Author Archives: curiouscat

Dean Kamen: Stirling Engines

Conceived in Scotland almost 200 years ago, the Stirling [engine] is a marvel of thermo-dynamics that could help to replace the internal combustion engine – in theory it can turn any source of heat into electricity, in silence and with 100 per cent efficiency. But corporations including Phillips, Ford and Nasa have devoted decades of research, and millions of dollars, to developing the engine, and all retired defeated, having failed to find a way of turning the theoretical principles of the engine into a workable everyday application. Kamen, nevertheless, has spent the past 10 years and, he estimates, up to $40 million working on the problem.

Now he and his engineers have built and tested a range of Stirling engines suitable for mass production that can be run on anything from jet fuel to cow dung. The one in the boot of the small blue car is designed to extend its range and constantly recharge its batteries to make a new kind of hybrid vehicle: one fit for the roads of the 21st century. A Stirling-electric hybrid, Kamen tells me, can travel farther and more efficiently than conventional electric cars; it generates enough power to run energy-hungry devices such as heaters and defrosters that are essential for drivers who, unlike those he calls the ‘tofu heads’ of California, must cope with a cold climate; and even using petrol, the engine runs far cleaner than petrol-electric hybrids such as Toyota’s Prius.

However, Kamen confesses, his new creation isn’t quite finished yet: ‘The Stirling engine’s not hooked up. Which really pisses me off.’

But it could work?

‘It will work,’ he says. ‘Trust me.’

Common Cold Alters the Activity of Genes

Scientists Come Closer to Unlocking Secrets of Common Cold

Canadian and U.S. researchers have found that the human rhinovirus, long blamed for causing the common cold, doesn’t actually cause those annoying sniffles, sneezes, and coughs.

Instead, the ubiquitous virus alters the activity of genes in the body, which then results in the misery that afflicts most people every year or so, according to a study in the first November issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
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Human rhinovirus (HRV) causes some 30 percent to 50 percent of common colds and can also worsen more serious conditions, such as asthma.
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A “microarray analysis” of DNA showed no genetic changes eight hours after infection. But, after two days, about 6,500 genes had been affected, either with heightened activity or dampened activity.

The genes most affected by the presence of the virus were ones that make antiviral proteins and pro-inflammatory chemicals that contribute to airway inflammation, the researchers said.

Read: Learning How Viruses Evade the Immune System – Gene Carnival – Black Raspberries Alter Hundreds of Genes Slowing Cancer – Study Finds No Measurable Benefit to Flu Shots

Webcast: Engineering Education in the 21st Century

National Academy of Engineering President, William A. Wulf, discusses the future of engineering education. Very good quick overview (skip to 1m 45s point for start of the speech) – see links below for additional resources. From the speech:

“the practices of engineering has changed enormously in the last 20 years and engineering education has changed hardly at all.”
“It is a disgrace: about half the students who start in engineering do not finish in engineering… we are not weeding out the poor students we are turning off half the students with the way that we teach”
“engineering schools generally have not provided courses for the general liberal arts students but they must.”

view the rest of the talk

Science, Engineering and National Development in Nigeria

Science and national development

In spite of urbanization, Nigeria remains essentially an agricultural country, since about 80 percent ‘of our population continues to engage in agriculture.
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The application of science and technology has made it possible to carry out agricultural activities in areas hitherto considered impossible. A good example is the state of Israel, which has successfully engaged in agriculture in the desert through intelligent application of irrigation and information technology. Israel has literally made the desert bloom.

With increased crop yields, a new problem arises, namely, storage and retardation of spoilage. Again, science and technology come to the rescue. Modem storage silos designs and chemical fumigation are available to facilitate long term storage without spoilage.
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We have illustrated and drawn a correlation between advances in science and national economic development. Fortunately this country is endowed with brilliant men and women who have distinguished themselves in the physical, biological and medical sciences, engineering and technology. The country is also rich in natural resources; therefore, we have no reason to remain underdeveloped if only we apply suitable policies to harness the available talents to achieve meaningful and sustained development. We can borrow a leaf from the Asian tigers to seek our own niches for focused advancement. This is the challenge for our leaders in all tiers of government.

As I have said numerous times the development and application of science, engineering and technology solutions is an important factor to economic success.

Friday Fun: Tortoise and the Cat

Once again the tortoise show persistence can pay off:

a fierce little tortoise that would not allow a cat to invade what it perceived to be its territory. Instead, it actively sets about attacking and ultimately expelling the feline, which at first cannot believe the sheer audacity of this small but spirited creature.
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Ever-encroaching urbanisation is just one of the onslaughts natural spaces around the world are facing. The killer tortoise of Port Elizabeth, South Africa as this little fellow has become known is a small but powerful symbol that some things are worth fighting for.

