The Dirty Secrets In Using Wind Power

Photo from Mettaefficient

Wind Power's Dirty Little Secrets -- The Daily Bayonet

A California court tells the naked and ugly truth about a proposed PG&E wind farm, the Manzana Wind Project:

We reject the application because we find that the Manzana Wind Project is not cost-competitive and poses unacceptable risks to ratepayers. We find that the proposed cost of the Manzana Wind Project is significantly higher than other resources PG&E can procure to meet its RPS program goal. Moreover, it will subject the ratepayers to unacceptable risks due to potential cost increases resulting from project under-performance, less than forecasted project life, and any delays which might occur concerning transmission upgrades and commercial online date.

Read more ....

My Comment: More evidence on why wind power cannot be relied upon.

Say Hello To 8 Great Unsolved Mysteries

Science's 8 Greatest Unsolved Mysteries: Progress Report -- Popular Science

In the year 2000, PM asked how eight of the most profound questions in science might (optimistically) be answered before the dawn of the 22nd century. So where are we now, a decade later? Here's the skinny on some of science's greatest mysteries—from attaining immortality and the search for alien life to traveling through time.

The advances in science made over the past hundred years have been nothing short of astounding: We've split the atom and gone to the moon, spliced open the genome and saved countless lives with medicines. Yet as far as we've come, we have a long way to go. We continue to grapple with realties beyond our understanding, from the inner workings of our bodies to the intrinsic mechanics of the universe.

Read more ....

My Comment: I am sure these mysteries will be solved one day .... but not today.

What Can Go Wrong With An Internet "Off" Switch?

Dropped Connection Turning off the Internet could shut down financial networks, and it wouldn't be easy to turn them back on Jamie Sneddon

What Could Possibly Go Wrong: An Internet "Off" Switch -- Popular Science

The last time someone could shut down the Internet was probably in 1969, when it consisted of two computers. But in recent years, concerned with the possibility of a “cyberattack,” Congress has been exploring such an option.

Read more ....

My Comment: The last paragraph is the best point in this report ....

.... A more subtle (or cash-strapped) cyberterrorist might simply fake a cyberattack that would trick the U.S. itself into flipping the switch. No one really knows what would happen then—not only would e-mails go undelivered, but ATMs, stock exchanges and the flow of funds of all kinds could be disrupted. And then we would still face another challenge: how to turn the thing back on.

Indeed.

Shark Nations Failing On Conservation Pledges

Governments are supposed to "encourage full utilisation of dead sharks" - but fins are targeted.

From The BBC:

Many countries whose fishing fleets catch large numbers of sharks have failed to meet a 10-year-old pledge on conserving the species, a report says.

The wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic and the Pew Environment Group say most of the main shark fishing nations do not manage fisheries well.

Ten years ago, governments agreed a global plan to conserve sharks.

An estimated 100 million sharks are killed each year, with nearly a third of species at risk of extinction.

Read more ....

My Comment: Shark fin soup is a delicacy that many people love to order (myself included). Until this changes .... and rising prices probably will change people's desire for this delicacy .... sharks will always be threatened with extinction.

NASA Honors Astronauts Lost From Apollo, Shuttles

From ABC News:

NASA marks Day of Remembrance to honor 17 fallen astronauts; Apollo fire, 2 shuttle accidents.

NASA is pausing Thursday to remember the 17 astronauts lost in the line of duty.

The so-called Day of Remembrance — always the last Thursday of January — takes on special meaning this year. Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the shuttle Challenger launch disaster.

Flags will fly at half-staff at NASA centers nationwide Thursday. In addition, NASA officials will lay wreathes at various memorials to honor the dead.

Read more ....

My Comment: They will forever be remembered.

Sharing A Bed with Fido Can Make You Sick

Women are more likely than men to report sleeping in the same bed with their dog, according to a 2005 study by the American Kennel Club. Credit: Dreamstime.

