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Paul Adams

The Environment

Synthetic Tree Soaks Up Carbon 1000x Faster Than the Real Thing

By John Brandon Posted on 6.24.2009 17 Comments
Trees are great absorbers of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and inhibitors of climate change -- that's why treehuggers hug them so much. But leave it to humanity to engineer a better tree. A synthetic tree, currently being tested as a prototype, ensnares carbon about 1,000 times faster than a real tree.

6.24.2009 at 09:06am - Comment by Paul Adams

"used to create the used" -- what's not clear about that? I made the fix; thanks.
Science

A Monthly Contraceptive for Men?

By Susannah F. Locke Posted on 5.12.2009 10 Comments
When it comes to contraception, women have their pick of techniques. In addition to sperm-blocking barriers and foreign objects in the uterus (IUDs), there are about a million ways to pump extra hormones into the bloodstream (pill, patch, ring, shot, or implant). For men, it's always been pretty much condoms or a vasectomy.

5.12.2009 at 04:03pm - Comment by Paul Adams

Who needs a pill; as soon as they perfect ingestible testosterone I want my Testosteroni.
Gadgets

Walkie-Talkie Weighs 2 1/2 Pounds

By Posted on 4.1.2009 2 Comments
Midget parts, including the two miniature tubes above, keep this new civilian walkie-talkie to a fourth the size of wartime military outfits. The "transceiver," with folding antenna, weighs only 11 ounces; a headphone and batteries, carried in a separate case, less than 2 lb. The set is made by Citizens Radio Corp., of Cleveland.

4.2.2009 at 10:03am - Comment by Paul Adams

This is from April 1949. April fool!
Science

Can People Safely Eat Cat Food?

By Posted on 2.13.2009 12 Comments
Let's take a look at the ingredients in a typical can of cat food: meat by-products, chicken by-product meal, turkey by-product meal, ash, taurine. Nothing too horrible, but in general, these things don't constitute a healthy human diet, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian with the American Dietetic Association. "That said, I'm fully confident that your body can handle kitty chow."

Article Rating:

2.11.2009 at 12:19pm - Comment by Paul Adams

Newbeak5: Is it possible that those bush pilots with the cat food were members of San Antonio's famous Cat Pilot program? http://www.flickr.com/photos/1flatworld/566414896/
Gadgets

Valentine’s Gift Guide for Your Geek Chic Girlfriend

By Amy Geppert Posted on 7.29.2009 2 Comments
If you plan on insulting your romantic partner’s style sensibilities, then by all means, buy her a pepto-pink gizmo. After all, nothing says those three magic words (by which I mean, “Let’s break up!,”) with quite the same punch as does a blushing gadget. If, however, you want to say those other three words that are the entire reason for February 14th, read on for some gift ideas that are sure to make her squeal with joy. Set the mood with a few LED candles, spruce up the apartment with some love-centric aromas, make sure your breath is kissably fresh, put some romantic tunes on (bonus: give her the flash drive to keep!) and wow your geeky gal with one of the following Valentine’s Day gifts.

2.5.2009 at 03:52pm - Comment by Paul Adams

How about making her something? A la http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-08/diy-geek-chic
Technology

Bytes in the Air

By Posted on 11.23.2008 9 Comments
As I post this, I am thousands of feet above San Francisco, on a Virgin airplane, surrounded by press and partygoers celebrating Virgin's imminent roll-out of wireless internet to their passengers. The in-flight service is provided by a carrier called Aircell, which spectrum geeks may recall won an exclusive ten-year contract from the FCC in 2006 to provide air-to-ground broadband at 3MHz. Onboard, a standard 802.11 wi-fi network works with all standard devices.

11.23.2008 at 08:00pm - Comment by Paul Adams

Yes, I meant thousands of feet. Thanks for noticing. Airplane parties are not the most conducive environments for writing.
Science

Ice, Ice, No Baby

By Posted on 11.10.2008 4 Comments
And which would you rather carry with you -- a live, rabid fox, or a little projector? Both are options. Plus, hating holograms, and more; just follow the links.

11.7.2008 at 03:09pm - Comment by Paul Adams

Thanks, Larry! Sorry about that. They should all be working now.
Science

Rent a Robotic Suit Named HAL

By John Brandon Posted on 10.8.2008 12 Comments
Starting this Friday, disabled and elderly people in Japan will be able to rent a robotic suit to help them become more mobile. Available in a two-leg (for a $2200-per-month rental fee) or one-leg version ($1500/month), the suit -- called HAL, for Hybrid Assistive Limb -- reads brain signals and directs leg movement. Yoshiyuki Sankai, the creator of the robot suit, is a professor at the University of Tsukuba and the CEO of Cyberdyne, which is manufacturing and renting the suits.

10.9.2008 at 04:42pm - Comment by Paul Adams

Anyone here read Iain M. Banks? There's an amazing wayward-robot-suit scene in one of his novels.
Science

The Five Diseases You Should Worry About

By Melinda Wenner Posted on 9.29.2008 3 Comments
Last May, scientists met in Geneva, Switzerland, to update the World Health Organization’s plans for pandemic preparedness. It looks like a crisis could arrive sooner rather than later. Thanks to climate change and drug resistance, a handful of deadly organisms are spreading across the globe; some are poised to make a comeback in the U.S. after decades of absence.

9.29.2008 at 01:02pm - Comment by Paul Adams

njdevil: that's what we call an "editorial error." Thanks for pointing it out! Fixed now.
Technology

Going Up?

By Paul Adams Posted on 9.24.2008 68 Comments
One of the most promising technologies for the aspiring outer-space commuter is the space elevator. The concept, like quite a few others, was pressed into the public imagination by Arthur C. Clarke, who in his 1979 novel The Fountains of Paradise described a incredibly thin, incredibly strong carbon filament with one end anchored on Earth and the other extending up to a satellite in geostationary orbit. Now, a group of Japanese scientists are convinced that they can build a space elevator more quickly and cheaply than has been believed possible. Such a cable could convey cargo into space very cheaply and easily. Carriages would travel up and down the cable under modest power, not the vast expenditures of energy that are currently needed to send anything into orbit.

9.25.2008 at 02:04pm - Comment by Paul Adams

NikoT: Carbon nanotubes can be excellent conductors, so a power cable would not need to be made of metal. Allan: In answer to your first question, one posited plan is to haul up a very thin cable, and use that to haul up a more substantial one (and so forth if necessary). I think positioning of the cable anchor close to the equator is the main proposed way of minimizing lightning strikes; but you're right, there's no complete answer to that yet. Perhaps some sort of nonconductive insulation on the vulnerable parts of the fiber would be possible.