MARCH 05
I said it’s OK ! - I’ll use the mouse . . .
Spacedaily carried an interesting story yesterday about voice-recognition
tech which is currently being tested aboard the International Space Station
(ISS). See :
http://www.spacedaily.com/news ( Caution: annoying
flashy ads and spoof hyperlinks galore )
The idea behind the system, called Clarissa , is that it may be possible to cut down on the time which astronauts have to spend carrying out test procedures. The new system recognises voice commands. ( Currently, the astronauts have to use a mouse to navigate their way through complex .pdf files. )
The software works in ‘open mic’ mode – in other words, it has to distinguish between voice-commands and ordinary conversation aboard the ISS. What the Spacedaily article failed to mention is the current error-rate of the new tech - It’s around 10% ( source: NASA ).
We’re not quite sure how the 10% figure has been arrived at though. Does it mean that one out of every ten commands is missed or misinterpreted – or does it mean that every tenth word is ?
We couldn’t find any details about how the tests have been going – but we can well imagine using a mouse which jumped to the wrong menu 10% of the time . . .
The system also uses synthesised voice generation, and the company which built
it ( Nuance ) are providing a neat on-line resource where you can
check-out the voices by typing-in a phrase.
Unfortunately, the very first phrase we typed malfunctioned. Maybe you’ll
have better luck – cut and paste “That's an
awfully big sparrow!”
As voice synthesizers go, the voices are fairly realistic - the company have chosen to go the sampled recording route rather than use purely computer-generated voices, which can sound very artificial.
They even have a UK English Male voice ( provided by actor Tim Cooper ) which, for some reason, tends to come across unnervingly like Hugh Grant. Cut’n’paste this and see if we’re imagining things.
“I'm confident that in five minutes we can have you spick and span and back on the street again”
comments ?31 MAR 05
Headline of the day
- from The Guardian . . .
" £10m prize on offer for UK's most e-aware city "
Hmmm, let's think . . . Manchester perhaps ? Bristol ?
comments
?31 MAR 05
I'm lovin' 5 portions a day.
In today’s GM world, it’s easy to forget that there are still plenty
of traditional gene-manipulation methods in use. Take for example the ‘Vegetable
Improvement Center’ which is currently working to improve the nutritional
value of carrots.
By selective breeding – using carefully constructed cages around beehives – the researchers hope to improve the carrots by modifying the levels of terpeneoids - which can have very strong flavours – and increasing the sugar content. One of the goals being to encourage children to eat carrots rather than junk-food snacks.
The
team hopes to balance the levels of such beneficial compounds as lutein,
carotene, anthocyanin and lycopene. These phyto-chemicals tend to affect
the colour of the carrots, which can range from bright yellow – though
orange – to almost black.
Leader of the research, Dr. Leonard Pike, ( developer of the now famous 1015 onion ) first became intrigued by bright yellow carrots when he saw a stallholder chopping some in Russia some 20 years ago.
"He was cutting carrots. They sold them sliced, even back then. I thought that was fascinating."
What colour the final super-carrot will turn out to be is still an unknown - but it’s hoped that the new varieties will increase consumer interest, and at the same time help to ward off some serious diseases.
For further info + a video news release see :
http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews
Note: We shouldn’t forget of course, that the ‘ordinary’ orange carrot known to most westerners is itself a highly bred strain developed from the original ‘wild carrot’ See :http://www.agriculture.com
comments
?30 MAR 05
Curtains for Darwin ?
Apologies to New York Times readers, who know this already, but we hadn’t heard – until today – that IMAX cinemas in at least a dozen cities across the US have been pulling showings of films which mention
_____“ The Process of Evolution ”_____
Oh no ! Now we've mentioned it too ! Do you think there will be protests ?
The two scarily controversial films which have triggered the reactions are -
‘Galapagos : the enchanted voyage’ - which documents an eight-week expedition to the islands and surrounding waters (3-D in selected cinemas ) - and
‘Volcanoes of the Deep Sea’ which delivers the first high-fidelity experience of the great ocean depths. Filmed from aboard the submersible Alvin.
Voicing concern though, the American Association for the Advancement of Science ( AAAS.org ) has just taken the very unusual step of publishing an open letter from its chairman, lightly criticising the withdrawals ( in a very diplomatic way ).
Here’s the letter :
http://www.aaas.org/news/releases
p.s. Applaud goes to the dauntless Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, which has reversed an earlier decision - and will show ‘Volcanoes of the Deep Sea’ after all ! ( opens Mar 31st.)
comments ?29 MAR 05 (late edtiton)
A new twist to the word "Run".
“ A major obstacle to establishing the ‘hydrogen economy’ is the safe and cost-effective storage and transport of hydrogen fuel “. So say researchers from the Rutgers University, New Jersey.
That’s something that Really Magazine has pointed out many times, and presumably will continue to point out – unless someone devises an viable way of making the gas safe for general use.
Rutgers have come up with an ingenious way of sidestepping the problem though – by suggesting that future vehicles could run on ammonia instead. [ cue sound-effect of multiple eyebrows being raised ] Yes, ammonia . . . A highly irritating and corrosive gas ( that can also explode in air at the right concentrations. )
We’re not sure if the Rutgers researchers are aware of it, but, since the late 1800’s there have been many stabs at building motor vehicles which run on ammonia. Trams, cars, locomotives etc etc. See :
http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com
Although many engines were built – and worked – there is a noticeable absence of ammonia-powered gizmos on the streets today. One of the main reasons is the thoroughly odious property of the gas. A major leak would be very dangerous and cause completely justified panic.
The Rutgers variant on the idea is very new though, and can legitimately have two buzz-phrases applied which make it certain to attract attention. viz. “hydrogen economy” and “nanotechnology”.
The idea centre’s around their newly developed nanostructure iridium catalyst which splits hydrogen and nitrogen from the ammonia in a very efficient way. The hydrogen would then be used to power a fuel cell, and the nitrogen would be vented ( back to ) the atmosphere.
But where would the ammonia come from ? From oil of course. There are very reliable and established methods for generating hydrogen from oil/gas – and there are equally well tried ones for making ammonia from the extracted hydrogen ( plus some atmospheric nitrogen.)
To sum up, here’s a comparison of three currently feasible scenarios - including the Rutgers proposal.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The usual :
Oil extracted. Refined a bit. Gasoline transported to filling station. Fill tank. Run car.
The hydrogen economy :
Oil extracted. Refined a bit. Catalysed to extract hydrogen. Hydrogen transported to filling station. Fill tank. Hydrogen used in fuel-cell to generate electricity. Electricity powers vehicle.
The Rutgers idea :
Oil extracted. Refined a bit. Catalysed to extract hydrogen. Hydrogen combined with atmospheric nitrogen to make ammonia. Ammonia transported to filling station. Fill tank. Ammonia catalysed to split off hydrogen. Hydrogen used in fuel cell to generate electricity. Electricity powers vehicle.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
We’re certain that the new catalyst, and variants of it, will find many
useful applications in industry – but we are willing to make one of our
predictions . . . Our streets won’t be full of vehicles running on ammonia
any time soon. It's simply not going to happen - We hope.
For details of the idea, see:
comments
?29 MAR 05
Energy ideas undergo spontaneous fission.
Confused about the UK’s nuclear power strategy ? So are we. And as from today - more still.
