QED: Question. Explore. Discover.
” ‘QED: Question. Explore. Discover.’ proudly announces 10 of the spectacular speakers who are taking to the stage in front of 500 skeptics and fans of science in The Piccadilly Hotel, Manchester (UK) on the 5th and 6th of February, 2011.
George Hrab
Eugenie Scott
Jon Ronson
Kat Akingbade
Bruce Hood
Wendy Grossman
Chris Atkins
Colin Wright
Simon Singh
Jim Al-Khalili
The above list is enough to sate the needs of any hungry rationalist, while the bar will take care of their thirst… but this newly established feature of the skeptical and science festival calendar has one more, unique feature to introduce to the thousands of people who are already keenly following what QED has to offer: The amazing price.
Standard: £99
Students: £75
Gala Dinner with Celebrity Special Guests: £45
QED is affordable by all, easily accessible from every part of the country by road, rail or air and, even with the cost at an incredibly low level, it will raise a significant sum for two amazing causes that are much in the minds of anyone with an interest in science, rationalism and skepticism: Sense About Science and the National Autism Society.
Tickets can be purchased from the QED website from:
http://www.qedcon.org/tickets/ ”
1.25 Gigawatts of Solar Thermal Power Approved in California in Past Two Days Will Double US Capacity
“There’ve been multiple gigawatts of solar thermal power plants planned for various places in the California desert for some time, but finally some more of them are getting the approvals need so that construction can start: The US Bureau of Land Management has issued a final environmental impact statement for the 1,000 MW Blythe Solar Power Project; and the 250 MW Beacon Solar Energy project has received final California state approval as well.
The smaller of the two first: Renewable Energy World reports NextEra Energy Resources has been given the green light by the California Energy Commission to begin construction on the 250 MW Beacon Solar Energy project.
The $1 billion, 2,000 acre solar thermal power plant will use parabolic troughs to concentrate sunlight and generate electricity. NextEra expects the power plant to come online within the next three years, though as yet it has no power purchase agreement in place. In other words, no electric utility has yet committed to buy the power the plant produces.
And the larger of the two: With the final BLM environmental impact statement completed, and the CEC already saying it will approve the project once public comment closes next month, Solar Millennium Inc. will soon begin construction on the 1,000 MW Blythe Solar Power Project.
The 7,025 acre project, also using parabolic trough technology, is expected to produce enough power for approximately 800,000 homes, and alone will nearly double the installed commercial solar power capacity in the United States.
The price tag and time til completion: $6 billion and six years once construction actually begins.”
Read more at Tree Hugger
When getting away means staying in touch
“People used to go on holiday to unplug. Now they’re demanding to be plugged in. That secluded, desert island-type getaway may soon be as dated as the post-vacation slide show as more travelers use e-mails, Facebook and Twitter to nurture the ties that bind even while they get away from it all.
“For many travelers figuring out how to stay connected is as integral to the travel process as packing sun lotion and swimwear,” said Amelie Hurst of travel website TripAdvisor. “In times gone by this just wasn’t an option. Traveling went hand in hand with being disconnected,” she said. Hurst said clients planning their trips routinely factor in the best means of staying in contact. “Travelers ask the quality of cell phone service, international data plans. Staying connected can offer travelers a real comfort,” she explained.
A recent survey of 2000 travelers by American Express found that 77 per cent of Americans intend to stay connected while on vacation via Internet, phone, social media and other channels. The motivation is social, not business. Only 14 per cent said they would stay connected for work. “Eighty-nine percent of people want to talk to family and friends, to be very connected in real time,” said Audrey Hendley of American Express Travel. “Even five years ago that wasn’t the case.”
Connectivity means more than just checking e-mail. “Sharing information, sharing photos, it’s a change in lifestyle, it’s ‘Now I want to tell you about me,’” she said. The poll revealed that 20 percent updated their social media sites while on vacation.”
Read more at Reuters (Thanks @XxLadyClaireXx)
Double meteorite strike ’caused dinosaur extinction’
“The dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago by at least two meteorite impacts, rather than a single strike, a new study suggests. Previously, scientists had identified a huge impact crater in the Gulf of Mexico as the event that spelled doom for the dinosaurs. Now evidence for a second impact in Ukraine has been uncovered. This raises the possibility that the Earth may have been bombarded by a whole shower of meteorites.
The new findings are published in the journal Geology by a team lead by Professor David Jolley of Aberdeen University. When first proposed in 1980, the idea that a meteorite impact had killed the dinosaurs proved hugely controversial. Later, the discovery of the Chicxulub Crater in the Gulf of Mexico, US, was hailed as “the smoking gun” that confirmed the theory. The discovery of a second impact crater suggests that the dinosaurs were driven to extinction by a “double whammy” rather than a single strike.
