MikeChino sends in this excerpt from Inhabitat:"China already has the most advanced and extensive high-speed rail lines in the world, and soon that network will be connected all the way to Europe and the UK. With initial negotiations and surveys already complete, China is now making plans to connect its HSR line through 17 other countries in Asia and Eastern Europe in order to connect to the existing infrastructure in the EU. Additional rail lines will also be built into South East Asia as well as Russia, in what will likely become the largest infrastructure project in history."They hope to get it done within 10 years, with China providing the financing in exchange for raw materials, in some cases.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Scottish Wave Energy Plans Move Forward
It's been a long time coming (2007, 2005, and 2002 respectively), but the project to harness wave energy off the Scots coast is finally coming together. Reader krou writes:"The BBC is reporting that ten sites on the seabed off Scotland in Pentland Firth and around Orkney have been leased to energy companies with the hopes of generating wave and tidal energy. 'Six sites have been allocated for wave energy developments potentially generating 600 megawatts of power and four for tidal projects, also generating 600 MW.' The leases were awarded to SSE Renewables Developments, Aquamarine Power, ScottishPower Renewables, E.ON, Pelamis Wave Power, OpenHydro Site Developments, and Marine Current Turbines. Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said that 'These waters have been described as the Saudi Arabia of marine power and the wave and tidal projects unveiled today — exceeding the initial 700MW target capacity — underline the rich natural resources of the waters off Scotland.'"
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Stanford develops safer lithium-sulfur batteries with four times the charge of lithium-ion cells
By Richard Lai posted Mar 14th 2010 at 7:29AM
Longer battery life is high atop our list of gadget prayers, and the brainiacs at Stanford are one step closer to making our dreams come true with a new lithium-sulfur technology. Half of this trick lies in the silicon nanowire anode that the same team developed back in 2007, whereas the new cathode consists of a similarly commodious lithium sulfide nanostructure. Compared to present lithium-ion batteries, Stanford's design is "significantly safer" and currently achieves 80 percent more capacity, but it's nowhere near commercial launch with just 40 to 50 charge cycles (Li-ion does "300 to 500") due to the compound's rapid degradation. That said, we're promised a theoretical quadruple boost in capacity as the technology matures, so until then we'll keep that hamster running in our backpack.
Longer battery life is high atop our list of gadget prayers, and the brainiacs at Stanford are one step closer to making our dreams come true with a new lithium-sulfur technology. Half of this trick lies in the silicon nanowire anode that the same team developed back in 2007, whereas the new cathode consists of a similarly commodious lithium sulfide nanostructure. Compared to present lithium-ion batteries, Stanford's design is "significantly safer" and currently achieves 80 percent more capacity, but it's nowhere near commercial launch with just 40 to 50 charge cycles (Li-ion does "300 to 500") due to the compound's rapid degradation. That said, we're promised a theoretical quadruple boost in capacity as the technology matures, so until then we'll keep that hamster running in our backpack.
Your Rights Online: NY To Replace IT Vendors With State Workers
on Friday March 12, @03:29PM
Posted by Soulskill on Friday March 12, @03:29PM from the this-can-only-end-well dept.
dcblogs writes "New York state plans to replace as many as 500 IT contract workers with a new type of temporary state worker. The state estimates it can save $25,000 annually for each contracting position that is in-sourced. This is the result of a new law creating 'term appointments,' which strip away some hiring and firing rules that apply to permanent state workers. These term appointment workers are employed 'at will.' Term appointments can be up to five years and workers get state benefits. Proponents of this change said a state IT worker might earn an average of $55 an hour, including benefits, while the state pays its contractors an average of $128 an hour for workers in similar jobs."
Posted by Soulskill on Friday March 12, @03:29PM from the this-can-only-end-well dept.
dcblogs writes "New York state plans to replace as many as 500 IT contract workers with a new type of temporary state worker. The state estimates it can save $25,000 annually for each contracting position that is in-sourced. This is the result of a new law creating 'term appointments,' which strip away some hiring and firing rules that apply to permanent state workers. These term appointment workers are employed 'at will.' Term appointments can be up to five years and workers get state benefits. Proponents of this change said a state IT worker might earn an average of $55 an hour, including benefits, while the state pays its contractors an average of $128 an hour for workers in similar jobs."
