Free Energy - The N-Machine

Free Energy - The N-Machine

The U.S. energy monopoly, which pushes for the development of oil, gas, coal, and nuclear power--while defunding solar energy and other non polluting alternatives--apparently does not want to see free energy emerge as a viable option.

Oh, there's a surprise. Anyway, this is an article about Zero Point Energy; unleashing the energy found in the space around us. I've believed in this for some time now, and in the feasibility of it. Essentially, since everything is made from energy, which is recycled as matter or another form of energy, it is ever-present all around us. Why not be able to tap into it?

Was it the same black cat?

S'funny isn't it? You do something; discover something; read something for the first time and all of a sudden it seems that it's everywhere. Case in point: I booked flights to St Petersburg, Russia this week - can't say I've ever heard of it much before nor had reason to pay attention to it. Since Wednesday (when I booked it), I stumbled across a story about a 7-foot Russian boxer (see previous posts) and have just fired up internet radio, only to be greeted by Supergrass' "St Petersburg" track. It always makes me think - have these references been as abundant before or is there 'something' now pushing it towards me more often because I'm going there? I'll let this guy ponder it for a while (it's not an attempt to liven up the pages of this blog. Oh no.)

Moving towards a truly wireless environment

I have a cable in my living room that runs from behind my TV (where I have secreted my cable modem) across 2 feet of floor by the door to my bedroom, and scurries, like a land-lubbed eel, under my computer desk. It serves a vital function: providing me with the fat broadband that allows me to view and absorb all the 'net-born crap I can fit into my swelling cranium. And I hate it. It's messy, lazy, out-of-step and, frankly, dangerous (I'm awaiting the drunken night that I catch it around my ankle and hurl myself headlong into my bedroom door). So, it's with geniune anticipation and excitement that I read of continued development of WiFi; now heading for 802.11n, said to be capable of delivering full-motion, HDTV-quality video zipping through the air around us. Wired News: Blazing Wi-Fi Zips Toward Reality Now, if only they'd ('they' being eggheads in lab coats, natch) hurry up with the power cable-replacing 'charging pad', we really could do away with the copper shackles of the modern age (sadly though, not pychologically).

Holy crap(ovitch)

Look at the size of this Russian guy! Just look at him! He's huge! Not much more to add, except that he's the biggest heavyweight boxer in the world at 7 feet tall and 23 stones in weight. Good God.

Britons unconvinced on evolution

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Britons unconvinced on evolution This is really interesting and a hopeful pointer about the UK for me. I so often become jaded with the (oft-Americanised, but more recently freshly-UK) junk that the majority actively digest - from the pointless-waste-of-paper tabloids to 'celebrity gossip' (hang your head in shame Heat magazine) to bloody loathsome Big Brother. But, it would seem that a large share of the population still has a working brain. I was taught Creationism from a young age at school, but never bought into it. Later, as I enjoyed Biology at GCSE and A-level (that's the 2 cerifications before a degree, non-UK visitors) I found Darwin's theory of Evolution difficult to refute. But, it's never sat 100% flush in my mind. I'm constantly stunned by the human body (and the anatomy of most species, but let's focus here). With a mother who's a head midwife I lived and breathed human biology and genetics outside of schooling as well, and - frankly - it's just too damn efficient and well put together to be able to discount Intelligent Design (ID). Examples

• the male and female reproductive systems. They fit together perfectly - regardless of sizes ( :) ) and - as far as I am aware - we are the only species with specific hormonal and emotional reactions built into the act (easily as addictive a drug as any class-A narcotic).
• the human eye. Although excelled by dogs', cats', foxes' etc, when combined with our superior brain power, we have a system that no computer replication has ever even come close to matching in terms of facial recognition, identifying changes in things etc.
• gastro-intestinal system, genitourinary system etc - a marvel of filtering & sifting, able to deal with most toxins.

I could go on for an age but I have to go out now. It's just so well put together - a stomach acid so strong it'll attack anything, yet it's held in a special part of the body which can withstand it. Genetics which combine 2 parents' genes in the hope of creating a stronger version (that's where evolution and natural selection does work perfectly for me). Ball & socket joints that allow huge ranges of limb movement. Regenerative hair in places that need warmth (again, evolution works here too - to my mind, men are hairier because they went out into the cold more often - the hairless breeds (there must have been some) likely died, leaving the hairy ones to procreate. Natural selection at its finest). Opposable thumbs - setting us apart from every other species (except our primate cousins). The list goes on... I suspect I'll do some more research on this and likely blog it again.

