`Every year, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics awards prizes for the best papers presented at its annual conference. Last year’s winner in the nuclear and future flight category went to a paper calling for experimental tests of an astonishing new type of engine. According to the paper, this hyperdrive motor would propel a craft through another dimension at enormous speeds. It could leave Earth at lunchtime and get to the moon in time for dinner. There’s just one catch: the idea relies on an obscure and largely unrecognised kind of physics. Can they possibly be serious?’
`Each month a new molecule will be added to the list on this page. The links will take you to a page at one of the Web sites at a University Chemistry Department or commercial site in the UK, the US, or anywhere in the world, where useful (and hopefully entertaining!), information can be found about a particularly interesting molecule.’
`The following is a step by step demonstration of what happens during an autopsy procedure.
Warning: some people might find this section disturbing. It contains detailed information about what happens in an autopsy.’
It’s not particularly disturbing or detailed, actually. But still, they probably have to give a warning because people are stupid cunts looking for any reason to sue someone.
`Mr. Hofmann will turn 100 on Wednesday, a milestone to be marked by a symposium in nearby Basel on the chemical compound that he discovered and that famously unlocked the Blakean doors of perception, altering consciousnesses around the world. As the years accumulate behind him, Mr. Hofmann’s conversation turns ever more insistently around one theme: man’s oneness with nature and the dangers of an increasing inattention to that fact.
“It’s very, very dangerous to lose contact with living nature,” he said, listing to the right in a green armchair that looked out over frost-dusted fields and snow-laced trees. A glass pitcher held a bouquet of roses on the coffee table before him. “In the big cities, there are people who have never seen living nature, all things are products of humans,” he said. “The bigger the town, the less they see and understand nature.” And, yes, he said, LSD, which he calls his “problem child,” could help reconnect people to the universe.
Rounding a century, Mr. Hofmann is physically reduced but mentally clear. He is prone to digressions, ambling with pleasure through memories of his boyhood, but his bright eyes flash with the recollection of a mystical experience he had on a forest path more than 90 years ago in the hills above Baden, Switzerland. The experience left him longing for a similar glimpse of what he calls “a miraculous, powerful, unfathomable reality.”‘
I assumed he’d died years ago.
`With this software you can investigate how a rocket flies by changing the values of different design variables.
There are several different versions of RocketModeler II which require different levels of experience with the package, knowledge of aerodynamics, and computer technology. This web page contains the on-line student version of the program. It includes an on-line user’s manual which describes the various options available in the program and includes hyperlinks to pages in the Beginner’s Guide to Rockets describing the math and science of rockets. More experienced users can select a version of the program which does not include these instructions and loads faster on your computer.’
`NASA scientists have observed an explosion on the moon. The blast, equal in energy to about 70 kg of TNT, occurred near the edge of Mare Imbrium (the Sea of Rains) on Nov. 7, 2005, when a 12-centimeter-wide meteoroid slammed into the ground traveling 27 km/s.
“What a surprise,” says Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) researcher Rob Suggs, who recorded the impact’s flash. He and colleague Wes Swift were testing a new telescope and video camera they assembled to monitor the moon for meteor strikes. On their first night out, “we caught one,” says Suggs.’
`The tiny hobbit-like humans of Indonesia may have lived in Australia before they became extinct about 11,000 years ago.
The startling claim comes from archaeologist Mike Morwood, leader of the team that in 2003 uncovered remains of the 1m-tall hominid at Liang Bua cave on Indonesia’s Flores island.
They believe the pint-size person – known officially as Homo floresiensis and unofficially as the “Hobbit” – was wiped out by a volcanic eruption that spared their Homo sapiens neighbours. [..]
He suggested that the Hobbits may have been pushed out by the bigger people, in part because their population was too small to compete.’
‘HYDESim maps overpressure radii generated by a ground-level detonation; these radii are an indicator of structural damage to buildings. No other effects, such as thermal damage or fallout levels, are included in this tool. Note that the displayed rings are “idealized”; that is, no account is taken of terrain, urban density, ground type, weather conditions, and so on.’
Kinda cool little application, if you like that sorta thing. I couldn’t sleep particularly well the other night and since I didn’t have much else to do at 5am I used this simulator to roughly calculate how the recent fuel depot explosion in England compared to the atomic weapons dropped on Japan in World War II.
