. But coffee aficionados shouldn't scream just yet -- the fuel comes from waste coffee grounds provided by a branch of Costa Coffee. A top speed of about 60 mph won't save the UK crew from making pit stops to refill the tank every 30 to 45 miles. There's also the added task of cleaning out soot and tar from the car's "coffee filters" about every 60 miles. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Lack of Vitamin D supresses the immune system
Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that Vitamin D is crucial to activating your immune defenses and that without sufficient intake of the vitamin, the killer cells of your immune system – T cells - will not be able to react to and fight off serious infections in your body. For your T cells to detect and kill foreign pathogens such as clumps of bacteria or viruses, the cells must first be 'triggered' into action and 'transform' from inactive and harmless immune cells into killer cells that are primed to seek out and destroy all traces of a foreign pathogen. The researchers found that T cells rely on vitamin D in order to activate and they would remain dormant, 'naive' to the possibility of threat if vitamin D is lacking in your blood. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - New "Hairy" Material Is Almost Perfectly Hydrophobic
"Wolfgang Sigmund, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Florida, has created a material modeled after spider hairs that acts as a nearly perfect water-repelling surface. Quoting Science Daily: 'A paper about the surface, which works equally well with hot or cold water, appears in this month's edition of the journal Langmuir. Spiders use their water-repelling hairs to stay dry or avoid drowning, with water spiders capturing air bubbles and toting them underwater to breathe. Potential applications for UF's ultra-water-repellent surfaces are many, Sigmund said. When water scampers off the surface, it picks up and carries dirt with it, in effect making the surface self-cleaning. As such, it is ideal for some food packaging, or windows, or solar cells that must stay clean to gather sunlight, he said. Boat designers might coat hulls with it, making boats faster and more efficient.' Hairy glass, anyone?" - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Revolutionary Invention Allows Planting Without Irrigation
The Groasis waterboxx invented by science award winning Dutch innovator Pieter Hoff is about to change the course of history. On March 16 at the Green California Summit in Sacramento, Mr. Hoff. will announce global planting experiments without irrigation. Four projects to be conducted in California's high and low deserts of Palm Springs, in the Napa Valley with the Robert Mondavi Winery and USA's first sustainable city, Sonoma will join twenty other global experiments in seven countries spanning four continents. Mr. Hoff completed a four-year treeplanting test in Morocco's Sahara desert with 88.2% survival rate. Monitored results of the worldwide tests will prove that mankind can plant trees on bushes, rocks, mountains, in deserts or any other difficult place, without irrigation. California along with the rest of the world eagerly looks forward to the results of these tests as a way to solve deforestation, food shortage and water conservation. The Groasis waterboxx is the size of a motorcycle tyre with an opening in the center, that surrounds a sapling or seed that is planted in the soil. This 'intelligent water incubator' produces and captures water from the air through condensation and rain, without using energy. Additionally it prevents water evaporation from the soil and protects the roots against sun, wind, weeds and rodents. After a year, the tree is strong enough to grow by itself and the box can be easily removed and reused. Hoff, one of the largest flowerbulb exporters of Holland, sold his business five years ago with one thought in mind, to find a way to reforest the planet and feed the world. He expects the waterboxx to reforest 2 billion hectares (5 billion acres) of desert, eroded by mankind, in the next 40 years. CO2 molecules can be unbound through trees, which produce fruit, medicines, oils, etcetera while transplanting the C atoms from fossil fuels into wood. Let's make money with trees while unbinding the CO2 molecules instead of continuously talking about climate change, he explains in his book 'CO2, a gift from heaven'. General: http://www.groasis.com - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - MIT discovers thermopower waves
A team of scientists at MIT have discovered a previously unknown phenomenon that can cause powerful waves of energy to shoot through minuscule wires known as carbon nanotubes. The discovery could lead to a new way of producing electricity, the researchers say. One that seems perfectly suited for powering implants, wearware or pocket gear. The phenomenon, described as thermopower waves, 'opens up a new area of energy research, which is rare,' says MIT's Michael Strano. A thermal wave (moving pulse of heat) traveling along a microscopic wire can drive electrons along to create an electrical current. / In the new experiments, each of these electrically and thermally conductive nanotubes was coated with a layer of a reactive fuel that can produce heat by decomposing. This fuel was then ignited at one end of the nanotube using either a laser beam or a high-voltage spark, and the result was a fast-moving thermal wave traveling along the length of the carbon nanotube like a flame speeding along the length of a lit fuse. Heat from the fuel goes into the nanotube, where it travels thousands of times faster than in the fuel itself. As the heat feeds back to the fuel coating, a thermal wave is created that is guided along the nanotube. With a temperature of 3,000 kelvins, this ring of heat speeds along the tube 10,000 times faster than the normal spread of this chemical reaction. The heating produced by that combustion, it turns out, also pushes electrons along the tube, creating a substantial electrical current. In the group’s initial experiments, Strano says, when they wired up the carbon nanotubes with their fuel coating in order to study the reaction, “lo and behold, we were really surprised by the size of the resulting voltage peak” that propagated along the wire. After further development, the system now puts out energy, in proportion to its weight, about 100 times greater than an equivalent weight of lithium-ion battery. The amount of power released, he says, is much greater than that predicted by thermoelectric calculations. While many semiconductor materials can produce an electric potential when heated, through something called the Seebeck effect, that effect is very weak in carbon. “There’s something else happening here,” he says. “We call it electron entrainment, since part of the current appears to scale with wave velocity.” The thermal wave, he explains, appears to be entraining the electrical charge carriers (either electrons or electron holes) just as an ocean wave can pick up and carry a collection of debris along the surface. This important property is responsible for the high power produced by the system, Strano says. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - AOL still has 5 million customers paying for dial-up!
'Nuff said... - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Stem cells heal dog
Your dog has access to stem cell treatments more advanced than your own. A Fox News affiliate in Atlanta has picked up on a local story of a dog, named Behr, who could barely run a year ago, but who is now frolicking like a puppy. The secret to Behr’s success? He underwent stem cell therapy that the FDA will not allow you to undergo. Millions of Americans are already doomed annually to unnecessary pain, suffering and death by FDA regulators. The ranks of sufferers are exploding because FDA regs make personalized genetic medicine all but impossible. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - New invention saves energy by temp redistribution
Three-and-a-half years ago Paddle Fan Adapter inventor Tony Anchors was looking at a ceiling fan when he noticed an issue with air distribution. "It just throws it out and goes off the end of the blade and it rises back up," he said. With the warm air continuously rising, energy and money is wasted to keep the ground level at a comfortable temperature. Anchors created a casing that uses the fan's power to push and cube the air sending it down and then spreading across the floor- destratifying heat, humidity and carbon dioxide. "We've caused that blade, that fan, rather than throw it off to keep and come straight down and we've found that the reduction of energy costs and savings is very big," he said. Those backing the invention, including 5 B's Lee Biles, had it lab tested and tested in real life by installing the adapter at the 5B's production warehouse. They tested by putting censors on the ceiling, middle and floor of 5B's. Those sensors send information to thermometers throughout the warehouse which shows there's only about a one-degree temperature difference. "It's a very, very big savings. In fact that calculates out to about $2790 in a three month period based on consumption and degree days for our part of the country," said Biles. In testing the adapter has shown a 8 to 10 percent savings in warm weather and 15 to 30 percent in cold. "I can tell you it's in the 30 percent range for our plant, 30 percent reduction in energy costs. I don't want everybody to expect that, you know, because everybody has different conditions, but I'm getting a 30 percent reduction in energy costs," said Biles. The adapter will go on sale this week, and everyone involved is hoping it takes off. "It's winter somewhere in the world all the time and this can save big dollars for our country and our world and help maybe reduce consumption of a lot of energy," said Anchors. To learn more about this invention log onto www.paddlefanadapter.com. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Praying mantis vs. hummingbird
A rivalry I never knew about, captured in glorious slow motion. Science blogger GrrlScientist says the hummingbird involved lived to fight another day. EDIT: Sadly, that is not true of all hummingbirds that choose to take on the (apparently rather badass) praying mantis. Mrs.Bug offers pictures of what happens when the bird loses. They are not for the faint of heart. - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Disposable Toilet To Change the World
"A biodegradable and self-sterilizing bag for people of the toilet-disenfranchised world (40% of humankind) to dispose of their bodily waste and turn it into safe fertilizer has been created by a Swedish entrepreneur. It's a dead simple and brilliant solution to a vexing problem. From the article: 'Once used, the bag can be knotted and buried, and a layer of urea crystals breaks down the waste into fertilizer, killing off disease-producing pathogens found in feces. The bag, called the Peepoo, is the brainchild of Anders Wilhelmson, an architect and professor in Stockholm. “Not only is it sanitary,” said Mr. Wilhelmson, who has patented the bag, “they can reuse this to grow crops.”'" - Full Article Source

