Inventor - World-of-Newave.info

Inventor - World-of-Newave.info http://answers.world-of-newave.info/inventor.htm Latest news and articles about Inventor en-us Copyright (c)2004-2008.§/Newave SARL. All rights reserved. webmaster@world-of-newave.com (Webmaster) Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:32:47 GMT Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:32:47 GMT Newave Lisa XML Engine v1.0 - http://www.world-of-newave.info/about.htm 60 http://www.world-of-newave.info/images/wi8831.gif World-of-Newave.info - Knowledge and Informational Database http://www.world-of-newave.info/ 88 31 {SCIENCE > ENVIRONMENT} - The eco machine that can magic water out of thin air http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/environment/the-eco-machine-that-can-magic-water-out-of-thin-air-20081198826.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/science/environment/the-eco-machine-that-can-magic-water-out-of-thin-air-20081198826.htm Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:06:33 GMT Water, Water, everywhere; nor any drop to drink. The plight of the Ancient Mariner is about to be alleviated thanks to a firm of eco-inventors from Canada who claim to have found the solution to the world's worsening water shortages by drawing the liquid of life from an unlimited and untapped source - the air.The company, Element Four, has developed a machine that it hopes will become the first mainstream household appliance to have been invented since the microwave. Their creation, the WaterMill, uses the electricity of about three light bulbs to condense moisture from the air and purify it into clean drinking water.The machine went on display this weekend in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, hosted by Wired magazine at its annual showcase of the latest gizmos its editors believe could change the world. From the outside, the mill looks like a giant golf ball that has been chopped in half: it is about 3ft in diameter, made of white plastic, and is attached to the wall.It works by drawing air through filters to remove dust and particles, then cooling it to just below the temperature at which dew forms. The condensed water is passed through a self-sterilising chamber that uses microbe-busting UV light to eradicate any possibility of Legionnaires' disease or other infections. Finally, it is filtered and passed through a pipe to the owner's fridge or kitchen tap.The obvious question to the proposition that household water demands can be met by drawing it from the air is: are you crazy? To which the machine's inventor and Element Four's founder, Jonathan Ritchey, replies: 'Just wait and see. The demand for water is off the chart. People are looking for freedom from water distribution systems that are shaky and increasingly unreliable.'For the environmentally conscious consumer, the WaterMill has an obvious appeal. Bottled water is an ecological catastrophe. In the US alone, about 30bn litres of bottled water is consumed every year at a cost of about $11bn (£7.4bn). According to the Earth Policy Institute, about 1.5m barrels of oil - enough to power 100,000 cars for a year - is used just to make the plastic. The process also uses twice as much water as fits inside the container, not to mention the 30m bottles that go into landfills every day in the US. But the mill also has downsides, not least its $1,200 cost when it goes on sale in America, the UK, Italy, Australia and Japan in the spring. In these credit crunch times that might dissuade many potential buyers, though Ritchey points out that at $0.3 per litre, it is much cheaper than bottled water and would pay for itself in a couple of years. There is also the awkward fact that although there is eight times more atmospheric water than in all the rivers of the world combined, it is unevenly distributed. Those areas of the US that are most desperate for more water - such as the arid south-west where ground water levels are already dramatically depleted - have the lowest levels of moisture in the air.The mill ceases to be effective below about 30 per cent relative humidity levels, which are common later in the day in states such as Arizona. To combat that problem, the machine has an intelligent computer built into it that increases its output at dawn when humidity is highest, and reduces it from mid-afternoon when a blazing sun dries the air.WaterClimate changeGreen technologyClimate changeUnited Statesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Guardian.Co.Uk The eco machine that can magic water out of thin air ^{{new window}} Www.Guardian.Co.Uk - Water, Water, everywhere; nor any drop to drink. The plight of the Ancient Mariner is about to be alleviated thanks to a firm of eco-inventors from Canada who claim to have found the solution to the world's worsening water shortages by drawing the liquid of life from an unlimited and untapped source - the air.The company, Element Four, has developed a machine that it hopes will become the first mainstream household appliance to have been invented since the microwave. Their creation, the WaterMill, uses the electricity of about three light bulbs to condense moisture from the air and purify it into clean drinking water.The machine went on display this weekend in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, hosted by Wired magazine at its annual showcase of the latest gizmos its editors believe could change the world. From the outside, the mill looks like a giant golf ball that has been chopped in half: it is about 3ft in diameter, made of white plastic, and is attached to the wall.It works by drawing air through filters to remove dust and particles, then cooling it to just below the temperature at which dew forms. The condensed water is passed through a self-sterilising chamber that uses microbe-busting UV light to eradicate any possibility of Legionnaires' disease or other infections. Finally, it is filtered and passed through a pipe to the owner's fridge or kitchen tap.The obvious question to the proposition that household water demands can be met by drawing it from the air is: are you crazy? To which the machine's inventor and Element Four's founder, Jonathan Ritchey, replies: 'Just wait and see. The demand for water is off the chart. People are looking for freedom from water distribution systems that are shaky and increasingly unreliable.'For the environmentally conscious consumer, the WaterMill has an obvious appeal. Bottled water is an ecological catastrophe. In the US alone, about 30bn litres of bottled water is consumed every year at a cost of about $11bn (£7.4bn). According to the Earth Policy Institute, about 1.5m barrels of oil - enough to power 100,000 cars for a year - is used just to make the plastic. The process also uses twice as much water as fits inside the container, not to mention the 30m bottles that go into landfills every day in the US. But the mill also has downsides, not least its $1,200 cost when it goes on sale in America, the UK, Italy, Australia and Japan in the spring. In these credit crunch times that might dissuade many potential buyers, though Ritchey points out that at $0.3 per litre, it is much cheaper than bottled water and would pay for itself in a couple of years. There is also the awkward fact that although there is eight times more atmospheric water than in all the rivers of the world combined, it is unevenly distributed. Those areas of the US that are most desperate for more water - such as the arid south-west where ground water levels are already dramatically depleted - have the lowest levels of moisture in the air.The mill ceases to be effective below about 30 per cent relative humidity levels, which are common later in the day in states such as Arizona. To combat that problem, the machine has an intelligent computer built into it that increases its output at dawn when humidity is highest, and reduces it from mid-afternoon when a blazing sun dries the air.WaterClimate changeGreen technologyClimate changeUnited Statesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

The eco machine that can magic water out of thin air | Environment | The Observer {...} Canadian firm of eco-inventors claims to have found the solution to the world's worsening water shortages {...}

Published: November 23, 2008, 12:06 am - Indexed: November 23, 2008, 1:37 pm - Page Size: 80KB

Category: Science > Environment

]]> Science > Environment {EUROPE > COMPUTERS AND INTERNET} - XML daddy eyes code riding storage metal http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/business-and-economy/computers-and-internet/xml-daddy-eyes-code-riding-storage-metal-20081155524.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/business-and-economy/computers-and-internet/xml-daddy-eyes-code-riding-storage-metal-20081155524.htm Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:21:04 GMT The 'stressed stack' future QCon 2009 Tim Bray, co-inventor of XML and Sun Microsystems? Director of Web Technologies, found himself manning ?the hangover slot? to give the morning keynote at day-two of the Qcon developer conference in San Francisco on Thursday.? Theregister.Co.Uk XML daddy eyes code riding storage metal ^{{new window}} Www.Theregister.Co.Uk - The 'stressed stack' future QCon 2009 Tim Bray, co-inventor of XML and Sun Microsystems? Director of Web Technologies, found himself manning ?the hangover slot? to give the morning keynote at day-two of the Qcon developer conference in San Francisco on Thursday.?

