JUL 05
Planning a holiday ?
((aA x wW) + 2 [eE x cC x vV] + √[ fF x sS ]) ÷ ((tT)+(tcTC))
Our readers will no doubt guess that the above formula is for computing “ the best beach destinations in the world “ . . .
Where A = quality of beach, W = weather, E = entertainment, C = culture, V = activities, F = familiarity and friendliness, S = shopping, T = time to destination in hours, TC = total cost as a percentage of annual income. Variables a, w, e, c, v, f, s, t and tc are coefficients for each variable that are defined at different levels, between 0.1 to 1.0
Dr. Buhalis of the Centre for eTourism Research (CeTR) at the University of Surrey (UniS) worked out the equation as part of a study for the travel company Opodo.
Using the new mathematical tool, the doctor was able to prove that the best beach in the world is :
Tuscan Riviera , Italy.
Impressive though the formula is, Really Magazine would like to point out, however, that there may perhaps be a term or two missing from the equation ? . . .
For instance G . . . where G equals ‘Grain size’ of the sand. If G is above 1mm, the grains become pebbles (P). Above 6cm, the pebbles (P) become rocks (R).
( For details of the study, and a list of the " Top 20 Beach Destinations in the World " , see the UniS press release.)
* * *
Note:
Curiously, using the above formula, Opodo’s website comes up with an entirely different set of results for the best beach holiday. Putting, for instance, St. Ives ( Cornwall, UK ) at number 2 – way ahead of Fiji, the Seychelles, and Koh Phi Phi . . .
Hmmmmm. . .
30 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Useful toxins ?
We’ve carried a few items over the past months about everyday products and chemicals which can be ‘good for you’ - providing you get them in the right doses.
Examples : red wine, coffee, chocolate etc etc etc.
But recently, a couple of stories have surfaced which show the benefits of chemicals which, unlike the examples above, would normally be avoided at all costs.
The first was hydrogen sulphide ( H2S ) – a thoroughly obnoxious and highly poisonous gas which has been mooted as an ideal substance to put mammals into hibernation. Research is still going on, and, if, as the study suggests, it proves harmless at the correct ( very small ) dosage, then it may well be an enabling factor for long-term human space travel.
And now another über-toxic gas has made the headlines. Carbon monoxide ( CO ). Unlike H2S, it has no smell, ( although experienced gas-fitters can often tell if it’s around ). It’s commonly produced as a by-product in sub-standard stoves and gas appliances. Tens of thousands of people worldwide die, or are permanently brain damaged, by CO every year.
But now, thanks to a joint study from the University of Michigan and Kagawa Prefectural Central Hospital, Japan, the medical establishment is looking at the possibility of using the gas in minute ( around 100 p.p.m.* ) quantities to improve the survival prospect for transplant patients.
The gas ( which is present in tiny amounts in many ordinary mammalian cells ) works as an anti-inflammatory agent by inhibiting the action of various enzymes which cause ( sometimes fatal ) inflammation – although exact details of the mechanism are as yet unknown.
The results have just been published in the July issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
* Note: ” roughly equivalent to the
amount you'd receive sitting in a traffic jam in Mexico City “
29 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
“ S'pose a Nash equilibrium is out the question ? ”
Researchers at the Centre for Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and EXperimental Biology ( CoMPLEX) at University College London have just published an abstract of a research paper entitled “ Costly but worthless gifts facilitate courtship “ . . .
Using Game Theory, Bayesian Analysis, and Nash Equilibria, the study took a penetrating mathematical look at gifting strategies employed during human courtship. Specifically, the potential payoffs and matching probabilities of men buying things for women.
We're not sure how things work around Gower street, but the researchers define the courtship ritual in a decidedly unromantic fashion :
“ the male offers a gift to a female ; after observing the gift, the female decides whether or not to accept it; she then chooses whether or not to mate with the male.”
The gifts were classified as : valuable (type V), extravagant (type E), or cheap (type C). Further, they were also categorised as to whether they had a long-term value to the lady in question ( say, a dress ) , or whether they were – quote “ worthless “ ( like, say, a meal out – their choice of word not ours . . . ).
The ‘attractiveness’ of both parties was also taken into account.
Unfortunately, we can’t tell readers who may be wondering, as we did, exactly how the research was carried out, because we haven’t been able to see the full paper yet ( it will be published in a future issue of the Royal Society’s Proceedings: Biological Sciences ) , but the conclusion was as follows :
“ We find robust equilibrium solutions in which mating is predominantly facilitated by an ‘extravagant’ gift which is costly to the male but intrinsically worthless to the female.”
In other words, buying her a substantially expensive dinner might not be a bad move.
Or, as researcher Professor Seymour puts it “Our analysis shows that there is evolutionary logic in men ‘burning money' to impress the girl.”
