Jul
17
Jun
27
May
11
Tom Brady posted a picture of Boston Celtics Point Guard Isaiah Thomas with the message:
“Its how you come back … Good luck tonight. We all have your back.”
With the Celtics down 0-2, the NFL champ figured the C’s needed a little motivation. Brady knows this is where Boston thrives, from behind. (more…)
Apr
26
Rarely do magicians reveal their tricks. Even more rare is when Silicon Valley insiders tell you their secret, that technology is not inherently neutral. Its addictive.
Recently CBS released an episode on 60 minutes called “Brain Hacking.” The program discusses the modern phenomena of ‘Smart Phone Addiction.’ However CBS covers the topic from the perspective of those creating the software. (more…)
Feb
15
Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots organization, and Lady Gaga all set records on the night of February 5th, 2017, Super Bowl 51. Bill Belichick became the first coach to win 5 Super Bowls,Tom Brady, the first quarterback to win 5 super bowls, the Patriots, the first team in a Super Bowl to overcome a 25 point deficit. Likewise Intel and Lady Gaga combined forces to produce a performance that outshone previous half time shows. (more…)
Dec
27
Your health and the health of your family are part of a giant ongoing experiment. This experiment includes not only those close to you, it extends to the entire planet. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are proliferating throughout the world’s food supply without having been fully tested for safety. There is evidence that we are poisoning ourselves, and our children, with these new Franken-foods.
This disturbing situation is detailed in the movie Genetic Roulette (The Gamble of Our Lives). Genetic Roulette is an award winning film that alerts us to the questions and dangers that surround the explosion of GMO’s in our food chain. It is worth your time and health to watch this film. It likely will change your mind and your eating habits forever.
The Organic Roullette trailer and information on the film can be found HERE. The film can also be purchased at this LINK and is available for rental on Vimeo HERE.
Dec
1
There has been a lot of post-mortem analysis on the election and one of the areas that people are pouring over is the polls, which mostly got it wrong. Trumps campaign manager had been telling anyone who would listen in the run up to the election that Trump had “undercover voters” that would come through for him. She also blasted the media and pollsters as cherry picking respondents and data to favor Hillary. (more…)
Sep
29
Light bulbs are an ubiquitous part of life that we give little thought to unless they go out, or we are perusing the latest aisle stack of bulbs on sale at Home Depot. So what’s the future of light in our homes and businesses? We may end up full circle, or using light bulbs at all may become obsolete.
As you probably realize, the incandescent bulb, the light bulb as we knew it for decades, has been forced out of existence by the Federal government imposing energy standards on it that it could not meet. By 2020 there will be no manufacturing of incandescent unless there is some drastic innovation in their design.
CFL bulbs were the first substitute to rush into the market. These ugly, mercury filled, slow warm up, beauties far surpassed the efficiency of incandescent but at a higher price. If you want some scary reading just check out the instructions for cleanup and disposal of a broken CFL bulb. You may just want to call a hazmat team to deal with it.
Now LED bulbs are making CFLs see the end of the road, as evidenced by GE’s decision to phase out production of CFLs in favor of LED. LEDs produce light at lower energy usage than CFL’s by a factor of almost 10, last 10 times longer than CFLs, and previously cost more than 10 times what a CFL cost, but those costs are dropping rapidly. Now that LED’s have dropped in price to 4 to 8X what CFL’s cost (and getting cheaper) the choice is a no brainer.
Ok that solves it right, LEDS are it? Not so fast. Researchers at MIT think they have solved the problem of energy waste in incandescent bulbs. Without getting too complicated it seems that the MIT brainiacs have found a way for the light energy to escape an incandescent bulb while the heat energy gets reflected back into the bulb to be released again as light making for a super-efficient bulb.
Beyond all this is the notion of no light bulbs at all. New technology that allows for the diffusion of light across surfaces without bulbs, think Kindle paper white, is in the works. Lasers, which are the basis of this new technology, are already being planned for use in BMW headlights. This laser light may be revolutionary. Imagine small fiber optics carrying light all around a home, or business, to be amplified in various places, or across various surfaces, without concern for sockets.
