Hi guys, I am trying to build a carousel-like structure for my application. I intend to use a stepper motor which will bear the load of an aluminium plate (2kg approx), on top of which I'll be placing beakers resulting in a total of 3 Kg load on the stepper.. bearing these in mind what specs shou
Physicians and health professionals are now speaking out clearly of the risks and dangers of vaccination
Send Free Messages to Other iPad and iPhone Owners With Ping! [IPad Apps]
Don't want to reach for your phone to send a quick message to your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad having pals? Use Ping!, a free messaging app which vaguely reminds me of the BlackBerry Messenger setup. Here's how it works: More »
engine
why can not we design an engine running with out petrol i think its possible. its not a joke.
If You’re Still On the Fence About Buying an iPad… [Apple]
There have been a lot of reactions to the iPad lately. Most positive, some negative. If you're still undecided, look no further than our litanies of iPad resistance and submission for that last little push in either direction. [Giz] More »
New EPA Rules Clamp Down on Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining | 80beats
It’s been a busy week for President Obama and energy. Two days ago his administration rolled out plans to expand millions of new acres of ocean off the U.S. coastline for oil and gas drilling; after we posted on it, many DISCOVER fans expressed their disdain for Obama’s move on our Facebook page. Today, though, there’s good news for the environmentalists: Obama’s EPA said today it will put stricter restrictions on mountaintop removal coal mining.
At “mountaintop removal” mines, which are unique to Appalachian states, miners blast the peaks off mountains to reach coal seams inside and then pile vast quantities of rubble in surrounding valleys [Washington Post]. The chemicals that result from decapitating a mountain and mining coal tend to run off into the the valleys and pollute rivers and streams, however. So when 80beats last left mountaintop removal, a group of scientists had taken a public stance in the journal Science calling for a complete end to this kind of mining.
The new EPA rules don’t go that far. But the mining regulations will be difficult for mountaintop removal projects to meet. Basically, the EPA will set a standard level for permissible mining runoff allowed to reach waterways, and if a mining project is expected to exceed five times that number, it won’t go forward. Agency head Lisa Jackson says, “You are talking about either no or very few valley fills that are going to be able to meet standards like this. What the science is telling us is that it would be untrue to say you can have any more than minimal valley fill and not see irreversible damage to stream health” [The Guardian]. Between 2000 and 2008, the government had granted more than 500 permits for valley fills.
While the new rules are focused on new mines, it’s possible that established mines may not be simply grandfathered in. Ms. Jackson cited Arch Coal Inc.’s Spruce No. 1 mine, the biggest surface mine in West Virginia, as an example of a project that didn’t meet the new standard and would “degrade water quality in streams adjacent to the mine” [Wall Street Journal]. Last week the EPA proposed revoking Arch Coal’s permit, which unsurprisingly made the mining industry balk at what it calls an unprecedented move.
Related Content:
80beats: Obama Proposes Oil & Gas Drilling in Vast Swaths of U.S. Waters
80beats: Scientists Demand End to Mountaintop Decapitation; Mining Projects Advance Anyway
80beats: After Massive Tennessee Ash Spill, Authorities Try to Assess the Damage
80beats: Isn’t It Ironic: Green Tech Relies on Dirty Mining in China
80beats: Obama Admin. Rolls Back Bush-Era Rules on Mining & Forests
Image: Wikimedia Commons / JW Randolph
A Tabletop Fireplace For Dining Room S’mores [Pyro]
I admit it: I'm not much one for camping. But why should I go outside to gather around an open flame when I can have one in my own apartment? More »
Meet the Genetically Engineered Pig With Earth-Friendly Poop | 80beats
Canada has approved for limited production a genetically engineered, environmentally friendly pig.
The “Enviropig” has been genetically modified in such a manner that its urine and feces contain almost 65 percent less phosphorus than usual. That could be good news for lakes, rivers, and ocean deltas, where phosphorous from animal waste can play a role in causing algal blooms. These outbursts of algae rapidly deplete the water’s oxygen, creating vast dead zones for fish and other aquatic life [National Geographic].
All living creatures need phosphorus, as the element plays an important role in many cellular and organ functions. Domesticated pigs get their daily dose from corn or cereal grains, but not without a struggle. These foods contain a type of phosphorus that is indigestible to the pigs, so farmers also feed their pigs an enzyme called phytase to allow the animals to break down and digest the phosphorus. But ingested phytase isn’t as effective at breaking down phosphorus as phytase created inside the pig would be, so a fair amount of the element gets flushed out in pig waste. That waste, in turn, can make its way into the water supply [National Geographic].
To fix this problem, the scientists tinkered with the swine’s genes to make the pig produce its own phytase in its salivary glands. When the cereal grains are consumed, they mix with the phytase in the saliva, and throughout the pig’s digestive tract the enzyme works to break down the phosphorous in the food. With more phosphorus retained within the body, the amount excreted in waste is reduced by almost 65 percent, say researchers.
