Apologies

Sorry for the delay in updating. I try to do it every 2-3 days or so but came down with some kind of stomach bug this past weekend that really put me down.

I want to blame food poisoning but I think it is my fondness for carnitas (fried pork) which, though tasty, of course are very greasy.

Since my gallbladder was taken out years ago, I can’t process too much fat and grease so have to watch what I eat.

Turning physics on its ear

“The invention, at its very least, could moderately improve the efficiency of induction motors, used in everything from electric cars to ceiling fans. At best it means a way of tapping the mysterious powers of electromagnetic fields to produce more work out of less effort, seemingly creating electricity from nothing. Such an unbelievable invention would challenge the laws of physics, a no-no in the rigid world of serious science. Imagine a battery system in an all-electric car that can be recharged almost exclusively by braking and accelerating, or what Heins calls “regenerative acceleration.” No charging from the grid. No assistance from gasoline. No cost of fuelling up. No way, say the skeptics. “It sounds too good to be true,” concedes Heins, who formed a company in 2005 called Potential Difference Inc. to develop and market his invention. “We get dismissed pretty quickly sometimes.” Heins has modified his test so the effects observed are difficult to deny. He holds a permanent magnet a few centimetres away from the driveshaft of an electric motor, and the magnetic field it creates causes the motor to accelerate. It went well. Contacted by phone a few hours after the test, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Markus Zahn is genuinely stumped – and surprised. He said the magnet shouldn’t cause acceleration. “It’s an unusual phenomena I wouldn’t have predicted in advance. But I saw it. It’s real. Now I’m just trying to figure it out.” There’s no talk of perpetual motion. No whisper of broken scientific laws or free energy. Zahn would never go there – at least not yet. But he does see the potential for making electric motors more efficient, and this itself is no small feat. / (Thanks to Duncan Roads, editor of Nexus Magazine for giving me the headsup on this. Mr. Heins send a DVD and its incredible! - JWD)” - Source

Washington Pulls Plug on FutureGen Clean Coal Project

We so need to get leaders in office who will reset our priorities to benefit this country and quit hemorraghing money with insane spending that is bankrupting the future of the USA. Ron Paul where are you?

“Bush Administration kills “clean coal” initiative because state-of-the-art prototype plant would cost $1.8 billion — about the cost of one week of “success in Iraq.” Won’t someone please think about the oxymorons? / On Wednesday, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the Bush administration was yanking its support for the project, whose price tag had ballooned to $1.8 billion, nearly double original estimates. Energy Department officials said it was time to confront the cost issue, before equipment was ordered. The plant “was to have been the prototype for the next generation of clean-coal plants around the world,” said Scott Smith, AEP’s representative on the FutureGen board. Its technology would have been shared with consortium members, including China’s largest coal-burning utility, China Huaneng Group, which has been criticized for its CO2 emissions. China, the biggest coal-consuming nation alongside the U.S., has been criticized for its massive increase in carbon dioxide emissions.” - Source

Two interesting new Aids Reports

“Experts Claim HIV Patients Made Non-Infectious - “The statement’s headline statement says that ‘after review of the medical literature and extensive discussion,’ the Swiss Federal Commission for HIV / AIDS resolves that, ‘An HIV-infected person on antiretroviral therapy with completely suppressed viraemia (”effective ART”) is not sexually infectious, i.e. cannot transmit HIV through sexual contact.’” - Source

“Under 1 percent of U.S. adults have HIV - About one-half of one percent of young adults living in homes in the United States are infected with the AIDS virus, around 600,000 people, the National Center for Health Statistics reported on Tuesday. The agency’s snapshot of HIV infection in the United States shows the rate continues to be stable and confirms other surveys that show black men are far more likely than other Americans to be infected. The report covers adults aged 18 to 49 and only people living in households — not prisoners, the homeless or patients in institutions, said Gerry McQuillan, who led the study. The CDC has estimated in the past that more than 1 million Americans in total are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. Globally, 33 million people are infected and 25 million have died from the fatal and incurable virus.” - Source

SMS opens public toilets in Finland

This idea could be applied to a lot of places that are often vandalized.

