Comments

BNicholson

Cars

Does Commute: New Electric Three-Wheeler Electric Seats Two, Hits 75 mph

By Mike Spinelli Posted on 9.24.2009 6 Comments
You say you want an an electric car, but only have one friend and 30 grand burning a hole in your pocket? The Myers Motors NMG2 may be your cup of lithium. And you can even help name it.

10.9.2009 at 12:39am - Comment by BNicholson

Myers has a hit. If they can enclose the wheel wells and clean it up a bit, it will increase its range with the same guts as before. See: www dot aerocivic dot com.
Science

Science Confirms the Obvious

By Jason Daley Posted on 10.6.2009 4 Comments
Sometimes it takes long, hard study to pin down what we thought we knew all along—and to reveal surprising findings beneath the surface of common sense. Ducks like water? Gamblers don't learn from their mistakes? Shocking!

10.9.2009 at 12:34am - Comment by BNicholson

You do a real disservice to humanity with this 'laugh at the scientist for trying to learn the obvious' approach. Looking at things through a microscope and reading between the lines is where science does it's best work. Negative lay publicity only retards the accumulation of real, verified knowledge, from which we can push off to new horizons. Nicholson Coined "Inclusive" and "Inclusive Democracy" concepts from math term. Original creator of "Lights On! Tampa!" art display/contest. Proposed "Floating Riverwalk" for Tampa Proposed Lee Roy Selmon Expressway extension to St. Pete w/rail link. etc.
Gadgets

Shifting Gears (Electronically)

By Posted on 2.17.2009 5 Comments
Last year bicycle manufacturer Shimano debuted its years-in-the-making electronic gear shifting system, the Dura Ace 7970 Di2. Electronic shifting, which replaces traditional steel cables with a precise CPU-controlled system of sensors and motors, had long been a goal of bike makers. A workable solution, however, proved elusive. So when Shimano finally got it right with the Dura Ace system, it earned PopSci’s 2008 Best Of What’s New Grand Award in the Recreation category.

2.21.2009 at 02:13pm - Comment by BNicholson

This would be perfect for recumbents and velomobiles, if the price could come down a little.
Technology

Obama Clashes With NASA Moon Program

By Dawn Stover Posted on 12.11.2008 18 Comments
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin is not playing nice with the Obama transition team, according to a post by Robert Block of the Orlando Sentinel. He reports that Griffin is resisting efforts by former NASA associate administrator Lori Garver, who heads Obama's space transition team, to "look under the hood" of the space program.

1.1.2009 at 01:30am - Comment by BNicholson

The new NASA design does seem primitive and essentially useless as far as furthering aeronautical engineering (except to built-in contractors). Our gravity well bodes not too well for future exploration. We need to send astronauts into space to live, and to die. Life spans may be shorter in space, on the moon, on Mars, but sacrifices must be made. The only real question is who will make them? Americans or Chinese?
The Environment

The Other Big Meltdown

By Laura Allen Posted on 12.19.2008 20 Comments
To predict the unpredictable: That’s the goal of a new government initiative on abrupt climate change. As the atmosphere reels under the influence of greenhouse gases, scientists fear the growing risk of dramatic environmental changes occurring within decades—far faster than current computer models predict. Ice sheets might not just melt but collapse wholesale, rapidly raising sea levels and flooding entire coastlines. Regional rain shortages could cause megadroughts that choke our water and food supply.

Article Rating:

12.21.2008 at 09:59pm - Comment by BNicholson

Since you don't cite your sources of information, there's no disputing your comments. I heard the President of the United States say 'global warming is a fact' the other day. Ditto for the President-elect. W duped? Say it ain't so!
Enphase Energy Micro-inverter System

By Posted on 11.9.2008 Comments
Enphase Energy reaps 5 to 25 percent more power from solar roofs by placing a small inverter—which changes DC current to AC—under each panel. Most systems use one big inverter, which requires a wiring setup that limits each panel’s output to that of the worst performer. To shrink inverters, Enphase replaced some analog parts with digital ones. From $200; enphaseenergy.com

