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Peace activist Abie Nathan dies, aged 81 - respect

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:54:46 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: "Nathan burst onto the world of Middle East diplomacy in 1966 with a dramatic solo flight to Egypt in a rattletrap single-engine plane, more than a decade before Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty.
Although he failed in his initial bid to talk peace with the Egyptians, his daredevil escapade won the affection of many Israelis and launched a long and often eccentric one-man crusade to end the Arab-Israeli conflict."

Clip Source: www.offshore-radio.de

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Clip Source: www.jpost.com

Peace activist Abie Nathan dies, aged 81

Abie Nathan, the pilot, entrepreneur, peace activist and founder of the groundbreaking "Voice of Peace" radio station, died Wednesday at Tel Aviv's Ichilov hospital, the hospital said in a statement. He was 81.

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

The Voice of Peace (Hebrew: קול השלום - Kol Hashalom) was a radio station that serviced Israel and the Middle East for 20 years. The station signed on the air in May 1973 from the former Dutch cargo vessel MV Peace (formally MV Cito).

Clip Source: www.abie-nathan.com

Clip Source: www.offshore-radio.de

The last picture of the M/V Peace before being sunk

Clip Source: www.offshore-radio.de

Big step in tiny technology

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:18:45 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: Dr Manfred Buck, of the University¿s School of Chemistry, explained, "One of the central issues in nanotechnology is the development of simple and reliable methods to precisely arrange molecules and other nanoscopic objects. One promising route intensively investigated by scientists around the world involves the ability of molecules to spontaneously assemble onto a surface. What we have done is successfully combined two strategies which are complementary but, so far, have been explored independently, and it is this combination which opens up unprecedented opportunities for accessing the ultrasmall length scale."

"The potential of this approach lies in its flexibility on a scale, about 1/10000 of the diameter of a human hair. Using molecules as building units, the features of our structures are less than 5 nanometres in size, which enables us to control structures and materials at dimensions where new properties emerge."

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

crucial step in developing minuscule structures with application potential in sophisticated sensors, catalysis, and nanoelectronics has been developed by Scottish researchers.

Dr Manfred Buck and his team at the University of St Andrews have accomplished one of the big quests in nanotechnology, opening up an exciting new development in tiny technology.

The St Andrews researchers have developed a way of forming an easily modified network of molecules over a large area - the chemical technique provides an advantageous alternative to traditional methods which become increasingly cumbersome at the ultrasmall length scale.

The key to the development lies in the creation of robust and versatile surface - self-assembling structures just one molecule thick which can be exploited for further control and manipulation of nanostructures.

Tags: nanotechnology

Going away for a while...

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:02:02 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend
clipper's remarks: Its going to be days on the desert beach for me for a while, somewhere down there
hope to come back with renewed clipping zest, meanwhile cheers you all!

Clip Source: www.seatreker.com

Tags: v a c a t i o n

Can we harness energy from outer space?

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:36:41 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: While nuclear fusion has already been tested with the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium, those reactions give off the majority of their energy as radioactive neutrons, raising both safety and production concerns. Helium-3, on the other hand, is perfectly safe. It doesn't give off any pollution or radioactive waste and poses no danger to surrounding areas.
helium-3 has two protons but only one neutron. When it's heated to very high temperatures and combined with deuterium, the reaction releases incredible amounts of energy. Just 2.2 pounds (one kilogram) of helium-3 combined with 1.5 pounds (0.67 kilograms) of deuterium produces 19 megawatt-years of energy Roughly 25 tons of the stuff could power the United States for an entire year.

Clip Source: science.howstuffworks.com

People have been searching for clean alternative energy sources for decades to no avail. As soon as one source seems to pass the test, someone uncovers its fatal flaw. Nuclear, wind, solar and hydropower have all been dragged through the mud to some degree. Traditional nuclear fission is too risky, winds aren't consistent, the sun doesn't always penetrate the clouds and hydropower dams disrupt natural environments.

It seems like any workable solution is light-years away -- literally. Some researchers think the answer to our energy needs rests in the stars. From wind turbines on Mars to helium-3 fusion, people are increasingly looking to extraterrestrial sources for the Earth's energy needs.

One of the sources they're looking at is helium-3 to use in nuclear fusion reactions. As opposed to nuclear fission, which splits an atom's nucleus in half, nuclear fusion combines nuclei to produce energy.

