Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Laser enrichment could cut cost of nuclear power

NUCLEAR power could become significantly cheaper thanks to world-leading laser technology being developed in Sydney. A team of about 25 scientists, engineers and technicians at Lucas Heights, home of Australia's only atomic reactor, has succeeded where other nations, with budgets stretching into billions of dollars, have failed.

... Power stations are fuelled by a specific blend of two types of uranium. About 5 per cent must be uranium drnl-cfc041204.1.jpg235, with the rest made from uranium 238. But natural uranium is 0.7 per cent U-235 and 99.3 per cent U-238. There are at present only two methods for sifting uranium atoms, or isotopes, to create the right mix. One, called diffusion, involves forcing uranium through filters. Being lighter, U-235 passes through more easily and is thus separated from its heavier counterpart. The second method, widely adopted in the 1970s, uses centrifuges to spin the heavier and lighter atoms apart.

Both, said Dr Goldsworthy, are "very crude. You have to repeat the process over and over," consuming enormous amounts of electricity. The spinning method requires "thousands and thousands of centrifuges".

The Lucas Heights team, working for Dr Goldsworthy's research company Silex (Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation), is the only one in the world developing a third technique that involves streaming uranium through lasers tuned to a frequency that only "sees" the U-235 atoms.

The lasers electrically charge the atoms, which become trapped in an electromagnetic field and drawn to a metal plate for collection. "It's absolutely cutting-edge technology, incredibly difficult to develop," Dr Goldsworthy said. - smh

Laser enrichment could cut cost of nuclear power

NUCLEAR power could become significantly cheaper thanks to world-leading laser technology being developed in Sydney. A team of about 25 scientists, engineers and technicians at Lucas Heights, home of Australia's only atomic reactor, has succeeded where other nations, with budgets stretching into billions of dollars, have failed.

... Power stations are fuelled by a specific blend of two types of uranium. About 5 per cent must be uranium drnl-cfc041204.1.jpg235, with the rest made from uranium 238. But natural uranium is 0.7 per cent U-235 and 99.3 per cent U-238. There are at present only two methods for sifting uranium atoms, or isotopes, to create the right mix. One, called diffusion, involves forcing uranium through filters. Being lighter, U-235 passes through more easily and is thus separated from its heavier counterpart. The second method, widely adopted in the 1970s, uses centrifuges to spin the heavier and lighter atoms apart.

Both, said Dr Goldsworthy, are "very crude. You have to repeat the process over and over," consuming enormous amounts of electricity. The spinning method requires "thousands and thousands of centrifuges".

The Lucas Heights team, working for Dr Goldsworthy's research company Silex (Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation), is the only one in the world developing a third technique that involves streaming uranium through lasers tuned to a frequency that only "sees" the U-235 atoms.

The lasers electrically charge the atoms, which become trapped in an electromagnetic field and drawn to a metal plate for collection. "It's absolutely cutting-edge technology, incredibly difficult to develop," Dr Goldsworthy said. - smh

Biological Art

This creation was sent to me via email by reader Gleet. It is fun to think about why this hybrid creature may or may not be able to survive. How long until we can do things like this for fun in real life with genetics? 50 years? 100? 500? Now (in secret underground labs??)


frogator.jpeg

Biological Art

This creation was sent to me via email by reader Gleet. It is fun to think about why this hybrid creature may or may not be able to survive. How long until we can do things like this for fun in real life with genetics? 50 years? 100? 500? Now (in secret underground labs??)


frogator.jpeg

Blues Brother UFO Chat

"BLUES BROTHERS star DAN AYKROYD is getting serious about his obsession with aliens - he's planning to release a DVD of his thoughts about outer space beings. The actor sat down to interview renowned 'UFOlogist' DAVID SEREDA and was so fascinated by what they spoke about, he decided to release the complex chat as a DVD. DAN AYKROYD UNPLUGGED ON UFOS will be released later today (30MAY06)." - yahoo

Blues Brother UFO Chat

"BLUES BROTHERS star DAN AYKROYD is getting serious about his obsession with aliens - he's planning to release a DVD of his thoughts about outer space beings. The actor sat down to interview renowned 'UFOlogist' DAVID SEREDA and was so fascinated by what they spoke about, he decided to release the complex chat as a DVD. DAN AYKROYD UNPLUGGED ON UFOS will be released later today (30MAY06)." - yahoo

Mysterious glowing alien ice clouds targeted by NASA

Glowing, silvery blue clouds that have been spreading around the world and brightening mysteriously in recent years will soon be studied in unprecedented detail by a NASA spacecraft.

dn9228-1_250.jpgThe Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission will be the first satellite dedicated to studying this enigmatic phenomenon. Due to launch in late 2006, it should reveal whether the clouds are caused by global warming, as many scientists believe.

