APR 05
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Familiar with the phrase “ Puffy head – Bird legs “ ?
You would be if you were an astronaut. Also known as ‘deconditioning’, it refers to the medical syndromes associated with prolonged periods of weightlessness.
There’s a good deal of research going on to try to get around the problems - both the European Space Agency ( ESA) and NASA are performing extensive bed-rest studies here on Earth.
The
latest NASA effort will combine three weeks of bed-rest with daily doses
of a 2.5G * centrifuge – hoping to alleviate
some of the adverse effects.
The study will be performed at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)
at Galveston. See :
The idea of providing Artificial Gravity ( AG) by means of a centrifuge goes back at least a hundred years – and there have been dozens of high-profile sci-fi films featuring the idea – so it’s a little surprising perhaps that it has taken so long for this kind of study to be carried out.
For a very interesting and informative .pdf ‘slide-show’ on the subject of AG, and a description of the upcoming experiment, see :
http://www.dsls.usra.edu/paloski.pdf
Even if a solution is found for the lack-of-gravity problems, there will still
be two more very severe obstacles to overcome with regard to manned missions
to Mars and beyond . . .
Firstly, how do you protect the astronauts from exposure to ultra high energy ionising radiation from space ?
Secondly, how will they overcome the psychological problems of extreme confinement and boredom ?
* Note Because of the small size of the centrifuge, the AG at the astronaut’s feet will be 2.5 times Earth gravity – but at their head it will be considerably less . . . not ideal.
comments
?30 APR 05
BS – two new in-depth investigations.
“ On
Bullshit ” – a new work by Prof. Harry G. Frankfurt,
Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Princeton University.
The professor is one of the world’s leading moral philosophers, and has devoted a great deal of his time ( his first essay on BS was published in 1986 ) conscientiously developing an appreciation of what BS means to us.
Firstly, what exactly is BS ? :
“ [ BS is] a lack of concern for the difference between truth and falsity”
“ [ BS is] a feature that in my view poses certain dangers to the foundations of civilisation ”
And why is it so ubiquitous ?
“ There’s a widespread view in a democratic
society that a responsible citizen should have a viewpoint about everything – well,
you can’t know very much about everything . . . “
For more details of the new book see :
http://www.pupress.princeton.edu
buy it here :
For a ten-minute video interview with the Prof see :
http://pup.princeton.edu:8080
* * *
Next up :
“Your
Call Is Important To Us - The Truth About Bullshit ”
by Laura Penny – college lecturer and contributing editor of ‘Toronto Life’.
“ We live in an era of unprecedented bullshit production ” says the author – and asks
“ If my call is so important, why doesn’t anyone answer the damn phone? ”
comments ?29 APR 05
Many Deaths Still Expected
“ A nuclear weapon that is exploded underground can destroy a deeply buried
bunker efficiently and requires significantly less power to do so than a nuclear
weapon detonated on the surface would “
reveals a National Academies report to be published later this spring.
So, if you were thinking about destroying a bunker, say 250 meters deep, it would be preferable to use an ‘earth-penetrating weapon’ ( a.k.a. bunker buster ) to do so.
You should bear in mind though that they “ would [ still ] lead to a large number of deaths and injuries “ . . . Uh-huh.
But what if ‘the enemy’ realises all this and buries their bunker even deeper – say 400 metres ? Well, “ Significant explosive power is needed to destroy targets located as deep as 400 meters “ says the report . . .
So, to sum up -
Destroying a deep bunker takes a lot of energy - and the deeper it is the more you need. Such a devastating bomb will make a helluva mess and kill anyone who is in the vicinity.
Would you have guessed all that ?
See :
http://www4.nationalacademies.org
comments
?28 APR 05
No ! I’m not telling you my [ deleted ] star-sign ! *
Ever got angry when talking to an operative at a call-centre ? Hmmmm ? Banks,
local authorities, and utility companies do occasionally find that callers
become angry – according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers ( IEEE ) the figure is around 0.4% - ( which, bearing in mind
the level of service from some outfits, seems extraordinarily low ? . . .
)
Since nearly all calls are recorded for ( ahem ) ‘quality assurance purposes’ , it’s possible to post-analyse the calls to try and diagnose the cause of the caller’s frustration. But that takes time – and costs money.
