China’s New Bullet Train Breaks Speed Record; Makes Amtrak Cry | 80beats

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China’s Harmony train can now boast of being the fastest long distance passenger train on the planet. The Harmony express raced 1,100 km in less than three hours on Saturday, travelling from Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province, to the central city of Wuhan. The journey previously took at least 11 hours [Financial Times]. That’s almost like traveling from New York City to Indianapolis by train in three hours. Even if you encountered a two and a half hour delay, which happened to one unlucky load of Harmony riders this week, you’d still make great time.

See the train in action in the video below:

The train will run 56 times per day and the cheapest fare is 490 yuan (roughly $72), however many slower trains along the same route will be axed to help cover costs.

Harmony reached a top speed of 217 miles per hour (350 km per hour) on its debut, bumping off Japan’s Shinkansen bullet train and France’s TGV, both of which can travel at 186 miles per hour (300 km per hour). Embarrassingly for the United States, Amtrak’s Acela service takes three and a half hours to travel the 186 miles (300 km) between New York and Boston.

For a look at Chinese high speed rail, both present and future, and the state of U.S. high speed rail spending, click over to Next Big Future.

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Video: YouTube / itnnews


Behind the Scenes of the 2010 Times Square New Year’s Ball [Time Ball]

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The 2010 Times Square New Year's Ball is ready to go. They saved money and didn't add any LEDs, but they added new stunning Waterford clink-clink glass panels. Here's the insider look on how they did it, and why.

Anthony Quintano also sent us this video on the setup of the camera that will offer the closest view of the time ball tonight, broadcasting the event to the entire world.



The Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball Timeline [Timeline]

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The 102-year history of the Times Square New Year's Even Ball is one filled with technology, death and, of course, pretty shiny lights. See it all unfold in our historical timeline.

(Click the image for a large popout version.)

Of course, for those who don't appreciate the festivity of the ball drop, despite all of the hard work behind the scenes, feel free to ignore the ball's 32,256 glimmering Philips LEDs and turn your attention to your iPhone...because, yes, Waterford has made an app for that.

Happy New Year everyone!



Motorola’s Rumored Superthin Android Phone Sounds Spectacular [Rumor]

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We had few complaints with the Droid, and the Sholes tablet, Occiphobic as it may be, is lustable, without a doubt. But Motorola's alleged next phone, the .35-inch-thick, 1080p-capable Shadow/Mirage, makes Motorola's current Android lineup look old-fashioned.

All we've got for now is a crude rendering and a dubiously sourced Chinese leak, but given the recent spate of Snapdragon-powered Android phones, the specs are within the realm of plausibility: crammed into the slim body, there's a processor capable of decoding 1080p video, an 8-megapixel camera, and an HDMI port, masked by a 4.3-inch, 800 x 484 screen, as compared to the Droid's 3.7-inch display of the same resolution.

If true, this means that there's an Android phone that's at least as powerful as, and thinner than, Google's überbuzzed Nexus One sitting just over the horizon, which strikes yet another blow to the mythos of the be-all, end-all Android device. [Mobile1 via BGR]



Get Well Rush, from your friends at Libertarian Republican

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From Eric Dondero:

Late yesterday paramedics were called to Rush Limbaugh's hotel in Hawaii. It had been reported that he was suffering "chest pains." He was taken to a nearby hospital. Latest word is that he's "recovering," and that it might not have been a heart attack. Although, we caution this is not yet confirmed.

I speak on behalf of the editorial board and writers here at Libertarian Republican, and I'm sure for the Libertarian Republican movement nationwide, that we wish Rush a speedily and full recovery.

Eric Dondero, Publisher
Libertarian Republican
Founder, Republican Liberty Caucus
& Daily diehard Rush Listener

The Worst Gadgets of the Decade: 11 Bonus Dishonorable Mentions [Y2k10]

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While we're confident that we nailed our 50 worst gadgets of the decade, you commenters reminded us of a few truly awful gems that didn't make the cut. So here are eleven more worst gadgets for your enjoyment and derision.