* * *
You can view an abstract of the study here :
and you can also view a fair chunk of the mathematical techniques employed,
in a .pdf file somwhat disturbingly called “The
Electronic Appendix”
28 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Robots at the South Bank.
Put a large commercial public aquarium ( e.g. the London Aquarium ) together with the robotics dept of a university, and what do you get ? Robotic fish of course.
To be specific – robo-carp(s).
The Human Centred Robotics Group at the University of Essex have be involved with the project for some time. Here’s what their website says :
“ In nature, fish has ( sic.) astonishing swimming ability after thousands years (sic.) evolution. It is well known that the tuna swims with high speed and high efficiency, the pike accelerates in a flash and the eel could swim skilfully (sic.) into a narrow hole. “
And
some of them ( especially the early prototypes ) look and swim very realistically
indeed. You can see a (36Mb) video of the project’s progeny here:
But the university is in the news today because of another of their creations. . .
‘ Miranda ‘ is an artificial intelligence based creature which, incorporates a “ non-precise pattern recognition system “ to analyse user-independent speech - even in a noisy environment - e.g. the London Aquarium - where ‘ Miranda ’ now has a day-job as a visitor guide.
We have to say though, that although many of the robo-carps look very impressively fishy, ‘ Miranda ’ stretches the concept of ‘ humanoid ’ to its very limit. Miranda looks, to us anyway, a bit like a cross between C3PO from Star Wars and a Mouli cheese grater.
Are we wrong ? For a pic, see http://cswww.essex.ac.uk/
But, she works . . .
“ She is able to look people in the eye and has a touch screen monitor in her chest “
* * *
For the London Aquarium site, see :
http://www.londonaquarium.co.uk
Where : “ For every day of the year there is a species of fish at the London Aquarium.” apparently.
errrr . . . we certainly hope there would be – otherwise it wouldn’t be much of an aquarium would it ? Wonder what species it is . . . .
27 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Not yet a Sasquatch.
“ The scientists say they think it unlikely that the hair belongs to a giant ape. “ says the BBC.
Yes, that’s one way of putting it. Another would be to say that it’s already been identified as bison hair – but is being sent for DNA tests as confirmation.
So, perhaps the headline should be - “ DNA test will show whether hair is not from a bison “ rather than “ Scientists test 'Bigfoot' hairs “ Doh !
If it’s not – then there’s a story . . .
26 JULY 05 (late late edition)
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Extra time.
If
time seems to be speeding up for you, help is at hand. At the end of this
year, you will be treated to an extra second.
In case you didn’t know :
“The Coordinated Universal Time (UTC, replacing GMT) is the reference time scale derived from The Temps Atomique International (TAI) calculated by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) using a worldwide network of atomic clocks.”
The system was first introduced in 1972 ( replacing the so-called 'rubber second' ), and, since then , no less than 21 seconds have been added to take account of “ various irregular fluctuations progressively detected in the rotation rate of the Earth “.
The overall rate of spin of the Earth, as might be expected, is slowing down, thus making the days/years/centuries etc etc - longer. ( oddly though, of late, it has been slightly speeding up again – with no proven explanation . . . )
The administering body – the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) – has recently announced that the latest newest extra second will be added at the end of December 2005.
We will, of course, be making the most of it. Hope you do too.
See 'Bulletin C' at :
http://hpiers.obspm.fr
for an overview of the subject, see:
http://www.atomicclockrugbymsf.co.uk
26 JULY 05 (late edition)
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Food for thought
A month or so ago, we posted a story about ‘Ask a Food Scientist Week ‘ – hosted by the Society of Chemical Industry ( motto : “ Where science meets business “ ).
As we mentioned at the time, naturally we posted a question to the site, and we were more than pleasantly surprised that one of their experts answered our query . . .
Question: Food animals are routinely given regular doses of growth hormones and antibiotics to make them grow faster. Given the current interest in the obesity epidemic, have there been any substantial studies into the possibility that there could be growth hormone or antibiotic residues in meats, and, if so, what long-term effects they might have on consumers?
Answer: On what basis/evidence do you say that food animals are routinely
given regular doses of growth hormones/antibiotics? This is incorrect, and
not backed up by any data whatsoever. Use of growth promoters on food animals
is illegal in the EU.
Apart from the slightly – ahem – 'assertive' tone of the reply, the expert’s reply was, unfortunately, comprehensively wrong.
When we pointed out the error to the SCI, they promptly removed our question from the site. ( luckily though, we'd cached the page first . . . )
They have assured us that a new response will be posted to the site in due course, but, to save our readers’ undue suspense, here is our version of the correct answer, ( kindly confirmed for us by one of the UK Government’s own food safety labs.) . . .
Answer: There are currently four ‘growth-promoting’ chemicals in routine use across the EU.
