Science and Inventions

Scientists have searching for other sources of biofuels instead of those that are available now that are made from eatable sources.

Researchers from Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) announced that they reached a new technology that will use seaweed as a source of a cost effective biomass fuel. They reached a way to engineer a microbe that is able to extract the sugars in seaweed and convert it to renewable fuels and chemicals.

Because of its high sugar content, the fact it doesn’t require arable land or freshwater to grow, and is environmentally friendly, seaweed is seen as an ideal global feedstock for the commercial production of biofuels and renewable chemicals. According to BAL, less than three percent of the coastal waters globally is all that’s required to produce enough seaweed capable of replacing over 60 billion gallons (227 billion liters) of fossil fuel.

The BAL team’s breakthrough, which could help make this underutilized resource much more economically attractive, centers around an enzyme that is able to unlock and metabolize the polysaccharides within the seaweed.

BAL was a co-recipient of an award for the development of a process to convert sugars from seaweed into isobutanol from the U.S. Department of Energy’s new Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E).

When someone asks you about elementary school, high school, or even college, I’m sure a rush of mixed feelings flood into your mind. I can also safely assume that in the muck of all those stinky “meh” feelings comes from remembering how terribly painful and annoying it was carrying around and stuffing your back pack with all those text books. It always felt like you had more hardcover text books then you had actual classes.

Once again, and to little surprise, Apple seems to have come up with a way to eliminate the need for textbooks all together. With their incredibly popular and ever-successful iPad in the hands of millions Americans, Apple is changing the game. Again. With Pearson, McGraw-Hill, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are all working to provide digital textbooks for iPad’s for $14.99 or less.

On the surface this can be a revolutionary change to the way children learn in school. Many kids are already growing up in households where iPad’s and other similar technologies are used. They grow up accustomed to such things. The efficiency and ease children and teenagers will have in using iPad’s to pull up there History textbook will be breathtaking. No more backpacks full of books. Now just imagine your child bringing an iPad to school. Seems pretty far-fetched right?

The answer to that would be yes and no. The reality of iPad’s replacing all textbook use in school systems is as likely as every household in the US suddenly installing home solar panels on their roof tops. But a modern world where iPad’s were used alongside textbooks is incredibly likely. The cost of textbooks continue to be absurd and hardly affordable. College students can pay up to a thousand dollars a year on books, sometimes even more, just for two semesters’ worth of classes. Having a tablet with all of the classes textbooks just makes sense.

iPad’s also offer more than just “stored” textbooks. They can offer user-interactive content that books clearly are incapable of offering. A student can take notes, take quizzes, highlight, and do many countless other beneficial things with an iPad than a regular textbook. We have the power to have the entire world’s information in the palm of our fingertips. It seems perfectly logical to cross the realm of old-school teaching and finally phase out the textbook in favor of tablet computers.

Technology has and will continue to change and revolutionize our schools. Twenty years ago it was inconceivable to have a computer inside each and every class room. Who knows? In twenty years an iPad or other tablets may be used instead of textbooks.

Post sponsored in part by computer repair nj

Our Solar System is composed from the sun along with the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The Solar System has been formed about 4.6 billion years ago, the sun equals about 98-99% of the Solar System mass while the mass of the 8 planets that orbit around the sun equals only the left 1%.

The Telescope is the instrument that allowed the scientists to monitor the planets and discovering information about the solar system.

In the year 1608, the first telescope was a refracting telescope it was made by Hans Lippershey (1570-1619), Zacharias Janssen (1580-1638) the Dutch lensmakers and Jacob Metius (1571-1631) The Dutch spectacle specialist.

In the year 1609, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) the famous Italian physicist, mathematician and astronomer improved the telescope.

In the year 1668, Isaac Newton (1642-1727) the most famous English physicist, mathematician and astronomer built the first practical reflecting telescope using mirrors instead of the lenses.

In the year 1733, the achromatic lens was invented by Chester Moore Hall (1703-1771) a British inventor. The achromatic lens made the telescopes more practical.

In the year 1857, the silver coated glass mirrors were introduced by Léon Foucault (1819-1868) the French physicist with Carl August von Steinheil (1801-1870) the German inventor, the silver coated glass mirror was considered a great improvement in the telescope.

