A tiny chemical reactor that can convert vegetable oil directly into biodiesel could help farmers turn some of their crops into homegrown fuel to operate agricultural equipment instead of relying on costly imported oil.******** The device is small, but it can be stacked in banks to increase production levels to the volume required for commercial …
Here’s a fascinating article on John Koza’s Invention Machine, which uses the principles of evolution to find solutions to problems. Does it work? Well, it’s the first non-human designer to receive a U.S. patent. It just out-designed two leading optics researchers. And it’s invented a specialized antenna that will soon fly in space. Fascinating. (Via …
Perhaps because I’m working on two children’s books about the elements neon and magnesium, I found this “Periodic Chart of the Rejected Elements” particularly amusing. Let’s see, on this periodic table, neon, number 10, is hydrox, and magnesium, number 12, is pekingnese. The former is an Al Kaline metal and the latter is copyright Microsoft …
Mother Northwind’s piercing blue eyes studied him for a long moment–long enough for him to feel thoroughly uncomfortable. He suspected she had stared precisely the same way at each specimen of butterfly just before pinning it to the board. “So,” she said. “On the other side of the Great Barrier, there is no magic? The …
…that stimulates retinal cells by spraying them with neurotransmitters could restore sight to blind people.
More evidence for the hygiene hypothesis.
Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York, have developed a new technology that can link digital images to the specific camera that took them. It promises to be an invaluable tool for criminal investigators fighting child pornography, and can also be used to detect forged digital images.
More photos here.
(Note: I decided to expand this regular Hassenpfeffer feature [Hassenfeature?] to paragraphs from sentences just so it makes a bit more sense.) Brenna knocked on the door of the cottage. Anton stood behind her in the snow, shivering. He’d always hated cold weather and this forsaken part of the world had more than its fair …
More photos here.
Our society, despite once-upon-a-time dreams, still runs on paper—and to make paper, you first have to make pulp. Wood is made up of fibers of cellulose bound together by a substance called lignin. The goal of pulp making is to get rid of the lignin and keep the fibers. Once upon a time, all pulp …
“Witches don’t use magic–they talk to the dead.”
