Automotive engineering has brought in advanced concepts in today’s auto industries. Cars are now installed with 8- to 16- to 32-bit processors, with thoughts of introducing the state-of-art processor technology in the very near future.
The proven technology of dual core processors, bring in speed and faster computing power, with a lower clock speed, hence consuming less power. This would mean less heat generation. In modern information technology systems, dual core processors have already created a mark, with thoughts going on for multi-core processors to be soon introduced in the market.
In the past, auto manufacturers have used dual-core processors in automotive engineering, but the thoughts are fast changing with applications taking a new turn. It is understood that some auto manufacturers is contemplating using triple-core processors in vehicles, and is also working with groups to implement quad-core processor systems.
There are many areas in automotive engineering that have notable application that require the performance of dual-core processors. The most important areas of application are fuel saving, and emission reductions, with diagnosis of safety management and transformation of hardware based functions to systems based on software.
With regards to the transformation from single-core units to dual-core would be simpler than, if this change was required to be made from a 16-bit system to a 32-bit processor. There would have been requirement for wide changes in the software making it suitable to run on a 32-bit system. As for the transformation from single-core to dual-core, the changes would be simpler, without having any major re-writes.
Cars are now fitted with distributed systems, one of them being the distributed control of the car suspensions, which provide a much smoother ride along with superior road holding. Today, the modern car is equipped with dozens of computers, to provide balanced performance if its engine, control of fuel consumption, and emission reduction. There are cars fitted with shark fin shaped antennas on the top, which provide entertainment in the form of satellite radio, GPS, and cellular networks.
Today, automotive engineering has provided the knowledge of the application of general purpose computers in vehicles, but the disadvantage is that, these are not re-programmable. It is often wondered as to why the cars really need general purpose computer systems.
To explain matters simply, many of the existing functions in the vehicles are being extended today through use of on-board general purpose computers, which has provided large benefits regarding many of the functions that we usually find in a car. More-over, computers today makes you avail the features in a car that could not be thought of in the past. During 1980?s there were strong feeling about having a PC at home, though people did not know why they need them. Today, every home has a computer and rightly so.
General purpose computers in cars bring you the modern advantage of having applications where you have Wi-Fi enabled audio system, download mp3 music and e-books, or get your email and have it read to you as you drive. One day, you will be able to share your radio system with other drivers, keep a full GPS log of your travels, and perhaps record public shows of your interest. There are future applications to come, with the concept taking shape everyday in implementation of general purpose computers in your car.
Wafaa Bilal è un 45enne artista newyorkese che vent’anni fa è fuggito dall’ Iraq per cercare nuove opportunità nella Grande Mela. Da allora ha spesso rimpianto ciò che si è lasciato alle spalle, ma da vero artista è riuscito a trasformare questo suo malessere in una impressionante forma espressiva.
Chiodo fisso, per la tecnologia. Anzi, perno.
Lo scorso 15 dicembre Bilaal si è sottoposto a un singolare intervento chirurgico e si è fatto impiantare nella nuca una... telecamera. Da allora l’apparecchio scatta ogni minuto un’immagine di ciò che c’è dietro le spalle di Wafaa e la invia in tempo reale al sito reale www.3rdi.me. La piccola videocamera è attaccata con 3 perni in titanio a una placca metallica posizionata qualche millimetro sotto la pelle della nuca: l’intervento, piuttosto doloroso perchè Bilaal ha rifiutato l’anestesia totale, è durato più di due ore. L’apparecchio è collegato con un cavo USB a minicomputer che Bilaal porta sempre con sè. Una connessione 3G permette l’invio in tempo reale delle immagini al sito. Oltre che dolorosa, l’espressione artistica scelta da Bilaal è anche piuttosto scomoda, perchè costringe l’artista a dormire seduto.
La performance di Bilaal è il pezzo forte di Told/Untold/Retold, la mostra d’arte contemporanea che ha inaugurato il nuovo museo arabo di arte moderna di Doha, nel Quatar.
Il corpo si ribella
Criticato da molti per la sua forma d’arte così estrema, Bilaal sostiene che è solo un assaggio di come saremo tra non molti anni: sempre più controllati, sorvegliati e vittime di un Grande Fratello globale. L’esperimento sarebbe dovuto durare un anno, ma lo scorso 4 febbraio una crisi di rigetto ha costretto Billaal a sottoporsi a un nuovo intervento per la rimozione dell’impianto. L’artista è però determinato a portare a termine la sua prova, anche se in modo meno eclatante, per esempio legandosi la webcam alla testa con uno strap.