The Scotsman published an interesting piece yesterday which carried the news “ - government prepares go-ahead on nuclear power” see: http://business.scotsman.com
Really ? That seems like a headline news story to us, especially when souped up with a further claim that the Treasury is working on a scheme to give substantial tax-breaks to companies who are willing to put up the cash to build new nuclear power stations in the UK . ( When they say the UK, our guess is that they might be thinking primarily about Scotland – rather than Surrey.)
As far as we know, these are very much new developments, and, the article asserts, have been spurred-on by the publication of a report just produced by the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee “ which suggested nuclear power may be the best way to solve the UK’s looming energy crisis.”
This is where things get even more puzzling.
We assume the piece is referring to this report published two weeks ago on behalf of the government's Scottish Affairs Committee. We've checked it out as best we can, and, it’s true that it recommends nuclear power as a prime option – but it actually recommends fusion power – not fission.
As the committee points out though, the technology for fusion power ( which doesn’t produce long-term radioactive waste ) is still about 30 years away.
Try as we might, we haven’t been able to find any mention of recommendations for traditional ( fission ) N-power in the report . . .
( they do, however advocate a determined effort by all concerned to clear
up longstanding confusion about the UK’s future energy generation strategy
)
comments
?28 MAR 05
Current News.
A device which would have made James Bond’s ‘Q’ proud was launched near Bermuda on Wednesday. It’s called ‘ Spray ’ ( after the ship which was the first to circumnavigate the planet ) , and is an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle ( AUV ).
It belongs to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) , and is on a two month mission to collect data about the Gulf Stream – salinity, temperature, etc etc.
see: http://www.whoi.edu/
( The Gulf Stream is one of the strongest ocean currents. It’s reckoned to be shifting an astonishing 30 Million cubic metres of seawater per second. ( souce: Wikipedia ) )
The design of the craft, which is about two metres long, is ingenious to say the least. It has no propeller – it simply ‘glides’ through the sea water ( at about 1.5Km/hr ) by altering its density. ( It manages this by pumping a small quantity of oil from one ‘bladder’ to another – a technique which must surely have been inspired by the way fish use their swim-bladders to alter their density).
When
it’s heavier than the surrounding seawater it glides downwards – to
about 1000 mtrs - then it moves the oil and glides back up to the surface
again.
When it reaches the surface, it rolls over to position one of its ‘fins’ into the air. The fin houses an antenna which transmits the collected data to a satellite . . .
Suitably impressed James ?
The research is centred around Bermuda at the moment ( well. where would you choose ? Bermuda or Iceland ? ) , but Spray has a range of about 6000 Kms , so could easily survey the entire current from one end to the other.
As far as we’re aware, the UK and Irish governments are not contributing towards the costs – perhaps they should be. Oceanographers are predicting that, due to tiny changes in sea temperatures, the Gulf Stream, which is highly dynamic, could substantially alter its course at any time. If it does, the climate of the UK will change very dramatically.
The theory is that such a change could be very rapid – from one year to the next perhaps – much in the same way as the El Niño wind flips direction.
Admirably, the WHOI is making positional, temperature, and salinity data collected by the Spray Glider available in near real-time via the www. See this page and follow the links.
( Gulf Stream watchers can also consult quasi-real-time data made available by the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Delft . The daily maps of the stream’s activity are produced from data collected by radar satellite readings. see: http://www.deos.tudelft.nl/altim/ )
comments
?26 MAR 05
Odd scientific factoid of the day.
The Earth’s magnetic North and South Poles are currently ‘wandering’ at
a speed of about 30mtrs per day. So, if you’re thinking of travelling
to the ( magnetic) poles, you’ll never be quite certain exactly when
you’ve arrived.
comments ?26 MAR 05
The symphony begins.
There’s an old computer graphics tenet “ It’s hard to get people to pay you for dancing robots “ – but there are dancing robots galore ( real ones rather than virtual ) earning their keep at the Expo 2005 , which opens today in Aichi Japan.
The
imaginative Toyota i-foot which
we hi-lighted last month has been waddling about for the press shows, and
many other highly strange robotic devices have been dancing, rolling and
jumping for the audience.
In sharp contrast to yesterday’s piece, all the robots on display have been designed for purely non-military purposes, and show without doubt that Japan is streets ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to cute robotics.
The Expo, which is reckoned to have cost the Japanese authorities around €2.5Billion to put together, is predicted to attract around 15 million visitors during the next six months.
The theme is a ‘ Nature’s Wisdom’, a slightly neo-nostalgic phrase perhaps, and the organisers have gone to extreme lengths to ensure that all development has been done with minimal enviro-impact in mind. The entire site ‘ will be returned to grassland ’ in a years time.
Even so, three major environmental groups ( including WWF ) have not been 100% convinced about the efforts – and have ( temporarily at least ) pulled their support.
The disagreements stretch back ten years or so, when the original governmental
plans were to flatten part of the nearby Kaisho Forest ( and later
build a housing complex ) to make way for the Expo.
see: http://www.japantimes.co.jp
Despite arguments, and the high cost of the Expo, we’re willing to make a prediction that it will be a major success, and will recoup a fair proportion of the outlay. In any event, the local area now has a new airport, a maglev train link, and fuel-cell buses. Visitors will have had to opportunity to see an astonishing array of exhibits, including ( parts of ) a recently excavated 8000 year old frozen mammoth.
Whether it will live up the ‘grand intellectual symphony’ that the organisers promise . . .
( Advance tickets are available on-line ( about €33 adult €11 child ) via what must be one of the most bureaucratic and unfriendly ticket-sales sites we’ve ever come across. )
comments
?25 MAR 05
Yet another snake-bot crawls (slowly) into the headlines.
This one was hatched at the University of Michigan. It’s a segmented rolling-track device which can be used for “industrial inspection and surveillance”. The current prototype is eight inches ( 20cm ) in diameter, and not surprisingly, can pass through eight inch gaps.
Here’s a page with a picture.
http://www.engin.umich.edu/research
You might not guess from the pic, but OmniTread is actually connected to a human using a remote control - via a thick ‘umbilical cord ‘ ( supplying electrical and pneumatic power ) .
The dept. say that their next prototype ( at 10cm diameter ) will carry its own onboard power sources, which, as far as we can tell, will be AA batteries and a Sparkletts™ CO2 cylinder ( normally used for DIY fizzy drinks )
The university are also providing a video ( .wmv format ) which, if you have the time and the discspace ( it’s an absurd 38Mb – haven’t they heard of Realplayer™ ? ) shows the bot traversing various terrains - and comes with a nice music soundtrack. ( Some sections have been speeded up x2 to make things more interesting.)
They’ve also made several other robot devices, including a Segway™ which has been fitted a laser rangefinder and navigational aids.
It won’t be a great surprise to see that most of the projects are funded from the government military research budget.
So check the video if you'd like to see what you're getting for your tax dollars.
A reader comments : It's probably just a coincidence, but couldn't help noticing that the entire team ( as shown at the end of the video ) appear to be male ? Wonder if the UMich psycholgy department have seen it ?
comments
?24 MAR 05
There are more things . . .
An Australian magazine - The Bulletin – has just announced a A$1.25Million ‘bounty’ for anyone who can produce convincing evidence of a live Thylacine.