So now a new technique is being applied – real-time call monitoring software which attempts to determine the ‘anger level’ of callers.
The software, which costs more than $1000 per seat, analyses the rate of change of the caller’s voice pitch. “ If emotion is detected, you get a report that includes the level of certainty that the call included angry emotions " – says a spokesperson for the NICE Systems corporation.
We probably don’t understand the intricacies of call-centre infrastructure – but
wouldn’t it be easier just to ask the operatives to tick a box if the
caller became angry ?
See:
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org
* note : Some UK banks are now asking callers for their ‘star-sign’ as part of their ‘security checking’ strategy . . .
comments ?27 APR 05
We c a n ‘t k e e p u p !
An AP report is quoting ‘ Microsoft’s top researcher ’ Richard F. Rashid, as saying -
" In English, at least, it's faster to type than it is to talk," . . .
Errrr. . . Really ? Maybe for a courtroom stenographer – but for the rest of us ?
He was commenting on the fact that computer keyboards are likely to be with us for some years to come.
right answer – wrong logic.
Keyboards are still around because real-world voice-recognition is so hopelessly unreliable – and will continue to be so for quite some time yet.
Glad to see the guys on planet MS haven't lost their ability to make us laugh though . . .
See :
comments ?26 APR 05 (late edition)
'IQ' and race.
If you thought the debates about black / white races and 'IQ' were long over – think
again.
A new study entitled ' Thirty years of research on race
differences in cognitive ability ' will be published in the June issue
of Psychology, Public Policy and Law, a journal of the American
Psychological Association.
We think it’s safe to say that its ‘findings’ are not going to go down too well with some race-relations workers across the globe.
It claims a full 21 point difference in 'IQ' abilities – depending on racial background.
We’d like to point out that – despite constant attempts by scientists, philosophers and thinkers across all recorded history - there is still no agreed definition of what ‘intelligence’ is.
And we’d like to use again the famous quote from anthropologist Stanley Garn :
" If the aborigine drafted an IQ test, all of Western civilization would presumably flunk it " . . .
One thing is incontrovertible though - the IQ tests clearly quantify the
ability to perform IQ tests.
The
new report even resurrects the old idea that racial differences in brain
size might affect ‘intelligence’.
A theory which, if applied literally, would rank Bottlenose dolphins, whales, elephants and Neanderthals considerably ahead of us . . .
On reflection, perhaps that’s true . . .
For a .pdf of the article, see :
http://www.ssc.uwo.ca
comments
?26 APR 05
Holy lunar observer.
There are many reasons why satellites get launched into Earth orbit – military, surveillance, communications, research etc etc. But this could be a first . . .
The plan actually dates back to 1997 – cameras aboard will beam 'crescent images of the moon' to ground stations - for religious synchronisation purposes.
It’s going to cost around $8Million – to be raised through ‘public subscription’ . . . and will " Hopefully stop the problems associated with lunar sightings "
Until today, we didn’t know there had been any . . .
comments
?25 APR 05 (late edition)
Herbal performance enhancers.
Ever get anxious while driving you car ? No problem – sniff a mint.
A new study from the aptly named Wheeling Jesuit University, West Virginia, has shown that wafting the odour of peppermint in front of anxious and frustrated drivers helps to calm them down and allow them to concentrate more effectively.
So, sniffing peppermint may even " decrease highway accidents and fatalities "
We're not sure exactly why, but the university has specialised in possible uses for peppermint odour for some time - previous studies include :
“ Effects of peppermint odor on increasing clerical
office-work performance.”
“ Effects of peppermint odor administration on augmenting basketball performance during game play ”
Etc.
Intriguingly, the latest study ( the driving one ) was co-funded by NASA, so perhaps future astronauts will be carrying a purpose built Sports Inhaler™ ( see: http://www.sportsinhaler.com/ ) which you can use to inhale the peppermint odour.
It “ Decreases Perceived Frustration by 13% ” apparently.
We're thinking of investing in some for the office.
comments
?25 APR 05
[ deleted ] violence.
New research from Purdue University, Indiana, has turned up an interesting anomaly with regard to violence in films.
Traditionally, film producers have tended to bank on the idea that more violence = more box office returns.
