Despite all the hype and publicity about the benefits of walking for half an hour three or four days a week, moderate exercise will not help with weight loss:

The Myth of Moderate Exercise

Scientists performed a really interesting experiment. They started with 200 overweight women weighing an average of 193 pounds. They had all of them restrict calories to the 1,200 to 1,500 range per day. They broke them into four groups:
1) one group burned 1,000 calories per week with moderate exercise
2) one group burned 1,000 calories per week with intense exercise
3) one group burned 2,000 calories per week with moderate exercise
4) one group burned 2,000 calories per week with intense exercise
Then they tracked them for two years.

Here’s what they found:

- “The women who managed to lose at least 10% of their starting body weight (which was, on average, about 193 lbs.) — and keep it off — were exercising twice as long as health authorities typically recommend and expending more than twice as many calories through exercise as women who had no change in body weight”

- “The biggest weight losers were active a full 68 minutes a day, five days a week”

- “Exercise was more strongly associated with weight loss than any other factor, including diet. Overall, the more the women exercised, the more weight they lost.”

- You need to exercise a lot - “275 minutes per week (about 55 minutes per day, five days a week) … for weight maintenance.”

Summary - you need an hour a day, five days a week or intense exercise (burning 500 calories per day) for the exercise to translate into weight loss.

“Moderate exercise” doesn’t cut it. If you walk for an hour, it only burns about 250 to 300 calories.

[See previous doesn’t work]

Two days ago, Scaled Composites rolled out White Knight 2. This video demonstrates another use for this type of airplane. The video claims it can put four people in orbit (and bring them back) for $20 million per flight. Typical use would be to get to and from the International space station:

Processing the chicks:

Processing the eggs:

Processing the meat:

[See previous question]

A new museum has opened that lets people take a tour through a giant human body:

Museum Corpus - The attraction of the human body

This video takes you on a quick tour:

In 1978, way ahead of the curve, Jack Nicholson (of all people) leads the charge toward a hydrogen future. He converts his Chevy to run on hydrogen created using solar energy:

There’s no magic here. Instead of burning gasoline in an internal combustion engine, Jack’s car is burning hydrogen. Slight modifications to the carb were needed, but that’s about it.

Fast forward 30 years. BMW releases its hydrogen car. It’s a little slicker, in that it can switch between gasoline and hydrogen, but it is exactly the same idea.

Jay Leno reviews the BMW hydrogen car:

Another review and interview:

A nice 3D animation showing the fueling process and engine operation:

Fueling the car:

One funny thing from the fueling video. It appears that the price is 8 euros per kilogram of hydrogen, or $16 per kilogram. Gasoline in the US is about $1.30 per kilogram right now.

[See previous BFTP]

Here’s the answer:

Why are there no green stars?

[See previous question]

The domain name service (DNS) is open to attack right now. In fact, attacks are being reported:

DNS disaster: first attacks reported

If you would like to learn more about DNS, see How DNS works. If you would like to learn more about the attack, see Details here (it also has a tool that will check your DNS server for problems).

If you would like to protect yourself, you can change a couple of settings and eliminate the problem. This article explains how:

Protect yourself against poison DNS attacks in 30 seconds

See also this discussion of the problem by Dan Kaminsky:

[See previous DNS]

New Alzheimer’s drug shows early promise - “For the first time, an experimental drug shows promise for halting the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by taking a new approach: breaking up the protein tangles that clog victims’ brains…”

The Amazing Effects of Nitrous Oxide (On Your Car) - “Don’t let it fool you though, nitrous oxide is more than just a chemical turbocharger, it’s powerful medicine. At the most basic level, combustion is just fuel plus oxygen. Increase either one drastically, and you’re upping the power drastically. With nitrous, you can increase your engine power literally up to thousands of horsepower, that’s enough to do very permanent damage…”

Ancient Olympic Calculator Discovered - “An ancient astronomy calculator appears to show the four-year cycle of the early Greek competitions that inspired today’s Olympic Games…”

