hello, i wonder i natural magnets lose their mangetisation with time? do they have the same constant magnetic field all the time?
Aircruise From London To New York In 37hrs (In Concept-Land Only) [Concepts]
With the Concorde long gone, it's up to big-thinking companies like Seymourpowell to dream up new transatlantic travel routes. Enter the Aircruise, which would be powered by solar power and a hydrogen fuel cell, sailing in the air at 90mph.
Ok, it'd take a while to get from London to New York (37 hours, in fact), so won't be replacing the Concorde any time soon (particularly at concept stage), but the passengers would be treated like kings and queens in their luxurious apartments. It's more akin to the cruise your mother goes on when your dad checks out/checks in with a younger woman.
Just like a glass-bottomed boat, the Aircruise would have glass floors for seeing the land and sea beneath you. It's but a distant future sadly, but one I'm looking forward to. [The Telegraph via The Design Blog via Born Rich]
Verizon Devour Is a Baby Droid With Motoblur [Android]
Why hello there, slightly smaller Droid! I have so many questions for you. Like, why do you have Motoblur? How much do you cost? When can people buy you? Why aren't you officially part of the "Droid" line?
Apparently nobody's awake in Motorola land right now, so I'll hazard a guess at answer these questions myself, in order: Because Motorola is inexplicably obsessed with Motoblur, which can make any Android phone feel like a feature phone; less than the Droid, and probably about the same as the Droid Eris ($100 or less); the beginning of next month; and I have no idea, because this phone has more in common with the Droid than the Droid Eris does. But anyway, here's what Motorola does tell us the Devour comes with, much of which we were fully expecting:
• A touch-sensitive navigation pad
• A 3.1" capacitive touch screen (to the Droid's 3.7-inch screen)
• Pre-loaded applications such as Gmail, Google Talk, YouTube, Google Search and Google Maps with Google Maps Navigation, which implies that the software is at least Android 1.6, though hopefully 2.0 or 2.1.
• MOTOBLUR, and all the social network-y business that entails.
• An 8 GB microSD card
What we have here is a competent little phone, shrouded in artificially enforced mystery. Is it worth your time? I honestly have no idea, until we have a price. Here's the Full press release below.
UPDATE: Aaaand for a little perspective, here's what it looks like next to a Nexus One. 
That's a bezelly phone, right there.
Motorola DEVOUR Brings MOTOBLUR To Verizon Wireless' 3G Data Network
MOTOBLUR Service Gives Customers Home Screen Access to Content and Contacts
February 03, 2010BASKING RIDGE, NJ, and LIBERTYVILLE, IL - Verizon Wireless and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced the availability of Motorola DEVOUR™ in March. Motorola DEVOUR will be the first Verizon Wireless phone to feature MOTOBLUR™, Motorola's unique Android™-powered content delivery service created to make wireless phones more personal and customizable.
MOTOBLUR is the first solution to sync contacts from work and personal e-mail services, including Gmail™, with posts, messages, photos and more from popular sites such as Facebook®, MySpace and Twitter. With MOTOBLUR, content is automatically delivered to the home screen and fed into easy-to-manage streams.
Key features:
* Touch-sensitive navigation pad
* 3.1" capacitive touch screen
* Pre-loaded applications such as Gmail, Google Talk™, YouTube™, Google Search™ and Google Maps™ with Google Maps Navigation.
* Android Market™ gives users access to more than 20,000 applications.
* Happenings Widget – MOTOBLUR automatically pushes status updates, wall posts and photo updates from popular social networking sites to the Happenings Widget on the home screen. Customers can flick through the latest updates and fire back responses using the slide-out full QWERTY keyboard.
* Universal Inbox – MOTOBLUR gathers texts, social network messages and e-mails into one home screen widget for quick response.
* Back-Up and Security – Contacts, log-in information, home screen customizations, e-mail and social network messages are backed up automatically on the secure MOTOBLUR portal. The portal also allows customers to use the phone's fully integrated aGPS to help locate the phone if misplaced. Remote wipe easily clears information from a lost device.
* 8 GB microSD™ card pre-installed
* Bluetooth® profiles supported: A2DP, HID, HSP, HFP, AVRCP and GAPService plans:
* To get the most from Motorola DEVOUR, customers will need to subscribe to a Nationwide Talk or Nationwide Talk & Text plan and a Data Package for smartphones. Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access, and Nationwide Talk & Text plans begin at $59.99 monthly access. A Data Package for smartphones is $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Media can access high-resolution images of Motorola DEVOUR in the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at http://www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.)
MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. Android, Google, Google Maps, Android Market, Google Search, Gmail, YouTube, Google Talk are trademarks of Google, Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © Motorola, Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.
Book Excerpt: A New Earth
Eckhart Tolles' challenge to let go of unhappiness and negativity and to embrace happiness.
Some People Are Too Attached to Traditional Media [Image Cache]
Designing Axial Flow Impellers
I am trying to design axial flow fans, but the only reference I have found in my library is in Karassik's Pump Handbook.
He references the method devised by Hill and Peterson and another one by Steppanoff, based on NACA airfoil data. I can't found any of their books and Mr. Karassik didn't fi
Life Inside a Flash Factory [Guts]
Intel and Micron are growing their latest 25nm flash memory in this new production facility. PC Perspective gives us a tour of this strange world where men wear cleanroom suits, lest they contaminate the robots. [PC Perspective]
The Opening Salvo From Congress
3 Feb 2010 Witnesses:
- Hon. Paul K. Martin, Inspector General, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Ms. Cristina T. Chaplain, Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management, Government Accountability Office
- Vice Admiral Joseph W. Dyer [U.S. Navy, retired], Chair, Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, National
WEBCAST (I had big problems with this webcast today)
Keith's note: Hmm... Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, known Ares 1 hugger, who is anti-commercial spaceflight and an Augustine critic - and Joe Dyer (ditto) at the same hearing. Gee, I wonder what they will talk about ...
- Key Issues and Challenges Facing NASA, Statement of NASA OIG Paul K. Martin
- NASA Key Management and Program Challenges Statement of Cristina Chaplain, Director Acquisition and Sourcing Management, GAO
- Congressional Hearing on Safety, earlier post
Evolution for kids | Bad Astronomy
We’re having a big problem in America these days, with the forces of antireality on the march to deceive our children. Evolution is a big target for them, of course, and I need not belabor the battle here.
But what can we do? We need to excite kids about the real world, and about evolution in particular. And we need to do it in a wonderful way, grabbing their attention, staying positive, and revealing all the beauty and majesty of the way life has self-propagated on this planet of ours.
Daniel Loxton has come to the rescue! He’s the brain behind Skeptic Magazine’s Junior Skeptic, a terrific feature designed to get young kids thinking. His experience putting that together is clear in his new book, Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be. This book has everything for younger readers: excellent writing, simple yet compelling layout, and a diversity of topics in evolution and its related studies which give the reader a solid background in evolutionary biology. That’s critical, as it gives them a basis on which they can build when they read more about the topic.
And Daniel covers a lot of topics, like transitional fossils, population growth, diversity of species, how we know that life changes over time, mutations, natural selection, and more. He even deals simply and efficiently with the topic of religion at the very end, telling the reader to talk to family, friends, and religious leaders about it. While I might disagree with him a bit (really, just a bit) over the boundaries of religion and science we’ve had a few discussion on Twitter about this — I think he deals with the topic elegantly in the book. After all, the book isn’t about religion, and instead of being arrogant or dismissive, he relies on the book itself being an effective treatment of the topic. I think that was a shrewd move.
And I simply cannot praise the illustrations enough, which were done by Daniel himself. WOW! The drawings are simply magnificent; the Archeopteryx on the cover will grab any kid’s attention, as will the gorgeous T-Rex on the first page. My favorite drawing was this one, which he also uses as a banner for the book:
It shows two women of different eras, and it beautifully demonstrates our similarities and differences. And the woman on the right is an actual human — Daniel’s wife! — something of a well-known skeptic herself. I bet if you come to TAM with a copy of the book, you can find her yourself and get both her and Daniel to sign it…
I think this book is absolutely terrific, and if you’re looking for a simple statement about it, then how about this? Simply put, I would’ve loved this book when I was a kid. It would have made me want to be a scientist.
You can get buy a copy of Evolution through the Skeptics.com website, or if you donate $100 they’ll send you a copy for free. I know, it’s not really free then, but you’ll be helping out a good group of skeptics, so it’s a good thing to do. If you prefer, it’s also available on Amazon and Amazon.ca.
My suggestion: buy several copies and give them away as gifts to kids. And maybe one for your local school as well. I know they could use it there.
Master Flowmeter Calibration
Hello, I'm new in the forum and I have this question: is it suitable to perform a master flow meter calibration with water using a prover or seraphin if the intended use is to certify tankers flow meters to dispense fuel to aircrafts? Many thanks!
