Comments

Dustman

The Environment

Bibliospherical Orb of Doom Constructed in Germany

By Adrian Covert Posted on 7.20.2009 3 Comments
The Bibliosphere--a sustainable structure featuring renewable energy sources, plus natural lighting and ventilation--was designed by Greeen! Architects to serve as the main attraction for the University of Duisburg-Essen. By the looks of it, I think they succeeded in their mission.

7.25.2009 at 02:01am - Comment by Dustman

What an idiotic headline. This is progress and all you can do is poke fun? Did you write this after watching star wars? Perhaps Popsci can have some grown-ups write articles. Can you be considered a serious source for scientific information if the subject matter is not taken seriously?
Science

Getting High For Your Health

By Rachel Durfee Posted on 9.10.2008 24 Comments
Cannabis connoisseurs, former hippies, and college kids everywhere have long appreciated marijuana for its seemingly magical effects on mind and body. The fact that it is illegal (at least in the United States), has never stopped people from partaking in a little herbal refreshment. But it isn’t just Phish fans who have argued for the legalization of the popular recreational drug. Legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes, specifically to alleviate the pain of those afflicted with glaucoma, is a contemporary and fairly widespread cause.

9.20.2008 at 05:42pm - Comment by Dustman

To Earthlingbob, You must be kidding.
Gadgets

Handheld Spy Chopper

By Annemarie Conte and Esther Haynes Posted on 9.5.2008 5 Comments
American soldiers have a bevy of hand-launched unmanned aerial vehicles to choose from these days, but nothing quite as nimble, lightweight and cheap as the Stevens Institute of Technology’s unmanned helicopter. The chopper would allow soldiers to check tall buildings for enemies by flying the camera-equipped, remote-controlled helicopter up staircases and into hidden corners before they go in. The four-pound prototype is made of a doughnut-shaped fiberglass shell 18 inches in diameter; inside, two counter-rotating 14-inch rotors create lift.

9.13.2008 at 05:11am - Comment by Dustman

Awesome, another gadget to help us kill people more efficiently. It looks like the design has potential, but i have to ask how loud it is, if it's too loud it could alert the enemy to your presence too soon.
Science

Readers Wonder: How Will It All End?

By PopSci Staff Posted on 9.10.2008 21 Comments
Nobody's implying that it's right around the corner, but an old question is on a lot of people's minds these days -- especially you readers. How will the world end? Wikipedia has a nice list of some possible scenarios. What's your favorite? Discuss in the comments.

9.13.2008 at 04:57am - Comment by Dustman

Let me think... War?
Science

Getting High For Your Health

By Rachel Durfee Posted on 9.10.2008 24 Comments
Cannabis connoisseurs, former hippies, and college kids everywhere have long appreciated marijuana for its seemingly magical effects on mind and body. The fact that it is illegal (at least in the United States), has never stopped people from partaking in a little herbal refreshment. But it isn’t just Phish fans who have argued for the legalization of the popular recreational drug. Legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes, specifically to alleviate the pain of those afflicted with glaucoma, is a contemporary and fairly widespread cause.

9.13.2008 at 04:53am - Comment by Dustman

Oh yeah, and many very successful and respectable people smoke marijuana regularly.
Science

Getting High For Your Health

By Rachel Durfee Posted on 9.10.2008 24 Comments
Cannabis connoisseurs, former hippies, and college kids everywhere have long appreciated marijuana for its seemingly magical effects on mind and body. The fact that it is illegal (at least in the United States), has never stopped people from partaking in a little herbal refreshment. But it isn’t just Phish fans who have argued for the legalization of the popular recreational drug. Legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes, specifically to alleviate the pain of those afflicted with glaucoma, is a contemporary and fairly widespread cause.