03/09/10 - Gas Wants To Kill the Wind
"Scientific American has posted an article about the political efforts of natural gas and electric utilities to limit the growth of wind-generated electricity. Although several of the points raised by the utilities and carbon-based generators are valid, the basic driver behind their efforts is that wind-generation has now successfully penetrated the wholesale electricity market. Wind was okay until it became a meaningful competitor to the carbon dioxide-producing entities. Among the valid points raised by the carbon-based generators are concerns about how the cost of electricity transmission are allocated and how power quality can be improved (wind generation — from individual sites — is hopelessly variable). But there are fixes for all of the concerns raised by the carbon-based entities and in almost all cases they have been on the other side of the question in the past." - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - Hydrogen Cobalt Catalyst could power homes on a bottle of water
With one bottle of drinking water and four hours of sunlight, MIT chemist Dan Nocera claims that he can produce 30 KWh of electricity, which is enough to power an entire household in the developing world. With about three gallons of river water, he could satisfy the daily energy needs of a large American home. The key to these claims is a new, affordable catalyst that uses solar electricity to split water and generate hydrogen. Using the electricity generated from a 30-square-meter photovoltaic array, Nocera’s cobalt-phosphate catalyst converts water and carbon dioxide into hydrogen and oxygen. The process is similar to organic photosynthesis, except that in nature, plants create energy in the form of sugars instead of hydrogen. The hydrogen produced through artificial photosynthesis can be stored in a tank and later used to produce electricity by being recombined with oxygen in a fuel cell, even when the sun isn’t shining. Alternatively, the hydrogen can be converted into a liquid fuel. - (Thanks to Bert Pool for the headsup. - JWD) - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - Is GEK a modern-day Mr. Fusion?
[Nanomonkey] spent the weekend building generators that run off of syngas. All Powers Lab produces Gasifier Experimenter Kits to convert raw material to energy. The kits use Gasification to make a “natural gas like” fuel from materials such as wood chips, walnut shells, construction debris or agricultural waste. So is this the Mr. Fusion that powered the DeLorean? This Honda fitted with a GEK sure makes it look that way. But all joking aside, this looks like a great way to turn waste in heat or electricity. There’s tons of info on the site to dig through. The controllers are open source which would make it easier to interface with the Google PowerMeter when the system is used as a generator. - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - Electro Dynamic Air Vehicle using Vortices
As a civilization, we have always tried to create horsepower using methods surrounding combustion. The opposite of combustion is vacuum. The areas of vacuum have least to be explored for extracting great quantities of energy. Now a quote by Dr. TJJ See, “ The centrifugal effect in a vortex throws normal dense air out to the perimeter whilst lighter air is pushed to the center.” See my illustrations 1 & 2 on how this light air encapsulates the vehicle. Using this analogy we have now encircled the aircraft Vehicle with a bubble of light air which causes it to levitate. Lets talk about the opposite effect and use water as an example. Once there was an oilrig floating on the ocean. The drillers hit a huge gas pocket that sent up bubbles 50 feet in diameter. Soon there was no water underneath the platform, only ever expanding gas bubbles. So the huge oil platform sank into the ocean. Why, because the gas bubbles displaced so much water fluid the platform had nothing to hold it up. Well just maybe, if you displace so much light air around the object than the object has no heavier resistant air or air pressure to hold it on the ground and bon voyage. As the aircraft is sucked into the air by the upside down vortex, then the aircraft pushes the vortex further out, which creates a pulsing effect. Velocity is squared by the distance and speed becomes reality. Now the aircraft has to go horizontal sooner or later or you might find yourself on planet Marduk in no time. The light hydrogen air vortex will flatten out slightly but will continue to flow ahead of the aircraft. This vortex flow will continue to separate the denser air away from the air vehicle creating a sort of vacuum bubble for the aircraft to ride in. See my illustration dubbed PG 140 which shows a circulating air current riding ahead of a UFO. Also see Illustration three, showing the sucking and pushing effect of the closing envelope. Was the UFO using repulsion energy? Any ways since the lighter fluid or gas is cutting the denser air as stated no sound barrier is broken, and no air resistance is felt on the aircraft. So the aircraft is free to obtain velocities not achieved by aircraft previously. A pushing effect is applied at the rear by the closing air gap. I quote again the words of V. Schauberger, “ If you create a situation where normal air is more dense than the air directly above or ahead of the vehicle, the normal air will move the craft.” - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - Lucid dreaming
When we saw [merkz] use of an Arduino to produce lucid dreaming we were quite shocked. Unlike typical setups that just flash a light through sleep, his system monitors eye movement through electrodes and is able to send the data to a computer for graphing and analyzing. The only problem being we couldn’t find a circuit diagram or code. Not ones to be shot down so quickly, a Google revealed this thread on making ‘Dream Goggles’, which was really a Brain-Wave Machine based on the parallel port. Some modifications of an ECG collector’s electrodes using sound cards, and you could have your own lucid dreaming. - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - Debunking the Myth that Patents Create a Monopoly
Those who are against patents always seem to argue that a patent is a monopoly, or at least use those terms interchangeably. Don’t be fooled into thinking that a patent is a monopoly. Simply obtaining a patent will not result in the arrival of a money truck to your doorstep. Just because an inventor has been granted a patent does not mean that there will be a market for the patent product, and without a market there can be no monopoly. The patent only gives the patent owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling and importing. A patent carries with it no expectation for market success. Granted, if the product does have a market a patent can be a significant barrier to entry that insulates the patent owner from competition, but a patent in and of itself does not guarantee business success. A patent only dangles the opportunity to achieve monopoly profits. This is due to the exclusive nature of the right and the ability to be the only player in the market. - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - Fiverr.com
Hire yourself out or hire someone else for $5 a job. Someone is offering to make a personalized work of art from your photo. Another wants to make you an Alice in Wonderland poster. There’s also a translator from English to Finnish. And hundreds more. ( props to http://oncomp.com/ ) - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - Brain Scans predict consumer response for ad campaigns
Labeling their new science 'neuromarketing', researchers at Duke University and Emory University say they have developed techniques for utilizing brain scans during product design that can create products consumers will find too appealing to pass up. Tools like functional MRI can be used to tweak product designs to insure a positive customer buy response. - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - Cellphone shows your current location with 93% accuracy
Using only the cell phone call and message data from 50,000 anonymous users over a three-month period, researchers were able to accurately predict each individual current location with a 93% rate of accuracy. Big Brother no longer needs to watch you, your cell phone is doing it for them. - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - Ah, to be young!!!
"Can I Get Get Get" (Greatest Song of All Time of the Day: Special Saturday Night Dance Party Edition) - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - TV anywhere
TVGorge.com has thousands of TV shows you can watch online, including those previously unavailable outside the U.S. We thought TVGorge was better than Hulu in many ways. It had the latest episode of our favorite show, “The Mentalist,” for instance, while Hulu had only short clips of older episodes. ( props to http://oncomp.com/ ) - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - Saddam's magic blue stone
(The pictured stone is not THE stone.) - According to an interesting article by Sudarsan Raghavan for Mercury News, many Iraqis believe that Saddam Hussein cannot be killed. It is a belief that has been reinforced by his uncanny ability to survive whatever bombs we drop on him. Even now that he has been captured, many Iraqis remain convinced that Saddam is immortal. What gives him this mystical power? A magic blue stone. Saddam had this magic stone made, so the story goes, by his favorite fortuneteller not long after he came to power 24 years ago. To be sure the stone was effective, it was tested first with a chicken. The stone was somehow placed inside the chicken, then a soldier fired at it at point-blank range. All of its feathers were blown off, but the protected chicken survived. So Saddam had the magic stone implanted in the upper section of one of his arms, protecting him from any assault, including bullets and bombs. "That belief," writes Raghaven in the article, "common throughout Iraq, presents uncommon challenges for U.S. and British forces as they try to persuade Iraqis that Saddam is gone and will not return. Without a body to display, it may be impossible to overcome the mythical creation of a propaganda apparatus that was bent on showing he was a worthy heir to a long line of Babylonian kings." An Iraqi army deserter named Adnan Mohammad Yousef told Raghaven that Saddam has seven lives and cannot die. He illustrated that belief with a story about an attempted assassination of Saddam by one of his Republican Guard. When the soldier pointed the gun at the dictator and pulled the trigger, it jammed. Saddam then allegedly grabbed the gun, pointed it at the soldier, saying, "This is how you do it," and shot him dead. - Full Article Source