Noctilucent" clouds, which glow at night, form in the upper atmosphere, at an altitude of about 80 kilometres, and their glow can be seen just after sunset or just before sunrise. "Even though the Sun's gone down and you're in darkness, the clouds are so high up, the Sun is still illuminating them," explains AIM principal investigator James Russell at Hampton University in Virginia, US.

... As yet, it is not clear what the source of the particles that "seed" the clouds is. The clouds form during the local summer months, when the pole is bathed in perpetual sunlight. So one possibility is that warm air rising above the pole could carry dust upwards from lower atmospheric altitudes, onto which water can condense.

But the dust could also have a cosmic source, dropping into the atmosphere from space. "It may be there's a constant supply of particles but a changing temperature and water environment makes the conditions right to grow ice particles," says Russell. - newsci

Mysterious glowing alien ice clouds targeted by NASA

Glowing, silvery blue clouds that have been spreading around the world and brightening mysteriously in recent years will soon be studied in unprecedented detail by a NASA spacecraft.

dn9228-1_250.jpgThe Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission will be the first satellite dedicated to studying this enigmatic phenomenon. Due to launch in late 2006, it should reveal whether the clouds are caused by global warming, as many scientists believe.

Noctilucent" clouds, which glow at night, form in the upper atmosphere, at an altitude of about 80 kilometres, and their glow can be seen just after sunset or just before sunrise. "Even though the Sun's gone down and you're in darkness, the clouds are so high up, the Sun is still illuminating them," explains AIM principal investigator James Russell at Hampton University in Virginia, US.

... As yet, it is not clear what the source of the particles that "seed" the clouds is. The clouds form during the local summer months, when the pole is bathed in perpetual sunlight. So one possibility is that warm air rising above the pole could carry dust upwards from lower atmospheric altitudes, onto which water can condense.

But the dust could also have a cosmic source, dropping into the atmosphere from space. "It may be there's a constant supply of particles but a changing temperature and water environment makes the conditions right to grow ice particles," says Russell. - newsci

Monday, May 29, 2006

Japanese War Tubas

Basically, they are "ear binoculars".
Japanese War Tubas, only a few decades ago, were the very pinnacle of modern technology, and your best bet for locating an enemy in the distance, or in the dark (that?s Hirohito on the right). ... We can locate objects with our ears, using the difference in volume between our left and right ear, but more important is the time delay between the sound hitting one ear and then hitting the other. This is possible because sound travels so incredibly slowly, only 330 metres (or 1000 feet) per second. Thinking out loud, that means sound travels one foot in one millisecond, so if your ears are about six inches apart, the sound coming from your right will hit your right ear about half a millisecond before it hits your left ear. A millisecond is quite a long time: in a piece of music, for example, you can spot notes that are only a few milliseconds out as being in the wrong place.

hiro1a.jpg

Japanese War Tubas

Basically, they are "ear binoculars".
Japanese War Tubas, only a few decades ago, were the very pinnacle of modern technology, and your best bet for locating an enemy in the distance, or in the dark (that?s Hirohito on the right). ... We can locate objects with our ears, using the difference in volume between our left and right ear, but more important is the time delay between the sound hitting one ear and then hitting the other. This is possible because sound travels so incredibly slowly, only 330 metres (or 1000 feet) per second. Thinking out loud, that means sound travels one foot in one millisecond, so if your ears are about six inches apart, the sound coming from your right will hit your right ear about half a millisecond before it hits your left ear. A millisecond is quite a long time: in a piece of music, for example, you can spot notes that are only a few milliseconds out as being in the wrong place.

hiro1a.jpg

Red Rain Revisited. Is it Raining Aliens?