The thylacine, ( a.k.a. the Tasmanian tiger / wolf ) was/is not closely related to either tigers or wolves - it was/is a marsupial. The last officially known example ( called Ben ) died at Hobart zoo in 1936. The excellent online resoure ' The Thyalcine Museum ' has extensive info on the animal, including film footage !
The magazine has strict terms and conditions for collecting the reward though - photos, videos etc must be taken in the presence of a vet.
The Tasmanian Government ( which, only 100 years ago had its own reward scheme - paying residents the equivalent of half a week’s wages for bringing in dead thylacine scalps ) is nowadays very concerned about protecting the animals ( if they exist ) and ‘ is reacting cautiously ’ to the news.
They point out that ‘anyone considering taking up the bounty must be aware of state laws under the Threatened Species Act ‘
We couldn't find The Bulletin website, so see instead : http://www.hindustantimes.com/news
Meanwhile – on the other side of the planet . . .
A ‘giant black cat’ has just been reported in suburban London – for the second time in three years. Police took the sighting sufficiently seriously as to deploy teams of officers armed with Taser ™ guns onto the streets of Sydenham.
The giant felines could well be more common than the thylacine - the ‘British Big Cat Society ‘ received over 2000 reports of similar sightings across the UK last year. The chances of a spotting one might be higher because the animals could be Leopards, Cougars, or even Caracals.
As far as we know, there's no reward . . .
See: ‘ Fear stalks the streets of Sydenham ’ in today’s Guardian ( caution : contains swearing )
comments
?23 MAR 05
Slip, slop, errrr . . . sorry ?
Confused by conflicting info on whether sun exposure is near-to-deadly or absolutely essential ? We are.
Just within the last two days two high-profile, yet seemingly contradictory points of view have been announced.
The US government has awarded a $1.2Million grant for research at Queensland University of Technology ( QUT) into the effects of UVA ( longer wavelength – less energetic - normally considered less harmful than UVB )
Heading the research is Dr. Kimlin. He is quoted as saying that there is evidence to suggest that UVA could be ‘just as harmful as UVB’ ( source: ABC news ) – and you can be exposed to it even behind glass – such as when you're sitting in your car. ( He has previously conducted extensive research into the levels of UVA which can penetrate car windscreens. )
Apart from the health implications, there are cosmetic considerations too
. . .
" From a beauty point of view, UVA is one of
the factors that causes wrinkles - so sun screen is the ultimate anti-wrinkle
cream." he says.
see:
http://www.expertguide.com.au/news
On the other hand, we have an announcement from a Californian organisation called Sunarc ( Sunlight, nutrition and Health Research Center ) . . .
“ It's the great cancer cover-up. Panicked into avoiding sunlight by health experts, we are now dying in our thousands from diseases linked to deficiencies of vitamin D. But still the exaggerated warnings come.”
Sunarc is headed by Dr. William Grant – ex. JPL / NASA.
Most of his research concerns various life threatening diseases which can arise due to lack of vitamin D – and, as he points out “ ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation (290-315 nm) is the most important source of vitamin D for most Americans “
see: http://www.sunarc.org/press31504.htm
To sum up :
Would it be a big surprise if there are people – right now – booked in at the sunbed salon – covered from head to toe in sunblock . . . ? . . . They might have seen this . . .
Update : 27 MAR 05
The Medical Journal of Australia ( MJA) have just published this startling news. " A significant number of Australians are deficient in vitamin D. "
The article advises " It is therefore prudent to expose hands, face and arms to 1/3 MED of sunlight most days "
comments
?22 MAR 05
Common sense - MIT style . . .
Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ) are in the process
of building a ‘ common sense architecture ’ to get around the
dumb-computer syndrome. For, as they say " -
computers today are worse than stupid: they are completely mindless."
They’re calling their project the ‘ Open Mind ’ . . . “ Think of Open Mind as a young child, learning from everyone on the Web “
The core of the system is of course a database – a collection of commonsense factoids. ( 700,000 or so at present ) The database can be accessed by various suites of MIT software ( some of which are available for download; see later )
We’d love to show you how the system works, but . . .
http://xnet.media.mit.edu/
( Doh ! MIT’s pointing to a dead link for the demo )
The system places the emphasis on “ informal conceptual-connectedness over formal linguistic-rigor ” , and allows “ topic-jisting “
Topic gisting [ from ‘gist’ – as in ‘get the gist of’ ] is a flavour-of-the-decade concept, much in favour with security agencies desperate for a way to sort out uber-mountains of ‘dirty data’ which have accumulated over the years.
It’s a very interesting concept – unfortunately though, it’s going to be totally reliant on the quality of the data in its database. We’ve downloaded the MIT data – and we can’t help but be reminded of that old programmer’s mantra – Garbage In Garbage Out . . .
Here’s some examples of the wise words which the Common Sense accumulator has gobbled up . . .
( Note , normally we’d put (sic.) after all the errors, but there are so many it would get irritating )
0 out of 10 - must try harder.
"54 pound" (Capable Of) "equal
kilo"
"one inch" (Do) "equal approximately
54 centimetre"
"one year" (Do) "have 365 25 day"
"one million and 000 000" ( Do) "mean
same thing"
"fresh water" (Do) "freeze at degree
centigrade"
"Winchester" (Part Of) "London"
There are some which kind of make sense though, such as :
"reach impasse" (Event For Goal Event
) "be controversious"
"weapon" (Used For ) "hurt somone"
"hot watter bottle" (Do) "hold
hot watter"
"turtleneck" (Is A) "word"
"violin" (Used For) "mkae annoy
noise"
"it would hurt to have your genital" (Do) "clamp
in vice grip"
"buy hamburger" (Event For Goal Event) "go
to place that sell hamburger"
perhaps you can figure these out :
"many adult in australia" (Part Of) "difficulty"
"openmind commonsense" (Do) "do
not have very much hair"
"cone" (Is A) "adible handle"
"soil" (OftenNear) "goldfish"
"only female" (Do) "use crap"
"activity cat" (Capable Of) "do
be vomit up they dinner"
"house cat" (Do) "look or smealing
flower rose"
Our favourites so far are :
"read letter" (Event For Goal Event) "be
litterate"
"people" (Do) "ca n't spell too
in right context"
"people with they head in cloud" (Do) "lack
common sense"
Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc. Etc.
There are hundreds – thousands in fact – of similar entries.
Of course the possibility exists to gradually ‘clean up‘ the database file, but, as the knowledge base grows, more and more junk will also be being added at the same time. With this as a starting point, it could be a long, long, long, job.
Soooooo, what do you think ? Why not download the
software and give it a try ? ( you’ll need to install
Python as well )
Then tell us – is it
A) an inspiring cutting-edge research tool demonstrating commitment and vision with regard to knowledge engineering excellence in the new millennium ?
B) as useful as a conversation with a daytime TV chatshow host on acid.
C) none of the above.
______________________________
See: http://csc.media.mit.edu/
also try: [ if the server's not down ]
http://commonsense.media.mit.edu
for software / downloads etc etc goto:
http://web.media.mit.edu/~hugo/conceptnet/
A reader comments : that perhaps the database is just a temporary dummy file which is being used during the development period of the search / linking software . . .
Maybe.
