The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is the Department of Energy's green tech incubation lab, so perhaps it's no surprise that the research agency is attempting to lead America to greener pastures by example. The NREL just put the finishing touches on its new Research Support Facility (RSF) in Golden, Colo., -- the largest zero-energy office building in the nation -- hoping other developers will follow its lead.

The 220,000 square-foot facility will be home to more than 800 employees when it opens its doors in August, and is expected to achieve platinum LEED certification, the highest distinction a building can get from the U.S. Green Building Council. To create a structure that consumes no more energy than it produces in a year, the engineers behind the office complex took into account both the technologies of the future and the building practices of the past.

For instance, before electric lighting and climate control became ubiquitous architects situated and designed buildings to take advantage of natural light, with lots of windows that also provided ventilation. A slender 60-foot width and an east-west orientation allow lots of natural daylight to illuminate interior spaces of the RSF. That centuries-old building practice is coupled with smart technology that constantly compares interior and exterior temperatures, and even sends messages to occupants' computer screens when its time to open or close the windows for optimum natural climate control.

The building is also built largely of recycled or reclaimed materials, and the exterior is designed to absorb heat from the sun that can then either contain the heat during the day during warmer months or release it into the building during cooler months. The interior climate is further controlled using an radiant system that uses water pipes embedded in the floor to circulate either hot or cold water.

Of course, the NREL's new green building pales in comparison to China's ambitious 800,000 square-foot "Sun Dial" office building or the scope of projects like Masdar City outside Abu Dhabi. But it's a good -- and good looking -- first step toward better building practices. To make sure the drive for net-zero architecture doesn't stall in Golden, the NREL will be offering its design for the building to developers for free starting this fall.

Source: PopSci

Nothing says 'the future' quite like auto-pods, except maybe flying cars, but those aren't here yet. What are here are Masdar City's rapid transit auto-pods. Claimed to be the world's first trackless Personal Transportation System (PRT), the four-seat pods will theoretically be able to take you wherever you want to go in the city, sans driver. We say theoretically because Masdar City isn't really a city just yet (more like a collection of a few buildings, with mostly researchers and students living there), and therefore the pods only go on one route with a stop at each end (about 1600 meters round-trip).

Another big change in the works is the PRT system will no longer be underground. Due to the global financial crisis, Masdar's audacious (and expensive) plans to make itself a floating city 25 feet (7.5 meters) above the ground got scrapped, forcing the pods above ground.

Source: Autoblog Green

Former child-star Corey Feldman is making some shocking claims in a new interview with ABC's Nightline.

The 40-year-old actor, who starred in hit films in the 1980s like "The Goonies" and "Stand By Me," told Nightline that the biggest threat to children in show business is something that just isn't talked about -- pedophilia.

"I can tell you that the number one problem in Hollywood was, and is, and always will be pedophilia. That's the biggest problem for children in this industry... it's all done under the radar. It's the big secret," he said.

Feldman said he was surrounded by pedophiles when he was 14-years-old and didn't realize until he was older just what these "vultures" were and what they wanted. Feldman says it was these people who abused both him and close friend and troubled teen actor Corey Haim, who died last year at the age of 38.

"There is one person to blame in the death of Corey Haim, and that person happens to be a Hollywood mogul -- and that person needs to be exposed but unfortunately I can't be the one to do it," he said.

Both Feldman and Haim have talked about their abuse before, even confronting one another about it on their 2008 reality series "Two Coreys," revealing that they were both being molested by different people at the same time.

Feldman told Nightline, "There are so many people in this industry who have gotten away with it for so long that they feel they're above the law. And that's got to change, that's got to stop."

There still seems to be a rift between Feldman and Haim's family. When Haim died in 2010, Feldman was not invited to the funeral and when Nightline reached out to Haim's mother for comment, she told them she wasn't going to respond to anything Feldman had to say, and wishes he would only talk about himself.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

Libyan rebels enter Tripoli

Gaddafi forces offer little resistance as rebels moved from the western outskirts into the capital.

Source: Al Jazeera English: Live Stream

The brain-computer interface (BCI) technology could one day be used to help people who are unable to talk or have other physical disabilities due to brain injury. The technology could one day be used to read a person’s mind.