Despre nenorocirile produse de fumat poate ca n-ar trebui sa mai vorbim, pentru ca mai toata lumea stie ce efecte dezastruoase produce fumul tigarilor, atat pentru cel inrobit de acest vicu, cat si pentru nefumatorii din jurul sau. Intoxicatia acuta cu nicotina – tabagismul – provine din inhalarea acestei substante nocive, dar si a oxidului de carbon, a gudroanelor, principalele componente ale tutunului ars. Efectele nefaste se rasfrang in tot organismul, dupa cum vom arata mai jos.
Cu toate acestea, industria tigarilor atinge cote de afaceri fabuloase, comparabile cu ale celorlalte doua mari categorii de droguri: alcoolul si stupefiantele. Desi, de multa vreme, metode si preparate care sa ajute la renuntarea la fumat exista.Un organism ruinat La noi, numai in Bucuresti, circa 35% din populatie este reprezentata de fumatorii activi, 10% sunt fumatori pasivi, 8,5% fumatori ocazionali si doar restul, nefumatori; mai putin de jumatate.
Dincolo de motivatie (placere, lipsa de maturitate, necazuri etc.), trebuie vazuta realitatea dura careia i se expun fumatorii, de bunavoie. Afectarea creierului se manifesta prin cefalee, amnezie, tremuraturi; a plamanilor, prin laringite, emfizem, bronsite, cancer pulmonar (in peste 50% din cazuri!); a aparatului digestiv, prin dispepsii, diaree sau constipatii, gastrita, ulcere; a vazului, prin ambliopie tabagica (ingustarea si tulburarea campului vizual) si degenerescenta maculara senila, cu evolutie spre orbire; a sistemului cardio-vascular, prin angine, aritmii, arterioscleroza, hipertensiune arteriala, accidente vasculare, infarct miocardic (de 2-3 ori mai frecvent la fumatori); a sistemului-osos, prin marirea vitezei de diminuare a calciului din oase (osteoporoza).
Mai putem adauga afectiunile gurii, care pot merge pana la cancere, ale pielii, ca si ale organelor genitale si sexualitatii. Cat despre femeia insarcinata care fumeaza, ea nu se condamna doar pe sine, ci si pe fatul care poate vedea lumina zilei impovarat pe viata cu grave probleme de sanatate.
Actiuni pe plan social
Daca am aborda un ton cu o oarecare nuanta de cinism, am putea spune ca individul care vrea sa se sinucida lent, fumand, nu poate fi oprit de nimeni s-o faca. Marea drama este insa ca el trage dupa sine si persoane deloc atrase de acest viciu. Copiii sunt primii afectati de fumatul pasiv, iar urmarile pot ajunge la gravitate extrema. Practic, ele sunt aceleasi cu cele la care se expun fumatorii activi, chiar daca in proportie mai mica. Datele pe care le detinem sunt cutremuratoare, insa spatiul nu ne permite sa le prezentam aici.
Mai utile ar fi insa recomandarile pentru a lupta impotriva fumatului. Din partea societatii, pot veni initiative si actiuni indreptate catre informarea mai detaliata a populatiei in legatura cu efectele fumatului, pana la presiuni asupra factorilor de decizie, pentru a adopta legi in vederea diminuarii numarului de fumatori si a interzicerii fumatului, in orice spatiu unde exista si nefumatori. Pe plan international, OMS a stabilit ca 31 mai sa fie Ziua Mondiala impotriva Fumatului. Pretutindeni, exista ONG-uri care actioneaza in acest sens; Uniunea Europeana a Nefumatorilor pare a fi cea mai activa pe continentul nostru, dar din pacate, desi avem si in Romania asemenea organisme, activitatea lor nu e mai deloc vizibila.
Metode si preparate ajutatoare
Terapeutii recomanda diverse metode blande pentru renuntarea la fumat. Prima este renuntarea brusca la acest viciu, care vine de regula pe fondul unor evenimente importante: imbolnavire grava, casatorie, nasterea unui copil, o revelatie brusca, saracirea etc. Presopunctura si acupunctura ajuta destul de mult, dar aici e nevoie de ajutorul specialistilor in domeniu; oricum, procedurile nu sunt dureroase. Fitoterapia contribuie din plin la lupta impotriva fumatului. Oarecum paradoxal, se recomanda confectionarea de... tigari, din anumite plante medicinale, care vor taia insa dorinta de fumat. Iata cateva asemenea combinatii (plantele vor fi bine uscate).
- Cretisor sau vindecea (Betonica officinalis L.), in amestec cu podbal si cu izma. - Izma (Mentha piperita L.), in amestec cu vinarita si podbal, in proportii egale. Se folosesc doar frunze, amestecul se lasa o noapte in apa indulcita cu miere, apoi se usuca bine, se toaca marunt si se fac tigari. - Amestec in cantitati egale, din arnica, izma, coada-calului, cretisor, usturoi, lemn cainesc, pedicuta, podbal, soc, vinarita. Si sucurile sau infuziile de plante ajuta la eliminarea tigarilor. - Cresonul este antidot al nicotinei. Trebuie folosit proaspat, sub forma de suc, 60-150 ml pe zi, in apa sau in supa rece.
