JMH Techtronics

Yes folk, clean air is taking its toll on the Amazon rainforest. At least according to a study done by UK and Brazilian climate scientists presented in the journal Nature. The new study proclaims that there is a link between reducing sulphur dioxide emissions from burning coal and increasing sea surface temperatures in the tropical north Atlantic, resulting in a heightened risk of drought in the Amazon rainforest.

Damned if we do, and damned if we don’t is what Mother Earth is trying to tell us friends. Just close up your exterior shutters and hide in your homes. The END is near no matter what you do.

The Amazon rainforest contains about 1/10 of the total carbon stored in land ecosystems and recycles a large fraction of the rainfall that falls upon it. So any major change to its vegetation, brought about by events like deforestation or drought, has an impact on the global climate system.

A team from the University of Exeter, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Met Office Hadley Centre and Brazilian National Institute for Space Studies used the Met Office Hadley Centre climate-carbon model to simulate the impacts of twenty-first century climate change on the Amazon rainforest. Comparing data from a 2005 drought, the researches predicted that the same type of drought could become a common theme by 2025. Every other year, and by 2060 it could happen 9 out of 10 years.

Co-author Dr Matthew Collins of the Met Office Hadley Centre puts this into context: “The rainforest is under many pressures. Direct deforestation is the most obvious immediate threat, but climate change is also a big issue for Amazonia. We have to deal with both if we want to safeguard the forest.”

Co-Author Dr Carlos Nobre of the Brazilian Institute for Space Research adds: “Global warming, deforestation and increased forest fires are all acting in synergy to reduce the resilience of the Amazonian forests.”

So what does this have to do with clean air exactly? According to these guys the burning of coal int he Northern hemisphere from the 1970s and 80s was actually helping the rainforests! The sulpher emissions have in fact been thought to reduce global warming by reflecting sunlight and making clouds brighter. This pollution has been predominantly in the northern hemisphere and has acted to limit warming in the tropical north Atlantic, keeping the Amazon wetter than it would otherwise be.

Chris Huntingford of CEH, another of the co-authors, explains: “Reduced sulphur emissions in North America and Europe will see tropical rain-bands move northwards as the north Atlantic warms, resulting in a sharp increase in the risk of Amazonian drought.”

Talk about strange. Burn that coal baby.

Filed under: Energy Tech, Science by JMH
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Well now…this is something that we should all be interested in. This is the first to show that induced stem cells or iPS cells, which don’t involve the use of embryos or eggs, can be differentiated into the three types of cardiovascular cells needed to repair the heart and blood vessels. Stem cell researches at UCLA have been able to grow functioning cardio cells using mouse skin cells that had been reprogrammed into cells with the same unlimited properties as embryonic stem cells.

The discovery could one day lead to clinical trials of new treatments for people who suffer heart attacks, have atherosclerosis or are in heart failure, said Dr. Robb MacLellan, a researcher at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research and senior author of the study.

“I believe iPS cells address many of the shortcomings of human embryonic stem cells and are the future of regenerative medicine,” said MacLellan, an associate professor of cardiology and physiology. “I’m hoping that these scientific findings are the first step towards one day developing new therapies that I can offer my patients. There are still many limitations with using iPS cells in clinical studies that we must overcome, but there are scientists in labs across the country working to address these issues right now.”

These discoveries have also been able to differentiate into other types of blood cells that may one day help in treating blood diseases, and bone marrow transplants. Amazing discoveries that may one day lower the need for so much drug rehab because of all the damn medications we are prescribed for anything.

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After being awarded the format victory earlier this year, it appears that blu-ray sales aren’t chugging along as one might expect. Sales were down 40% from January to February, and only increased by 2% in from February to March. This is for stand alone Blu-ray players and does not include the Playstation 3 version which is a complete steal for the cost.

HD-DVD players have fallen off the map. Dropping 65% from February to MArch, obviously due to the loss of the alleged format war., and the fact that no major studios are releasing in this format anymore.

Most agree that the pricing is probably the main culprit. Blu-Ray players were priced at an average of $300 over Christmas, but now are ranging closer to $400. When you can still get a DVD player for about $20, or just go out and buy a Playstation 3 for $399, what’s the point of spending $400 for just a Blu-ray player? There is none. I’d rather buy a PS3 that can play games, store music, photos, link to my peripherals like my ipods, and get me on the internet. Odds are that Blu-ray players need to be closer to $200 before I would consider buying one.