If that’s the case, why not say so ?
comments
?21 MAR 05
Why we must all trust science news, ( or not ).
First check this : " Believe in facts not fads " from The Guardian two days ago . . .
The author is founder of the ' Sense about Science' group, a charitable trust, which, reasonably enough perhaps, would like us to trust scientists. Want to know more about SaS ? You could try here :
http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk
_________________________________
Our comment :
We’re guessing that some of our readers might be surprised to learn that the UK has a plethora of high-powered industry-funded scientific lobby groups, constantly feeding the media. The Guardian has previously identified some of them - see :
http://society.guardian.co.uk/
It’s refreshing though, to find that many are quite happy to publish lists of their sources of cash. So we can see, for instance, that the influential ' Science Media Center ' ( “ first and foremost a press office for science when science hits the headlines “) is supported by ‘Learned Bodies’ – but also by oil companies, chemical companies, pharmaceutical companies, supermarkets, and alcohol producers. Here's the full list :
http://www.sciencemediacentre.org
If that strikes you as a touch anomalous, then take a look here and you might be even more confused :
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/
The fact is that the mainstream media is spoon-fed science stories on a daily basis - and usually laps them up without a second glance at the cornerstone of science itself – objectivity.
The media-feed is no backroom, half-hearted, operation. The money’s there, and it has the 'help' of some of the biggest PR networks on the planet.
Of course the bodies concerned have every right to promote their point of view - and the public has an equal right to question it.
Editor's comment : Let's hope the feed doesn't dry up - or we'll have nothing to write about . . .
comments
?19 MAR 05
Glad tidings for palaeographologists
Anyone who has tried to decipher four hundred year old handwriting will know how tricky it is. Not only are you up against different syntax and word-usage - but also wildly variable stylistic graphological flourishes.
Luckily though, help is at hand. For there is now an online tutorial in palaeography, which has been developed by University College London (UCL) for the UK government's National Archives.
See : http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
The site has plenty of info and tips for deciphering Olde English handwriting – with examples graded according to difficulty. They’ve gone to a good deal of trouble to build-in plenty of interactivity – even including a ‘ Ducking-Stool Game ‘. ( P.C. rating ? )
The documents themselves are displayed in a very neat zoom + scroll window, which, we guess, was developed by UCL. Unlike most attempts at building interactive doc / image viewing software for the www, this one works . . .
We like the ‘Ballad documenting the mutiny at the ‘Nore’ (1797)’
The mutineers were complaining about numbskull bureaucrats who were happy
to conscript men and send them off on senseless lethal missions across the
globe.
Hark[?] then Ye Minions of a Court
Who prate at Freedoms Blessing
Whom Every hell born war support
and Vindicate impessing
A time will come, when things like you
mear Baubles of Creation
No More will make man kind persue
the Work of Devastation
Ring any bells ?
comments
?18 MAR 05
Doh ! My robot’s melted . . .
As we know to our cost, coming up with ideas which are completely new is one stop short of impossible.
The University of Bath is the first to admit that. An ongoing project from their Centre for Biomimetic and Natural Technology (CBNT) might seem like a year 2005 idea – but, as they point out, it was proposed in the 1950’s by legendary mathematician / tech guru John von Neumann.
He is credited with inventing the idea of a ‘Universal Replicator’. ( though we suspect it may have been mentioned in science-fiction works previously ). He envisaged a machine which could build itself.
The university’s project, called RepRap, is trying to take the idea a step nearer to reality - by the use of ‘rapid prototyping’ (RP) technology.
RP machines are routinely employed in industry to make small to medium-sized plastic parts, directly from Computer Aided Design (CAD) files.
There are several methods in use, but the type used in the project is called a Fused Deposition Modeling ( FDM ) machine. They extrude a thin thread of molten plastic from a moveable head – to build up the required shape in layers. Some people like to think of them as 3D printers. They currently cost around £25K.
The machines are staggeringly useful for making ‘proof of concept’ parts for machinery. Although, of course, the result is always made of plastic resin – they don’t incorporate any metal parts. But the CBNT reckon they can get around this problem – so that they will be able to make items which incorporate electrical components – the basis for a real machine.
Incorporating
the metal parts is, to say the least, something of a challenge. But the Bath
department have latched on to the idea of using ‘Wood’s
Alloy’ to form them. Wood’s alloy might not be familiar
to everyday users of metal objects – unless you happen to work in a
joke shop. It’s the material used to make the ‘joke spoons’ which
melt when placed in a hot drink. ( Also a favourite with ‘Spoonbenders’ as
the heat from the hand is enough to soften the metal )
The CBNT estimate that their final gizmo will be ‘fridge sized’ – and will be able to make copies of itself – or any other feasible tech device.
Perhaps the most unusual concept of the project is that all this work will be carried out under a “GNU General Public Licence” – in other words royalty free. The dept has promised to “publish the 3D designs and computer code for the machine to replicate itself on the web over the next four years”
The press release says that such machines would be able to “make everything from a cup to a clarinet quickly and cheaply could be in all our homes in the next few years.”
Our take ?
The ‘ few years ’ estimate might be a touch optimistic. Also, there needs to be some way to get around the ‘Wood's alloy’ parts.
We suggest a powdered-silver/plastic-resin mix. Otherwise, these replicants will have a tough time surviving for very long in the real world. . .
Press release : http://www.bath.ac.uk/pr
The project : http://staff.bath.ac.uk/
A substantial .doc file describing the all-important metal ‘printing’ can be found here : http://staff.bath.ac.uk/ensab/replicator
Dr. Adrian Bowyer, the driving force behind the project, comments to Really Magazine :
" We are looking at other materials and techniques; in particular, there's the ZCorp inkjet-printer-based machine that solidifies parts in starch powder. I reckon that if you put silver-rich inks in that you could make circuits easily. We're also looking at DuPont polymers that are alcohol-soluble, and at thermosets.
The Wood's metal is not a structural problem, incidentally, as it's always supported by the polymer for strength. Obviously, you couldn't use it to make an electric kettle, though . . ."
comments
?17 MAR 05
Contrasting links of the day
1 "A compassionate, decent man" committed to global development.
2 "Injustice - There's plenty of that around. I don't foresee being short of subject matter in the foreseeable future."
comments ?16 MAR 05 (late edition)
Fast / expensive v. slow / cheap ( and vice versa )
Does the internet help to reduce retail prices for consumers ?
Errrr , no, not really. That’s the finding of research pre-released yesterday by Ohio State University. The results will be published in ‘Management Science ’ ( march 2005 )
The researchers used a complex set of ‘game theory’ analysis techniques to come up with the finding. But the reasons behind it are not difficult to put into layman’s terms.
One of the main factors, they say, is that nowadays, many businesses can check, at the click of a mouse, prices which their competitors are offering. So the incentive to temporarily reduce prices for a quick sale is reduced. What’s the point of having a ‘clearance’ when your competitors will notice within minutes and reduce their prices to match ? Everyone ( on the business side of the counter ) loses.
The overall effect is the maintenance of a ‘cartel – like’ price structure – but without explicit co-ordination between the parties concerned.
We’d like to go one step further though (as we do ), and suggest that
actually – everything is 'the same as it ever was’ – it’s
just that things happen a lot faster now.
