The factory is the first of its kind to produce electricity by combining wind power and hydrogen, a completely pollution-free method. On a good windy day, which Utsira has plenty of, where speeds average 10 metres [33ft] per second, the turbines can power the whole island. Any surplus is used to break water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. On days when the wind is weak, the stored hydrogen is used to produce electricity, either by burning it in a combustion engine or fusing it chemically with oxygen in a fuel cell, a kind of battery. The only by-product of the operation is water.

Cool! Totally infeasible for the domestic economy and administration, but cool nonetheless!

-janelane

[ Agreed. They're using hydrogen for what it's good for... being a very clean battery. What the rest of the world needs is a decent way to generate power cleanly... storing it hydrogen is gonna be totally doable within a few years. But how do we get it? -k]

Guardian Unlimited | Life | 'In 50 years' time no one will be using oil any more'

Now, after three billion years, the Darwinian interlude is over. It was an interlude between two periods of horizontal gene transfer. The epoch of Darwinian evolution based on competition between species ended about ten thousand years ago when a single species, Homo Sapiens, began to dominate and reorganize the biosphere.

Since that time, cultural evolution has replaced biological evolution as the main driving force of change. Cultural evolution is not Darwinian. Cultures spread by horizontal transfer of ideas more than by genetic inheritance.

[ Very interesting... I'm very interested in a more complete development of this line of thinking... -k]

The Darwinian Interlude, by Freeman Dyson

] Known as a rectangular projection, this map is one way of
] looking at the spherical Earth as a flat map. Both the
] size of continents and their shape get distorted as you
] move away from the equator. Compare this with a Mercator
] projection, which greatly distorts sizes in favor of
] keeping the shapes correct, or a Peters projection which
] distorts shapes but gives a true indication of relative
] size.
]
] Also available is a semi-realistic view of dawn and dusk
] from far above the Earth, a look at the moon, and
] information about how this works.

On the same vein as the "world at night" photos, here are some cool maps the whole earth's surface.

[ Neat... and check out the different projections too... -k]

World Sunlight Map

The discovery also raises interesting biological questions -- including whether it gets in the way of evolution, which depends on mutations changing an organism rather than being put right by a backup system.

[ Fascinating. -k]

Startling Scientists, Plant Fixes Its Flawed Gene

"Mars scientists and engineers are elated about a dust-busting blast that has struck the Spirit rover at its Gusev crater exploration site.

Turns out that a martian whirlwind – dubbed a dust devil – likely zoomed over the robot high up in the Columbia Hills. That fleeting flyby effectively cleaned Spirit’s solar arrays, giving the robot a new lease on life.

Engineers report that the rover’s power reading quickly shot up to almost as high as when the rover landed on Mars over a year ago."

[ Damn, dude, that thing is the freaking energizer bunny with a 4 leaf clover or some shit. Really stunningly successful. Go NASA. -k]

Spirit Gets A Dust Devil Once-Over

[ An email discussion between tom and Jonathan Shapiro regarding ID and the point of science. It's worth perusing, and I have little to add. I will note that the New York Times Magazine addressed the issue (briefly) this week as well :

http://tinyurl.com/53qxy

-k]

On Intelligent Design (Long)

Vile wrote:
] It might be easier for me to cut off your hands and rip out
] your tongue.

[ Well, you're nothing if not consistent, but really, aren't physical threats against people you've never met, across the internet, a little silly? I have no doubt you're really a nice guy on the inside, buried beneath all those layers of whatever fashionable angsty ethos you've chosen to accessorize with. But maybe not... either way, if you can find joy trolling online and spitting blood at a roomful of coffeehouse punkers, then who'm I to argue with that, really. -k]

RE: Left-handers have different view

Vile wrote:
] As far as you go,
] k, I must say that it sucks to find that we use the same hand
] to write with. I hate being in any classification that you
] are in. In fact, I am re-stringing my guitar right now. Time
] to convert to righty. Maybe my allergies, AIDS, depression,
] drug problem, schizophrenia, insomnia, and spatial challenges
] will all go away and I will drive better. Who knows?

[ Well, don't sweat it too much, I only write lefty... everything else I do righty, so you can continue being as different from me as possible. I had no idea I had so much control... i also like eating Thai food and Sushi, and I play guitar and love music... Can i get you to stop doing those things too? -k]

RE: Left-handers have different view

] Research has suggested that left-handed people are more
] susceptible to a range of problems, including allergies,
] auto-immune diseases, depression, drug abuse, epilepsy,
] schizophrenia and sleeping disorders.
]
]
] Left-handers are thought to have poorer spatial skills,
] and thus to be more vulnerable to car crashes and other
] serious accidents.
]
]
] However, a study published by The Lancet suggested there
] was no truth in the theory that left-handers are more
] likely to die prematurely.

[ They left out the fact that we're better at everything else ;)

Seriously though, this article's pretty light on content. All it says is that right and left handed people might view the world "differently" but they don't reveal any qualitative details. Differently how? Better or worse? I mean, I guess it means that if i get to choose which side of my brain takes a hit, i should chose the left side, so my language and visual skills aren't as badly fucked, but I'd like to know a lot more. -k]

Left-handers have different view

noteworthy wrote:
] Whereas earlier coverage simply tended toward comic
] uncordiality, the tone now has shifted from a mocking of
] harmless idiocy to a biting castigation of the curricular
] debasements in Cobb and Dover.

The most interesting thing to note is that the author of this article has bought into the memetic distortions of those he opposes, calling "intelligent design" "an alternative theory" in the second paragraph.

"Intelligent Design" is not a theory. It is a hypothesis. The word "theory" is used in common speech when one really means hypothesis, because the later word is a bit obtuse. The author seems aware of the distinction, but doesn't seem to recall the word "hypothesis" and instead reaches for phrases like "not yet a theory."

When someone says "The Theory of Evolution" they aren't using the lay meaning of the word theory, but rather the scientific meaning. The "Intelligent Design" folks distort the debate by taking advantage of the public's confusion about the definition of these two words. In falling for it this article does more to promote their cause then to fight it.

RE: The Crafty Attacks on Evolution