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ymi2b

NASA Kepler Space Telescope

By Posted on 11.19.2009 10 Comments
You’d be hard-pressed to get a NASA scientist to come out and say that the Kepler space telescope is designed to find aliens. Put it this way, though: The goal of the probe, which was launched in March, is to find planets much like our own in distant star systems—Earth-size bodies orbiting their stars in the sweet spot where the temperature is appropriate to support, just maybe, alien life. Using a photometer that’s more than three feet in diameter, Kepler is now continuously observing some 100,000 stars located between 600 and 3,000 light-years away.

11.12.2009 at 10:18pm - Comment by ymi2b

Oh man.. whatta' waste. Cool, but a logical waste. We don't even KNOW if our MOON has ice at the pole for certain... YET THEY ARE GOING TO TELL US THAT another solar system's planet that cannot even be seen is apparently suitable for human life! Ah, how I love some of these scientists. And, do tell, what shall you do, dear fellows, should you even be able to determine that the temperature is right, and there is oxygen and water (which is an IMPOSSIBILITY, yet they state such things all the time as if it were fact)... so, what shall you do with the findings? Send a ship out there? We cannot even afford to go to the moon any time soon, let alone even MARS... it is a waste of money! Spend it on doing something that is ATTAINABLE in the next 100 years. I say, turn that thing around to point at the earth and track terrorists or something that can actually help save lives -- I mean, you already spent the money and built it. If it were up to me, however, I would've put the money into wind power... something with a fairly immediate return in investment.
Technology

How Much Power Does The Human Brain Require To Operate?

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.6.2009 21 Comments
According to Kwabena Boahen, a computer scientist at Stanford University, a robot with a processor as smart as the human brain would require at least 10 megawatts to operate. That's the amount of energy produced by a small hydroelectric plant. But a small group of computer scientists may have hit on a new neural supercomputer that could someday emulate the human brain's low energy requirements of just 20 watts--barely enough to run a dim light bulb.

11.12.2009 at 09:21pm - Comment by ymi2b

Great, so a "super" computer with the unpredicatbility of a human brain... With my luck, any computerized system I would have that would use this system would likely behave like a woman with premenstrual syndrome... or make that just a woman. Ouch. Women, commence the throwing of insults back at me. It will just prove your irrational selves and solidify my point.
Science

Baguette Dropped From Bird's Beak Shuts Down The Large Hadron Collider (Really)

By Stuart Fox Posted on 11.5.2009 84 Comments
The Large Hadron Collider, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, just cannot catch a break. First, a coolant leak destroyed some of the magnets that guide the energy beam. Then LHC officials postponed the restart of the machine to add additional safety features.

11.12.2009 at 09:14pm - Comment by ymi2b

You guys may all think it quite implausible that a piece of bread could shut this thing down, but there have been some serious inconsiderations from the designers. In Aug2009 they found a family of rats inside the tube of the accellerator where it is supposed to be a vacuum void of particles... yet a whole nest of rats?! Come on! I think this thing is one huge money trap. Billions spent on a "promise" as so often is the case with scientific research. And they will "produce" false results to support their theory that got them all this govenment money in the first place just so they can screw around for another year. It would be like an animal exterminator breeding rats and releasing them in the community so he can get more work. Personally, I LOVE SCIENCE, I LOVE the idea of what we MAY be able to discover, but there comes a point where you must ask yourselves, "is this really financially necessary at all? If you prove even 1/2 your theory, would it have been worth the billions and billions spent and to yet be spent? What results/benefits will we realize within the next, say, 50 years, from our billions spent, should you even find what you're looking for?"
Gadgets

The Future of Laundry: No More Water

By Posted on 10.22.2009 19 Comments
Clean your clothes without putting them—or your utility bills—through the wringer. Xeros’s prototype washing machine uses 90 percent less water than ordinary models, which also eliminates energy-intensive spin cycles and dryer blasts.

11.9.2009 at 10:05pm - Comment by ymi2b

Actually, RAILGUN, I do just what you stated, I do pipe my ELECTRIC dryer's exhaust into my forced air furnace so I get the humidity from it and the heat of it added to my home's exisitng heat (and in winter I can use the humidity!), I just make sure the air is blowing even if the furnace heat isn't on while drying clothes. DO NOT TRY THIS WITH GAS DRIERS!!!! As for this invention, I kinda' do the same thing already. What I do is use nylon plastic sheets instead of pellets. And I don't use it in a washer. I use it in conjunction with my actual clothes. I wrap my body in the plastic nylon sheets and then put my clothes on, on top of it. This way my excessive body oils and excruciatingly bad ordor is sealed away from the clothes they the nylon sheet barrier. Pretty much just like this product.
Technology

NASA Test Fires Ares First Stage Rocket Motor

By Stuart Fox Posted on 9.11.2009 6 Comments
Wasting no time after the publication of the Augustine Report, both NASA and a competitor for the Lunar X-Prize used this week to test lunar exploration technology. For NASA, this meant a Thursday test of the Ares rocket that forms the bedrock of their Shuttle replacement efforts. For Armadillo Airspace, a test of their X-Prize-contending lunar lander prototype.

9.15.2009 at 08:05pm - Comment by ymi2b

To the author's quote of, "Flight Of The Armadillo : I'm always amused when aerospace vehicles are named after animals that don't fly" Amadillo is the company's name, Scorpius was the rocket's name (apparently after the star constellation). To Sonofanel: This craft, the Scorpius, actually lifted off, hoovered about 18 seconds, flew about 100 meters, descended, hoovered again about 18 seconds, then landed. Then was refueled, and repeated the same flight benchmarks back to the starting. It was pretty cool. Check out the youtube video (and my awesome comments): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuJ_jASXMVY
Science

In Defense of the LHC

By Posted on 3.18.2009 23 Comments
Today’s most ambitious scientific instruments are modern-day cathedrals in their size and complexity, if not in their purpose—these are, after all, structures built to shatter worldviews, not to reinforce them. And the grandest of all, pictured on these pages and fired into action today, will take us on a journey to one of the least-accessible places imaginable: the realm of quantum particles, less than a billionth the size of a single atom.

10.2.2008 at 06:11pm - Comment by ymi2b

I find it a bit irrational, impulsive and emotional (seemingly frequent US liberal political behavior) to state that the military has not brought much benefit. Far from true. Most of the advances we found were perhaps not directly done by the military themselves, but through funding by government directly related to research to benefit the military, be it national defense or for offensive reasons. Military brought us helicopters, radar, infrared, etc. - all things quickly transitioned for use by the general public. Sure, I feel we waste far too much money on overpriced hardware, especially airplanes and space, but please don't disregard the benefits. As for this research, it's a gamble - but then again, all research is. Theorists believe there just must be something more here to support their theory/beliefs... wow, they don't differ much from theologists in their ferver.. If they don't see the results they desire, they want more money. I don't blame them. I don't blame religeous types. It is what makes us human. The pursuit of understanding and truth. ..I went off subject, sorry... But, can anyone tell me what real-world benefits Fermilab has brought to us? Sure, they believe they've empiracal evidence for quarks, bosons, etc., but how has this been applied to other things? Have the discoveries acted as firm building blocks to production of things to help society, such as, I don't know, say, space propulsion, or better energy consumption, or making better electronics?