And please, suggest any others that you feel strongly about. I'll be reading the comments all day, adding the most egregiously bad examples to the list. And if you'd rather view the embedded as one long post, we've got you covered here.



Apple Free To Continue Destroying Our Ears In 2010 [Lawsuits]

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Everyone remembers that story about how a bunch of people were suing Apple for potential iPod-induced hearing loss, even though they hadn't lost any hearing. It got shot down last year, appealed, and today, killed for good. CRANK IT.

The case was a bit odd from the start, in that it hinged on the potential for hearing loss, rather than actual, inflicted hearing loss. It was also odd beacuse iPods, which are evidently capable of pumping out about 125dB of sound through a pair of those crappy white earbuds, already have a volume-limiting function. This is in addition to normal volume controls, which apparently don't provide enough guidance to users to prevent them from techno-blasting their eardrums into mucousy, deaf meat-nuggets. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's decision from last year that iPod could be, and generally are, used safely, and dismissed the lawsuit.

But as my grandfather always used to say, at the center of every frivolous class action technology lawsuit, there lies a grain of truth: iPods and iPhones, if you turn them up too loud, can damage your hearing. So don't, k? [Ars Technica]



How to Detect Oil Contamination in Water

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We have a lube oil cooler where the hot lube oil is flowing at a pressure of about 28 barg on the shell side.The tube side contains water at around 4 barg.

We are interested in detecting oil leakage in water when the tube has a small leak or it ruptures.

The water is a closed loop

A little decadence | Bad Astronomy

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Quite by accident, just the other day I found myself embroiled in a controversy on Twitter of my own making. I made an offhand mention that the decade would be ending in a few short days. That seemed obvious enough to me, but apparently not so to many others. What ensued was something of a firestorm of people, many of whom disagreed with me. However, I maintain that I was right all along. Here’s the scoop.

My claim is that December 31, 2009 — today, as this is posted — is not just the last day of the year, but the last day of a decade. Now, I don’t mean that in the trivial sense that any moment is the last moment of the past ten year period — you can always talk about the last ten years that end at any time.

I meant, and still mean, specifically the first decade of the 2000s. That does in deed and in fact end today.

What people were arguing over were things like centuries and millennia, and how there was no year 0, and therefore the last day of the decade is actually December 31, 2010. But that’s not relevant because we don’t measure decades the same way we do centuries.

Certainly, the last day of the 20th century was December 31, 2000. In that case, there was no year 0, so the first year of the 1st century ended on December 31, 1 A.D. Doing the math, it’s easy to see that 1999 more years needed to elapse to end the 20th century, and so its demise was on that last calendar day of 2000. January 1, 2001 marked the first day of the 21st century.

But we don’t reckon decades like that. We refer to them by the tens place in the year’s numerals: the 70s, the 80s, the 90s. And since we do, clearly, today is the last day of the decade we will call the aughts or zeroes or whatever.

Actually, looking at this now, it seems to me that centuries are more formal, with an actual method of naming them, whereas decades are more of a nickname, a handy handle to use when referring to a time period.

Also, you wouldn’t say that 1990 was part of the 80s, would you? I think it’s clear that December 31, 1989 was the last day of the 80s, just as December 31, 2009 is the last day of whatever term we’ll wind up using to refer to the first 10 years of the 2000s.

Confusing this a bit is that we might refer to something happening in the 1900s versus saying it happened in the 20th century. Those terms are synonymous, barring the year of 1900, which was in the 19th century, and 2000, which was in the 20th century but not in the 1900s.

If we did reckon decades the same way as centuries then a point would be made that the decade ends in 2010. But we don’t, and in this case there truly is a year 0: the year 2000. So once again, the first decade of the 2000s ends today.