Before companies had the opportunity to advertise their prices in near-realtime on their websites, teams of reps would scour the neighborhood checking out the competition’s prices. In fact, this still happens - for example, with forecourt prices at small independent petrol (gas) stations. ( try finding the price of petrol at your local filling station by using the www ).
There’s still room though, for companies to have a snap sale and gain a quick edge – it’s just that they’ll have to do it much faster. In terms of minutes, or maybe seconds, instead of days or weeks.
“ 12 o’clock sale ! Prices slashed 40% - ( offer ends 12.02 ) ”
for more details see:
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/websales.htm
comments
?16 MAR 05
The $76Billion* question.
Nottingham University’s Business School yesterday revealed the results of a 16 year study into UK life-expectancy. To be exact - people’s perception of life their own life-expectancy.
Counter-intuitively perhaps, the results showed that, on average, (British) people tend to underestimate their lifespan by some 5 years.
The study also highlighted some intriguing ( and complex ) variations such as “ - those with a modest alcohol consumption expect to live longer than teetotallers or heavy drinkers” and “ - smokers also tend to believe that the population as a whole lives less long”
But the main finding – ( don’t miss the word ‘Business’ in the school’s title ) – was that “ People’s perceptions of their own life expectancy can be linked to their decision on whether or not to invest in a pension “
Would you have guessed that ?
To be precise, they found that ‘individual pension provision’ – in other words the life-insurance industry’s revenue - would be boosted by around 50 per cent if people understood the age to which they realistically should expect to live.
A totally unscientific back-of-the-envelope calculation by our financial dept. estimates that that equates to approximately £40Billion* per year.
Baseless pessimism, it seems, can cost big money.
see: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/
*estimate.
comments ?15 MAR 05
Astronomically odd factoid of the day #2
When world renowned British astronomer Sir William Herschel accidentally discovered a new planet in 1781, he decided to call it ‘George’.
Astronomers weren’t over keen on his choice of name – and it was eventually changed by mutual agreement – to Uranus.
We prefer George.
For more info see :
http://www.astronomytoday.com/
comments
?14 MAR 05 (late edition)
Alien idea.
Ever wanted to talk to other beings in outer space ? Maybe you do already
? For those without psychic gifts though, there is a new service running
at a mystery location* , which will ( in theory ) allow you to do just that.
It’s called talktoaleins.com, and works like this. You dial a 1-900 number ( sorry, US national calls only at present ) and your message / chant / rant will be transmitted by this dish into the depths of the milky way.
Calls cost $3.99 per minute.
We’d like to point out though, the use of the word ‘to’ ( as in talk to aliens ) rather than ‘with ’. Bearing in mind that messages travel at the speed of light, and the nearest star is around four lightyears away – ( the furthest reaches of our galaxy at least 100,000 lightyears distant ) – there will – to say the least – be an inconvenient delay on the line.
The service, which has been in development for five years, transmits in the 2.4GHz waveband. The proprietors point out that “This frequency was carefully chosen as it is in an RF band commonly used on earth.” Absolutely. It’s one of the licence-free low-power bands intended mainly for Local Area Network (LAN) transmissions etc. ( think Bluetooth™ ) So there will already be quite a bit of other data flowing out into deep space - at the same spot on the dial so to speak.
For some reason which we don’t quite understand, the owners of the site are ‘ temporarily keeping [their] identities confidential ‘. Odd, because the outfit concerned are usually very far from being media-shy. Anyway, far be it from us to tread on anyone’s sandcastle – but if you did wonder who was behind the remarkable endeavour you could look here . . .
By coincidence, we have our own parabolic dish (see photo) which we have been using for some time now to send messages to the ether. We used to transmit the text -
“To whom it may concern. Thank you for your recent communication in which you informed us ‘All your bases are belong to us’. We have, however, checked with our business affairs dept who tell us that there is no legal foundation for your claim. Sorry to disappoint.”
Recently though, we’ve changed tack slightly. Here’s the current
message.
p.s. If you’d like to build your own system, just get one of these
http://www.maxstream.net/products
Note* somewhere near here ? ( just a wild guess )
comments ?14 MAR 05
Break in news. . .
Everyone in the UK knows Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) as ‘Hole in the Wall Machines’. Now the phrase has taken on a new meaning because of a spate of robberies in which raiders used a mechanical digger (JCB) to remove the cash machines from the bank’s wall.
The new technique seems to be a more heavy-duty variant of a trend which was fashionable a few years back – when fork lift trucks were used for the same purpose. The banks' solution at the time – which presumably worked – was to weaken the pavement directly in front of ATMs so that it couldn’t support the weight of a heavy forklift.
Given the long reach of a JCB though, that’s not an option. But we would like to suggest a way of getting around the problem.
The ATMs are, essentially, safes which the public can operate with an 'ID card' and a ‘combination’ number. The traditional way to make safes hard to steal is to make them heavy – very very heavy. But, heavy = expensive, and ‘expensive’ is not a word which banks like to hear. ( not on their side of the counter anyway )
So, we suggest, instead, a cheap and cheerful solution. . .
Why not fit the ATM with a pressurised canister of potent fabric dye. The canister would be linked to a movement trigger which would spray all the cash and render it unusable in the event that the machine is suddenly moved*. We estimate such a kit could be retrofitted to any ATM at a cost of less than £200.
If that’s still too pricey, an even cheaper version would involve simply placing a large vial of dye on a shelf strategically placed above the cash. Cost ? maybe £20 ?
Case solved ?
We tried to contact the bank in question to let them know about our idea – but they were closed. We’ll try again Monday morning.
* Note: Not for use in Japan, or any other earthquake prone area.
Update : 14 MAR
The security dept of the bank have informed us that our idea – unfortunately – is far from new. In fact, there are at least two companies who already manufacture systems which do more or less the same job. Notably 3Si.
It does serve to illustrate though, that coming up with a truly original idea - ’ inventing ‘ - is a very , very, difficult game.
Now we look rather silly. Ooops !
comments
? 13 MAR 05
Plain Words for Management.
We’d be the first to admit that it’s not always easy to put ideas into words and come up with a bowl of cherries. It’s all too common for phrases to get tangled up in their own bootlaces and shoot themselves in the foot. But when corporate profitability is at stake, perhaps a little more care is sometimes needed ?
In an attempt to highlight the problem, we’d like to draw attention to a work-in-progress paper from SEWPS – ( Sprue Electronic Working Paper Series ) - just published by the University of Sussex.
The SEWPS paper, which is titled “ To Know is to Be: Three Perspectives on the Codification of Knowledge “ is concerned with knowledge supervision within organisations. This is a hot topic at the moment – it’s estimated that many firms now derive most of their value from their Intellectual Property ( IP ). So, there is, we feel, no room for misunderstanding and laxity within corporate IP management.
In the first para there’s a quote from the winner of the 2003 ‘ Foot
in the Mouth Award ’ as presented to a Mr. D. Rumsfeld by
the ‘ Plain English Campaign ’ – a group who
have been monitoring dodgy English for more than 30 years now.
See:
http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/
The paper goes on to tell us :
“ - the way in which knowledge is created within organizations is through a constant dialogue between tacit and explicit knowledge in relation to the different knowledge levels growing from the individual over the group and organisational to the inter-organisational level. “
We like to clarify that for our readers – perhaps another quote will elucidate :
“ We can observe a decreasing economic value from codified knowledge as non-rival good over the potential value of unarticulated knowledge to the non-apparent value of tacit knowledge due to its connection to its owner or community.”
