Religious Bill of Rights killed in committee | Bad Astronomy

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I’m happy to say that the Colorado State Judiciary Committee has "indefinitely postponed" the Religious Bill of Rights for public schools.

Yay!

They said, and I quote:

After consideration on the merits, the Committee recommends the following: SB10-089 be postponed indefinitely.

That is essentially their way of killing the motion. What’s interesting to me is this statement (emphasis mine):

FINAL VOTE – Moved a substitute motion to postpone Senate Bill 10-089 indefinitely. The motion passed on a 4-3 roll call vote.

Curious, I looked up the parties of the committee members. Can you guess who voted how? Yup. The Democrats all voted to kill the bill, and the Republicans all voted not to kill it. Shocker, given this was clearly an attempt by the far-right religious groups to once again wedge their foot in the door, trying to make the government a theocracy.

They lost this time, but by a narrow margin. Had this gone to the floor — and extrapolating from the fact that this was voted on strict party lines in the committee — the bill would have lost anyway, since the party ratio is 21 to 14 Democrat to Republican. Still and all in this country, as we’ve learned we’re always one election away from change.

I certainly hope that, in this case, change is something we don’t have to believe in.

Tip o’ the powdered wig to Rachael Acks.


Motor Poles and Maximum Efficiency

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The load is a positive displacement pump (constant torque load)

The operation speed is 1271 RPM and the HP to the load is approx 9.2 HP. The pump manufacturer has narrowed it down to two motors for the pump. 6 pole 15 HP and 4 pole 20 HP.

We are using premium efficiency motor for o

What Wired Will Look Like on the iPad [Tablets]

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Over the last several months, Wired has been reimagined with depth and motion for tablets in a new digital product called Wired Reader. Here's a demo of the experience, and it's a definite feast for the eyes/fingertips.

Teaming with Adobe, Wired built this new rendition of their magazine (due this summer) through Air, which offers compatibility to both Android and Apple mobile platforms as well as Macs and PCs.

Well, sort of.

The catch, of course, is that while Wired Reader can be packaged into its own Air runtime app to load on the iPad, Apple doesn't have to allow it (for reasons of security, stability or, well, whatever grumpy reasoning Apple comes up with). Also, the demo you see here is seamlessly smooth, and this fluidity is a huge flavor component to this visual candy. Whether or not the content will be so jitter-less on either the iPad or any stock Android tablet is still an unknown (especially as some iPad animations tended to stutter during our hands on, without any Air go-between).

Those caveats aside, I do think Wired Reader looks fairly exciting. So which magazine do you prefer, the paper version or the tablet version? [Wired via Business Insider]


The Science of a Dude Taking a 1,100-Pound ‘World Record’ Kick to the Balls [Ouch]

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What happens when a dude gets kicked in the hangin' brains by an MMA fighter and American Gladiator? Well, when he's a crazy "combat expert" who's taken hundreds of nutshots, not what you think.

Apparently, this Roy Kirby guy has been hit in the balls so many times that they've toughened up and also given up on telling his brain that it hurts. Good for him? It was all worth it for them to be able to show that kick about 200 times in a five minute video. [GammaSquad via Gawker]


Verizon Smartphones Score Unlimited Skype-to-Skype Calling [Skype]

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Next month, nine Verizon smartphones with accompanying 3G plans will be able to make unlimited Skype-to-Skype calls, as well as call out to regular phones internationally at a reduced rate. UPDATE

UPDATE: However, it appears the service is pretty gimped as you can't call Skype out to regular lines domestically in order to save minutes. Even on AT&T (of all carriers), the fring iPhone app allows Skype-out calling (even though the Skype app still technically does not). When Verizon allows domestic Skype-out, we'll celebrate in full.

VERIZON WIRELESS AND SKYPE JOIN FORCES TO CREATE A GLOBAL MOBILE CALLING COMMUNITY
New Skype Mobile Product for Verizon Wireless Smartphones Brings More Value to U.S. Mobile Consumers

BARCELONA, Spain; BASKING RIDGE, N.J., United States; and LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg – At the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Verizon Wireless and Skype today announced a strategic relationship that will bring Skype to Verizon Wireless smartphones in March. The new Skype mobile™ product enhances Verizon Wireless' smartphones for users who have data plans by offering a new way to call around the globe, while also giving hundreds of millions of Skype users around the world the opportunity to communicate with friends, family and business colleagues in the United States using Verizon Wireless.