Here is a story in the news again that we reported on about three years ago. ( See our Panspermia article) Nice sharp picture ...? of Alien life?
Nearly 50 tons of mysterious red particles showered India in 2001. Now the race is on to figure out what the heck they are. As bizarre as it may seem, the sample jars brimming with cloudy, reddish rainwater in Godfrey Louis?s laboratory in southern India may hold, well, aliens. In April, Louis, a solid-state physicist at Mahatma Gandhi University, published a paper in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Astrophysics and Space Science in which he hypothesizes that the samples?water taken from the mysterious blood-colored showers that fell sporadically across Louis?s home state of Kerala in the summer of 2001?contain microbes from outer space.

Specifically, Louis has isolated strange, thick-walled, red-tinted cell-like structures about 10 microns in size. Stranger still, dozens of his experiments suggest that the particles may lack DNA yet still reproduce plentifully, even in water superheated to nearly 600?F. (The known upper limit for life in water is about 250?F.) So how to explain them? Louis speculates that the particles could be extraterrestrial bacteria adapted to the harsh conditions of space and that the microbes hitched a ride on a comet or meteorite that later broke apart in the upper atmosphere and mixed with rain clouds above India. If his theory proves correct, the cells would be the first confirmed evidence of alien life and, as such, could yield tantalizing new clues to the origins of life on Earth. - popsci

redrain_cells_485.jpg

Red Rain Revisited. Is it Raining Aliens?

Here is a story in the news again that we reported on about three years ago. ( See our Panspermia article) Nice sharp picture ...? of Alien life?
Nearly 50 tons of mysterious red particles showered India in 2001. Now the race is on to figure out what the heck they are. As bizarre as it may seem, the sample jars brimming with cloudy, reddish rainwater in Godfrey Louis?s laboratory in southern India may hold, well, aliens. In April, Louis, a solid-state physicist at Mahatma Gandhi University, published a paper in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Astrophysics and Space Science in which he hypothesizes that the samples?water taken from the mysterious blood-colored showers that fell sporadically across Louis?s home state of Kerala in the summer of 2001?contain microbes from outer space.

Specifically, Louis has isolated strange, thick-walled, red-tinted cell-like structures about 10 microns in size. Stranger still, dozens of his experiments suggest that the particles may lack DNA yet still reproduce plentifully, even in water superheated to nearly 600?F. (The known upper limit for life in water is about 250?F.) So how to explain them? Louis speculates that the particles could be extraterrestrial bacteria adapted to the harsh conditions of space and that the microbes hitched a ride on a comet or meteorite that later broke apart in the upper atmosphere and mixed with rain clouds above India. If his theory proves correct, the cells would be the first confirmed evidence of alien life and, as such, could yield tantalizing new clues to the origins of life on Earth. - popsci

redrain_cells_485.jpg

Hello.

Hay! I'm Xeno. Hope you are enjoying my site. What's up? Email me and tell me stuff.

selfportrait401.jpg

Hello.

Hay! I'm Xeno. Hope you are enjoying my site. What's up? Email me and tell me stuff.

selfportrait401.jpg
I had fun this weekend auditioning for the Sacramento County Fair at Cal Expo. I'll let you know here if Amy Anne and I will be playing the fair this year. Enjoyed walking around and looking at the animals and catching some great music at several stages. Here are some pics from Amy & Xeno's big County Fair Adventure.
fairaudition.jpg

countyFair1.jpgcountyFair2.jpgcountyFair3.jpgcountyFair4.jpgcountyFair5.jpgcountyFair9.jpgcountyFair10.jpgcountyFair6.jpgcountyFair7.jpgcountyFair8.jpg
I had fun this weekend auditioning for the Sacramento County Fair at Cal Expo. I'll let you know here if Amy Anne and I will be playing the fair this year. Enjoyed walking around and looking at the animals and catching some great music at several stages. Here are some pics from Amy & Xeno's big County Fair Adventure.
fairaudition.jpg

countyFair1.jpgcountyFair2.jpgcountyFair3.jpgcountyFair4.jpgcountyFair5.jpgcountyFair9.jpgcountyFair10.jpgcountyFair6.jpgcountyFair7.jpgcountyFair8.jpg

Friday, May 26, 2006

Alien warning sparks tsunami panic

Well, first there was a "bogus news alert" below, then ... today, at least 51 killed as quake jolts Merapi area, Indonesia. The aliens were just a little off, but something still happened.
Citizens of the North African country of Morocco have panicked at news that a tsunami was about to inundate them due to a comet impact in the Atlantic.

tinhat.jpgThe bogus news alert was placed on the website of French UFO researcher Eric Julien. It said that a fragment could split off a passing comet and plunge into the ocean. The website predicted a tsunami could hit Africa on Thursday, May 25.