Worryingly perhaps, the authors point out that management are not always up to speed on all this. They direct us to earlier research which found that :
“(m)any CKOs ( Chief Knowledge Officers ) and CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) interviewed for this research are not overly concerned about the distinctions between data, information and knowledge” (Earl, 2001:218).
How could that possibly be ? Don’t they know that nowadays, 80% of corporate cash is knowledge ? ( source : Univ. Sussex )
We’re concerned. And would like to point out that perhaps the old adage “Fine words butter no parsnips ” (anon.) may be due for a pro-active update syntax-wise ? What do you think ?
Furher research :
Don’t miss the PEC’s ‘Golden Bull’ awards.
http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/goldenbull.html
comments ? 12 MAR 05
Bored with your Lava Lamp™ ?
As it is ( or was ) a Friday, we thought it might be a good time to point out a useful link for use over the weekend.
It’s provided courtesy of Australian volcanologist John Seach. His excellent site has over 4000 pages of info about volcanoes. But the link we particularly like takes you to a global directory of Volcano-cams.
http://www.volcanolive.com/volcanocams.html
John has put together a list of more than thirty live volcanocams ( and one geysercam ) in operation across the world, from New Zealand to Japan. Both the cameras and the volcanoes are live of course.
We think it’s a superb idea, though it has to be said that, almost by definition, not much happens most of the time. But if it did, camwatchers would be amongst the first on the planet to know about it.
We should point out that the tech quality of some of the sites, most of which are run by university departments ( doh ! ), would definitely not score ten out of ten – what is it with webcams ?
Anyway, we think it’s a fascinating site. It could even save lives. Thanks to Numb Magazine for spotting it.
p.s. Also see John’s extensive list of pithy aphorisms, maxims, laws and corollaries, of particular use to volcano watchers :
such as Hiram's Law:
' If you consult enough experts you can confirm any opinion '.
And Fagin's Rule.
' Hindsight is an exact science '.
comments ? 11 MAR 05
'Pint of Merlot please Norman'.
A report from the BBC ( Tuesday ) asks the question ’ Is beer more fattening than wine ? ’
Apparently not, if you’re to believe the research results.
The BBC quotes research – from Dr. Martin Bobak (UCL ), which was actually done in 2003. Entitled “ Beer and obesity: a cross-sectional study ”
Conclusion ? “It is unlikely that beer intake is associated with a largely increased WHR or BMI.” ( Waist to Hip Ratio : Body Mass Index )
Convinced ? Here’s an abstract of the research.
But, we’d like to draw attention though, to what we consider to be an even more controversial statement from the same BBC item . . .
“ In the West, the better educated someone is, the less obese they are likely to be. Lower educated people tend to drink more beer while the higher educated tend to drink more wine, said Mr Bobak.”
Really ?
We thought it might be a misquote - but it's not.
We asked Dr. Bobak and he told us that “ this is certainly the case in Britain, the US and Denmark “ , and pointed us in the direction of earlier research from Dr. Morten Grønbæk , University of Copenhagen. The study looked at a sample of more than 14,000 people . . .
See:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
The results ? : “ Consumers of wine were better educated and wealthier compared with beer and spirits drinkers.”
That'll go down well at the Coach and Horses . . .
A completely unscientific straw-poll in our office revealed that the majority drink wine and beer – mixed together sometimes.
Except the editor of course, who drinks exclusively
cocktails.
comments ? 10 MAR 05
The Life of Iron ( and more ).
Continuing, as we should, the UK’s Science Week theme, we’d like to draw attention to what surely must be the amongst the week’s best value in offerings of entertainment and enlightenment.
London's Hamspstead Scientific Society will be hosting a series of talks during the week, starting on Friday 11th with “ String Theory ”, presented by Michael Green, Professor of Theoretical Physics, Cambridge University.
All the talks are open to the public and are free – ( but adults can make a donation if they wish.) After the presentation, there’s usually an ample supply of tea and biscuits – and there’s a chance to chat informally with the speakers and other members of the audience.
Other speakers include -
Dr. Simon ( Fermat’s last Theorem ) Singh, and Dr. Rupert ( Sense of Being Stared At ) Sheldrake.
There will also be a three part series on porphyrin chemistry entitled ‘The life of Iron’ ( pun intended ) from Dr Lionel Milgrom , Dept of Chemistry, Imperial College.
As if all that weren’t enough, the society will also be opening their astronomical observatory to the public.
See:
http://www.hampsteadscience.ac.uk
comments
? 10 MAR 05
Duck in the Pacific.
If you happen to be in the mid Pacific ocean today (Weds 9th Mar. 2005), you might just catch a glimpse of a spectacular free shooting-star display.
It will be the Progress 16 spacecraft ( known in Russia as M-51 ) plunging back to Earth and burning up. The Progress craft, which are launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, are used to service the International Space Station (ISS). They function as vital supply ships – and also as ‘single use’ garbage disposal units.
Progress 16, which will be ‘de-orbited’ today, is now loaded with between 1 and 1.6 Tonnes of trash, sorted into two categories – dry trash - and wet trash. The ‘wet trash’ as you might imagine, largely comprises uneaten food and waste from the ISS’s WCS ( Waste Collector Subsystem ) – otherwise known as the station toilet.
The WCS ” - provides for the collection of human waste, both liquid and solid, including vomitus and all hygiene related materials including, but not limited to, fecal wipes and sanitary napkins.”
Perhaps it’s not a pleasant thought that all that stuff will soon be dumped into the upper atmosphere - but it will probably end up as thoroughly sterilised very lightweight ash. Counter-intuitively perhaps, it won’t, as far as we can see, pose much of a threat to anybody.
But what about the rest of the ship ?
There are two areas that concern us:
Firstly, on its fiery and chaotic journey into the upper atmosphere isn’t there a chance that parts of the spacecraft or its load will end up staying in orbit and contributing to the growing problem of ‘space junk’ ? see : Debris is Shuttle's Biggest Threat (from www.space.com 05 March.)
Even the tiniest particles of space junk - such as a fleck of paint - frequently orbit at relative speeds of six miles per second, and can do enormous damage to a spacecraft or space-walking astronauts.
As the Space.com article points out, the problem has become so serious that NASA will, in future, be ‘flying’ their shuttles backwards as much as possible - to avoid damage.
Secondly – It’s easy to vividly imagine the contents of the ‘wet trash’ containers – but, what’s in the ‘dry trash’ ? Could it contain debris which won’t fully burn up ? Specifically, items which might contain heavy-metals – say, batteries for example. Or, even worse, any radioactive materials from completed ISS experiments ? If there are any such articles on board Progress 16, then presumably they’ll be vaporised and sprayed as toxic dust into the upper atmosphere ?
We tried to find out if there is a manifest for the dry trash aboard Progress 16 and whether there’s a policy regarding possible contributions to 'space junk'. We tried the websites, and we tried phoning the press office for NASA. We failed.
Whatever happens, it seems to us that the policy makers for the ISS are managing to link two modus operandi which are very rarely found together .
The ultra high-tech, and the mediaeval.
p.s. Why don’t they save money and just install one of these ?
