Down the drain, then into biofuel.

About 5% of what we throw down the drain is grease, and it can be collected and turned into fuel - neat!TE
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-10/new-plan-could-turn-dirty-grease-and-dairy-biofuel

Cheaper Better MRI

This ingenious researcher built his own MRI machine to study lungs in upright subjects.  Because the inhaled helium atoms are so light, a weaker magnetic field can be used than for conventional (water-based) MRI scanning.TE

http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/martinos/assets/Nov2010PopSci.pdf

NYTimes: Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore

If people have more money, it seems neither they nor their neighbors are any happier for it. TE

ECONOMIC VIEW: Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore

Economics was founded by moral philosophers, and links between the two disciplines remain strong. So why won't economists make judgments on the gap between rich and poor?

http://nyti.ms/9Cg2SD

"...income growth has been concentrated at the top of the scale. The share of total income going to the top 1 percent of earners, which stood at 8.9 percent in 1976, rose to 23.5 percent by 2007
"...Recent research on psychological well-being has taught us that beyond a certain point, across-the-board spending increases often do little more than raise the bar for what is considered enough. A C.E.O. may think he needs a 30,000-square-foot mansion, for example, just because each of his peers has one.
"...I found that the counties where income inequality grew fastest also showed the biggest increases in symptoms of financial distress.
"For example, even after controlling for other factors, these counties had the largest increases in bankruptcy filings.
Divorce rates are another reliable indicator of financial distress... counties with the biggest increases in inequality also reported the largest increases in divorce rates.
"Another footprint of financial distress is long commute times, because families who are short on cash often try to make ends meet by moving to where housing is cheaper — in many cases, farther from work. The counties where long commute times had grown the most were again those with the largest increases in inequality.
"(Robert H. Frank is an economics professor at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University)"

NYTimes.com: The Tools You Really Need to Maintain Your Home

What tools to get a new homeowner.TE HOME & GARDEN   | October 14, 2010 The Pragmatist:  The Tools You Really Need to Maintain Your Home By BOB TEDESCHI Spend about $250 now and you'll avoid repeated trips to the hardware store.

Funny pacifiers

Never knew there was a word for these.

"Dragées" are little hard candy decorations like these silver spheres.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragée?wasRedirected=true

It's surprising what you can read

Can you raed this? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. 
I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the

 ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the

word as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Adn I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

NYTimes: Can We Build in a Brighter Shade of Green?

"America's drafty building methods account for as much as 40 percent of its primary energy use, 70 percent of its electricity consumption and nearly 40 percent of its carbon-dioxide emissions.
A so-called passive home... Its orientation toward the sun and superthick insulation to its algorithmic design and virtually unbroken air envelope — that it requires minimal heating...The additional cost for a passive house, versus a more conventional home, is... a minimum of 10 percent. "
Can We Build in a Brighter Shade of Green?
Advocates of the passive-house standard for home design say it could greatly improve on America's drafty houses. But it has caught on only in Europe.
http://nyti.ms/9amLkL

Quotation

"What more is there to life than to eat well, love well, and wear good shoes." - Kevin Gandhi.

NYTimes: Too Many Hamburgers?

Telling it like it is. As you can see from this excerpt, he's not mincing any words. This op-ed columnist berates America for allowing our "can-do" esprit de corps to decay over the past few decades.TE
"There is absolutely no reason our democracy should not be able to generate the kind of focus, legitimacy, unity and stick-to-it-iveness to do big things — democratically — that China does autocratically. We've done it before. But we're not doing it now because too many of our poll-driven, toxically partisan, cable-TV-addicted, money-corrupted political class are more interested in what keeps them in power than what would again make America powerful, more interested in defeating each other than saving the country."
OP-ED COLUMNIST: Too Many Hamburgers?
On a visit to China, getting a good look at how the Chinese view us Americans.
http://nyti.ms/di5Em7

NYTimes: Regimens: Massage Benefits Are More Than Skin Deep

Massage decreases stress-related hormones.

VITAL SIGNS: Regimens: Massage Benefits Are More Than Skin Deep

Researchers found that a single session of massage caused biological changes, like increases in oxytocin, a hormone associated with contentment.

http://nyti.ms/ctP4gA

Tips for a family photo shoot

1. wear something comfortable, colorful but not complex
2. bring a favorite item or two - even a chair or pillow
3. prepare bribes for kids - it works
4. get a good night's sleep
http://smontgomeryphoto.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-02-24T21:46:00-08:00&max-results=7

NYTimes: Cleaner for the Environment, Not for the Dishes

Environmentally-friendly cleaners may not clean as well as harsher chemicals, but here's a documented less obvious benefit of them - housekeeping staff reporting less days off or symptoms.
"some users attest to quantifiable benefits. Reports of burns, rashes, dizziness and scratchy throats among housekeeping employees have plummeted at North Central Bronx Hospital and Jacobi Medical Center since the staff switched to new cleaning products in 2004, said Peter Lucey, an associate executive director for support services at the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. The number of lost days linked to injuries from the products declined from 54 in 2004 to zero last year, he said. "It's the switch and the training," Mr. Lucey said"

Cleaner for the Environment, Not for the Dishes

Many find low-phosphate detergents as appealing as low-flow showers, underscoring the tradeoffs people often face in a more environmentally conscious marketplace.

http://nyti.ms/b1IOhd

Nautical charts on iphone GPS for free

I have used this amazing little program for a while (and their subscription-based driving directions program also) but I was surprised recently to see they've added US nautical charts for free. I have previously paid hundreds of dollars for these charts, that become outdated within a year or so. This is a pretty amazing deal if you ask me.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/motionx-gps-lite/id293935935?mt=8

Path of a storm

An interesting set of graphics that look at the concentrated path of destruction this storm. As you can see from these photos, and this video, it was a pretty severe tornado.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/09/17/nyregion/brooklyn-storm-map.html