"But in this study we could not find that violence, such as hitting, punching, shooting and killing, was really contributing to the overall appeal of the film.” Says lead researcher Prof. Glenn G. Sparks.
They showed a group of 134 adults "The Fugitive" in two versions – one with 11 minutes of violence edited out.
The results indicated that the audience were equally happy to watch both versions. . . It also showed that there was no male / female preference for the violence level.
See :
So what’s going on ?
Has a hundred year’s worth of real-world hard-cash consumer feedback got things horribly wrong ? Could it be that audiences don’t really want to see hitting, punching, shooting and killing ?
We don’t have [ deleted ] any [ deleted ] [ deleted ] [ deleted ] idea [ deleted ] one way or the [ deleted ] other.
comments
?23 APR 05
Hygienic cycling.
H.G. Wells said “ Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I no longer despair for the future of the human race “
But, if you are thinking of becoming a cyclist, don’t just jump straight into the saddle - it might be a good idea to avail yourself of some technical advice first . . .
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas comes to the rescue with guidelines published yesterday - and there are many areas where even the most seasoned of cyclists could benefit from access to a sound knowledge base ; for instance, a solid grounding in first-aid.
So, for example, if you have a minor accident “ The important thing is to wash and clean the area [ of the injury ] “ – failure to do so can lead to ‘tattooing’ – whereby grit and dirt from the road can end up permanently incorporated into scar tissue.
There’s plenty more advice - such as drinking and eating the right amount during cycling trips ( apparently, water alone is fine for the first hour - but, in hot temperatures, take a drink every 10 to 15 minutes, even if not thirsty ).
Surprisingly though, the biggest ‘problem area’ has been identified as ‘ cycling hygiene ’ . . .
"Cyclists should remove sweaty clothing as soon as possible after training or racing and shower” – and it's also important to buy cycling shorts with plenty of padding - for moisture absorbing purposes.
Following these simple tips cyclists can help themselves, and presumably, fellow adult humans at the same time . . .
see :
comments ?22 APR 05
Mobiles and children.
According to a report in the UK’s Daily Telegraph, ‘the
average age at which a child gets its first mobile phone is 8 ’.
See:
http://news.telegraph.co.uk
A million or so young children in the UK now own mobiles, but advice concerning
their safe use varies dramatically - depending where you look and who you
ask.
Perhaps the most helpful and enlightening tip comes from the UK government’s
own Health Protection Agency – which informs us that .
. .
“ Using a mobile phone less will give rise to
lower exposure [ to radiation] “ *
http://www.hpa.org.uk/radiation
Oddly, perhaps, ‘ There is no explicit UK legislation that limits people’s exposure to electromagnetic fields ‘ . . . Wonder why that could be ?
* We’d also like to point out that flying by aeroplane less often will lower your risk of being killed in an air crash.
Drinking less vodka will reduce the likelihood of liver damage.
Sharp pointy objects can be dangerous.
Etc etc etc.
comments ?21 APR 05
“Kilo of #4040’s please . . .”
Who came up with the idea of sticky labels on fruit ? We’re making a wild guess that it might have been way back in the 1950’s or 60’s when companies like Fyffes started branding their bananas with a blue sticker. But there’s a world of difference between a banana, which you peel, and a #4040 ( large black plum ) which you don’t.
Every
day of the year, there are millions of consumers across the world cursing
as they try to pick the small sticky label off their fruit before they eat
it. Why do the producers stick the labels there in the first place ?
As often happens, it’s nothing to do with consumer convenience – it’s to do with supermarket convenience. The labels – called PLU codes – first started appearing in the 1980’s. They carry unique codes which identify the product.
The codes are set by the Produce Marketing Association, and are designed primarily to allow supermarkets to keep a check on unpackaged fresh fruit and vegetables. ( One problem being that customers can - and do - pretend that the plums they’re presenting at the check-out are the cheap variety and not the double-priced hand-picked polished organic ones . . . )
It’s immediately obvious on the supermarket sales logs of course - when they are selling 50 Kilos more of the cheapo variety than they actually bought.
From the consumers’ point of view though they are a pain – and, we can’t help wondering about the rubbery adhesive used to stick the labels on . . . is it always food-safe ?
We suggest that fruit-label-madness has to stop and, keen to offer solutions instead of just griping, we provide two ways of doing so . . .
