Crash test - look how far we've come

Look at the difference in intrusion of the front of the car - wow.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourCar/crash-test-1959-chevy-vs-2009-chevy.aspx?gt1=33009

NYTimes.com: Fanfare for the Working Van

Built for small business: "...a navigation system with an in-dash computer that can be linked to a business owner's office or home computer. Using it, a document from the office or home can be opened, modified and printed on a Bluetooth-linked printer." AUTOMOBILES / CAR REVIEWS | September 27, 2009 Behind the Wheel | 2010 Ford Transit Connect: Fanfare for the Working Van By CHERYL JENSEN Since 2003 Ford has sold more than 625,000 Transit Connects in 58 countries, but its proportions are startlingly new to Americans.

An RV that gets better than 20 mpg and sleeps 4.

This diesel motorhome based on the Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter van gets reports on magazine tests and from people's blogs as getting 21 to 24 mpg loaded. That's a whole lot better than <10 mpg for most motor homes. They have ingeniously crammed everything you need for 4 into an unexpanded long Sprinter chassis and body.
http://www.roadtrek.com/models.aspx?ModelID=23&YearID=11&Country=USA

NYTimes: Solar Power, Without All Those Panels

PhotoVoltaic encapsulants and photovoltaic integrated building materials etc.
NOVELTIES: Solar Power, Without All Those Panels

Now shingles, siding and tiles can contain the photovoltaic cells that
homes need to harness the sun's power.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/business/27novel.html

NYTimes: The Claim: Lack of Sleep Increases the Risk of Catching a Cold.

From The New York Times:

REALLY?: The Claim: Lack of Sleep Increases the Risk of Catching a Cold.

As cold season approaches, many Americans stock up on their vitamin C
and echinacea, but heeding the advice on getting more sleep could be
more important.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/22/health/22real.html

Magnetic Liquid is Crazy

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpI4EiGACo8&feature=youtube_gdata

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Ferrofluid: How it works

Check out this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvtUt02zVAs&feature=youtube_gdata

Sachiko Kodama, Yasushi Miyajima "Morpho Towers -- Two Stand

Ferrofluids are made up of tiny magnetic fragments of iron suspended in oil (often kerosene) with a surfactant to prevent clumping (usually oleic acid). The fluid is relatively easy to make at home yet extremely expensive to buy on-line. How does $165 a liter sound? Pretty bad, right? Read on to learn how to make ferrofluids on the cheap.
There are many commercial applications for ferrofluids--speakers and hard drives being the most common. The oily fluid prevents debris from entering hard drives when a small amount is placed between the magnets and shaft. In the case of speakers ferrofluids remove heat from the voice coils and help dampen the cone movement. (From Popular Science)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me5Zzm2TXh4&feature=youtube_gdata

How to buy a car on eBay - MSN Money

This is a useful article with caveats about buying a car from an
online auction. There's usually a lot of money tied up in the
transaction, and so buyer beware.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Saveonacar/P92243.asp

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Preventing eBay Fraud, Escrow Fraud, Auto Fraud, Internet Fraud, Cashiers Check Fraud

A useful list of online auction-based frauds and scams.
http://www.carbuyingtips.com/fraud.htm

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Google now crowdsourcing street traffic flow data to make your commute suck less!

http://www.intomobile.com/2009/08/25/google-now-crowdsourcing-street-traffic-flow-data-to-make-your-commute-suck-less.html

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SWATH semi submerged Catamaran

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamaran?wasRedirected=true

Catamarans are slowed by their large surface area at water line. The
SWATH design submerges the flotation and minimizes hull size at the
water line. The boat plows through waves rather than riding over them,
so it's stable in rough seas.

Electric hybrid boat

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQiV_0BZfg8&feature=youtube_gdata

It was described in this month's Popular Science, page 15. I was surprised to see that it took 2200 pounds of batteries. Of course, they wanted it to run for 3 hours on batteries only, and they needed an electric motor with 268 horsepower to get it to go 38 mph. 

NYTimes.com: Gadgetwise: It's Your Lipitor on Line 2

A pill bottle that sends a text message if you haven't taken your pills! How cool is that? TECHNOLOGY | April 01, 2009 Gadgetwise: It's Your Lipitor on Line 2 By Roy Furchgott A networked pill bottle calls to remind you to take your medicine

Glasses that Remind the Wearer to Blink

http://www.popsci.com/gear-amp-gadgets/article/2009-07/wink-glasses-remind-computer-users-blink

Serendipity in Research: Finding a database exists already.

I love this story of sleuthing out a database that already existed to explore the risk of getting fat if your friends get fat - social contagiousness. 

 NYTimes: Is Happiness Catching?

Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler say your friends — and even your friends' friends — can make you quit smoking, eat too much or get happy. A look inside the emerging science of social contagio

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/magazine/13contagion-t.html

How to Handle a Tire Blowout

This video explains that you neither brake nor coast when a tire blows out - you gently accelerate. They actually forced blowouts in motor homes to prove their point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwOE1yKY5c

Arctic Shortcut Beckons Shippers as Ice Thaws

Shortening the journey from Yokohama to Rotterdam by 4500 miles versus
the Suez-canal route is worth the troubles of a 6-week summer season,
the need for an ice-breaker escort, and battling Russian red tape.

Arctic Shortcut Beckons Shippers as Ice Thaws

Two German ships are poised to complete, for the first time, a
commercial shipment transit from Asia to Europe over the waters of the
Arctic north of Russia.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/11/science/earth/11passage.html

Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

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NYTimes: Repair Options for Ailing Electronics

Fixya.com

Repair Options for Ailing Electronics

Electronic devices, seemingly built for quick obsolescence, can
sometimes be repaired for much less than it would cost to replace them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/technology/12shortcuts.html

NYTimes: Big Food vs. Big Insurance

As soon as insurance is extended to everyone at the same cost through health reform, it'll be the insurers who will be motivated to change America's dietary habits:

"Even under the weaker versions of health care reform now on offer, health insurers would be required to take everyone at the same rates, provide a standard level of coverage and keep people on their rolls regardless of their health. Terms like "pre-existing conditions" and "underwriting" would vanish from the health insurance rulebook — and, when they do, the relationship between the health insurance industry and the food industry will undergo a sea change."
"...few things could do more to slow the rise of Type 2 diabetes among adolescents than to reduce their soda consumption, which represents 15 percent of their caloric intake"
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR: Big Food vs. Big Insurance

The American way of eating has become the elephant in the room in the debate over health care.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/opinion/10pollan.html

nytimes

Italic writing - easier to read.

Italic handwriting is much easier to read than the classic looped 'Palmer' method cursive. It's well explained and illustrated in this article.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/09/04/opinion/20090908_opart.html?em

World's most complicated drum set.

Here's a time lapse of a ridiculously complicated drum set, and two videos of the drummer paying it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xir6EVkzDws

Cheese that keeps without refrigeration

Mimolette

http://books.google.com/books?id=TI6xXXak_PwC&pg=PT11&lpg=PT11&dq=mimolette+no+refrigeration&source=bl&ots=m71KjzCJgR&sig=lNDGQjQBee9LshZ91b-KMtM6hAA&hl=en&ei=6tieSuHAGYPMsQP759EY&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=mimolette%20no%20refrigeration&f=false

Hard grating cheeses, with less than 34% moisture, tend to keep better without refrigeration.

http://www.publichealthmdc.com/environmental/food/documents/cheese.pdf