Here’s a quote from an EU commission memo, listing them -
“ Flavophospholipol is currently authorized for use in the feed of rabbits, laying hens, turkeys, chickens for fattening, piglets, pigs, calves and cattle for fattening. Avilamycin is authorized for use in feed for piglets, pigs for fattening, chickens for fattening and turkeys. Salinomycin sodium for piglets and pigs for fattening and monensin sodium only for cattle for fattening “
So, bearing in mind that there is now a largely unexplained ‘obesity epidemic’ sweeping the ‘developed world’ , would it be worth investigating the possibility that residues of such chemicals, in say meat and animal products ( including milk, eggs etc etc ) could be affecting human growth rates ?
Surely such studies must have already been carried out ?
Try trawling the internet and see if you can find out if / when / where . . .
We did, and came up with nothing . . .
If you find anything, please let us know and
we’ll post it up.
26 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Finally explained: why felis silvestris catii don’t like sugar.
The inaugural Issue of a new journal PLoS Genetics, is today carrying a revealing research article entitled “ Pseudogenization of a Sweet-Receptor Gene Accounts for Cats' Indifference toward Sugar “.
It postulated that, due to a faulty gene, Tas1r2 “ A functional sweet-taste receptor heteromer cannot form “ thus leaving the domestic cat sadly lacking a taste receptor for sweet things.
It's plausible enough – but are there really no cats which like sugary substances ? We would like to ask our readers, ‘Is anyone aware of a cat which does ( or did ) have a sweet tooth ?’ please e-mail us if you know of one.
Reader Hugh B responds :
" I share a house with four cats, all of whom enjoy, to the point of fighting over it, most varieties of cake. One of them even exhibits considerable problem solving ability in his quest to steal any available cake like substance.
However, I would emphasise that I've no idea whether it's because of, or in spite of, the sugar content, that they go berserk over the stuff."
25 JULY 05 (late edition)
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Superweeds.
Weeds that have GM resistance to herbicides have been found in UK fields.
An extensive and clear report in today’s Guardian explains how Charlock, a commonly occurring UK ‘weed’ has ‘mysteriously’ acquired GM genes for herbicide resistance ( to glufosinate-ammonium ) from GM’d oilseed rape (a.k.a. Canola).
The news was apparently revealed last week on the website of Centre for Ecology and Hydrology – ( although, oddly, we haven’t been able to find a trace of it today - if anyone can track it down, or has a cache fle, please e-mail us the url ).
The Guardian quotes that the head of biotech at English Nature ( the UK government’s nature advisers ) as saying he is “ not surprised “.
Neither is Really Magazine.
One of the foundations of GM tech is the assumption that genes can’t jump species. If they could, then, in commercial terms, all hell would break loose, because the new genes – say, for resistance to a weedkiller - would inevitably spread to the very weeds which the chemical is designed to kill.
It would only have to happen once – in one plant – and then the game’s up. If fertile, the new out-of-control herbicide-resistant weed would spread extremely rapidly.
Unhappily for GM stakeholders, the foundations now have a very substantial , and public, crack in them.
How could the transfer have taken place ? ‘Cross-breeding’ between plants of different species is as unlikely as it is between, say, a dog and cat. But Really Magazine would like to point out that DNA is not an unstable and fragile compound that can only exist inside cells and viruses. It’s everywhere. And it's one of the most stable complex chemicals known to science.
The world is swimming in the stuff.
Although the most well-known method of DNA transfer is by ‘breeding’ within plant and animal species, it also gets transferred in vast quantities in other ways. Many bacteria, for instance, use a highly effective species-survival strategy which involves them releasing their entire DNA into the environment in times of stress. This DNA can be, and is, absorbed by other bugs and re-used.
Bacterial genes can spread around the entire planet in this way in a matter of months.
As well as this, there are innumerable varieties of virus which ‘prey’ on bacteria and exchange / rob / mutate their DNA like there’s no tomorrow.
In short, once a gene has been ‘created’ it’s just a matter of time before it will turn up just where you don’t want it.
The chances of a ‘roving gene’ being of ‘any use’ to the species in which it turns up is, of course, extremely remote. But if the gene performs a very simple operation, and if it offers even the most miniscule ‘evolutionary advantage’, then it will become permanently locked-in to the host organism p.d.q.
Welcome to the world of DNA soup.
Here’s a link to the Guardian article
again.
Think: milestone.
25 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Lexicological conundrum of the day.
Make sense of the following statement :
“ There
is no shoot to kill policy, there is a shoot to kill to protect policy ”
24 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Why 3 ?
