Month: February 2008

A Simple, Cheap Way To Produce Hydrogen?

[ QuantumSphere, Inc. ]
If this Press Release pans out, it could bring about the Hydrogen-based Economy. The process by which electricity is used to generate hydrogen and oxygen from water is called electrolysis. Through the use of a new proprietary nano catalyst formulation, QuantumSphere has demonstrated production of hydrogen and oxygen in an alkaline electrolyzer with 85 percent efficiency under ambient conditions, making it a commercially viable replacement for fossil fuel-based production methods.

Although identified as a candidate with the potential to lower dependency on petroleum, today’s current large-scale hydrogen production techniques also produce an inordinate amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. For example, the steam-reformation process – which accounts for roughly 85% of hydrogen production using natural gas – produces four pounds of greenhouse gases for every one pound of hydrogen produced. “While hydrogen has long been promoted for its clean energy potential, the most common method of production of the gas has been a dirty little secret in terms of the amount of fossil fuels used and the greenhouse gasses generated,” said Kevin Maloney, president and CEO, QuantumSphere, Inc. Continue reading “A Simple, Cheap Way To Produce Hydrogen?”

Stuck MegaYacht Finally Free

Yacht stuck for 2 ½ years finally free – 02/27/2008 – MiamiHerald.com

Update Megayacht Stuck again

This was supposed to be the end to this ongoing sea saga, that has been one of this blogs most popular stories. From The Triton:

(FEB. 26, 2008) — S/Y Legacy is floating free today after being marooned off of Key West for almost 2 1/2 years. “We busted loose today,” came owner Peter Halmos’ e-mail at about 1:30 a.m. this morning, referring to Monday’s long day of pulling the 158-foot Perini Navi out of the sand and sea grass by Byrd Commercial Diving of Miami.Although the recovery path was about a mile long, it’s been a long journey. Regulatory restrictions, marine sanctuary concerns, additional damage to the area, and some legal wrangling all added to the recovery time frame. Failed attempts, including a coffer-dam setup that never worked, added to the woes. The trenching and pulling of this current effort took about six months. Legacy will be towed to a local area that Halmos described as “about two miles as the crow flies, but 2 1/2 years of twists and turns.”

From the Miami Herald:

Here’s how they did it, according to Christian Byrd, a third-generation partner in the family business: Continue reading “Stuck MegaYacht Finally Free”

Tree Ring Evidence Reverses Findings

DailyTech – Reseacher: Arctic Temperatures “Not Especially Warm”

Grudd’s results contradict his earlier reconstructions of Arctic temperatures, which demonstrated significantly cooler temperatures prior to 1900. The difference, he claims, is due to more accurate scanning of samples, along with a better understanding of how tree ring widths and density respond to temperature changes.

Grudd, of Stockholm University’s Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology, compared both tree ring width and maximum density, to construct the most accurate data yet seen for the region. He found a sharp warming trend since the year 1900. However, over the entire period, several such warming events were seen with temperatures in at least four periods (AD 750, 1000, 1400, and 1750) all equally warm or warmer than at present.

Most surprising of all, he noted, when taken as a whole temperatures in the Arctic have actually declined 0.3 degrees over the past 1,000 years. As Grudd himself says, temperatures at present are “not especially warm.”

The full temperature record also reveals why the last 100 years has appeared unusual — the year 1900 was actually the coldest of the entire period.

Climate Change – The Sun Or The SUV?

DailyTech – Solar Activity Diminishes; Researchers Predict Another Ice Age
During the Little Ice Age, global temperatures dropped sharply. New York Harbor froze hard enough to allow people to walk from Manhattan to Staten Island, and in Britain, people reported sighting eskimos paddling canoes off the coast. Glaciers in Norway grew up to 100 meters a year, destroying farms and villages.

But will it happen again?

In 2005, Russian astronomer Khabibullo Abdusamatov predicted the sun would soon peak, triggering a rapid decline in world temperatures. Only last month, the view was echoed by Dr. Oleg Sorokhtin, a fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. who advised the world to “stock up on fur coats.” Sorokhtin, who calls man’s contribution to climate change “a drop in the bucket,” predicts the solar minimum to occur by the year 2040, with icy weather lasting till 2100 or beyond.