And what was Julien's source for information about the impending astronomical catastrophe? "I have received information psychically, which is corroborated by scientific data, according to which on May 25, 2006 a giant tsunami will occur in the Atlantic Ocean, brought about by the impact of a comet fragment," said Julien in a statement on his website. "Waves up to 200 m high will reach coastlines located above and below the Tropic of Cancer. However, all of the countries bordering the Atlantic will be affected."

However, the Moroccan Meteorological Office was quick to deny the rumor. The head of the Meteorological Office, Mustapha Janah, said that the comet will miss Earth by more than 10 million kilometres, which would exclude any chance of a tsunami in the Atlantic Ocean.

However, many Moroccans were left uneasy by the psychic alien warning. Some have reportedly packed to go to the mountains, while others have decided to take a trip to another country. - sploid

Alien warning sparks tsunami panic

Well, first there was a "bogus news alert" below, then ... today, at least 51 killed as quake jolts Merapi area, Indonesia. The aliens were just a little off, but something still happened.
Citizens of the North African country of Morocco have panicked at news that a tsunami was about to inundate them due to a comet impact in the Atlantic.

tinhat.jpgThe bogus news alert was placed on the website of French UFO researcher Eric Julien. It said that a fragment could split off a passing comet and plunge into the ocean. The website predicted a tsunami could hit Africa on Thursday, May 25.

And what was Julien's source for information about the impending astronomical catastrophe? "I have received information psychically, which is corroborated by scientific data, according to which on May 25, 2006 a giant tsunami will occur in the Atlantic Ocean, brought about by the impact of a comet fragment," said Julien in a statement on his website. "Waves up to 200 m high will reach coastlines located above and below the Tropic of Cancer. However, all of the countries bordering the Atlantic will be affected."

However, the Moroccan Meteorological Office was quick to deny the rumor. The head of the Meteorological Office, Mustapha Janah, said that the comet will miss Earth by more than 10 million kilometres, which would exclude any chance of a tsunami in the Atlantic Ocean.

However, many Moroccans were left uneasy by the psychic alien warning. Some have reportedly packed to go to the mountains, while others have decided to take a trip to another country. - sploid

Another Alien on Camera.


[googlevideo]943516216368791257[/googlevideo]



In this video the alien admits to taking the form of a woman about 10 years ago.



anotheralien.jpg



Another Alien on Camera.


[googlevideo]943516216368791257[/googlevideo]



In this video the alien admits to taking the form of a woman about 10 years ago.



anotheralien.jpg



Probably not human.

Click image for video:

[googlevideo]-8705268198162394845[/googlevideo]

Probably not human.

Click image for video:

[googlevideo]-8705268198162394845[/googlevideo]

Spotty mice flout genetics laws

spottymouse_203.jpgScientists say they have demonstrated that animals can defy the laws of genetic inheritance. Researchers found that mice can pass on traits to their offspring even if the gene behind those traits is absent.

The scientists suggest RNA, a chemical cousin of DNA, passes on the characteristic - in this experiment, a spotty tail - to later generations.

...

They found the mutant Kit gene produces large amounts of messenger RNA molecules (a type of RNA which acts as a template for the creation of proteins) which accumulate in the sperm of these mice.

The scientists believe the RNA molecules pass from the sperm into the egg, and they "silence" the Kit gene activity in the offspring - even those who do not inherit a copy of the mutant gene. Silencing the activity in this gene leads to a spotted tail. - bbc

Spotty mice flout genetics laws

spottymouse_203.jpgScientists say they have demonstrated that animals can defy the laws of genetic inheritance. Researchers found that mice can pass on traits to their offspring even if the gene behind those traits is absent.

The scientists suggest RNA, a chemical cousin of DNA, passes on the characteristic - in this experiment, a spotty tail - to later generations.

...

They found the mutant Kit gene produces large amounts of messenger RNA molecules (a type of RNA which acts as a template for the creation of proteins) which accumulate in the sperm of these mice.

The scientists believe the RNA molecules pass from the sperm into the egg, and they "silence" the Kit gene activity in the offspring - even those who do not inherit a copy of the mutant gene. Silencing the activity in this gene leads to a spotted tail. - bbc

Duck Eats Alien?

Is this just a random arrangement of some rocks and grains this duck ate?