Travel the Write Way
Travel for this multi-talented writer is an absolute passion. A passion richly steeped in family history and one Linda Dini Jenkins has shared within her Travel the Write Way entries. She also shares her thoughts about being a writer and how to travel with others relatively stress-free.
Sony’s Latest PS3 Mistake: No More Downloadable AAA Titles [PS3]
I just want to take anyone from Sony who's related to the development of the PS3 platform in any way, and shake them until the saboteur witch doctors hired from Nintendo and Microsoft lose their hold.
The latest idea from the Sony braintrust? No more big downloadable titles. So you'll still be able to download little arcade games, but future titles the size of Warhawk will no longer be offered on PSN.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has assembled an impressive library of $20 titles on the 360, and they're intelligently slapping games like, say, Mass Effect on there before Mass Effect 2 comes out. This kind of strategery is good for the game studios, sure, but more importantly, it's convenient for the consumer.
Anyway, Sony is having none of that. Why? Because their platform is heavily invested in 50GB-wielding Blu-ray (which requires hefty installs for some games all the same).
You want to know the chief problem with Blu-ray, Sony? It's that you can't download it. You aren't out of the console fight yet. Pick yourself up, dust off your gloves and attack the world with every tentacle that is Sony's larger development monstrosity.
I grew up listening to a Walkman. This shit kills me. [IGN via Kotaku]
NASA Unveils Commercial Human Spaceflight Development Agreements and Announces $50 Million in Seed Funding for Commercial Crew
Washington, D.C. – At a National Press Club event to “introduce new commercial space pioneers,” the President’s Science Advisor John Holdren and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden yesterday praised the seven winning companies of NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) and Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) competitions. This event followed the announcement on February 1 by the White House that NASA would use commercial spaceflight providers to transport NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.
The President’s Science Advisor praised the “complementary strength between NASA and the private sector in order to make human access both to low-Earth orbit and beyond to deep space faster, safer and more affordable.” NASA Administrator Bolden added that with regard to commercial spaceflight, “It’s not a new idea, but rather, an idea whose time has come. The future is unfolding before us now, and it couldn’t be more exciting… Kids will be able to realistically envision a career that involves space, either going there or using it.”
Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, added, “The President’s new commercial crew initiative is on course to accelerate the growth of a vibrant 21st century commercial spaceflight industry, creating thousands of high-tech jobs and inspiring a new generation.”
Executives from Sierra Nevada Corporation, Boeing, United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, Orbital Sciences, Paragon Space Development Corporation, and SpaceX came to Washington DC to attend the event. Introducing these seven companies and their executives at the press event, Administrator Bolden stated, “These are the faces of the new frontier… We will certainly be adding to this group in the near future.”
SpaceX and Orbital Sciences are the funded participants in NASA’s ongoing COTS program for commercial resupply of the Space Station, and Sierra Nevada Corporation, Boeing, United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, and Paragon Space Development Corporation were awarded $50 million in seed money for commercial crew through the CCDev program, intended as the precursor to a full $6 billion Commercial Crew Program proposed by NASA. Both the CCDev and COTS programs are commercially structured so that NASA pays only when performance milestones are met.
Alexander added, “To have a large and diverse group of companies present at today’s event, including both established contractors and newer entrants, emphasizes that U.S. industry is ready to handle the task of commercial human spaceflight. Commercial spaceflight means growing an entire industry that will generate returns to our economy and allow America to stop sending billions of dollars to Russia to fly our astronauts.”
In addition to other companies that are developing commercial space vehicles, the seven companies featured in the press conference were:
• Sierra Nevada Corporation, which will receive $20 million in CCDev funds for development milestones for a seven-person spacecraft known as Dreamchaser which will launch on Atlas V.
• The Boeing Company, which will receive $18 million in CCDev funds for development milestones for a seven-person crew capsule for low Earth orbit transportation. Boeing partnered with Bigelow Aerospace, which is developing a series of habitable orbital complexes with two prototypes already in orbit.
• United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin that operates the Atlas and Delta rockets, which will receive $6.7 million in milestone-based CCDev funds to begin developing an emergency detection system for ULA launch systems.
• Blue Origin, which will receive $3.7 million in milestone-based CCDev funds to develop a composite crew test module and a launch escape system for its commercial spaceflight vehicle.
• Orbital Sciences, which has been awarded $171 million in milestone-based COTS funds and received a follow-on contract for International Space Station missions, and is preparing its Taurus II rocket and Cygnus capsule for initial launches in 2011.