XML daddy eyes code riding storage metal ? The Register {...}

Published: November 22, 2008, 4:21 am - Indexed: November 23, 2008, 1:59 pm - Page Size: 25KB

Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > Business and Economy > Computers and Internet

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > Business and Economy > Computers and Internet {NEWS > BREAKING NEWS} - Gallery: The First Decades of Seeing the Unseen http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/gallery-the-first-decades-of-seeing-the-unseen-20081132917.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/gallery-the-first-decades-of-seeing-the-unseen-20081132917.htm Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:00:00 GMT : Photo courtesy San Francisco Museum of Modern ArtWhat are the social consequences when science allows us to see things that had previously been invisible? Scientists have revealed microscopic life, nanoscale molecules and galaxies billions of light-years away. These images have revolutionized the disciplines in which they were made, but they also transformed the public's imagination, giving common people new things to think and dream about. The intertwined social, scientific and artistic impacts of 19th century photography is the subject of a new exhibit, Brought to Light Photography and the Invisible, 1840-1900, at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art. This gallery looks at some of the more astounding images and stories from the exhibit. Left: Hermann Schnauss, Electrograph of a brass wire gauge, 1900 As the men of industry attempted to harness electricity for profit, the public ? which knew electricity primarily as lightning ? had to be persuaded that this powerful, invisible force was something to invite into their homes. Electrographs like this one, produced by exposing a photographic negative with electricity, helped the public visualize and understand the mysterious electromagnetic waves that scientists were discovered populating the air. "This is a moment where [scientists] are trying to harness electricity for practical purposes, but the general public was kind of skeptical," said Corey Keller, curator of the Brought to Light exhibit. "Their experiences with electricity were generally through lighting, which they knew could burn things down and kill you, if you weren't careful. So a great deal of time and money was spent trying to make electricity understandable and approachable." : Photo courtesy SFMOMAIn the early history of photography, capturing motion was out of the question. The photographic negatives of the time were not sensitive enough to light to be exposed over the short time periods required to capture fast action. "If you look at 19th century cityscapes, you would think that Armageddon had taken place. You don't see any people," Keller said. "It's not that they aren't there, it's just that they don't show up because they walked through too quickly." But by the end of the 1870s, more sensitive negatives brought motion within reach. Edward Muybridge was one of the first photographers to take advantage of the new abilities. In this photo, we see one of Muybridge's motion studies: two men boxing in jock straps. Historians note that despite the scientific trappings, Muybridge's work was just art; it did not produce good scientific evidence about bodies' movements. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAThe ability to capture motion in photography opened up a previously invisible source of scientific data. Etienne-Jules Marey was a scientist trying to understand biomechanics, or the motion of the body, and he used photography to acquire information he couldn't get any other way, as in this photograph of a man on a stationary bicycle. "What happens in this picture is that each split second exposure is layered on top of each other, so you get the sense of the full arc of the motion," Keller said. "And he's put a piece of tape down the arm and torso and the leg where the joints articulated, so as the leg went around and around the whole pedal stroke is outlined." This wasn't just to create beautiful pictures; Marey was on a committee in France to improve the ergonomics of the newly popular bicycle. "So by studying the motion of the leg, he would have been able to improve the engineering of the bicycle," Keller concluded. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAWhile forward-looking scientists like Marey were using photography to understand, for example, how animals moved, as in this photo, others were less enthused about this new technology. In particular, photographers' ability to capture images beyond what the human eye could perceive called into question an important tenet of 19th century science. "What's amazing is that this is a moment where empirical observation in science is the most important thing, that idea of objective observation. And this kind of photography proved how completely useless a human observer was," said Keller. "So you end up with this photographic data that cant' be corroborated in any other way. It exists independently of any kind of perceptual experience." Technology's ability to capture detail and motion more accurately than our eyes has only accelerated, of course, as anyone who has seen incredible ultra-slow-motion YouTube videos can attest. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAWhen William Roentgen announced his discovery of X-rays, a photo of his wife's hand accompanied his paper as it made its way into the scientific community. Over the next few years, images like this one of a skeletal hand with the ring came to symbolize X-rays. Practically, the hand is relatively flat and therefore easy to X-ray, but it was the aesthetics and grim-reaper symbolism that Keller said hit a nerve with the upper classes. "It became fashionable to have an X-ray portrait taken of your hand," she said, calling attention to x-ray hand portraits of the last tsar of Russia and his wife. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAThe discovery of X-rays also touched off a lower-brow commercial craze. Within three months, DIY X-ray kits were available on the market. Photographers, who had access to most of the tools needed to make the images, began to train this new form of light on just about anything that might be beautiful. "They were X-raying everything just to see what it looked like," Keller said. One stunning example is this X-ray of a foot in a shoe from 1897. In fact, the connection between X-rays and extremities has remained strong. Even into the 1960s, shoe stores kept X-ray machines in their lobbies, both as marketing tools and to help their salesmen fit their patrons' feet correctly. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAThroughout the second-half of the 19th century, photographers strived to unite the camera with the telescope. The moon, in particular, held a lasting fascination for astronomers and artists alike. Imaging the moon, after all, was an immensely difficult task. The Earth rotates and the moon is actually a relatively faint object. It wasn't until John Adams Whipple and George Phillips Bond figured out how to rotate their camera ever so slightly to cancel out Earth's movement that simple images of our only satellite became possible. What's interesting is that despite the fascination with creating pictures of the moon, like this striking image created in Spain, the images didn't add much for science beyond what detailed drawings could already do. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAIf you wanted close-up photos of the moon any time before the Apollo missions, you were pretty much out of luck. Unless, of course, you built incredibly detailed plaster models of lunar craters and then snapped carefully lit pictures of them. And that's exactly what an engineer and astronomer did in 1874 to tremendous acclaim. James Nasmyth, the inventor of the steam hammer, and James Carpenter, then at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, released a hugely successful book, The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite, illustrated by their incredible moon mock-ups. The august journal Nature gave the book a rapturous review. "No more truthful or striking representations of natural objects than those here presented have ever been laid before his readers by any student of Science," the reviewer wrote. But what's really appealing about the images isn't their "truthfulness" but their "truthiness." "Astronomers were perfectly aware of what they were looking at," Keller said. "But they felt that because they were photographed, it added a layer of authenticity to the undertaking that simple drawings didn't have." : Photo courtesy SFMOMAAt the other end of the scale of size from the moon, other photographers were pushing their discipline into the microscopic realm. They had to devise new emulsion chemistries and types of equipment to capture clear images of tiny things. Leading the charge was Auguste-Adolphe Bertsch, who worked to overcome any challenge that scientists threw at him. Unfortunately, he died during social unrest in France in 1871, and his images lay in a photographic archive until Keller brought them to the US for the exhibition. