Jumping electric charges could waft breezes of ionised air through microchips, replacing the bulky, noisy fans that cool down today’s computers. Researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana say their patent-pending technology could be built directly into a computer chip’s heat sink to provide a faster, quieter and lighter cooling system than the alternatives
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane‘s dismissal of renewable energy and energy efficiency as neither practical nor affordable
at the Coal Plan launch demonstrates a government badly out of touch with modern clean energy technologies around the world
Mohammed Bah Abba of Nigeria won a Rolex award for his pot-in-pot refrigerator
. It consists of a smaller clay pot inside a larger clay pot. The gap is filled with damp sand. As the water evaporates, the inner pot cools. Food that used to spoil in a few days now stays fresh for weeks. Second-order effects are already being noticed — for one thing, girls who had to skip school to sell food at markets can now attend classes
NASA has developed a computer program that comes close to reading thoughts not yet spoken by analysing nerve commands to the throat. It says the breakthrough holds promise for astronauts and the handicapped. A person using the subvocal system thinks of phrases and talks to himself so quietly it cannot be heard, but the tongue and vocal cords do receive speech signals from the brain. Developer Chuck Jorgensen’s team at NASA’s Ames Research Centre, Moffett Field, California, found that sensors under the chin and one each side of the Adam’s apple pick up the brain’s commands to the speech organs, allowing the subauditory, or silent speech
to be captured
The city of Aliso Viejo, California nearly banned foam cups when they learned they are produced from a substance known as dihydrogen monoxide. A paralegal working for the city apparently found a professionally designed web site put up to describe the dangerous properties of this chemical. Apparently, the report about Dihydrogen Monoxide was written by a then 14-year-old Nathan Zohner who was researching the gullibility of fifty ninth graders
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University have built electronic circuits which exhibit a rubbery behaviour. The flexible circuits, built by using gold springs, can stretch like rubber. And Nature says that these stretchy wires can be used to create artificial nerves bending inside our bodies or wearable electronics. Wiring like this could be woven into stretchy sports clothing and used to connect up sensors that monitor athletic performance. Rubbery electrodes made from biocompatible materials might be attached to a beating heart and used to sense impending problems
The new planet, dubbed Sedna after the Inuit goddess of the sea, is 3 billion km further from the sun than Pluto, and is slightly smaller at 2000km in diameter. This discovery has apparently reignited the debate as to how big a solar object must be in order to qualify as a planet
, but it is significant nonetheless — via The Soulful Blogger
Scientists have found the cells that are the source of follicles and hair growth, a discovery that will energise research into treatments for thinning hair and baldness. An American team reported yesterday that it had become the first to isolate parent cells — stem cells — in mouse hair follicles that can regenerate hair, skin and follicles after being implanted into the skin of mice
Professor Alan Windle has spun nanotube yarn by twisting nanotubes onto spinning rods as they come out of the furnace from which they are made. Do not get your hopes up yet, the yarn has a strength comparable to that of most modern textiles but the group does state that there is room for improvement. And there is mention of a space elevator
The waste you flush down the toilet could one day power the lights in your home. So say researchers at Pennsylvania State University who last week revealed they have developed an electricity generator fuelled by sewage
How can you not want silly putty? Almost impossible to resist is silly putty that is black, magnetic and comes in a nice metal tin. Mmm… magnetic, black silly putty.
Dick van Hoff’s Tyranny of the Plug series of kitchen machines chop, churn and blend, but don’t require electricity. They are powered by human energy — by pulling on them, turning them or moving them to and fro… and they function beautifully. Van Hoff is calling into question the fact that members of contemporary society readily accept new objects that are powered by electricity, yet rarely contemplate where the power is coming from. Instead, his products make people invest their human energy into powering them. Sleekly yet simply designed of cast iron, chrome, glass, and wood, these machines run smoothly and with efficiency, while fostering awareness and contemplation.
Sleeves Clothing sells translucent clingy shirts that give you the realistic illusion of tattoos
— essentially, these are skin-tight, thin undershirts covered in fake tattoos to allow you the look of full-body tattoos.
David Roy builds beautiful, spring-driven wooden kinetic sculptures. Pricey but hypnotic — but there are some nice animations so you can see them in action.
The Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX), as it’s officially called, consists of mechanical metal leg braces that are connected rigidly to the user at the feet, and, in order to prevent abrasion, more compliantly elsewhere. The device includes a power unit and a backpack-like frame used to carry a large load — via Die Puny Humans.
Todd Huffman had a small magnet implanted in one of his fingers and is now able to perceive magnetic fields in ways not naturally possible. As someone with an unhealthy fascination in magnets, I would love to get a magnet implanted. Just think of the fun that could be had with magnetic, black silly putty and cow magnets — via Die Puny Humans.
A three-headed, six-legged frog has been discovered by children in Weston-super-Mare. Environmental problems are suspected. It later escaped from the jar in which it had been kept — via Pagan Prattle
HIV patients who are also infected by a second, mysterious virus are less likely to develop AIDS and die of the disease, suggests a new study. Up to six years after their initial HIV-infection, men whose blood contained the second virus — known simply as GB virus C (GBV-C) — were nearly three times less likely to die than HIV-positive men who did not have the secondary infection
A chance discovery has transformed an engine intended for speedboats into a powerful firefighting tool that douses flames with jets of water mist. During tests, a technician at Pursuit Dynamics squirted water into it with a garden hose purely out of curiosity
. To everyone’s surprise, the water emerged as a jet of fine droplets that drenched anyone standing within 20m of it
After repeatedly setting off RFID scanners in a truck stop, Dave and Denise discovered the culprit was a wad of $20s in Dave’s back pocket. In a paranoid attempt to keep the government from tracking him, they attempted to fry the embedded chips in their microwave, with interesting results
Plasma-torch technology, which can heat and melt virtually any type of waste, could serve as a bridge between fossil fuels and renewable energy in producing hydrogen gas
The village of Tenkawa generates 1,500 tons of human waste a year. They used to use a tanker to carry that waste to the sea and dump it, but can’t do that any more. They needed to come up with a new method of treating human waste, so decided to treat effluent biotechnologically and to turn it into drinking water — via Die Puny Humans
Oral sex can lead to oral cancers. Researchers have shown that the human papilloma virus, an extremely common sexually transmitted infection long been known to cause cervical cancers, can also cause mouth cancers. Fortunately, the risk of developing oral cancer is tiny. Only around 1 in 10,000 people develop tumours each year, and most cases are probably caused by smoking and drinking. The findings could help improve treatments of oral cancers, and vaccines that protect against HPV are already being developed
An Anti-Felon Identification system is used so criminal use of the Advanced Taser can be traced from evidence dispersed by the device itself to provide the exact identification of the Air Cartridge purchaser. No other self-protection device in the world — guns, chemical and pepper sprays, touch-stun devices or batons — can be traced from evidence at the scene of the crime directly to the registration of the user
Ever wanted a cuddly plush black death or ebola microbe to sit with you in your sick bed? Check out Giant Microbes!
RSS – Posts