What are the appropriate steps used to get the correct settings for the controller of a load tap changer? How is the reactance and resistance settings found?
Water syphon
I am trying to syphon water through 600ft of 1 1/4" poly pipe.
The intake is above exit by around 22 ft and the line goes up and down a few times.
I cannot get it to work even after priming it with a pump.
Any sugestions
Coffee-Powered "Carpuccino" Infuriates Car Lovers, Coffee Lovers, Pun Lovers [Cars]
Point: As my fellow Jalopnik readers would agree, the thought of an au-to-MO-bile running on some coffee beans is equally laughable and insulting. Counterpoint: As my fellow coffee drinkers would agree, this is an utter disgrace to our holy bean.
Countercounterpoint: Carpuccino? Really?
A while ago we read that coffee-based biofuels were feasible. Knowing the internet as we do, we figured it was only a matter of time before somebody took that novel possibility and turned it into an absurd reality. We were right! The Carpuccino, a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco modified to run on ground coffee, will drive 210 miles between Manchester and London in the coming weeks.
The trip will require over 150 pounds of coffee, with the car getting a mileage of roughly 1.4 miles per pound. The vehicle can hit speeds of 60mph, though the trip could take as long as ten hours, as the car has to stop every 60 miles to clean out its coffee filters (seriously).
The joke on wheels was built by the BBC1 show Bang Goes The Theory as a reminder that unconventional fuels can power vehicles. Sidebar: the Carpuccino's trip will cost up to 50 times as much as it would if it were running on gas.
All that being said, I think we can agree to set aside whatever qualms we may have with the Carpuccino in light of its similarities, aesthetic and otherwise, to Doc Brown's Mr. Fusion-equipped DeLorean from Back to the Future II.
Espresso? Where we're going we don't need espresso. [Daily Mail via Green Diary]
Nvidia GTX 480 Takes On ATI HD 5870 In Benchmark Gauntlet [GraphicsCards]
Nvidia posted a preview video of the GTX 480, their eyeball-popping, face-melting Fermi graphics card that is set for release "very, very soon." It bests ATI's HD 5870 in a benchmark, though maybe not by as much as you'd hope.
As Tom Petersen, Nvidia's director of technical management, explains in the video, the GTX 480 shines when it's tessellation time. During the tessellation-intensive parts of the benchmark, Nvidia's card outpaces ATI's considerably, though at other points they're neck and neck.
It seems obvious that Nvidia would choose something that really played to the GTX 480's strengths for its video debut, so we're hoping that the card lives up to our expectations for insane speeds when it shows up in the wild and people start running their own tests. [YouTube - Thanks Doug]
EPA’s Authority to Regulate WMD is Under Fire
Anti-government Republicans, lobbyists for Big Coal, Big Oil and others attack the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to keep our air safe and our water clean for everyone . . . . despite these attacks, the EPA’s Endangerment Finding Appears Safe for Now. It is the EPA’s job to keep us safe from pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, just like it’s the government’s job to keep us “safe from terrorism”. Burning coal and forcing other pollution on us is terrorism. Unregulated greenhouse gas emissions are weapons of mass destruction. It’s the government’s job to keep these things from killing us.
Article below is from Solve Climate.
“Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson faced questions today from senators about her agency’s fiscal year 2011 budget request. Although representing only a small portion of the $10 billion total request, the ongoing battles regarding the EPA’s aim to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases from some sources took center stage.
The agency seems to be under attack from all angles when it comes to greenhouse gas regulation — House members seeking to overturn its authority to regulate greenhouse gases, senators calling for delays on regulation, states and industry groups attempting to sue. These maneuvers are drawing national attention and dividing Democrats in Congress. However, the chances of permanently preventing the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases appear slim.
“It has been three years since the Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. EPA that EPA has a legal responsibility under the Clean Air Act to determine whether greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare,” Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) said at the hearing.
She noted that some of her colleagues on Capitol Hill are now trying to subvert the authority of that court finding. “I think this is the wrong approach,” she said. “Legislation overturning the endangerment finding countermands the Supreme Court’s landmark decision.” As directed by that court decision, the EPA found last year that greenhouse gases do endanger public health, making them eligible for regulation under the Clean Air Act.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joined the hearing late and repeated many of the same assertions she has made in recent months that greenhouse gas regulation would be better done by Congress than by an appointed agency.
Along with a number of co-sponsors, she introduced a resolution in January that invokes the Congressional Review Act in an attempt to block the EPA’s authority. Murkowski has the support of numerous oil and gas groups, as well as agricultural groups who fear the economic impact of EPA regulation.
Two House Democrats made a parallel move last week, with Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) sponsoring an identical resolution along with Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.).
Read more here When will these people learn? This is the only planet we’ve got. If they are hiding evidence of another habitable planet for the human race to migrate to, once this one is trashed, I’d like to see it. We should demand this “secret” info. of another earth-like [...]