The Boltysh Crater in Ukraine was first reported in 2002. However, until now it was uncertain exactly how the timing of this event related to the Chicxulub impact. In the current study, scientists examined the “pollen and spores” of fossil plants in the layers of mud that infilled the crater. They found that immediately after the impact, ferns quickly colonised the devastated landscape. Ferns have an amazing ability to bounce back after catastrophe. Layers full of fern spores – dubbed “fern spikes” – are considered to be a good “markers” of past impact events. However, there was an unexpected discovery in store for the scientists. They located a second “fern spike” in a layer one metre above the first, suggesting another later impact event.”
Read more at BBC News (Thanks @XxLadyClaireXx)
Scheme to ‘pull electricity from the air’ sparks debate
“Tiny charges gathered directly from humid air could be harnessed to generate electricity, researchers say. Dr Fernando Galembeck told the American Chemical Society meeting in Boston that the technique exploited a little-known atmospheric effect. Tests had shown that metals could be used to gather the charges, he said, opening up a potential energy source in humid climates. However, experts disagree about the mechanism and the scale of the effect.
“The basic idea is that when you have any solid or liquid in a humid environment, you have absorption of water at the surface,” Dr Galembeck, from the University of Campinas in Brazil, told BBC News. “The work I’m presenting here shows that metals placed under a wet environment actually become charged.”
Dr Galembeck and his colleagues isolated various metals and pairs of metals separated by a non-conducting separator – a capacitor, in effect – and allowed nitrogen gas with varying amounts of water vapour to pass over them. What the team found was that charge built up on the metals – in varying amounts, and either positive or negative. Such charge could be connected to a circuit periodically to create useful electricity. The effect is incredibly small – gathering an amount of charge 100 million times smaller over a given area than a solar cell produces – but seems to represent a means of charge accumulation that has been overlooked until now.
Dr Galembeck suggests that with further development, the principle could be extended to become a renewable energy resource in humid parts of the world, such as the tropics.”
Read more at BBC News (Thanks @UKgnome)
The 10 Greatest (Accidental) Inventions of All Time
“”Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits,” Thomas Edison once said. But is hustling all it takes? Is progress always deliberate? Sometimes genius arrives not by choice—but by chance.” Head to the PopSci to view their ten favorite serendipitous innovations.
“In 1943, Navy engineer Richard James was trying to figure out how to use springs to keep the sensitive instruments aboard ships from rocking themselves to death, when he knocked one of his prototypes over. Instead of crashing to the floor, it gracefully sprang downward, and then righted itself. So pointless—so nimble—so slinky. The spring became a goofy toy of many childhoods—that is before every kid inevitably gets theirs all twisted up and ruins it. 300 million sold worldwide!”
See more at PopSci (Thanks @XxLadyClaireXx)
Thought-controlled computers on the way: Intel
“Computers controlled by the mind are going a step further with Intel’s development of mind-controlled computers. Existing computers operated by brain power require the user to mentally move a cursor on the screen, but the new computers will be designed to directly read the words thought by the user.
Intel scientists are currently mapping out brain activity produced when people think of particular words, by measuring activity at about 20,000 locations in the brain. The devices being used to do the mapping at the moment are expensive and bulky MRI scanners, similar to those used in hospitals, but senior researcher at Intel, Dean Pomerlau, said smaller gadgets that could be worn on the head are being developed. Once the brain activity is mapped out the computer will be able to determine what words are being thought by identifying similar brain patterns and differences between them.
Pomerlau said words produce activity in parts of the brain associated with what the word represents. So thinking of a word for a type of food, such as apple, results in activity in the parts of the brain associated with hunger, while a word with a physical association such as spade produces activity in the areas of the motor cortex related to making the physical movements of digging. In this way the computer can infer attributes of a word to narrow it down and identify it quickly.
A working prototype can already detect words like house, screwdriver and barn, but as brain scanning becomes more advanced the computer’s ability to understand thoughts will improve.
If the plans are successful users will be able to surf the Internet, write emails and carry out a host of other activities on the computer simply by thinking about them. Director of Intel Laboratories, Justin Ratner, said it is clear humans are no longer restricted to using a keyboard and mouse, and mind reading is the “ultimate user interface.” He said he is confident any concerns about privacy will be overcome.
While many able-bodied computer users may hesitate to adopt a technology that operates a computer by reading their minds, people who are unable to use a keyboard or a mouse through disability should find the new technology gives them much more freedom and opportunities for communicating.”
Read more at Physorg (Thanks @XxLadyClaireXx)
Scientists develop ‘dry water’
“The substance resembles powdered sugar and is expected to make a big commercial splash. Each particle of dry water contains a water droplet surrounded by a sandy silica coating. In fact, 95% of dry water is “wet” water. One of its key properties is a powerful ability to absorb gases.