From Live Science:

Sleeping with, kissing and being licked by your pet can make you sick. Although they are not common, documented cases show people contracting infections by getting too cozy with their animals, according to work by researchers in California.

These so-called zoonoses include contracting plague from flea-infested pets, a MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infection, a bacterial infection resistant to multiple strains of antibiotics originating from the canine family, and various parasitic worms.

Read more ....

My Comment: I had a dog for 14 years .... and they are telling me this now.

A Physicist Explains Why Parallel Universes May Exist

From NPR:

Our universe might be really, really big — but finite. Or it might be infinitely big.

Both cases, says physicist Brian Greene, are possibilities, but if the latter is true, so is another posit: There are only so many ways matter can arrange itself within that infinite universe. Eventually, matter has to repeat itself and arrange itself in similar ways. So if the universe is infinitely large, it is also home to infinite parallel universes.

Does that sound confusing? Try this:

Think of the universe like a deck of cards.

Read more ....

My Comment: Reading articles like this one makes me realize how insignificant I am in this universe.

No Leftovers for Tyrannosaurus Rex: New Evidence That T. Rex Was Hunter, Not Scavanger

Artist's rendition of Tyrannosaurus rex. (Credit: iStockphoto)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2011) — Tyrannosaurus rex hunted like a lion, rather than regularly scavenging like a hyena, reveals new research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The findings end a long-running debate about the hunting behaviour of this awesome predator.

Read more ....

My Comment: I feel hungry already.

Are We Becoming More Stupid? Human Brain Has Been 'Shrinking For The Last 20,000 Years'

Old big head: A 3D image replica of a 28,000-year-old skull found in France shows it was 20 per cent larger than ours

From The Daily Mail:

It's not something we'd like to admit, but it seems the human race may actually be becoming increasingly dumb.

Man's brain has been gradually shrinking over the last 20,000 years, according to a new report.

This decrease in size follows two million years during which the human cranium steadily grew in size, and it's happened all over the world, to both sexes and every race.

Read more ....

My Comment: Are we devolving?

Language And Toolmaking Evolved Together, Say Researchers

Researchers say early humans were limited by brain power not manual dexterity when making stone age tools. Photograph: David Sillitoe/Guardian

From Popular Mechanics:

Evolutionary advance saw stone-age humans master the art of hand-toolmaking and paved the way for language to develop.

Stone-age humans mastered the art of elegant hand-toolmaking in an evolutionary advance that boosted their brain power and potentially paved the way for language, researchers say.

The design of stone tools changed dramatically in human pre-history, beginning more than two million years ago with sharp but primitive stone flakes, and culminating in exquisite, finely honed hand axes 500,000 years ago.

Read more ....

Europe Simulates Total Cyber War

From The BBC:

Essential web services have come under simulated attack as European nations test their cyber defences.

The first-ever cross-European simulation of an all out cyber attack was planned to test how well nations cope as the attacks slow connections.

The simulation steadily reduced access to critical services to gauge how nations react.

The exercise also tested how nations work together to avoid a complete shut-down of international links.

Read more ....

Google Limits Facebook Access to Gmail Contacts

From The Wall Street Journal:

Google Inc. is launching a salvo against Facebook Inc., saying it will no longer allow the social network to grab information about Google users' social and professional contacts in Gmail, Google's email service.

Google has always allowed Google users to transfer data, including their contacts, to other websites. Until now, new Facebook users could find out whether their contacts on Gmail also had Facebook accounts, simply by typing in their Gmail user name and password as part of the Facebook signup process.

Read more ....

Are Holograms The Next Step For 3D Tech?

Holograms, once seen only in science-fiction movies, are swiftly becoming a reality. Newscom

From Christian Science Monitor:

3D TV sets and 3D movies are everywhere in 2010. 3D holograms could be next.

Forget regular old 3D movies, which have crowded the marketplace with alarming alacrity in recent months. Forget even 3D TV. How about a 3D hologram – a three-dimensional telepresence, of the kind once seen only in the most speculative of science-fiction flicks? The technology might be even closer than you think.