When Richard Feynman decided to study a problem, we can be pretty sure that the problem was worth studying. One of his investigations centered on the issue of why a stick of raw spaghetti ( almost ) always breaks into three pieces ( rather than two ) when over-stressed. ( Try it )
Sadly, Prof. Feynman is no longer with us, but we know from his colleagues that he spent at least two hours* on the problem ( possibly more ) – and, uncharacteristically for him, couldn’t come up with an answer.
But now, several decades later, a team from Lab. de Modélisation en Mécanique, CNRS/Université Paris appear to have cracked it.
In a newly released paper entitled “ Fragmentation of rods by cascading cracks: why spaghetti do (sic.) not break in half “ , they describe how ‘flexural waves’ travel down the spaghetti, causing it to exceed its limit of stable curvature ( k*) at various points.
The experiment used high speed digital photography to capture breaking events in Barilla #1, #5 and #7.
The authors, Basile Audoly and Sébastien Neukirch have kindly made available a web-presentation ( " How bent spaghetti break (sic.) " ) – complete with several Quicktime movies showing the snapping events. As one might expect, it all boils down to critical failure at the point of maximum curvature – characterised by the equation :
It must be said though, that although we have made a serious effort to digest the study's findings, which very clearly describe how-and-why the sticks break, Really Magazine is still not clear as to why they tend to break into three pieces more often than any other number.
* * *
The full paper, which has been accepted for publication in a future edition of Physical Review Letters , is now available here.
* video clip courtesy of http://heelspurs.com/feynman.html
Researcher Sebastien.Neukirch points out our error in writing " a stick of spaghetti ". We should, in fact, have said " a stick of spaghetto " when talkng about one single stick rather than a group.
Eravamo errati.
23 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
DU DU
If
you were thinking of having some earrings made from Depleted Uranium (
DU ) – don’t. “ Prolonged skin contact
(e.g., prolonged wearing of earrings ) made from DU increases the risk
of developing skin cancer at the location of contact “ says
a new
report issued yesterday by Sandia National Laboratories.
Really Magazine has not been able to determine why the report, which looked at the possible health risks from DU used to tip anti-tank missiles during Gulf War I, also mentions toxic earrings. But is does ( page 189 ).
The US and UK now make extensive use of DU in armour-piercing military rounds, and some 350 tonnes were used in Gulf War I. As the report says, “ The high density, low cost, and other properties of DU make it an attractive choice as an anti-tank weapon “ ( other properties ? It’s pyrophoric – i.e. catches fire on impact )
But, although “ DU is chemically toxic and weakly radioactive” the Sandia study concluded that “ the reports of serious health risks from DU exposure are not supported by veteran medical statistics nor supported by [his] analysis “ . . .
The laboratory which produced the report is part of Lockheed Martin* – the biggest arms manufacturing company on the planet*. So the obvious ‘pyrophoric’ question is “ Does the company use DU in any of its products ? “. If it does ( or did ) then could its findings could be viewed in a slightly different light to a completely independent study ?
We haven't been able to determine whether the company uses DU in any of its products – but it is manufacturing an anti-tank missile called ‘Compact Kinetic Energy Missile’ (CKEM) which provides “overwhelming lethality overmatch, high probability of first round kill “ and incorporates a “ novel lethality system “
Which can’t be DU obviously – it’s not exactly novel.
* * *
* Lockheed Martin is listed as global arms-producing company number 1 (2003) in SIPRI’s ‘top 100’.
The corporation reported 2004 sales of $35.5 Billion.
Their company motto is “ We never forget who we’re working for “ . . .
22 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
More on TV
The
study lasted 10 years, and monitored 1037 young people.
Did the amount of TV they watched affect their educational achievements ?
Yes it did – downwards - according to a recent study from Otago University New Zealand.
Without pulling any punches “ watching a lot of television during childhood means you are a lot less likely to have a degree by your mid-twenties “ says the report.
The results also discounted the idea that perhaps ‘less intelligent’ children were more likely to spend more time in front of the box. “ Children of all levels of intelligence did worse if they watched a lot of television.”
Of course, the study was only performed at a national level – but N.Z. TV in general certainly doesn’t have the reputation of being the most mind-numbing in the world. Far from it.
Really Magazine would like to point out that we shouldn’t leap to blame the technology of TV per se. We are, however, more than willing to condemn the moronically low standards of TV programming and production in almost every country we have had the misfortune to watch it.
TV could, and should, be an über-potent medium for education and inspiration ( OK, we admit it, ‘entertainment’ as well. Doh ! )
As things stand though, it's well and truly munted.
* * *
See:
http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news
Plus:
Another fine chance to plug TV-B-Gone™
21 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Really Magazine exclusive : US patent issued for ‘Free Energy’ device ?
For decades now, there has been a great deal of interest in the tantalising possibilities of the so-called ‘zero point field’ (ZPF). NASA has studied it, so has the Institute for Advanced Studies, and there have even been best-sellers written about it.