03/06/10 - New Heat-Reduced Magnetic Solder Could Revolutionize Chip Design
"The result is a tin-silver alloy that contains a dispersion of iron particles tens of micrometers in diameter. When a magnetic field is applied to the solders, two things happen. First, the iron particles heat up, locally melting the solder. This localized heating, which works on the same principle as inductive stoves, remains completely contained, keeping the surrounding area cool. And second, the iron particles line up with the direction of the magnetic field, squeezing and pushing the liquid in that direction. This alignment is retained when the solder solidifies, and the well-ordered particles provide mechanical reinforcement that's greater than that afforded by a regular dispersion of particles." - Full Article Source

03/05/10 - Rube Goldberg eat your heart out!
The video was filmed in a two story warehouse, in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA. The "machine" was designed and built by the band, along with members of Syyn Labs ( http://syynlabs.com/ ) over the course of several months. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - New Zealand inventor creates 'flying hovercraft'
Rudy Heeman, who lives in the South Island city of Nelson, requisitioned a gas bottle from the family barbecue, parts from his wife's car, and the control lever from his daughter's motor scooter for his creation. Looking like a conventional hovercraft but with the addition of detachable wings, the vehicle cruises at 56mph when flying, has a range of more than 140 miles, and reaches a height of about 10 feet. It is powered by a 1.8-litre engine. On the www.trademe.co.nz auction website the sale has already received more than 100,000 hits, has shot past the reserve price of NZ$20,000 (£9,300), and has attracted a long string of questions from viewers. "It has been called all sorts of things, including aircraft, aeroplane, hovercraft and flying boat. "It is in fact a WIG [a wing in ground effect] in the form of a hovercraft. "This machine is fast and furious, it roars like a lion and is not for the faint-hearted. It is adrenalin-pumping and exciting. "Having a go on it is like a bungee jump, however, the thrill lasts as long as the ride." Mr Heeman said he thought farmers could make good use of his invention. "You can land in a paddock and you wouldn't have to worry about opening and closing the gates. You just go over them." The lightweight, canvas-covered wings are attached to the craft with what he calls a "Jesus pin". "If that comes out, you see Jesus," he said. Because the hovercraft is not classed as an aircraft under New Zealand aviation laws, the operator does not require a pilot's licence. It has taken Mr Heeman, a mechanic, 800 hours to build his invention and he has clocked up more than 75 hours' flying time in it. He said he was selling the craft because he needs the funds to get started on more "secret projects". - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - A Frightening New Law of Hurricane Formation
A new mathematical model of hurricane formation finally solves one of the outstanding puzzles of climate change but also predicts dramatic increases in the number of storms as the world warms. One problem that climatologists have puzzled over in recent years is that the number of hurricanes have increased in the north Atlantic but not in the Pacific, despite similar temperature increases. Many say that this is proof that other factors must influence hurricane formation. However, there's an important difference between these regions: in the Atlantic, the water tends to be cooler to start with and the hurricanes tend to form at a slightly higher latitude. When you take this into account, the difference in the number of hurricanes is exactly what Ehrlich's model predicts. He says the specific form of his mathematical model "yields larger percentage increases when a fixed increase in sea surface temperature occurs at higher latitudes and lower temperatures". That could help to solve an important climate change puzzle but before greater reliance can be placed on Ehrlich's, it needs to show its colours by accurately forecasting the numbers of hurricanes in the next few years. Its predictions do not make for pleasant reading. The exponent of 3.5 in Ehrlich's power law means that numbers of hurricanes should increase sharply as the world warms and much more dramatically than climatologists have been expecting. His prediction is that a 2 degree C increase in average temperature will lead to an 11-fold increase in the number of hurricanes. And the increase in numbers of hurricanes is only part of the story, he says. "An eleven-fold increase in hurricanes at a particular location would just be one part of the story, which would include (1) a potentially larger increase in the total number of hurricanes given the increase in the size of the basin as temperatures rise, (2) an increase in the destructive potential of each hurricane, and (3) an increase in the height of the storm surge due to rising sea levels that would invariably occur in a warmer world." Frightening stuff. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Scaling Up Solar Power
Applied materials makes the equipment needed to produce the biggest solar panels in the world. Applied Materials now sells a complete set of equipment for transforming large glass panels into thin-film solar cells, transporting it to manufacturers in several shipping containers. The company claims that each factory using its equipment can produce enough solar cells every year to generate 80 megawatts of power, enough to provide energy for 35,000 U.S. homes during peak hours of electricity use. The process of building the solar panels themselves starts with glass sheets 2.2 by 2.6 meters in area and only 3.2 millimeters thick. These come to a factory precoated with a micrometer-­thick film of a trans­parent conductive metal oxide that will serve as the top electrical contact in the finished panel. A robotic arm shaped like the business end of a forklift loads the delicate glass sheet onto the metal rollers of a conveyor belt, which moves it through a cleaner and then through a seamer that reinforces its edges to prevent chipping during manufacturing. The panel then travels through a machine called a laser scribe, which carves lines through the conductive coating to define the boundarie­s of each of 216 cells on the panel. The panel is now ready to be coated with two silicon films that will absorb sunlight and convert its energy into electrical current. First is a layer of amorphous silicon, which strongly absorbs light from the blue end of the spectrum. A second robotic arm slides the panel into the airlock of an apparatus called a plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition chamber. Inside, the air is pumped out; silane, a gas composed of silicon and hydrogen, is pumped in and ionized. In the resulting reaction, the gas decomposes, depositing the silicon uniformly on the glass. Conveyer belts and robots then move each panel down the line to one of three additional vapor deposition chambers, where it is coated with a film of multi­crystalline silicon. This layer absorbs red light, allowing the panels to take advantage of more of the energy in sunlight. F­orming multi­crystalline silicon takes time and care, but having three systems perform this step on different panels in parallel keeps it from slowing down the entire manufacturing process. Because of their large area, the modules have among the highest power outputs in the industry--about 500 watts. The large size leads to savings on installation costs that help the panels compete with other thin-film systems on the market. The cost of electricity generated by the giant panels is $3.50 a watt, including installation. Panels of this size are best suited for use in massive ground-based solar farms. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - FanWing is like a harvester in the sky
The FanWing aircraft concept has been around for a while but this is the first time we’ve seen working models. It gets rid of the propeller and adopts a rotating cylinder for propulsion. The look reminds us of a combine harvester and in a way it does reap the air, pulling the craft through the sky. We’re not holding our breath for the decommission of jet propulsion in the wake of this method, but we’d love to see some fun-loving death from above whenever you can get your own off the ground. Check out the video clips after the break to see, and hear, this in action. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Spy cameras won't make us safer
Although it's comforting to imagine vigilant police monitoring every camera, the truth is very different, for a variety of reasons: technological limitations of cameras, organizational limitations of police and the adaptive abilities of criminals. No one looks at most CCTV footage until well after a crime is committed. And when the police do look at the recordings, it's very common for them to be unable to identify suspects. Criminals don't often stare helpfully at the lens and -- unlike the Dubai assassins -- tend to wear sunglasses and hats. Cameras break far too often. The important question isn't whether cameras solve past crime or deter future crime; it's whether they're a good use of resources. They're expensive, both in money and in their Orwellian effects on privacy and civil liberties. Their inevitable misuse is another cost; police have spied on naked women in their own homes, shared nude images, sold best-of videos and even spied on national politicians. Though we might be willing to accept these downsides for a real increase in security, cameras don't provide that. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Monocle fixes webcam farsightedness
[Vik Oliver] came up with a webcam focus fix that is so quick and simple we never would have thought of it. He received the webcam as a gift and mounted on an articulated lamp so that it could easily be positioned around his projects. The problem is the camera lacks a focus adjustment so the close-up shots were blurry. In what we consider a eureka moment, he sourced a pair of dollar store reading glasses to fix the optics. The glasses came with their own mounting bracket. He clipped them in half and wrapped the wire ear support around the camera body. Great hacks don’t have to be complicated, and we need to do a better job of looking at the dollar store for project parts! - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - The Curse Of Making Too Much Money And Not Pursuing Your Dreams
The luckiest people on earth are those who don’t make a lot of money. They’ve got very little downside and can really pursue their childhood dreams. Imagine if from the moment you graduated college, you landed a plum corporate job that paid just enough to keep you motivated, but not enough to enjoy your freedom. The longer you work the more you realize there’s really no escape, because there’s simply too much at stake. This is the problem that plagues my friend, Lyndon. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Tetrahedral Water