In the year 1931, Karl Guthe Jansky (1905-1950) the American radio engineer researchers on the astronomical radio source led to the invention of radio telescope.

Infrared telescopes which uses the infrared light was invented due to the invention of germanium bolometer by Frank James Low (1933-2009) the American physicist in the year 1961.

X-rays (X-radiation) are shorter in the wavelength ultraviolet and longer in wavelength than the gamma rays. In the year 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen (1845-1923) the German physicist noticed that there were unknown rays when he was working on his lab with a cathode radiation tube. Wilhelm Röntgen was awarded the first Nobel prize in physics in the year 1901 for discovering x-rays.

M. von Laue (1879-1960) the German physicist discovered in the year 1912 that the X-rays can be diffracted by crystals. He was awarded Nobel prize for his discovery in the year 1914.

W. H. Bragg (1862-1942) and his son W. L. Bragg (1890-1971), the British physicists determined the structure of crystals using the X-ray. They were awarded the Nobel prize in physics in the year 1915.

In the year 1917, C. G. Barkla (1877-1944) the British physicist won Nobel prize in physics, due to his discovery of the characteristic X-ray radiation of the elements.

M. Siegbahn (1886-1978) a Swedish physicist, discovered the X-ray spectroscopy in the year 1923. In the year 1924, he was awarded Nobel prize in physics for his discovery.

In the year 1927, the Noble prize in physics was awarded to A. H. Compton (1892-1962) the American physicist, he clarified that the X-rays scattered while he was making experiments on electrons.

Sharks are a special type of fish that do not own any bones in their body, instead they own cartilaginous skeleton. The sharks are considered the kings of water as the lions are the kings of the jungles.

There are about 440 species of sharks distributed in all the oceans and seas over the world. It has been confirmed that there is one species of shark that can swim in the fresh water of rivers, it is the bull shark.

The shark have a very strong smell and hearing senses, which allow the shark to locate the preys easily. It can also detect the prey direction due to the vibrations of the water.

Although the sight sense is not as strong the other senses, but the fact that the sharks eyes are in the sides of the shark’s head widen the range of sighting.

Most species of female sharks give birth of 6 to 12 babies, but rare species of sharks lay eggs. The baby sharks called pup. The female shark give birth of her pups after a period that range from 5 months to 24 months according to its species. Some female sharks can in some cases reproduce without a male.

The sharks teeth are formed in several rows that range between 5 to 15 rows, this way the shark will always have some teeth, as the shark tooth do not have roots and it is changed every week.

The shark skin is so strong that it reaches four times the cattle’s hide. Instead of scales as the other fishes, there are small and sharp plates all over the shark skin.

The size of the sharks vary, as some species size is about 8 inches while other species would reach about 59 feet (the size of a school bus).

They got 5 or 6 gills on each side, while the other types of fishes only have one gill. The shark gills are not covered as most of the fishes that have flaps covering their gills.

The shark don’t sleep, they just stay quit for rest, most species have to keep moving in order to allow water into their gills for respiration.

The sharks can swim fast with speed that range between twenty and forty miles an hour, while one species called mako shark can swim with a speed that can reach up to sixty miles per hour.

Not all shark species attack humans, but only white sharks, tiger sharks and bull sharks which is the most shark attacker to humans. People killed by the lightning or bee sting are more than those killed by sharks.

Sharks are hunted for the meat, skin and liver oil which is full of vitamin A. The Chinese shark fin soup, cause people to hunt the sharks, cut their fins and threw them again in water.

The shark cartilage was used in searching for cure of cancer, as the shark does not get cancer, but the shark cartilage failed to get the tumors smaller.

Nissan has revealed about the new paint for mobiles after the company has used it on cars since 2005. The chemicals in the scratch shield paint would react and return the paint to its first shape.

Nissan initially developed the Scratch Shield paint finish in collaboration with the University of Tokyo and Advanced Softmaterials Inc. for automotive use and it is currently available on the Nissan Murano, 370Z and X-Trail, along
with Infiniti models. Although the Scratch Shield technology has been used in Japan where NTT DoCoMo has used it on its Style Series N-03B mobile phones, Nissan says the trial now underway with an initial batch of prototype iPhone cases marks the first time its self-healing paint finish has been trialed
on a non-automotive product in Europe.