Tags: energy, space

Aribeth

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:40:03 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Aribeth appeared on CM the other day. Hiya, Aribeth!

Clip Source: www.sassart.com

Clip Source: vidian-elenidar-wolf.blog.onet.pl

Clip Source: www.thieves-guild.net

Moon elves are both the most common of elves on this world, and the variety most often seen by non-elves. Silver elves remain a race whose inquisitive nature, curiosity and hunger to see and to know has led them to be wanderers and explorers, and also to be the elves most in contact with the other races. Many silver elves lives in nomadic groups made up of ten or more extended families that wander Faerun and seldom settle in one place for long. However this is measured in elven terms and many a town or city may see moon elves living there for much of a human’s short life span.

Clip Source: www.archlordonline.com

Clip Source: www.gamebanshee.com

Clip Source: lukvalentain.ltalk.ru

Clip Source: members.aol.com

Tags: aribeth, moonelf

Robots Detect Behavioral Cues to Follow Humans

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:45:04 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: “As humans, we constantly incorporate other peoples' current actions as clues (cues) as to what they may do in the future,” Sanjay Joshi of the University of California, Davis, told PhysOrg.com. “For instance, we have a ‘sixth sense’ on the highway to know that a certain car will swerve into our lane soon, based on the driver's current driving patterns. Then, we may become more defensive in our own driving. In our work, we wanted to begin the process of allowing robots to use behavioral cues (of humans or other robots), to make the robot's mission more reliable and accurate. In social work environments populated by numerous people and robots, these types of cues should be abundant.”
The researchers explained that behavioral cues that robots might use could include any action or signal that the leader exhibits that hints at a future action. These might be intended behaviors, such as pointing or waving. Other cues might be unconscious, such as behaviors that indicate stress or sadness,

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

Robots can be ironic. Even though they might not have emotions of their own, they can still detect and respond to humans’ emotions. A recent study has shown that, by picking up on human emotional traits, as well as a variety of other conscious and unconscious behavioral cues, robots may be able to act more naturally and accurately with humans.

The researchers, from the University of California, Davis, have developed a system that allows follower robots to use behavioral cues from human leaders and other robots in order to track and follow them. The ability to follow will likely be essential as robots continue to work alongside people more and more, such as in office buildings, hospitals, and airports.

The researchers’ aim was to reduce the amount of instructions or technical expertise required from human leaders to robots. As the authors noted, robots may be accepted if they are helpful, but can easily be rejected if they are difficult to work with.

Tags: robots, robotics, behavior

xkcd=42

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:16:51 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks: the geek in me is very happy right now!

Clip Source: shortminds.com

Bionic Humans: Top 10 Technologies (part 5)

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:35:33 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: some more at source.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Bionic Eyes

When you're blind, being able to see even the basics of light, movement and shape can make a big difference. Both the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis, currently in FDA trials, and a system being developed by Harvard Research Fellow Dr. John Pezaris record basic visual information via camera, process it into electronic signals and send it wirelessly to implanted electrodes. The Argus II uses electrodes implanted in the eye, which could help people who've lost some of their retinal function. Dr. Pezaris' system, still in the early stages of research, would bypass the eyes entirely, sending visual data straight to the brain. Both systems will work best with people who could once see because their brains will already know how to process the information. "The visual brain depends on visual experience to develop normally," Pezaris explained.

Tags: technology, bionic

Computer model of bees probes the hive mind

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:46:55 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: Thenius believes the foragers may be picking up clues about the quality of sources from their interactions with receivers. If some foragers have found a bountiful new source, the receivers have more work to do, so average unloading times across all foragers increase. This delay might suggest the existence of a better nectar source than the one a given forager has been visiting. Similarly, receivers are sometimes already half-full from another bee's nectar when a new forager arrives, so a forager needs to unload to more than one receiver. If this occurs more frequently, it may also suggest that a richer nectar source has been found.
To test this hypothesis, Thenius's team built a computer simulation of a hive containing 5000 independent virtual bees. Each forager started out visiting one of two different flower patches, but would switch destinations if it had to wait too long to be unloaded or was being serviced by too many receivers.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

GIVEN a choice between two different flower beds, how can honeybees hunting for nectar be sure they've chosen the best patch? A new computer model may provide the answer, as well as insights into the workings of a "hive mind" that could be used to guide swarms of robots.