In the liquid state, every water molecule fleetingly interacts with its four nearest neighbors, forming a tetrahedron, explains Kumar. These tetrahedrons, however, are slightly imperfect and the degree to which they are changes as temperature and pressure change, ultimately affecting which individual water molecules partner up with each other. Kumar found that it is the fluctuations in the degree of tetrahedrality that contribute most to one of water's most notable and valuable features -- its capacity to resist heating or cooling and thereby regulating and maintaining the temperature of biological systems. The ability to measure water's shifting degrees of tetrahedrality also gives scientists a means of measuring how much order or disorder each water molecule imparts. The better the tetrahedron, the more order it imparts in the system. "What we have done essentially is define the structural entropy of every molecule in our system," says Kumar. "And since water molecules are constantly moving in space and time, this gives you a way to study the transport of entropy associated with local tetrahedrality -- something that has never been done before." Understanding how individual water molecules maneuver in a system to form fleeting tetrahedral structures and how changing physical conditions such as temperatures and pressures affect the amount of disorder each imparts on that system may help scientists understand why certain substances, like drugs used in chemotherapy, are soluble in water and why some are not. It could also help understand how this changing network of bonds and ordering of local tetrahedrality between water molecules changes the nature of protein folding and degradation. "Understanding hydrophobicity, and how different conditions change it, is probably one of the most fundamental components in understanding how proteins fold in water and how different biomolecules remain stable in it," says Kumar. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Wi-Fi finders let thieves track down hidden laptops
Stuffing your company laptop into the car trunk or even a locker, without turning off its Wi-Fi radio, can be an open invitation to thieves, according to Credant Technologies. Theives with increasingly sophisticated, directional Wi-Fi detectors can home in on the laptop's radio, tracking it down even when the PC is hidden away. The detectors, sometimes called "Wi-Fi finders," are readily and inexpensively available. But many of them simply register the presence and strength of Wi-Fi signals, such as those from public hotspots. USBFever, for example, offers for $14 a ballpoint pen with a built-in radio detector for 802.11b/g radios. ThinkGeek.com offers the "Digital Wi-Fi Detector", which can scan signals over a 200-foot distance, priced at $50. Depending on the features, the detector may not be very helpful in finding a precise location, for example, an active laptop radio in an automobile parked with a lot of others.But Hawking Technologies' Hi-Gain WiFi Locator Professional Edition includes a high-gain antenna that can more precisely locate a Wi-Fi radio. It is priced at $50. Sean Glynn, Credant's vice president of marketing, said in a press release that some number of users close the cover of the laptop without realizing there may be a delay of 30 minutes before it shifts into sleep mode. The Wi-Fi radio remains on, detectable by a scanner. The solution is simple, he says: make sure you shut off the radio. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Sued For Removing Lawn
Some Southern California cities fine residents for watering their lawns too much during droughts. But in Orange, officials are locked in a legal battle with a couple accused of violating city ordinances for removing their lawn in an attempt to save water. The dispute began two years ago, when Quan and Angelina Ha tore out the grass in their frontyard. In drought-plagued Southern California, the couple said, the lush grass had been soaking up tens of thousands of gallons of water -- and hundreds of dollars -- each year. They said they were trying to do something good for the environment. But city officials told the Has they were violating several city laws that require residents to cover significant portions of their frontyards with live ground cover. On Tuesday, the couple is scheduled to appear in Orange County Superior Court to challenge the city's lawsuit against them. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Movies the perfect medium to beam up new inventions, says researcher
FLIP phones, video conferencing and super adhesive devices are just some of the many fanciful ideas portrayed in movies, only to become reality years later. A Sydney scientist says such examples are exactly why scientists should be encouraging film directors to be ''bolder and more daring'' when crafting science fiction, rather than reining them in, as some scientists claim. Mary-Anne Williams, director of the innovation and enterprise research laboratory at the University of Technology, Sydney, said it was ''ludicrous that scientists, of all people, would attempt to impose their view of what is possible, especially when there have been spectacular instances of the seemingly impossible suddenly becoming possible''. Take the invisibility cloak. It is every child's dream to vanish into thin air like Harry Potter. In 2008 scientists in the US brought that dream closer to reality when they invented a material that makes light bend away from it. Video conferencing is another example. Skype may seem ordinary now but in the 1960s when the Jetsons started communicating with people face to face remotely, the technology was seen as wishful thinking. And flip phone-style ''communicators'' were used by the characters in Star Trek long before they became a trendy type of mobile phone. In fact, episodes of Star Trek prompted the invention of many modern gadgets, said Djomyi Baker, of the University of Melbourne, who watched more than 700 episodes of Star Trek and its spin-offs for her PhD. Translators, automatic doors, voice recognition and portable data storage devices were all featured in the series. ''Most of the banal things like mobile phones and automatic doors we take from granted were very futuristic at the time,'' she said. Dr Baker said Star Trek also inspired doctors to develop a novel technique of administering drugs. Instead of piercing the skin with a needle, Star Trekkers are dosed up with a ''medical hypospray'' that absorbs through the skin. Doctors in Australia have since developed a prototype of the technology. The transporter from Star Trek, which moves people from one place to another by disintegrating the atoms that make up the body and recombining them in a different location, had been called the most outlandish idea, she said. But since then scientists have transported a particle of light. ''That's far more simplistic than moving a human being but the concept is there.'' - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Inventor wins $15-million verdict against Home Depot
A former Boca Raton, Fla., man won a $15-million (U.S.) verdict Wednesday from a jury that found hardware giant Home Depot (HD-N31.470.110.35%) willfully stole his invention for a saw guard that keeps employees' hands safe. “Good. Very good,” Michael Powell said, describing how he felt minutes after the jury announced its decision. Because the jury of four women and three men found that the Atlanta-based company had acted willfully, Mr. Powell's attorneys said they will ask U.S. District Court Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley to triple the jury award. The dispute began in 2004 when Home Depot officials contacted Mr. Powell, asking him to figure out a way to improve the safety of radial saws used to cut wood for customers. Concerned with the number of accidents that were occurring, the CEO of Home Depot ordered that safety be improved by the end of 2004, his attorney, Peter Herman said during closing arguments. Company officials liked the “Safe Hands” gadget Mr. Powell ultimately invented, Mr. Herman said. Home Depot purchased eight of them for stores in Los Angeles and Atlanta. Officials told him they'd like to buy the devices for each of their 2,000 stores for $1,200 apiece. After Mr. Powell balked at the price, they contacted another company to produce the safety equipment. Home Depot attorneys countered that he had signed an agreement in which he would share ideas and products with them. Further, they said, his invention wasn't unique and he didn't patent it properly. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Magnetic Migraine Relief
Researchers found that people who suffered from migraine 'with aura', when spots in front of the eyes or pins and needles precede the headache, can benefit from the treatment. A team from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, America, gave 200 migraine sufferers identical devices, made by Neuralieve in California, to use when they felt a migraine coming on. The study published in Lancet Neurology found in half of them the device delivered a magnetic pulse and the others buzzed and vibrated in the same way but did not produce a pulse. After two hours 40 per cent of those with the real device said they did not have any pain compared with 22 per cent of those with the sham device. There were no side effects and the patients found the device easy to use. The effect lasted for 48 hours. "Our findings are relevant in view of the disabling nature of migraine. For patients who commonly have aura as a signal of an impending migraine, treatment with sTMS may abort progression of the attack and abate disabling pain and other symptoms." It is not known how the device affects migraine as the causes of the headaches are still under investigation but it is thought to disrupt the electrical signals in the brain. Even though the device is small and portable, slightly smaller than a shoebox, patients could use it at home it would not fit in a handbag, for example. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Batting Simulator Invention helps Red Sox win
Jay Russo, the managing director for Sports Vision Technologies in Maine, is in Fort Myers, Florida with the Red Sox, pitching the company's new batting simulator. Russo says the Sox batting coach, Dave Magadan, was so impressed with the invention, he claims the Sox would have made it to the World series with its help. The technology measures everything that's happening with the bat, from a hitter's resting position right through impact. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Invention to help locate Lost or Misplaced Items
The Dot 2 Dot Object Locator would enable a user to locate small household or personal items quickly and easily. This navigating device would eliminate the daily frustration resulting from lost items. Designed for do-it-yourself and commercial use, the invention would be simple to use and could provide a way of finding a specific item among many similar items or "look-alikes." The invention would consist of both a transmitter and receiver devices. The transceiver consists of a circular disk that could be enclosed in a variety of attachments. Each "dot" contains both the transmitter and receiver, and each dot in the pair can signal the other. To use, an individual would affix one dot to a personal item such as a calculator or power tool and presses a button on the other dot. One of the dots would be triggered by signal to emit an audible or visual alert. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Listening device aimed to make TV viewing easier in bars, restaurants