The future of light should be interesting. Of course they could just study the Livermore light bulb in California that has been burning for more than 100 years without interruption (you can watch it burn here). The Livermore light bulb is the centerpiece of a great documentary on planned obsolescence called The Light Bulb Conspiracy. If you have an hour I highly recommend it.
Sep
15
The future of Natural Gas in the US is a very cloudy picture. Natural gas production around the world continues to march ahead, despite low prices, and Major Oil players like Shell are moving to expand new markets for Nat Gas, but US regulation threatens that expansion in the US.
US Natural gas has been on a trajectory that seems good for most people over the last few years with lower prices, higher production, higher consumption, more exports and fewer imports. With the clean burning nature of Natural Gas I would have thought that the pace of use, and new markets, for Natural Gas would have been much faster. Projections for new natural gas cars and filling stations seem never to achieve rosy projections, and millionaire T Boone Pickens attempts to get the government to subsidize the market for Nat gas truck engines has fallen flat. You would think that Natural gas would assume the role that many have called for, that of in making it a cleaner “bridge” to the future of energy. Seemingly solar and wind are not ready for prime time and Nat gas seems the logical choice to get us to a day in the future where alternative energies take over. So why the hesitation?
US natural gas has a problem. The “never fossil fuels” crowd. This “never fossils” camp fears that Natural gas will replace oil and entrance itself in the energy structure leading to slow development of alternative energy. President Obama plays to this crowd. As other governments are out there are making deals to expand gas markets (Russia to China, Iran to Europe) the US is contemplating strict methane release standards (some say a solution looking for a problem) and fracking bans. This resistance by our government is futile and counterproductive. The natural gas future is here and moving forward, whether the US holds its breath and turns blue or not. There are great dividends to be gained in the natural gas future, like replacing dirty coal energy production in in China. Gas will be the bridge to the next energy future of the world. Let’s not burn the bridge prematurely in America.
Sep
9
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/panthers/2016/09/09/cam-newton-hits-head-helmet/90110158/
We are all of one game into the 2016-2017 NFL football season and concussions are already in the headlines. The Denver Bronco’s and the Carolina Panthers kicked off the season with a Thursday night matchup that showed why the NFL is so popular, as the game turned on a missed field goal with seconds left. Unfortunately much of today’s post-game talk is not about the thrilling ending but about the pounding and blows to the head that were sustained by Panthers QB Cam Newton. Newton, the NFL MVP last year, took several severe blows that ranged from legal to clearly illegal and near the end of the game looked dazed in close ups.
The NFL has a physics problem. As the players continue to get bigger and faster the hits and tackles become more forceful and dangerous. Size matters. If you were to be hit today by defensive lineman Haloti Ngata of the Baltimore Ravens, who weighs 335 lbs, you would be getting “jacked up” with close to 1700 lbs. of force. Compare this to getting hit by 1927 defensive lineman Morris “Red” Badgro whose 190 lbs. would generate 970 lbs. of force.
I have looked into he physics of this and it’s complicated, having to do with angles, conservation of momentum, acceleration and on and on. Put simply bigger faster players are generating more powerful vicious hits. Think of it like boxing where lightweights bash each other repeatedly without noticeable consequence while heavyweights, when they connect with punches, produce “lights out” knockouts. While bodies have been getting larger and faster brains are not getting any tougher and are subject to the same force/damage consequences as they always have been.
Safety equipment is apparently not keeping up as the number of concussions increased in 2015 vs 2014. Techniques are being taught that seek to eliminate head first blows which concentrate force. Some teams have brought in Rugby players and coaches to teach tackling without the head. Unfortunately the head is attached to the shoulders, the main active components involved in tackling. When players go to deliver a blow, at full speed, with the shoulder, it’s very hard to leave the head out of it.
Ironically the NFL is at the heights of its popularity, even as players flee the youth football system and people who hate football for other reasons, like its masculine meritocracy, lobby for its neutering. The NFL has a problem, not only in the obvious dangers of the sport but in the possible declining quality of play due to so many injuries. As of now these issues are getting worse and nobody as yet has a solution.