Space Policy: Everyone Has A Different Opinion
After 50 years of NASA, we must not leave space, Sen Hutchison
"If President Obama has his way, the U.S. will retire the space shuttle program later this year, just as the International Space Station is finally complete and without a viable alternative to take its place. America has spent billions of dollars building and maintaining the space station. Now that it is complete, the Obama budget plan ensures that we will no longer have easy access to it."
NASA's plan B(olden), Nature
"America's space agency seems to be in a right old state at the moment. NASA was already on the back foot after President Obama announced the cancellation of its planned replacement for the Space Shuttle (which should normally be prefixed with the word 'aging' or 'antiquated'). Now it seems to be putting out mixed messages about using private companies to get American's into space instead."
NASA's varied missions worthy of full budget support, William S. Smith Jr, Washington Post
"The goals of NASA's space science program are unequivocal and far-reaching. These missions rewrite textbooks regularly. NASA deserves great credit for its sustained commitment to space science. While there are a handful of celestial bodies accessible to human visitation, our scientific horizons are limitless. NASA's budget request for fiscal 2011 should be strongly supported."
Building a technology showcase, interview with Wallace Wood, National Space & Technology Association, Houston Chronicle
"What I'm looking to do is to hold a world-class conference that includes the public. That goes beyond just mere businesses coming together. I want to bring the public into it. In my mind you have this industry that's designing the future. At the end of the day, we're all consumers. That industry needs the consumer to keep it viable and strong. I think that a public that is included and informed in the process makes for an accountable industry."
The Body of a Tank, the Brain of an Android [Android]
We've come across plenty of robots that were controlled by phones before, but usually those phones were being controlled by human hands. Some California hackers, however, are building bots that harness Android for their robo-brainpower.
Their first creation, the TruckBot, uses a HTC G1 as a brain and has a chassis that they made for $30 in parts. It's not too advanced yet—it can use the phone's compass to head in a particular direction—but they're working on incorporating the bot more fully with the phone and the Android software. Some ideas they're kicking around that wouldn't be possible with a dinky Arduino brain: face and voice recognition and location awareness.
If you're interested in putting together a Cellbot of your own—can you even conceive of a cooler dock for your Android phone? Or a better use for your G1?—the team's development blog has some more information. The possibilities here are manifold; mad scientists, feel free to share your Android-bot schemes in the comments. [Wired]
Image credit Miran Pavic / Wired.com
Miniature Paper Laboratory Diagnoses Diseases With Comic-Book Colors [Medicine]
Costing just a cent to produce and requiring just a single drop of blood to function, this paper chip, designed by chemist George Whitesides, can diagnose HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and more. What substance makes this tiny marvel possible? Comic-book ink.
The water-resistant ink pushes the blood into the different paper channels, each of which contain chemicals that react with the blood and change color to indicate the presence and severity of the various diseases.
In developing countries where technology for diagnosing diseases needs to be cheap and easy for individuals to use themselves, it's hard to imagine a test simpler than Whitesides' "zero cost diagnostics". The Harvard chemist presented his idea at a recent TED conference and summarized it in a video for CNN:
In his presentations, Whitesides explains how the paper tests could be produced cheaply in great numbers by inexpensive wax printers and proposes that individuals could send their results to doctors with cheap camera phones. Solutions for third world problems are often weighed down by their ambition and complexity, but the advantages of Whitesides' work rests in its simplicity. [CNN via PopSci via Inhabitat
Human-Flesh Search Engines: China’s Net Vigilantism [Vigilantism]
This week's New York Times Magazine looks at China's human-flesh searches, a widespread practice in which "netizens" systematically track and harass individuals ranging from adulterers to corrupt local officials. But the searches tread a fine line between justice and revenge.
To anyone familiar with 4chan, its hard to imagine internet vigilantes residing anywhere besides the darkest corners of the web. In China, however, human-flesh search engines are a common occurrence, occupying a central role in the nation's internet culture.
The human-flesh searches are "not just a search by humans but also a search for humans"—humans that have in some way incurred the wrath of the anonymous bulletin board mob. One target, in an act of undeniable cruelty, killed a kitten on video (she was publicly shamed and forced out of her job). Another was singled out after criticizing the government's response to the Sichuan earthquakes (she was publicly shamed and forced out of her University).
This is where things get sticky. When, if ever, is it OK for the anonymous masses to dole out punishment for wrongdoing? What offense warrants this type of "public harassment, mass intimidation and populist revenge," as the article suggests it can quickly become. It's easy to see how a group could feel like they had the right to take retributive action after seeing a kitten killed on video, but it's much harder to make a case for searching out an anonymous dissident.
As the article points out, the rest of the world tends to fixate on issues of censorship when they consider China's internet culture. But reading about human-flesh search engines and their prominence, it seems like the internet activity that's not being censored is just as interesting. [New York Times Magazine]
Image credit Kai Hendry
RSS Feed Now Available for New Site
My apologies for the delay: the feed is here (http://jeffreymiron.com/feed/). Thanks for reading, jeff
First Cosmic Dust May Have Been Discovered By Crowdsource Hero [Science]
In 2006, a NASA spacecraft returned to Earth with samples that scientists hoped might contain cosmic dust, a byproduct of star formation. They let the public look for the elusive particles online. A squinting citizen might have just found one.