The Scratch Shield paint is made from polyrotaxane, which has a chemical structure that is able to react and change back to its original shape and fill the gap that results from a fine scratch. Small scratches can heal in as little as an hour, while more severe scratches can take up to a week. Aside from its
self-healing properties, Nissan says the Scratch Shield paint also provides a surface that is more gel-like and easier to grip than the glossy surface produced by conventional paint.

Under the outer paintlayer, Nissan says it has also borrowed other automotive engineering technologies in developing the Nissan Scratch Shield iPhone case. This includes the use of ABS plastic, a high grade material widely used in the automotive industry that the company says enables a more rigid, robust and tighter-fitting case.

An initial batch of prototype Scratch Shield iPhone cases have been provided to selected journalists and customers for BETA testing and, if demand proves strong, Nissan plans to release the cases compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S for sale to the public later this year.

The first trial of manufacturing a flight machine was made by the Greek Archytas in the beginning of the 5th century B.C., he tried to fly a bird shape model using steam power.

In the 9th century, the first trial of flying was by Abbas Ibn Firnas (810–887) the Arabic physician, engineer, and inventor using a glider. He got injured while trying his glide.

In the 11th century, Eilmer of Malmesbury the English monk built another gilder, but also got injured while trying it.

Leonardo da Vinci ( 1452-1519) the famous Italian painter, scientist, mathematician and inventor designed another flying machine powered by man in the year 1502.

In the year 1799, Sir George Cayley (1773-1857) the English engineer made a breakthrough by inventing the fixed wing flying machine models. And by the year 1853, he built the first glider that can carry a passenger.

In the year 1856, Jean-Marie Le Bris (1817-1872) a French aviator flied for the first time by using horses to pull it.

In the year 1883, John J. Montgomery (1858-1911) the American aviation and inventor made his glide and the pilot Daniel Maloney made several flights in the year 1905.

In the year 1894, Sir Hiram Maxim (1840-1916) the American inventor built in England a very heavy machine that could rise but it was uncontroble, he used two steam engines.

In the year 1890, Lawrence Hargrave (1850-1915) the English engineer and inventor manufactured a box kite that lifted the weight of an average man. And in the year 1909 he designed a rotary aircraft engine.

In the year 1867, Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896) the German aviator was able to make the first gliding flight.

In the year 1903, the Americans Orville Wright (1871-1948) and his brother Wilbur (1867-1912) became  the most famous people related to flight, they
started their project and by the year 1905 their project was controllable and stable using the ideas of Otto Lilienthal.

In the world war 1 appeared the first fighter crafts flyed by Leutnant Kurt Wintgens the German aviator.

In the year 1919, planes travelled accross the ocean.

Tornadoes is the fierce, severe, rotating column that links between the earth and the cumulonimbus cloud. The speed of the tornadoes might reach up till 110 miles per hour.

The tornadoes are formed when the warm and moist air is captured by the cold wind. They can also happen when the wind changes its speed or direction.

Tornadoes can happen through the whole year but it is much more recurrent in summer and spring. Most

of the tornadoes happen in the period between 3 and 9 in the evening.

There are three degrees of tornadoes, weak, strong and violent, luckily the percentage of the violent tornadoes is only 2% , while the weak tornadoes percentage reach about 70% and the other 28%  are considered strong tornadoes.

There are various colors of tornadoes as it start as a transparent or white, turns to grey then black because of the dirt and sand that the tornado carries along by time.

When a tornado form over a water plane it is called a Waterspout.

The weak tornado can last only for few minutes, while the strong tornado may last for 20 minutes and the violent tornado can last for more than an hour.

The Strong tornado can lift a house from its place and through few meters away destroyed completely, and leave the house next to it not even touched.

The sound of the tornado vary from one to another according to the objects that the tornado carry.

Some tornadoes can be accompanied by smaller tornadoes, while some can be accompanied by lightning.

Is it possible to turn plastic into crude oil? An Oregon based company by the name of Agilyx claims that not only is it possible,  they have already invented a process in which discarded plastic is converted into oil. A model has been in the works for over the past 18 months, with the company setting it’s hopes for marketing commercial versions within the next year.

