Archive

Posts Tagged ‘Science’

9 Interesting Links From January 8th

January 9th, 2010 Greg Smith No comments
  • Gallup: America the ‘conservative’? / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com – per pollster Gallup, the nation has grown only more polarized in the past year. By the end of 2009, 40 percent of Americans self-identified as conservative, up from 37 percent in 2008. Moderates clocked in at 36 percent, down from 37 a year earlier. And 21 percent of Americans self-identified as liberal, down a point from 2008.
  • Why cheap Chianti is often better than the expensive stuff. – By Mike Steinberger – Slate Magazine – Chianti is Italy's most famous wine, and—given its operatic recent history—it is arguably the most Italian of Italian wines. Back in the 1960s and '70s, Chianti was synonymous with plonk; it was the cheap, insipid Tuscan wine that came in straw flasks (fiascos, as they were aptly known) and was typically found, on these shores, in pizza joints with checkered tablecloths and jukeboxes.
  • First Rio Rancho Mayor Accused Of Sex Charges – Albuquerque News Story – KOAT Albuquerque – In February 1981, when Rio Rancho was a fledgling city, William Howden was its first mayor. Now, almost three decades later, Howden is accused of molesting his 7-year-old granddaughter.
  • Sheriff Joe Arpaio investigated by grand jury, officials confirm – Two Maricopa County executives said Thursday they will appear before a federal grand jury next week to testify about allegations that Sheriff Joe Arpaio and others in his office have abused their power.
  • Texas Gov. Rick Perry has toiled to steer clear of George W. Bush’s shadow | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News – "His populist, anti-government definition of himself is one that has more in common with Sarah Palin than it does with George W. Bush" by resonating with the emerging tea-party movement, said University of Texas political scientist Bruce Buchanan.
  • "Smart" ski tickets lead to more pass-fraud busts in Colorado – The Denver Post – Even though skiers do not need to remove their pass from their pocket, ticket checkers can review a host of data from each pass they scan, including a large photograph of the skier.
  • Intel Forced to Remove "Cripple AMD" Function from Compiler? – Agner Fog details this particularly nasty examples of Intel's anticompetitive practices quite well. Intel's compiler can produce different versions of pieces of code, with each version being optimised for a specific processor and/or instruction set (SSE2, SSE3, etc.). The system detects which CPU it's running on and chooses the optimal code path accordingly; the CPU dispatcher, as it's called.
  • I am a debunker of 9/11 conspiracy theories. AMA. : reddit.com – I'm a guy who sees a country that's become increasingly hostile to science from both the right (obvious) and the left (all-natural drugs, homeopathy, anti-vax).
  • Why didn’t I use pervious concrete for my driveway? – Fresh Dirt – Sunset.com – Pervious concrete is basically concrete without the sand. And the absence of sand creates a lot of void space. 15-30%. That is enough, according to the Pacific Southwest Concrete Alliance, for 3-8 gallons of water per minute to pass through each square foot. That is equal, says the Alliance, to 6,000 to 17,000 inches of rain per day. Even an El Nino won't produce more than that.
    • Categories: News And Links Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Star Wars Science Force Trainer With EEG Sensor

    November 19th, 2009 Greg Smith No comments

    135A56D4-193A-4622-A750-F5F6D0193226.jpgThe Star Wars Science Force Trainer consists of two parts, a headset with EEG sensor that can read your brain waves and a Training Tower which consists of remote controlled ball in a tower. It’s hard to belive there is a toy EEG sensor in a Star Wars toy, where was this stuff when I was a kid?

    You use the headset to control the ball in the Training Tower through 15 levels. Based on the 5 reviews at Amazon, the device could have some problems like possibly it doesn’t work at all for some people. It wouldn’t surprise me to hear that this first generation toy needs some of the issues worked on. Imagine where this will be in 10 to 20 years. Everyone will be walking around with their EEG headsets to control just about anything.

    Regardless for $75, I am very tempted to buy one just to try it out myself.

    Amazon: Star Wars Star Wars Science – Force Trainer. About $75.

    Categories: Entertainment, Games, Science And Technology Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

    The Lost World In New Mexico

    May 3rd, 2009 Greg Smith No comments

    6C7B8C4A-EADF-48BE-B9E0-BD06F83FE4C3.jpg

    According to Live Science, a few dinosaurs were still roaming around New Mexico 500,000 years after the great apocalypse that killed the rest of them.

    The whole idea that a space rock destroyed the dinosaurs has become controversial in recent years. Many scientists now suspect other factors were involved, from increased volcanic activity to a changing climate. Either way, some 70 percent of life on Earth perished, and an asteroid impact almost surely played a role.
    Scientists recently analyzed dinosaur bones found in the Ojo Alamo Sandstone in the San Juan Basin. Based on detailed chemical investigations of the bones, and evidence for the age of the rocks in which they are found, the researchers think some dinosaurs outlived the crash that occurred 65 million years ago and stuck around for a while.

    New Mexico is a popular place for Dinosaur hunters because of how well fossils has been preserved.

    Categories: New Mexico, Science And Technology Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Nemo’s Fish Guy

    February 22nd, 2004 Greg Smith Comments off
    I enjoyed reading this summary of Pixar’s use of a “Fish Expert” on “Finding Nemo”.

    “They also asked Summers and a colleague what factual error would distress them most if featured in the film. Summers? colleague said that he would be really irritated if they featured kelp (a cold water species) in a tropical coral reef. There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence as the animators realised that they had done just that. To their everlasting credit, they painstakingly took all the kelp out and re-rendered, which must have taken them ages. In my experience, very few science or nature documentaries take that kind of meticulous care with the facts, which makes Pixar?s attention to detail even more laudable.”

    Exactly so, just one of the reasons that Nemo was such a hit (story and voice acting another big part). “A Bugs Life” was another favorite of mine and the reason I became of stock holder. I look forward to their next flick, “The incredibles”. 

    Categories: Entertainment, Rio Rancho Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,