The two companies have created an exclusive, easy-to-use Skype mobile offering for 3G smartphones. Verizon Wireless 3G smartphone users with data plans can use Skype mobile to:

· make and receive unlimited Skype-to-Skype voice calls to any Skype user around the globe on America's most reliable wireless network;

· call international phone numbers at competitive Skype Out calling rates;

· send and receive instant messages to other Skype users; and

· remain always connected with the ability to see friends' online presence.

Initially, Skype mobile will be available on millions of best-selling Verizon Wireless 3G smartphones with data plans, including the BlackBerry® Storm™ 9530, Storm2™ 9550, Curve™ 8330, Curve™ 8530, 8830 World Edition and Tour™ 9630 smartphones, as well as DROID by Motorola, DROID ERIS™ by HTC and Motorola DEVOUR™.

John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless, said, "Skype mobile on Verizon Wireless changes the game. For Verizon Wireless' more than 90 million customers, Skype mobile adds great value because we're effectively giving customers with smartphones and data plans the option to extend their unlimited calling community to hundreds of millions of Skype users around the globe. And you're not limited to using a single type of phone; we'll have nine smartphones ready right at launch in March."

Josh Silverman, chief executive officer of Skype, noted, "People want to take their Skype conversations with them wherever they go, whether it's on a PC, TV or increasingly mobile phones. Verizon Wireless will give U.S. consumers the best Skype experience on mobile phones and will truly change the way people call their friends and family internationally."

Customers interested in learning more about Skype mobile for Verizon Wireless smartphones can visit http://www.verizonwireless.com/skypemobile. Additional information about the service will be available next month.

Visit http://www.verizonwireless.com for more information about Verizon Wireless or follow the company at http://twitter.com/verizonwireless. Learn more and download Skype at http://www.skype.com or follow the company at http://twitter.com/skypemobile.

[Verizon Wireless]


Sony Dash Personal Internet Viewer, Now 100% More Netflix Streamy [Sony]

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The Sony Dash reminded us mostly of a really nice Chumby when we got to play with it at CES. Now when Dash launches in April, it'll be a really nice Chumby that streams Netflix from your Queue.

The device has a 7-inch touchscreen and provides access to over 1,500 apps from the Bravia Internet Video platform and from Chumby. Today Sony also announced that eHow, Golflink, and Livestrong.com will be providing content for the Dash, but the big news is the streaming of Netflix movies and TV shows. Just touch the Netflix icon on the display and you'll be taken to your Queue, from which you can select your content of choice.

A Personal Internet Viewer ain't a tablet on the order of the iPad or Notion Ink Adam, but having Netflix on board does make the Dash an appealing content-delivery device—especially for its $200 price tag.

Sony 'dash' Personal Internet Viewer to Feature Movies and TV Episodes Streamed Instantly from Netflix

eHow, Golflink and LIVESTRONG.COM also join Sony's growing dash platform

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ — Sony today announced that its new dash™ personal Internet viewer will feature a dedicated application for Netflix, allowing Netflix members to instantly watch thousands of movies and TV episodes directly on the unit.

Additionally, Demand Media, Inc. has confirmed that its service offerings, eHow, Golflink and LIVESTRONG.COM will be added to the expanding content lineup.

Sony's dash personal Internet viewer wirelessly delivers the real-time Internet to any room of the home or office by providing always on, sequential display of over 1,500 apps from Sony's Bravia™ Internet Video platform and the chumby industries, inc. personalized content channel.

Further, the new dash device has the ability to stream online music videos, television, or film content on-demand. It features a vivid 7-inch color touch screen and multiple viewing angles: upright, ideal for a table or nightstand; and tilted, perfect for a countertop, keeping its users connected, informed, and entertained without the need for a PC.

"We're continuing to develop innovative products that bring online music, news, video and more into our customers' homes in real time," said Brennan Mullin, senior vice president of Sony Electronics' personal imaging and audio business. "By adding content from Netflix and Demand Media to our dash product, Sony is giving consumers a new, convenient way to enjoy some of the highest quality entertainment and most useful information available on the Internet today."

Movies and TV episodes streamed instantly from Netflix can be easily accessed through a Queue-based user interface, in which choices from a Netflix member's Queue will be automatically displayed when the Netflix icon on the device is touched.

From Demand Media, eHow is a leading how-to resource with a thriving online community dedicated to providing people with the ability to research, share and discuss solutions for life's everyday projects. eHow brings thousands of instructional, professional and high-definition videos to the dash platform.

Designed to help golfers of all ages and skill levels improve their game, Golflink provides hundreds of its valuable instructional golf videos from world class coaches such as Hank Haney and Jim McLean as well as hole-by-hole golf course flyovers.