The system which converts plastic into “black gold” consists of an compilation of pipes and containers, which cooks plastics down into a gas, which is then condensed from a vapor to a sequence of hydrocarbons that can be converted into diesel, jet fuel, or other fuel-like substances.

One factory prototype can convert 40 tons of plastic into 130 barrels of oil per day- an impressive amount of fuel, no doubt, but nothing near as impressive as some of the larger modules that are in the works.

Large corporations and investors are always looking for new ways in which to recycle and help the planet. Some people mark the current era we are in as a “Nascent Golden Age of Garbage.”

The United States produces approximately 243 million tons of municipal solid waste per year. The Houston-based national waste pickup business, Waste Management, has recently invested in Agilyx, as well as other “resource recovery” companies. Not only that, but Waste Management has also started listing itself as a resource services company.

French oil company Total, along with Kleiner Perkins Caufield &Byers have also invested in Agilyx.
Two trillion pounds of plastic are currently rotting in landfills throughout the United States. Plastic has to be extracted in order for a trash hauler to generate methane from organic materials. Plastic is particularly reusable, with about 25 % of the nations complete plastic volume. Only a very small percentage of plastic in landfills is easily recycled. Some nations actually consider burning plastic for fuel a form of recycling.
This actually causes an even bigger environmental hazard, much to environmental activists chagrin. Nobody is quite sure how much this trash crude oil will generate – or cost in order to make. Other uses are currently being investigated for old household items found in landfills. Modular Carpet Recycling can extract commercially workable nylon from old carpets; Lehigh Technologies has a specially designed mill used for grinding expired pharmaceuticals to recycled rubber.

It won’t be long before ordinary household items, such as glass windows, couches and benches will be receiving their time in the recycling spotlight.

“I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.” ~Thomas Edison Quote

Diabetes is a chronic disease where the patient suffers a high percentage of sugar in the blood. The main symptoms of the diabetes are recurrent urination and increasing thirst and hunger.
Diabetes can be classified to 3 main types according to its causes and some other types which are not so common.
*Type 1 diabetes, appears in some patients that their pancreas can not produce sufficient quantity of the hormone insulin.
*Type 2 diabetes appears for patients because their cells can not respond to the insulin.
*Gestational diabetes, this type is connected with pregnant women that might suffer from high blood sugar during the pregnancy, and might disappear after she give birth to her child or it might convert to type 2 diabetes.
*There also the congenital diabetes which is caused by genetic failures.
*Steroid diabetes which is caused by major doses of glucocorticoids.
*Maturity onset diabetes of the young which is more related to type 1 diabetes, but it can be classified to several types.

The first notice of the diabetes was by an Egyptian physician, it was mentioned in the papyrus more than 3500 years ago. He noticed the symptom concerning the urine.

In the 2nd century B.C. Arateus the Greek physician noticed the sugar in the urine of the patients and called it diabetes.

At the end of the 18th century John Rollo the Scottish physician reached the first treatment for diabetes by putting his patients in a diet.

Oskar Minkowski (1858-1931) and Joseph von Mering (1849-1908) the German scientists discovered the relation between pancreas and diabetes.

In the year 1901, Eugene Lindsay Opie (1873-1971) the American physician discovered the relation between the islets of Langerhans and diabetes, the islets of Langerhans were discovered by Paul Langerhans (1847-1888) in the year 1869 but was not able to identify their function.

In the year 1921, Sir Frederick Banting (1891-1941) a Canadian scientist and doctor was able to reach that the insulin can be used as a treatment for diabetes.

Sir Harold Himsworth (1905-1993) a British scientist was able to classify the diabetes to 2 types in the year 1936.

Hans Christian Hagedorn (1888-1971) a Canadian medications manufacturer, reached for the discovery that protamine prolong the period that the insulin can be active.

In the year 1955, Oral drugs are introduced to help lower blood glucose levels.

Pancreas transplants was performed for the first time in the year 1966, as a treatment for type1 diabetes.

In the year 1944, the insulin syringe was produced. the insulin syringe is marked in units not in centimeters as the other syringes, they are characterised with short and finer needles for less pain.

In the year 1986, the insulin pen delivery system is produced.