Toshiba master plan unveiled - “So here’s the low-down. SRT technology is what we all expected: a SpursEngine stuck in a DVD player that upscales your DVD resolution to something close to (but not quite) 1080p – similar to that Qosmio G55 proposition. The untrained eye is unlikely to tell the difference between this and 1080p HD. We’ve seen some of the upscaling demos and they are quite a bit better than your standard DVD…”

How-To: Install Linux Risk Free, With No Formatting or Repartitioning Required - “Ubuntu contains many unique and innovative qualities designed to make it less intimidating the average Windows user who may be looking for a change. One of these features is called Live CD. Once you have downloaded and burned a copy of the Live CD ISO, you will have the ability to launch a fully functional copy of the Ubuntu to test out driver compatibility and to sample the user interface, all without installing a single file to your PC. This guide will walk you through testing your hardware and installing a dual boot setup all without formatting or repartitioning your hard drive…”

Neuros open set-top box puts Linux in living rooms

The dumbing down of science - “What “Pirates” doesn’t teach is science; instead it dumbs down learning to a theme-park level. The show ends, as these things always do, at a gift shop featuring a dazzling array of overpriced junk - swords, a stuffed “pirate pup,” and skull-and-crossbones sunglasses…”

Optical storage goes deep: 1TB stored in three dimensions - “Exploiting three dimensions for storage opens up a great deal more space for data…”

Ten lies about microprocessors - “People get passionate about processors in a way they don’t over DRAMs or decoders. Everyone has favorites, as well as horror stories about the one they’ll never use again. Legend and lore surround microprocessors. Some is useful, but a lot is superstition ingrained by tradition…”

Obama and McCain Tax Proposals - “Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both proposing tax plans that would result in cuts for most American families. Obama’s plan gives the biggest cuts to those who make the least, while McCain would give the largest cuts to the very wealthy…”

The 20 saltiest foods in America - “Salty food may seem like the least of your worries, especially if you’re among the 40 percent of people who mindlessly shake salt on every dish. An extra dash here, a few sprinkles there–what’s the big deal?”

Synchrotron Radiation Technique Reveals ‘Hidden’ Van Gogh Painting - “Using a new technique based on synchrotron radiation induced X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, an international research team, including members from Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) and the University of Antwerp (Belgium), has successfully applied this technique for the first time to the painting entitled Patch of Grass by Vincent van Gogh. Behind this painting is a portrait of a woman…”

A robot with feelings is star of science museum show - “Heart Robot, created by scientists at the University of the West of England in Bristol, was designed to explore how humans react to a machine that appears to show feelings…”

Caffeine use common in athletes - “British athletes routinely use caffeine to boost their performance, say researchers…”

The Uncertain Future of the International Space Station - “The International Space Station isn’t scheduled to be completed for two more years, but a growing chorus of engineers and executives is already brainstorming about what to do with the ISS after its life span ends in 2015. Given how long it has taken to put together the actual pieces in space—the Japanese experiment module Kibo was finally installed just a few weeks ago—and the tens of billions of dollars sunk into the station, it’s understandable that many would like to see the working power of the ISS extended to 2020 or beyond. Plans range from the humble, like guiding it into a fiery reentry, to the ludicrous, like driving the station to the moon and parking it there…”

[See previous IR]

Is there a blood test to detect cancer? Not yet, but we may be getting closer. Here is one way that might do it:

[See previous question]

Today a new jet pack was demonstrated at Oshkosh:

More info:

- Could the world see its first ‘practical’ jetpack?

- The Jetpack is Here!

On August 1 there will a total solar eclipse. You can learn about it here:

See also - Sun’s Eclipse Coming August 1 2008 (And A Guide On All The Ways To View It)

Could you create a steam-powered machine gun? Here’s the answer:

[See previous question]

A startling set of photos that demonstrate America’s massive consumption:

Running the Numbers - An American Self-Portrait

Several of them make your jaw drop.