The first and most obvious way would be for supermarkets to train-up staff to act as in-house fruit and veg sellers. So, you go to the counter and ask for what you want, and the staffer will bag up and price the produce for you on the spot. ( in the same way that many supermarket deli counters work ).
Of course this idea will go down like a lead balloon with the supermarkets. Extra staff ? Extra training ? Extra wages ? Are you out of your mind ?
So, we suggest a second method. Edible non-toxic labels. Made of confectioner’s rice paper for instance. There are plenty of ways of doing it, and there even non-toxic glues for attaching them. Some could even be considered nutritious.
We’re sure, for instance, that these guys could easily come up with a viable product. As an added PR fillip, the edible labels could even be laced with extra vitamins and minerals.
Case solved. Next !
* * *
If, for some odd reason, you’d like to look up PLU codes, go here and hit ‘list all’.
comments
?20 APR 05
What about Gin and Tonic ? ( revisited )
Not to be outdone by the benefits of chocolate, the American Chemical Society (ACS) has published no less than three articles in the past month showing us how healthy it is may be to drink tea.
As an example, we have -
‘ black and green tea inhibits diabetic cataracts ’
from the University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania.
see: http://pubs.acs.org
Readers of our previous post on chocolate may be wondering who paid for the study ? Would you guess it was Lipton Tea Co. Ltd ( part of Unilever ) ?
Listen to 'The power of the Leaf' at :
http://www.liptont.com/tea_health
By the way, drinkers of mineral water could take note of the site’s advice that water, unlike tea, has no effect in reducing free radicals. ( Whilst bearing in mind of course that ' tea is not a substitute for fruits or vegetables ' )
* * *
While visiting the ACS website, you might like to suggest a chemical for ‘molecule of the week’ – this week’s is Carbon Monoxide.
Naturally, our favourite ( from May 2002 ) is Quinine ( the chemical which gives G&T its . . . errrrr . . . . zing )
comments ?19 APR 05
Just say - OFF !
“Surgoen
Generel’s Warnig – Telivision Promots Iliteracy” says
the bumpersticker from tv-turnoff.org.
They are currently promoting TV Turnoff Week. ( April 25-May 1, 2005 ).
Thankfully, a whole week without TV is so much less of a struggle nowadays than it used to be.
Hey ! thanks Rupert !
comments
?18 APR 05 (Late Edition)
Food for thought.
A recently completed study from the Georgetown University Medical Center has found “novel evidence that pentamer selectively inhibits proliferation of human breast cancer cell lines.”
Pentamer is a type of procyanidin – which is a kind of flavonoid – and is found in chocolate. The compound “seems to work “ on lab-grown cancer cells – inhibiting the cell multiplication.
If further research proves it to be truly effective, it would obviously be a wonderfully useful ( and cost-effective ) aid to therapy – but the team stress that the studies are at a very early stage - and point out that it “ does not mean that people who eat chocolate will either reduce their cancer risks or treat a current case ”
Who paid for the research ? A company called Masterfoods ( think Mars™, M&M’s™, Snickers™ etc etc ).
In fact, one of the ‘co-authors’ of the paper is actually an employee of the company.
To be clear, we don’t see any reason why a manufacturer should not fund – and help to write - such research, and it’s made very apparent in the documentation that this was the case. But would it perhaps have been more initially persuasive if the university had made the discovery completely independently ?
Whatever the research driving force, we can now add chocolate to the list of highly marketable foodstuffs which have been highlighted as potentially invaluable ( medically ) by university studies in the last three or four years :
Red wine
White wine
Beer
Coffee
Tea
Etc.
Etc.
We're still waiting for Gin and Tonic.
see: http://gumc.georgetown.edu
comments
?18 APR 05
Informatics discussed.
“We are trying to relate the analytic thinking required in focused conference sessions, to the synthetic thinking, required for analogies generation, which calls for multi-focus domain and divergent thinking.” - Say the organisers of the 2005 WMSCI conference. ( World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics ) to be held in Orlando, Florida July 10th to 13th.
Can't imagine why, but it seems that some mischievous folks have been submitting ‘bogus’ research papers ( otherwise known as gobbledegook ) for discussion at the conference – and at least one was accepted . . .