The current issue of the science journal Nature features an extensive report from a group of Arizona researchers who succeeded in creating a real-time image – one that can be viewed without glasses – from multiple angles. (Just like in "Star Wars"!) The image, the researchers said, is recorded using a battery of cameras:

Read more ....

Atlantic Current Backward During Ice Age

The Gulf Stream brings warm surface water northwards from the tropics to high latitudes, where it cools, sinks and flows southwards at depth. Changes in this Atlantic 'meridional overturning circulation' (MOC) would have profound implications for climate. Credit: National Oceanography Centre

From Cosmos:

SYDNEY: The Atlantic Ocean current, which may be affected by future climate change, today takes heat north to Europe but 10,000 years ago it was weaker and flowed in the opposite direction.

"[The opposite flow in the Atlantic Ocean] explains the presence of huge ice sheets in Europe and North America during that cold climatic period," said César Negre, an environmental scientist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain, and co-author of the letter in the British journal Nature.

Read more ....

In First Test Of Interstellar GPS, Team Uses Distant Pulsars To Determine Position In Space

Pulsar Positioning It beats rolling down the window and asking for directions. NASA

From Popular Science:

Global Positioning Systems work famously here on the home planet because we control all of the moving parts; put some satellites in the sky, equip a device with the proper hardware to communicate with them, and you can locate yourself just about anywhere. But how would we locate ourselves in deep space? For that kind of spatial location, a team of Italian researchers have devised a way to calculate one’s position in space using pulsars as interstellar navigation beacons.

Read more ....

Cassini Camera Stops Shooting Snaps

From Wired Science:

NASA’s Cassini orbiter, the powerhouse producer of mind-blowing Saturn photos, unexpectedly put itself into “safe mode” at 7 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Nov. 2. Engineers still don’t know why.

The craft automatically triggers its safe-mode settings whenever something happens that requires attention from mission controllers on the ground. Since going into safe mode, Cassini has stopped collecting science data and sent back only data on engineering and spacecraft health.

That’s normal, said Cassini program manager Bob Mitchell in a press release.

Read more ....

Developments In Optometry Can Be Traced Back To The 1st Century AD

Photo: REX FEATURES

From The Telegraph:

The quest to correct and improve vision is one of man's oldest medical challenges.

For as long as people have had vision problems, efforts have been made to correct them.

But little progress was made beyond the development of glasses and contact lenses before the 20th century.

Read more ....

Spring Break-Ups: Graphic Of Facebook Updates Shows When People Are Most Likely To End A Relationship

The Facebook graphic shows most people break up at Spring Break or Christmas

From The Daily Mail:

If your relationship is rocky and it’s coming up to Christmas, beware: someone might be about to give you some bad news.

A designer who uses hard data to come up with interesting graphics and images has found which points in the year are the most popular for splitting up with partners.

David McCandless pulled information from 10,000 Facebook status updates which used the phrases ‘break up’ or ‘broken up’ and plotted them on a graph.

Read more ....

What Happened To That Superjumbo?

Down to earth, after a bang (Image: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images)

From New Scientist:

Debris rained down on the island of Batam yesterday morning after an engine appeared to explode on an Airbus A380 – the world's largest commercial airliner – flown by Qantas. The plane then dumped fuel for 2 hours and made an emergency landing.

Read more ....

7 Next-Gen Driving Technologies, Coming Soon To BMW

BMW's next-gen tech could change cars—for better or worse. Here, an iPhone app locates a parked vehicle by GPS from up to 1600 meters away.

From Popular Mechanics:

Fascinating or frightening? Wondrous or worrisome? BMW demonstrates tomorrow's driving innovations, beyond the self-parking car and everyday GPS system.

Munich, Germany—Tomorrow's automotive technology is usually tucked away in research labs—well out of public view. But every once in a while we're granted access to these top-secret incubators, as was the case when we recently paid a visit to BMW's headquarters in Munich.

Read more ....