Brutal Winter Or Ice Age?

Forget global warming: Welcome to the new Ice Age
This blog has been covering the Scientific Journals coverage of this developing  story. With this article Canada’s main Newspaper is the 1st “Major Media” to pick it up.

Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.

The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that many American cities and towns suffered record cold temperatures in January and early February. According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January “was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average.” Continue reading “Brutal Winter Or Ice Age?”

Taliban wants cell phone networks shut down at night

Taliban wants cell phone networks shut down at night
The towers and offices of mobile phone operators in Afghanistan are being pressured to shut down operations at night by the Taliban. The former rulers of Afghanistan and current insurgent group held “talks” with the four major mobile companies in Afghanistan today, and gave them three days to go dark for 14 hours per day—or else.

The reason for the threat is the Taliban’s belief that American soldiers and rebels within Afghanistan are using mobile phones to track down remaining Taliban members. “Since the occupying forces stationed in Afghanistan usually at night use mobile phones for espionage to track down the mujahideen, the Islamic Emirate gave a three-day ultimatum to all mobile phone firms to switch off their phones from five in the afternoon until seven in the morning,” Taliban spokesperson Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters, ironically via mobile phone (and presumably during daylight).

Bee Colonies’ Collapse Still A Mystery

Honey Bees Give Clues on Virus Spread
Hagan Daz is blaming their latest price increase, among others, on the lack of bees to pollinate ingredients, such as fruits and nuts. Everyone likes a medical mystery — even more so when the mystery in question is solved. When a few people in Queens developed fevers in 1999, scientists pinpointed an American strain of West Nile virus. When people in East Asia began to get particularly wicked coughs in 2003, scientists discovered an entirely new virus called SARS. As much as we admire the ingenuity that went into solving these medical enigmas, that doesn’t mean we should ignore the medical-sleuthing stories that haven’t yet reached a satisfying ending. Their very mystery actually says something important about how nature works.

Last spring, U.S. beekeepers realized that one-third of their hives had collapsed. Honeybees were simply flying away to die. This strange phenomenon, now called Colony Collapse Disorder, threatens more than the honey industry. Fifteen billion dollars worth of U.S. crops such as almonds and apples simply will not grow if honeybees don’t pollinate them. Continue reading “Bee Colonies’ Collapse Still A Mystery”

Obama: is America ready for this dangerous leftwinger?

Obama: is America ready for this dangerous leftwinger? | Gerard Baker – Times Online

America is certainly moving left in the post-George Bush era. The long period of conservative ascendancy is clearly over, buried by a Republican Party of recent years that has preached intolerance and practised incompetence. That a new era in American politics is beginning is not in doubt. But are Americans really ready to leap all the way across in one go to embrace a European-style Left?

There is a caste of left-wing Americans who wish essentially and in all honesty that their country was much more like France. They wish it had much higher levels of taxation and government intervention, that it had much higher levels of welfare, that it did not have such a “militaristic” approach to foreign policy. Above all, that its national goals were dictated, not by the dreadful halfwits who inhabit godforsaken places like Kansas and Mississippi, but by the counsels of the United Nations. What this British Commentator cannot know is just how much of Obama’s rhetoric may just be aimed at his base to help win his Party’s Nomination.

The Decline Of Golf

More Americans Are Giving Up Golf – New York Times

You would think that with all of the baby Boomers Retiring. One complaint that I’ve heard is that with the Pros designing courses that they have gotten too hard for the average golfer to enjoy. (Picture of Tigers new yacht)

The disappearance of golfers over the past several years is part of a broader decline in outdoor activities — including tennis, swimming, hiking, biking and downhill skiing — according to a number of academic and recreation industry studies.

“The man in the street will tell you that golf is booming because he sees Tiger Woods on TV,” Mr. Kass said. “But we track the reality. The reality is, while we haven’t exactly tanked, the numbers have been disappointing for some time.”
Continue reading “The Decline Of Golf”