A couple of people pointed out that this means the first decade in our calendar only had 9 years: AD 1 – 9. I suppose that’s true, and so it’s not really a decade then in the strict definition of the word. But since we’re not using a rigorous naming convention, and references to decades are more like nicknames. Plus, who talks about the first ten years of our calendar that way anyway?

Confusing this even more was the case someone made that when you are 30, you no longer say you are in your 20s (unless you’re lying). But all during that last year, when you say you are 29, you are actually living your 30th year on Earth. After all, when we say a baby is 1, really they have already been around 12 months. We change the number after the fact, so when you turn 30 you’ve already lived out your 30th year. The whole time you are 29, you’re plowing through your 30th year.

Perhaps it would lessen the issue if, when asked how old you are on your birthday, instead of saying "I am 30," you say "I have just completed my 30th year." I suspect that won’t catch on, however.

Still, be all that as it may, when you are 29 you are still in your 20s, and when you turn 30 you ain’t.

The lessons here are many fold. One is that, and pardon my repetition, the first decade of the 2000s ends today. A second is that people are still terribly confused about how to delineate centuries. A third is that this can be generalized to people being confused on how we delineate time.

Fourth is that this is all arbitrary and a bit silly. But we do make rules, and sometimes those rules have to make sense, and sometimes it’s fun to talk about them even when it means some people disagree.

And fifth? People shouldn’t argue with me on Twitter. At least not until the next decade starts.

And if I may indulge myself, one final thing:

Happy new year!

And happy new decade. May the 10s and teens treat us all better — and may we make them better — than the aughts.


Booming Music May Have Triggered Club-Goer’s Heart Attack | Discoblog

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clubABC News reports on an unusual and tragic case of a heart attack triggered by blasting music. A British teenager died shortly after complaining of loud music at a London nightclub, according to reports. Details are sketchy but U.S. doctors suspect a genetic condition may be to blame.

From ABC News:

“Any time someone in a setting of excitement has a sudden cardiac arrest, especially at a young age with a seemingly normal heart, you have to consider [an inherited condition] such as long QT,” said Dr. Richard Page, chair of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and president of the Heart Rhythm Society. “One of the genetic variants is especially predisposed to having an arrhythmia when exposed to loud sound.”

Long QT, an inherited affliction, is named for the points Q and T on a heart monitor. Longer-than-usual intervals between these points is one
major marker of this syndrome. People with QT can go into cardiac arrest when exposed to loud sounds such as alarms, music or sirens. Although it’s a rare disorder, it’s also deadly if left untreated. Fortunately, EKGs and genetic tests can detect most cases and pacemakers have been proven to help considerably.

As for the sad case of the British teenager, the world may never know if loud music killed him. Only an autopsy can confirm this and his family
is keeping mum for now.

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Image: flickr / Kaloozer


The Socially Acceptable Geek Subgenre Scale [Geeks]

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Being a geek no longer holds the stigma it once did. In fact, it can be downright cool to be a geek these days. But not all geeks are created equal.

The Socially Acceptable Geek Subgenre Scale is a handy showcase of just where various types of geeks fall in the social hierarchy. And if you're offended because you find yourself near the bottom of the scale, just remember: there's no shame in being passionate about something unpopular as long as no one knows about it. And if you really hate clicking through the gallery, click here to see all of them on one long page. Although while doing so realize that people who whine about galleries are their own subgenre of geek, and it's not very high up on the scale.

Illustrations by Dan Meth.



Are Engines the Future of Solar Power?

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From Scientific American:

Nearly 200 years after their invention, and decades after first being proposed as a method of harnessing solar energy, 60 sun-powered Stirling engines are about to begin generating electricity outside Phoenix, Ariz., for the first time. Such engines, which

NASA Plans Backup Astronaut Escape System

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From Discovery News - Top Stories:

Determined never to repeat the tragic Challenger launch accident, NASA not only is developing a crew escape system for the space shuttles' replacements; the space agency also has a backup system that could fly astronauts to safety in case of an em