Interesting Reading…

Top ten greatest experiments - “I longed for the old days when something new and fundamental could be teased from nature by a single mind and a single pair of hands. I began compiling a list that became a book: The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments…”

A Crushing Issue: How to Destroy Brand-New Cars - “It all started about two years ago, when a ship carrying 4,703 shiny new Mazdas nearly sank in the Pacific. The freighter, the Cougar Ace, spent weeks bobbing on the high seas, listing at a severe 60-degree angle, before finally being righted. The mishap created a dilemma: What to do with the cars? They had remained safely strapped down throughout the ordeal — but no one knew for sure what damage, if any, might be caused by dangling cars at such a steep angle for so long. Might corrosive fluids seep into chambers where they don’t belong? Was the Cougar Ace now full of lemons?”

From the “Abuse Your Customer” Business Manual - “This saga is why Big 5 Music Label executives are among the most hated businessmen in America. Last June, Universal Music Group sued to have a video clip of a 13-month old toddler dancing to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” removed from YouTube. Universal argued that the author – the child’s mother, Stephanie Lenz – violated the copyright of the song, which plays in the background of the video…”

Carbon Sciences May Save the World with Chalk - “And yet they have a demonstrated (though not patented) technology that allows them to turn CO2 into useful (and in some cases) very valuable commercial products…”

No Power Use in Standby: New Zero-Watt Monitor - “Computer monitors in standby mode will soon save far more energy. Fujitsu Siemens Computers has developed the world’s first monitor that requires no electricity at all in idle mode…”

Microsoft device helps police pluck evidence from cyberscene of crime - “Microsoft has developed a small plug-in device that investigators can use to quickly extract forensic data from computers that may have been used in crimes…”

Whats to come for the airline boarding pass - “a new concept has been designed to give you all the information in a tear-off boarding pass…”

Challenging Science - “The scientific enterprise is open to new ideas, however much they initially may be challenged. Here are some examples of people who have challenged the scientific status quo and, far from being “expelled” from science, were lauded as visionaries – once they had successfully proven their ideas…”

Don’t underestimate a red back spider!

9-Year-Old Boy Finds $265,000 Medieval Treasure Trove - “A nine-year-old Swedish boy and his grandfather have found a hoard of 13th-century coins while treasure hunting on a battlefield. Just the silver in the coins alone is estimated to be worth a whopping $265,000…”

Solar without the Panels - “In a solar thermal plant, mirrors concentrate sunlight onto some type of fluid that is used, in turn, to boil water for a steam turbine. Over the past year, developers of solar thermal technology such as Abengoa, Ausra, and Solel Solar Systems have picked up tens of millions of dollars in financing and power contracts from major utilities such as Pacific Gas and Electric and Florida Power and Light. By 2013, projects in development in just the United States and Spain promise to add just under 6,000 megawatts of solar thermal power generation to the barely 100 megawatts installed worldwide last year, says Cambridge, MA, consultancy Emerging Energy Research…”

Electric Airplanes Take Flight. Get Yours Now - “You’re probably not going to live to see an electric 747 landing at O’Hare, but a growing number of aeronautical engineers believe electric airplanes are the future of general aviation…”

World Bank backs anti-Aids experiment - “”Thousands of people in Africa will be paid to avoid unsafe sex, under a groundbreaking World Bank-backed experiment aimed at halting the spread of Aids…

How I Played Games for Science - “A new study conducted by researchers at East Carolina University suggests that playing casual games like Peggle or Bejeweled can have a significant impact on a player’s mood or stress level, but you don’t have to take their word for it. You can take mine — I was one of the subjects tested for the study…”

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