The paper, entitled “ Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy “ was, in reality, randomly generated by software.
Once the hoax became clear, the organisers refunded the submission fee and withdrew the authors’ invitation to speak at the conference – claiming that it had been accepted on a ‘non-reviewed’ basis . . .
Doh !
Now the ‘authors’ ( from MIT ) have put their handy resource on-line – so that anyone can generate their own ‘computer science research paper’ Give it a try. We did – and came up with a suitably impressive five pages complete with diagrams, flow-charts, and citations - entitled : “Constructing a Search Using Unstable Archetypes”
see:
http://www.pdos.lcs.mit.edu/scigen/
comments ?16 APR 05
Spam in Space.
There are now more than 12,300 manmade ‘ trackable junk objects ’ orbiting Earth. These are objects larger than 10cm across. Pieces smaller than 10cm ? Unknown (vast) quantity.
A piece of space junk the size of a grain of rice can easily put a very swift end to a spacecraft, satellite, or astronaut. Today the European Space Agency (ESA) have issued a press release which clearly describes the problems and points out that the time for action – to prevent further additions to the junk, and clean up what’s there – is long overdue.
As they say , "Call your space agency, and tell them: 'My kids want to travel in space in 30 years and I don't want you guys spoiling it'.”
They’ve issued the press release now because of the upcoming Fourth European Conference on Space Debris, which will be held at Darmstadt, Germany ,18-20 April 2005.
The conference ( predictably perhaps ) is not open to the public, but will allow some 200 experts on space junk from across the world to exchange views, and ‘ discuss policy issues, regulations and legal aspects ‘.
Whilst it’s obviously worthwhile and commendable to organise discussions, it’s plain that cleaning up the junk is going to be a very long job, and will require an astronomical budget. The task in hand is to remove decades-worth of irresponsible junk-dumping – who is going to pay for it ?
Our prediction is that in real-world practical terms, very little is going to be done about clearing up the problem. There have already been three such conferences, and yet as we pointed out recently – dumping is still going on more or less unabated.
The meeting will hold a press conference on the 20th April to reveal the expert’s plans – let’s hope our pessimistic prediction is wrong.
comments ?15 APR 05
Drawing the line at eyebrows.
If the proprietor of your local record store has a ‘facial piercing’ you probably wouldn’t be overly surprised or bothered about it – but what if your doctor has one ?
A recent survey at a curiously anonymous “ Teaching hospital in the southeastern United States.” investigated the idea, and found that nose and lip piercings only found favour amongst 24% and 22% ( respectively ) of respondents.
Males with earrings fared slightly better at 35% - but nose and eyebrows were definitely not favoured – at a mere 5% or so.
Conclusions ? “ Many patrons and physicians feel that some types of nontraditional piercings are inappropriate attire for physicians “
Futhermore, “ Health care providers should understand that attire may affect a patient's opinion about their abilities and possibly erode confidence in them as a clinician.”
See ‘Journal of General Internal Medicine’ article
entitled “Should Physicians Have Facial Piercings ?”
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com
comments ?14 APR 05
Hit and miss.
Whether you’re the type of person who thinks that the glass is half full – or half empty – might affect your appreciation of the ‘Torino Scale’ – the rating system used to describe threats posed by asteroids.
The ‘hazard index’ was devised at a conference in Turin ( Torino ) in 1999 – actually a revision of a previous scale from MIT. Now it’s been revised yet again.
This time to make it less worrying for the man or woman in the street. So, for example, the ‘green zone’ (1) which used to read “Events meriting careful monitoring” , has now become “condition normal”.
Orange zone (6) used to be “ A close encounter, with a significant threat of a collision capable of causing a global catastrophe “ – has now been changed to “ A close encounter by a large object posing a serious but still uncertain threat of a global catastrophe “
Reassured? The scale itself is, in fact, unchanged, just the new descriptions vary.
There are reckoned to be a few billion NEO’s ( Near Earth Objects ) out there – many orbiting at 100,000 K.p.h. A small percentage ( a few thousands ) have orbits which are now tracked and logged. But the vast majority are completely unknown.
The Torino scale can of course only be applied to NEO’s which have already been picked up by land or space based telescopes.