- Podbalul combate tusea tabagica. Sucul se obtine prin presarea frunzelor si se consuma zilnic cate 2-3 lingurite, intr-o ceasca de supa sau de lapte fierbinte. - Pedicuta se infuzeaza 10-15 minute, cu 5 grame din partile aeriene ale plantei, la 150 ml de apa. Se bea dimineata, la o ora dupa micul dejun, pana la abandonarea fumatului.
Radacina de obligeana, uscata si taiata marunt, se mesteca lent, apoi se scuipa, nu se inghite. Gustul acesteia diminueaza pana la anulare dorinta de a fuma. Exista si alte metode blande de renuntare la tigari, pe care le vom aborda cu alta ocazie. Trebuie totusi sa amintim de fiecare data ca primul element ce contribuie la reusita este vointa ferma a persoanei in cauza.
Even as the veggie blame game is now under way across the EU, where a super resistant strain of E. Coli is sickening patients and filling hospitals in Germany, virtually no one is talking about how E. Coli could have magically become resistant to eight different classes of antibiotic drugs and then suddenly appeared in the food supply.
This particular e.coli variation is a member of the O104 strain, and O104 strains are almost never (normally) resistant to antibiotics. In order for them to acquire this resistance, they must be repeatedly exposed to antibiotics in order to provide the "mutation pressure" that nudges them toward complete drug immunity.
So if you're curious about the origins of such a strain, you can essentially reverse engineer the genetic code of the e.coli and determine fairly accurately which antibiotics it was exposed to during its development. This step has now been done (see below), and when you look at the genetic decoding of this O104 strain now threatening food consumers across the EU, a fascinating picture emerges of how it must have come into existence.
The genetic code reveals the history
When scientists at Germany's Robert Koch Institute decoded the genetic makeup of the O104 strain, they found it to be resistant to all the following classes and combinations of antibiotics:
In addition, this O104 strain posses an ability to produce special enzymes that give it what might be called "bacteria superpowers" known technically as ESBLs:
"Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBLs) are enzymes that can be produced by bacteria making them resistant to cephalosporins e.g. cefuroxime, cefotaxime and ceftazidime - which are the most widely used antibiotics in many hospitals," explains the Health Protection Agency in the UK (http://www.hpa.org.uk/Topics/InfectiousDiseases/InfectionsAZ/ESBLs/).
On top of that, this O104 strain possesses two genes -- TEM-1 and CTX-M-15 -- that "have been making doctors shudder since the 1990s," reports The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/05/deadly-ecoli-resistance-antibiotic-misuse). And why do they make doctors shudder? Because they're so deadly that many people infected with such bacteria experience critical organ failure and simply die.
Bioengineering a deadly superbug
So how, exactly, does a bacterial strain come into existence that's resistant to over a dozen antibiotics in eight different drug classes and features two deadly gene mutations plus ESBL enzyme capabilities?
There's really only one way this happens (and only one way) -- you have to expose this strain of e.coli to all eight classes of antibiotics drugs. Usually this isn't done at the same time, of course: You first expose it to penicillin and find the surviving colonies which are resistant to penicillin. You then take those surviving colonies and expose them to tetracycline. The surviving colonies are now resistant to both penicillin and tetracycline. You then expose them to a sulfa drug and collect the surviving colonies from that, and so on. It is a process of genetic selection done in a laboratory with a desired outcome. This is essentially how some bioweapons are engineered by the U.S. Army in its laboratory facility in Ft. Detrick, Maryland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Biodefense_Analysis_and_Countermeasures_Center).
Although the actual process is more complicated than this, the upshot is that creating a strain of e.coli that's resistant to eight classes of antibiotics requires repeated, sustained expose to those antibiotics. It is virtually impossible to imagine how this could happen all by itself in the natural world. For example, if this bacteria originated in the food (as we've been told), then where did it acquire all this antibiotic resistance given the fact that antibiotics are not used in vegetables?
When considering the genetic evidence that now confronts us, it is difficult to imagine how this could happen "in the wild." While resistance to a single antibiotic is common, the creation of a strain of e.coli that's resistant to eight different classes of antibiotics -- in combination -- simply defies the laws of genetic permutation and combination in the wild. Simply put, this superbug e.coli strain could not have been created in the wild. And that leaves only one explanation for where it really came from: the lab.