LIVESTRONG.COM is a partnership between Demand Media and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), and is home to 2.1 million registered members who share a passion to lead a healthy, active lifestyle. The channel offers hundreds of videos from topics such as healthy food choices and treating injuries to instructional videos on sports and fitness.

Sony's dash personal Internet viewer will be available this April for about $199 at http://www.sonystyle.com, Sony Style® retail stores and a variety of authorized dealers nationwide.


FCC Wants 100Mbps Broadband in 100 Million Homes [Broadband]

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Almost a year after the FCC first announced their National Broadband Plan, some new details have started to emerge. Specifically: A "100 Squared" plan to give 100 million households 100Mbps broadband. Just for starters.

Of course, there's only so much of that process that's actually in the FCC's control, which is why the agency's chairman gave Google a shout out in his presentation for their plan to deploy 1Gbps fiber internet to 500,000 lucky souls. But there are some steps the FCC can and will take to encourage broader, faster broadband adoption:

· A recommendation for improving the highly successful E-Rate program — which made Internet connections in America's classrooms and libraries a reality — so that kids and teachers can have a 21st century educational experience that is the envy of the world.
· A recommendation to modernize the FCC's rural telemedicine program to connect thousands of additional clinics and break down bureaucratic barriers to a telehealth future.
· A recommendation to take the steps necessary to deploy broadband to accelerate a smart grid.
· A recommendation to develop public/private partnerships to increase Internet adoption, and ensure that all children can use the Internet proficiently and safely — with programs like NCTA's new A+ program playing a helpful role.
· A recommendation to free up a significant amount of spectrum in the years ahead for ample licensed and unlicensed use.
· A recommendation for lowering the cost of broadband build-out — wired and wireless — through the smart use of government rights of way and conduits.
· A recommendation for creating an interoperable public safety network to replace the currently broken system.

If that seems general and vague and imprecise, well, that's because it is. Getting US broadband up to speed is going to be a huge undertaking, and it's not going to happen any time soon. But just seeing the intent there is an incredibly important first step. Now it's a matter of implementation. [FCC via Electronista]


Laser-Bearing Jumbo Jet Shoots Down Its First Missile | 80beats

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Success! The video below shows a test the military ran off the California coast last week, in which a modified Boeing 747 carrying a laser used it to shoot down a test missile; it was the first time a laser weapon has destroyed a missile in its booster stage. DISCOVER covered the first flight tests of this system back in 2008.

The liquid-fueled rocket – thought to be a Scud-B, similar to those being developed by Iran and North Korea – was fired from a ship off the coast California on 11 February [New Scientist]. The plane locked in its tracking lasers, and then unleashed a chemical laser that burned a hole in the side of the missile to blow it up. The Missile Defense Agency ran three total tests, two of which were successful.

Despite these successes, the news isn’t good for the airborne laser program. Most scientists are pretty sceptical of missile defence. Once fast-moving warheads are in space, they are tough to intercept, and decoys can easily fool even the best systems [Nature]. This system’s approach—targeting the warhead while it’s still attached to the rocket—makes targeting easier, but it means that you must be able to strike within minutes of the missile’s launch.

As a result, President Obama has pulled back on airborne lasers. There are no other tests scheduled for this year, and the Missile Defense Agency, which manages the program, requested no money for it next year.

Related Content:
80beats: Military Tests New Missile Defense System: Lasers Mounted on Jumbo Jets
80beats: Could a Deep Sea Snail’s Shell Inspire Next-Gen Body Armor?
80beats: Military Taser Has 200-Foot Range—And Safety Concerns
80beats: Scientists Predict: The 2010s Will Be Freakin’ Awesome—With Lasers

Video: Missile Defense Agency


Ford Mustang Makeover

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MOTORZ TV shows you how to install a ton of aftermarket appearance accessories on a Ford Mustang GT. Accessories include painted engine part covers from Midwest Auto Gear, chrome engine caps from Stack Racing, tail light trim, replacement halo headlights and halo fog lights, new GT emblems

The Noteput: If Beethoven Designed the Microsoft Surface [Music]

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While the piano is pretty straightforward as far as instruments go, it won't teach you how to read music. The Noteput makes written music tangible, as you just place the note you want to play.


The Noteput powers on automatically when you place the treble clef on the table (sorry bass clef fans), and simple playback controls allow you to hear your creation once or loop it for a better understanding of the measure. Instead of touch-sensitive controls, the Noteput employs simple camera-based marker tracking, which identifies each wooden note as well as its position on the staff.

