“Well, my son is an alcoholic. But I least I have hot water.”
Archive for the 'Amazing Stuff' Category
a professor at MIT has come up with a way to transmit energy in a “wireless” form.
It’s actually quite ingenious. A magnetic field is place at a central locus and any device that is designed to resonate with the magnetic field does so and receives power as it does.
No more plugging into walls. Now devices such as cell phones, vacuums and blenders can be powered simply by having a built-in induction coil to supply power.
The only drawback is the weakness of the inductive field. I also don’t know what the effect of having an overlapping magnetic field would have on the power source (does your vacuum fry out if you hit an overlap zone)? Would unprotected magnetic storage devices be at-risk in such a field? These are just a few concerns.
But it’s a very cool application of magnetic fields.
14
May
Other Amazing Stuff
A star that’s almost as old as the universe. The article is shy on the details, but they’re analyzing the decay of uranium and thorium, or more specifically, uraniums 235 & 238 and thorium-232.
The half lives of uranium 235 and 238 are approxiamtely 7 x 10^8 (70 million years) and 4.5 x 10^8 (40 million years). By the ratio of isotopes in each sample examined, you can determine how many billions of years old it is. For our 13 billion year old star, amount of half-lives of U-235 is 18.5 and 238 it’s 28.9 (all approximated to make the math a little easier). So for a 13 billion year old star, your isotopic ratio of U-235/U-238 should be 18.5/28.9, or 0.64.
Thorium-232 has a half life of 1.4 x 10^19 years (14 billion years!), so if just over half a sample has degraded, then you know the age of that sample.
It’s pretty cool to think that about half of all the thorium made in the big bang is still around in the universe.
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Did you read about the planet that’s hot? Really hot? It’s a gas giant that’s close to its star and it absorbs so much energy from the star that it actually glows.
Seriously. It’s a very important part of your body.
Good luck on the recovery, Shannon.
First, they make everybody their Person of the Year. Idiots.
Then they take a Most Influential list and put on Tina Fey, arguably one of the worst talents on TV, and say she’s more influential than the President of the United States. Come on, a former SNL writer is that important? Please.
What’s more striking is the fawning of the modern liberal. Pelosi, Obama, Clooney, even the Goracle (who’s in Scientists and Thinkers– you have to be kidding me, folks!) are listed there. Not to mention proponents of embryonic stem cell researchers. It’s hard to find a conservative in the group.
There’s R(ino)-Nold. There’s Bloom(rino)berg. There’s Pope Benedict. Condi’s in there. And, that’s it. But you have a list of Hollywood’s leftiest celebs (DiCaprio, Clooney, Fey, America Ferrera, Rosie) as well as Osama Bin Laden, but no President Bush. Not even the new PM of Canada, Stephen Harper, who’s the first conservative to lead Canada in ages, gets a mention.
But Merkel does.
I’m also a little miffed that astronomy & physics dominate the science category when there’s plenty of chemistry out there that’s revolutionizing the world.
But, don’t let that stop Time. Cut them some slack. It’s hard work when everyone’s a Person of the Year.
23
Apr
Thank You Sheryl Crow
Post #600 on my blog was about Sheryl Crow and her desire to regulate restroom frugality. Strangely enough, the Puffingtons Host didn’t want post my comments on the Laurie David/Sheryl Crow tour.
As a lark, I sent it to AP at Hot Air. As it was Friday, and Friday’s a good day at Hot Air for silly stuff, it was picked up. I was happy. It was the most traffic this site has ever seen.
Then it kinda went nuts. Everyone was picking up on the story. Even Malkin linked to it (although she did link to Hot Air and not me. Where’s the love?)
And now it’s really gone too far…
Drudge doesn’t link to blogs (and I understand why– he frequently shuts down smaller servers with “Drudgelanches”, so he does it to keep the flow of information going, not because he’s a blog snob). But he did link to the Washington Post diary of the Crow/David bus tour (and to a BBC story as well).
So there it is. My big break into fame. All because Sheryl Crow doesn’t want to wipe her ass.
Oh, and the other 599 posts on here are really great stuff. You should read all of that, too.
28
Mar
Saturn’s New Ring
It’s at the pole, and it’s fascinating. I’ve been staring at the video image for five minutes in wonder.
Kevin Russell found out it’s not easy trying to cash a check from God. The 21-year-old man was arrested Monday after he tried to cash a check for $50,000 at the Chase Bank in Hobart that was signed “King Savior, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Servant,” Hobart police Detective Jeff White said.Russell was charged with one count attempted check fraud and one count intimidation, both felonies, and one count resisting law enforcement, a misdemeanor. He could face prison time.
Police were called to the bank after Russell tried to cash the check, which was written on an invalid Bank One check with no imprint, White said. Russell had several other checks with him that were signed the same way but made out in different dollar amounts, including one for $100,000.
Russell struggled with police as they tried to detain him, White said, and then threatened police as they transported him to the Hobart Police Department.
“I’ve heard about God giving out eternal life, but this is the first time I’ve heard of him giving out cash,” White said.
No court date has been set for Russell. He was being held Wednesday at the Lake County Jail on a $1,000 bond.
The question I have: did this man have a flying license? If he does, he probably just got it from his co-pilot.
17
Feb
Saturday Morning Posts
Much thanks to everyone who’s viewed my video here and on YouTube. Feel free to share the video with friends, family and colleagues. All I ask is you give proper citation as to where it came from.
Time is urgent, here, too. Hopefully this video will stir public resentment towards Rep. Murtha and the cowards who are planning the “slow bleed” approach to defeat. But it has to go out soon, so spread the message.
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In science news, looks like the blind have reason to be happy. Human trials are starting on a bionic eye which allows those who could not see before to recognize faces. The detail that comes through isn’t great, and it certainly won’t match that of a functional human eye, but it is the first breakthrough in repairing blindness. As the technology improves, expect to see better and better resolution in these retinal electrodes.
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And as the blind start to see, the first thing they will get to see is a bald Britney Spears. It’s enough to make one claw at their bionic implants. I just hope she’s not going the route of Bob Geldof in “The Wall”:
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I’ve stayed away from commenting on the Libby trial, simply because it’s a legal freakshow. Nobody knows what the hell is going on, and that includes Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald.
If you want a good analysis and roundup, Victoria Toensing does a very nice job over at WaPo. Effectively, everyone involved should be locked up. Or pelted with rotting squash. Mmmmm… rotting squash!
Women: STOP HAVING BABIES! IT’S KILLING THEM!
In probably the strangest pick-up, Forbes is reporting that approximately 1/4 of all babies born naturally (not a C-Section) have tiny brain hemorrhages.
Brain hemorrhages! HOW HORRIBLE! FOR GOD’S SAKE WOMEN STOP GIVING BIRTH!
Then, after you’ve put the paper bag around your mouth and stopped hyperventilating, you realize that 25% of the population aren’t horribly stupid. In fact, they’re perfectly normal.
But the headline is out there. How many women are not going to run half-cocked to have C-Sections, a procedure that’s far more dangerous than vaginal birth (but is still relatively safe, statistically)?
It’s an interesting discovery from some radiologists. But it also illustrates the brain of the infant and how quickly it recovers from injury. They are relatively robust, the newborns.
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Katie Couric says the next 100 or so years are going to be horrible, climate-wise.
She must not read my blog.
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What’s this non-descript paper bag on my doorstep? A bomb? Antrhax? Little Al Queda? Osama Mini-Mes?
Nope– it’s a promotion by TBS!
Stupid people thinking they were bombs….
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