The system has been tested with as many as 30 TVs in a single room. With his technology, each of them can be heard independently using a small device that is about the size of an Ipod. Headphones plug into the listening device, which receives sound through waves of light that aren’t visible to the human eye. “It is wireless,” said Hintzen, 60, who lives on Fort Myers Beach. “But we do not use radio waves.” He had to wait for technology to evolve to develop his product. “Each TV set has a very little box, a wave generator, that puts out the waves of light with the sound encoded on it,” he explained. The wave generators are part of his invention, which has 21 system-level patent claims. His invention, he said, is ideal for sports bars where fans gather to watch their favorite teams play. Without the Wavrydr, a sports bar may only turn up the volume on one or two games. With the system, customers can listen to any game that’s playing on any TV. The device has two jacks so two people can listen to the same program on one receiver. The Wavryder system uses less than 10 cents of electricity a day, Hintzen said. It’s being offered to businesses for about $150 a month through a lease-to-own program. After 60 months, they could own it. The idea is that it will keep customers in bars and restaurants longer, leading to more food and drink sales. “It’s very, very cost effective,” Hintzen said of his invention. The system could quickly pay for itself, Clark said. “The TV has a way of sucking you in,” he said. “Before you know it, you’ve ordered a few more beers and now you are ordering an appetizer.” The receivers are simple to use. Touch any button and they’ll turn on. They’ll turn themselves off when they are not being used. The Wavrydr can easily be carried around. It fits in a shirt pocket. “You can still be social,” Clark said. “You can still walk around the bar.” The cover on the Wavrydr is transparent so you can see inside. Lights glitter when it’s on. “The receiver charges right through the plastic,” Hintzen explained. “They make no direct electrical connection. That is part of the patent.” Links: www.wavrydr.com - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Bad news for vegetarians...?
A new study by researchers from Harvard suggests that without meat our species might not have evolved with bigger brains. Richard Wrangham of Harvard argues in his new book that the invention of cooking meat led to larger brains and gave us enough free time to develop tools and social skills. Cooking freed humans from having to spend half the day chewing tough raw food — as most of our primate relatives do, Wrangham argues. Cooking also allowed early humans to devote themselves to more productive activities, ultimately allowing the development of tools, agriculture, and social networks, he said. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Student develops superior hydrogen storage method
Determined to play a key role in solving global dependency on fossil fuels, Javad Rafiee, a doctoral student in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has developed a new method for storing hydrogen at room temperature. Rafiee has created a novel form of engineered graphene that exhibits hydrogen storing capacity far exceeding any other known material. This new graphene has exhibited a hydrogen storage capacity of 14 percent by weight at room temperature – far exceeding any other known material. This 14-percent capacity surpasses the U.S. Department of Energy 2015 target of realizing a material with hydrogen storage capacity of 9 percent by weight at room temperature. Rafiee said his graphene is also one of the first known materials to surpass the Department of Energy’s 2010 target of 6 percent. Rafiee’s graphene exhibits three critical attributes that result in its unique hydrogen storage capacity. The first is high surface area. Graphene’s unique structure, only one atom thick, means that each of its carbon atoms is exposed to the environment and, in turn, to the hydrogen gas. The second attribute is low density. Graphene has one of the highest surface area-per-unit masses in nature, far superior to even carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. The third attribute is favorable surface chemistry. After oxidizing graphite powder and mechanically grinding the resulting graphite oxide, Rafiee synthesized the graphene by thermal shock followed by annealing and exposure to argon plasma. These treatments play an important role in increasing the binding energy of hydrogen to the graphene surface at room temperature, as hydrogen tends to cluster and layer around carbon atoms. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Cheap bumwad scare-ads of the late 1920s
This 1928 bumwad advertorial from Scott is part of the toilet-paper maker's sustained attempt to create a global panic over the use of cheap TP by convincing people that if you used the wrong brand, your asshole would fall out and you'd end up in the hospital. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Figure out Toyota's problem: Win $1 million
Nobody knows why Toyota cars are having issues with "unintended acceleration". In fact, there's some evidence that all makes of cars do the same thing at a similar rate—it just looks like more Toyotas because there's more of those on the road. Now, Edmunds.com is making an offer: Recreate the accelerator issues under controlled conditions and prove the cause, and you could win $1 million. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Toyota acceleration problem probably driver fault
What's the real problem behind Toyota's unintended acceleration? Is it simply a sticky pedal, or is the trouble more fundamental? PM senior automotive editor Mike Allen delves into modern car tech, explaining why widespread theories about electrical throttle problems and electromagnetic interference are misguided. All of the affected pedal assemblies were made by Canadian supplier CTS. Toyota's boffins have documented a problem that can make a few of these pedals slow to return, and maybe even stick down. Problem solved. But the media, Congress—and personal-injury lawyers—smell the blood in the water. Not to diminish the injuries and a few deaths attributable to these very real mechanical problems, but they're statistically only a very small blip, which may explain why Toyota took so long to identify the issue, especially when it has symptoms similar to the similarly documented floor mat recall. Plus, sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) is notoriously difficult to diagnose because, more often then not, the problem can't be repeated in front of a mechanic. Let's not forget the Audi SUA episode back in the '80s; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration eventually concluded that there was no mechanical problem. The culprit, as hard as this is to admit, was most likely driver error. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Building high-speed wireless in Afghanistan out of garbage
Volunteers in Afghanistan -- both locals and foreigners from the MIT Bits and Atoms lab -- have been building out a wireless network made largely from locally scrounged junk. They call it "FabFi" and it's kicking ass, especially when compared with the World Bank-funded alternative, which has spent seven years and hundreds of millions of dollars and only managed its first international link last summer. The boys at the Jalalabad Fab Lab came up with their own design to meet the growing demand created by the International Fab surge last September. As usual all surge participants who came from the US, South Africa, Iceland and Englad paid their own way. Somebody needs to sponsor these people. For those of you who are suckers for numbers, the reflector links up just shy of -71dBm at about 1km, giving it a gain of somewhere between 5 and 6dBi. With a little tweaking and a true parabolic shape, it could easily be as powerful as the small FabFi pictured above (which is roughly 8-10dBi depending on materials) - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Humidity in kitchen or bathroom can degrade vitamins in a week
The high humidity present in bathrooms and kitchens can degrading the vitamins and health supplements stored in those rooms, even if the lids are on tight, a Purdue University study shows. Crystalline substances like vitamin C, some vitamin B forms and other dietary supplements, are prone to a process called deliquescence in which humidity causes a water-soluble solid to dissolve. Keeping those supplements away from warm, humid environments can help ensure their effectiveness. "In a week you can get complete loss of vitamin C in some products," said Lisa Mauer, an associate professor of food science. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Russian Teenager Designs Noiseless Electric Rifle
Maxim Kotelnikov, an eighth-grader, designed his weapon after he had seen a TV program about the use of similar rifles in the USA and Korea. It took the boy a year to design the new weapon. He used his friend’s broken game rifle as the basis. The rifle weighs nearly six kilos (6 kilograms = 13.227 pounds); it fires special cartridges that need to be magnetized in advance. “This weapon is unique for it fires noiselessly. There is no shock of discharge and a shot does not produce a flare. No other sniper rifle can do it. I designed my own system, which I called the “Nucleus System,” the boy said. The rifle is based on the principle of accelerating coil. The rifle is powered with electricity only. A bullet gathers speed immediately. - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Microsoft Says, Don't Press the F1 Key In XP
"Microsoft has issued a security advisory warning users not to press the F1 key in Windows XP, owing to an unpatched bug in VBScript discovered by Polish researcher Maurycy Prodeus. The security advisory says that the vulnerability relates to the way VBScript interacts with Windows Help files when using Internet Explorer, and could be triggered by a user pressing the F1 key after visiting a malicious Web site using a specially crafted dialog box." - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - The Computer That Can Read Your Mind
"Gtec has showcased a computer that can read your mind over at the CeBIT trade show in Germany. Designed primarily to help those who can't write or speak, the system makes use of a skull cap and wireless technology to transform brain waves into letters. It's the first patient-ready computer-brain interface, according to its Austrian makers. It takes around 30 seconds per letter for the computer to recognise what you're saying the first time you use it, according to Gtec, but this improves vastly with practice. '"One second per letter is very tough," Gtec's Engelbert Grunbacher said, adding users can usually easily get to five or 10 letters per minute. "You learn to be relaxed, focused. You improve."' It might look quite wacky (pictures here) and at €9,000 the system is not cheap, but it could help enhance the lives of many people who have a great deal to say but no real way of saying it." - Full Article Source