• Paragon Space Development Corporation, which will receive $1.4 million in milestone-based CCDev funds for the development of an air revitalization system for use in crewed spacecraft.
• SpaceX, which has been awarded $278 million in milestone-based COTS funds and received a follow-on contract for International Space Station missions, and is preparing its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule for initial launches this year.
About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation
The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry. CSF member organizations include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, and spaceports. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is governed by a board of directors, composed of the member companies’ CEO-level officers and entrepreneurs. For more information please visit http://www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at john@commercialspaceflight.org or at 202.349.1121.
Another Science Newsroom Cut, And a Big One | The Intersection
MediaBistro has the news.
CBS has let go of Daniel Sieberg, its science and technology correspondent.
What I referred to yesterday as the news business’s “science core” keeps on shrinking.
Insert rants below about how the world is going to hell in a handbasket….
HP TouchSmart 600 Goes All Core i7 on Us [PCs]
You think you're better than me, TouschSmart 600? You think because you're now configurable with Core i7 720QM (1.6 GHz) or i7 820QM (1.73GHz) processors—starting at $1700—that you've defeated the long-standing caste system separating man and machine?
Well, at least this new option makes you a viable (though a bit Pontiac-looking) replacement for an i7 iMac. Check out what I thought about the Core2Duo version of the TouchSmart 600 here. Then know that the i7 will be the exact same thing but faster. [HP]
Oil Control Piston Rings for Ported Cylinders
I need to find piston rings that are the same diameter for both a 2 stroke AND a 4 stroke that have oil control piston rings that can tolerate and operate properly in a ported cylinder without the oil control ring deforming, distorting and extruding into the port and breaking as it travels past the
How to Clean Chemical Pipelines
I am looking for some info on chemical cleaning of pipelines. The pipework in our facility has too many bends for pigging. Can anyone assist or direct me to a site where I can get some procedures for chemical cleaning?
New NASA Solar Spacecraft to Record Sun at IMAX Resolution [Space]
This is the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. Together with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, and the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment, it will capture the Sun at IMAX resolution every ten seconds. They will travel together inside NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft.
After its February 2010 launch on top of an Atlas V rocket, the SDO will capture images at almost four times the resolution of an HD TV, transmitting the results back to Earth at 130 megabits per second. Basically, this thing will be transmitting the equivalent of 500,000 MP3 per day, seven days a week. According to Dean Pesnell at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the potential for new discoveries is giganormous:
We'll be getting IMAX-quality images every 10 seconds. We'll see every nuance of solar activity.
Pesnell said that this speed opens an incredible potential for discovery, using 18th century photographer Eadweard Muybridge as an example:
But when Muybridge photographed horses using a new high-speed camera system, he discovered something surprising. Galloping horses spend part of the race completely airborne-all four feet are off the ground.
To achieve all this, the three instruments in the SDO have been designed to cover three vital aspects of our home star. First, the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly—which will be producing most of the data—that you see at the opening of this post uses four telescopes together. They will be the ones photographing Sol's surface and atmosphere using ten different wavelength filters. Meanwhile, the HMI will analyze the innards of the star, looking into the physics that govern it inside. Then, EVE will measure extreme ultraviolet light activity while getting a nice and toasty tan.
How would this data be received? Using two 18-meter antennas near Las Cruces, New Mexico, which will be linked constantly to the SDO thanks to its geosynchronous orbit. Until it gets destroyed by the mysterious flying spaceship.
Hubble Images Asteroid Strike
Image: NASA/ESA/D.Jewitt, the incomparable Hubble, STScl 2010 07
This is incredible, and just released yesterday. Tom and I got the release yesterday morning, but waited until NASA could get the image up. NASA/ESA had it ready last night. They are so awesome.
Scientist believe that Hubble captured something long suspected, but never seen: An asteroid collision in the Asteroid Belt. Asteroid collisions are what NASA calls “energetic” (I just bet they are), and believe they collide at about 11,000 mph, or about 5 times the speed of a rifle bullet. Hubble imaged this January 25th and 29th with the new Wide Field Camera 3. It was about 90 million miles from the Earth. That’s fairly close for Hubble, but it can image objects as small as the size of a house at that distance.
There’s plenty of evidence for ancient collisions, but we’ve never been able to catch one in modern times. Scientists have identified the remains of the collision that resulted in an Earth asteroid strike 65 million years ago. We all know the end story of that little adventure.