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAEven as they solved technical challenges, the photomicrographers faced social resistance. The idea of representing a specific living thing instead of a generalized abstraction of an organism forced scientists to let go of long-held notions about their discipline. "Prior to the 19th century, the scientific illustrations tend to represent a type, an ideal. So if you were going to do a picture of a flower, for example, the illustrator would look at 20 flowers and then take the common features and make an ideal flower," said Keller. "So, if that particular one happens to have a defective petal or something peculiar to it, you never really know: Does that photograph substitute then for that type of flower in general, or does it only represent that one specimen?" While it may have posed a challenge for scientists of the 19th century, it's the unique nature of each photograph taken during this early period that wows us, even now. Wired.Com Gallery: The First Decades of Seeing the Unseen ^{{new window}} Www.Wired.Com - : Photo courtesy San Francisco Museum of Modern ArtWhat are the social consequences when science allows us to see things that had previously been invisible? Scientists have revealed microscopic life, nanoscale molecules and galaxies billions of light-years away. These images have revolutionized the disciplines in which they were made, but they also transformed the public's imagination, giving common people new things to think and dream about. The intertwined social, scientific and artistic impacts of 19th century photography is the subject of a new exhibit, Brought to Light Photography and the Invisible, 1840-1900, at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art. This gallery looks at some of the more astounding images and stories from the exhibit. Left: Hermann Schnauss, Electrograph of a brass wire gauge, 1900 As the men of industry attempted to harness electricity for profit, the public ? which knew electricity primarily as lightning ? had to be persuaded that this powerful, invisible force was something to invite into their homes. Electrographs like this one, produced by exposing a photographic negative with electricity, helped the public visualize and understand the mysterious electromagnetic waves that scientists were discovered populating the air. "This is a moment where [scientists] are trying to harness electricity for practical purposes, but the general public was kind of skeptical," said Corey Keller, curator of the Brought to Light exhibit. "Their experiences with electricity were generally through lighting, which they knew could burn things down and kill you, if you weren't careful. So a great deal of time and money was spent trying to make electricity understandable and approachable." : Photo courtesy SFMOMAIn the early history of photography, capturing motion was out of the question. The photographic negatives of the time were not sensitive enough to light to be exposed over the short time periods required to capture fast action. "If you look at 19th century cityscapes, you would think that Armageddon had taken place. You don't see any people," Keller said. "It's not that they aren't there, it's just that they don't show up because they walked through too quickly." But by the end of the 1870s, more sensitive negatives brought motion within reach. Edward Muybridge was one of the first photographers to take advantage of the new abilities. In this photo, we see one of Muybridge's motion studies: two men boxing in jock straps. Historians note that despite the scientific trappings, Muybridge's work was just art; it did not produce good scientific evidence about bodies' movements. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAThe ability to capture motion in photography opened up a previously invisible source of scientific data. Etienne-Jules Marey was a scientist trying to understand biomechanics, or the motion of the body, and he used photography to acquire information he couldn't get any other way, as in this photograph of a man on a stationary bicycle. "What happens in this picture is that each split second exposure is layered on top of each other, so you get the sense of the full arc of the motion," Keller said. "And he's put a piece of tape down the arm and torso and the leg where the joints articulated, so as the leg went around and around the whole pedal stroke is outlined." This wasn't just to create beautiful pictures; Marey was on a committee in France to improve the ergonomics of the newly popular bicycle. "So by studying the motion of the leg, he would have been able to improve the engineering of the bicycle," Keller concluded. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAWhile forward-looking scientists like Marey were using photography to understand, for example, how animals moved, as in this photo, others were less enthused about this new technology. In particular, photographers' ability to capture images beyond what the human eye could perceive called into question an important tenet of 19th century science. "What's amazing is that this is a moment where empirical observation in science is the most important thing, that idea of objective observation. And this kind of photography proved how completely useless a human observer was," said Keller. "So you end up with this photographic data that cant' be corroborated in any other way. It exists independently of any kind of perceptual experience." Technology's ability to capture detail and motion more accurately than our eyes has only accelerated, of course, as anyone who has seen incredible ultra-slow-motion YouTube videos can attest. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAWhen William Roentgen announced his discovery of X-rays, a photo of his wife's hand accompanied his paper as it made its way into the scientific community. Over the next few years, images like this one of a skeletal hand with the ring came to symbolize X-rays. Practically, the hand is relatively flat and therefore easy to X-ray, but it was the aesthetics and grim-reaper symbolism that Keller said hit a nerve with the upper classes. "It became fashionable to have an X-ray portrait taken of your hand," she said, calling attention to x-ray hand portraits of the last tsar of Russia and his wife. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAThe discovery of X-rays also touched off a lower-brow commercial craze. Within three months, DIY X-ray kits were available on the market. Photographers, who had access to most of the tools needed to make the images, began to train this new form of light on just about anything that might be beautiful. "They were X-raying everything just to see what it looked like," Keller said. One stunning example is this X-ray of a foot in a shoe from 1897. In fact, the connection between X-rays and extremities has remained strong. Even into the 1960s, shoe stores kept X-ray machines in their lobbies, both as marketing tools and to help their salesmen fit their patrons' feet correctly. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAThroughout the second-half of the 19th century, photographers strived to unite the camera with the telescope. The moon, in particular, held a lasting fascination for astronomers and artists alike. Imaging the moon, after all, was an immensely difficult task. The Earth rotates and the moon is actually a relatively faint object. It wasn't until John Adams Whipple and George Phillips Bond figured out how to rotate their camera ever so slightly to cancel out Earth's movement that simple images of our only satellite became possible. What's interesting is that despite the fascination with creating pictures of the moon, like this striking image created in Spain, the images didn't add much for science beyond what detailed drawings could already do. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAIf you wanted close-up photos of the moon any time before the Apollo missions, you were pretty much out of luck. Unless, of course, you built incredibly detailed plaster models of lunar craters and then snapped carefully lit pictures of them. And that's exactly what an engineer and astronomer did in 1874 to tremendous acclaim. James Nasmyth, the inventor of the steam hammer, and James Carpenter, then at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, released a hugely successful book, The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite, illustrated by their incredible moon mock-ups. The august journal Nature gave the book a rapturous review. "No more truthful or striking representations of natural objects than those here presented have ever been laid before his readers by any student of Science," the reviewer wrote. But what's really appealing about the images isn't their "truthfulness" but their "truthiness." "Astronomers were perfectly aware of what they were looking at," Keller said. "But they felt that because they were photographed, it added a layer of authenticity to the undertaking that simple drawings didn't have." : Photo courtesy SFMOMAAt the other end of the scale of size from the moon, other photographers were pushing their discipline into the microscopic realm. They had to devise new emulsion chemistries and types of equipment to capture clear images of tiny things. Leading the charge was Auguste-Adolphe Bertsch, who worked to overcome any challenge that scientists threw at him. Unfortunately, he died during social unrest in France in 1871, and his images lay in a photographic archive until Keller brought them to the US for the exhibition. : Photo courtesy SFMOMAEven as they solved technical challenges, the photomicrographers faced social resistance. The idea of representing a specific living thing instead of a generalized abstraction of an organism forced scientists to let go of long-held notions about their discipline. "Prior to the 19th century, the scientific illustrations tend to represent a type, an ideal. So if you were going to do a picture of a flower, for example, the illustrator would look at 20 flowers and then take the common features and make an ideal flower," said Keller. "So, if that particular one happens to have a defective petal or something peculiar to it, you never really know: Does that photograph substitute then for that type of flower in general, or does it only represent that one specimen?" While it may have posed a challenge for scientists of the 19th century, it's the unique nature of each photograph taken during this early period that wows us, even now.