The particles in question are pieces of interstellar dust, a substance containing atoms formed during the birthing of the sun and our neighboring planets. Don Brownlee, a researcher at the University of Washington, likens the dust to a "library of what was in the early solar system."
You would assume that the first cosmic dust would be discovered in a laboratory by some crazy-haired scientist, but the distinction may go to a Canadian man named Bruce Hudson. Hudson was a participant in Stardust@home, a program that anyone with an internet connection use a virtual microscope to scour the samples for these particular particles. Scientists are currently analyzing Hudson's find and are "cautiously optimistic" that it is the first cosmic dust ever to be returned to Earth.
If Hudson's particle is indeed interstellar dust, the discovery could give unprecedented insight into the formation of our solar system and the processes by which our universe recycles its materials. It also goes to show that armchair astronomers can really make significant scientific contributions.
So good work, Bruce Hudson. Now get busy on SETI@home. [BBC via PopSci]
Fish for Your Food in the Ma..l..d..eeevs
Islands and private islands are continually a part of publications around the world, mainly because they remind readers of the exotic world we live in, and they provide a break from the more dramatic and depressing news that so often fills newspapers.
Today online recently took readers to the Maldives a chain of 26 coral islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The island chain is a must see destination for millions of people every year and the dream of millions more. The article on Today online focuses on the Maldives largest industry, commercial fishing which next to tourism is the biggest contributor to the economy of the Maldives. Here is what the author has to say.
The fishing only stops when you want to rest or have a meal. For those who love to eat fish, you can’t get fresher seafood than these.
At night, sipping a beer under a blanket of stars, with the boat anchored on a shallow hinterland reef, gently rocking in the breeze, it’s easy to believe that life is indeed beautiful.
To read the full article visit Today Online.
Day 17 Varkala
Anyone who knows me would agree that i am most definately not a beach person. It may therefore be a surprise to hear that i am writing this from a cliff top net cafe overlooking the beach at varkala surrounded by palm trees red cliffs white sand and the sounds of the ocean.Varkala is a small village 50 km north of trivandrum and a famous pilgramage site for hindus notably where they come for
The Leela Kovalam Explore the largest beach resort in Kerala
The largest beach resort in Kerala is in Kovalam one of the must see spots in Kerala and it is the Leela Kovalam hotel one of the best blue chip properties not only among Kovalam hotels but in the whole of India. A short drive from Trivandrum Airport is all it takes to reach the majestic Leela Kovalam beach hotel which is also the largest beach resort in Kerala. Sandwiched between two sandy st
Ho Chi Minh Saigon…….depends on who you talk to
Well I am now sitting in Cambodia and I realized how much actual time me and Kenna wasted in Ho Chi Minh its almost impressive but we had a blast. We got in on the night of the 24th stepped off the bus and were hit with a wave of crazyiness. Don't cross the street unless your willing to possibly lose your life cause in Saigon there arent any road rules......more survivial of the fittest I wou
From Luang Prabang Laos to Hanoi Vietnam in 5 days
Mission statementFrom LP our plan was to head east to the vietnam border visiting the caves at Vieng Xai on the way.Vieng Xai is the ldquotownrdquo where during the period 196473 USA bombers dropped enormous amounts of ordnance targetting the Ho Chi Minh trail and the Pathet Loa resistance who hid in their thousands in caves which they transformed into an underground city.Although it sound
Indian Update
Hello everybodythis is my first blog while i've been away so lots of things to say but little time.We arrived in Delhi on the 2nd March and got a taxi to the hotel I can't tell you hw manic the roads were. It seems to be a three lane road with no lanes where horn is king. All you have to do is press the horn for the entire journey and you will be fine unless someone else presses the horn and
Last Big Cleaning Friday
Last Big Cleaning FridayToday school stopped at 11 again at least for us. The bigger children over 7 are involved in the cleaning process which involves taking all the furniture out before the vigorous sweeping. I wonder how it would go down in Daisyrsquos school. It is a losing battle at Joe Slovo because of the dryness although today we saw that they have planted trees in the front of th
kashmir tourismkashmir tourist plcekashmir tourist attraction
Kashmir is surrounded by the mountainous landscape of the mighty Himalayas and can be reached with ease from the far corners of the country. For the tourists Kashmir offers a number of lodging options with unmatched hospitality. There are a number of places to visit in Kashmir that should not be missed out by you at any cost. incrediblekashmir is your authentic travel guide on Kashmir and provid
Western wedding customs of the basic standards
Diamond ring. ldquoThe Biblerdquo says that in ancient times men marry the womenrsquos evidence is that when the ring. The 9th century Pope Nicholas I decreed that the manrsquos wedding ring to the woman presented a formal courtship indispensable step.Bridersquos dress color. Bridal gown the color represents the tradition but also has a specific meaning White represents ed hardy pur