Related articles
- When Vernor Vinge Coined the Technological Singularity (singularityweblog.com)
After the Singularity
1
Category Archives: science
Service monkeys
The use of service monkeys for the disabled is a totally new concept to me. Here is one terribly moving story.
Amazing space shuttle launch
Check out the video below. Watch full screen and set for 1080 resolution. As good as the video is, it is the audio of this launch that is amazing. Ideally plug in some headphones and crank up the volume or push the audio through a surround system. Totally terrific.
(via The Loop)
Related articles
- Space Shuttle Launch Audio & Video (milkandcookies.com)
- What a Space Shuttle Launch REALLY Sounded Like (universetoday.com)
Space images
RIP: the death of Facts 2012
Facts has been in declining health for decades, and now Facts is dead. Read the obituary.
Over the centuries, Facts became such a prevalent part of most people’s lives that Irish philosopher Edmund Burke once said: “Facts are to the mind what food is to the body.”
To the shock of most sentient beings, Facts died Wednesday, April 18, after a long battle for relevancy with the 24-hour news cycle, blogs and the Internet. Though few expected Facts to pull out of its years-long downward spiral, the official cause of death was from injuries suffered last week when Florida Republican Rep. Allen West steadfastly declared that as many as 81 of his fellow members of theU.S. House of Representatives are communists.
Facts held on for several days after that assault — brought on without a scrap of evidence or reason — before expiring peacefully at its home in a high school physics book. Facts was 2,372.
William Gibson interview
William Gibson is one of my favorite writers. His most recent book is called Distrust That Particular Flavor, and is a wonderful collection of the various essays he has written over his career. It is also a great introduction to the thoughtfulness of his world-view.
Here is a video interview of Gibson recorded this month.
(via Boing Boing)
Limits to growth
I am old enough to recall an MIT study released in 1972 titled “Limits to Growth.” The study argued that the increasingly intense use of the Earth’s resources would lead to severe world-wide economic collapse sometime around 2030, a mere 18 years from now.
Could this report have reached the correct conclusions? Quite possibly. The Smithsonian Magazine has published an analysis prepared by an Australian physicist that shows that, so far, the various trends predicted in the original study are happening as predicted.
Check it out:
Related articles
Wind map
This is very cool.
An invisible, ancient source of energy surrounds us—energy that powered the first explorations of the world, and that may be a key to the future.
This map shows you the delicate tracery of wind flowing over the US right now.
Note: You can click on the map to zoom in.
Related articles
- This Undulating US Wind Map Is Utterly Hypnotic [Maps] (gizmodo.com)
- Wind Map of the U.S. Will Blow You Away (mashable.com)
Ride the booster
Check out this amazing video, with incredible sound, shot from cameras on the Shuttle solid rocket boosters. It shows the ascent as well as the descent back into the ocean. Incredible. Watch in HD, full screen and with the sound up. (via The Loop)
A TED talk from the future
Cover of Alien (The Director's Cut)
Check out this (obviously fictional) TED talk from 2023, as directed by Ridley Scott. This is tied into his upcoming film, Prometheus, at least loosely connected to the Alien trilogy.
By the way, if you don’t know about the real life TED talks that are currently available, you really should take the time to learn.
(via Daring Fireball)
Related articles
- Ridley Scott Talks Prometheus and Sheds Light on Guy Pearce’s Character (dreadcentral.com)
God help America
(via Distinguished Baloney)
Around the world in 5 minutes
Great time lapse video. Watch full screen HD.
(via Andrew Sullivan)
Who could have predicted this?
Via The New York Times:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that fracking — a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells — may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution.
The draft finding could have a chilling effect in states trying to determine how to regulate the process.
By the way, there is a terrific documentary showing the dangers of fracking called GasLand. It is easy to access if you have a Netflix DVD rental account, or via the link on Amazon for sale or rental. Here is the trailer.
And here is more info from the film:
Related articles
- Fracking likely linked to groundwater pollution in U.S. (cbc.ca)
- Fracking may taint water supply, EPA finds (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- US environmental authorities have declared for the first time that fracking may be to blame for groundwater pollution. (texasvox.org)
MythBusters bust stuff
And they bust up stuff, big time.
More here.
This is pretty outrageous and the show should be put under close evaluation.
Europe bans porno-scanners
The European Commission has banned the use of x-ray scanners at airports in Europe. Why?
The European Commission, which enforces common policies of the EU’s 27 member countries, adopted the rule “in order not to risk jeopardizing citizens’ health and safety.”
As a ProPublica/PBS NewsHour investigation detailed earlier this month, X-ray body scanners use ionizing radiation, a form of energy that has been shown to damage DNA and cause cancer. Although the amount of radiation is extremely low, equivalent to the radiation a person would receive in a few minutes of flying, several research studies have concluded that a small number of cancer cases would result from scanning hundreds of millions of passengers a year.
Meanwhile, we in the States continue to deploy them as if it the radiation-emitting machines make us safer. The cancers caused by the scanners are a small price to pay for the comforting security theater that we Americans so enjoy. And so, in the US, we awake to this news:
The head of the Transportation Security Administration has backed off a public commitment to conduct a new independent study of X-ray body scanners used at airport security lanes around the country….
At a Senate hearing after the story ran, TSA Administrator John Pistole agreed to a request by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to conduct a new independent study of the health effects of the X-ray scanners, also known as backscatters.
But at a Senate hearing of a different committee last week, Pistole said he had since received a draft report on the machines by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, or IG, that might render the independent study unnecessary.
“My strong belief is those types of machines are still completely safe,” Pistole said. “If the determination is that this IG study is not sufficient, then I will look at still yet another additional study.”
According to a summary obtained by ProPublica, the inspector general concluded the machines are within industry standards for radiation exposure limits. But the summary also suggests the report focuses mostly on how the TSA monitors and maintains the machines. The full report won’t be released for several weeks.
I feel safer than ever from both terrorist attack and the dangers of x-ray radiation. Don’t you? I thought so.
Related articles
- EU bans X-ray scanners at airports, citing health risks (americablog.com)
- EU Bans Airport X-Ray Scanners Over Health Concerns (motherjones.com)
- Europe Bans X-Ray Body Scanners Used at U.S. Airports (propublica.org)
- Europe Bans Airport X-Ray Body Scanners Amid Cancer Concerns (livescience.com)
- EU bans full-body X-ray scanners due to health concerns (news.consumerreports.org)
- Full-Body X-ray scanners banned in Europe airports, TSA comments (slashgear.com)