See the latest multimedia and applications including videos, animations, podcasts, photos, and slideshows on Wired.com {...}

Published: November 22, 2008, 2:00 am - Indexed: November 23, 2008, 12:50 pm - Page Size: 38KB

Category: News > Breaking News

]]> News > Breaking News {COMPUTERS > NEWS AND MEDIA} - Kurzweil: "Technology is a double-edged sword" http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/news-and-media/kurzweil-technology-is-a-double-edged-sword-20081162419.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/computers/news-and-media/kurzweil-technology-is-a-double-edged-sword-20081162419.htm Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:54:02 GMT Q&A: Ray Kurzweil, inventor and futurist on the Turing Test, human vs machine intelligence, why being funny is clever, and the dangers of advanced technologies... Management.Silicon.Com Kurzweil: "Technology is a double-edged sword" ^{{new window}} Management.Silicon.Com - Q&A: Ray Kurzweil, inventor and futurist on the Turing Test, human vs machine intelligence, why being funny is clever, and the dangers of advanced technologies...

Kurzweil: "Technology is a double-edged sword" - Management - Breaking Business and Technology News at silicon.com {...} Q&A: Ray Kurzweil, inventor and futurist on the Turing Test, human vs machine intelligence, why being funny is clever, and the dangers of advanced technologies... Inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil was ranked 14th in this year's silicon.com Agenda Setters list. {...}

Published: November 19, 2008, 12:54 pm - Indexed: November 21, 2008, 11:46 am - Page Size: 90KB

Category: Computers > News and Media

]]> Computers > News and Media {EUROPE > MUSEUMS} - National Portrait Gallery And Harris Museum Purchase Rare Arkwright Portrait http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/arts-and-entertainment/museums/national-portrait-gallery-and-harris-museum-purchase-20081177229.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/arts-and-entertainment/museums/national-portrait-gallery-and-harris-museum-purchase-20081177229.htm Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT The NPG and the Harris Museum in Preston have purchased a portrait of the British engineer and inventor Sir Richard Arkwright by Joseph Wright of Derby. 24hourmuseum.Org.Uk National Portrait Gallery And Harris Museum Purchase Rare Arkwright Portrait ^{{new window}} Www.24hourmuseum.Org.Uk - The NPG and the Harris Museum in Preston have purchased a portrait of the British engineer and inventor Sir Richard Arkwright by Joseph Wright of Derby.

National Portrait Gallery And Harris Museum Purchase Rare Arkwright Portrait - 24 Hour Museum - official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage {...} 24 Hour Museum is the UK's official guide to over 3,000 museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage attractions. 24 Hour Museum offers daily arts news, exhibition reviews, listings and in-depth online trails, as well as having a comprehensive, fully searchable, database of over 3,000 cultural institutions. {...}

Published: November 17, 2008, 12:00 am - Indexed: November 18, 2008, 10:37 am - Page Size: 43KB

Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > Arts and Entertainment > Museums

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > Arts and Entertainment > Museums {LITERATURE > CYBERPUNK} - Fan powered flying car http://articles.world-of-newave.info/arts/literature/genres/cyberpunk/fan-powered-flying-car-20081193013.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/arts/literature/genres/cyberpunk/fan-powered-flying-car-20081193013.htm Wed, 12 Nov 2008 04:00:34 GMT Charles Platt pointed me to this Times Online article about a fan-poweerd flying car. The British inventor is going to fly it from London to Timbuktu. ?This thing will launch itself without any pilot input,? says Cardozo. ?You just open it up and it goes. The more power you put on, the faster you go until you come off the ground [at 35mph]. The wing will basically lock above you [once airborne] and stay there, without weaving, at speeds of up to 80mph.? Fully road-legal - the car passed the government?s single vehicle approval test last month - and designed to run on bioethanol, Cardozo?s Skycar is powered by a modified 140bhp Yamaha R1 superbike engine with a lightweight automatic CVT (continuously variable transmission) gear-box from a snowmobile. It boasts Ferrari-beating acceleration on land, an air speed of up to 80mph and can swap between road and flight modes in minutes. The flying car... Boingboing.Net Fan powered flying car ^{{new window}} Www.Boingboing.Net - Charles Platt pointed me to this Times Online article about a fan-poweerd flying car. The British inventor is going to fly it from London to Timbuktu. ?This thing will launch itself without any pilot input,? says Cardozo. ?You just open it up and it goes. The more power you put on, the faster you go until you come off the ground [at 35mph]. The wing will basically lock above you [once airborne] and stay there, without weaving, at speeds of up to 80mph.? Fully road-legal - the car passed the government?s single vehicle approval test last month - and designed to run on bioethanol, Cardozo?s Skycar is powered by a modified 140bhp Yamaha R1 superbike engine with a lightweight automatic CVT (continuously variable transmission) gear-box from a snowmobile. It boasts Ferrari-beating acceleration on land, an air speed of up to 80mph and can swap between road and flight modes in minutes. The flying car...