[See previous photos]

Try the dilemma and see how you do:

You Have Found The Prisoners’ Dilemma

[See previous test]

This video takes the first 1,000 hours of building a home made airplane and compresses it into 3 minutes. In this case it appears to be an aluminum airplane that is being riveted together. The pins that you see sticking out during construction are temporary fasteners that you use to get everything fit together and all the holes aligned. Then you take each temporary fastener out and replace it with a rivet:

It turns out that this is a standard manufacturing process used in everything from Lear Jests to C-130s.

Here’s the next 250 hours:

1,250 to 1,500 hours:

1,500 to 1,750:

Obviously this is a long-term project not for the faint of heart.

Here, a different builder gets his RV7 finished and heads out for his first flight:

For more info:

- Dan’s RV project]

- Van’s aircraft RV7
[See previous DIY]

5 Tiny Mistakes That Led To Huge Catastrophes

The 5 are:
- AOL file
- NY power failure
- Hubble
- B-2
- Mars climate orbiter

Branson unveils space tourism craft ‘WhiteKnightTwo’

From the article:

The high-altitude aircraft, also named “Eve” in honor of Branson’s mother, will act as the mothership for the spacecraft Spaceship Two, which in turn will launch in midair and send two crew and six passengers hurtling into space.

The first flights of WhiteKnightTwo are expected to take place later this year, with Spaceship Two being attached for a maiden flight sometime in 2009.

Here’s what White Knight 2 looks like:

And an animation of a typical “flight”:

Here’s a look at the original announcement in January:

Will the Virgin Galactic 2 Lift Off?

Lots of news today about Cuil.com, a supposed Google-killer:

Former Google employees prepare rival search engine

It got huge press today. It is supposed to be “faster, bigger, better”. Is it? Two quick takes:

Not So Cuil After All

How does Skype get through a firewall? Here’s the answer:

The hole trick

[See previous question]

You can have a swing set in the backyard, or a rope swing into a river. Here’s the biggest swing of all:

More info: The World’s Highest Swing

[See WR #38]

Tech Zombies: 6 Technologies That Don’t Know They’re Dead

The six:
- Phone books
- MP3 players
- DVDs
- Magazines, catalogs, newspapers
- Video games on disc
- Cash

For many more examples see: SadTech

[See previous MYT]

Why is the US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) 4 feet, 8.5 inches? Here’s the answer:

Was standard railroad gauge (4′8½”) determined by Roman chariot ruts?

[See previous question]

When you boil water in the microwave, it can superheat and cause amazing eruptions of scalding water, as seen here. So be aware of the possibility and careful when boiling water in a microwave:

[See previous PSA]

Strangely, this does help to read faster after a couple of minutes of getting used to it:

Spreeding

Kind of hard to do it without the tool though.

What if you want to move up to 500 words per minute? Here’s another take on the same idea:

[See previous LS]

The Monster Beetle

It reminds me a little of Inside a Competition Tractor except the photos of the Beetle are much better.

[See previous photos]

Why we never need to build another polluting power plant - “Suppose I paid you for every pound of pollution you generated and punished you for every pound you reduced. You would probably spend most of your time trying to figure out how to generate more pollution. And suppose that if you generated enough pollution, I had to pay you to build a new plant, no matter what the cost, and no matter how much cheaper it might be to not pollute in the first place. Well, that’s pretty much how we have run the U.S. electric grid for nearly a century…”

Warp Drive Engine Would Travel Faster Than Light - “It is possible to travel faster than light. You just wouldn’t travel faster than light…”

Clear Channel unveils online radio network with 900-plus stations - “Clear Channel Communications Inc. said Monday it will launch an online radio network that offers more than 900 stations, including independent online stations…”

10 Most and Least Expensive Cars to Insure - “If you want to cut your auto insurance premiums to the bone, stay away from small, fast cars…”

Secrets of Stonehenge unearthed - “New research suggests that Stonehenge was used as a cemetery for more than 500 years, much longer than previously thought. The new findings also show that people used the area as a burial site long before placement of its trademark stones (or sarsen stones) was complete…”

‘Good Bacteria’ May Help Ward Off Asthma In Kids - “A little bug that can cause stomach pains in adults may actually be beneficial in kids…”