And how did it compare, you ask? Pretty fucken well. :)
‘The idea came to me while I was helping my daughter with her homework. There was no direct reason why I should have come up with the idea during that event. It was just a random thought on which I followed through. What if I were to stand on a street corner with a sign in MY hand? One in which did not ask for money, food, a job or sympathy, but offered to give people something for free? What if I offered people waiting at the stoplight of a busy intersection free Linux disks?
[..] It was shortly after the morning work rush hour that it began to happen.
People gave me money�
And cigarettes�
4 gave me gift certificates to local eateries.
Some gave me phone numbers.
Go figure.’
`North American scientists have discovered the longest bird penis ever – a 42.5cm organ belonging to a duck.
Dr Kevin McCracken of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and colleagues, report in this week’s Nature that they have found a specimen of the Argentine lake duck (Oxyura vittata) that has a penis as long as its body – nearly half a metre long.
This has extended an earlier estimate of the length of the duck’s corkscrew-shaped penis, which was 20cm.’
`One calf became adept at “blowing bubbles while swimming upside-down near the bottom of the pool and then chasing and biting each bubble before it reached the surface,” the researchers continued. “She then began to release bubbles while swimming closer and closer to the surface, eventually being so close that she could not catch a single bubble.”
“During all of this, the number of bubbles released was varied, the end result being that the dolphin learned to produce different numbers of bubbles from different depths, the apparent goal being to catch the last bubble right before it reached the surface of the water.”
“She also modified her swimming style while releasing bubbles, one variation involving a fast spin-swim. This made it more difficult for her to catch all of the bubbles she released, but she persisted in this behavior until she was able to almost all of the bubbles she released. Curiously, the dolphin never released three or fewer bubbles, a number which she was able to catch and bite following the spin-swim release.”’
`Quantum fluctuation. Inflation. Expansion. Strong nuclear interaction. Particle-antiparticle annihilation. Deuterium and helium production. Density perturbations. Recombination. Blackbody radiation. Local contraction. Cluster formation. Reionization? Violent relaxation. Virialization. Biased galaxy formation? Turbulent fragmentation. Contraction. Ionization. Compression. Opaque hydrogen. Massive star formation. Deuterium ignition. Hydrogen fusion. Hydrogen depletion. Core contraction. Envelope expansion. Helium fusion. Carbon, oxygen, and silicon fusion. Iron production. Implosion. Supernova explosion. Metals injection. Star formation. Supernova explosions. Star formation. Condensation. Planetesimal accretion. Planetary differentiation. Crust solidification. Volatile gas expulsion. Water condensation. Water dissociation. Ozone production. Ultraviolet absorption. Photosynthetic unicellular organisms. Oxidation. Mutation. Natural selection and evolution. Respiration. Cell differentiation. Sexual reproduction. Fossilization. Land exploration. Dinosaur extinction. Mammal expansion. Glaciation. Homo sapiens manifestation. Animal domestication. Food surplus production. Civilization! Innovation. Exploration. Religion. Warring nations. Empire creation and destruction. Exploration. Colonization. Taxation without representation. Revolution. Constitution. Election. Expansion. Industrialization. Rebellion. Emancipation Proclamation. Invention. Mass production. Urbanization. Immigration. World conflagration. League of Nations. Suffrage extension. Depression. World conflagration. Fission explosions. United Nations. Space exploration. Assassinations. Lunar excursions. Resignation. Computerization. World Trade Organization. Terrorism. Internet expansion. Reunification. Dissolution. World-Wide Web creation. Composition. Extrapolation?’
`Pulsar Advanced Technologies has announced will next week launch its lead product, the Vulcanus MK4, a water heater USING microwave technology to heat water on demand. This technology with super-heating capabilities will drastically cut energy costs and totally eliminate the need to store hot water. [..]
Powered by electricity and unaffected by the volatile gas markets, the Vulcanus MK4 can heat water from 35 degrees Fahrenheit to 140 degrees Fahrenheit in seconds and can source multiple applications at once: showers, dishwasher, sink usages and more. The Vulcanus MK4 is the size of a stereo speaker with a sleek modern look, making it ideal for condos and apartments, while powerful enough to serve the needs of any size family.’