Unfortunately for us, the odds are heavily stacked so that the chances of us spotting a potentially dangerous one a long way in advance are fairly low. It’s far more likely to turn up completely unannounced. The time between hitting the Earth’s upper atmosphere ( which we’d certainly notice ) and then the surface, is about one minute.
To give an idea of the scale of things, the last substantially-sized asteroid impact which we’ve been able to observe in any detail was ‘Nucleus G’ – part of the Gene / Shoemaker asteroid which hit Jupiter in 1994, caused damage reckoned to be equivalent to 6,000,000,000,000 tonnes of TNT.
Ooops.
New scale :
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/torino_scale.html
Old scale and history :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torino_scale
comments
?13 APR 05
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
“ products from cloned animals are not different . . .”
( source : BBC TV interview with Prof. X.Yang, University of Connecticut )
comments ?12 APR 05(late edition)
Humo(u)r in Ohio.
The International Society of Humor Studies (ISHS) has published a ‘tentative schedule’ of its 2005 conference which will take place on 13th – 17th June 2005. To be held at Youngstown State University, Ohio.
There will be a selection of workshops and seminars : such as -
“Do Different Kinds of Humor Style Predict Influenza-Like Symptoms?”
“Effects of Complexity-Related Variables in the cognitive Processing and Appreciation of One-Liners and One-Panel Cartoons”
“Sibling Humor in Dyadic Bath-time Exchanges”
“Pretense and Echoic Mention for Defining Verbal Irony”
“Contaminated Logic: The Forced AND/OR Operator in Humor”
Seminars cost $30 ( or $50 for two ) – includes free entry to a post-seminars
buffet at a local watering hole (menu: chicken wings and beer - vegetarian
option available). See :
http://www.ishs2005.com/
After a few beers there will also be an open mic joke-telling contest . . .
There were two old humo(u)r analysts sitting in deckhairs, one says “ It’s nice out today isn’t it ? “ the other says “ [ deleted deleted deleted deleted ] "
comments
?12 APR 05
Optimising pet holidays.
Planning a holiday ? Don’t be selfish and consider just your own needs – think about your pets too.
Iowa State University has just issued some helpful guidelines on pet-holiday-planning. They’ve pinpointed several problem areas – things which can often get overlooked, or left until too late. Ideally you should start the planning process some six months before you leave. ( maybe longer if your pet is a ferret )
For example, when you do travel, don’t forget to pack items for your pet alongside your own. The university recommends, for instance, that you take along a supply of water – from your place of residence – so that your pet ” doesn't have to adjust to water with a different taste or mineral make-up “. And, don’t forget to pack toys and the favourite blanket or pillow.
Pet safety during transit is also an issue – and the researchers recommend that you “ buy a good quality seat harness for your big dog and teach it to sit with a seatbelt on ”. Needless to say “ Do not leave any living thing in a parked car for any period of time “.
For full deatils see:
http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral
We’d like to add our own extra suggestion. If you’re thinking of an outdoor-activity break, why not check out the possibility of investing in an 'SUV off-roader pet-stroller’ ? As the manufactures point out “ Natural and unnatural environments aren't always safe for pets these days ”
Imagine the possibilities with your SUV pet-stroller . . .
“ - on your next adventure allow your pet to safely join in - whether over grass, beach, bumpy city sidewalks, or forest trails . . . “
comments
?11 APR 05
Sino N expansion.
The Chinese government have announced plans to build 40 new nuclear power stations over the next 15 years. See Chicago Tribune :
Unlike the rest of the world, they do have a solution for getting rid of the tens of thousands of tons of high/med/low -level waste which the stations will generate.
It’s called Tibet.
The Dalai Lama has been campaigning for decades to draw attention to the dumps which already exist there due to past N efforts.
Ten years ago the Chinese government admitted that the dumps existed – after some thirty years of denials. So the D.L. is making good progress, from a Zen point of view . . .
comments
?10 APR 05
Back to the treadmill.
There have been studies in the past which found that just thinking about exercising, or simply watching TV shows of other people getting fit, can help to make you fit.
But new research from the Medical College of Georgia has pointed us back to a more basic ( and we’d hazard to say ‘more effective’ ) approach.
They have discovered that “Adolescents who get daily vigorous physical activity tend to be leaner and fitter than their less active peers”
They made their finding with the use of a treadmill, a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry machine, and 421 students.
