Clipmarks | Mechanics Clips

Lasers Could Send World's Most Secure Messages Through Space

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:54:29 GMT

clipped by: spherepet

Lasers Could Send World's Most Secure Messages Through Space

By Alex Hutchinson

Published on: August 26, 2008

New experiments using Heisenberg's uncertainty principle extend the range of quantum cryptography, an advanced method of communicating in unbreakable code.

Finding a way to keep snoops from tapping into other people's information is a challenge that has gone to the subatomic level. First proposed in 1984, quantum cryptography (QC) promises to send coded messages that are, according to the laws of quantum mechanics, impossible to crack. The technique relies on a principle of modern physics called Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which states that it's impossible to measure something at the subatomic level without altering it.

QC systems send information in the form of a specially prepared stream of photons representing 0s and 1s. If anyone tries to eavesdrop, he unintentionallly alters the photons being transmitted, and the rightful recipient is able to detect the tampering

Tags: lasers, quantum cryptography, heisenberg's uncertainty principle

Do subatomic particles have free will?

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:26:21 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.sciencenews.org

If we have free will, so do subatomic particles, mathematicians claim to prove.

“If the atoms never swerve so as to originate some new movement that will snap the bonds of fate, the everlasting sequence of cause and effect—what is the source of the free will possessed by living things throughout the earth?”—Titus Lucretius Carus, Roman philosopher and poet, 99–55 BC.

Human free will might seem like the squishiest of philosophical subjects, way beyond the realm of mathematical demonstration. But two highly regarded Princeton mathematicians, John Conway and Simon Kochen, claim to have proven that if humans have even the tiniest amount of free will, then atoms themselves must also behave unpredictably.

Tags: science, faith, quantum mechanics

Sob story: Why tears are no longer taboo

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:56:00 GMT

clipped by: Tri-City Psychology

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

What makes us weep? and, why don't boys cry?

we cry at moments when our emotions brim over. The precise psychological mechanics of emotional tears are still debated by academics, but there is a general agreement that they perform a cathartic action relieving feelings of stress, supporting the oft-given advice from well meaning aunties that we should, "have a good cry, it'll make you feel better."

It is acceptable in the West for women to cry freely in times of trouble or stress (although a study earlier this year by the British Psychological Society explored how female tears in the workplace can be a source of embarrassment). But the rule that "boys don't cry" still applies, even in our more emotionally liberated times.

"In truth, crying isn't weakness, it's a relaxation system in the human organism," says Hodson, "In order to function, we have to function with our emotions, not against them. You cry when tension needs to be dissipated.

Quantum Mechanics- Weird Science or ?

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:18:39 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: So much fun in physics, endless new tools and transportation

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Quantum weirdness wins again: Entanglement clocks in at 10,000+ times faster than light

No matter how many times researchers try, there's just no getting around the weirdness of quantum mechanics.

In the latest attempt, researchers at the University of Geneva in Switzerland tried to determine whether entanglement—the fact that measuring a property of one particle instantly determines the property of another—is actually transmitted by some wave-like signal that's fast but not infinitely fast.

Their test involved a series of measurements on pairs of entangled photons (particles of light) that were generated in Geneva (satellite view at left) and then split apart by optical fiber to two villages 18 kilometers (11 miles) apart where the team had set up photon detectors. (In 2007, researchers transmitted entangled light 144 kilometers between two of the Canary Islands.)

they end up with is a lower limit on how fast the entanglement could be traveling: 10,000 times the speed of light.

FFTIO in Time Out Chicago

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:32:16 GMT

clipped by: jaqura

Clip Source: www.timeout.com

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Time Out Chicago / Aug 21, 2008

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Fitness from the Inside Out fitnessfromtheinsideout.com. We feel your pain: Between all the chin-ups, pull-ups and push-ups, going to the gym can be a downer. That’s where personal-fitness guru Bull Busch comes in. His passion for fitness is contagious, prompting even the laziest of couch potatoes to try on those jogging shoes collecting dust on the closet floor. In his podcast, Busch breaks away from the pack of exercise teachers by cracking the code of the body-mass-index chart, analyzing the mechanics of physical repetitions and flaunting his intimate knowledge of the human body. He addresses the physical weaknesses of individual clients and prescribes exercises based on Muscle Activation Techniques, a relatively new method for physical training.

