Science/Technology blog

Posted in Physics at 4:00 pm by David Bradley — 2 Comments

On this side of The Atlantic, there is growing interest this week in Jonny Wilkinson’s balls, and more to the point how he kicks them. Wilkinson’s drop goals are testament to his keen understanding of the physics of aerodynamics, fluid mechanics, and possibly even the Bernoulli effect. Perfect fodder for a physics science project I reckon, just watch…

Posted in Science, spectroscopy at 4:00 pm by David Bradley — Click to comment

Science news with a spectroscopy bent from my desktop hit the virtual newsstands today over on SpectroscopyNOW.com First up, an atomic coilgun that can stop atoms in their tracks using a sequence of pulsed magnetic fields has been developed by US scientists. The device opens up the possibility of slowing and trapping atoms regardless of atomic number, which is not possible even with Nobel prize winning laser trapping science, which works only for specific atoms. The new approach could allow technologically important elements such as iron, nickel, and the most fundamental element of all, hydrogen, to be slowed to a standstill.

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Here is a picture I took during a night
of observing on the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
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We’ve all heard the latest health advice: Avoid transfats. Eat more fruits and vegetables. You may notice those changes on grocery store shelves, but for many school children, their cafeteria lunch menus haven’t caught up. This year, an effort to get healthy foods to the school lunch table is tied up in a much larger debate - national farm policy.

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Posted in Health, Chemistry at 4:00 pm by David Bradley — 3 Comments

Does eating chocolate give you a headache? What about red wine? Cheese, perhaps? Yes, well read on to find out how a space-age detector developed to look for signs of life on Mars could soon become the kitchen gadget of choice for anyone who suffers a painful reaction to their food.

According to a paper to be published in the November 1 issue of Analytical Chemistry, researchers at the University of California Berkeley have developed a fast and inexpensive test suitable for domestic use that can spot the toxins in certain foods, particularly “aged” or fermented products, including chocolate, cheese and wine. The device could be engineered into a PDA or other handheld device for greater portability and instant access to information on any toxins found in a particular food or drink.

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Posted in Science at 4:00 pm by David Bradley — Click to comment

In this month’s Intute Spotlight, I report on a new approach to carbon storage that researchers hope will allow us to reduce or stabilise atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, although I have my doubts.

Carbon sequestration is a well-studied theoretical approach to reduce carbon emissions by locking up carbon dioxide deep in the ground or on the ocean floor in various forms. Whether or not such an approach is tenable in terms of the overall energy balance is open to debate but experimental efforts at developing efficient systems to extract the gas from the emissions of electric power stations are underway. The latest effort was recently patented by researchers at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.

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Posted in Coupons at 11:00 pm by David Bradley — 3 Comments

According to Toby Freedman, a university life “generally does not prepare individuals for careers in industry”. On the other hand, news this week that a freshman physics class just launched their own company, suggests he might on occasion be wrong. Nevertheless, an academic training is not entirely compatible with a move to the harsh realities of the commercial world and Freedman, who does hold a PhD, which she obtained from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has written a book to help life scientists make the transition.

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Posted in Health at 11:13 am by David Bradley — Click to comment

The Nobel Prize website was offline at the time of writing presumably unable to take the strain of hacks and bloggers every scrabbling to learn of the winners. Anyway, Mario R. Capecchi (US) and Oliver Smithies (US) and Martin J. Evans (UK) have won the 2007 Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology for their work on gene targeting in mice.

Their research is being used to help scientists understand at the cellular level why certain diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, occur and why otherwise healthy people can succumb to cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, and cancer.

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When it comes to alternative energy, most people think of solar or wind. But the hills just north of Sonoma wine country are a world leader in another kind of clean power, and under an ambitious new project, they are about to produce even more.

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I hope some of our QUEST blog readers were able to attend the West Coast Green conference held September 19-22 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Home Energy magazine is a media sponsor for the event and our staff handed out well over 1,000 magazines, pressed a lot of flesh, and were involved in well over 100 hours of passionate, stimulating, exciting conversation with builders, contractors, architects, homeowners, and others about green home building and renovation. Wow, what a great time! Plus exhibitors there handed out free organic beer and wine, and really great swag like a cool LED flashlight from PG&E. You could sit on a couch made of grass and calculate your total carbon footprint at the PG&E booth.

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