Nearly a hundred years ago, equations formulated by Max Planck, Einstein, Hopf and others were suggesting that even if all matter was removed from a region of space, there would still be energy present in the vacuum.
As a way of testing the theory, in 1948, Dutch physicist Hendrik Casimir suggested that two ultra-smooth plates, separated by a sub-micron sized gap, would attract each other.
The so-called Casimir force, which, since 1996 has been experimentally verified many times, results from the pairs of particles and antiparticles which spontaneously appear in the 'empty' space of the quantum vacuum pervading the minute space between the plates. Larger particles – with wavelengths which don’t fit neatly into the gap – effectively push the plates together.
At first glance, it would seem that there is an inexhaustible source of zero point energy (ZPE) available, if it were somehow possible to extract this energy from the vacuum.
No one, as yet, has ever managed it ( as far as Really Magazine is aware).
That, however, has not stopped the US patent office granting a patent this week on a method of doing so.
There are three possibilities. Either humankind has discovered an utterly inexhaustible supply of free energy – perhaps the greatest scientific discovery in history
– or, the patent office has got it wrong a refreshingly imaginative approach to the laws of physics.
- or, we have thoroughly misunderstood the patent.
You decide . . .
* * *
link to the full patent here
Here are some quotes from the patent document.
“ ZPE is expected to exhibit infinite energy density and to be universally present, and might therefore be a limitless source of energy.”
“ [the invention] allows for a net gain of energy from an underlying source force field “
“ The cycle can be repeated as long as the apparatus lasts. “
“ Some embodiments of the present invention appear to contradict typical interpretations of the principle of conservation of energy but, in fact, do not. “
20 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
“the Development of Cynicism”
No, it’s not an Really Magazine training course, it’s a new study from Yale University into how cynicism may develop in human minds at a very early age – as young as 7 in fact.
A group of sixty children, aged 5 to 11, were told (very short) stories which included misleading statements that were clearly aligned with the self-interest of the speaker.
They were then asked to rate the stories, on a scale of 1 to 5.
( Where 1 means ‘ do not believe at all ’ and 5 means ' believe completely ' *)
Although the youngest children were, not surprisngly perhaps, described as ' relatively gullible ' - by age 7 they had already developed skills which allowed them to recoginise that “ people's statements may be influenced by their own self-interests “
In short, “ the seeds of doubt are present from an early age “
Should we be encouraged or disheartened ? The findings “ could alter views on how children are targeted as an audience in the media and in advertising.” says the press release.
* * *
for the full paper, see :
http://www.psychologicalscience.org
*note: We're thinking of adopting the Yale
Credibility Scale ourselves .
19 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
UID
The concept of Creationism Intelligent Design (ID) seems to be gathering impact in Kansas some parts of the world.
The idea doesn’t need any comment from us – other than to point out that there are one or two unanswered questions with regard to the level of intelligence involved.
We would like to remind readers of :
The Appendix.
We were therefore tempted to float the idea of ‘ Unintelligent Design ’ (UID) – but we were considerably too late. In fact, Google already lists 10,100 entries for the phrase.
Not only that, but we were very happy to discover that there is an excellent on-line resouce – from Unintelligent Design Network, Inc. – which goes into great detail about the concept.
Do not miss :
http://www.theshrubbery.com/udn/
19 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
PV or no PV ?
The
efficiency of photovoltaic (PV)
cells has made a lot of progress in the last few years. According to a recent press
release from the National Renewal Energy Lab (NREL) it’s
now up to a very respectable 40%.
So, 40% of the sun’s energy which falls onto your building’s roof can now be converted – at very low cost – into electricity.
In temperate zones it’s common for the sun’s energy to reach 1Kw per square metre ( 1,000 w/m2 ) – and in tropical zones it’s far higher.
A few square metres of solar panels with battery backup and operating at 40% efficiency can easily supply enough electricity for a medium-sized household.
So, why hasn’t every household in the ‘developed world’ already fitted a PV array to their roof ?
Are the panels horribly expensive ? Depends how you look at it. They currently cost around $3 per Watt to install. It’s going to cost you $4,500 to get enough power to run, say, a washing machine / dryer.
But, once they’re installed, the cost of ‘running’ the panels is next to nothing. And, since they are ‘passive’ devices ( no moving parts ) with a bit of maintenance they should – quite literally – last a lifetime.
That’s in stark contrast to, say, a nuclear power plant, which in terms of $/watt only costs roughly half as much to build - but has daily running costs many hundreds of times higher - $0.14 per Kilowatt, per hour ( source: New Scientist 02 July 2005 ) and that's excluding insurance !
So, why hasn’t every household in the ‘developed world’ already fitted a PV array to their roof ?
We don’t know. But here’s one possible reason.