Yeah, it's nothing that can't be done more space efficiently with any PC midi software, but using a mouse is so much less fun than playing with toys. [Noteput via Likecool]


Doctor Who series 5 news (and a big spoiler) | Bad Astronomy

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doctorwhologoI have some Doctor Who rumors, kinda, and one big spoiler I have to share. If you want your Doctor Who fanboy/girl squeeishness to remain intact, then go find something else to look at, like this gallery of science in scifi movies.

OK, so, with that I’ll do the standard SPOILER ALERT and give you some breathing room…

A
L
O
N
S
-
Y

All the riffraff gone? Good.

First, the news: in late January, Billie Piper (like I need to say she played Rose Tyler) did a radio interview where she said that a Doctor Who movie is in the works! Hard to say how reliable this info is, but there you go. I’d like to see a full-length movie where they have the time needed to tell a solid, deep story. And yes, I’ve seen previous movies (including the abominable one with Paul McGann) and know they are not, um, all that great. Still, as a DW fan, I live in eternal hope.

Second, a spoiler for the upcoming series 5: the Blogtor Who blog has a lot of pictures from the filming, including this one showing the return of an old friend. River Song! Yay! I was wondering if Steven Moffat, the new show runner who wrote the "Silence in the Library" two-parter, would tackle this storyline again. To say he is a great writer is to seriously undercompliment him; he wrote "Blink" and "The Doctor Dances" two-parter, too (as well as the UK comedy "Coupling", still one of my all-time favorites).

I just hope that at the end of the episode with her, when she and the Doctor are sharing that last melancholy time together she mentioned last season, he hands her a photo of himself as played by David Tennant. She recognized him, after all.

Anyway, the photos are fun to go through, if you don’t mind spoilers. I don’t mind mild ones, but I dislike ones that reveal major plot points, so I may just avoid any DW sites for a while now.

There’s no official word I can find on when the new season will air, but it should be in the next few months. Yay!


Another skeptic story hits mainstream: Desiree Jennings | Bad Astronomy

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Via Rebecca I found out that Inside Edition did a rather skeptical story about Desiree Jennings, the woman who claimed a vaccine gave her dystonia, a nervous disorder that caused her to have difficult walking and talking.

A lot of folks knew right away that this was, um, unlikely, to say the least. Steve Novella from Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe has been very vocal about it, and I was surprised and pleased to see him in the Inside Edition segment!

So as usual, they have to leave room for the woo — TV has a product to sell in cases like these, more’s the pity — but it’s still nice to see a skeptical viewpoint get more than lip service. Of course, now that the story is getting old, the skeptical viewpoint might sell a little better; the controversy is no longer about the vaccination causing a problem, but whether Ms. Jennings is being honest or not. But the more we get our foot in the door, the more people are shown that there can be a more critical way to think, the better.


National Geographic Gets Devoured By Carnivorous Plants | The Loom

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venusI was stunned to learn that National Geographic has never published a story on carnivorous plants. So I wrote one. It’s now out in March issue, as well as on the NG web site. It should come as no surprise that the article is accompanied by dazzling photos that will probably make most readers forget that there’s a story lurking in the shadows, too. You can look at the pictures in the NG slideshow, and see some extra outtakes on the web site of the photographer, Helene Schmitz.


An Accelerometer 1,000x More Sensitive Than the iPhone’s [Guts]

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HP has developed an inertial accelerometer that's so sensitive, it can detect a change in the position of its center chip of less than one-billionth the width of a human hair.

The sensor is part of HP's unfortunately named CeNSE (Central Nervous System for the Earth) program, whose aim is to build a "planetwide network" of tiny sensors to measure anything and everything about the environment. It's the first prototype in the CeNSE project, and it's safe to say they're starting off on the right foot:

Hartwell's device is sensitive enough to "feel" a heartbeat. The source of that sensitivity is a 5mm-square, three-layer silicon chip. A portion of the center wafer is suspended between the two outer wafers by flexible silicon beams. When the chip moves, the suspended center lags behind due to its inertia. A measurement of that relative motion is used to calculate the speed, direction and distance the chip has moved.

While the larger CeNSE project may have environmentalist overtones, the first practical application is going to be from oil behemoth Shell. They'd like to use the sensors to detect pockets of oil, allowing them to drill more efficiently. Eventually, HP hopes to move to "city-level" projects that digitally capture what the five senses do—and in some cases, what they can't. And when they finally stuff that sucker in a Wiimote, Super Smash Bros. will never be the same. [HP via Fast Company]