11.18.2008 at 02:14am - Comment by BNicholson

It is way too expensive.
Science

The Invisible Warship

By Posted on 1.22.2008 1 Comments
For a closer look, click 'View Photos' at left to launch the photo gallery It will be almost silent, nearly invisible to enemy radar-and capable of dropping six powerful missiles simultaneously on a single target up to 95 miles away. But the most important feature of the DDG1000 Zumwalt, the Navy's first new destroyer in 30years, could be its versatility. The 600-foot-long ship will be just as comfortable in the deep ocean as in the mine-infested shallows of the Persian Gulf.

11.15.2008 at 01:14am - Comment by BNicholson

$ 2.3 billion and it comes with a diesel engine? This ship, and all our manned vessels, are merely floating targets. We need hardened sea-drones that can be repeatedly resurrected from sunk to 'dominate' an enemy shore in wartime. In a real war, aircraft are far too slow and far short of range to be at all useful. And aircraft carriers are as obsolete as match-locks. Leaving them in the Persian gulf will eventually turn them into flaming cauldrons of despair if hostilities break out. We need something that can fight from the bottom of the ocean if we expect to win the next one.
Science

Suicide is (Relatively) Painless

By Taylor Hengen Posted on 11.14.2008 13 Comments
While previous studies on chronic pain and suicide have focused on subjects already receiving treatment for their pain, a recent study, published in the November/December issue of the journal of General Hospital Psychiatry, drew upon a broader pool of subjects.

11.15.2008 at 12:51am - Comment by BNicholson

This article is completely wrong-headed. Chronic pain sufferers have a simple pheromone deficiency, easily remedied. Just take some ordinary chewing gum, rub the gum on your father's face. Then chew the gum. 150 mg p.o. does the trick, curing all sorts of sociopathy including criminal behavior in delinquents, illegal drug-seeking behavior in addicts, and even perversions. It's the greatest cure in the history of medicine.
Science

Cheating the Angels

By Paul Adams Posted on 11.17.2008 2 Comments
At the New York WhiskyFest this week, nobody wanted to talk much about technological innovations in the industry. Most of the whisky professionals I asked assured me that there was no such thing as innovation at their tradition-steeped distillery -- they were doing everything the same way it had been done for generations, thank you very much. Some distillers seemed put out that their companies had recently embraced such cutting-edge twentieth-century technology as labelling barrels with bar codes. The marketing side of the business is innovating to beat the band -- look for a new Irish whiskey called Feckin and a new rye called (rī)¹ coming soon to bars near you -- but the production side remains defiantly old-fangled.

11.15.2008 at 12:44am - Comment by BNicholson

Actually, wood has some particularly nasty chemicals in it that nobody in their right mind would want to stomach. Fired oaken barrels contain pyrethrins, for instance, which trigger cancer. They ought to go through the whole bunch and throw out the nasty ones at least. In the 12th century it never mattered very much. Most everybody was dead by age 36. Coined "Inclusive" and "Inclusive Democracy" concepts from math term. Original creator of "Lights On! Tampa!" art display/contest. Proposed "Floating Riverwalk" for Tampa Proposed Lee Roy Selmon Expressway extension to St. Pete w/rail link.
Technology

Web's Eulogy for the Phoenix Mars Lander

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.10.2008 10 Comments
NASA has begun bidding a planned goodbye to its Phoenix Mars Lander. The lander relies on solar panels and the sun's golden touch to reawaken it each day, but a dust storm has hastened the end in the face of the oncoming Martian winter.

11.9.2008 at 12:55am - Comment by BNicholson

We have GOT to get rid of these crazy old men running NASA. Multimillion dollar robots cannot move as fast or as far as a $50 balloon on Mars. Robots cannot explore Mars five square inches at a time. We need to use Martian winds to blow aircraft, inflatables, around and take data randomly from winch down equipment. For the cost of one of these silly robot mechanical monsters, we could have close up images and data from hundreds of square miles by now.