Fan powered flying car - Boing Boing {...}

Published: November 12, 2008, 4:00 am - Indexed: November 12, 2008, 8:37 am - Page Size: 49KB

Category: Arts > Literature > Genres > Cyberpunk

]]> Arts > Literature > Genres > Cyberpunk {NEWS > BREAKING NEWS} - Gallery: Buck Rogers Stuff From the 20th Century http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/gallery-buck-rogers-stuff-from-the-20th-century-20081189411.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/gallery-buck-rogers-stuff-from-the-20th-century-20081189411.htm Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:00:00 GMT : Anthony "Buck" Rogers first burst from writer Philip Nowlan's imagination in 1928, when the intrepid spaceman appeared in "Armageddon ? 2419," a story published in Amazing Stories magazine. From his pulp roots, the character developed into an influential American hero on the airwaves and the silver screen. Subsequent space swashbucklers like Brick Bradford and Flash Gordon took a cue from Buck Rogers' sci-fi adventures. Buck took to the radio Nov. 7, 1932, with the first broadcast of The World in 2432. The radio show launched Buck and his female co-pilot, Wilma Deering, into the nation's living rooms, introducing such sci-fi staples as spaceships and death rays. Take a look at the 25th century in this gallery of images showing various incarnations of Buck Rogers over the years. Left: Nowlan's hero makes his second appearance in Amazing Stories, this time landing on the cover of the March 1929 issue. : The Buck Rogers in the 25th Century comic strip debuted Jan. 7, 1929, with a Sunday page appearing a year later. The strip, which was initially written by Nowlan and drawn by Dick Calkins, appeared in more than 400 newspapers around the world at the height of its popularity. It didn't stop running until 1967. In the strips as well as the Amazing Stories novellas, Buck Rogers is a World War I veteran, a former U.S. Air Service pilot who is later trapped by a mine cave-in and put in suspended animation by radioactive gas. After 500 years, he awakens to save America from "Mongol" invaders and other enemies. : This cover graced a licensed, full-color reissue of a rare Buck Rogers in the 25th Century book. The original was printed in 1933 and distributed as a breakfast-cereal premium. : This publicity photo plugged the original Buck Rogers radio show. Voice actors Matt Crowley, Curtis Arnall, Carl Frank and John Larkin brought Buck to life during the show's 15-year run. Adele Ronson played Buck's co-pilot, Wilma Dearing, and Edgar Stehli portrayed scientist-inventor Dr. Huer. : 1939's 12-part Buck Rogers serial film thrust Buster Crabbe into the title role. Universal Pictures mined the comic strip for inspiration, but changed Buck's origin story. In the movie version, Buck and George "Buddy" Wade crash a dirigible over the North Pole, but survive thanks to experimental "Nirvano Gas," which keeps them alive for 500 years after an avalanche. : Buck Rogers and his fellow space adventurers inspired toy ray guns in seemingly endless variety. : Jackie Moran, left, played George "Buddy" Wade in the 1939 serial film Buck Rogers. Former Flash Gordon star Buster Crabbe played the title role. : In the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century television show, Buck was a NASA pilot frozen for five centuries after a malfunction by his space shuttle's life-support system. Again, he is miraculously revived in the 25th century. The TV show borrowed from producer Glen A. Larson's previous show, Battlestar Galactica, and attempted to cash in on the success of Star Wars. The show ran from 1979 to 1981 on NBC. : Actor Gilbert "Gil" Gerard played the space hero in the 1979-81 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century television series. : Actress Erin Gray played Col. Wilma Deering in the 1979-81 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV show. : In the 1979-81 television series, Buck Rogers got a robotic sidekick named Twiki. : A radio-controlled Twiki toy surely frightened a child or two in the early '80s. : Like other sci-fi shows of the era, the Buck Rogers TV series spawned action figures. : Sega brought Buck into the arcades with 1982's space-shooter videogame Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom. See also: Toy Ray Gun Collection Ray Gun Maestro Zaps Steampunk Convention Wired.Com Gallery: Buck Rogers Stuff From the 20th Century ^{{new window}} Www.Wired.Com - : Anthony "Buck" Rogers first burst from writer Philip Nowlan's imagination in 1928, when the intrepid spaceman appeared in "Armageddon ? 2419," a story published in Amazing Stories magazine. From his pulp roots, the character developed into an influential American hero on the airwaves and the silver screen. Subsequent space swashbucklers like Brick Bradford and Flash Gordon took a cue from Buck Rogers' sci-fi adventures. Buck took to the radio Nov. 7, 1932, with the first broadcast of The World in 2432. The radio show launched Buck and his female co-pilot, Wilma Deering, into the nation's living rooms, introducing such sci-fi staples as spaceships and death rays. Take a look at the 25th century in this gallery of images showing various incarnations of Buck Rogers over the years. Left: Nowlan's hero makes his second appearance in Amazing Stories, this time landing on the cover of the March 1929 issue. : The Buck Rogers in the 25th Century comic strip debuted Jan. 7, 1929, with a Sunday page appearing a year later. The strip, which was initially written by Nowlan and drawn by Dick Calkins, appeared in more than 400 newspapers around the world at the height of its popularity. It didn't stop running until 1967. In the strips as well as the Amazing Stories novellas, Buck Rogers is a World War I veteran, a former U.S. Air Service pilot who is later trapped by a mine cave-in and put in suspended animation by radioactive gas. After 500 years, he awakens to save America from "Mongol" invaders and other enemies. : This cover graced a licensed, full-color reissue of a rare Buck Rogers in the 25th Century book. The original was printed in 1933 and distributed as a breakfast-cereal premium. : This publicity photo plugged the original Buck Rogers radio show. Voice actors Matt Crowley, Curtis Arnall, Carl Frank and John Larkin brought Buck to life during the show's 15-year run. Adele Ronson played Buck's co-pilot, Wilma Dearing, and Edgar Stehli portrayed scientist-inventor Dr. Huer. : 1939's 12-part Buck Rogers serial film thrust Buster Crabbe into the title role. Universal Pictures mined the comic strip for inspiration, but changed Buck's origin story. In the movie version, Buck and George "Buddy" Wade crash a dirigible over the North Pole, but survive thanks to experimental "Nirvano Gas," which keeps them alive for 500 years after an avalanche. : Buck Rogers and his fellow space adventurers inspired toy ray guns in seemingly endless variety. : Jackie Moran, left, played George "Buddy" Wade in the 1939 serial film Buck Rogers. Former Flash Gordon star Buster Crabbe played the title role. : In the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century television show, Buck was a NASA pilot frozen for five centuries after a malfunction by his space shuttle's life-support system. Again, he is miraculously revived in the 25th century. The TV show borrowed from producer Glen A. Larson's previous show, Battlestar Galactica, and attempted to cash in on the success of Star Wars. The show ran from 1979 to 1981 on NBC. : Actor Gilbert "Gil" Gerard played the space hero in the 1979-81 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century television series. : Actress Erin Gray played Col. Wilma Deering in the 1979-81 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV show. : In the 1979-81 television series, Buck Rogers got a robotic sidekick named Twiki. : A radio-controlled Twiki toy surely frightened a child or two in the early '80s. : Like other sci-fi shows of the era, the Buck Rogers TV series spawned action figures. : Sega brought Buck into the arcades with 1982's space-shooter videogame Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom. See also: Toy Ray Gun Collection Ray Gun Maestro Zaps Steampunk Convention