9273544.jpgAn X-ray of the stomach of a wounded duck that died at the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia contains the uncanny image of an alien's face, researchers said Thursday. And like the grilled cheese sandwich with an image of the Madonna, the X-ray image will be auctioned on eBay. Bidding starts Sunday at 3 p.m.


"Proceeds from the sale of this one-of-a-kind X-ray will go towards funding our continuing efforts to rescue and rehabilitate oiled, orphaned and injured waterfowl and aquatic birds," said Jay Holcomb, the center's director. The adult male mallard was brought with what appeared to be a broken wing to the Cordelia center from another center in the Bay Area on Sunday.


Assistant Marie Travers radiographed the mallard and was shocked to see what appeared to be the face or head of an extraterrestrial alien in the bird's stomach. The bird died quickly, quietly and peacefully after the X-rays were taken, center spokeswoman Karen Benzel said. Staff at the center wondered with amusement whether the alien in the duck was trying to communicate with the people of Earth because the center is located near an area where crop circles were found a few years ago. Benzel noted the symmetry of the alien's face is perfect and has an intense grimace as if it were in anguish after being eaten. Benzel wondered if the duck had consumed a juvenile alien. "We immediately knew this was something we had never seen before in our 35-year history," Benzel said. - foxreno


ba_alienbird26_033_cag.jpg


Duck Eats Alien?

Is this just a random arrangement of some rocks and grains this duck ate?

9273544.jpgAn X-ray of the stomach of a wounded duck that died at the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia contains the uncanny image of an alien's face, researchers said Thursday. And like the grilled cheese sandwich with an image of the Madonna, the X-ray image will be auctioned on eBay. Bidding starts Sunday at 3 p.m.


"Proceeds from the sale of this one-of-a-kind X-ray will go towards funding our continuing efforts to rescue and rehabilitate oiled, orphaned and injured waterfowl and aquatic birds," said Jay Holcomb, the center's director. The adult male mallard was brought with what appeared to be a broken wing to the Cordelia center from another center in the Bay Area on Sunday.


Assistant Marie Travers radiographed the mallard and was shocked to see what appeared to be the face or head of an extraterrestrial alien in the bird's stomach. The bird died quickly, quietly and peacefully after the X-rays were taken, center spokeswoman Karen Benzel said. Staff at the center wondered with amusement whether the alien in the duck was trying to communicate with the people of Earth because the center is located near an area where crop circles were found a few years ago. Benzel noted the symmetry of the alien's face is perfect and has an intense grimace as if it were in anguish after being eaten. Benzel wondered if the duck had consumed a juvenile alien. "We immediately knew this was something we had never seen before in our 35-year history," Benzel said. - foxreno


ba_alienbird26_033_cag.jpg


Share pics from your cell phone cam.

Supposedly you can send your images to mob@ww.com and everyone can view your pics here:
http://mobile.ww.com/mainarchive.html

I'm not sure it is working. My water bottle isn't showing up yet.

Share pics from your cell phone cam.

Supposedly you can send your images to mob@ww.com and everyone can view your pics here:
http://mobile.ww.com/mainarchive.html

I'm not sure it is working. My water bottle isn't showing up yet.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Slovak doctor says solar flares could raise strokes

Human beings may be at higher risk of strokes in years when the explosions on the sun peak, according to a neurologist who studied the records of 6,100 patients in Slovakia.solarflare.jpegDr. Michal Kovac said he found a spike in strokes and brain hemorrhages in the town of Nove Zamky in southern Slovakia in years when solar flares -- bursts of energy stronger than a million nuclear bombs combined -- are most abundant.

Kovac says his work, recently published in the Bratislava Medical Journal, builds on studies that show parts of the human body respond to fluctuations in the earth's geomagnetic field caused by sun storms. He also found patients suffered fewer strokes when the moon was farthest from earth.

"We see a correlation between the human body and lunar and solar phenomena, even if we don't know exactly what explains the connection," he told Reuters.

Coronal mass ejections, which peak roughly every 11 years, send hot gas toward earth that cause radio blackouts and satellite malfunctions, illuminate skies around the north and south poles and are believed to impair the navigational ability of pigeons.

