The problem-plagued biodiesel-powered boat trying to break the global circumnavigation record is back on track–and on track to break the record! I’m going to read up on this on, of course, the captain’s blog (he doesn’t use star dates…though I think he should).
Tags: biodiesel
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Nuclear power gets a seriously bad rap. With core meltdowns, radiation, and waste toxic for millennia you can understand why. The other side of the coin is that nuclear energy doesn’t product CO2 and is pretty darn efficient. Of course we’re talking about power generation based on nuclear fission. That is the same stuff as the first atomic bombs. Fission splits atoms (usually enriched U236) to release energy. Problem is the radiation and waste. Now nuclear fusion is a different beast. That’s the stuff of modern nuclear weapons (thermonuclear to be exact). It …read more
Ah sex. Such an awesome science topic. You get to discuss something that is often spoken in hushed tones in the name of science. So you think you know when you’re turned on? Guess what … your body is already getting primed for sex before you are even conscious of it. How’s that for unconscious desire!
According to the sequence put forward in the mid-20th century by the pioneering sex researchers William Masters, Virginia Johnson and Helen Singer Kaplan, a sexual encounter begins with desire, a craving for sex that arises of its own accord and …read more
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I had a little fender bender last week. Nothing major and no one hurt (very low-speed thing), but I had to get an estimate done for the repair. While I was chatting with the guy doing the estimate I mentioned how my mom used to say “bumpers are for bumping” … sorta in reference to parallel parking…now a days though, not so much. In fact your car bumper is more for esthetics than collision protection. The protection parts are behind the bumper. The bumper, in fact is designed to shatter and therefore disperse the energy …read more
This proposed building with water and convection powered AC, solar power, and hydrogen generation for night-time electrical power generation (via fuel cells) has been covered by several blogs and sites (Engadget, Metaefficient, Der Spiegel). I think it’s encouraging that an oil-rich nation is using the renewable resources readily at hand (sun, ocean water) to generate power and cool the building.
This skyscraper, to be built in Dubai, is called the Burj al-Taqa (‘Energy Tower’), and it will produce 100% of its own power. The tower will have a huge (197 foot diameter) wind turbine on its roof, and arrays of …read more
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No, really. I went to my first Monster Truck thingy (it wasn’t a huge show and there were only two trucks) over the weekend. I wish I had a) brought my camera and b) had my b5 press pass on me so I could have pictures and got to talk to the owners/drivers because any truck that goes around with tires that weigh 660 pounds each has got to have a lot of science going on.
Let’s look at the tricks they do first. You have the car crushing, flying through the air stuff. These folks have to be pretty careful …read more
May is Mental Health Month and today (technically it isn’t theme day yet, but it’s close enough) is Sci-Health Theme Day–so you can see where this is going.
Regular readers know that I suffer from depression and have for many years. I do take medication for it so it’s well controlled at the moment. I’m also a touch (no, not touched) ADD … it explains a lot doesn’t it. Regardless I was really loathe to talk about me for this theme day, so I wracked my brain for a bit and then remembered one of my favourite movies (and since the …read more
This is HUGE. Sure a successful quantum computer has been tested, but making the chips is the important thing. Without chips that can be mass produced, making quantum computers is just as much a dream as warp drive. Now … we’re a step closer:
Enter RIKEN, a team of Japanese researchers who now are able to “controllably couple qubits.” Thought not the first to accomplish this (a team at UC Berkley did so last year), the Japanese findings confirm that qubit coupling is the real deal. Wired calls qubit coupling “analogous to the wiring of transistors on a circuit board. When …read more
Tony over at Astronomy Buff went to see Spidey 3 recently. I haven’t seen it yet, but will probably go soon–maybe even this weekend. Regardless, like a lot of SciFi, sometimes the “sci” is way to “fi”, if you catch my drift. How many times have I been watching a TV show or movie and just groaned at the science (or shear and utter lack there of) in the program? I’ve lost count. I think the same thing happens to Tony:
I love science fiction and, to a lesser extent, the comic book stuff. I see all the movies and read …read more
Okay a bit cheeky, but these concepts from some engineering students for wind turbines over the highway could generate enough juice to power traffic signals and other important things for highway safety.
They might look far out, but for windy highways say in the mountain passes, they could probably be easier to deal with than the typical windmill style.
From Crunch Gear: Highway Wind Turbines
Technorati tags: wind power, alternative energy
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