‘Customers’ who install their own PV systems become independent.
They are no longer tied – quite literally ‘by force’ - to the utility companies.
If it were possible to wave a magic wand and install PV systems for every household, the recently-privatised electricity utility firms ( and the Government-backed nuclear / oil / gas producers ) would be in very serious trouble overnight.
History shows that governments are usually in the business of encouraging personal dependence - and PV tech runs in an entirely contrary direction.
We predict that it will, inevitably, arrive, but will be resisted by the powers-that-be, tooth-and-nail, until the very last possible moment.
Editor’s note: Government treasury departments shouldn’t feel too despondent. They can always bring in a ‘Tax on Sunlight’ - such as the one which existed in England from 1696 until 1851.
18 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
To dump or not to dump . . .
If your company is based in the UK and produces untreated ‘hazardous waste’ you might have missed the deadline for dumping it in a landfill.
As of today, the Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) come into force. More stringent sampling, testing and treatment of ‘hazardous waste’ will be required before it can be sent to landfill.
See:
www.environment-agency.gov.uk/
Unfortunately, the question of whether or not waste is hazardous is a complicated one. It’s not always intuitively obvious whether rubbish is going to present a long term threat to the environment. As an example, old fluorescent lighting tubes are now considered a hazard.
So is sawdust, soot, and ‘waste from crematoria’.
To help companies decide whether the materials they wish to dump are hazardous or not, the UK’s Environment Agency has made available on-line data which lists the materials covered by the new regs.
When reading it though, you should bear in mind that “ This document is meant purely as documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents “.
Perhaps it was a wise move to include that waiver.
We looked through the doc for occurrences of the words, “nuclear” , “radioactive” and “ionising” - and found absolutely nothing.
Perhaps they are buried in there somewhere.
16 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
If we didn’t make it, someone else would – wouldn’t they ?
Thanks to the hard work of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute ( SIPRI ), we can now link to a list of the top 100 arms-producing companies on the planet.
It’s well worth downloading the ( slightly stubborn ) pdf file. So that next time you buy a car, or a computer monitor, or a cellphone, or a digital camera, you’ll know if the company you’re dealing with is also in the business of providing military equipment.
Without it, modern warfare, and the astonishing level of destruction of which it’s capable - would, of course, be impossible.
You might be surprised at some of the names you’ll find there.
15 JULY 05(late edition)
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Biometrics
“ [ they ] have a rich and stable structure that is preserved from birth to old age, and instead of aging they just get bigger “
Says the press release from the University of Southampton.
We are, of course, talking ears.
The university’s School of Electronics and Computer Science has recently completed a study into the feasibility of using ears as a method of biometric identification.
As many of our readers will be aware, the potential of the human ear for personal identification was recognized and advocated as long ago as 1890 by the French criminologist Alphonse Bertillon.
But, of course, he did not have access to digital cameras and neural net algorithms.
The university team used a neural-net algorithm analysis to achieve an impressive accuracy of 93% in recognising ears’ owners.
As the press
release points out though “ the fact that
they can be concealed by hair means further research is needed “
full details (.pdf )
http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/
15 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Englishes.
Later this month, Purdue ( cold fusion ) University will be hosting a conference on behalf of the International Association for World Englishes ( IAWE).
This is the 11th 'Englishes' conference, and scholars attending the event will be coming from as far afield as Australia, India, Ireland, Japan, Nigeria, Uganda, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and South Africa . . .
" We hope that the annual IAWE Conference is a highlight of your year, and if it isn’t already that it becomes one, as it is for us " says their website.
Eh ? Oh yes, it does make sense.
* * *
July 21st to 23rd. Lafayette, IN ($200)
http://www.moussu.net/iawe2005/
14 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Not kerrrwhite sure about the name . . .
The 'sodcouch' . Nice idea though.
14 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Found : 1 website ( good condition )
It seems the WWW is hopeless for some things and wonderful for others – and gradually, people are working out which is which. Every now and again we come across a highly applicable . . . errrr . . . application – something which just could not have been done fifteen years or so back.
So, our pick of the day is http://www.virtualbumblebee.co.uk
Perhaps not the most self-explanatory choice of URL, but a very useful website nonetheless.
It’s a UK police site where people can (quickly) check for lost and found property.
It has a search facility – which works. We checked for ‘saddle’ ‘shirt’ and ‘fish’ and came up with relevant finds every time – including photos.
Linked to the site is the equally nominatively-challenged:
http://www.bumblebeeauctions.co.uk
This is the UK police site where on-line property auctions take place. As always with police auctions though, we’re never quite sure as to the exact boundary between items which have been found – i.e. handed in – and others which were stolen, but for which no owner could be traced.