NIH Punished Scientist Who Called for Open Records

NIH Punished Scientist Who Had Called for Open Records

The National Institutes of Health and some leading universities, such as Harvard and Stanford, have suffered black eyes this year because of revelations that researchers with federal grants failed to disclose secret payments that they took from pharmaceutical companies.

The NIH was warned about the dangers of the problem years ago by one of its own scientists, Ned Feder, who wrote letters to several publications suggesting that the agency require its grantees to publicly disclose money they earn from medical companies. Instead of heeding Dr. Feder’s advice, the agency punished him
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Dr. Feder went on to suggest that “the NIH could require grantees to make public disclosures of their paid arrangements with pharmaceutical, investment, and other companies, as well as their ownership of stock and stock options, as a condition of having their medical research funded by the government.”

The agency formally reprimanded Dr. Feder for writing to Nature and identifying himself in the letter as an employee of the NIH. Dr. Feder protested the reprimand, and it was subsequently removed, without explanation.
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“The NIH has shown no interest in reforming its policies unless they’re forced to do it,” said Dr. Feder, who is now staff scientist at the Project on Government Oversight.

Wind Turbine Manufacturing in Colorado

Vestas picks Pueblo for plant

Danish wind turbine manufacture Vestas Wind Systems has chosen Pueblo for what it has said is a nearly $240 million manufacturing plant to build the steel towers needed to hold wind turbines aloft, state officials said Friday.
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Two weeks ago, on Aug. 15, Gov. Ritter announced that Vestas was building two new manufacturing plants in Brighton. The wind-blade production plant and nacelle assembly factory represent a $290 million capital investment and will bring 1,350 new jobs to Colorado.

Just months before that, in March, the company opened Vestas Blades America Inc., a $60 million manufacturing plant in Windsor, north of Denver, employing about 464 people to build blades for wind turbines. Before that plant was even finished, the company announced in November 2007 that it would increase the plant 50 percent in size, production and employee numbers.

This is a reminder that manufacturing output continues to grow in the USA. In June they received an order for 500 MW in the USA. In October Vestas has received orders for 102 MW of turbines from Italy and 99 MW of turbines from Spain.

Electrifying a New Generation of Engineers

Ybarra’s K-12 education efforts began informally in 1993 while he was a newly arrived professor at Duke, toting lasers and other captivating bits of engineering equipment to local schools to drum up excitement for science and engineering and an array of programs grew from there.
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Based on his growing awareness of the value of hands-on learning, Ybarra was longing for a way to help get more hands-on learning into the classroom. A few years later, in 1999, he was able to secure his first significant grant in the area. With support from the National Science Foundation Ybarra formalized his interactions with local schools by establishing a fellowship program that would put Duke engineering students in the classrooms to vastly expand the number of schools impacted.
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To date, Ybarra’s programs have impacted more than 150,000 kids, and with so many programs now in place and spreading, that number increases by about 50,000 students per year. But personal stories, rather than numbers, are what Ybarra finds most gratifying. “When students contact me years later to tell me that the experiences they had in my programs inspired them to pursue a career in engineering or one of the sciences, it gives me a very deep sense of satisfaction.”

William G. Hunter Award 2008: Ronald Does

The recipient of the 2008 William G. Hunter Award is Ronald Does. The Statistics Division of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) uses the attributes that characterize Bill Hunter’s (my father – John Hunter) career – consultant, educator for practitioners, communicator, and integrator of statistical thinking into other disciplines to decide the recipient. In his acceptance speech Ronald Does said:

The first advice I received from my new colleagues was to read the book by Box, Hunter and Hunter. The reason was clear. Because I was not familiar with industrial statistics I had to learn this from the authors who were really practicing statisticians. It took them years to write this landmark book.
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For the past 15 years I have been the managing director of the Institute for Business and Industrial Statistics. This is a consultancy firm owned by the University of Amsterdam. The interaction between scientific research and the application of quality technology via our consultancy work is the core operating principle of the institute. This is reflected in the type of people that work for the institute, all of whom are young professionals having strong ambitions in both the academic world and in business and industry.
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The kickoff conference attracted approximately 80 statisticians and statistical practitioners from all over Europe. ENBIS was officially founded in June 2001 as “an autonomous Society having as its objective the development and improvement of statistical methods, and their application, throughout Europe, all this in the widest sense of the words” Since the first meeting membership has grown to about 1300 from nearly all European countries.

University Pay Rates

Interesting chart from “Piled Higher and Deeper” by Jorge Cham showing median salaries for various university employees: grad students $17,784; Tenured professors ~$90,000; Football coaches: $1,057,305.