Engineered and then released into the wild
The evidence now points to this deadly strain of e.coli being engineered and then either being released into the food supply or somehow escaping from a lab and entering the food supply inadvertently. If you disagree with that conclusion -- and you're certainly welcome to -- then you are forced to conclude that this octobiotic superbug (immune to eight classes of antibiotics) developed randomly on its own... and that conclusion is far scarier than the "bioengineered" explanation because it means octobiotic superbugs can simply appear anywhere at any time without cause. That would be quite an exotic theory indeed.
My conclusion actually makes more sense: This strain of e.coli was almost certainly engineered and then released into the food supply for a specific purpose. What would that purpose be? It's obvious, I hope.
It's all problem, reaction, solution at work here. First cause a PROBLEM (a deadly strain of e.coli in the food supply). Then wait for the public REACTION (huge outcry as the population is terrorized by e.coli). In response to that, enact your desired SOLUTION (total control over the global food supply and the outlawing of raw sprouts, raw milk and raw vegetables).
That's what this is all about, of course. The FDA relied on the same phenomenon in the USA when pushing for its recent "Food Safety Modernization Act" which essentially outlaws small family organic farms unless they lick the boots of FDA regulators. The FDA was able to crush farm freedom in America by piggybacking on the widespread fear that followed e.coli outbreaks in the U.S. food supply. When people are afraid, remember, it's not difficult to get them to agree to almost any level of regulatory tyranny. And making people afraid of their food is a simple matter... a few government press releases emailed to the mainstream media news affiliates is all it takes.
First ban the natural medicine, then attack the food supply
Now, remember: All this is happening on the heels of the EU ban on medicinal herbs and nutritional supplements -- a ban that blatantly outlaws nutritional therapies that help keep people healthy and free from disease. Now that all these herbs and supplements are outlawed, the next step is to make people afraid of fresh food, too. That's because fresh vegetables are medicinal, and as long as the public has the right to buy fresh vegetables, they can always prevent disease.
But if you can make people AFRAID of fresh vegetables -- or even outlaw them altogether -- then you can force the entire population onto a diet of dead foods and processed foods that promote degenerative disease and bolster the profits of the powerful drug companies.
It's all part of the same agenda, you see: Keep people sick, deny them access to healing herbs and supplements, then profit from their suffering at the hands of the global drug cartels.
GMOs play a similar role in all this, of course: They're designed to contaminate the food supply with genetic code that causes widespread infertility among human beings. And those who are somehow able to reproduce after exposure to GMOs still suffer from degenerative disease that enriches the drug companies from "treatment."
Do you recall which country was targeted in this recent e.coli scare? Spain. Why Spain? You may recall that leaked cables from Wikileaks revealed that Spain resisted the introduction of GMOs into its agricultural system, even as the U.S. government covertly threatened political retaliation for its resistance. This false blaming of Spain for the e.coli deaths is probably retaliation for Spain's unwillingness to jump on the GMO bandwagon. (http://www.naturalnews.com/030828_GMOs_Wikileaks.html)
That's the real story behind the economic devastation of Spain's vegetable farmers. It's one of the subplots being pursued alongside this e.coli superbug scheme.
Food as weapons of war - created by Big Pharma?
By the way, the most likely explanation of where this strain of e.coli was bioengineered is that the drug giants came up with it in their own labs. Who else has access to all the antibiotics and equipment needed to manage the targeted mutations of potentially thousands of e.coli colonies? The drug companies are uniquely positioned to both carry out this plot and profit from it. In other words, they have the means and the motive to engage in precisely such actions.
Aside from the drug companies, perhaps only the infectious disease regulators themselves have this kind of laboratory capacity. The CDC, for example, could probably pull this off if they really wanted to.
The proof that somebody bioengineered this e.coli strain is written right in the DNA of the bacteria. That's forensic evidence, and what it reveals cannot be denied. This strain underwent repeated and prolonged exposure to eight different classes of antibiotics, and then it somehow managed to appear in the food supply. How do you get to that if not through a well-planned scheme carried out by rogue scientists? There is no such thing as "spontaneous mutation" into a strain that is resistant to the top eight classes of brand-name antibiotic drugs being sold by Big Pharma today. Such mutations have to be deliberate.
Once again, if you disagree with this assessment, then what you're saying is that NO, it wasn't done deliberately... it happened accidentally! And again, I'm saying that's even scarier! Because that means the antibiotic contamination of our world is now at such an extreme level of overkill that a strain of e.coli in the wild can be saturated with eight different classes of antibiotics to the point where it naturally develops into its own deadly superbug. If that's what people believe, then that's almost a scarier theory than the bioengineering explanation!