Far and away

I shouldn't be allowed to have time off - I spend more than when I'm going out every night. So, I've just booked 2 trips away this year :) 1) New York, USA (part III), 21st April - 30th April. Always a pleasure, never a chore. Hopefully the extended travel dates (Fri - following Sunday as opposed to Sat - Sat) mean I won't suffer from the burnout/jetlag I did last time which ate into about 3 of my days and compromised a good relation I had with someone out there. 2) St Petersburg, Russia. With an old uni friend/flatmate to see our collective old uni friend/flatmate. Can't wait to see him, the beautiful city and a culture totally different from anything else I'd have experienced before (really only leaving Asia, Africa and South America for me to venture to in terms of totally, radically different).

China to complete artifical sun

China to complete artifical sun I read a preliminary about this a while ago and it seems it's getting closer. It's a pretty heavy article for anyone not used to this sort of stuff, so to summarise:

• China is building a machine capable of generating temperatures of 100 million Celsius
• Obviously a nuclear fusion reactor, the fuel is planned to be deuterium, harvested from sea water (seriously)
• A single kg of deuterium (sounds like a Star Trek thing) can yield the same amount of energy as 300 litres of petrolium (but only at these high temps)
• If we don't do stuff like this soon, we're all buggered as it's estimated that there's only 100 years of fossil fuels left.
• The 1st photo on that link was taken through a quartz window. Why quartz? It can handle high temps (600 degrees Celsius for example)

One issue I have with that article is this line:

Invention of a facility that can withstand the temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius and control deuterium and atomic fusion to ensure steady and continuous energy output is equal to invention of an artificial sun, which can provide infinite and clean energy like the sun, as sea water is virtually inexhaustible.

Sea water's not at all "inexhaustible". Nor is the sun. Granted, there's a lot of it, and the sun should burn for a few million more years (maybe?) but sea water's part of the transpiration process and it relies on everything else on the planet. Still destroying the rainforests? Where do they think the water evaporates from in the process? No plants, no open stomata, no rain, we're buggered. But, I digress. This is a start. Still relies on a non-renewable energy source though boys. Keep looking... (energy sifting holds hopes for me)

Sweden to be free of oil by 2020

Treehugger: Sweden Raises The Renewable Energy Bar If they can achieve this, it will be an incredible move and one that is desperately needed. Granted, it's countries like the US (who use about 25% of all the oil in the world I believe) that will make the biggest impact, but this is a step to it. The UK also sorely needs to address this (not least because we're a bloody island for Christ's sake - how much wind/sea do you want? When are the off-shore renewable energy farms going to be built?!) EDIT: Looks like someone was listening: Sea Power could provide 1/5 of Britain's energy I've been reading up on the looming energy crisis for a few years now - not least because of numerous articles sent to me by my good friend GreekBoy. Recently, I watched a 3-hour documentary about the motives behind the invasion of Iraq, and of course a large belief is that it is to take the oil there (I think their little country had about 40% of all the oil in world). Interestingly, it ended with a prediction that Iran would be the next target, as their reserves are considerable. Lo and behold! Just 2 days later, the papers reported that "Iran is suspected of rebuilding its nuclear arms" by the US and an invasion may be necessary. Following this, I read one of the STUPIDEST things I've ever heard from a world leader: the French president declaring that he would not hesitate to use a nuclear device on such a country. 1) Are you fucking mental. Just how quickly do you want to start an arms race and destroy all life on Earth? HAVE YOU NOT SEEN WARGAMES?! 2) Why the hell is it OK for the French to have arms but no-one else? This playground bullying cannot be allowed to continue. In fact, the occupation of countries under a false guise is very reminiscent of the Nazi occupation of Eastern Europe… Oh, and if you want a good reason to avoid the nuclear path, watch this video which should scare you shitless.

The Black Keys play London - May 23rd

Having been a big fan for a while now, and having seen them play in New York, I'm really excited about seeing these guys play again. The Black Keys

404

For those of you not tech-inclined, a "404 page" is the name of the page shown to you when you visit a dead link on a site (e.g. if that page is no longer there). This is quite a funny one - make sure you watch it all the way through.