`For the first time, researchers say, they’ve found an electric fish sabotaging another fish’s electric signals.
The brown ghost knifefish (Apteronotus leptorhynchus) generates a weak electric field that it uses to detect obstacles and to communicate with other knifefish. When confronting a rival knifefish, both males and females can raise the frequency of their own electric signals close enough to the other fish’s to distort its electric field, reports Sara Tallarovic of the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. In previous experiments, such jamming blinded fish-guidance systems.’
Strange fish, strange university name.
This is two posts for the price of one. :)
This fellow has built a robotic fish and has links to some articles and photos about the fish:
`The world’s first autonomous robotic fish are the latest attraction at the London Aquarium.
Biologically inspired by the common carp, the new designs can avoid objects and swim around a specially designed tank entirely of their own accord.’
As well as the fish, he’s also built a web page that is state-of-the-art for the year 1994. Including small, pixellated graphics and horribly annoying flashing text. Takes me back a few years, it does, yet it’s dated August 2005.
Maybe he let his robot fish code his page for him? That’s about the only explaination I have. :)
(2.7meg Flash video)
see it here »
‘Cocaine causes specific alterations in the brain�s circuitry at a genetic level, including short-term changes that result in a high from the cocaine, as well as long-term changes seen in addiction, researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
Such findings suggest possible new directions for treatments for addiction to the drug, they said.
In a study available online and in the Oct. 20 issue of Neuron, UT Southwestern researchers used rodents to pinpoint an important molecular mechanism that switches genes “on” in the part of the brain involved in drug-induced rewards. They also determined that cocaine, through a process called “chromatin remodeling,” alters the normal biochemical processes that allow these specific genes to be turned on and off.’
`An attorney representing parents suing a Pennsylvania school district over the teaching of intelligent design raised contradictions yesterday in the arguments presented by one of the concept’s leading advocates.
In his second day of testimony in federal court, Michael Behe, a biochemistry professor at Lehigh University, said that intelligent design does not rule out Darwin’s theory of common descent, which states that all organisms descend from common biological ancestors.
Behe also said intelligent design does not maintain that life began abruptly, and does not specify God as the unidentified designer.
But plaintiffs’ attorney Eric Rothschild produced documents, including Behe’s own writings, that suggested otherwise.’
`Greenland’s ice cap has thickened slightly in recent years despite wide predictions of a thaw triggered by global warming, a team of scientists said on Thursday.
The 9,842-feet thick ice cap is a key concern in debates about climate change because a total melt would raise world sea levels by about 7 meters. And a runaway thaw might slow the Gulf Stream that keeps the North Atlantic region warm.’
`Fish can’t speak to each other underwater, but some of them seem to be keeping in touch by farting.
Dr Bob Batty spotted a group of herring swallowing air then releasing it from a small hole near their tail, although the air is nothing to do with food.’
‘Researchers have created the world’s smallest fountain pen with a tip so tiny it can draw lines a hundred times thinner than a red blood cell.
Called the “nanonfountain probe,” it can paint lines as thin as 40 nanometers and has its own reservoir to hold various types of inks, including pigments for painting patterns and organic materials for designing sensors. [..]
The new pen can be attached to the atomic-force microscope, which allows scientists to see nanoscale environments as well as draw on them. Possible uses for such a tiny pen, or an array of several of them, include crafting miniscule protein arrays and complex semiconductors.’
‘Finally it’s official. The French DO smell.
After generations of jibes about hygiene over the Channel, a study yesterday revealed nine out of ten French people do NOT wash regularly.
That means that out of a population of 60.5million, more than 54million risk being whiffy.
Shockingly, 2.5million NEVER shower or bath while 1.8million NEVER brush their teeth.
The French do spend between 48 and 56 minutes in the bathroom each day – but much of that is applying cosmetics.’
`The state of California is suing nine top food manufacturers, including Burger King, Heinz and McDonald’s, over their reluctance to issue warnings that some of their snacks could contain the potentially cancer-causing chemical acrylamide.
Acrylamide was found to be linked to cancer in 2002. Then, the Swedish Food Administration reported high levels of it in carbohydrate-rich foods, such as french fries and potato chips, cooked at high temperatures. Studies indicated the chemical caused cancer in rats.’
