Being at the coast, watching the kookaburras and swimming in the cool ocean every day has brought on feelings of contentment. However, it might also be the relative absence of daily inputs of bad news, due to the lack of internet access in our tizzed up shed. Space, light, privacy and being surrounded by more trees than people have always been my idea of luxury. Next post will have more pics of knock-up day beds from mattress frames and brick pallets, good fun and with the added value of being totally expendible.
In any case, my theme for the month it is the politics of gratitude. This includes silent cheering for the thousands of highly skilled and dedicated scientists that are working to solve problems, both entrenched and emerging.
Before offering some good news, I can’t resist a snort of contempt for the crims who siphon off money in East Timor, or the military fools who seem to be running Fiji, or the blundering clowns who let Madoff’s Ponzi scheme flourish in plain sight.
But today’s offering is based on thankfulness, for the clever boffins below who give me reason to believe our species is indeed capable of progress. The following items all come from Science Daily News.
Consider the race to give new life to the internal combustion engine:
MASS PRODUCTION MICRO-HYBRID TECHNOLOGY SET TO CUT EMISSIONS AND FUEL USE IN CARS
Engineers are developing a compact, fully integrated and low-cost start-stop system for cars to replace onventional alternators in mass production. This second-generation starter alternator reversible system is intended to enable the European automotive industry to meet new EU emissions legislation and significantly reduce fuel consumption without needing to redesign the engine. Additionally, it will fulfill global demands for more energy-efficient vehicles.
— full story > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090115092703.htm
NEW METHOD ACCELERATES STABILITY TESTING OF SOY-BASED BIOFUEL
Researchers have developed a method to accelerate stability testing of biodiesel fuel made from soybeans and identified additives that enhance stability at high temperatures, work that could help overcome a key barrier to the practical use of biofuels.
— full story > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090113174537.htm
Also important is the next generation of lighting. The incandescent bulb (thank you, Mr Edison!) was wonderful in the 20th century, but something different is needed now. The breakthroughs now are so close on LED lighting, many of us wait hopefully, as it will reduce energy usage dramatically. Here is just one of those stories:
SMART LIGHTING: NEW LED DROPS THE ‘DROOP’
Researchers have developed and demonstrated a new type of light emitting diode (LED) with significantly improved lighting performance and energy efficiency. The new polarization-matched LED exhibits an 18 percent increase in light output and a 22 percent increase in wall-plug efficiency.
— full story > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090113123718.htm
Advances on the social front are just as hard to discover an implement, even though they often seem obvious in retrospect. Long ago I wrote about Design for the New Aged, and argued that good design for the elderly is also good design for the young, and all those inbetween. That was before I’d heard of Universal Design, which sort of articulates that concept. Democratic design criteria, for technology or urban spaces, is a related field. this report relates to both of those huge fields of research and practice, although it focusses on just one aspect of good human design, ie, the access and availability and incentives for group exercise:
FREE EXERCISE AND NUTRITION PROGRAM IN BRAZIL COULD SERVE AS MODEL IN UNITED STATES
What if free exercise classes were offered in public spaces such as parks, beaches and recreation centers? When a city government in Brazil tried such a program, it greatly increased physical activity among community members. A group of health researchers who studied the program believes it could also work in US cities with
warm climates.
— full story > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090113155843.htm
So three cheers for the scientists and social experimenters! What a bright bunch we humans are! Next time I promise pictures and the next installment of my adventures Under the Moruya Moon, a title which I’m sure you all know derives from a book of inverted origins…