Despite skepticism from astronomers, Kovac and colleagues in the U.S. and Japan think fluctuations in the earth's magnetic field caused by the ejections may disturb the electro-chemical reactions that make human bodies work. He began his research in the 1980s after observing unexplained increases in stroke patients on certain days, weeks, months and years. - reuters

Slovak doctor says solar flares could raise strokes

Human beings may be at higher risk of strokes in years when the explosions on the sun peak, according to a neurologist who studied the records of 6,100 patients in Slovakia.solarflare.jpegDr. Michal Kovac said he found a spike in strokes and brain hemorrhages in the town of Nove Zamky in southern Slovakia in years when solar flares -- bursts of energy stronger than a million nuclear bombs combined -- are most abundant.

Kovac says his work, recently published in the Bratislava Medical Journal, builds on studies that show parts of the human body respond to fluctuations in the earth's geomagnetic field caused by sun storms. He also found patients suffered fewer strokes when the moon was farthest from earth.

"We see a correlation between the human body and lunar and solar phenomena, even if we don't know exactly what explains the connection," he told Reuters.

Coronal mass ejections, which peak roughly every 11 years, send hot gas toward earth that cause radio blackouts and satellite malfunctions, illuminate skies around the north and south poles and are believed to impair the navigational ability of pigeons.

Despite skepticism from astronomers, Kovac and colleagues in the U.S. and Japan think fluctuations in the earth's magnetic field caused by the ejections may disturb the electro-chemical reactions that make human bodies work. He began his research in the 1980s after observing unexplained increases in stroke patients on certain days, weeks, months and years. - reuters

Another Megacryometeor

How many of these are happening but are not witnessed or reported? Probably due to global climate change. Or some weather weapon experiement? Does NORAD track these incoming 'missiles'?

It was a pretty typical Saturday evening for Dan and Jean Ciechanowski as they worked the barbecue and chatted with neighbors this past weekend. Then it happened.

Dan Ciechanowski heard a noise that he described as the sound a missile makes and saw something moving across the sky at a 45-degree angle.

380-ice.jpgIt smashed into a vacant lot next to his property with a crash that shook the foundation of his house.

That crash was pretty close to where Jean Ciechanowski was grilling. Though there is a fence between her property and the vacant yard, she too heard the missile-like sound and felt the impact.

In the end, the object ? a large chunk of ice ? had landed just a few feet away.

?First I heard the noise of it coming down,? she said. ?Then there's this crash and it shook the ground all around me. It was a pretty scary thing to go through.?

In fact, the Ciechanowskis described the impact as surreal. What they found afterward was a one-foot-deep crater in the adjacent yard with a hunk of ice two feet around sitting in the middle.

The ice fell at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday. When investigated by city police, it was assumed that the ice had fallen from a plane. Police called the Federal Aviation Administration to see if any planes in the area had inadvertently dropped the ice from one of their holding tanks. Or it could be a form of ?blue ice,? a euphemism used in the airline industry for ice that falls from leaking airplane lavatories.

There were too many planes in the area to find a culprit, police said, but Ciechanowski isn't so sure that the ice came from a plane. - more

Another Megacryometeor

How many of these are happening but are not witnessed or reported? Probably due to global climate change. Or some weather weapon experiement? Does NORAD track these incoming 'missiles'?

It was a pretty typical Saturday evening for Dan and Jean Ciechanowski as they worked the barbecue and chatted with neighbors this past weekend. Then it happened.

Dan Ciechanowski heard a noise that he described as the sound a missile makes and saw something moving across the sky at a 45-degree angle.

380-ice.jpgIt smashed into a vacant lot next to his property with a crash that shook the foundation of his house.

That crash was pretty close to where Jean Ciechanowski was grilling. Though there is a fence between her property and the vacant yard, she too heard the missile-like sound and felt the impact.

In the end, the object ? a large chunk of ice ? had landed just a few feet away.

?First I heard the noise of it coming down,? she said. ?Then there's this crash and it shook the ground all around me. It was a pretty scary thing to go through.?

In fact, the Ciechanowskis described the impact as surreal. What they found afterward was a one-foot-deep crater in the adjacent yard with a hunk of ice two feet around sitting in the middle.

The ice fell at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday. When investigated by city police, it was assumed that the ice had fallen from a plane. Police called the Federal Aviation Administration to see if any planes in the area had inadvertently dropped the ice from one of their holding tanks. Or it could be a form of ?blue ice,? a euphemism used in the airline industry for ice that falls from leaking airplane lavatories.