Friday, March 12, 2010
On Social Networks, You Are Who You Know
santosh maharshi writes"On social networks like Facebook, even if you have kept your profile very private, people can just look at your friends list and infer lots of vital information about you. Most of the social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn allow people to see your picture and your friends list as part of the open access for visitors (the article says that only 5% of Facebook users have bothered to hide their friends list). In a study titled You Are Who You Know: Inferring User Profiles in Online Social Networks (PDF), conducted by Alan Mislove of Northeastern University and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, an algorithm was tested that can accurately infer the personal attributes of Facebook users simply by looking at their friend lists. 'At Rice [University], the algorithm accurately predicted the correct dormitory, graduation year, and area of study for the many of the students. In fact, among these undergraduates, researchers found that “with as little as 20 percent of the users providing attributes we can often infer the attributes for the remaining users with over 80 percent accuracy."'"
High-Tech Armrest: Computer-Controlled Hand and Arm Support Devise Developed for Doctors, Artists
ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2010) — University of Utah engineers developed a computer-controlled, motorized hand and arm support that will let doctors, artists and others precisely control scalpels, brushes and tools over a wider area than otherwise possible, and with less fatigue.
China To Tap Combustible Ice As New Energy Source
on Friday March 12, @05:00AM
lilbridge writes "Huge reserves of "combustible ice" — frozen methane and water, have been discovered in the tundra of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. Estimates show that there is enough combustible ice to provide 90 years worth of energy for China. Burning the combustible ice may be a far better alternative than letting it just melt, releasing tons of methane into the air."
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Portable NES modded into a cartridge, hearts modded into love
My Next Project;)
By Nilay Patel 
posted Oct 11th 2009 6:03PM
posted Oct 11th 2009 6:03PM
[Via 8bitfix; thanks, Gusto]
Obesity Linked to Poor Colon Cancer Prognosis
ScienceDaily (Mar. 11, 2010) — Obese patients with colon cancer are at greater risk for death or recurrent disease compared to those who are within a normal weight range, according to a report inClinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Papaya Extract Thwarts Growth of Cancer Cells in Lab Tests
ScienceDaily (Mar. 10, 2010) — The humble papaya is gaining credibility in Western medicine for anticancer powers that folk cultures have recognized for generations.
Big Power from Tiny Wires: Carbon Nanotubes Can Produce Powerful Waves That Could Be Harnessed for New Energy Systems
ScienceDaily (Mar. 10, 2010) — A team of scientists at MIT have discovered a previously unknown phenomenon that can cause powerful waves of energy to shoot through minuscule wires known as carbon nanotubes. The discovery could lead to a new way of producing electricity, the researchers say.
Cotton Is the Fabric of Your Lights, Your MP3 Player, Your Cell Phone
ScienceDaily (Mar. 10, 2010) — Consider this T-shirt: It can monitor your heart rate and breathing, analyze your sweat and even cool you off on a hot summer's day. What about a pillow that monitors your brain waves, or a solar-powered dress that can charge your MP3 player? This is not science fiction -- this is cotton in 2010.
Over 50 ARM-based tablets launching this year
By Thomas Ricker posted Mar 10th 2010 5:38AM
Martin Jetpack priced at $86,000, mere mortals will soon be able to buy one too
By Vladislav Savov posted Mar 10th 2010 4:24AM
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
To Remember the Good Times, Reach for the Sky
ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2010) — Simple motor actions, like moving marbles upward or downward between two cardboard boxes, may not seem meaningful. But a study published April 2010 inCognition shows that motor actions can partly determine people's emotional memories.
Ritalin Boosts Learning by Increasing Brain Plasticity
ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2010) — Doctors treat millions of children with Ritalin every year to improve their ability to focus on tasks, but scientists now report that Ritalin also directly enhances the speed of learning.