Within a bee colony, two different types of bee handle nectar: foragers go out to collect it from flowers, and receivers unload it from the foragers and store it in honeycomb. The forager then leaves the hive to hunt for more.

Different foragers from a single hive visit more than one separate source of nectar - so how can an individual forager be sure it's going to the best one? While bees can communicate with each other using complicated waggle dances, "these only show where a source is - not how good it is", says Ronald Thenius of the University of Graz in Austria.

Tags: bees, computers, hive, mind

Ice Volcanoes of Titan May Habor Life

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:15:21 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: For almost thirty years, scientists have known that complex carbon compounds called tholins exist on comets and in the atmospheres of the outer planets. Theoretically, tholins might interact with water in a process called hydrolysis to produce complex molecules similar to those found on the early Earth.

Could tholins formed in Titan's atmosphere react with liquid water temporarily exposed by meteor impacts or ice volcanoes to produce potentially prebiotic complex organic molecules — before the water freezes?

Laboratory research by Catherine Neish, a graduate student working on her doctorate in planetary science at the University of Arizona, suggests, not without controversy, however, that, over a period of days, compounds similar to tholins can be react with water at near-freezing temperatures.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Titan, the sixth and largest moon of the planet Saturn, is thought to be made largely of ice. Some of that ice may melt during meteor impacts or in underground processes, producing "ice volcanoes" that emit a "lava" containing ammonia mixed with water.

New observations of Titan by the Cassini spacecraft suggest the presence of cryovolcanism on the moon's surface. Cryovolcanism has important astrobiological implications, as it provides a means of exposing Titan's organics to liquid water, transforming hydrocarbons and nitriles into more evolved and oxidized prebiotic species.

Ganesa Macula, a mountain on Titan, is believed to be an '"ice volcano" that periodically belches "lava" containing liquid water. Simulated lab research by University of Arizona graduate student Catherine Neish suggests this water may react with organic compounds in Titan's atmosphere to create complex molecules similar to those on the early Earth.

Tags: titan, life, astronomy

Dangerous Knowledge

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 22:08:34 GMT

clipped by: seneh

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

Sleep on It: How Snoozing Makes You Smarter

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:16:37 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: This insight paved the way for a new understanding of organic chemistry and earned Kekulé a title of nobility in Germany.

Although most of us have not been ennobled, there is something undeniably familiar about Kekulé’s problem-solving method. Whether deciding to go to a particular college, accept a challenging job offer or propose to a future spouse, “sleeping on it” seems to provide the clarity we need to piece together life’s puzzles. But how does slumber present us with answers?

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

During slumber, our brain engages in data analysis, from strengthening memories to solving problems

Key Concepts

As we snooze, our brain is busily processing the information we have learned during the day.

Sleep makes memories stronger, and it even appears to weed out irrelevant details and background information so that only the important pieces remain.

Our brain also works during slumber to find hidden relations among memories and to solve problems we were working on while awake.

n 1865 Friedrich August Kekulé woke up from a strange dream: he imagined a snake forming a circle and biting its own tail. Like many organic chemists of the time, Kekulé had been working feverishly to describe the true chemical structure of benzene, a problem that continually eluded understanding. But Kekulé’s dream of a snake swallowing its tail, so the story goes, helped him to accurately realize that benzene’s structure formed a ring.

Tags: sleep, brain, memory

Users - Not Manufacturers - are Responsible for Innovation (Eric Von Hippel)

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:32:33 GMT

clipped by: Djiezes
clipper's remarks: Actually I just wanted to clip his free Ebook Democratizing Innovation (2005), but I couldn't stop myself clipping more.

So here's a short intro, 2 ebooks, 5 videos and some more links to his papers.
All on User Innovation

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Eric von Hippel (born August 27, 1941) is an economist and a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, specializing in the nature and economics of distributed and open innovation. He is best known for his work developing the concept of user innovation – that end-users, rather than manufacturers, are responsible for a large amount of new innovation.

Clip Source: web.mit.edu

+ Downloadable Books

Democratizing Innovation

Download a free PDF of the book (Creative Commons License)

The Sources of Innovation

Free download of the complete book. Permission granted by Oxford University Press

Clip Source: web.mit.edu

+ Video
Tutorials