A new era has begun: Bioweapons in your food
But in either case -- no matter what you believe -- the simple truth is that the world is now facing a new era of global superbug strains of bacteria that can't be treated with any known pharmaceutical. They can all, of course, be readily killed with colloidal silver, which is exactly why the FDA and world health regulators have viciously attacked colloidal silver companies all these years: They can't have the public getting its hands on natural antibiotics that really work, you see. That would defeat the whole purpose of making everybody sick in the first place.
In fact, these strains of e.coli superbugs can be quite readily treated with a combination of natural full-spectrum antibiotics from plants such as garlic, ginger, onions and medicinal herbs. On top of that, probiotics can help balance the flora of the digestive tract and "crowd out" the deadly e.coli that might happen by. A healthy immune system and well-functioning digestive tract can fight off an e.coli superbug infection, but that's yet another fact the medical community doesn't want you to know. They much prefer you to remain a helpless victim lying in the hospital, waiting to die, with no options available to you. That's "modern medicine" for ya. They cause the problems that they claim to treat, and then they won't even treat you with anything that works in the first place.
Nearly all the deaths now attributable to this e.coli outbreak are easily and readily avoidable. These are deaths of ignorance. But even more, they may also be deaths from a new era of food-based bioweapons unleashed by either a group of mad scientists or an agenda-driven institution that has declared war on the human population.
Additional developments on this e.coli outbreak
• 22 fatalities have so far been reported, with 2,153 people now sickened and possibly facing kidney failure.
• An agricultural ministry in Germany said that even though they now know the source of the outbreak is a German sprout farm, they are still not lifting their warnings for people to avoid eating tomatoes and lettuce. In other words, keep the people afraid!
Daca zaharurile au rolul lor bine determinat in mentinerea echilibrului organismului nostru, excesul de zahar are, dimpotriva, efecte nedorite. Consumul de zahar in cantitate mare activeaza formarea tesutului adipos, in detrimentul tesutului muscular, potrivit cercetatorilor italieni din Ferrara si Sadova. De altfel, zaharul era deja cunoscut ca stimulent al acumularii de grasimi in celulele tesutului adipos (adipocite).
Dar, cand in laborator s-a marit concentratia de glucoza in mediul de cultura celulara, adipocitele au aparut nu numai din celule suse ale tesutului adipos, ci si din cele ale tesutului muscular. Cercetatorii au ajuns la concluzia ca, daca toate aceste observatii se confirma, abuzul de zahar devine alarmant, in primul rand pentru copii, deoarece el influenteaza negativ formarea tesuturilor.
Intr-adevar, in primii ani ai copilariei, in corpul omului se formeaza capitalul de adipocite. Daca zaharul in exces actioneaza asupra formarii acestora, potentialul celulelor musculare poate fi deturnat de la rolul sau de ardere a energiei, favorizand in schimb adipocitele, care stocheaza energie sub forma de grasimi. O asemenea influenta se poate face simtita chiar in stadiul intrauterin, daca viitoarea mama e diabetica sau mare consumatoare de dulciuri, fapt ce explica si transmiterea obezitatii de la o generatie la alta.
Pe baza observatiilor amintite, se sugereaza ca diabetul de tip II apare mai repede, daca organismul a pierdut o mare parte din tesuturile capabile sa elimine glucoza. Un adevarat cerc vicios, care nu poate fi „spart” decat cu participarea directa si nemijlocita a bolnavului si, pe de alta parte, care poate fi combatut de catre parinti, in beneficiul – pentru toata viata – al copiilor lor.
It's billed as the wonder material of the 21st century with the power to revolutionise micro-electronics, and won its pioneers the 2010 Nobel Physics Prize.
Professor Jacek Baranowski of the Institute of Electronic Materials Technology (ITME) in Warsaw poses on April 7 [Image], near a laser in the Polish capital. Baranowski 's team says it has discovered a new method to produce entire layers of graphene, a move that should help to propel it out of the lab and into everyday life.
Now Polish scientists say they have discovered a new method to produce entire layers of graphene, a move that should help to propel it out of the lab and into everyday life.
Professor Jacek Baranowski of the Institute of Electronic Materials Technology (ITME) in Warsaw poses on April 7, near a laser in the Polish capital. Baranowski 's team says it has discovered a new method to produce entire layers of graphene, a move that should help to propel it out of the lab and into everyday life.
Just one atom thick, the novel form of carbon is the world's thinnest and strongest nano-material, almost transparent and able to conduct electricity and heat.
"This is an important step forward on the path to the production of transistors and then integrated circuits made of graphene," Professor Jacek Baranowski of the Institute of Electronic Materials Technology (ITME) in Warsaw told AFP.
Russian-born, British-based researchers Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were honoured with a Nobel last October for their pioneering work.
Graphene transistors would in theory be able to run at faster speeds and cope with higher temperatures than today's classic silicon computer chips.