OK, it’s not e-Bay, but there are usually some exceptional bargains to be found there. Today, they have an electronic body-toner for £1. It’s a steal !
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Touch Me Exhibition.
London’s V&A Museum is continuing to host their “Touch Me ” exhibition until the end of August.
Main sponsors : The Wellcome Trust “An independent charity funding research to improve human and animal health “
Not kerwhite sure how their exhibits, the -
“Suck N Smile Mouth Piece ”
“‘Light as a Feather’ Spanking Paddle ”
and the “Lap Juicer ” ( Google it )
fit into their health-improving brief . . . but, as they ask on their site " Do we live in a touch-starved society ? " . . .
You can find out for a fiver.
For search-engine related reasons, we'll prob come to regret posting this item. Doh !
Reader Paul H comments :
Went to the Touch Me exhibition at the Victoria & Albert and I think I can say Victoria & Albert building scores a 10, most exhibits score about 5 and the exhibition which costs £5 to go in gets a 2 out of 10.
oooops . . .
comments | permalink | back
to the top
File under – Editor’s rant – subj. ‘ TV News-channel music idents ’
It’s wonderful for the composers. They may have been paid peanuts for the original composition, but they get a royalty every time it’s played.
Some TV news channels ( you know who you are ) play the same piece of ‘station ident’ music dozens of times each hour - 24 hours a day. And sometimes the same track is used for years – yes, years ( you know who you are ), on end.
To do so is sorely mistaken.
It ignores basic human psychology in favour of [ deleted deleted ] ‘branding’ concepts from the marketing suits.
Here’s the deal. You walk to the office every day and see the same average-looking guy hanging around in the same place. You go out to lunch and he’s still there. On your way home he’s there again. And every day’s the same. He’s always there. Groundhog Day style. Although you might find it odd, after a few weeks you completely ignore him. He might as well be invisible.
But, if that same guy shouted “ Hi ! My name’s Bertie Basil Cuthbertson ! “ in your ear every single time that you passed him – then after a few days you would ( quite understandably ) want to strangle him . . .
It’s that simple.
A ‘visual’ logo is not annoying - however many times you see it. It might be dull, but ( unless you’re an over-precious graphic artist ) it won’t annoy you. An ‘audio’ logo is an entirely different beast. Endlessly repeated phrases ( spoken or musical ) pretty soon irritate the bejeeezzus out of anyone unfortunate enough as to be in range.
So, Bertie Basil Cuthbertson, ENOUGH ALREADY ! Purleese !
* * *
If any TV execs read this, and want to get a handle on how it feels at the user end, here's our newly-commissioned Really Magazine music ident ( ©omposer:Martin g )
( press a few times for the full effect )
p.s. In case any readers might be under the impression that such
ident tracks are highly expensive to produce – they’re not.
There isn’t one on air ( that we’ve come across ) that would
take longer than a day to produce in a basic home studio. Nowadays, ‘production
music’ tracks are pretty cheap to record. Broadcasters spend more
on disposable plastic cups in the canteen.
The royalty payments, do, however, rapidly add up. But, even if they ‘ changed their tune ‘ every week, the TV station would pay out exactly the same fees to the royalty collection agencies . . .
comments | permalink | back
to the top
More of the folding stuff
There’s nothing quite like reading a newspaper, but, if for some reason you can’t get hold of your favourite one, you can always peruse the front page on the WWW.
The ‘Newseum ’ ( which is re-locating to Washington for 2007 ) has a daily collection international front pages on their website. They are currently carrying 409 from 45 countries. These are zoomable ‘vector’ files – not scans – so we assume that the journals must be providing them with daily .pdfs
For example, here’s today’s UK Guardian.
It’s a slightly odd feeling, ironic even, ‘ reading the newspaper ’ via your computer monitor – but it’s very nice to see the ‘real thing’ as opposed to a paper’s ( often cheesy ) website.
Oh, and there’s no über-irritating flashing ads either.
One thought. If the newspapers are willing to give their .pdf files for www release, why not put them up on their own websites too ?
That would be too easy.
* * *
Attention ! "The Boot" may have found the way to do it.
comments | permalink | back
to the top
04 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Thought for the day :
From the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, California.
"God only knows if there's life on other planets"
03 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Shameless plug time.
We’d like to thank our Readers, Linkers, and Searchers who, as of today,
have made us number 1 in the following Google ™ searches.
gnome-moulding No.1 out of 1
fat 'ginst terrism No.1 out of 8
Think : ‘body cavities’ + pilfering No.1 out of 25
file it under ‘Dogs’ (subsection ‘Breakfast’) No.1 out of 11,400
Hygienic cycling No.1 out of 17,900
cartoon snowflake No.1 out of 97,200
* * *
Our alarmingly egocentric editor, Martin g, is still not happy that he’s only number 3 out of 26,800,000 – Doh !