03/04/10 - Using Classical Music As a Form of Social Control
"Classical music is being used increasingly in Great Britain as a tool for social control and a deterrent to bad behavior. One school district subjects badly behaving children to hours of Mozart in special detention. Unsurprisingly, some of these youth now find classical music unbearable. Recorded classical music is blared through speakers at bus stops, outside stores, train stations and elsewhere to drive away loitering youth. Apparently it works. Detentions are down, graffiti is reduced, and naughty youth flee because they find classical music repugnant." - Full Article Source

03/03/10 - Magnetic Levitation video
Sure, its all tethered, but its still pretty cool. Must be something interesting and/or useful we could do with this, if not just as a cool toy or demo. - Full Article Source

03/03/10 - Timelapse of a City growing and dying
Rob Carter's stop-motion paper animation film, Metropolis, moves like a pop-up book on speed. The nine-minute film chronicles the urban expansion of Charlotte, North Carolina, with graphics that burst forward, putting the city's evolution into perspective. - Full Article Source

03/03/10 - SNL 'Presidents' Reunite For Video Pushing Wall Street Reform
In the video, the fake presidents approach Obama in a dream as he contemplates the multimillion dollar lobbying campaign banks are waging against the CFPA.Banks and Senate Republicans argue that banking regulators must have authority to veto consumer protections created by the CFPA in order to protect the "safety and soundness" of the financial sector. Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), a champion of the CFPA in the House, told HuffPost that he finds it strange that a bank would argue that it could only manage to stay solvent if it was allowed to engage in abusive and deceptive practices. "I don't find that particularly persuasive," he said. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told HuffPost Tuesday the proposal is "crazy." The Fed already has consumer protection authority but has elected not to use it. Frank said that such a proposal would be a non-starter with the House. "For months, the Big Banks and their army of high priced lobbyists have been swarming Capitol Hill looking to either kill or weaken real reform -- including a strong and independent agency focused on standing up for consumers," said Americans for Financial Reform chief Heather Booth in a statement. "We are thrilled the folks at Funny or Die, and their friends in Hollywood, are joining this fight." AFR is launching a week of action, encouraging people to call Senate offices and urge them to get behind an independent CFPA, in coordination with the video. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Dark matter could meet its nemesis on Earth
A SPINNING disc may be all that is needed to overturn Newton's second law of motion - and potentially remove the need for dark matter. The second law states that a force is proportional to an object's mass and its acceleration. But since the 1980s, some physicists have eyed the law with suspicion, arguing that subtle changes to it at extremely small accelerations could explain the observed motion of stars in galaxies. Stars move at speeds that suggest that galaxies have far more mass than is visible, which astronomers attribute to dark matter. But if Newton's second law could be modified ever so slightly, it would obviate the need for dark matter. De Lorenci's team has figured out that a spinning disc can reproduce the effect any time and anywhere on Earth. Their calculations show that if the disc is positioned accurately and its speed precisely controlled, the acceleration at specific points on the disc's rim would cancel out the accelerations produced by the motion of the Earth and the sun. If the second law is correct at all accelerations, a measuring device mounted on the rim should register no anomalous force at these points. However, if MOND is correct, the device should feel an aberrant kick. "We are able to control the conditions to produce the MOND regime in any place at any time," says De Lorenci. However, the experiment can only test a version of MOND that says that all forces act differently at tiny accelerations. Another version postulates that just gravity would be affected, and this can only be tested in space. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - The sweet smell of morality
Can a clean smell make you a better person? That’s the provocative suggestion of a recent study in the journal Psychological Science. A team of researchers found that when people were in a room recently spritzed with a citrus-scented cleanser, they behaved more fairly when playing a classic trust game. In another experiment, the smell of cleanser made subjects more likely to volunteer for a charity. The findings suggest that simply smelling something clean makes people clean up their behavior - that a smell can provoke a mental leap between cleanliness and morality, making people think differently about the world around them. The authors even suggested that clean smells could be employed as a tool to influence how people act. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy
Altruism is something of a novelty these days, and most people have little time to partake. But altruism is the whole idea behind the new charity, called the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy. It's the brainchild of Courtney Martin, a South of Market writer who dreamed up the idea four years ago in New York and has handed out a stack of her own $100 bills every year to select good-deed doers who agree to dream up unusual ways to use the dough. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Visiting Aliens will probably be nanobased robots
Reality is that any alien race out there with whom we have any kind of physical contact at all is virtually certain to have (a) full-fledged nanotech, and (b) hyperhuman AI. Given these capabilities, if they want to find Earth-like planets anywhere in the area of space they would have the physical capability of travelling to, they will find them. Period. Doesn’t matter whether we are standing on the shore waving or not. Of course, that assumes they are interested in Earth-like planets in the first place. Most commentators on the subject seem to be stuck in E. E. Smith’s universe, worrying about whether the aliens who notice us will be the (kindly, academic) Norlaminians or the (evil, rapacious) Fenachrone. The aliens, wearing bodies like ours (or at least some form of animal life) will have spaceships and spacesuits and takeoff and land on planets and basically act like people on ocean-going boats. - Full Article Source