Published April 7 in the Journal of Neuroengineering, the study was carried out by scientists at the Center for Innovation in Neurosciences and Technology at Washington University in St. Louis. The team was led by Dr. Eric Leuthardt, a pioneer in the field who previously developed a BCI that enabled people to play video games with their thoughts. In the current study a net of ECoG (electrocorticographic) electrodes was temporarily placed beneath the dura, a layer of connective tissue surrounding the brain. Rather than performing a craniotomy and placing electrodes on the brain for an experiment–might be hard to get approval for that–the original purpose of the electrodes was to map activity in patients with intractable epilepsy so that those areas could be surgically removed. As human brain studies are often brought about, Dr. Leuthardt combined his clinical aims with experimental. The ECoG electrodes detect the activity of underlying neurons and transmit the signals to a computer that then uses the signals to perform a task. In the current study the patients’ brain activity was used to control a cursor on a computer screen. Remarkably, the patients were able to accurately control the cursor in as little as 4 minutes. The slowest of them took 15 minutes. The ease with which the patents were able to perform the task is an encouraging sign that the technology could be applied to prosthetics control.

Other researchers have successfully used a BCI to interact with a computer. What’s novel about Leuthardt’s study was the region of the brain they recorded from. Building off work in monkeys where a mathematical relationship was found between the activity of motor cortex neurons and movements produced, early work in neural interfaces for prosthetic control logically focused efforts of how to use the motor cortex as the brain activity source. Leuthardt’s group, however, took a different approach. They hypothesized that, instead of imagining an arm movement–from right to left, for example–the patient could control the cursor with sounds either spoken aloud or imagined.

Instead of recording from the motor cortex, the researchers needed to record from the speech centers of the brain: Wernicke’s area in the temporal lobe and Broca’s area in the frontal lobe. The patients were asked to say or think of four sounds: oo, ah, ee, and eh. The computer then associated the patterns of brain activity that represented each of the sounds and tied specific cursor movements to the sounds. When the patient said or thought “ah” for example, the cursor would move left.

Using the brain’s speech centers instead of the motor area was a major achievement. Human speech has been studied extensively with brain imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Data from these experiments have revealed a great deal about how different parts of the speech network work together to produce and understand language. But prior to Leuthardt’s demonstration it was not known if speech network activity could be used in BCI control.

Will the computer understand us if we simply talk to it? This is important for neuroprosthetic devices of the future as it expands the repertoire of brain function that clinicians can potentially use to control a robotic limb.

Another way to phrase the above question: can the computer read our minds? Amazingly, the answer seems to be yes. But simple oos and ahs are one thing, articulated thoughts are quite another. When we talk–either to each other or internally to ourselves–our thoughts aren’t limited to the words we’re using. Our brain relates to the words in intuitive ways, as in all of the imagery and associations that pop up in our heads when we hear a simple word like “ninja.” BCIs are a long way off from extracting the tremendously more complex idea of ninja our brain conjures up, but understanding overt statements from the brain is a step in that direction. It’s fun to think that this technology might be used someday to record our thoughts in the same way tape recorders are used. Brain implants could enable us to “jot down” lecture notes in our thoughts and retrieve them from the computer later. You’ll definitely want to keep those notes heavily guarded, lest someone hacks in and realizes that your mind kept wandering to the cute girl in the row next to you.

Computers are already being used to read our minds–and companies are cashing in on the data. Neuromarketing is a field born when a neuroscientist performed the Pepsi Challenge while scanning people’s brain activity with fMRI. The study showed that a part of the brain called the medial prefrontal cortex lights up when people really like a product. As before, Pepsi beat Coke and when they drank Pepsi the MPC lit up. But then why, if more people prefer Pepsi, does Coke dominate the market? The answer came when researchers uncovered the labels. Now that the people knew what they were drinking, the MPC lit up with Coke, not Pepsi. The conclusion was that Coke’s advertising was much more effective than Pepsi’s: even though people preferred Pepsi, they thought they preferred Coke. Lighting up the MPC meant a refreshed and satisfied Coke drinker. Thus, a cottage industry was born. Companies began putting people in MRI machines and testing their slogans and ad campaigns, and watching to see if the MPC lit up. If it did, it meant the consumer was thinking, “I need that pair of shoes.”

