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WcP.Scientific.Mind's blog
EU voted down body scanners in 2008: "degrading measure". Concerns: Effective? Health? Dignity? Privacy? Heavy cost?
Craziness is not rare, neither is Crime. Else, there would be no need for law, law enforcement, etc. etc.. Does Fear lead to solutions, or to panic, shutting out common sense and wisdom? EU Justice Chief has the answer: "We have to have a very clear line on this. We must never be driven by fear but by our values."
MEPs not yet convinced about body scanners, await impact analysis: "legitimate questions"... "Technology has become the new religion in counter-terrorism"... "Violation of dignity"... "no matter how much technology you have, terrorists will manage to circumvent it"... "great cost implications" of using body scanners, and advised against "putting burdens on airport companies" (also tax payers?) without the certainty that such scanners would be useful.
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Solar plane, 1st of its kind, Airbus-sized, around the world without fuel & with zero emissions: prototype runway debut
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The prototype of a solar-powered plane, the size of an Airbus and the weight of a mid-sized car, destined for a record round-the-world journey has made its 1st trip across a runway. The plane covered at least 2km at speeds of up to 5 knots on the landing strip in Switzerland. This test run saw the Solar Impulse plane outside its hangar for the first time, with tests of its motors and computer. As wide as a jumbo jet but weighing just 1,500 kg, the plane's maiden flight is scheduled for February in 2010, and a final version will attempt to cross the Atlantic in 2012. HB-SIA’s mission is to demonstrate the feasibility of a night flight making sole use of solar energy. It is a “no frills” plane built solely for verifying our technological choices. It is a true “flying lab”. The results gained from it will be used for optimizing the construction of the HB-SIB, whose mission it will be to fly around the world without fuel and with zero emissions as from 2012.
NASA reveals secrets Moon's been holding for billions of years. Moon is not a dry, desolate place but has water!
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NASA scientists have been outlining their preliminary results after crashing two unmanned spacecraft into the Moon in a bid to detect water-ice. A rocket stage slammed into the Moon's south pole at 1231 BST (0731 EDT) Oct. 9, 2009. Another craft followed just behind, looking for signs of water in debris kicked up by the first collision.
The argument that the moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water. Secrets the moon has been holding, for perhaps billions of years, are now being revealed to the delight of scientists and space enthusiasts alike.
World Solar Challenge 2009 underway: 1,864-mile solar car race across Australia, part of Global Green Challenge
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The leading cars in this year’s Global Green Challenge solar car race have passed the halfway point in their epic 1,864-mile (3,000-kilometre) race across some of Australia's harshest terrain from Darwin to Adelaide.
The Global Green Challenge - an evolution of the acclaimed World Solar Challenge - is the world's leading, cross-continental showcase of the latest advances in hybrid, electric, solar, low emission, and alternative energy vehicles. The race, which is now in its tenth year, was pioneered by the South Australian Tourism Commission and aims to highlight the latest advances in hybrid, electric, solar and alternative energy vehicles. read more »
Millions of American R&D $$$ chase tail of zero-emissions race motorcycle engineered in India by no-money privateer
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"Tourist Trophy eXtreme Grand Prix". TTXGP is not a motorcycle race but the motorcycle race: the first, the most famous, and by far the deadliest. So it's all the more surprising that in the week before the race, a dark horse emerges, freaking out all the factory teams. The fastest bike in the TTXGP prelims - two qualifying runs around the island - turns out to be from Team Agni, a total unknown, a mere privateer. Millions of American research-and-development dollars find themselves chasing the tail of a no-money ratbike engineered in India. Cedric Lynch’s first electrical motor was made from flattened soup cans. His latest powered the Team AGNI machine to a historic TTXGP victory around the famous Isle of Man Mountain Course. Born in December 1955, Cedric Lynch developed a fascination with anything electrical or mechanical which turned into a life obsession.
40 yrs ago: "we choose to go to the moon."It was hard. Now for mankind to keep Earth green, it's to be much harder
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July 20, 1969 saw the first human footsteps on the moon. John F. Kennedy remarked, "we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not only because they are easy, but because they are hard." Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, after he snapped the historic Earthrise photo on December 1968, said, "we came all this way to explore the moon and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth." Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, took with him tree seeds from a Loblolly Pine, Sycamore, Sweet Gum, Redwood, and Douglas Fir. After Roosa's return to Earth, the original seeds were germinated by the U.S. Forest Service and the result was "moon trees." Moon trees now grow in many places. A Moon Sycamore also shades Roosa's grave at Arlington National Cemetery.
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