Archaeology
November 30, 2007
When the Egypt Exploration Fund was created they had memoranda and articles of incorporation that directed the funding for site excavations which showed promise of being outside the Bible Narrative - should not be researched! This troublesome kind of bias is beyond reproach because sites like Memphis have been built over and for all intents and purposes destroyed. In the efforts of people like Schliemann (Troy) and Evans (Crete) to uncover their dreams that led from the ‘myths’ of Homer they also confused and made horrible mistakes that allow debunking science to discredit artifacts that would have proven valuable. There are so many examples of actual government destruction of artifacts and people’s careers that it is hard to pick one single example.
Tactile Squeegee for Plexiglas Windows
November 29, 2007
Cleaning Plexiglas windows is not easy, you have to be careful to apply the right amount of pressure. Too little pressure and you do not clean it very well. Too much pressure and you end up scratching it. For many years I had washed and cleaned aircraft with Plexiglas windshields.
www.AircraftWashGuys.com
It was always a challenge with the bugs on the windows, which even on a private plane will be pelted on at 150 plus knots and then melted in the hot sun. You cannot use too much of certain cleaners for they do nothing more but haze the windscreen and make it less transparent, which can cause issues with being able to see on-coming aircraft traffic. Something the size of a bug on the window could be another aircraft only 5 miles away traveling at you very fast, add that to your airspeed and you can see the seriousness of a clean windscreen.
Tactile Pressure Sensors for Future Robotics
November 28, 2007
Scientists and Robotic Researchers are attempting to design human type personal assistance robots. As they work to develop algorithms, which most resemble the thought processes of the human brain others are attempting to make them more life like thru human behavioral techniques of mirroring and facial features. Soon robots will be very much like humans, on the outside that is. Robotic humanoid devices will assist us in many of our needs. Imagine a robotic companion, it might take a walk in the park with you, go jogging or even spot for you lifting weights at the gym. As we get older and cannot do certain things for ourselves our robotic companions will be by our side as caregivers, helping with our life transitions.
The robots will be built very strong with special materials, which will not easily decay. Their strength will be that of the Bionic Man or Woman able to life heavy objects or re-arrange furniture while you command different ideas. "Move the couch over there, no, no, no good; how about over there, hmm, no what about here?" The robot does not care and will be happy to oblige without back talk, well unless it is programmed too? When interacting with humans, robots will have to be cognizant not to over power you or break your bones. Imagine have over dinner guests and the robot assistant is pouring wine, but squeezes too hard and breaks the bottle or tries to shake hands with your guests and breaks their arms?
Building an Ice House on Mars
November 27, 2007
There is ice at the Martian Poles, one of the poles has water ice in abundance. Such an ice over region could easily be converted into a habitat for a Martian Colony of human explorers. Taking humans to Mars is not such an easy task, keeping them alive once there even harder, bringing them back not easy at all. The polar water ice cap may hold the key to building a successful colony on Mars.
Do you remember the James Bond Movie that took place as the ice hotel? There is actually a place where they build one every year for visitors. Sounds cool and indeed it is, but can we use this idea to build an ice colony on Mars tunneling under the ice, chipping away and building rooms. Using the ice to derive oxygen while using the hydrogen for power. The ice can be converted to water to drink and grow plants for food? We can build small micro hydro-electric systems to provide power as well to provide back-up.
Acoustic Transducers and Material Memory in Pipelines to Create Flow Up Hill
November 26, 2007
For the better part of human history mechanical pumps and suction techniques have been used to bring water uphill. By using dynamic pressure, downhill kinetic energy, pumps, suction and heating up the fluid mankind has been busy getting those fluids to market or desired areas. We deliver oil and natural gas in pipelines, water in canals and pipes and a variety of fluids in this fashion. Material memory polymers are now available and seem to be a good fit for moving fluid uphill. Material memory works like a human muscle; it constricts and then moves back to its normal shape. Think more the toy; "Stretch Armstrong" and how you can stretch it and it simply goes back to its originally designed shape. If we line the pipelines with material memory manufactured substances we can cause them to constrict and then open which will flush the fluid forward and then the suction will quickly fill in the less dense areas of fluid and we do this over and over again.
Mississippi River Mouth Debris Jetting Using Acoustic Transducers
November 26, 2007
The Mighty Mississippi is backing up and causing flooding issues due to over growth build up at its river mouth. This is dangerous because that region is already so close to sea level. In fact much of the City of New Orleans is 12-feet under sea level and protected by a man-made seawall. If we could clear the path to the ocean and watch the fertilizer run off from up river, we may save ourselves a lot of future outlays in the event of a sea wall breach. The current estimate is 155 Billion Dollars in FEMA aid if a large category Hurricane makes a direct land hit at New Orleans, Louisiana.