That would resolve a fast-growing problem facing chip engineers who want to boost power and shrink semiconductor size but without raising temperatures, the bugbear of computing.
Graphene's transparency also means it could potentially be used in touch screens and even solar cells, and when mixed with plastics would provide light but super-strong composite materials for next-generation satellites, planes and cars.
Electrons can travel relatively huge distances through graphene -- a thousandth of a millimetre is a lot in their world -- without being hampered by impurities which are a problem in the silicon used in 95 percent of electronic devices.
They also pick up speeds of 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) per second in graphene, some 30 times faster than in silicon.
Graphene is also 200 times tougher than steel.
But the catch so far has been a lack of methods to turn out layers of it, and that is where the work of Baranowski's research team come in.
"The new method is based on using the technique of epitaxy on silicon carbide in a gaseous, pressurised environment," said Baranowski, who also works at the University of Warsaw's experimental physics faculty.
Epitaxy is a technique for growing a micro-thin, honeycomb-shaped lattice of the desired material.
While it is currently possible to produce graphene layers, relatively large ones can only be made on a metal base. That hampers graphene's electronics potential.
Without such a base, current techniques only allow for a maximum layer surface of four square inches (25 square centimetres).
Current methods also fail to produce graphene as uniform as that devised by Baranowski's team, he said.
It is precisely that uniformity that would make graphene more readily usable in the hi-tech sector, he added.
The team's discovery was announced in the most recent edition of the US scientific periodical Nano Letters. It is set to be presented at a conference starting Monday in Bilbao, Spain.
ITME's research was carried out under the wing of the European Science Foundation, which groups 78 organisations in 30 nations.
It is part of a wider project aimed at producing a graphene transistor, along with researchers in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Sweden and Turkey.
"L'asse terrestre si è spostato di 10 centimetri", "il giorno si è accorciato di 1,8 microsecondi", "sisma di magnitudo 8.9 sulla scala Richter": sono solo alcuni dei numeri utilizzati in questi giorni dai media per descrivere la portata fisica e geologica del terremoto e dello tsunami che lo scorso venerdì hanno colpito il Giappone. Ma cosa significano queste cifre? Che effetti avranno le conseguenze del sisma sulla nostra quotidianità? Facciamo un po' di chiarezza.
I numeri della catastrofe
#8,9: la violenza del sisma espressa in gradi Richter. L'energia liberata durante un terremoto di questa magnitudo è pari a quella prodotta dall'esplosione di 31.6 miliardi di tonnellate di tritolo. Il terremoto più forte mai registrato risale al 22 maggio del 1960: colpì il Cile tra le città di Temuco e Conception e raggiunse una magnitudo di 9.5 gradi Richter (equivalenti alla detonazione di 178 miliardi di tonnellate di tritolo). #400 km: la lunghezza della spaccatura provocata dal sisma nel pavimento oceanico 80 miglia nautiche al largo della costa orientale del giappone. Ha una larghezza di circa 24 km. #457 cm: lo spostamento verso gli Stati Uniti della zolla più vicina all'epicentro del terremoto. Dopo il sisma Giappone e USA sarebbero insomma più vicini: lo spiega al The New York Times Ross Stein, il ricercatore dello United States Geological Survey che ha effettuato la stima. #30 cm: l'abbassamento della linea costiera del Giappone, conseguenza dello spostamento delle placche tettoniche. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/iotd.htmlhttp://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/honshu20110311/Energy_plot20110311-1000.png #8 cm: lo spostamento dell'asse terrestre in seguito al sisma. Anche in questo caso non si tratta di una misurazione diretta ma di una stima. L'ha effettuata Richard Gross, geofisico della NASA. Secondo Gross l'asse di rotazione del pianeta si è spostato perchè il sisma, spostando intere placche tettoniche, ha ridistribuito la massa della Terra. Il pianeta non ha insomma subito "uno scossone" che l'ha spostato come hanno erroneamente riferito numerosi media in questi giorni.