See the latest multimedia and applications including videos, animations, podcasts, photos, and slideshows on Wired.com {...}

Published: November 7, 2008, 2:00 am - Indexed: November 11, 2008, 12:04 pm - Page Size: 38KB

Category: News > Breaking News

]]> News > Breaking News {NEWS > BREAKING NEWS} - Nov. 6, 1928: All the News That's Lit http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/nov-6-1928-all-the-news-that-s-lit-2008114365.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/news/breaking-news/nov-6-1928-all-the-news-that-s-lit-2008114365.htm Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT 1928: The New York Times begins flashing headlines to pedestrians outside its offices at 1 Times Square, using an electronic news strip that wraps around the fourth floor of the building. The Motograph News Bulletin, or "zipper" as it was known informally, was a technological marvel of its day. It extended 380 feet around the Times Tower and, with a band 5-feet tall, the moving letters were visible from a distance of several city blocks. A Times column from 2005 described how inventor Frank C. Reilly's remarkable sign worked: Inside the control room, three cables poured energy into transformers. The hookup to all the bulbs totaled 88,000 soldered connections. Messages from a ticker came to a desk beside a cabinet like the case that contained type used by old-time compositors. The cabinet contained thin slabs called letter elements. An operator composed the message letter-by-letter in a frame. The frame, when filled with the letters and spaces that spelled out a news item, was inserted in a magazine at one end of a track. A chain conveyor moved the track, and each letter in the frame brushed a number of contacts. Each contact set a light flashing on Broadway. Reilly, the Times said, calculated that there were 261,925,664 flashes an hour from the zipper's 14,800 bulbs. It was the first use anywhere of the zipper, which was itself big news on a big news day. A headline in the Nov. 6 edition of the Times declared: Huge Times Sign Will Flash News. It also happened to be election day, and the zipper's first streaming headline announced a new president: HERBERT HOOVER DEFEATS AL SMITH Less than a year later, the zipper would be flashing the collapse of the stock market and the events that brought on the Great Depression. Throughout the 20th century, historic moments became frozen as zipper headlines in the national consciousness: PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT IS DEAD OFFICIAL: TRUMAN ANNOUNCES JAPANESE SURRENDER PRESIDENT KENNEDY SHOT DEAD IN DALLAS MAN ON MOON NIXON RESIGNS In between monumental news events, the zipper kept churning out the headlines, which later included weather forecasts and sports scores. Even before the advent of the zipper, Times Square was a mighty crossroads, home to theaters and restaurants that kept the district humming 24 hours a day. Illuminated signs began springing up with such profusion that even in the early 1900s Broadway and Times Square were referred to as The Great White Way. The first neon sign in Times Square -- advertising the automaker Willys-Overland -- appeared in 1924. But the zipper, with its streaming headlines, was something new and arresting. When the Times left 1 Times Square in 1963 for its new building on West 43rd Street, New York Newsday took over running the zipper. But as modern Times Square gradually vanished into an orgy of commerce, punctuated by garish neon and LED displays that make midnight feel like high noon, technology had clearly passed the zipper by. Newsday was ready to pull the plug in 1994, but the zipper was saved when a British company picked up the lease at the midnight hour. As 1 Times Square, like every other building in the area, was gradually buried in an avalanche of modern signage, the old zipper was acquired by Dow Jones and given a complete face lift. What was once the Motograph News Bulletin is now one of several high-resolution displays on Times Square, distinguishable from the others only by the use of amber LEDs. Source: Various Wired.Com Nov. 6, 1928: All the News That's Lit ^{{new window}} Www.Wired.Com - 1928: The New York Times begins flashing headlines to pedestrians outside its offices at 1 Times Square, using an electronic news strip that wraps around the fourth floor of the building. The Motograph News Bulletin, or "zipper" as it was known informally, was a technological marvel of its day. It extended 380 feet around the Times Tower and, with a band 5-feet tall, the moving letters were visible from a distance of several city blocks. A Times column from 2005 described how inventor Frank C. Reilly's remarkable sign worked: Inside the control room, three cables poured energy into transformers. The hookup to all the bulbs totaled 88,000 soldered connections. Messages from a ticker came to a desk beside a cabinet like the case that contained type used by old-time compositors. The cabinet contained thin slabs called letter elements. An operator composed the message letter-by-letter in a frame. The frame, when filled with the letters and spaces that spelled out a news item, was inserted in a magazine at one end of a track. A chain conveyor moved the track, and each letter in the frame brushed a number of contacts. Each contact set a light flashing on Broadway. Reilly, the Times said, calculated that there were 261,925,664 flashes an hour from the zipper's 14,800 bulbs. It was the first use anywhere of the zipper, which was itself big news on a big news day. A headline in the Nov. 6 edition of the Times declared: Huge Times Sign Will Flash News. It also happened to be election day, and the zipper's first streaming headline announced a new president: HERBERT HOOVER DEFEATS AL SMITH Less than a year later, the zipper would be flashing the collapse of the stock market and the events that brought on the Great Depression. Throughout the 20th century, historic moments became frozen as zipper headlines in the national consciousness: PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT IS DEAD OFFICIAL: TRUMAN ANNOUNCES JAPANESE SURRENDER PRESIDENT KENNEDY SHOT DEAD IN DALLAS MAN ON MOON NIXON RESIGNS In between monumental news events, the zipper kept churning out the headlines, which later included weather forecasts and sports scores. Even before the advent of the zipper, Times Square was a mighty crossroads, home to theaters and restaurants that kept the district humming 24 hours a day. Illuminated signs began springing up with such profusion that even in the early 1900s Broadway and Times Square were referred to as The Great White Way. The first neon sign in Times Square -- advertising the automaker Willys-Overland -- appeared in 1924. But the zipper, with its streaming headlines, was something new and arresting. When the Times left 1 Times Square in 1963 for its new building on West 43rd Street, New York Newsday took over running the zipper. But as modern Times Square gradually vanished into an orgy of commerce, punctuated by garish neon and LED displays that make midnight feel like high noon, technology had clearly passed the zipper by. Newsday was ready to pull the plug in 1994, but the zipper was saved when a British company picked up the lease at the midnight hour. As 1 Times Square, like every other building in the area, was gradually buried in an avalanche of modern signage, the old zipper was acquired by Dow Jones and given a complete face lift. What was once the Motograph News Bulletin is now one of several high-resolution displays on Times Square, distinguishable from the others only by the use of amber LEDs. Source: Various