Clerks 2

And I'm frankly disgusted with myself for not having blogged the sequel to one of my all-time favourite movies. Tut. Clerks 2 Direct link to the teaser trailer for you lazy ones out there.

Dark Water

Just watched Dark Water, a western remake of a Japanese horror story (which is obvious from watching it, even without knowing that before hand). Opinion: meh. Unfortunately, I worked out the plot the first time I saw the water tank on the roof of the building. And that was in the first 20 minutes of the film. Ho-hum. Still, excellent acting all round - a good cast: Tim Roth, Pete Postlethwaite, John C. Reilly and my new favourite famous female, Jennifer Connelly. Good God, I didn't know they still made women like that. I'm glad because I never have an answer when people ask me "what famous woman do you think is hot?". I'd clocked how stunning she was in Requiem for a Dream, but it's hard to stay focussed on finding someone attractive when they play a raging heroin addict. Even I have limits :) Anyways, the film has great cinematography and excellent use of sound. But ultimately I knew what the plot was (although I didn't expect the small twist at the end). Here's the cover (LOOK! They even give it away on the front! Morons!): And here's Jennifer Connelly. Yowzer. Maybe it's the green eyes? I might be drawn to them because I have them. Oh, and on that subject, I found out that green eyes are the rarest single colour. I had no idea. Makes up for the fact that I have "whore's blood" - O Negative, which means I can give it to anyone - regardless of their blood or Rhesus type. Which is great and all, but means I can only receive blood from another O Negative donor. Typical. Selfless to the last. Ahem:

Individuals with type O blood have red blood cells with neither antigen but produce antibodies against both types of antigens. Therefore, a person with type O-negative blood can safely donate to a person with any ABO blood type and is called a "universal donor". However an O-negative person can only receive blood from another O-negative person.

300 mph on the maglev

video of the maglev train in Japan, which travels at 500 kph (300 mph). If you can't be arsed watching it, skip to about 3'45" where it passes by the camera. Jesus christ... Watch the video

New Honda advert

Wow. Just wow. Honda ads just get better every time. This is a fantastic website (makes me jealous - when will *I* get projects like this?) - it's big but very worth it. Most of all, it features the new TV ad which is outstanding. Click WATCH to see the ad. http://www.honda.co.uk/civic/

PM: 15 New Tech Concepts For 2006

This is a good thing. Bring it on I say. PM: 15 New Tech Concepts For 2006: "Even if your batteries lasted 10 times longer, they would still die at the wrong time. Toshiba is developing batteries that use nanoparticles to improve lithium-ion absorption during recharging--going from zero to 80 percent charge in 1 minute. This year, the batteries will appear in cars and factories, but they should eventually find their way to laptops and cellular phones."

LEGO Life Size Han Solo Frozen in Carbonite - 10,000 Bricks!

Heh. Geeks. The Green Head - The Cool Stuff: LEGO Life Size Han Solo Frozen in Carbonite - 10,000 Bricks!

Levi makes iPod controlling jeans

Oh for goodness sake... BBC NEWS | Business | Levi makes iPod controlling jeans

How to Win Friends & Influence People - Basic Summary

Quick guide to this - very useful. Originally from Lifehacker How to Win Friends & Influence People - Basic Summary Apologies for lack of blogging to those who care, have 3 live deadlines of projects this week so have been putting in waaaay too many hours on the job and am consequently knackered.

Optimus keyboard

Optimus keyboard This caused a huge buzz when first announced, then people discovered it was simply a concept. But, it now seems that something is in production (although "Good things come in small packages" is pretty vague) but – damn it – this thing is plain frickin' sexy.

Earth to Mars in 3 hours?

A friend sent me this article. If a 50-year old theory of magnetic field propulsion is true, then space craft could travel at incredible speeds. Scotsman.com News - Sci-Tech - Welcome to Mars express: only a three hour trip It involves other dimensions - something I strongly believe in. Until very recently we thought all we saw and heard was all there is, yet we know know of ultra-violet and infra-red light, ultra-sound etc. Why not the same for dimensions? Or existence for that matter - perhaps 'ghosts' are simply slips between different planes of existence.