#1,8 microsecondi: (pari a 1,8 milionesimi di secondo) l'accorciamento del giorno generato dal sisma. Il terremoto ha spostato verso il centro del pianeta enormi masse di materiale: questa variazione nella distribuzione dei "pesi" ha causato un leggero aumento della velocità di rotazione della Terra, un po' come accade a una pattinatrice che avvicina le braccia al corpo mentre ruota su se stessa. Secondo Gross queste variazioni possono essere provocate anche da eventi molto meno eclatanti come il lento spostamento dei ghiacchi polari e non hanno alcun tipo di effetto pratico sulla nostra vita. Si tratta insomma di misure e speculazioni puramente scientifiche. «Variando la distribuzione della massa della Terra, il terremoto giapponese dovrebbe aver causato una piccola accelerazione della sua rotazione, accorciando la lunghezza del giorno di circa 1,8 microsecondi» ha spiegato il geofisico. «Questo assestamento della posizione dell’asse provocherà un tremito leggermente diverso alla rotazione della Terra, ma non uno spostamento dell’asse nello spazio: questo possono ottenerlo solo forze esterne come l’attrazione gravitazionale del Sole, della Luna e dei pianeti». #300 miliardi di dollari: una stima approssimativa del danno economico subito dal Giappone come conseguenza dello tsunami. L'ha fornita ai media Jayanta Guin, esperto della Air Worldwide, una delle società di ricerca specializzata nella progettazione di modelli sui disastri naturali. Secondo Guin la cifra sarebbe comunque da ritoccare al rialzo perchè calcolata solo sul valore delle proprietà assicurate.
E' davvero un grande miracolo. Un miracolo italiano. E la cosa più miracolosa, è che l'annuncio dell'imminente vaccino contro la malefica Escherichia Coli sia arrivato circa un anno PRIMA dell'epidemia che è scoppiata in Europa. Le vie della Provvidenza sono davvero infinite.
Come infinita è la gratitudine che dobbiamo nutrire verso la Novartis, che dopo averci salvato tutti dall'epidemia di suina con un tempestivo vaccino, ecco che in quel di Siena nel 4 maggio scorso annuncia di aver identificato antigeni di E.Coli mai scoperti prima (prima della seguente epidemia) e quindi di essere sulla buona strada per produrre il fatidico vaccino.
Ma le mirabilie non finiscono qui. Anche una compagnia canadese ha appena comunicato di aver pronto il vaccino, proprio lì nel cassetto, quello giusto giusto per la variante O157:H7 tedesca, che servirà per inoculare le Nmiliardi di vacche residenti sul pianeta e renderle inabili a produrre il batterio.
Davvero noi comuni mortali dobbiamo stupire ed inchinarci davanti alla scienza, che riesce persino a prevedere il futuro grazie ai suoi misteriosi esoterici poteri.
Fonte: crisis.blogosfere.it - Il blog è curato da Debora Billi, laureata in Lettere, giornalista, membro Aspo Italia.
In martie 1952, intr-o grota din apropierea Marii Moarte, cercetatorii Scolii arheologice franceze din Ierusalim au descoperit doua misterioase rulouri din arama, gravate cu texte. Curiozitatea lor a fost cu atat mai mare cu cat fusesera gasite sute de manuscrise in alte grote din acelasi sit, cunoscut sub numele de Qumran. Scrieri vechi de 2000 de ani care ar fi fost opera unei secte evreiesti, cea a esenienilor. Dar, de asta data, documentele nu erau scrise pe piei de animale ca celelalte, ci pe foi de arama. Ca si cum ar fi tainuit informatii extrem de importante.
Incercari de descifrare
Era imposibil ca rulourile sa fie citite in starea in care se aflau, deteriorate de umiditate si oxidare. Exista pericolul sa se faramiteze, sa se distruga definitiv. Era necesar sa fie decupate, intr-o prima faza. Guvernul iordanian (Qumran se afla in acea vreme in Iordania) incredinteaza aceasta misiune Institutului de tehnologie Manchester din Marea Britanie care avea in dotare un cutit circular de mare precizie. In 2 saptamani, rulourile au fost decupate in 23 de benzi, fotografiate si supuse undelor radio pentru a permite oamenilor de stiinta sa reconstituie textele.
S-a constatat ca cele doua rulouri din arama erau de fapt doua bucati dintr-un singur rulou deteriorat, cu dimensiuni de 2,40m/30cm. Textele au fost descifrate fara dificultate pentru ca erau redactate in ebraica veche. Si, surpriza: acestea indicau ascunzatorile a 61 de comori! Sute de vase din argint si aur umplute cu rasini si plante aromatice, vesminte sacre, urcioare pline cu argint. In total, peste 60 de tone de metale pretioase!
Pe urmele autorilor ruloului
Se pare ca ar fi vorba de o comunitate evreieasca de la inceputul erei crestine care si-ar fi ascuns bogatiile pentru a nu cadea in mana romanilor. Probabil, esenieni, care au parasit regiunea inainte de anul 68, cand aceasta secta austera a fost vanata de romani. Unii specialisti infirma aceasta ipoteza, considerand ca limba folosita in rulouri dateaza din secolul II si ca acestea au fost ascunse in graba prin anul 130.
Un text criptat?