The researchers who created the Enviropig say it’s not just eco-friendly, but it also cut farmers’ feed-supplement costs. If the pigs eventually become common, they could also help U.S. farmers comply with “zero discharge” rules that forbid pork producers from releasing nitrogen or phosphorus runoff.
The Enviropigs will be raised only in controlled research settings in Canada for now, and experts say transgenic pork won’t be landing on your plate anytime soon; the new biotech pig will face years of safety trials to see if it should be approved for commercial production and consumption in the United States and Canada. No transgenic animal has been approved for consumption as of yet. But in 2008 the FDA announced approval of the first human health product made from a genetically engineered animal. The goat-derived anticoagulant, ATryn, is used for the prevention of blood clots in patients with a rare disease-causing protein deficiency [National Geographic].
Related Content:
80beats: Likely to Be FDA Approved: Transgenic Goats With Pharmaceutical Milk
80beats: Coming Soon to a Grocery Near You: Genetically Engineered Meat
80beats: Your Quarter-Pounder Just Might Have Come From a Cloned Cow (Indirectly)
80beats: Largest “Dead Zone” Yet Predicted for the Gulf of Mexico
DISCOVER: “Frankenfoods” That Could Feed the World (photo gallery)
Image: Enviropig/University of Guelph
This Is What the Inside of an iPad Looks Like [Ipad]
Here it is, splayed open for examination by the FCC. At first, it reminds me of looking under the hood of a modern car—its core components are barely recognizable as such. Well, until you really tear it apart... More »
On Track for a Monday Launch
The STS-131 crew from the left: Mission Specialists Clayton Anderson, Naoko Yamazaki, Stephanie Wilson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Rick Mastracchio, Pilot James P. Dutton, Jr., and Commander Alan Poindexter. Image credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
Everything looks good for Monday’s shuttle launch. Even the weather is looking favorable with just a 20 percent chance the weather will cause a delay.
Launch time is scheduled for 6:21 am EDT Monday morning. I will try and record it and put it up for those not able to see it for whatever reason. Heh, somebody will have it even if I flub it up.
This morning a Soyuz TMA-18 rocket launched NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Komienko on their way to the International Space Station. You know of course, the Russians will pretty much be the only ticket to the ISS pretty soon.
No matter, our guys will be too busy fooling around with cars to amount to much spacewise in what some former NASA astronauts are calling “the dismantling of NASA”. I wonder if the NASA people ever dreamed they would go from “rocket scientists” to glorified grease monkeys when they worked so hard in school to be able to have a chance at working at the prestigious agency. I bet not.
I am not dissing automotive people either so no emails to that effect thank you. I have many friends in the automotive industry and I have NO talent for such work myself. But just the same, you have to admit it’s rather far afield from what these NASA people worked so hard to be able to do. I am also concerned with the message being sent to school-aged young adults; kind of like: meh, like science? Don’t bother.
Seiko’s FutureNow Watch Puts 80,000 E-Ink Pixels On Your Wrist [Eink]
Seiko's been exploring the weird world of E-Ink watches since 2005, when they introduced the first in a series of futuristic E-Ink wristwear. FutureNow, the latest iteration, slaps an active matrix E-Ink display (Future) on an unassuming wristwatch (Now). More »
ATS
How can I find information about "Automatic Transfer Switch" , about theory, basic information and how simply to make a design on a PLC.Thanks.
The Real Cost of Scrabble for iPad [Cartoon]
Some people have said that Scrabble for iPad is amazing. It sure is a cool tech demo. But when you look at the total price tag of that game, it doesn't make any sense whatsoever. [VirtualShackles] More »
Cory Doctorow, You Are a Consumer, Too [Opinion]
I saw a—the—Rally Fighter, an open source car in Austin. This is what the "finished" interior looked like, more or less. That's what Cory Doctorow wants you to drive. More »
NBC Wants You to Pay for iPad TV, Dammit (They Won’t Be the Only Ones) [Ipad]
Even though NBC showed off an iPad version of its site with awesome full-episode streaming of shows like The Office—and ABC and CBS are busy showing off their own iPad video—NBC's decided to block iPad streaming for now. More »
The Best Way to Predict Box Office Hits: Twitter Chatter | Discoblog
Wondering which Hollywood movie will be this weekend’s smash hit? Head straight to Twitter, as a new study (pdf) suggests the microblogging service offers the most accurate predictions of a movie’s success.
In a new paper about Twitter’s success at gauging a film’s fortunes, Sitaram Asur and Bernando Huberman from HP devised a simple model that tracks people’s tweets about a certain movie (for their study, they collected almost 3 million tweets). The researchers found that compared to the industry’s gold standard for movie success prediction, the Hollywood Stock Exchange, tweets were far more accurate in predicting how much money a movie would make.
The researchers’ system tracks the rate and frequency of movie mentions, and also categorizes the tweet reviews as either positive or negative. The Twitter findings reflect marketing realities, the researchers note: While movie studios can push people to the theaters with hype and pre-release marketing, it’s usually positive reviews and word-of-mouth that sustains people’s interest after a movie has been released.