“To unlock the door of one of the roadside toilets along Finland’s freeway system, you’ll now have to send it a text message with your mobile phone. The toilets have been secured, and a sign outside explains that the user just sends the word “open” (in Finish) to a short code and the door will be unlocked remotely. The company managing the service will keep a short term record of all users phone numbers, simply so that if the toilet is then damaged by criminals, they can be traced by the police.” - Source

Green could be key to job preservation

Might not be so bad switching over after all…someone has to install and maintain it.

“When 1,800 workers lost their jobs after a Maytag appliance factory and headquarters closed last year in the small town of Newton, Iowa, a wind turbine blade company saw opportunity — an available, skilled work force in the middle of one of America’s hardiest wind energy production regions. TPI Composites Inc. is building a new plant there as the energy industry aims for a cleaner, more sustainable future. With proper incentives, thousands of “green-collar jobs” could be created, from ethanol production to wind turbines and solar panels, and all the maintenance and construction to support them, industry officials said. However, advocates and executives say training is key to making sure the industry has enough skilled workers to make it into a real economic engine, and are pushing for more lucrative tax breaks, much like oil companies already receive, to make it profitable.” - Source

Heated Mask Stops Dangers of Inhaling Cold Air Into Your Lungs

“Breathing warm air into the lungs helps the wearer feel much warmer for extended periods of exposure to the cold. Originals By Weber, Terry L. Weber, of Toms River, NJ announces immediate availability of the new Weber Breath Warming Cold Weather Mask Model 1-E. It is well known that inhaling cold air into lungs increases the possibility of having a heart attack up to fifty percent. In addition, cold air in the lungs can cause loss of up to forty percent of body heat, thereby increasing chance of getting a cold or the flu. This new non-electric, low cost economy model breath warmer mask, with its built in, patented, heat exchange (heat sink) unit automatically warms 22-degree outside air to a comfortable 80-degrees when the wearer inhales each breath. How it works: the wearer of the mask exhales warm air from lungs and mouth, the breath of air passes through the exchange unit and it warms the exchanger. Then, when wearer inhales, as the incoming cold air moves through the now warmed heat exchanger, it is warmed to about 80-degrees before it moves into the mask wearer’s lungs. Result: with this warm air in the lungs, instead of cold air, the whole body feels much warmer.” - Source

Sax notes lead to off-beat Sonic Boiler

“Inventor and saxophone player Peter Davey has come up with a device that he claims boils water in no time. He calls it the “sonic boiler” because he claims it uses the power of sound. How the heater actually works has confounded experts. The device looks oddly like a bent desk lamp, with a metallic ball at the end instead of a lightbulb. When plugged into the power supply, and the ball is lowered into water, it boils the liquid within seconds — even as little as a tablespoonful. “The principle is beautiful. I have cashed in on a natural phenomenon and it’s all about music,” he said. The Press invited a retired Canterbury University engineer, Professor Arthur Williamson, to look at the boiler and he was stumped. He watched Davey boil various quantities of water, took notes of the energy used and temperatures reached. He left scratching his head. “I don’t know enough about sound to know whether you can transfer that amount of energy via soundwaves. I doubt it,” said Williamson. He did remember an alternative kettle years ago that had two perforated metal plates inside. The power ran between the plates, through the water. “The resistance through the water provided the load. I wonder if it isn’t working like that? Without taking it to bits, you can’t tell.” The kettle was specially designed to prevent people getting a shock from touching the boiling water.” - Source

The Video.

“It looks like a desk lamp, is cool to the touch and appears not to be doing anything, until it comes into contact with water. Former spitfire pilot Peter Davey claims his invention uses the power of sound to boil water. Mr Davey believes high frequency sonic vibrations emitted from within the silver bulb cause the water to boil. He says the idea came to him 50 years ago when he noticed different saxophone notes caused different household items to rattle. The mains-powered gizmo has experts intrigued. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my live,” Professor Arthur Williamson said. The Professor has his doubts about Mr Davey’s acoustic theory and suspects there are two simple electrodes inside the boiler. “I’m careful that I don’t divulge everything,” Mr Davey said. “I’m waiting to get a manufacturer that is prepared to put some money into it.” - Source

And some tech info from my own archive.

