Want to Remember Everything You’ll Ever Learn? Surrender to This Algorithm
The winter sun sets in mid-afternoon in Kolobrzeg, Poland, but the early twilight does not deter people from taking their regular outdoor promenade. Bundled up in parkas with fur-trimmed hoods, strolling hand in mittened hand along the edge of the Baltic Sea, off-season tourists from Germany stop openmouthed when they see a tall, well-built, nearly naked man running up and down the sand.
Interesting article, well worth the read.
“Green Gasoline”: Like Gasoline, But Made from Cellulose : TreeHugger
Though they may share many of the same compounds and properties, “green gasoline,” the creation of UMass chemical engineer George Huber, differs from regular gasoline in one important respect: it can be produced from biomass sources. And, unlike the various forms of ethanol that have been bandied around, green gasoline can take advantage of the existing gas infrastructure and be pumped into cars as is.
To produce this biofuel variant, Huber and his students heated plant cellulose in the presence of solid catalysts and then rapidly cooled the products – leaving behind a liquid that already contained many of the compounds typically found in gasoline, such as naphthalene and toluene. The whole process takes less than 2 minutes to accomplish and needs only moderate heat; the final liquid can be further refined or immediately used as an alternative to a high octane gas blend.
I guess the big questions are: what is the cost of the catalysts and are they a reusable or expendable agent? This sounds wonderful, but if it’s this simple why is it gonna take them 5 years at a minimum to get it to the pumps? I realize that scaling up is gonna make a difference and building the infrastructure will take a while but still sounds like there are things about this process or the resultant fuel that they don’t bring up.
That said I hope this works out and results in a viable fuel making process using biomass. 😎
MIT Scientists Build Nanowire Structures for Use in Tiny Lithium-Ion Batteries
MIT scientists have harnessed the construction talents of tiny viruses to build ultra-small “nanowire” structures for use in very thin lithium-ion batteries.
By manipulating a few genes inside these viruses, the team was able to coax the organisms to grow and self-assemble into a functional electronic device.
The goal of the work, led by MIT Professors Angela Belcher, Paula Hammond and Yet-Ming Chiang, is to create batteries that cram as much electrical energy into as small or lightweight a package as possible. The batteries they hope to build could range from the size of a grain of rice up to the size of existing hearing aid batteries.
Now THAT’S some serious nanotech! Cool stuff!
Brain Scanner Can Tell What You’re Looking At
Interesting and scary at the same time. Lots of uses as well as misuses for this kind of tech. First thing that comes to mind is Big Brother and thought crimes. Then there is communicating with folks that can’t due to birth defects or injuries.
Evidence lacking on health benefits of drinking lots of water
Guess it’s another one of those “but everyone knows” kinda things. Some days I do and some days I don’t. In the summer I may drink more than that, in the winter probably lots less. I figure as long as I’m still peeing I’m taking in enough liquids… 😉
Brunel cement find is world first
Interesting archaeological find pushes back the date of the first major usage of Portland Cement.
Bad Astronomy Blog
Interesting site. Gonna have to add it to my feeds. Love the name! 😎
Nutrition Research Center Health Update » Blog Archive » What Happens To Your Body Within An Hour Of Drinking A Coke
If you drink regular sodas you NEED to read this. Diet soda is another matter entirely and I ain’t even going there.
FWIW, I will still drink a little Dr. Pepper, 7-Up or Sprite from time to time but only if there isn’t any available water, coffee, tea, fruit juice, or milk. I’d guess that I have had 12 to 16 oz of the stuff so far this year and that was due to needing liquid quick and none of the above being close at hand. The colas and my gut just don’t get along at all.
Monastic ink: linking chemistry and history | Science in School
So that’s how it works. Cool! Now to find some galls and try this.
DailyTech – Peruvian Meteorite Mystery Solved
Now, a team of Peruvian researchers have determined the true cause — ground water tainted with arsenic.
The villagers’ reactions were the result of inhaling arsenic fumes, according to Luisa Macedo, a researcher for Peru’s Mining, Metallurgy, and Geology Institute (INGEMMET), who visited the crash site.
Peru’s soil is rich in arsenic deposits and when the meteor hit, columns of steam were created by the heat from the meteor. This steam bore particles of arsenic, causing the various afflictions.
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Makes sense to me. Hate it for the folks exposed, but certainly better than than some outer space viral nasty…
Physicists establish ‘spooky’ quantum communication
Ok. I’ve read it a couple of times now and I understand what they are saying. I think. But I don’t understand how what they say is happening can happen. But then again I guess that’s why I am here pounding on this keyboard instead of there doing science. Or something. I’m confused, therefore I think. Or something else…
Brass Goggles » Blog Archive » The Vanderbilt Steam-Powered Arm
Neat! Love the tolerances they are dealing with! 50 millionths of an inch works whereas 100 doesn’t. Steam is some tenacious stuff!
New Microbial Fuel Cell Design Boosts Electricity Production
From the article –
The new design developed by the OSU researchers involves sandwiching a cloth layer between the anode and the cathode parts of the microbial fuel cell, a configuration that greatly reduces the internal resistance, resulting in a much higher power density, Liu says.
In lab experiments, Liu’s team successfully generated 1,010 watts per cubic meter of reactor, or enough to power 16 60-watt light bulbs. The highest previous level of sustainable electricity generated from a cubic meter of air cathode microbial fuel cell is less than 115 watts. In experiments done even more recently, Liu and colleagues have generated more than 1,500 watts from the same reactor volume.
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Size to power ratio is not quite there yet for home use anyway but in a large wastewater treatment plant, that’s not near as critical. Wonder what the ratio of gallons per hour of treated water to power generated per cubic meter is? I think that’s the right phrasing of the question… 😉
ABC News: One in Four Read No Books Last Year
Sounds about right to me. Though I read several hundred books a year and still find time to write this blog and do a variety of other things. But I don’t watch tv for more than one or two hours a week/month. And that only when Cat is watching and even then I am reading or on the computer most of the time. Of course this is a sampling of just over a thousand people so tis just so much bs…
A Better Way to Make Biofuel (TreeHugger)
Looks promising. This could also be used to run farm equipment right off the waste biomass left over after harvest. I hope it scales well.
Green tea holds promise as new treatment for inflammatory skin diseases
An interesting bit of info. Gonna have to try using it as a topical and see if it helps. The article mentions the water not getting into the cells, wonder if alcohol would work as a vehicle to get it into the skin?
Future Tech: DARPA Looking Into Invisible, Shoot-Through, Self-Healing Armor – Gizmodo
Getting so it’s harder and harder to tell what’s real and what’s sci-fi. Gonna have to read up on the metamaterials. Seems like I read something about them a year or so ago but tis flushed from the memory stacks now.
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