Note * Things change pretty fast in the volatile world of search engine listings – so this post will probably become inaccurate pretty soon. It was correct as of 2nd July 2005 though . . .
02 JULY 05(late)
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Rooting about gets us nowhere.
There have been quite a few brow-furrowing headlines in the last few hours regarding the US Govt decision to ‘keep control of internet's central computers ’.
Errrr . . . How does that work ?
There are 13 so called ‘Root Servers’ which control access to the entire internet. Every single WWW interaction is routed by these servers.
From the headlines, you might guess that the computers are all in the US, and could be switched off at any time. They’re not. They are physically located in several different countries. Here’s the locations.
So how, exactly, in practical terms, does the US ' keep control of internet's central computers ’ ? We have checked dozens of tech-news sites, and failed to find an explanation ( simple enough for us to understand ) on any of them.
As far as we can work out ( and if anyone can explain it clearly to us please do ) the US is retaining control over the administration of an internationally agreed list of domain codes ( .com .org .de etc etc ), and the protocols that go with them.
In a sense then, they have a ‘veto’ – but, as we understand it at least, no direct ( i.e. electronic ) control.
It’s worth pointing out that if, say, for example, Belgium ( with their .be code ) were to unilaterally decide that they no longer wanted to play the ICANN game – they could. The .be code would still work in Belgium, but users from the rest of the world wouldn’t be able to access it.
And so, of course, there’s always the possibility that a ‘breakaway’ group of countries could agree to a new protocol – and set up what would, in effect, be WWW2.
There are already proposals for a (ahem!) ‘backup system’ along those lines . . .
* * *
Many thanks to the UK's The Register who have posted a sumptuously ironic list of ‘letters’ they’ve received on the subject.
02 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Hawaii not ?
We don’t often carry links to the Honolulu Advertiser, in fact we never have until today, but we thought readers might like to see the column from their ‘Advice Diva ’ ( who, oddly perhaps, seems to be based in Miami ).
Who knows, it might be the first of many ( or not ).
02 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Don’t mention the Antitrinitarians.
London’s Royal Society will be hosting a four-day ‘ Summer
Science Exhibition ’ as from Monday 4th.
Exhibits include :
Weapons of maths construction ( Making maths come alive using computers in an exciting new way )
How to build a human ( How to make replacement body parts using advanced engineering materials )
Dont panic ! ( Investigating psychological responses to disasters )
and more.
But, Stop Press ! They will also be showing a recently re-discovered hand-written notebook by none other than Isaac Newton !
Unfortunately though, the notes are about the thoroughly unscientific study of alchemy. Turning 'base metals' into gold. A subject in which Newton was deeply involved. In fact, he wasted spent about half of his working life on it ( along with antitrinitarianism ).
Nonetheless, it must give a fascinating insight into the highly mysterious 17th century world which the highly mysterious Newton inhabited.
Entrance is free. Here’s the details -
01 JULY 05 (late)
comments | permalink | back
to the top
Oooh ! He’s a schnauzer isn’t he ? Want a coffee ?
Nearly two thirds of Australians cohabit with a pet of some sort ( source: Univ. of Western Australia ). And many studies over the past few years have shown that owning a pet can have positive psychological, and even physiological benefits.
But what about ‘ the community ’ as a whole. Does the prevalence of pet ownership improve society in general ? A study just published in Social Science & Medicine would cautiously suggest ‘yes’.
Especially if it’s a dog.
A random selection of 339 nine residents of Perth, Western Australia, were interviewed by phone about their pets.
“ Pet ownership was found to be positively associated with some forms of social contact and interaction “
In fact, the pet owners scored considerably higher than non-pet-owners in terms of ‘Social Capital’ and ‘Civic Engagement’.
We’re not quite sure what the phrase “ benefits to the local community as encapsulated in the construct of social capital “ means – but we think it has something to do with dog-owners chatting to each other when out for a walk.
see: The
pet connection: Pets as a conduit for social capital?
01 JULY 05
comments | permalink | back
to the top
advertising
|
Editor's picksThe territoriality of park benches re-appraised using ANT
|
|
|
 |
BBC Radio 4
"the world's best radio station"
We are currently looking for syndication outlets for the following weekly columns. . .
www and/or print.
If your publication could use them, please get in touch !
De Cecco
"the world's best commercially produced pasta"
The Big Tie Shop
"the world's best Big Ties"
New Scientist
"the world's best weekly science magazine"
OFFER CLOSED
Crooke's Radiometer (virtual)
Duvel
"the world's best beer"
"the world's best Sciencebase"
The "DoDo"
( Cassina )
"the world's best chair"
Firefox
"the world's best web-browser"
Bösendorfer
"the world's best pianos"
! Ltd.
"the world's best
! company"
