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Could your trashcan solve the energy crisis? - tech - 22 April 2009 - New Scientist

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:16:11 -0700

From the page: "Editorial: Waste gasification needs more light and less heat

AT FIRST glance, 303 Bear Hill Road in Waltham, Massachusetts, doesn't look like the scene of an environmental revolution. But packed into a shipping container in the car park of this modest suburban commercial building is a compact piece of technology that its maker IST Energy insists can turn even the filthiest waste into clean, green energy. "Trash will move from being a liability to an asset, providing a clean source of energy that can be used right where it is produced," says Stuart Haber, the company's CEO.

IST is not alone in this revolution. It is one of a growing number of companies and research groups around the world working on gasification - a process that zaps household waste into energy and which, its advocates say, produces few or no harmful emissions. Yet as pilot gasification plants begin to spring up around the world, this apparent environmentalist's dream is not being universally welcomed. Opponents argue that the process is far from clean and that its track record in terms of energy efficiency and emissions can hardly be considered green. Not to mention the fact that it encourages the throwaway society that the environmental movement has been trying so hard to get rid of. So what is the real story? Is vaporising trash the answer to our energy and waste-disposal woes, or an environmental wolf in sheep's clothing?"

BBC NEWS | Technology | Stephen Fry: The internet and Me

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:53:49 -0700

Very interesting read...

The Stupid Hormone: A Theory

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:23:58 -0800

The Stupid Hormone: A Theory

There is a reason this image can be found amongst the belongings of almost all school-aged girls. This image is immortalised in posters, buttons, bumper stickers and t-shirts; it is the clarion call of school girls the world over.

What has never been studied, explained or researched is the "why" -- that is until now.

I propose there is a yet undiscovered hormone, the "Stupid" hormone. I will demonstrate that there can be the only one explanation for why a male child who is polite, calm, pleasant and intelligent displays an array of behaviours like the ones illustrated below when he enters his teens.

Illustration 1
A male teen torched a Police Officer's car because he was angry over a speeding ticket. Now instead of a ticket he faces felony charges, including second-degree arson and retaliating against a witness. Stupid hormone released by rage.

Illustration 2
Two male teens firebombed an abandoned Air Force hangar, filmed it and then posted the video to a MySpace profile. Stupid hormone released by high excitement.

Other behaviours, with far less serious consequences, include belching and farting contests, embedding arse prints in drywall and duct taping a neighbourhood kid to a tree.

When telephone companies first began hiring telephone operators, they chose teenage boys for the job. They soon switched to women because the teenage boys were wrestling instead of working and pulling pranks on callers.

However nothing releases the Stupid hormone like the sight of a pretty girl. This, the highest level of secretion, we term "Gushing Stupid." Examples are uttering "Hey you stupid, fat cow! Wish to accompany me to the school dance?"; or a heretofore perfectly normal boy approaching a neighbour girl with the greeting "suck my balls"; or a group of boys on a school bus taking turns mooning the school bus behind them in an attempt to show off to the girls riding with them, resulting in suspension from school.

We have observed that some teenaged boys do not display symptoms of Stupid, those boys invariably turn out to be Gay.

Medical science hasn't discovered this hormone because the field is dominated by males who don't want to legitimize their youthful stupidity through scientific research. If they identify the hormone, then they'd all have to admit to being, well, stupid!

We can only theorise which gland secretes the Stupid hormone. Prime candidates are the right testicle, the left testicle and the prostate gland. Hopefully medical science will take this treatise seriously and immediately begin the search thus answering the age-old school-girl question, "Why are boys so stupid?"

Next paper: What Causes the Continued Production of "Stupid" in Men over the Age of twenty-five?

�2009 Fine Point

NEW CHARGES!

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:47:45 -0800

From the page: "I hereby bring forth formal charges against the member known as: St Lucifer.

Charge 1: Refusal to wear an avatar.

Charge 2: Extreme Canadian Faggotry.

Charge 3: Posting in large stupid yellow font.

There need only be three members to agree with the charges and we go to court."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Uh oh! They've started a new proceedings in the Halls Of Troll Justice :O

Inside the mind of an autistic savant - life - 07 January 2009 - New Scientist

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:39:43 -0800

From the page: "Inside the mind of an autistic savant

Autistic savant Daniel Tammet shot to fame when he set a European record for the number of digits of pi he recited from memory (22,514). For afters, he learned Icelandic in a week. But unlike many savants, he's able to tell us how he does it. We could all unleash extraordinary mental abilities by getting inside the savant mind, he tells Celeste Biever

Do you think savants have been misunderstood - and perhaps dehumanised - in the past?

Very often the analogy has been that a savant is like a computer, but what I do is about as far from what a computer does as you can imagine. This distinction hasn't been made before, because savants haven't been able to articulate how their minds work. I am lucky that the autism I have is mild, and that I was born into a large family and had to learn social skills, so I am able to speak up.

When did you first realise you had special talents?

At the age of 8 or 9. I was being taught maths at school and realised I could do the sums quickly, intuitively and in my own way - not using the techniques we were taught. I got so far ahead of the other children that I ran out of textbooks. I was aware already that I was different, because of my autism, but at that point I realised that the relationship I had with numbers was different."

Dino graveyard reveals first Asian triceratops - life - 06 January 2009 - New Scientist

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:51:46 -0800

From the page: "Dino 'graveyard' reveals first Asian triceratops"

Seven new wonders of the world - environment - 02 January 2009 - New Scientist

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 07:23:51 -0800

From the page: "Seven new wonders of the world"

http://www.somethingawful.com/flash/shmorky/babby.swf

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 03:28:17 -0800

How Is Babby Born?

Dorset Shepherds Hut Restoration and Sales by Plankbridge Shepherd Huts

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 04:25:14 -0800

From the page: "Welcome to the website of Plankbridge, Dorset. As one of the earliest of the new wave of shepherd's hut makers we have the experience and expertise to build the hut of your dreams. Whatever your requirements, from new build to restoration, we have almost certainly done it, and if we haven't we are sure we can.

Plankbridge shepherds' huts are completely versatile, and of the highest quality, for today's living.."

Pooktre Tree Shapers

Fri, 26 Dec 2008 03:16:48 -0800