Get the latest in science news, including space, physics, planet earth, discoveries, NASA, satellites, and space travel from Wired.com {...}

Published: November 6, 2008, 5:00 am - Indexed: November 7, 2008, 9:34 am - Page Size: 50KB

Category: News > Breaking News

]]> News > Breaking News {AUTOS > MAGAZINES AND E-ZINES} - Startup Turns CO2 Into Fuel http://articles.world-of-newave.info/recreation/autos/magazines-and-e_zines/startup-turns-co2-into-fuel-2008115903.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/recreation/autos/magazines-and-e_zines/startup-turns-co2-into-fuel-2008115903.htm Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:24:57 GMT Researchers developing alternatives to fossil fuels are working with everything from algaeto babassu oil to corn, but a California company says it can recycle carbon dioxide into fuel. Carbon Sciencesclaims it has developed a way of using the CO2 emitted during the combustion of coal, oil and other hydrocarbons to create transportation fuels like gasoline and jet fuel. Should Carbon Sciences ? or any of the other firms working on similar projects ? accomplish this on a large scale, it could bring a reduction in CO2 emissions as well as an abundant supply of renewable fuel. "We are very excited about our novel process to transform CO2 into fuel," says company CEO Derek McLeish. "Based on our research to date, we believe that we will be able to demonstrate our technology within the next several months with a prototype that can convert a stream of CO2 into an immediately flammable liquid fuel." Fossil fuels are comprised of chains of hydrogen and carbon atoms called, appropriately, hydrocarbons. The more carbon atoms in the chain, the greater its energy content. Gasoline, for example, has seven to 10 carbon atoms, while jet fuel has 10 to 16. When those hydrocarbons are burned, they release carbon dioxide. Theoretically, the carbon dioxide could be split and its carbon atoms used to make more hydrocarbons. But CO2 is very stable and breaking it up requires so much heat and pressure that it has not been economically viable. Carbon Sciences says it has solved that problem. "We're very excited by what we've seen in the lab," McLeish told CNN. "We've had some promising results." The company says its "C02-to-Fuel" technology uses CO2 to create ethane, propane and methane, three run-of-the mill hydrocarbons used to make high-grade gasoline and other fuels. The key to the process is biocatalysis, a process where natural catalysts are used to perform chemical reactions. Biocatalysis is a more energy efficient and cost-effective way to break down CO2, making the possibility of a large-scale ramp up economically feasible. The approach uses a low energy biocatalytic hydrolysis process that splits water molecules into hydrogen atoms and hydroxide ions, says Dr. Naveed Aslam, the company's chief technology officer and inventor of the process. The hydrogen is used to create hydrocarbons, while the free electrons in the hydroxide are used to fuel the biocatalytic process, he says. The process "is based on natural organic chemistry processes that occur in all living organisms where carbon atoms, extracted from CO2, and hydrogen atoms extracted from H2O, are combined to create hydrocarbon molecules using biocatalysts and small amounts of energy." As for collecting the CO2, Carbon Sciences won't just erect a big filter in the sky and hope for the best. The idea is to set up shop alongside oil refineries and and coal plants and capture the CO2 such facilities generate. Carbon Sciences isn't the only outfit seeking viable ways to recycle carbon dioxide. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratory have developed a way to use sunlight to convert CO2 into fuel. Newcastle University researchers can use CO2 to create chemical compounds called cyclic carbonates. The compounds are used in many solvents and also could be used as an additive to make gasoline burn more efficiently. The potential benefits of this technology should not be understated. Not only would it capture greenhouse gases otherwise released into the atmosphere, but it would create a renewable source of fuel. "This is about closing the cycle," Ellen Stechel, manager of Sandia's Fuels and Energy Transitions department, told us earlier this yearas she discussed the lab's Sunlight to Petrol project. "Right now our fossil fuels are emitting CO2. This would help us manage and reduce our emissions and put us on the path to a carbon-neutral energy system." Michael North, a professor of organic chemistry at Newcastle University, notes that renewable sources of hydrocarbons would benefit much more than the transportation sector. "People don't seem to realize that ten percent of everything that comes out of an oil well doesn't go to the fuel industry ? it drives the chemical industry," he tells CNN. "Not only are we facing a fuel crisis, but the entire chemical industry is likely to cease to exist. So we desperately need to find ways of making chemical materials out of CO2." Post updated 12:30 p.m. PST. Photo by Flickr user Senor Codo . Blog.Wired.Com Startup Turns CO2 Into Fuel ^{{new window}} Blog.Wired.Com - Researchers developing alternatives to fossil fuels are working with everything from algaeto babassu oil to corn, but a California company says it can recycle carbon dioxide into fuel. Carbon Sciencesclaims it has developed a way of using the CO2 emitted during the combustion of coal, oil and other hydrocarbons to create transportation fuels like gasoline and jet fuel. Should Carbon Sciences ? or any of the other firms working on similar projects ? accomplish this on a large scale, it could bring a reduction in CO2 emissions as well as an abundant supply of renewable fuel. "We are very excited about our novel process to transform CO2 into fuel," says company CEO Derek McLeish. "Based on our research to date, we believe that we will be able to demonstrate our technology within the next several months with a prototype that can convert a stream of CO2 into an immediately flammable liquid fuel." Fossil fuels are comprised of chains of hydrogen and carbon atoms called, appropriately, hydrocarbons. The more carbon atoms in the chain, the greater its energy content. Gasoline, for example, has seven to 10 carbon atoms, while jet fuel has 10 to 16. When those hydrocarbons are burned, they release carbon dioxide. Theoretically, the carbon dioxide could be split and its carbon atoms used to make more hydrocarbons. But CO2 is very stable and breaking it up requires so much heat and pressure that it has not been economically viable. Carbon Sciences says it has solved that problem. "We're very excited by what we've seen in the lab," McLeish told CNN. "We've had some promising results." The company says its "C02-to-Fuel" technology uses CO2 to create ethane, propane and methane, three run-of-the mill hydrocarbons used to make high-grade gasoline and other fuels. The key to the process is biocatalysis, a process where natural catalysts are used to perform chemical reactions. Biocatalysis is a more energy efficient and cost-effective way to break down CO2, making the possibility of a large-scale ramp up economically feasible. The approach uses a low energy biocatalytic hydrolysis process that splits water molecules into hydrogen atoms and hydroxide ions, says Dr. Naveed Aslam, the company's chief technology officer and inventor of the process. The hydrogen is used to create hydrocarbons, while the free electrons in the hydroxide are used to fuel the biocatalytic process, he says. The process "is based on natural organic chemistry processes that occur in all living organisms where carbon atoms, extracted from CO2, and hydrogen atoms extracted from H2O, are combined to create hydrocarbon molecules using biocatalysts and small amounts of energy." As for collecting the CO2, Carbon Sciences won't just erect a big filter in the sky and hope for the best. The idea is to set up shop alongside oil refineries and and coal plants and capture the CO2 such facilities generate. Carbon Sciences isn't the only outfit seeking viable ways to recycle carbon dioxide. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratory have developed a way to use sunlight to convert CO2 into fuel. Newcastle University researchers can use CO2 to create chemical compounds called cyclic carbonates. The compounds are used in many solvents and also could be used as an additive to make gasoline burn more efficiently. The potential benefits of this technology should not be understated. Not only would it capture greenhouse gases otherwise released into the atmosphere, but it would create a renewable source of fuel. "This is about closing the cycle," Ellen Stechel, manager of Sandia's Fuels and Energy Transitions department, told us earlier this yearas she discussed the lab's Sunlight to Petrol project. "Right now our fossil fuels are emitting CO2. This would help us manage and reduce our emissions and put us on the path to a carbon-neutral energy system." Michael North, a professor of organic chemistry at Newcastle University, notes that renewable sources of hydrocarbons would benefit much more than the transportation sector. "People don't seem to realize that ten percent of everything that comes out of an oil well doesn't go to the fuel industry ? it drives the chemical industry," he tells CNN. "Not only are we facing a fuel crisis, but the entire chemical industry is likely to cease to exist. So we desperately need to find ways of making chemical materials out of CO2." Post updated 12:30 p.m. PST. Photo by Flickr user Senor Codo .