Filed under: Entertainment Media, Home Entertainment, Video Games by JMH
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Probably the most anticipated game for me in quite some time. It is going to prompt me to buy a PS3 I guess too as I haven’t really found a need to get one yet. Just kind of trying to decide if I want to wait for the MEtal Gear Solid bundle in June, or just get the 40 GB system now and add a huge hard drive to it. I don’t need most of the crap on there like video, picture albums, and whatnot, so I don’t know if I want to wait since the 40 GB is the only one around right now. When a game makes you buy a new console you know you have a problem. Gaming for me is not as bad as it used to, but at one time I probably would use some sort of gaming help like most people need drug rehabilitation…lol

GTA IV got ranked a perfect 10 by IGN, who hasn’t given a perfect score out since the 90s. According to those guys the difference between the XBox 360 version and the Playstation 3 version are very minimal and the average person won’t notice the difference.

This game also showed me an interesting site that I had not been aware of before. Justin.tv which shows people playing games live. I watched people playing this in Online Mode yesterday for a bit and it looks pretty amazing. Pretty funny to watch as they have a chat window next to the video feed and people make comments. They have a moderator for the chat rooms, but they let most things slide so the little brats will annoy you at times.

As for the Grand Theft Auto IV Physics Engine, they have made some big changes from last releases. In this edition of GTA the physics engine showcases the Euphoria physics engine that was originally presented by Lucas Arts, the company that pumps out 50 Star Wars games per year.

Why bother wasting your time with reading when you can just watch the presentation of the physics engine from E3 a couple years ago?

Havok/euphoria physics engine:

Below you can see the Euphoria Physics engine used in Grand Theft Auto IV:

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Video Games by JMH
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For the first time in our history, astronomers have observed a colossal black hole being kicked out of its own galaxy. Scientists have theorized that it could happen, but have never witnessed such a phenomena before. Typically they suggest that the black holes of colliding galaxies tend to merge together, rather than being kicked out. Now they have witnessed the latter and released their results this week.

“We have observed the pre-merger stages of black holes,” said Stefanie Komossa of the Max Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics, part of the team that made the new discovery. “But we haven’t seen the actual merger event.”

Like anything else when it comes to this sort of phenomena there isn’t much to go on visually. Although astronomers have long believed that the black holes tend to merge, even that hasn’t been witnessed other than seeing the initial stages of such an event.

Komossa and her team have now detected the consequences of such a merger: a 100-million-solar mass black hole in the process of leaving its home galaxy.

“The consequence was that the merged black hole, the final product, the new black hole was expelled from the galaxy,” Komossa said. The team’s results are detailed in the May 10 issue of the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters. Certainly a discovery that will afford the team a set of new luxury watches,

The black holes may not merge right away though.

“One possibility is that for a long time they just orbit each other,” like binary stars, Komossa told SPACE.com.

Eventually, the orbiting black holes might interact with a star or surrounding gas which could cause them to lose angular momentum. “That would be a way to push them ever-closer towards each other,” Komossa said.

While reading about this event I saw a great video called Black Hole Diving. The video discusses the conditions that form black holes, as well as some discussion on how they track, and discover them.

Filed under: Space by JMH
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No more clutching your chest, or losing all feeling in your extremities to decide if you may be having a heart attack. A recent study suggests that your saliva may be able to diagnose a heart attack. A diagnosis of a heart attack may now be possible using only a few drops of saliva and a new nano-bio-chip, a multi-institutional team led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin reported at a recent meeting of the American Association for Dental Research.

The credit card sized chip could be used in an ambulance, at a dentist, a drugstore, or maybe at some point just be available to us in our homes. The device is the size of a credit card and can produce results in as little as 15 minutes.

“Many heart attack victims, especially women, experience nonspecific symptoms and secure medical help too late after permanent damage to the cardiac tissue has occurred,” says John T. McDevitt, principal investigator and designer of the nano-bio-chip. “Our tests promise to dramatically improve the accuracy and speed of cardiac diagnosis.”

Researchers from the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry tested saliva magnifiers from 56 people who had a heart attack and 59 healthy subjects for 32 proteins associated with atherosclerosis, thrombosis and acute coronary syndrome. They found these proteins were in higher concentrations in saliva of heart attack victims, and that specific salivary proteins were as accurate in the diagnosis of heart attack as those found in blood serum using current testing methods.

“These are truly exciting findings, since use of these tests could lead to more rapid diagnosis and faster entry of patients into treatment scenarios that can save lives,” said Dr. Craig S. Miller, of the Kentucky team.

Quite a find indeed. Don’t worry Big Brother watchers. This isn’t a chip that gets injected into your body. It is just used on your saliva to detect early signs of a heart attack and cardiac disease.

Filed under: Science by JMH
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Sounds like a mediocre Scientific Method, science project for a grade schooler doesn’t it? Well…I know you realize that there was probably a purpose to this question that had something to do with energy. It did.