Scientists believe dry water could be used to combat global warming by soaking up and trapping the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Tests show that it is more than three times better at absorbing carbon dioxide as ordinary water. Dry water may also prove useful for storing methane and expanding the energy source potential of the natural gas.
Dr Ben Carter, from the University of Liverpool, presented his research on dry water at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston. He said: “There’s nothing else quite like it. Hopefully, we may see dry water making waves in the future.”
Another application demonstrated by Dr Carter’s team was using dry water as a catalyst to speed up reactions between hydrogen and maleic acid. This produces succinic acid, a key raw material widely used to make drugs, food ingredients, and consumer products.
Usually hydrogen and maleic acid have to be stirred together to make succinic acid. But this is not necessary when using dry water particles containing maleic acid, making the process greener and more energy efficient.
“If you can remove the need to stir your reactions, then potentially you’re making considerable energy savings,” said Dr Carter.
The technology could be adapted to create “dry” powder emulsions, mixtures of two or more unblendable liquids such as oil and water, the researchers believe. Dry emulsions could make it safer and easier to store and transport potentially harmful liquids.”
Read more at Yahoo News (Thanks @XxLadyClaireXx)
Recycled Chewing Gum Turned Into Chewing Gum Bins
“Tired of gum-plastered streets, Anna Bullus decided to design and install chewing gum receptacles made, naturally, from recycled chewing gum. Her pink “Gumdrops” now appear in five UK locations and Six Flags Theme Park in New Jersey.
Though she won’t reveal the gum rubber’s exact contents, Bullus told The Guardian that eight months in a lab allowed her to perfect her technique, making gum first into a foam and then a used-gum pellet, before extracting a polymer modestly called BRGP (Bullus Recycled Gum Polymer). Perhaps it’s not surprising that you could turn gum into plastic, since the “nonnutritive masticatory substance” that gives gum its chewiness can include butyl rubber, used in inner tubes.
If her Gumdrops can keep gum off the streets, such bins might save British taxpayers an estimated £150 ($300) million per year–that’s what the government spends now on steam hoses, freezing machines, and corrosive chemical street cleanings. Plus Bullus says the Gumdrops, once full, can provide fodder for more Gumdrops and other plastic products. She told The Guardian: “The amazing thing is you can use it for any plastic product…. I’d love to do some Wellington boots, for example. Gum boots, in fact.””
Read more at Discover Magazine
Hair Follicles Track the Body’s Clock
“Those red-eye flights and all nighters may be leaving their mark in your hair. Researchers have found that hair follicles contain a signature of the 24-hour circadian clock that sets our sleeping habits. The method could one day help track patients with sleep disorders and help evaluate health problems in late-night shift workers.
At one point, researchers thought that the circadian clock was located solely in the brain. But after scientists discovered human circadian clock genes in the late 1990s, they found that the genes were expressed in tissues throughout the body. In experiments with mice, researchers have linked these genes to weight gain and even to the “lost in time” feeling of marijuana use, but they’ve had a harder time studying them in humans. That’s because analyzing these genes relies on invasive methods, such as drawing a person’s blood several times a day or excising a small chunk of skin.
Makoto Akashi of Yamaguchi University in Japan and his colleagues sought an easier way to check clock gene activity. They turned to hairs plucked from scalps or beards, which contain cell-rich follicles. When they extracted RNA from these cells, they found that circadian gene activities peaked when volunteers were awake and alert, and it peaked earliest in the volunteer who woke up earliest in the morning.
Next, Akashi and colleagues disrupted the sleep-wake cycle of healthy people: They asked volunteers to sleep in later and later over a 3-week period and to shine a bright light on themselves to mimic sunlight for half an hour after they awoke. At the end of 3 weeks, when the volunteers were waking up about 4 hours later than they used to, the activity of their hair follicle circadian genes had shifted too—but only by about two and a half 2½ hours, the team reports online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Akashi’s group saw a similar lag in shift workers. The team examined the hair follicles of volunteers who worked the 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift one week, the 3 p.m. to midnight shift the next week, and back to the morning shift on their third week. Clock gene activity lagged 5 hours behind the workers’ lifestyles, the researchers found, which indicates that 3 weeks was not long enough for the body clock to adapt to the new schedules.
Tracking clock genes in hair follicles could help researchers better monitor patients with sleep disorders and other circadian rhythm dysfunction, says molecular biologist Ueli Schibler of the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Because these genes control everything from organ function to eating cycles, he says, the lag the team observed in shift workers could help explain some of the serious health problems they develop.”
Read more at Science Mag (Thanks @XxLadyClaireXx)