The potential of combining mind and machine is limitless. The two are being brought ever closer as developments in BCI technology proceed in parallel with our increasing understanding of the how the brain works. The future of BCIs will take us in even more exciting and unpredictable directions. Whether it improves the lives of disabled people, enhances our use of information, makes video games more fun, or makes companies money only time will tell. Eventually, I have no doubt, it will be all of the above and more.

Source: Singularity Hub

George Carlin May 12 1937 - June 22 2008
Thank you George Carlin, your insight was of huge importance for the human race, you will be greatly missed by many.
You are forever in our thoughts.

It might seem a little ironic, but automotive traffic could be the next source of green energy. A bill for a pilot program that will harness road vibration and convert it to energy passed 6-1 in the California State Assembly's Natural Resources Committee yesterday. It will move to the Assembly Transportation Committee for voting next week.

California Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) first introduced bill AB 306 in February.

Piezoelectric generation captures energy that cars, trains, or people generate as they move across surfaces and cause vibrations. These vibrations can be harnessed and converted to energy using piezoelectric materials underneath surfaces. Electricity stored in roadside batteries could power traffic signs and signals, or on a larger scale, be fed directly into the power grid.

A .6 mile single-lane stretch of roadway can generate up to 44 megawatts of electricity in a year, enough to power 30,800 homes. And one of the good things about this energy strategy is that rush hour typically coincides with peak energy usage.

A rendering of Innowattech piezoelectric sensors installed under a highway. (Credit: Innowattech)

Israel is already using piezoelectric generation on its highways, and Italy has plans to install the technology in a stretch of the Venice-to-Trieste Autostrada. Funding for this test project in Northern and Southern California would come from existing funds already set aside by California's Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program.

Although a spokesperson familiar with the bill said the sensors built by Israeli technology company Innowattech or Michigan-based PowerLeap are inexpensive, no figures on the technology or installation cost could be given. However, a $50 billion backlog of road maintenance means there is ample opportunity to install piezoelectric sensors without needing to dig up roads. Determining whether or not it's cost effective to replace broken sensors before regularly schedule road maintenance is one of the pilot program's objectives.

Source: CNET

Il documentario racconta la storia della marijuana in America.
La marijuana è la più grande coltura da reddito negli Stati Uniti, con una somma di entrate pari a 36 miliardi di dollari all’anno. Mentre molti pensano alla marijuana come una droga leggera, altri la considerano una droga che può facilmente aprire la strada all’uso di sostanze più forti. La politica del governo statunitense in merito alla marijuana può sembrare un paradosso. Infatti, sono stati spesi più di cento miliardi di dollari per combatterne l’importazione, la vendita e la distribuzione; ma, allo stesso tempo, in 14 stati ne è stato legalizzato l’utilizzo per fini medici e curativi.
Gli spettatori scopriranno i cambiamenti sociali e legali della marijuana in un modo nuovo, fresco e interessante.

INFOWEB

La marijuana (spagnolo), o cannabis (latino) o hemp (inglese) è una pianta che si potrebbe definire miracolosa, ed ha una storia lunga almeno quanto quella dell'umanità. Unica pianta che si può coltivare a qualunque latitudine, dall'Equatore alla Scandinavia, ha molteplici proprietà curative, cresce veloce, costa pochissimo da mantenere, offre un olio di ottima qualità (molto digeribile), ed ha fornito, dalle più antiche civiltà fino agli inizi del secolo scorso, circa l'80 per cento di ogni tipo di carta, di fibra tessile, e di combustibile di cui l'umanità abbia mai fatto uso.
E poi, cosa è successo? E' successo che in quel periodo è avvenuto il clamoroso sorpasso dell’industria ai danni dell'agricultura, e di questo sorpasso la cannabis è stata chiaramente la vittima numero uno.
I nascenti gruppi industriali americani puntavano soprattutto allo sfruttamento del petrolio per l’energia (Standard Oil - Rockefeller), delle risorse boschive per la carta (editore Hearst), e delle fibre artificiali per l’abbigliamento (Dupont) – tutti settori nei quali avevano investito grandi quantità di denaro. Ma avevano di fronte, ciascuno sul proprio terreno, questo avversario potentissimo, e si unirono così per formare un'alleanza sufficientemente forte per batterlo.
L'unica soluzione per poter tagliare di netto le gambe ad un colosso di quelle dimensioni risultò la messa al bando totale. L’illegalità. Partì quindi un'operazione mediatica di demonizzazione, rapida, estesa ed efficace ("droga del diavolo", "erba maledetta" ecc. ), grazie agli stessi giornali di Hearst (è il famoso personaggio di Citizen Kane/Quarto Potere, di O. Wells), il quale ne aveva uno praticamente in ogni grande città. Sensibile al denaro, e sempre alla ricerca di temi di facile presa popolare, Hollywood si accodò volentieri alla manovra, contribuendo in maniera determinante a porre il sigillo alla bara della cannabis .
La condanna morale viaggiava rapida e incontrastata da costa a costa (non c’era la controinformazione!), e di lì a far varare una legge che mettesse la cannabis fuori legge fu un gioco da ragazzi. Anche perchè pare che i tre quarti dei senatori che approvarono il famoso "Marijuana Tax Act" del 1937, tutt'ora in vigore, non sapevano che marijuana e cannabis fossero la stessa cosa: sarebbe stato il genio di Hearst ad introdurre il nomignolo, mescolando le carte per l'occasione.

