News & Updates

A really good read for some truth behind the supposed science…. Originally shared by +John Baez The incredible shrinking force Around 2000, a guy named Roger Shawyer claimed he could bounce microwaves inside a fancy-shaped can and get them to push the can forwards, without anything leaving the can. This would violate conservation of momentum. It's like sitting inside a car and making it roll forwards by pushing on the steering wheel. Standard physics doesn't allow this. He didn't claim to be using anything other than standard physics. So: ho hum, just another guy with a really bad idea. I get emails like this all the time. But in 2001, his company got a £45,000 grant from the British government to study this idea. He built his machine and claimed that with 850 watts of power he could get a force of 0.016 newtons. That's a bit less than the force of gravity from a penny pushing down on your hand. It could easily be an experimental error. Why would people want a machine that uses lots of power to create a pathetically feeble force? Because – here's the great piece of salesmanship – if it existed, you could use […]

A really good read for some truth behind the supposed science…. Reshared post from +John Baez The incredible shrinking force Around 2000, a guy named Roger Shawyer claimed he could bounce microwaves inside a fancy-shaped can and get them to  push the can forwards, without anything leaving the can.  This would violate conservation of momentum.  It's like sitting inside a car and making it roll forwards by pushing on the steering wheel.  Standard physics doesn't allow this.  He didn't claim to be using anything other than standard physics.  So: ho hum, just another guy with a really bad idea.  I get emails like this all the time. But in 2001, his company got a £45,000 grant from the British government to study this idea.  He built his machine and claimed that with 850 watts of power he could get a force of 0.016 newtons.   That's a bit less than the force of gravity from a penny pushing down on your hand.  It could easily be an experimental error. Why would people want a machine that uses lots of power to create a pathetically feeble force?   Because – here's the great piece of salesmanship – if it existed, you could use […]

Still the most insane Cover Art out there…  

Still the most insane Cover Art out there… This post has been reshared 2 times on Google+ View this post on Google+

Good Info.. and yes – we all should be concerned…. Originally shared by +Science on Google+ Ebola for Beginners: How it Works, Why There’s No Cure, and Why It’s So Hard to Control This Time By Maren Hunsberger, reposted with permission (originally published at http://goo.gl/ZVwoBU) The internet is awash with news that one of the world’s foremost Ebola-fighting physicians, Sheikh Umar Khan, has himself been infected with the disease (http://goo.gl/i5T6yj), along with two American aid workers (http://goo.gl/VuQJA9). History’s deadliest outbreak of Ebola is currently sweeping across Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, having claimed more than 600 lives already. With a mortality rate of anywhere between 40% and 90% (this epidemic's is around 65%), what is it that makes Ebola one of the most lethal diseases in the pantheon of pathogens? Why is there no cure or vaccine? And why is so difficult to control? The Basics: Ebola’s full name is Ebola haemorrhagic fever, a rather gruesome title (the details of which we’ll address shortly). It’s caused by the Ebola virus (no surprises there), which is a member of the Filoviridae family. For context, viruses can be 50-100 times smaller than bacteria, and come in a variety of shapes. Ebola virus, […]

and yes – we all should be concerned…. Reshared post from +Science on Google+ Ebola for Beginners: How it Works, Why There’s No Cure, and Why It’s So Hard to Control This Time By Maren Hunsberger, reposted with permission (originally published at http://goo.gl/ZVwoBU) The internet is awash with news that one of the world’s foremost Ebola-fighting physicians, Sheikh Umar Khan, has himself been infected with the disease (http://goo.gl/i5T6yj), along with two American aid workers (http://goo.gl/VuQJA9). History’s deadliest outbreak of Ebola is currently sweeping across Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, having claimed more than 600 lives already. With a mortality rate of anywhere between 40% and 90% (this epidemic's is around 65%), what is it that makes Ebola one of the most lethal diseases in the pantheon of pathogens? Why is there no cure or vaccine? And why is so difficult to control? The Basics: Ebola’s full name is Ebola haemorrhagic fever, a rather gruesome title (the details of which we’ll address shortly). It’s caused by the Ebola virus (no surprises there), which is a member of the Filoviridae family. For context, viruses can be 50-100 times smaller than bacteria, and come in a variety of shapes. Ebola virus, along with […]

Nice Sunset again tonight….  

Nice Sunset again tonight…. This post has been reshared 1 times on Google+ View this post on Google+

This post has been reshared 1 times on Google+ View this post on Google+

This post has been reshared 2 times on Google+ View this post on Google+

The universe is just cool…. I just want to visit these places without instantly dying from the radiation that pours out of places like this…. So I will be inventing radiation shielding and a spaceship that can travel faster than light speed… I will be right back… Originally shared by +Astronomy Picture of the Day (APoD) The Horsehead Nebula from Blue to InfraredImage Credit & Copyright: Optical: Aldo Mottino & Carlos Colazo, OAC, Córdoba; Infrared: Hubble Legacy Archivehttp://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140728.html One of the most identifiable nebulae in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion, is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud. Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first discovered on a photographic plate in the late 1800s. The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust, although the lower part of the Horsehead's neck casts a shadow to the left. Streams of gas leaving the nebula are funneled by a strong magnetic field. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula's base are young stars just in the process of forming. Light takes about 1,500 years to reach us […]

I just want to visit these places without instantly dying from the radiation that pours out of places like this…. So I will be inventing radiation shielding and a spaceship that can travel faster than light speed… I will be right back… Reshared post from +Astronomy Picture of the Day (APoD) The Horsehead Nebula from Blue to InfraredImage Credit & Copyright: Optical: Aldo Mottino & Carlos Colazo, OAC, Córdoba; Infrared: Hubble Legacy Archivehttp://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140728.html One of the most identifiable nebulae in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion, is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud. Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first discovered on a photographic plate in the late 1800s. The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust, although the lower part of the Horsehead's neck casts a shadow to the left. Streams of gas leaving the nebula are funneled by a strong magnetic field. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula's base are young stars just in the process of forming. Light takes about 1,500 years to reach us from the Horsehead Nebula. The […]