Archive for the 'Nature' Category
“…a familiar line spouted by Americans these days is, ‘Why should the US curb energy consumption, when India and China are guzzling petrol and polluting the whole globe?’…”
California consumes more petrol than India!
Amazing Stat: California Uses More Gas than China
The brain consolidates learned experiences and harden up weak memories which otherwise might fade in time. “People complain about sleep deprivation, but now with the 24/7 society and information overload we need our sleep more than ever.”
Sleeping soundly ‘boosts memory’
Wave dragon “is a pioneering large scale ocean energy solution for bulk electricity generation.” “The Wave Dragon overtopping device elevates ocean waves to a reservoir above sea level where water is let out through a number of turbines and in this way transformed into electricity.”Watch the promotional video below.
Scientists are beginning to uncover evidence that meditation has a tangible effect on the brain — there is evidence that meditation changes brain structures.
Scientists probe meditation secrets
PicLens instantly transforms your browser into a full-screen, 3D experience for viewing images on the web. Supports Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, Facebook, MySpace, Google Images, Yahoo Images and more. Available as a Firefox add-on and IE Plug-in. Awesome tool for all photo enthusiasts.
PicLens
‘Mike Hall has taught himself to stretch time. He uses his powers to make him a better squash player. “It’s hard to describe, but it’s a feeling of stillness, like I’m not trapped in sequential time any more,” he says. “The ball still darts around, but it moves around the court at different speeds depending [...]
Flickr images as they are uploaded. Clever mashup.
Flickrvision
Chemicals, contaminants, pollution, price: new reasons to rethink what you drink and beware of bottled water.
Bottled Water Vs. Tap Water
“The design, unveiled at the Offsite 2007 exhibition in Watford, meets rules to be applied in 2016 that aim to make UK homes more energy-efficient.”
“The home generates all its own energy - and when you’re away on holiday can send electricity back to the National Grid. The company says its annual energy bill would be [...]
Got something you don’t use anymore, but can’t be bothered to sell it on eBay? Don’t throw it away and contribute to unnecessary waste, but consider freecycling it! Alternatively, interested in a freebie and looking for the next bargain at £0.00? Freecycle is for you! Freecycle network consists of local groups that give/get such things [...]
“A Japanese university announced scientists there have developed a new technology that uses bacteria DNA as a medium for storing data long-term, even for thousands of years.”
Scientists: Data-storing bacteria could last thousands of years
”…But nobody will be exploring this sea by submarine. The water is locked in moisture-containing rocks 400 to 800 miles (700 to 1,400 kilometers) beneath the surface.”
Huge underground “ocean” found beneath Asia
Simplification and availability of information enables us to do bigger/better things. “(Scientists should) take their scientific studies, market them better and make them readily accessible to the world. That way, the world might have a better chance at solving problems like energy consumption, poverty and global climate change.”
Google’s Page urges scientists to market themselves
Researchers have built and tested for the military a portable machine that efficiently turns waste into electricity.
A Portable Refinery Powered by Garbage
MIT’s Paulo is doing some exciting work with ‘Programmable Water’; very early days, nonetheless very exciting. My dad started his PhD research at IIT Bombay in 1972 on exactly this topic!
Do we really invent things or simply rediscover them?
Programmable Water
“The reason we’re allocating dollars to this sector is we think we can deliver attractive returns…It’s not because we want to do great things for the environment or great things for the world,” though he adds that that is a “great byproduct.”
Green investments: The color of money
Would you believe me if I said the livestock sector generates more emissions than from all of the world’s transportation combined!? “Producing a calorie of meat protein means burning more than ten times as much fossil fuels.”
Vegetarian is the New Prius
The Insurance industry needs to provide leadership for a change, even though contradictingly it is accepted that most big insurers are heavily invested in those businesses that are the biggest contributors to global warming. Furthermore, even if we can convince businesses in US and Europe, how can we make our point to emerging countries who [...]
Nobel laureate Steven Chu has suggested that understanding the digestive system of termites can solve world’s energy problems. The termites turn cellulose into ethanol, releasing no more carbon than it took to produce. No more global warming due to carbon emissions.
Termite guts can save the planet
No prizes for guessing the top entry, it’s proof for Poincaré Conjecture. The runners-up are thus more interesting. Original link via BBC.
Breakthrough of the year: The Runners-up
It seems life really is faster in the city — even for birds. Birds living in urban areas sing a faster tune than their slower country counterparts. The change in birdsong may help their calls to be heard over the howl of traffic and the wind.
City birds raise their tempo
Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a method for training the common honey bee to detect the explosives used in bombs.
Detecting explosives with honeybees