KeelyNet BBS Files w/bonus PDF of 'Keely and his Discoveries'
Finally, I've gotten around to compiling all the files (almost 1,000 - about 20MB and lots of work doing it) from the original KeelyNet BBS into a form you can easily navigate and read using your browser, ideally Firefox but it does work with IE. Most of these files are extremely targeted, interesting and informative, I had forgotten just how much but now you can have the complete organized, categorized set, not just sprinklings from around the web. They will keep you reading for weeks if not longer and give you clues and insights into many subjects and new ideas for investigation and research. IN ADDITION, I am including as a bonus gift, the book (in PDF form) that started it all for me, 'Keely and his Discoveries - Aerial Navigation' which includes the analysis of Keely's discoveries by Dr. Daniel G. Brinton. This 407 page eBook alone is worth the price of the KeelyNet BBS CD but it will give you some degree of understanding about what all Keely accomplished which is just now being rediscovered, but of course, without recognizing Keely as the original discoverer. Chapters include; Vibratory Sympathetic and Polar Flows, Vibratory Physics, Latent Force in Interstitial Spaces and much more. To give some idea of how Keely's discoveries are being slowly rediscovered in modern times, check out this Keely History. These two excellent bodies of information will be sent to you on CD. If alternative science intrigues and fascinates you, this CD is what you've been looking for... - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - New California law to raise minimum for consumer solar power buy back
Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to sign legislation that will make it possible for more Californians to sell the electricity they produce back to their utilities at retail prices. The legislation, written by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), doubles to 5% the overall amount of energy that California's investor-owned utilities must buy back. Previously, state law required electric companies to sign so-called net-metering contracts for up to only 2.5% of their load. Solar advocates said the net-metering boost would allow consumers to recoup their investment faster, which is critical to California's goal of installing a million rooftop arrays by 2017. Some 50,000 California homes benefit from net-metering today, a number that would need to grow rapidly if the state is to reach its goal of obtaining 3,000 megawatts from rooftop solar. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Google's New Mirror Technology to Cut Costs for Solar Development?
According to reports at CNBC, Google’s Bill Weihl said that, if all goes well with testing, the product could potentially be ready in three years. What makes the product so unique is its unusual material makeup which allows the sun to reflect off a surface, causing it to heat, thus producing steam to run the turbine. With Google’s new invention, the mirror focuses the sun’s rays on the heated substance. This rumor comes around a time when the Internet mogul has been investing in companies in the renewable energy market, while also doing its own research part in efforts to be more progressive in the movement. And with this mirror technology, Google’s plans are to cost of making heliostats, the fields of mirrors that track the sun. "There is a decent chance that in a small number of years, we could have a 2-X reduction in cost," Weihl said. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - New material traps radioactive waste like a Venus flytrap
Venus flytraps are notoriously picky eaters. Drop a pebble into their open jaws and they won't bite, but when a fly enters they instinctively know to snap shut immediately. Now scientists have invented a chemical material which acts in a similar fashion, though unlike the carnivorous plant, its favorite food is radioactive waste. Before the invention of this material, sorting out deadly isotopes from harmless ions in waste proved to be an arduous and inefficient process. The new material works because its crystalline structure is specially designed to bond in a different way with cesium than with sodium, trapping the former but releasing the latter. Since cesium ions don't bond as well as sodium ions with water molecules, only the sodium ions manage to pull through the material when it is dipped in a solution to prompt ion exchange. Cesium, on the other hand, actually binds to sulfur atoms embedded in the rings of the material's framework, causing a hole to seal shut around it. "As far as we know, this Venus-flytrap process is unique," Kanatzidis said. "It also works over a large range of acidities—an essential property for cleanup at different sites around the world, where pH can range considerably." - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Self-ejecting plugs are here
A student at the Rhode Island School of Design has come upon an ingenious solution to a major energy problem -- phantom power. The charging of devices like cell phones, cameras and laptops is increasing the amount of energy consumed in the U.S. These devices continue to draw energy even after they have been fully charged. Conor Klein, a RISDE student, was inspired by the physiology of the leech which ejects itself from its host when it becomes full of blood. The device is called the Outlet Regulator and it uses "...a timer circuit and electromagnetics" to trigger the plug release thereby guaranteeing that energy is not being wasted overcharging devices. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Birds have built in magnetometer?
Specialized iron compounds in the dendrites locally amplify the Earth magnetic field and thus induce a primary receptor potential. Most probably each of these more than 500 dendrites encodes only one direction of the magnetic field. These manifold data are processed to the brain of the bird and here - recomposed - serve as a basis for a magnetic map, which facilitates the spatial orientation. Whether this magnetic map is consulted, strongly depends on the avian species and its current motivation to do so: migratory birds, for example, show magnetic orientation only during their migratory restlessness, as could be shown in multiple behavioural experiments by Prof. Wolfgang Wiltschko, who has discovered magnetic field guided navigation in birds. The cooperation with his research team has suggested that magnetic compass and magnetic map sense are based on different mechanisms and are localized at different sites: The magnetic compass resides in the eye, the magnetometer for the magnetic map lies in the beak. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Cyberwar hype cooked up to sell Internet-breaking garbage to the military
For years, McConnell has wanted the NSA (the ultra-secretive government spy agency responsible for listening in on other countries and for defending classified government computer systems) to take the lead in guarding all government and private networks. Not surprisingly, the contractor he works for has massive, secret contracts with the NSA in that very area. In fact, the company, owned by the shadowy Carlyle Group, is reported to pull in $5 billion a year in government contracts, many of them Top Secret. Now the problem with developing cyberweapons -- say a virus, or a massive botnet for denial-of-service attacks, is that you need to know where to point them. In the Cold War, it wasn't that hard. In theory, you'd use radar to figure out where a nuclear attack was coming from and then you'd shoot your missiles in that general direction. But online, it's extremely difficult to tell if an attack traced to a server in China was launched by someone Chinese, or whether it was actually a teenager in Iowa who used a proxy. That's why McConnell and others want to change the internet. The military needs targets. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Memory Problems? Try Magnesium
New research from Tel Aviv University suggests that magnesium, a key nutrient for the functioning of memory, may be even more critical than previously thought. The research, lead by Dr. Inna Slutsky, focused on a new magnesium supplement, magnesium-L-theronate (MgT), that effectively crosses the blood-brain barrier to inhibit calcium flux in brain neurons. The new study found that the synthetic magnesium compound works on both young and aging animals to enhance memory or prevent its impairment. The research was carried out over a five-year period and has significant implications for the use of over-the-counter magnesium supplements. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Thorium most practical way to achieve Energy Independence
Thorium is a readily available & much safer, lower waste product nuclear fuel. Thorium's capacity as nuclear fuel was discovered during WW II, but ignored because it was unsuitable for making bombs. A liquid-fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR) is the optimal approach for harvesting energy from Thorium, and has the potential to solve today's energy/climate crisis. In fact, it is probably the only practical way to do. This 16 minute video summarizes 197 minutes worth of Google Tech Talks on the subject of Thorium & LFTR. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Islamic terror web sites urge followers to attack the economic system
Jihadist terror organizations have set economic terrorism as their new target, intending to harm and paralyze Western economies, the United Sates in particular, claims Prof. Gabriel Weimann, expert researcher on terrorism over the Internet at the University of Haifa. Prof. Weimann monitored websites hosted by terrorist and terrorism-supporting organizations and concludes: 'For the Jihadists, the present economic crisis signifies an ideal opportunity and platform to leverage an economic terrorist campaign.' - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - 'Biological clock' could be a key to better health, longer life
If you aren't getting a good, consistent and regular night's sleep, a new study suggests it could reduce your ability to handle oxidative stress, cause impacts to your health, increase motor and neurological deterioration, speed aging and ultimately cut short your life. That is, if your "biological clock" genes work the same way as those of a fruit fly. And they probably do. The study concluded that expression of the "period" gene naturally declines with age. If the same is true for humans, that could help explain why people may lose some of their ability to handle oxidative and other stresses at a time of their life when they need it most. The scientists theorized that the "period" gene is regulating pathways involved in removal of oxidative damage, and those without this function experienced the symptoms of aging more quickly. This could ultimately have impacts on everything from neurological damage to heart disease and cancer. "What's worth noting, of course, is that every animal species, unless they are in a protected laboratory, experiences stressful events," Krishnan said. "That's part of a normal life. The metabolic challenge we presented to these fruit flies was only a moderate stress. But even so, it appeared to later cause motor and neuronal degeneration and an earlier death in the mutant flies, due to faster buildup of cellular damage." Further research will explore ways in which biological clocks might be "re-vitalized." - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Solid State Electrolyte to Triple Lithium Battery power at half the cost
AMPAC scientists independently confirmed that Planar Energy’s new generation of solid state electrolytes have ionic conductivity metrics comparable to liquid electrolytes used in traditional chemical batteries. It will allow solid state battery fabrication that will enable manufacturers to increase their capacity by 200-to-300 percent, while reducing costs more than 50 percent. - This is what the automotive industry needs to make electric vehicles practical and affordable.. - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Open Gov Tracker Reveals Best US Open Government Ideas
"In May of 2009, the White House launched an Ideascale site to gather ideas from citizens to identify ways to 'strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness by making government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative.' The digital letdown was when many of the top ideas generated by the process were to legalize marijuana, solve tax issues and to reinvestigate Obama's birth origins. Fast forward to February 6 and the same process has been repeated with individual federal agencies as the subject. This time the idea generation has been much more productive, with ideas such as establishing clear benchmarks on humanitarian progress in Sudan to the State Department, funding for open source text books and materials to the Department of Education, making it easier to access previously FOIAed documents to the Department of Justice, and creating a Wiki for NASA to share its data and to engage the public. Hackers from NASA's Nebula cloud computing platform have created a site that aggregates 23 of these idea sites to give a quick peek into the best rated contributions in each category. Programmed in Python and using the MongoDB and Tornado web server, the Open Gov Tracker was highlighted by the open government blog Govfresh this past week as well. Jessy Cowan-Sharp, one of the creators, explained their motivation: 'We thought that a single access point would give a sense of the participation on all the different sites, a window into the discussions happening, build some excitement, and inspire people to participate.' The process closes on March 19th, so go and visit the site to contribute your ideas and vote!" - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - "Patent Markings" Lawsuits Could Run Into the Trillions
"The latest legal bugaboo facing manufacturers is the false patent marking suit. Using what has been until recently an obscure type of legal action, individuals and enterprising law firms have targeted large manufacturers with lawsuits that can easily run million of dollars — in a case involving a drink cup manufacturer, over $10 trillion — for incorrectly including patent numbers on products. Some companies named in such suits are 3M, Cisco, Pfizer, Monster Cable, and Merck. Even expired patent numbers can be actionable." - Full Article Source