According to the study: it takes between 3,000 gallons and 6,000 gallons of water to power a 60-watt incandescent bulb for 12 hours a day over the course of a year.

That statistic was published today by researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, who have studied how demand for a dwindling natural resource–fresh water–plays into energy. CNet wrote an article about Floating Nuclear Power Plants last year that also looked at this issue.

As for the study itself, the most water-efficient energy sources are natural gas and synthetic fuels produced by coal gasification. The least efficient are ethanol and biodiesel–two fuels booming in production because of supportive government policies, followed by rapid investment while they twist their moutsaches and roll around in their money on their silk bedding.

In terms of power generation, they found that geothermal and hydroelectric energy use the least amount of water, while nuclear plants use the most.

A United States-wide tally shows that power generation requires 655 billion gallons of water a year.

“There are several variables, such as geography and climate, technology type and efficiency, and accuracy of measurements that come into play. However, by standardizing the measurement unit (BTU, or British Thermal Unit), we have been able to obtain a unique snapshot of the water used to produce different kinds of energy,” Virginia Tech professor Tamim Younos said.

While we watch our food prices skyrocket because we are using corn and grains, what are your thoughts on the different energy sources available? Do you actually believe global warming is that serious of an issue? Are you Al Gore?

Here’s the quote of the day:

“When millions of people are going hungry, it’s a crime against humanity that food should be diverted to biofuels,” said India’s finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram.

Wow…pretty strong statement right there.

Filed under: Energy Tech by JMH
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We can’t get enough of Mars apparently. Over the next few years at least 3 more Mars probes will be landing on the red planet. The Phoenix Lander is on its way to Mars right now, and should arrive at Mars on May 25. After this will come NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, a large rover that will launch next year and arrive in 2010. Finally, the European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission is scheduled for 2014.

The rovers Spirit and Opportunity are still scouting out the surface and sending back images as we speak.

Michael Meyer, a lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program and Luann Becker, a University of California, Santa Barbara geochemist are working on testing for alien life with missions looking for organic chemicals which would provide clues that living organisms are there. Becker has developed the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer, or MOMA. She explains, “MOMA is like a Star Trek tricorder because we can use it to cover the full gambit of measurements that will answer the question of life. Then we’ll be able to address the difficult question of whether something interesting is there.”

This kind of thing has been tried before with the Viking missions of the 1970s, although the results were frustratingly ambiguous. Kind of how I feel when I look at my home gym equipment. Says Meyer, “Part of the controversy was with Viking’s Labeled Release Experiment. The concept was that if we added organics and water to the Martian soil, all the Martian organisms in that soil would go to town eating the organic matter. The organics would in the process be broken down into carbon dioxide gas, and we could measure that.”

Check out some of the images from Mars that have been taken recently.

Filed under: Space, Space Tech by JMH
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Sugar gets us rolling, why not cars?

Chemists are describing development of a “revolutionary” process for converting plant sugars into hydrogen, which could be used to cheaply and efficiently power vehicles equipped with hydrogen fuel cells without producing any pollutants.

The method is being described as the most efficient method for creating hydrogen ever introduced. Of course this method isn’t anywhere near having an impact on our savings account. As always, anytime something introduced int he hydrogen fuel world it is at least 8-10 years away. This is no different.

The process involves combining plant sugars, water, and a cocktail of powerful enzymes to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide under mild reaction conditions.

“This is revolutionary work,” says lead researcher Y.-H. Percival Zhang, Ph.D., a biochemical engineer at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. “This has opened up a whole new direction in hydrogen research. With technology improvement, sugar-powered vehicles could come true eventually.”

Filed under: Energy Tech, Science by JMH
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I was reading an article on CNET earlier about all the crazy new merge names they were coming up with to describe the landscape of the battle for Yahoo!, and the Lord of the Web and it gave me a headache. So I popped a couple of pills and decided that I like my name better since putting “Mc” in front of anything automatically makes it better.

Until Amazon and Apple jump into this ring I don’t see the big deal. Get Ebay into the Greatest Web Story Ever Told. I want to see ads for Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the Westy by Benazir Bhutto on every square inch of every web page I visit.

Yahoo! absorbing AOL. Microsoft bullying Yahoo! to sell. Google trying to scam a deal to get their ads run by Yahoo!. Throw MySpace to Microsoft. Raise them an Ebay. Call with an Amazon. Re-raise with a Facebook. Go All-in with Craigslist and let everyone get lucky with the King of the Hooker classifieds.

Just legalize online gambling already and give these guys something to really worry about.

Filed under: Computers and Internet by JMH
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