Tags: fitness, health, nutrition, time, out, chicago, busch, muscle, activation, technique

Most Important Advances in Human History

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:19:49 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: humanknowledge.net

Most Important Advances

Listed below are some of the most important contingent non-parochial revolutionary advances in human history

Stone Tools

2.5 Mya

Fire Control

1.4 Mya

Language

100-50 Kya

Watercraft

40 Kya

Food Production

10.5 Kya

Metallurgy

4000 BCE

Horse Riding

4000 BCE

Writing

3500 BCE

Philosophy

600-335 BCE

Mathematics

550-200 BCE

Firearms

1300s

Movable Type

1454

Heliocentrism

1543

Telescopy, Microscopy

1608

Calculus

1666

Mechanics

1687

Heat Engine

1712;1769

Electromagnetics

1831;1864

Wire Telecom

1844

Evolution

1859

Germ Theory

1862

Genetics

1866

Set Theory

1874

Radio Telecom

1895;1904

Powered flight

1903

Special Relativity

1905

General Relativity

1916

Quantum Theory

1927

Space flight

1929

Big Bang

1929

Incompleteness

1931

Fission

1938

Computing

1946;1948

Packet Networking

1961

Standard Model

1974

(?) String/M Theory

1984

Several important advances are nonetheless either derivative or not quite revolutionary.

The train and automobile are derivative of the heat engine

Tags: most important advances, humanity, advancement, type 0 civilization

Do we create the world just by looking at it?

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:59:59 GMT

clipped by: einbar
clipper's remarks: very intersting article...

Clip Source: www.bryanchristiedesign.com

Clip Source: www.seedmagazine.com

A team of physicists in Vienna has devised experiments that may answer one of the enduring riddles of science: Do we create the world just by looking at it?

Do we create what we observe through the act of our observations?

Late last year Brukner and Kofler showed that it does not matter how many particles are around, or how large an object is, quantum mechanics always holds true. The reason we see our world as we do is because of what we use to observe it. The human body is a just barely adequate measuring device. Quantum mechanics does not always wash itself out, but to observe its effects for larger and larger objects we would need more and more accurate measurement devices. We just do not have the sensitivity to observe the quantum effects around us. In essence we do create the classical world we perceive, and as Brukner said, "There could be other classical worlds completely
different from ours."

The memetics of great designs :)

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:58:16 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Trees, Forests And The Eiffel Tower Reveal Theory Of Design In Nature

What do a tree and the Eiffel Tower have in common? According to a Duke University engineer, both are optimized for flow.

For most engineers, the laws governing fluid and solid mechanics like these examples are like oil and water – they just don't mix.

"We believe that the main function of the tree is to facilitate the flow of water from the ground and into the atmosphere

the tree is ideally designed to not only maximize the flow of water, but in order to be successful in the real world, it must also be able to withstand the stresses of the wind. It is exquisitely designed to do just that

based on the principle that flow systems evolve to balance and minimize imperfections, reducing friction or other forms of resistance, so that the least amount of useful energy is lost.

The resulting patterns and proportions, like the similar ones of the Eiffel Tower, are predicted by the constructal theory, Bejan said.

Tags: architecture, nature

Do subatomic particles have free will?

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:19:46 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: But physicists all the way back to Einstein have been unhappy with this idea. Einstein famously grumped, “God does not play dice.” And indeed, ever since the birth of quantum mechanics, some physicists have offered alternate interpretations of its equations that aim to get rid of this indeterminism. The most famous alternative is attributed to the physicist David Bohm, who argued in the 1950s that the behavior of subatomic particles is entirely determined by “hidden variables” that cannot be observed.

Conway and Kochen say this search is hopeless, and they claim to have proven that indeterminacy is inherent in the world itself, rather than just in quantum theory. And to Bohmians and other like-minded physicists, the pair says: Give up determinism, or give up free will. Even the tiniest bit of free will.

Clip Source: www.sciencenews.org

The finding won’t give many physicists a moment’s worry, because traditional interpretations of quantum mechanics embrace unpredictability already. The best anyone can hope to do, quantum theory says, is predict the probability that a particle will behave in a certain way.

Tags: free will, atoms

Physicists Seek Answers to Quantum Correlations

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:44:51 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: The physicists ruled out several possible classical explanations for the instantaneous communication. For one thing, they showed that the photons did not share information before leaving Geneva, and so they didn´t travel knowing about each other´s properties.

In another test, the scientists showed that no communication could have occurred through a different reference frame, as might happen because of the photons´ high speeds. According to Einstein´s theory of relativity, observers moving at high speeds can get different measurements of the same event because they have different reference frames. But, by performing tests over a complete rotation of the Earth, the researchers ruled out this possibility.