Mashable writes:
One movie analyzed in this study, The Blind Side, had an “enormous increase in positive sentiment after release,” reads the paper. The film’s score jumped from 5.02 to 9.65 on HP’s scale. After a “lukewarm” first weekend, with sales around $34 million, the movie “boomed in the next week ($40.1 million), owing largely to positive sentiment.”
The study suggests that the collective chatter of the crowds on Twitter can be used not just for predicting future movie hits, but could also be a valuable tool for marketers preparing to introduce new products. Perhaps even political candidates could use Twitter to check for interest in their policy positions. Hey, is #FinancialRegulations trending yet?
Follow us on Twitter.
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Discoblog: Astronauts in Space Finally Enter the Intertubes
Discoblog: New Device Aims to Read Your Dog’s Mind—and Broadcast It on Twitter
Image: The Blind Side
Brevity Wins: Windows Phone 7 Series Is Now Just Windows Phone 7 [Windows Phone 7]
We said the space in "iPhone 3G S" was stupid, and Apple killed it. And we said the same thing about Windows Phone 7 Series—seriously, WTF did that mean? So now, it's officially just Windows Phone 7. More »
Cox on Ross | Bad Astronomy
My friend and fellow science promoter Brian Cox will be on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross tonight on BBC America (it already aired last week in the UK). Brian is funny and smart, as is Wossy (as Ross is called), so this should be a great time. And speaking of Matt Smith and Doctor Who, Mr. Smith will be on Wossy’s show as well.
Speaking of speaking of Doctor Who, oh how I wish this were true.
Tip o’ the sonic screwdriver to Fizzygoo for the Obama link.
Why Didn’t the Young Earth Freeze Into an Ice Ball? | 80beats
The “young sun paradox” just won’t go away. For decades, scientists like Carl Sagan have tried to resolve this mystery of the early solar system—how the newborn Earth stayed warm enough to keep liquid water—but it continues to bob and weave around an answer. In the journal Nature, a team led by Minik Rosing proposes an alternate solution to the leading theory, which relies on the greenhouse effect hypothesis. But don’t expect the debate to end here.
The problem is this: The young Earth received much less heat from the sun. Four billion years ago, a lower solar luminosity should have left Earth’s oceans frozen over, but there is ample evidence in the Earth’s geological record that there was liquid water — and life — on the planet at the time [Space.com]. So what gives? The traditional explanation going back to the 1970s has been that a powerful greenhouse effect, far stronger than the one we experience today, kept the Earth basked in enough warmth to keep water sloshing around the planet’s surface as a liquid and not packed in solid ice. In 1972, Sagan and colleague George Mullen wrote that such an effect would have required intense carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere during that period, the Archaen.
But the evidence isn’t there, Rosing argues. To research the greenhouse hypothesis, he and his team studied banded iron formations in Greenland ice dating back 3.8 billion years. They focused on two minerals, magnetite and siderite, that can provide a bellwether of the CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. Too much CO2, and magnetite can’t form, whereas the opposite is true for siderite [ScienceNOW]. According to Rosing’s analysis, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere could have been as high as three times what we see today, but that’s not nearly enough to account for the warmth that would’ve been needed to stave off a snowball Earth.
So, Rosing puts forth his own solution. Back then, he says, the continents were smaller and thus more of the Earth’s surface was covered by water. Since water tends to absorb more heat than land, an ultra-watery Earth could have helped conserve warmth. Secondly, he says, the early earth wasn’t a cloudy place back then, due to the fact that life had just arisen. The droplets of water that make up clouds form by glomming on to tiny particles, called cloud condensation nuclei, many of which are chemical substances produced by algae and plants, which weren’t present on the Earth at that time [Space.com]. You see the same effect today, he says, in areas of the open ocean that have neither much marine life nor much cloud cover. And if the young Earth truly had few clouds, more sunlight reached the surface.
Atmospheric scientist James Kasting says that if Rosing’s team is right, the idea could have consequences beyond our own planet’s history—it could widen the habitable zone for exoplanet hunters seeking extraterrestrial life. But regarding the young sun paradox, he says, this new answer is incomplete. “I think their mechanism fails because they just barely get up to freezing point,” Kasting said, adding that it also fails to take into account the reflectively of the planet’s ice [Discovery News].
Related Content:
DISCOVER: The Fast Young Earth
DISCOVER: Did Life Evolve in Ice?
DISCOVER: Snowball Earth
DISCOVER: Our Solar System’s Explosive Early Years
Image: Wikimedia Commons / Neethis
Horizontal Displacement of Dome Ring Beam
If the horizontal displacement of a steel reinforced dome ring beam is a function of 1/E, could you make a case for the E of the composite beam (Ecomp) being found thus: As * Es + Ac * Ec = Acomp * Ecomp, where As = Area of steel, Es = Modulus of Elasticity of steel, etc.?