“The implication is that you need to do vigorous activity if you want to be lean” say the researchers.
comments
?08 APR 05
Vertical transporter sales remain horizontal.
BBC news pointed out yesterday that the Segway personal transporter has not exactly been going down a bomb in the UK.
The device didn’t quite explode onto the street-scene, and, since its launch, sales somehow didn’t shoot up as they were expected to.
According to the gizmo’s UK distributor BAE systems , only 50 or so are estimated ‘to be in the country’ ( presumably this figure includes demo models and samples etc )
The BBC piece tried to find some plausible reasons for the low sales, citing the price-tag and the fact that the transporters can’t legally be driven on UK pavements ( sidewalks ).
We have no idea why the transporter hasn’t taken off in Britain, but we can suggest a ’thought experiment‘ which we like to do from time to time . . .
Imagine a Segway on the main street near where you live – which rider fits most neatly into your mental picture – James Bond or Mr. Bean ?
p.s.
Readers might be wondering why it is that BAE systems – the fourth weapons supplier on the planet – might have taken on the task of promoting the chirpy and harmless Segway ? Could it be that it’s because the core component of its unique and innovative balancing system is the SiVSG® – a mini gyro made and supplied by none other than BAE ?
The silicon gyro was designed as a ‘gun hard’ guidance device which could withstand being fired from military artillery. As their website says, " the SiVSG® brings cruise missile level accuracy to artillery shells for the first time.” . . .
Unfortunately, it seems that the transporter's projected sales trajectory is still falling far short of its target.
Update 08 APR If you’d like to try
a tranporter for yourself, why not consider a Segway tour of central
Amsterdam ? ( tours awaiting legal clarification ) For bookings / details
see : http://glide.cc/english/index.html
comments ?07 APR 05
Nouveau cuisine not a big hit with 2-year-olds.
Continuing our food theme - research published last month from the University of Birmingham ( UK ) found that very young children are surprisingly vigilant and choosy when it comes to the food they like to eat.
Dr. Gillian Harris, a specialist in ‘food fussiness’ in children ( and adolescents ) also made the discovery that infants who are weaned onto foods such as rusks tend to go on to develop a preference for beige coloured foods.
Bearing in mind the current ‘obesity epidemic’ which is sweeping the ‘developed world’, it might be a good idea not to encourage kids to cultivate a liking for beige-ness - crisps, chips, burger-buns etc etc.
To bypass possible future problems, the doctor’s advice is simply that parents should give children the same food ( where possible ) that they are eating ( provided, of course, it’s a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables ).
You’ll
need to make an early start though, because once ‘fussiness’ patterns
have been established, they are very hard to get around. If you were thinking
of trying to fool your two-year-old into thinking that a brussel sprout is
an exotic form of chocolate biscuit – forget it.
See: http://www.newscentre.bham.ac.uk
comments
?06 APR 05
Bottomless bowls.
New research from the University of Illinois has proved ( once again ) that people will eat more if more is put in front of them.
This particular study looked at soup consumption, and found that diners who had their bowls surreptitiously re-filled got through an astonishing 73% more soup than those without the refills.
As we’ve insinuated, this is far from the first time that such a “ put it in front of ‘em and they’ll eat it “ study has been carried out – but there is one very intriguing aspect to this particular work – how to fill someone’s soupbowl without them noticing ?
The researchers used special bowls which were ‘ slowly refilled through tubing connected to out-of-sight soup cauldrons.’
Errrr
. . . How does that work ? Wouldn’t it be a touch obvious if your bowl
was connected to a length of tubing ?
We have no idea, and, disappointingly, the press release doesn’t go into detail.
see:
Professor Brian Wansink, who headed the research, is becoming something of a world expert on soup psychology - he also carried out a study in 2000 which found that “people's soup choices reflect their personality types ”.
Examples ? The study pinpointed the fact that diners who liked chicken noodle soup, were likely to be church-goers and were fond of pets ( though inclined to be stubborn ).
Contrastingly, tomato soup lovers tended to be adventurous, sociable, and keen on books.
Want another helping ? see:
http://www.news.uiuc.edu/
comments ?05 APR 05
April the 1st has long gone
so that can’t explain this from the BBC today –
It attempts to outline the latest suggestions from the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), regarding the disposal of the vast amount of radioactive waste which has accumulated in the UK over the last fifty years or so.