"We think space and time are important because that´s the kind of monkeys we are,"

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

After performing multiple tests on two entangled photons, physicists have yet again found that the photons seem to be communicating faster than the speed of light - at least 100,000 times faster.

The researchers hope that their results might encourage theorists to come up with new explanations for the strange quantum mechanical effect.

The physicists, led by Nicolas Gisin from the University of Geneva, arranged their experiment by sending two photons down fiber optic cables to detectors in two Swiss villages located 18 km apart. Both photons started in Geneva, with one heading toward Satigny and the other toward Jussy.

When the researchers measured several properties of each photon at its destination, they found that the particles could instantly sense the other´s behavior without any known communication.

Although this correlation obeys the laws of quantum mechanics, it seems to defy the nature of space and time, at least from humans´ everyday perspectives.

Tags: physics, quantum physics, entaglement

Spray-On Condoms: Still a Hard Sell

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:00:36 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.time.com

Edison had his lightbulb, Ford had his Model T, and Jan Vinzenz Krause has his spray-on condom. Inspired by the mechanics of a drive-through car wash, the German sexual-health educator designed a custom-fitting male contraceptive using liquid latex and some materials from a hardware store. "I felt a little like MacGyver," he says of building the contraption.

But there are some stumbling blocks. The men who tested the spray-on condom had a few hesitations, Krause says. Some were "a little bit afraid to use the tube" and would only try it on their fingers. Others worried that the mechanism, which hisses as it sprays, might ruin the mood.

But the most serious problem with the design — which is what has kept the product off the market thus far — is that the latex takes too long to dry. Liquid latex currently takes two to three minutes to vulcanize, making it impractical. "For people to buy it," Krause says, "it needs to be ready in five to 10 seconds."

LifeLock

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:16:41 GMT

clipped by: akipta

Clip Source: www.lifelock.com

Our job is to protect your good name. As a consumer, you have rights that allow you to take more control over who uses your identity and how they use it. We do the mechanics, the details if you will, to enforce those rights. And we stand behind our service with our $1,000,000 Service Guarantee. We charge $10 per month to do it.

Tags: identity profile social-networking

Spray-On Condoms: Still a Hard Sell

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:57:06 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.time.com

U.S. condom sales have been increasing steadily over the years, according to Packaged Facts, a division of Market Research Group, and they are expected to top $444 million annually by 2010.

Access to condoms is one issue; inclination to use them is another. Which helps explain why companies are constantly looking for ways to improve the standard product — vibrating, warming, climax-delaying, even glow-in-the-dark condoms are all available on drugstore shelves.

"Driving on Compressed Air"

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:34:38 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly

Clip Source: www.realitysandwich.com

Driving on Compressed Air

William McGillis

India’s largest automaker, Tata, has begun producing the world’s first commercial, air-powered car. Compressed air powers the Air Car, which will produce no emissions, reach speeds over 65 miles per hour, and have a range of 125 miles. Drivers will be able to fill up their air tanks in a few minutes at a gas station or plug the car into their home electrical system for a 4-hour recharge. Popular Mechanics reports that it will cost about $2 to fill the car’s carbon-fiber tanks with 340 liters of pressurized air.

feline car mechanics!

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:33:06 GMT

clipped by: silvanaraihane
clipper's remarks: or watching a mouse!

Clip Source: humor-in-photos-and-pictures.blogspot.com

Clipmarks | Mechanics Clips

Lasers Could Send World's Most Secure Messages Through Space

Lasers Could Send World's Most Secure Messages Through Space

Do subatomic particles have free will?

Sob story: Why tears are no longer taboo

Quantum Mechanics- Weird Science or ?

Quantum weirdness wins again: Entanglement clocks in at 10,000+ times faster than light

FFTIO in Time Out Chicago

Radio & podcasts

Most Important Advances in Human History

Do we create the world just by looking at it?

The memetics of great designs :)

Trees, Forests And The Eiffel Tower Reveal Theory Of Design In Nature

Do subatomic particles have free will?

Physicists Seek Answers to Quantum Correlations

Spray-On Condoms: Still a Hard Sell

LifeLock

Spray-On Condoms: Still a Hard Sell

"Driving on Compressed Air"

Driving on Compressed Air

William McGillis

feline car mechanics!

Pet Animal humor-Feline car mechanics