Startup Turns CO2 Into Fuel | Autopia from Wired.com {...} Researchers developing alternatives to fossil fuels are working with everything from algae to babassu oil to corn, but a California company says it can recycle carbon dioxide into fuel. Carbon {...}

Indexed: November 1, 2008, 10:24 am - Page Size: 102KB

Category: Recreation > Autos > Magazines and E-zines

]]> Recreation > Autos > Magazines and E-zines {LITERATURE > CYBERPUNK} - Dean Kamen Q&A: American culture needs a geek overhaul http://articles.world-of-newave.info/arts/literature/genres/cyberpunk/dean-kamen-q-a-american-culture-needs-a-geek-overhaul-20081080433.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/arts/literature/genres/cyberpunk/dean-kamen-q-a-american-culture-needs-a-geek-overhaul-20081080433.htm Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:46:16 GMT (Popular Mechanics editor-in-chief, Jim Meigs (left) and inventor Dean Kamen.) Andrew Moseman says: Dean Kamen is famous for inventing the AutoSyringe, the portable dialysis machine, the iBOT self-balancing wheelchair, and, of course, the Segway human transporter. But he is most passionate when talking about his nonprofit organization, FIRST, which tries to get kids excited about science and technology by having them build 120-pound robots to slug it out on a rough-and-tumble field of play. "We're not competing with science fairs, we're competing with Britney Spears and Shaquille O'Neal" for the attention of teenagers, Kamen said. The FIRST game changes every year?in 2008, teams raced 40-in. balls around a track. Kamen spoke with Popular Mechanics editor-in-chief Jim Meigs and an audience of journalists and FIRST competitors at the magazine's headquarters, in New York City's Hearst Tower. Kamen's core message: American culture needs a geek overhaul. What do you think is the most important science and technology issue to be addressed by the next president? What's the biggest issue he should take on? Is it energy? Genomics? Is it bird flu? Is it the polar caps?are they really melting? Is it terrorism? You pick the crisis du jour: The answer to all these issues is going to be an educated, competent global society. This country ought to lead the world, for lots of reasons. And we ought to help the rest of the world get educated, because if they are educated, their impact on the environment is actually way less. If they are educated, they'll have better ideas than killing each other or killing you and me. The next president should recognize the power of technology. Technology is how we create wealth, how we cure diseases, how we'll build an environment that's sustainable and also gives people the capacity to pull more out of this world and still leave it better than when they found it. You know, people always talk about rights in this country?I wish we had a bill of responsibilities. So I think the president has to stop thinking of the crisis du jour and say, "In this race between education and catastrophe, we need education to win." The next president better make sure that all kids are part of the solution, not part of the problem. And with 50 percent of the kids in the 20 largest school districts in the country not graduating high school, they're part of the problem. This is unsustainable. It has to change. Read the rest here: Dean Kamen on education... Boingboing.Net Dean Kamen Q&A: American culture needs a geek overhaul ^{{new window}} Www.Boingboing.Net - (Popular Mechanics editor-in-chief, Jim Meigs (left) and inventor Dean Kamen.) Andrew Moseman says: Dean Kamen is famous for inventing the AutoSyringe, the portable dialysis machine, the iBOT self-balancing wheelchair, and, of course, the Segway human transporter. But he is most passionate when talking about his nonprofit organization, FIRST, which tries to get kids excited about science and technology by having them build 120-pound robots to slug it out on a rough-and-tumble field of play. "We're not competing with science fairs, we're competing with Britney Spears and Shaquille O'Neal" for the attention of teenagers, Kamen said. The FIRST game changes every year?in 2008, teams raced 40-in. balls around a track. Kamen spoke with Popular Mechanics editor-in-chief Jim Meigs and an audience of journalists and FIRST competitors at the magazine's headquarters, in New York City's Hearst Tower. Kamen's core message: American culture needs a geek overhaul. What do you think is the most important science and technology issue to be addressed by the next president? What's the biggest issue he should take on? Is it energy? Genomics? Is it bird flu? Is it the polar caps?are they really melting? Is it terrorism? You pick the crisis du jour: The answer to all these issues is going to be an educated, competent global society. This country ought to lead the world, for lots of reasons. And we ought to help the rest of the world get educated, because if they are educated, their impact on the environment is actually way less. If they are educated, they'll have better ideas than killing each other or killing you and me. The next president should recognize the power of technology. Technology is how we create wealth, how we cure diseases, how we'll build an environment that's sustainable and also gives people the capacity to pull more out of this world and still leave it better than when they found it. You know, people always talk about rights in this country?I wish we had a bill of responsibilities. So I think the president has to stop thinking of the crisis du jour and say, "In this race between education and catastrophe, we need education to win." The next president better make sure that all kids are part of the solution, not part of the problem. And with 50 percent of the kids in the 20 largest school districts in the country not graduating high school, they're part of the problem. This is unsustainable. It has to change. Read the rest here: Dean Kamen on education...

Dean Kamen Q&A: American culture needs a geek overhaul - Boing Boing {...}

Published: October 29, 2008, 4:46 pm - Indexed: October 30, 2008, 7:13 pm - Page Size: 77KB

Category: Arts > Literature > Genres > Cyberpunk

]]> Arts > Literature > Genres > Cyberpunk