9.13.2008 at 04:48am - Comment by Dustman

I believe one of the major reason pot is still illegal is because it is a mind opening drug, and who in power wants a bunch of open minded people running around? The rats might not want to be in the cage any more. And of course there are many existing corporations who will and have done everything in their power to make sure it became and continues to be illegal. Hemp has countless practical uses. To name a few: Paper, clothing, rope, fuel, building material, etc. And it lives up to its name, weed, it grows like a weed, needs relatively little water compared to most crops, can grow in relatively poor soil... In other words it is an efficient crop. It has has countless medicinal uses, STRESS for instance, depression, pain, insomnia, etc, etc. It has many applications in the field of developmental disabilities, which I worked in for 7 years, and i could not believe it wasn't used in certain cases, it was the plain answer and alternative to heavy meds that didn't really work and caused many side effects that in some cases were as bad as the condition itself. It has no "serious" side effects that i am aware of. And how much of our tax money is spent with this "war on drugs"? It is rediculous how many people spend time in jail for selling or being in possession of a relatively harmless substance. When was the last time you saw somebody who was stoned assault someone or drive like a madman More likely they are at home munching potato chips. Alcohol and tobacco are much worse and are they illegal? And after a hard day at work I think many people look forward to 4:20, it makes some of our crappy lives a little easier. And to those anti-marijuana commercials... the ones that say you are a loser for not going out and "making something of yourself" and blame it on marijuana... First of all maybe we don't all want to go to that stupid job making money for someone who doesn't really earn it, selling something that people don't really need. And maybe it helps people realize that is not what life is about, being a pawn that is. Excuse my rant.
Science

Ms. Scientist

By Holly Otterbein Posted on 9.11.2008 7 Comments
In 2005, the then-president of Harvard University said that men are better at math and science than women. (President Lawrence Summers' exact words were a bit more roundabout. While theorizing why women are underrepresented in those fields, he said "there is a different availability of aptitude at the high end.") Turns out Summers's attitude may be to blame, according to a new study from vocational psychologists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

9.13.2008 at 03:59am - Comment by Dustman

So what, men and women are better at different things. And just maybe it also has to do with their upbringing/parenting... Women CAN work on cars but are they encouraged to? To all the ladies... Never sell yourself short!
Technology

Flight of the Jetpack

By Posted on 7.29.2008 23 Comments
Today marked the public debut of the Martin Jetpack, a ducted-fan-equipped personal flying vehicle that could keep pilots aloft for 30 minutes or more. Inventor Glenn Martin has been working on the jetpack—which isn't technically a "jet" pack, given the fans—for 27 years, but he has kept it secret until now. Even his son, Harrison, the 16-year-old test pilot, wasn't allowed to tell his friends that he'd been cruising around the yard back home in Christchurch, New Zealand in a revolutionary flying vehicle.

9.13.2008 at 03:45am - Comment by Dustman

This is not the jetpack of the future, that much is obvious.
Technology

So Near And Yet So Far

By Posted on 8.6.2008 22 Comments
In today's featured reader question, DiGMEH from Montreal wonders "Why not send someone again [to the Moon] now? Technology is better and they have more experience and money for it..." It's an interesting question. Is it a matter of priorities, of money, of something else? Submit your science and technology questions to fyi@popsci.com.

9.13.2008 at 03:42am - Comment by Dustman

...Because it would be an utter waste of resources... There are much better things the money could be spent on, such as medical research, more efficient technologies, manned mission to Mars, blasting more human beings into oblivion with endless war... Social programs!
Science

Breaking Open the Unknown Universe

By Michael Moyer Posted on 9.16.2008 7 Comments
The proton is a persistent thing. The first one crystallized out of the universe's chaotic froth just 0.00001 of a second after the big bang, when existence was squeezed into a space about the size of the solar system. The rest quickly followed. Protons for the most part have survived unchanged through the intervening 13.8 billion years—joining with electrons to make hydrogen gas, fusing in stars to form the heavier elements, but all the while remaining protons. And they will continue to remain protons for billions of years to come.

9.12.2008 at 08:30pm - Comment by Dustman

I hope this thing lives up to its staggering potential. What an exciting time we are in. Great to see money spent on the pursuit of understanding, instead of the pursuit of war. Also great to see people from so many different nations coming together for a similar purpose. (Note on the opening paragraph: There are probably many other civilizations in the universe who have done similar experiments long before this one was even conceived of...)