Comment from Tim Radford, The Guardian science editor :
“I have to say, I wasn't bothered about Progress. What goes up must come down, and in the past 40 years that's rather a lot of hardware, plutonium, unspent fuel and half-eaten sandwiches, most of which - Skylab and Mir excepted - arrived as toast, or even toast crumbs.”
Update 18 MAR : We've just come across this newly released document ( 200 page pdf ) from NASA, with plenty of info on space 'debris' ( they don't use the J word ) and the risks it presents to future missions.. Here's what they say about the ISS . . .
" The ISS is required to avoid debris generation by its own elements and visiting vehicles "
OK . . . so ?
comments ? 09 MAR 05
Science Poetry - Please !
Note ! The joke is now officially passé, and the main page has now been fixed - see note below. As of 11th March, though, they.re still asking for poetic entries for a competition which has already closed . . .
The annual UK National Science Week is due to start soon. But when ?
Let’s see if we can find out . . .
What better place to start than the BA ( British Association for the Advancement of Science ). Founded in 1831, it seeks to ‘engage and inspire people directly with science and technology and their implications.’ .
Here’s the main page about the event from the BA website .
Oh dear, no dates.
How about here ? Their Science Week resources page ?
Ooops, they seem to have forgotten to mention the dates here too.
Lets try here then, their .pdf factsheet about the event :
Nope, still no dates.
We won’t hold you in suspense any longer. It runs from the 11th March until the 20th March*
We found out on this page : The BA is was holding a competition to mark the event – a poetry contest. You might not guess from the page – but the competition is now, unfortunately, closed. There are were prizes on offer – The theme for the poems is was ‘time, space and energy’.
2006 perhaps then ? How about a technological theme for next year's poems – say, ‘information websites‘ ?
( Note* The mathematically gifted amongst our readers will immediately spot that 20 minus 11 = 9 . Quite an unusual week. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that this year the theme centres around Einstein – who, of course, predicted timewarps.)
( Factoid - The BA are credited with coining the words ‘Scientist’ and ‘Dinosaur' )
UPDATE : 08 MAR ( late edition )
Thanks to our efforts ( we like to think ), the BA has now fixed their main page.
In case readers may think we're dreaming, here's a link to the Google cache of the page as it was earlier today . . .
comments ? 08 MAR 05
New Food.
Science and cookery have a long and distinguished affiliation.
Edouard de Pomiane came up with the concept of “Gastrotechnie”, in the 50’s, and now, of course, we have Molecular Gastronomy - a term coined by Hervé This in 1988.
( Hervé is credited as being the first person to solidify the formula P = R (pi)i=1 to n which, as readers will probably recognise, describes the emulsification process in egg mayonnaise. For full details see: http://www.college-de-france.fr/ )
Interest in the field of Molecular Gastronomy is continuing to rise, and now INICON ( a new project which is 50% funded by the EU ) is promoting research along with their partners at the Technology Transfer Centre (TTZ) at Bremerhaven Germany.
The project “ - aims at facilitating the transfer of knowledge and know-how from Science and Industry into the kitchen environment.”
They have already come up with some mould-breaking ideas. . . Such as a technique for ‘frying’ vegetables – with water. ( Water plus a ‘secret ingredient’* to be precise. )
They’re also developing ‘inverse icecream’ – which melts as it cools down. Plus, a special longer-lasting cappuccino foam which is frothed though an adapted micro-mixer nozzle – more normally used for mixing paint.
Unfortunately, exact details of the new tech(s) are not available via the INICON or TTZ websites ( as far as we can see ) – but they are promising that “ results from the research will be consequently widely disseminated”.
In the meantime, they are holding open workshops once a month in Paris (
where else ? ). Breaking news of Molecular Gastronomy activities around the
world are discussed, and new experimental research ideas can be tabled. You
can apply for a ticket here:
Note*
We can’t reveal any of the secret ingredients,
but we might point out that INICOM is working closely with Sociedade
Luso-Espanhola de Colóides Marinhos SA.( who specialise in
marine colloids of course.) So we can speculate that some of the recipes
could well contain seaweed extracts such as agar. Or even, maybe, what
TTZ are (- bravely, we feel ) calling ‘Chitofoods’ – derived
from discarded prawn shells.
comments ? 07 MAR 05
ESA scans lunar evidence.
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) SMART-1 probe, which has been orbiting the moon since last November, may at last be able to lay to rest questions about the veracity of the 1969-72 ‘manned moon landings’.
See story in USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science
If you haven’t heard about the certain ‘peculiarities’ surrounding various photos ( and videos ) which emanated from the moon landings - then goto: http://www.space.com/missionlaunches
Really Magazine has seen, up close, very high res prints of some of the photos – and we can confirm that there are - to say the least – some extremely puzzling technical enigmas which still haven’t been resolved yet.
The SMART-1, which has had its mission extended by one year, is now in a 1000 – 4500 kilometre high moon-orbit – and has on board high-resolution cameras which have been photographing swathes of the surface at various wavelengths. In 2-D and 3-D.
“High resolution follow-up observations of specific targets will also be made . . “ says the ESA website.
In fact, many of the old landing sites – Soviet and US - have already been scanned by SMART-1’s instruments – but the photos have yet to be released . . .
We’re waiting with interest.
comments
? 06 MAR 05
Royal upload.
In the very same week, our attention was drawn to two unrelated(?) compu-developments in the UK . . .
The first was the announcement from the Royal Military College of Science ( Cranfield ), that ‘ Cybertrust ’ - the name they've coined for public’s confidence in the security of computerised systems -
“ - is at its lowest level for a decade ”
http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/marketing/press *
The second was that the Queen gave a knighthood to Sir Bill Gates K.B.E.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3428673.stm
* yes, we know it’s a dead link – but that’s the one their press release gave . . . .
comments ? 05 MAR 05
The continuing “Sudan 1 ™” saga.
Breaking news : The ambassador to Sudan is ‘outraged’. He has officially contacted the UK’s Food Standards Agency ( FSA) to complain about the name of the ( possibly carcinogenic ) dye which is currently causing re-calls of food all over Britain.
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/
So serious is the situation that, the BBC tells us, the Sudanese government has formally asked the FSA to re-name the dye . . .
As regular readers will appreciate, we like to think that diplomacy is one of our strong points – so, in order to help to calm the troubled waters, perhaps we could point out to the ambassador that there are already several other names for the dye - which are already in general use - more than a hundred in fact.
Two weeks ago, we listed a few, but of the many available, we’ve specially selected some more which we can't imagine would cause offence to anyone. Such as :
Fast Orange ,
Scarlet B ,
Carminaph ,
or even Dunkelgelb
There are plenty more, if the ambassador would like to get in touch we'd be happy to supply a list.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To
aid in avoiding such problems in the future, we’d like to make a
further helpful suggestion – this time a word of advice to any food
manufacturers who are thinking about adding some coal-tar based dyes to
their food products in order to get a nice red colour.
Don’t.
Use this instead. The seeds of the Bixa orellana tree. Also known as annatto. The seeds yield a powerful food-dye which can be used to colour almost anything a solid deep red / yellow. As far as we've been able to determine, it has no listed toxiclogical effects. 44 million Brazillian people consume it on a regular basis, and have done as long as anyone can remember ( source: INCHEM ).