03/02/10 - Chilean Earthquake Shortened Earth's Day
"Days on Earth just got shorter. The recent earthquake in Chile shifted the planet's axis by about 8 cm and shortened days by 1.26 microseconds 'The changes can be modeled, though they're difficult to detect physically given their small size... Some changes may be more obvious, and islands may have shifted... Santa Maria Island off the coast near Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city, may have been raised 2 meters (6 feet) as a result of the latest quake...'" - Full Article Source

High Voltage & Free Energy Devices Handbook
This wonderfully informative ebook provides many simple experiments you can do, including hydrogen generation and electrostatic repulsion as well as the keys to EV Gray's Fuelless Engine. One of the most comprehensive compilations of information yet detailing the effects of high voltage repulsion as a driving force. Ed Gray's engine produced in excess of 300HP and he claimed to be able to 'split the positive' energy of electricity to produce a self-running motor/generator for use as an engine. Schematics and tons of photos of the original machines and more! Excellent gift for your technical friends or for that budding scientist! If you are an experimenter or know someone who investigates such matters, this would make an excellent addition to your library or as an unforgettable gift. The downloadable HVFE eBook pdf file is almost 11MB in size and contains many experiments, photos, diagrams and technical details. Buy a copy and learn all about hydrogen generation, its uses and how to produce electrostatic repulsion. - 121 pages - $15.00 - 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

14 Ways to Save Money on Fuel Costs
This eBook is the result of years of research into various methods to increase mileage, reduce pollution and most importantly, reduce overall fuel costs. It starts out with the simplest methods and offers progressively more detailed technologies that have been shown to reduce fuel costs. As a bonus to readers, I have salted the pages with free interesting BONUS items that correlate to the relevant page. Just filling up with one tank of gas using this or other methods explained here will pay for this eBook. Of course, many more methods are out there but I provided only the ones which I think are practical and can be studied by the average person who is looking for a way to immediately reduce their fuel costs. I am currently using two of the easier methods in my own vehicle which normally gets 18-22 mpg and now gets between 28 and 32 mpg depending on driving conditions. A tank of gas for my 1996 Ford Ranger costs about $45.00 here so I am saving around $15-$20 PER TANK, without hurting my engine and with 'greener' emissions due to a cleaner burn! The techniques provided in this ebook begin with simple things you can do NOW to improve your mileage and lower your gas costs. - $15 eBook Download / Source to Buy

KeelyNet BBS Files w/bonus PDF of 'Keely and his Discoveries'
Finally, I've gotten around to compiling all the files (almost 1,000 - about 20MB and lots of work doing it) from the original KeelyNet BBS into a form you can easily navigate and read using your browser, ideally Firefox but it does work with IE. Most of these files are extremely targeted, interesting and informative, I had forgotten just how much but now you can have the complete organized, categorized set, not just sprinklings from around the web. They will keep you reading for weeks if not longer and give you clues and insights into many subjects and new ideas for investigation and research. IN ADDITION, I am including as a bonus gift, the book (in PDF form) that started it all for me, 'Keely and his Discoveries - Aerial Navigation' which includes the analysis of Keely's discoveries by Dr. Daniel G. Brinton. This 407 page eBook alone is worth the price of the KeelyNet BBS CD but it will give you some degree of understanding about what all Keely accomplished which is just now being rediscovered, but of course, without recognizing Keely as the original discoverer. Chapters include; Vibratory Sympathetic and Polar Flows, Vibratory Physics, Latent Force in Interstitial Spaces and much more. These two excellent bodies of information will be sent to you on CD. To give some idea of how Keely's discoveries are being slowly rediscovered in modern times, check out this Keely History. If alternative science intrigues and fascinates you, this CD is what you've been looking for... - Source

New Vanguard Sciences eBooks - Save a Tree! eBooks make great gifts!
Shape Power - Dan Davidson's analysis of the mysterious pyramid energies, Keely's aether force, Reich's orgone energy, Schauberger's diamagnetic energy, plus a host of others, and shows how shape and materials interact with the universal aether to modify the aether into electromagnetic, gravitic, and various healing energies... - Shape Power Youtube

The Physics of the Primary State of Matter - published in the 1930s, Karl Schappeller described his Prime Mover, a 10-inch steel sphere with quarter-inch copper tubing coils. These were filled with a material not named specifically, but which is said to have hardened under the influence of direct current and a magnetic field [electro-rheological fluid]. With such polarization, it might be guessed to act like a dielectric capacitor and as a diode...

'The Evolution of Matter' and 'The Evolution of Forces' on CD
Years ago, I had been told by several people, that the US government frequently removes books they deem dangerous or 'sensitive' from libraries. Some are replaced with sections removed or rewritten so as to 'contain' information that should not be available to the public despite the authors intent. A key example was during the Manhattan Project when the US was trying to finalize research into atomic bombs. They removed any books that dealt with the subject and two of them were by Dr. Gustave Le Bon since they dealt with both energy and matter including radioactivity. I had been looking for these two books for many years and fortunately stumbled across two copies for which I paid about $40.00 each. I couldn't put down the books once I started reading them. Such a wealth of original discoveries, many not known or remembered today. / Page 88 - Without the ether there could be neither gravity, nor light, nor electricity, nor heat, nor anything, in a word, of which we have knowledge. The universe would be silent and dead, or would reveal itself in a form which we cannot even foresee. If one could construct a glass chamber from which the ether were to be entirely eliminated, heat and light could not pass through it. It would be absolutely dark, and probably gravitation would no longer act on the bodies within it. They would then have lost their weight. / Page 96-97 - A material vortex may be formed by any fluid, liquid or gaseous, turning round an axis, and by the fact of its rotation it describes spirals. The study of these vortices has been the object of important researches by different scholars, notably by Bjerkness and Weyher. They have shown that by them can be produced all the attractions and repulsions recognized in electricity, the deviations of the magnetic needle by currents, etc. These vortices are produced by the rapid rotation of a central rod furnished with pallets, or, more simply, of a sphere. Round this sphere gaseous currents are established, dissymetrical with regard to its equatorial plane, and the result is the attraction or repulsion of bodies brought near to it, according to the position given to them. It is even possible, as Weyher has proved, to compel these bodies to turn round the sphere as do the satellites of a planet without touching it. / Page 149 - "The problem of sending a pencil of parallel Hertzian waves to a distance possesses more than a theoretical interest. It is allowable to say that its solution would change the course of our civilization by rendering war impossible. The first physicist who realizes this discovery will be able to avail himself of the presence of an enemy's ironclads gathered together in a harbour to blow them up in a few minutes, from a distance of several kilometres, simply by directing on them a sheaf of electric radiations. On reaching the metal wires with which these vessels are nowadays honeycombed, this will excite an atmosphere of sparks which will at once explode the shells and torpedoes stored in their holds. With the same reflector, giving a pencil of parallel radiations, it would not be much more difficult to cause the explosion of the stores of powder and shells contained in a fortress, or in the artillery sparks of an army corps, and finally the metal cartridges of the soldiers. Science, which at first rendered wars so deadly, would then at length have rendered them impossible, and the relations between nations would have to be established on new bases." - Source

$5 Alt Science MP3s to listen while working/driving/jogging
No time to sit back and watch videos? Here are 15 interesting presentations you can download for just $5 each and listen to while driving, working, jogging, etc. An easy way to learn some fascinating new things that you will find of use. Easy, cheap and simple, better than eBooks or Videos. Roughly 50MB per MP3. - Source

15 New Alternative Science DVDs & 15 MP3s
An assortment of alternative science videos that provide many insights and inside information from various experimenters. Also MP3s extracted from these DVDs that you can listen to while working or driving. Reference links for these lectures and workshops by Bill Beaty of Amateur Science on the Dark Side of Amateur Science, Peter Lindemann on the World of Free Energy, Norman Wootan on the History of the EV Gray motor, Dan Davidson on Shape Power and Gravity Wave Phenomena, Lee Crock on a Method for Stimulating Energy, Doug Konzen on the Konzen Pulse Motor, George Wiseman on the Water Torch and Jerry Decker on Aether, ZPE and Dielectric Nano Arrays. Your purchase of these products helps support KeelyNet, thanks! - Source to Buy

Six Ways to Support Keelynet