There were too many planes in the area to find a culprit, police said, but Ciechanowski isn't so sure that the ice came from a plane. - more

Personal data on millions of US veterans stolen

Personal information on 26.5 million U.S. veterans was stolen from an employee of the
Department of Veterans Affairs who took the data home without authorization, exposing them to possible identity theft, the department said on Monday.

The computer records included names,
Social Security numbers and dates of birth for the military veterans and some spouses, the department said. The electronic data related to everyone discharged from the military since 1975, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said. - yahoo

Personal data on millions of US veterans stolen

Personal information on 26.5 million U.S. veterans was stolen from an employee of the
Department of Veterans Affairs who took the data home without authorization, exposing them to possible identity theft, the department said on Monday.

The computer records included names,
Social Security numbers and dates of birth for the military veterans and some spouses, the department said. The electronic data related to everyone discharged from the military since 1975, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said. - yahoo

Monday, May 22, 2006

Happy birthday to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Here are some Sherlock Holmes stories on line.
Happy birthday to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Here are some Sherlock Holmes stories on line.

Invisibility Finally Happened

"As all the scientist in the world are engaged in the greatest quest of human kind- the immortal revolution of technology and science, two of them - Nicolae-Alexandru Nicorovici, a Romanian researcher from Sydney University, and Graeme Milton, an American scientist from Utah University, created the perfect lens ? the one that makes you invisible. The amazing results of their work were published in a dedicated science magazine called ?Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences?.

Such materials are not ?natural?, but are artificially engineered nanostructures that, at given frequencies, show negative permeability and permittivity. Remarkably, these materials can have a negative refractive index, found only in this new class of materials. This allows them to focus near field light thus creating a perfect lens ? the super lens. The properties of Metamaterials are not limited by the periodic table and scientists can now engineer a huge range of electromagnetic responses that can be tailored to anything allowed by the laws of electromagnetism.

Referred to as 'perfect lenses', these revolutionary lenses break light?s wavelength barrier and achieve resolution limited only by the quality of the materials from which they are constructed. Perfect lenses rely on a phenomenon theorized by Veselago, who made a theoretical investigation of novel electromagnetic materials in which the normal response to both electric and magnetic fields is reversed.

He referred to these materials as 'left handed' because the inverted response reverses the energy flow associated with a ray of light. Amongst many strange properties of left handed materials, he found that when light is refracted from air into a left handed medium, it bends the opposite way to light entering a normal medium such as water or glass, making a chevron shape at the surface as it bends back on itself inside the left handed medium. This is why these materials are able to transform any object positioned in front of them in a state of invisibility to the naked eye.

See: nature, telegraph, bbc. The perfect lens technology above is light years beyond the camera and projector system in? this Japanese invisibility cloth.

Invisibility Finally Happened

"As all the scientist in the world are engaged in the greatest quest of human kind- the immortal revolution of technology and science, two of them - Nicolae-Alexandru Nicorovici, a Romanian researcher from Sydney University, and Graeme Milton, an American scientist from Utah University, created the perfect lens ? the one that makes you invisible. The amazing results of their work were published in a dedicated science magazine called ?Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences?.

Such materials are not ?natural?, but are artificially engineered nanostructures that, at given frequencies, show negative permeability and permittivity. Remarkably, these materials can have a negative refractive index, found only in this new class of materials. This allows them to focus near field light thus creating a perfect lens ? the super lens. The properties of Metamaterials are not limited by the periodic table and scientists can now engineer a huge range of electromagnetic responses that can be tailored to anything allowed by the laws of electromagnetism.

Referred to as 'perfect lenses', these revolutionary lenses break light?s wavelength barrier and achieve resolution limited only by the quality of the materials from which they are constructed. Perfect lenses rely on a phenomenon theorized by Veselago, who made a theoretical investigation of novel electromagnetic materials in which the normal response to both electric and magnetic fields is reversed.

He referred to these materials as 'left handed' because the inverted response reverses the energy flow associated with a ray of light. Amongst many strange properties of left handed materials, he found that when light is refracted from air into a left handed medium, it bends the opposite way to light entering a normal medium such as water or glass, making a chevron shape at the surface as it bends back on itself inside the left handed medium. This is why these materials are able to transform any object positioned in front of them in a state of invisibility to the naked eye.

See: nature, telegraph, bbc. The perfect lens technology above is light years beyond the camera and projector system in? this Japanese invisibility cloth.