Author Archives: curiouscat

Are Our Vegtables Less Nutritious?

Grandma’s Veggies May Have Been More Nutritious:

“Of the 13 nutrients that we were able to study, we found statistically reliable declines in six of the 13,” he says. Levels of other nutrients stayed roughly constant over the years.

But a big word of caution: USDA nutritionist Joanne Holden says those 1950 numbers may not be trustworthy. For one thing, measurement techniques have changed, possibly changing the results. In addition, she says, no one knows whether the vegetables measured in 1950 were an accurate sample of the American diet.

100 Innovations for 2006

Popular Science has selected the Best of What’s New. Previous posts talk about some of these, such as: One Laptop Per Child, New Soccer Ball, Grand Canyon Skywalk. And they discuss other breakthroughs like: Memory Spot, Sony Reader. They seem to be stretching a bit to reach 100 – still there are some cool items and it is a fun read. And where are some others: Lifestraw, Lego Mindstorm, Re-engineered Wheelchair…

Related: Inventions of the Year

Lifestraw

Lifestraw is an excellent example of an engineered appropriate technology solution.

At any given moment, about half of the world’s poor are suffering from waterborne diseases, of which over 6,000 – mainly children – die each day by consuming unsafe drinking water.

Today, more than one billion people of the world’s population are without access to safe water, causing lack of safe water supply to rob hundreds of women and girls of dignity, energy and time.

Safe water interventions, therefore, have vast potential to transform the lives of millions, especially in crucial areas such as poverty eradication, environmental upgradation, quality of life, child development and gender equality.

Lifestraw is a filter solution that allows water to be purified for about 6 months (before needing to be replaced) at a cost of just $3.50.

Far Eastern Leopard – Rarest Big Cat

World’s Rarest Big Cat Captured:

The team, led by biologists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, caught the 100-pound (45-kilogram) male in a snare last week while studying Siberian tigers in the Russian Far East, 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Chinese border.

The chance capture gave biologists a priceless opportunity to study the elusive feline, and Melody Roelke (below), a specialist in big-cat genetics with the U.S. National Institutes of Health, wasn’t shy about getting a closer look.
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Among the scientists’ main concerns is whether Far Eastern leopards, also known as Amur leopards, can continue to sustain their tiny, isolated population, or whether disease and inbreeding may eventually wipe out the cats.

Leadership Initiatives for Teaching and Technology

LIFT2 (Leadership Initiatives for Teaching and Technology) is an innovative professional learning program for middle and high school science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers. It is designed to help experienced and developing teachers relate classroom curriculum to authentic and relevant applications in the 21st Century workplace.
The program is based on a unique combination of graduate coursework, company sponsored externships in industry, the cornerstone of the program, and membership in an active community of learners.

What is an Extremophile?

An extremophile is an organism that thrives under “extreme” conditions. The term frequently refers to prokaryotes and is sometimes used interchangeably with Archaea.
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The term extremophile is relatively anthropocentric. We judge habitats based on what would be considered “extreme” for human existence. Many organisms, for example, consider oxygen to be poisonous.

The site includes interesting photos and details on all sorts of extremophiles: Anaerobe (don’t require oxygen) – Endolith (live inside rocks) – Thermophile (enjoy over 40 Â°C).

Illusion of Explanatory Depth

The “Illusion of Explanatory Depth”: How Much Do We Know About What We Know? (broken link was removed)

Often (more often than I’d like to admit), my son (Darth Vader over there on the left) will ask me a question about how something works, or why something happens the way it does, and I’ll begin to answer, initially confident in my knowledge, only to discover that I’m entirely clueless. I’m then embarrassed by my ignorance of my own ignorance.
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I wouldn’t be surprised, however, if it turns out that the illusion of explanatory depth leads many researchers down the wrong path, because they think they understand something that lies outside of their expertise when they don’t.

Great stuff. It took me a lot longer to stop asking why, why, why than most kids. I only gave up after years of repeated obvious clues that I was not suppose to ask why (once I aged past 5 or 8 or something – I actually have no idea when it is no longer desired). But most days I, curious cat, want to ask how does that work, why do we do that, why can’t we… I just stop myself. But it does mean I asked myself and realized I don’t really know. So I am at least more aware how little I really know, I think I am anyway.

The internet is a great thing. Google doesn’t mind if you ask as many questions as you want.

Nanotechnology Experiment Accidentally Discovers Forger Fix

Security that is small and imperfectly formed by Michael Pollitt:

“One day the chip fell off the paper backing that it was being tested on and the laser just hit the paper instead. Whereas we would have expected to have got no signal, we actually got a signal that had all of the right characteristics for a security device. That was enormously surprising,” says Cowburn.

Rather than reaching for the glue, Cowburn investigated further and found that ordinary paper gave robust security signatures. The random pattern of the paper fibres scattered back the laser beam to detectors, giving far better results than the microchip.

After tuning the laser system, he also discovered that the probability of two pieces of paper producing an identical reading was unimaginably remote.

Inquiry-Based Engineering Education

UTEP gets $500,000 for its students:

The University of Texas at El Paso has been awarded a $500,000 grant that could give its engineering students a boost before they enter the profession.

The three-year National Science Foundation grant, which UTEP’s Colleges of Engineering and Education applied for together, is to implement and evaluate an inquiry-based educational model in engineering classes, said Arunkumar Pennathur, associate professor of industrial engineering.

Rather than lecturing, professors are now conducting their classes by askingcounter-intuitive questions, the kind that make students stop and think, Pennathur explained.

Why Desktop Linux Will Not Take off

I am getting a new computer and will use Ubuntu (a Linux flavor) as the operating system. I find this article interesting though I don’t necessarily agree. I think there is a decent chance that desktop Linux will take off in the next 3 years. Why Desktop Linux Will Not Take off, and Why You Don’t Want It to, Average computer buyers:

worst nightmare after melting in a lava pit might be to have to compare between distributions, desktops, window managers, file browsers, web browsers, mail clients, instant messaging clients, music players and movie players before they could do anything with their brand new desktop computer—or before they had a mental breakdown.

the Linux desktop has been designed and implemented by technology enthusiasts, for technology enthusiasts. If they were to seriously try to make it appealing to the masses, the effort would collapse halfway because they would be dismayed by the result. My take is that things are just fine the way they are, and the Linux desktop for Dummies an utopia.

The option is for a cover to be placed over the operating system that is easy for most to use. That is what Apple does. And that is what Ubuntu does (and Ubuntu is free). For me the likelihood of Linux desktop taking off is great especially when you consider how many of the new desktops will be placed in India, China, Brazil…