Language evolution witnessed in lab experiments - “Simon Kirby and Hannah Cornish are watching evolution take place within the confines of their laboratory. But they are studying neither bodies nor genes; their interest lies in languages, and how they change over time…”

Scholar Finds New Archaeological Sites by Googling - “David Thomas, a Ph.D. student in La Trobe University’s archaeological program in Melbourne, has used Google Earth to safely uncover historic sites in a remote part of war-torn Afghanistan…”

Patent Office finds voice, calls for software patent sanity - “Perhaps shaken by the negative publicity generated from that case and others, the USPTO seems to have gotten religion on patent quality…”

Optimizing Science Education: What We Will Need For The University Of 2020 - “Now I am going to discuss what this new optimized university - our university of 2020 - will look like. While academics might wish for an ideal university with unlimited resources and no real constraints, it is more useful to ask what is possible in the real world…”

Spider vs. Bee… BBC vs. National Geographic - “And yet both clips were superbly photographed, both accurately explained some quite complex information, and both clearly provided good entertainment to their viewers. So why are they so different?”

Build a Web spider on Linux - “A spider is a program that crawls the Internet in a specific way for a specific purpose. The purpose could be to gather information or to understand the structure and validity of a Web site. Spiders are the basis for modern search engines, such as Google and AltaVista. These spiders automatically retrieve data from the Web and pass it on to other applications that index the contents of the Web site for the best set of search terms…”

Seven Common Dreams and What They Mean - “Dreams come to us in our most private moments: wrapped up in sheets, our public faces stored away for the night. The visions we see in sleep are supposed to be expressions of our individual psyches and imaginations, but most people’s dreams are based on themes that are very common…”

Teen & Adult Drug Use Statistics that will blow your mind - “Dozens of illicit substances are used daily around the nation. 5 of these substances have emerged as the most popular (and therefore most abused) over the years. Looking at these drugs based on their number of users gives a clear picture of the magnitude of national popularity, as well as a clear snapshot of the past four decades of use….”

Diamonds May Have Jump-started Life on Earth - “One of the greatest mysteries in science is how life began. Now one group of researchers says diamonds may have been life’s best friend….”

[See previous IR]

New Cookware Speeds Microwaving Time

[See previous invention]

Oobleck is the name given to a mixture of corn starch and water. If you mix about 3 cups of corn tarch with 2 cups of water (or any smaller or larger batch with similar proportions) it will have the right consistency. The thing that makes oobleck interesting is is changing behavior. when it is moving slowly i behaves like a normal gooey liquid. But when moving fast or under an applied force, it solidifies. This video, even though it’s in the wrong language, gives a nice demonstration of the changing properties:

The Mythbuster version:

That’s a huge amount of oobleck. Here’s a kitchen-scale demonstration:

Because of its weird position between solid and liquid, it can do some very strange things when placed on a speaker or a vibrating surface:

Here are instructions for trying it yourself:

It seems like someone would have come up with a practical use for it by now, or maybe some kind of toy. But I haven’t seen anything yet. Is there an invention waiting in the wings?

Is it possible to fake your death and vanish? Here’s the answer:

How to disappear without a trace

From the article:

Faking one’s death is known as pseudocide. And a score of websites offer tips and hints on how best to vanish successfully - providing advice on how to cut family ties, sell possessions and start up a new business under an new identity.

See also:

Getting Away From It All

[See previous question]

We seem to go back and forth on this. Today the verdict is, “cell phones do cause cancer”. It does seem like more and more studies are coming to this conclusion:

This is Your Brain. This is Your Brain on Cell Phones

From the article:

This week Dr. Ronald Heberman — director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Center — released a memo warning staff and faculty of health risks that may be connected with cell phone use. In May researchers from UCLA and Denmark analyzing data from a vast 13,000 person study reported cell phone use in pregnancy seriously elevated the risk of behavioral problems and diagnoses. In March an award-winning UK neurosurgeon warned that the impact of brain cancer associated with mobile phones may be more dangerous than asbestos and smoking…

See also: 10 Practical Tips To Keep Your Cellphone From Killing You

[See previous PSA]