Using acoustic transducers to molecularly align the water molecules to make them thicker, fast moving water can be forced into a smaller and smaller area and used like a large volume pressure washer. This jetting effect can help clear out some of the growth and allow water to flow thru the area into the Gulf of Mexico and reduce the rising water build up of the current constriction. It will also help prevent the formation of large algae blooms, which poison fish and can get into water supplies. Although no one has ever tried this before and the power consumption to do this would be intense, it is considerably better than doing nothing and what we learn in trying and researching this could in fact yield transfer technologies in many other sectors.
Embryonic Stem Cell
November 25, 2007
Stem cells are primitive undifferentiated cells that have the capability to form any of the 220 different types of cells in the human body. The embryonic stem cell is found in the embryo and develops into various cells that make a baby. This single cell is capable of forming or specializing to form any kind of cell. During embryonic development the first cell quickly divides to form three embryonic layers namely, the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm.
Embryonic stem cell research and the method of cloning led to the development of the famous cloned sheep, Dolly. Cloning essentially involves the duplication of biological material. This is done through a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer. This method can create a clone as well as be used for producing an embryo from which cells called embryonic stem (ES) cells could be extracted. The advantage of embryonic stem cells is that they can be used to cure several fatal genetic diseases.
Where Do Insects Go When It Rains?
November 24, 2007
Have you ever wondered where insects go when it rains? We have all seen a poor unfortunate spider washed down the plughole so we know how vulnerable they are to rushing water. Surely then, isn’t rain one of their worst enemies?
Sorry, but this is one of these “it depends” things. It depends on the volume of the rain and the insect. If rain is light to moderate, most insects will take this in their stride. Just like us, they will take shelter. You may find insects under leaves or rock crevices. If the rain is light enough they may be quite happy to stay out and even enjoy it a little.
If the rain is heavy then things can be quite different. Insects that frequent water more often, like mosquitoes and water skaters will negotiate rising, flooding and flowing water with more ease. Those insects that are more used to dry land will be the most affected. Larger insects will cling to whatever shelter they can find until they are eventually washed along by running water. Depending on the insect, they will configure themselves to float on the water whilst protecting themselves. In general is not common for insects to drown. Many will simply be displaced and found themselves in new surroundings. Some, though, will inevitably perish.
An Immortal Horse
November 23, 2007
Egyptian scholars know there is little other than fiction that can be written about the civilization that lived on the banks of the Nile in far more recent times than the beginning of the ‘Old Copper Culture’. All these things are related and the old fictions are replaceable with the story of a worldwide culture with trading posts in each and every part of the world. Is there any remnant of cultural pride in Iran that treats the ancient metallurgists of their region with a different kind of respect than our history attributes to them? Does anyone think these nationalistic ideologues and pedagogues of today are real and honest presenters of fact? The whole concept of nationalism and most other ‘isms’ (except ecumenicism) need close scrutiny. The area of the Snake River in east central Minnesota may have been the site of copper mining when the glaciers covered the Great Lakes. Would it be possible for people 20,000 years ago to have been mining these sites and lost their access due to the glaciers? We humbly suggest this is the case and that they then returned as the glaciers melted. Petaga Point and work by Peter Bleed in 1969 may offer a starting point for that kind of thinking. He wrote The Archaeology of Petaga Point: The Preceramic Component by the Minnesota Historical Society.
Einstein Half Dead
November 22, 2007
100 years ago Albert Einstein developed his Relativity Theory of physics that claimed that the universe is actually based on a space-time-gravity continuum (a non-mechanical version of Rene Descartes’ earlier mechanical ether theory) and with time as variable and relative.
Einstein believed that his theory disproved “all of Isaac Newton’s physics theory”, and that “Newton’s theory” had disproved all earlier physics theories. Einstein accepted that his Relativity Theory contained basic illogicalities and that it failed to explain electrical and magnetic phenomena. He concluded that its its omissions needed resolving, but that its illogicalities had to be accepted as its maths were certainly an advance over Newton’s in correctly predicting more in astronomy and some other areas.
But Einstein and other modern physicists have dealt chiefly with the physics issues of the time, showing poor grasp of earlier physics theories. Newton did not claim to have any physics theory, only a set of black-box mathematical laws that he concluded might be consistant with either of the two main earlier physics theories of Rene Descartes and William Gilbert. The improved maths of Einstein’s theory in itself is perhaps no proof of Einstein’s postulated explanation - just as Newton did not claim proof of any particular explanation?