Exposure to Letters A or F Can Affect Test Performance
ScienceDaily (Mar. 9, 2010) — Seeing the letter A before an exam can improve a student's exam result while exposure to the letter F may make a student more likely to fail.
50% Efficiency Boost From New Fuel Injection System
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 09, @08:14AM
from the only-four-years-out dept.
from the only-four-years-out dept.
chudnall notes a Technology Review story on a new gas engine injection system that promises increased efficiency of up to 50%."The key is heating and pressurizing gasoline before injecting it into the combustion chamber, says Mike Rocke, Transonic's vice president of business development. This puts it into a supercritical state that allows for very fast and clean combustion, which in turn decreases the amount of fuel needed to propel a vehicle. The company also treats the gasoline with a catalyst that 'activates' it, partially oxidizing it to enhance combustion."
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Sea Squirt Offers Hope for Alzheimer's Sufferers
ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2010) — Alzheimer's disease affects an estimated 27 million people worldwide. It is the most common form of age-related dementia, possibly the most feared disease of old age. There is no cure, and the available drugs only help to relieve symptoms without slowing progression of the disease. One of the characteristic changes in the brains of Alzheimer's patients is the accumulation of plaques and tangles; currently, the best hope for curing or at least slowing the disease lies in developing drugs that target this buildup. Some drugs are already in clinical trials, but there is still a pressing need for more research, and for more and better drugs directed against both known and novel targets.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Chilean Quake Likely Shifted Earth’s Axis, NASA Scientist Says
By Alex Morales
March 1 (Bloomberg) -- The earthquake that killed more than 700 people in Chile on Feb. 27 probably shifted the Earth’s axis and shortened the day, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist said.
DIY: Build Your Own 40 Display Setup
Posted on Mar 2, 10 08:39 AM PDT
If you think you’ve got one of the coolest monitor setups in town, you’ll want to take a look at this jaw-dropping 40-monitor setup. While the initial idea was to set up 60 monitors, consisting of a mix of 19-inch and 24-inch monitors, but in the end the maker settled for 40 units of 24-inch monitors. 6 computers power the whole setup, and they’re powered by Intel’s Core i7 975 processors, 24GB of DDR3 memory, two SLC SSDs in RAID0 configuration, not to mention some NVIDIA NVS 420s and NVIDIA 9800GTs. In case you’re wondering what this is all for, it’s supposedly used for “intraday trading and development”, but you would be forgiven for thinking that it was the brain of a robot planning to take over planet Earth, after all, why would you see such a cool setup for mundane tasks, right?
An Exercise To Model a "Solar Radiation Katrina"
Posted by kdawson on Monday March 01, @08:17AM
from the transformer-fires dept.
from the transformer-fires dept.
Hugh Pickens writes in with an update on the warnings we discussed a year back about the dangers of a "solar Katrina." Now NPR is reporting on a tabletop exercise mounted in Boulder, Colorado by government workers attempting to model the effects of a worst-case solar electromagnetic storm."...an exercise held in Boulder, Colorado, has investigated what might happen if the Earth were struck by a solar storm as intense as the huge storms that occurred in 1921 and 1859— a sort of solar Katrina — and researchers found that the impact is likely to be far worse than in previous solar storms because of our growing dependence on satellites and other electronic devices that are vulnerable to electromagnetic radiation. 'In many ways, the impact of a major solar storm resembles that of a hurricane or an earthquake,' says FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, except that a solar Katrina would cause damage in a much larger area — power could be knocked out almost simultaneously in countries from Sweden to Canada and the US. In the exercise, the first sign of trouble came when radiation began disrupting radio signals and GPS devices, says Tom Bogdan, who directs the Space Weather Prediction Center. Ten or 20 minutes later electrically charged particles 'basically took out' most of the commercial satellites that transmit telephone conversations, TV shows, and huge amounts of data we depend on in our daily lives. But the worst damage came nearly a day later, when the solar storm began to induce electrical currents in high voltage power lines strong enough to destroy transformers around the globe, leaving millions of people in northern latitudes without power."
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