NASA has the whole story here, and it’s worth a read.
Gateway’s FX6831: Core i7 Gaming Power For a Mere $1300 [Gateway]
Gateway's introducing two new Core i7 gaming desktops today, and you'd be forgiven for not being able to tell them apart at first glance. The lower-end model is essentially the same rig—but $400 less than its $1700 counterpart.
Let's go to the tape: both run on Core i7-860 processors. Both house ATI Radeon HD5850 graphics. Both come with a 1.5TB SATA hard drive, a DVD drive, and WIndows Home 7 Premium. Both have the same impressive array of ports and 7.1 channel audio support. All of that, plus 8GB DDR3 RAM, is pretty terrific for the FX6831-01's $1300 price tag.
The higher-end FX6831-03, though, costs $1700 for the exact same set-up plus a Blu-ray drive and 16GB DDR3. And hey, that's still not too shabby! But not quite the steal that the $1300 version looks like, especially given the similarities.
Full PRrrrrrriffic details ahoy!
GATEWAY BRINGS ENHANCED DESIGN, BLU-RAY DRIVES, USER FRIENDLY FEATURES AND FASTER PERFORMANCE TO ITS FX, DX AND SX DESKTOP PCs
IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 3, 2010 – Gateway today announced the addition of new models and features across its line of gaming, multimedia and small form factor PCs.
The FX Series of affordable gaming PCs gets a redesign that includes a modernized chassis and new lighting accents. The DX line of multimedia PCs and SX small form factor PCs both now include eco-friendly 1TB drives and powerful Intel Core i5 and i3 Processors, respectively. In addition, the FX and DX now include models with Blu-ray drives.
FX Series Desktops – Continuing to Redefine the Mainstream Gaming PC
With a newly designed chassis, Gateway's value line of gaming PCs continues to break all the rules, managing to pack more performance and features than ever before into a powerful PC that blows the doors off competitively priced systems. The new design maximizes usability and includes numerous additions that enhance the computing experience.
"When it comes to online entertainment, PC gaming and value, Gateway's FX Series can't be beat," said Steve Smith, Gateway desktop product marketing. "While maintaining our price/performance leadership position, the new FX models boast a race car-like design with red accents and lighting, and include several new features that enhance the convenience and use of the PC."
The new FX design makes it easy to access and use key features, providing simple and quick access to ports and peripherals. The top front of the PC includes high-def headphone and microphone jacks, while an angled media card reader makes it easy to insert, remove and transfer data from cameras and other devices. This can be especially helpful when the PC is placed under a desk.
A handy recessed storage tray on the top of the chassis makes it easy to place cameras, smartphones and MP3 players when downloading files. At the back of this tray, users will find two additional USB ports, which provide convenient connectivity for miscellaneous peripherals. Just behind this recessed area is an enclosed rear compartment which provides a place to store and hide the excess cables from any peripherals placed on the tray.
The control dial for the system's adjustable lighting effects can also be found on the top front of the unit, as well as the Photo Frame, stand by and backup buttons.
Boasting a 1.5TB drive, FX users will have plenty of room for photos, movies, music libraries and more. Tool-less expansion bays provide additional storage room for growth and backup. A convenient access door on the front of the PC conceals two external hard drive bays, and glides down effortlessly with a slight push on the front latch. Eject buttons for the optical disk drives are also conveniently and seamlessly integrated into the front sides of the PC.
Not to be outdone by its user friendly features, both new models in the FX line feature ATI Radeon HD5850 graphics and the Intel® Core™ i7-860 processor with Turbo Boost Technology for killer performance. The FX6831-03 also boasts a Blu-ray drive and 16GB of DDR3 memory, making it a true gaming solution.
Gateway® FX6831-03
* MSRP: $1,699.99
* Intel® Core i7™ 860, 2.8GHz w/Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.46GHz
* ATI Radeon HD5850 w/1GB discrete video memory
* 16GB memory (DDR3 dual channel 1333MHz)
* 1.5TB SATA hard drive (1) (7200RPM)
* 16X DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti
* Blu-ray disc 4X BD-ROM / DVD-SuperMulti Drive
* Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bitGateway® FX6831-01
* MSRP: $1,299.99
* Intel® Core i7™ 860, 2.8GHz w/Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.46GHz
* ATI Radeon HD5850 w/1GB discrete video memory
* 8GB memory (DDR3 dual channel 1333MHz)
* 1.5TB SATA hard drive (1) (7200RPM)
* 16X DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti Drive
* Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