“The design of the Davey’s sonic heater is extremely simple. It actually is composed of two major parts only - see Figure K8 (3) from monograph [1/4]. The most important out of these two parts is a resonating hemispherical bowl (1) made of a sound inducing metal plate. The second part is a buffering hemispherical bowl (2) almost identical in shape to the bowl (1). This second bowl has the radius around 4 mm larger than the resonating hemispherical bowl (1). Both bowls are assembled symmetrically one around the other, means the hemispherical bowl (1) is placed inside of the hemispherical bowl (2). Coin is 32 mm wide = 1.25984 inches / Big bowl approximately 1.75 inches wide and .75 inches thick / Small bowl approximately 1 3/8 inches wide. Of course, apart from these two bowls, the heater also includes a long rod, nuts, washers, and electrical wires. These are to hold it together, to supply electricity to both bowls, and to allow the heater to be submerged into water that it heats. But these other parts are marginal additions only. The major parts are the bowls. During experimental production of this heater, the resonating hemispherical bowl (1) usually is made from an old cover for a bicycle bell. The dimensions of this hemispherical bowl are not important. It is only vital that it falls into a sonic resonance at the frequency of 50 Hertz, and that it has the outer surface which is parallel and equidistant from the external buffering hemispherical bowl (2). To each of these two bowls a different wire of the household electricity supply (i.e. 220 V, 50 Hz) is connected. The heater must be submerged in water that it heat. It brings water to the boiling point extremely fast.”

Cheap Hydrogen

“A new process uses sunlight and a nanostructured catalyst to inexpensively and efficiently generate hydrogen for fuel. Nanoptek, a startup based in Maynard, MA, has developed a new way to make hydrogen from water using solar energy. The company says that its process is cheap enough to compete with the cheapest approaches used now, which strip hydrogen from natural gas, and it has the further advantage of releasing no carbon dioxide. The technology uses titania, a cheap and abundant material, to capture energy from sunlight. The absorbed energy releases electrons, which split water to make hydrogen. Other researchers have used titania to split water in the past, but Nanoptek researchers found a way to modify titania to absorb more sunlight, which makes the process much cheaper and more efficient, says John Guerra, the company’s founder and CEO. Guerra says that chip makers have long known that straining a material so that its atoms are slightly pressed together or pulled apart alters the material’s electronic properties. He found that depositing a coating of titania on dome-like nanostructures caused the atoms to be pulled apart. “When you pull the atoms apart, less energy is required to knock the electrons out of orbit,” he says. “That means you can use light with lower energy–which means visible light” rather than just ultraviolet light. The strain on the atoms also affects the way that electrons move through the material. Too much strain, and the electrons tend to be reabsorbed by the material before they split water. Guerra says that the company has had to find a balance between absorbing more sunlight and allowing the electrons to move freely out of the material. Nanoptek has also developed cheaper ways to manufacture the nanostructured materials. Solar gases: A parabolic trough can focus sunlight on nanostructured titania, improving the efficiency of a new system for generating hydrogen by splitting water.” - Source

Brain Cleaner to Repair Strokes

“It’s a tiny vacuum cleaner for the brain: A new treatment for stroke victims promises to suction out clogged arteries in hopes of stopping the brain attack before it does permanent harm. Called Penumbra, the newly approved device is the latest in a series of inside-the-artery attempts to boost recovery from stroke. More than 700,000 people suffer a stroke each year in the U.S., and more than 150,000 die. Survivors often face serious disability. Most strokes occur when blood vessels feeding the brain become blocked, starving delicate brain cells of oxygen until they die. For those, the clot-busting drug TPA can mean the difference between permanent brain injury or recovery — but only if patients receive intravenous TPA within three hours of the first symptoms. Yet fewer than 5 per cent of stroke sufferers get TPA in time. And of those treated, it only helps about 30 per cent, because the clot is often too big or tough for TPA to bust. Enter Penumbra, an option for patients who miss out on early care — it can be tried up to eight hours after a stroke strikes — or if standard TPA treatment fails. Specialists thread a tiny tube inside a blood vessel at the groin and push it up the body and into the brain until it reaches the clog. Just like a vacuum cleaner, it sucks up the clot bit by bit to restore blood flow.” - Source