Why use anything else ?
comments ? 04
MAR 05
Robodoc flop ?
Another update to one of our stories . This time about a report we made in May of last year about ‘telemedicine’ – the idea which allows doctors to work at a distance from their patients, via digital links.
Unfortunately, telemedicine is not, as yet, remotely successful. Not in the UK anyway.
Researchers led by professor Carl May, of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, have been analysing the success rates of telecare practices and have found that “ these systems have largely failed to become integrated in routine healthcare delivery “
Part of the reason, it seems, is that the National Health Service (NHS) is not a single organisation, but rather, a Confederation of Trusts (700 of them ) - each of which has its own ‘management structure’. ( ooops . . . we’re reading between the lines again )
This is compounded, as the researchers also point out, because of NPfIT.( National Programme for IT in the NHS ) - in other words, as has been publicly demonstrated many times now, implementing very large scale governmental tech innovation is, to say the least, risky.
So, the headline news is that the - Telemedicine revolution is 'disappearing' from the NHS.
We see it like this. The technology is simply not sophisticated enough yet. One day, when it’s sufficiently developed that the doctor and patient really do feel as though they are in the same room as each other, and can interact in exactly the same way as if they were – visual, auditory, touch, smell etc etc - it will work.
We’d like to propose a test which will determine infallibly whether the technology is really ready to be implemented or not . . .
Set up a meeting for the upper echelons of the NHS management - using the very same multi-user, bi-directional, remote sensing systems as the doctors will have. When they can feel they are sitting together around an up-market restaurant table, making informed, expert and responsible decisions about a future hi-tech NHS - whilst enjoying a sumptuous lunch and fine wines – ( though in reality they are stuck in their respective offices with a sandwich as usual ) – it’s ready.
comments ? 04
MAR 05
Still a tiny problem.
As we reported back in Nov 04, there is some controversy regarding ‘Hobbitess’ – the very, very, very small ex-quasi-person from Flores, Indonesia.
We picked up the story outlining the doubts from a Chinese newspaper – when all seemed to be very quiet in the mainstream Western press. Perhaps we missed their coverage.
Now Nature has published another article about the find(s).
which, it claims - ‘Silences the critics’
Err . . . well – almost. Far be it from us to criticise, we haven’t any evidence one way or the other – but there’s one question that jumps out like a sore thumb.
What’s happened to the DNA tests ?
As we understand it, the bones which were found weren’t fossilised ( they are only reckoned to be 18K years old or so ) and samples were taken for analysis. How long does it take ? A few days maybe - a couple of weeks, max ? Where’s the results ?
Computer-aided skull scans are fascinating - but nothing like as interesting as 'whose DNA does ' Florrie' have ?' Is it unique, or is it human ?
Can anyone let us know please ?
Update: 09 MAR 05 :
Washington University, the same uni which
produced the 'brain cast' outlined above, have just announced the successful
DNA sequencing of a Neanderthal skull. The fossilised bones were
over four times older than those of Florrie . . .
comments ? 03 MAR 05 ( late edition )
All hands to the pump !
Carrying on with our highly topical theme of food safety, we thought readers might appreciate this ‘advisory notice’ issued today by the UK’s Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST).
It’s headlined - ‘STOP - THINK - WASH’. Subtitle - ‘The importance of hand-washing’.
Starting from scratch, the notice informs us that we must be clear where the possible sources of food poisoning lie - “ the term often used is ‘germs’ but scientists refer to ’pathogens’ “.
They point out that, fortunately, many germs pathogens succumb to the simple practice of hand washing.
Here’s how to do it.
“Moisten the hands, apply soap, and rub hands together for about 20 seconds before rinsing thoroughly in clean water”.
Below is a link to the full notice. ( We'd like to do our bit too, and remind readers that they should be aware that it’s especially important to wash your hands after handling mice – which can harbour countless bugs )
http://www.ifst.org/hottop43.htm
comments ? 03 MAR 05
Finger trouble.
If you have this month’s copy of Biological Psychology handy, have a look at an article entitled ‘Finger length ratio (2D:4D) correlates with physical aggression in men but not in women ‘
Research from the Department of Psychology at the
University of Alberta, Canada, has suggested that it might be
possible to determine aggressiveness in men by measuring the length ratio
of their index finger (2D) to ring finger (4D).
The study looked at a sample of nearly 300 students, and found that the shorter the index finger was ( in comparison ) , the more physically aggressive were the owners ( only the male ones, as suggested by the title ).
The logic which was used as a possible explanation for the findings was that while babies are growing in the uterus, testosterone levels can affect finger length. It’s suggested that the varying developmental hormone levels may also affect aggression levels in later life
We would like to point out though, that, as we understand it, the students were asked to ‘self asses’ themselves with regard to their aggression levels – using tick-the-box questions such as -
We’d like to ask therefore, could it not be a possibility that the ones with the higher ratios were not more aggressive - just more honest and realistic ?
Time for another study ? 2D:4D ratios correlate with honesty ?
If you haven't got access to Biological Psychology (March 2005 ) , here’s a report from the Vancouver Sun.
“ Yes
your honour, it’s plain that our client, Mr. A. could not possibly
have committed the violent crime in question – here is a diagram
of his hand – I think you will see that it’s very clear . .
. “
comments ? 02 MAR 05
Bureaucrats eat your heart out.
There’s still time to enter this year’s ‘Rube Goldberg™’ challenge. You’ll have to be quick though, because it will be taking place at 11 a.m. March 5, at the Purdue Armory, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana.
For those not familiar with the contest, it involves constructing a machine to perform a simple task – in the most complicated way possible. ( minimum of 20 steps )
If you can’t build your gizmo quick enough, you still have another chance, because, confusingly perhaps, there are two contests each year – the local one ( this Saturday ) and there’s a National one on April 9th.
This years challenge is to :" Remove both old batteries from a two-battery flashlight, install new batteries and turn the flashlight on."
The revived competition ( it originally started in the 1940’s ) is now in its nineteenth year. Previous challenges have featured tasks such as ‘putting a stamp on a letter’, ‘sharpening a pencil’ and, ominously perhaps, ‘marking and casting an election ballot.’
For more info on the competition go to
http://www.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/
the site also hosts video clips of last year’s contest.
comments ? 02
MAR 05
£Gloop £gloop £gloop.
The UK government formerly announced yesterday a £13Billion contract awarded to a consortium headed by EADS to supply airborne military re-fuelling tankers based on the Airbus A330-200.
The contract will last 27 years.
You can buy quite a bit with £481Million a year. In fact, you could build and equip one of these . . .
The new state-of-the-art 2000 room UCL Hospital, at Euston Sq. central London.
every single year, and still have £60M spare change to pay staff . . .
Bearing in mind our technological brief, we’d like to point something else out. Airborne re-fuelling has been around for at least 70 years, so by the time the new contract comes to an end – it will be celebrating its hundredth birthday. It seems to us that a century is a very long time aeronautical terms. Won’t things have moved on a just a touch by 2032 ?
Will ‘fighter planes’ still be roaming the skies powered by guzzling kerosene ? Aren’t they more likely to be unmanned missile/drones kicked along by laser plasma ion drives ?
Can anyone suggest any alternative uses for 20 flying kerosene tanks ?
see:http://www.defensenews.com/
comments ? 01
MAR 05
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