The article reveals that the current thinking is that it should be stored either -
A): above ground – or
B): below ground.
Needless to say these proposals are just at the ‘idea stage’ at present. But the committee is embarking on a programme of ‘ Public and Stakeholder Engagement ’ – which means that they’d like to hear any ideas from the industry or the public – as their chairman says :
"This is an exciting time for CoRWM. We want to listen to everyone's thoughts be they members of the public, environmental groups, local authorities, waste managers or regulators."
Before you send in your concepts though, you should be aware that some have already been ‘officially dropped’. So, for example the idea of shooting it into deep space is out – it would have been a bit tricky anyway since the UK will need to get rid of nearly half a million cubic metres of material .
Burying it in ‘ice sheets’ is also out. The Inuit will no doubt be pleased to hear that.
It would be hard to overstate the scale of the problem – As CoRWM point out – “These wastes are hazardous and will continue to be hazardous for thousands of years. The costs and risks of their management will be borne by the British people for generations to come “
So . . . got any ideas ? If so register at http://www.corwm.org.uk/
( You could also attend some of the ‘public and stakeholder events’ which are open meetings to be held across the UK from now until December - details on the website).
Some numbers :
The average distance from a UK resident to a site where waste is currently stored ? – 42 kms.
The quantity of plutonium currently being 'looked after' in the UK ? - 70 tonnes.
Enough to make how many Nagasaki - sized weapons ? – 11,000 (no, that's not a typo - eleven thousand )
Current number solutions to the problem ? - 0
Update may 16th 05 :
'Secret' sites for dumps soon to be revelead says the Sunday Times,
see: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
comments
?04 APR 05
Hay - benefits of.
Spring is in the air. In half the world at least. Wild flowers are appearing in the alpine meadows of Obermaiselstein – so maybe you could treat yourself to some hay soup at the Berwanger Hof hotel restaurant ?
The hay, which is collected from high alpine areas ( and is not used for animal grazing or subjected to fertilisers ) is used as a basis for soups, but also for seasoning savoury dishes and making imaginative grassy desserts - and after your dinner you can even enjoy some hay-derived schnapps.
The hotel also provides various ‘wellness’ therapies ( based on hay of course ) so you can soak in a hay bath - and later spend the night on a hay bed, etc etc.
We’re not sure of the scientific rationale underlying the ideas, but, as everyone knows, various plants certainly contain chemicals which ‘aid relaxation’ – maybe hay does too.
See: http://www.berwanger-hof.info
Note : website plays a continuous loop of music - which might leave you wanting some therapy . . .
Further unexpected uses for grass, see:
http://www.primidi.com/2005/04/02
comments
?02 APR 05
Higgs' Boson ‘ discovered ’
It’s not every day that a news item like this one turns up. Two independent researchers from Kangmere College are claiming that they have beaten CERN to the discovery of the Higgs' Boson – the enigmatic particle which is believed to endow all other atomic particles with mass.
Rather than using a ‘brute force’ uber-expensive particle accelerator like the one which CERN is currently building, the researchers have chosen a novel experimental route which, it has to be said, is a little reminiscent of the famous cold fusion 'discoveries' of the 90’s.
In their experiment, Kangmere used a supercooled palladium ‘core’ embedded in a D2O doped ceramic matrix, which they periodically blasted with high energy ultra-short electron pulses.
According
to Prof. S. Hayes, who headed the project -
“ We operate the paladium core at near-absolute zero. During the pulse – the effects of which actually decay after just a few picoseconds – we measure the weight – the mass to be exact – of the target. We have shown that it loses approximately 7% of its mass, and then regains it when the pulse dies away..”
The researchers are claiming that what they call a ‘ Higgs Exclusion Event ‘ may be responsible for the temporary loss of mass. If we have understood correctly, the theory is that the Higgs' Bosons are somehow temporarily shielded from the other particles making up the core.
Prof. Hayes is being cautious about the results though, and is calling on other researchers to duplicate the work and confirm – or disprove – the results.
As he says “ . . . I haven’t cleared a space in my office for the Nobel prize yet ! “
Wise man.
For full details see today's press release here
comments
?01 APR 05
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