Acesta a fost usor de tradus dar interpretarea listei de comori a fost mai complicata decat parea. Iata un exemplu: „Sapa intre cei doi tamarini aflati in valea Achon, chiar in mijlocul lor; acolo se afla doua oale din marmita pline cu argint.” Cum sa gasesti acesti doi arbori plantati in urma cu 2000 de ani? In alte locuri, indicatiile sunt vagi: „La Qob’eh, se afla mult argint”. Multe sate mentionate sunt necunoscute specialistilor. Sa fi fost textele criptate? O ipoteza intarita de prezenta unor litere grecesti intr-un text redactat in ebraica. Ca si cum ar fi vorba de chei de cod. Poate ca solutia enigmei se afla intr-un alt rulou care e citat la sfarsitul documentului si in care s-ar afla detalii revelatoare. Dar acest rulou e de negasit.
Si totusi, unde sunt comorile?
Nimeni n-a reusit sa dea de urma vreuneia din ele. Prezumtivele situri ar fi: Valea Cedron, Jericho, Ierusalim, Qumran, orasele din Samaria. Pentru unii specialisti, aceste comori nu exista fiind doar simbolice, legendare. Altii considera ca cei care le-au ascuns, le-au recuperat la un moment dat.
Battery technology hasn't kept pace with advancements in portable electronics, but the race is on to fix this. One revolutionary concept being pursued by a team of researchers in New Zealand involves creating "wearable energy harvesters" capable of converting movement from humans or found in nature into battery power.
This image shows a hand-pumped soft generator the researchers are using to demonstrate it. Credit: N/A
A class of variable capacitor generators known as "dielectric elastomer generators" (DEGs) shows great potential for wearable energy harvesting. In fact, researchers at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute's Biomimetics Lab believe DEGs may enable light, soft, form-fitting, silent energy harvesters with excellent mechanical properties that match human muscle. They describe their findings in the American Institute of Physics' journal Applied Physics Letters.
"Imagine soft generators that produce energy by flexing and stretching as they ride ocean waves or sway in the breeze like a tree," says Thomas McKay, a Ph.D. candidate working on soft generator research at the Biomimetics Lab. "We've developed a low-cost power generator with an unprecedented combination of softness, flexibility, and low mass. These characteristics provide an opportunity to harvest energy from environmental sources with much greater simplicity than previously possible."
Dielectric elastomers, often referred to as artificial muscles, are stretchy materials that are capable of producing energy when deformed. In the past, artificial muscle generators required bulky, rigid, and expensive external electronics.
"Our team eliminated the need for this external circuitry by integrating flexible electronics—dielectric elastomer switches—directly onto the artificial muscles themselves. One of the most exciting features of the generator is that it's so simple; it simply consists of rubber membranes and carbon grease mounted in a frame," McKay explains.
McKay and his colleagues at the Biomimetics Lab are working to create soft dexterous machines that comfortably interface with living creatures and nature in general. The soft generator is another step toward fully soft devices; it could potentially be unnoticeably incorporated into clothing and harvest electricity from human movement. When this happens, worrying about the battery powering your cell phone or other portable electronics dying on you will become a thing of the past. And as an added bonus, this should help keep batteries out of landfills.
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Despre nenorocirile produse de fumat poate ca n-ar trebui sa mai vorbim, pentru ca mai toata lumea stie ce efecte dezastruoase produce fumul tigarilor, atat pentru cel inrobit de acest vicu, cat si pentru nefumatorii din jurul sau. Intoxicatia acuta cu nicotina – tabagismul – provine din inhalarea acestei substante nocive, dar si a oxidului de carbon, a gudroanelor, principalele componente ale tutunului ars. Efectele nefaste se rasfrang in tot organismul, dupa cum vom arata mai jos.
Daca zaharurile au rolul lor bine determinat in mentinerea echilibrului organismului nostru, excesul de zahar are, dimpotriva, efecte nedorite. Consumul de zahar in cantitate mare activeaza formarea tesutului adipos, in detrimentul tesutului muscular, potrivit cercetatorilor italieni din Ferrara si Sadova. De altfel, zaharul era deja cunoscut ca stimulent al acumularii de grasimi in celulele tesutului adipos (adipocite).
In martie 1952, intr-o grota din apropierea Marii Moarte, cercetatorii Scolii arheologice franceze din Ierusalim au descoperit doua misterioase rulouri din arama, gravate cu texte. Curiozitatea lor a fost cu atat mai mare cu cat fusesera gasite sute de manuscrise in alte grote din acelasi sit, cunoscut sub numele de Qumran. Scrieri vechi de 2000 de ani care ar fi fost opera unei secte evreiesti, cea a esenienilor. Dar, de asta data, documentele nu erau scrise pe piei de animale ca celelalte, ci pe foi de arama. Ca si cum ar fi tainuit informatii extrem de importante.
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