THOUGHTS ON CANNABIS

"How many murders, suicides, robberies, criminal assaults, holdups, burglaries and deeds of maniacal insanity it causes each year, especially among the young, can only be conjectured...No one knows, when he places a marijuana ciga-rette to his lips, whether he will become a joyous reveller in a musical heaven, a mad insensate, a calm philosopher, or a murderer..."

"Quanti omicidi, suicidi, furti, aggressioni criminali, rapine, scassi e gesti di follia maniacale provochi ogni anno, lo si può solo indovinare. Nessuno sa, nel mettere ad altri fra le labbra una sigaretta di marijuana, se ne faranno un allegro visitatore di paradisi musicali, un folle delirante, un tranquillo pensatore, o un assassino..."

HARRY J ANSLINGER . Commissioner of the US Bureau of Narcotics 1930-1962

Fatto sta che a partire da quel momento Dupont inondava il mercato con le sue fibre sintetiche (nylon, teflon, lycra, kevlar, sono tutti marchi originali Dupont), il mercato dell'automobile si indirizzava definitivamente all'uso del motore a benzina (il primo motore costruito da Diesel funzionava con carburante vegetale), e Hearst iniziava la devastazione sistematica delle foreste del Sudamerica, dal cui legno trasse in poco tempo la carta sufficiente per mettere in ginocchio quel poco che era rimasto della concorrenza.
Al coro di benefattori si univa in seguito il consorzio tabaccai, che generosamente si offriva di porre rimedio all'improvviso “vuoto di mercato” con un prodotto cento volte più dannoso della cannabis stessa.
E le "multinazionali" di oggi, che influenzano fortemente tutti i maggiori governi occidentali, non sono che le discendenti dirette di quella storica alleanza, nata negli anni '30, fra le grandi famiglie industriali. (Nel caso qualcuno si domandasse perchè mai la cannabis non viene legalizzata nemmeno per uso medico, nonostante gli innegabili riscontri positivi in quel senso).
Come prodotto tessile, la cannabis è circa quattro volte più morbida del cotone, quattro volte più calda, ne ha tre volte la resistenza allo strappo, dura infinitamente di più, ha proprietà ignifughe, e non necessita di alcun pesticida per la coltivazione. Come carburante, a parità di rendimento, costa circa un quinto, e come supporto per la stampa circa un decimo.
Abbiamo fatto l'affare del secolo.

Fonte: documentari-info.blogspot.com

The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom is a BBC documentary series by English filmmaker Adam Curtis, well known for other documentaries including The Century of the Self and The Power of Nightmares. It began airing in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 11 March 2007.

The series consists of three one-hour programmes which explore the concept and definition of freedom, specifically, "how a simplistic model of human beings as self-seeking, almost robotic, creatures led to today's idea of freedom."

The series was originally entitled Cold Cold Heart and was scheduled for transmission in Autumn 2006. Although it is not known what caused the delay in transmission, nor the change in title, it is known that the DVD release of Curtis's previous series The Power of Nightmares had been delayed due to problems with copyright clearance, caused by the high volume of archive soundtrack and film used in Curtis's characteristic montage technique.

Another documentary series based on very similar lines—"examining the world economy during the 1990s"—was to have been Curtis's first BBC TV project on moving to the BBC's Current Affairs Unit in 2002, shortly after producing Century of the Self.

Source: uow.edu.au