`The movies on Chemistry Comes Alive! CD-ROMs have been carefully produced, edited, and compressed into high quality QuickTime movies. Movies are only available on the Chemistry Comes Alive! CD-ROMs, but several samples are provided here.’
`A man marries a woman because he loves her. So instead of blaming him if married love begins to cool, she should question herself. Is she truly trying to keep her husband and herself eager, happy married lovers? One most effictive way to safeguard her dainty feminine allure is by practicing complete feminine hygiene as provided by vaginal douches with a scientifically correct preparation like “Lysol.”‘
‘Every journalist and commentator assured us that comets harbor the pristine material from which the Sun and planets were born. They even gave a date for the primordial birth of comets — 4.5 billion years ago. Was it really 4.5 billion years ago? No, some said it was 4.6 billion years ago. Well, how did they arrive at such extraordinary knowledge? They delivered their descriptions and dating of comets because NASA scientists gave these “facts” to them. So how did NASA scientists know these things? The answer is that they have never known these things. These “facts” are mere guesses, and they are no longer intelligent guesses because they are rooted in archaic science from before the space age. The picture has changed completely with the discovery of plasma and electricity in space. But somehow, due to the nature of education and research funding today, the original guesses were permitted to harden into ideology.’
This is from people who favour the electric cosmos theory of the universe. It’s interesting stuff. I hope they’re right, because somehow I’d be greatly amused if the whole science of astronomy was fundamentaly flawed. :)
‘There is a revolution just beginning in astronomy/cosmology that will rival the one set off by Copernicus and Galileo. This revolution is based on the growing realization that the cosmos is highly electrical in nature. It is becoming clear that 99% of the universe is made up not of “invisible matter”, but rather, of matter in the plasma state. Electrodynamic forces in electric plasmas are much stronger than the gravitational force.
Mainstream astrophysicists are continually surprised by new data sent back by space probes and orbiting telescopes. New information always sends theoretical astrophysicists “back to the drawing board”. In light of this, it is curious that they have such “cock-sure” attitudes about the infallibility of their present models. Those models seem to require major “patching up” every time a new space probe sends back data.’
`Here’s an indispensable model for both students and professionals. Teach techniques of prostate examination with NASCO’s Life/form® Prostate Examination Simulator. Now every student can learn to detect beginning stages of prostate cancer and increase chances of patient survival. Four separate prostate glands are supplied with the torso, representing one benign gland and three stages of prostatic carcinoma in varying degrees of development. Each gland can be inserted into the prostate torso to allow realistic practice in diagnosis by rectal palpation.’
`Developed by Oculus Innovative Sciences in Petaluma, the super-oxygenated water is claimed to be as effective a disinfectant as chlorine bleach, but is harmless to people, animals and plants. If accidentally ingested by a child, the likely impact is a bad case of clean teeth. [..]
According to Hoji Alimi, founder and president of Oculus, the ion-hungry water creates an osmotic potential that ruptures the cell walls of single-celled organisms, and out leaks the cell’s cytoplasm. Because multicellular organisms — people, animals, plants — are tightly bound, the water is prevented from surrounding the cells, and there is no negative impact.’
`Several centuries ago, some “very light-skinned” people were shipwrecked on a tropical island. After “many years under the tropical sun,” this light-skinned population became “dark-skinned,” says Biology: The Study of Life, a high-school textbook published in 1998 by Prentice Hall, an imprint of Pearson Education. [..]
A study commissioned by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in 2001 found 500 pages of scientific error in 12 middle-school textbooks used by 85 percent of the students in the country. One misstates Newton’s first law of motion. Another says humans can’t hear elephants. Another confuses “gravity” with “gravitational acceleration.” Another shows the equator running through the United States. [..]
A study by the National Assessment governing board in 2000 found that only 12 percent of graduating seniors were proficient in science. International surveys continue to show that American high school seniors rank 19th among seniors surveyed in 21 countries.’
Some guy making some cool things, including rail guns and gas turbines. There’s also some chemistry stuff aswell. There’s some videos and lots of pictures.
If you wanna play with hydrofluoric acid like they’ve done, a few tips:
1. Don’t.
2. Do it in a fume hood.
3. Cover your arms and wear a face shield.
4. Just don’t. :)
