2135483
submission
lurking_giant writes:
Researchers at the University of Nevada-Reno say that 340 million gallons of biodiesel could be added to the worlds fuel supply without replacing crops or impacting food production. In a recent study reported by PHYSICS.ORG, They claim that 10-20% by weight of spent coffee grounds are usefull oil. (The stuff that makes coffee tast bitter) Traditional crops for it's production such as Soybean and rapeseed produce similar levels of oil. Since we already consume more than 16 billion pounds of coffee each year, if we recycle the spent grounds to make biodiesel we could see a net gain in the worlds fuel supply without any loss of food production. So all you java heads drink up, we can save the world and get jazzed at the same time.
2109033
submission
lurking_giant writes:
In a report on NewScientist.com, Researchers working on development of a space elevator ("Fountains of Paradise" by Aurther C. Clark) have determined that the concept is not stable. Coriolis force on the moving climbers would cause side loading that would make stability extremely difficult while solar wind would cause shifting loads on the geostationary midpoint. All of this would likely make it necessary to add thrusters, which would consume fuel and negate the benefits of the concept.
"There's no limit to what you can accomplish, if you don't demand credit!" Author Unknown
2061625
submission
lurking_giant writes:
PhysOrg.com reports that an inexpensive, easily manufacturability catalyst has been developed that can separate hydrogen and oxygen from water over a wide range of wavelengths of sunlight. From the article: "The group's tests show that polymeric carbon nitride absorbs both ultraviolet and visible light and, although its performance yielded varying H2 production rates from batch to batch, that it is an effective catalyst even without the presence of platinum or other noble metals." The study's corresponding scientist is Xinchen Wang said: "Our result opens new pathways for the search of energy production schemes, using polymeric organic semiconductor structures that are cheap, stable, and commonly available." Now all we need is to find a way to transport and store the hydrogen in a safe and efficient manor.
"There's no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't demand credit"... Author Unknown.
1996357
submission
lurking_giant writes:
NewScientist.com is reporting that a group from the University of Geneva in Switzerland has discovered a material junction that acts as field effect transistor (FET) at 0.3 degrees Kelvin. The material is a single crystal containing two metal oxides, strontium titanate and lanthanum aluminate, as separate segments. At the interface of these materials, the team found a layer of free electrons called an electron gas in the material switches from superconductor to non-conductor (insulator) with the application of a voltage at the interface...
Can't imagine anyone able to over clock this since they only hav .3 degrees to work with but you never know.
"There's no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't demand credit"... Author Unknown.
1863591
submission
lurking_giant writes:
According to Reuters, Swedish research shows that a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol could increase the risk of Alzheimer's. At least in rats. "These mice showed chemical changes in their brains, indicating an abnormal build-up of the protein tau as well as signs that cholesterol in food reduced levels of another protein called Arc involved in memory storage". So maybe that pile of fast food bags, candy wrappers and soda cans should be a warning. Get out of the basement and eat healthy and exercise.
"There's no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't demand credit"... Author Unknown.
1739405
submission
lurking_giant writes:
At a time when the scientists in the western world are concerned with honey bee colony
collapse and the possibility of crop failures due to insufficient pollinators to support the food growing regions of the world; we have this genius who was bright enough to document his actions but unable to appreciate the ramifications of them. Images and Text
1100961
submission
lurking_giant writes:
Reuters is reporting that just off their latest settlement with Time Warner and AT&T, http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/04/1859214/ Klausner Technologies filed another patent lawsuit Tuesday in District Court in Tyler, Texas, this time against Google and Verizon as well as LG Electronics and others. In anticipation of this latest round of lawsuits, Verizon filed against Klausner two weeks ago in the U.S. District Court (New York)seeking to declare Klausner's "Visual Voicemail" patent invalid.
686242
submission
lurking_giant writes:
While most cars get less than 40 miles per gallon of gas, VW has a 2 seat diesel concept car called the 1-litre car that gets up to 100 kilimeters/liter. (That's 285 mpg for the metric challanged) It's made of carbon fiber and magnesium and was designed to meet GT racing safety standards. BTW... it's not a hybrid!
601926
submission
lurking_giant writes:
Like something out of a Stanley Kubrick movie, "The "National Weather Modification Office", a branch of China's Meterological Administration plans to stop the rain during the Beijing Olympics... with supercomputers, bombers and artillery.
Impactlab.com reports:
"To prevent rain over the roofless 91,000-seat Olympic stadium that Beijing natives have nicknamed the Bird's Nest, the city's branch of the national Weather Modification Office-itself a department of the larger China Meteorological Administration-has prepared a three-stage program for the 2008 Olympics this August.
First, Beijing's Weather Modification Office will track the region's weather via satellites, planes, radar, and an IBM p575 supercomputer, purchased from Big Blue last year, that executes 9.8 trillion floating point operations per second. It models an area of 44,000 square kilometers (17,000 square miles) accurately enough to generate hourly forecasts for each kilometer."
517456
submission
lurking_giant writes:
BEST BUY is being sued for $54 million by a women for loosing her laptop. She took it in for extended warrenty service and they lost the laptop. Over the next few months she contacted them numerous time and was never told that they lost it but was given a variety of repair status reports. She lost her tax records and music collection. http://redtape.msnbc.com/2008/02/a-lost-laptop-a.html#posts
