Category: News

Compact. Three-Phase.
These 3.03 inch diameter motors (3.11 inch diameter over weld seam) are the smallest ElectroCraft offers and are designed for continuous duty in a 40°C ambient temperature. At nominal 1650 or 3450 rpm, ratings range from 1/150 to 1/10 HP (Contact your area sales representative for intermittent ratings, higher ambient, or TENV construction).

BinMaster® Level Controls of Lincoln, Nebraska, USA announces the SmartBob-SH and SmartBob-SHT sensors, which are specially designed for measuring the level of solid materials in storage and processing bins experiencing very high temperatures. The High Temp or SmartBob-HT model is for applications where the process temperature is over 240°F and under 500°F. The Super High Temp or SmartBob-SHT model can handle temperatures up to 900°F and has been used in coke-oven batteries that experience brief temperature bursts of up to 1685°F.

The SmartBob-HT and SHT sensors are configured with additional components that when installed properly, will safely operate in extreme temperatures. A 36-inch stainless steel standpipe is used to extend the remote away from the heat source and a stainless steel pipe extension fitted with a Teflon cable guide keeps the sensor probe out of the standpipe and level with the top of the bin. A standard air purge nipple allows a small amount of air to circulate through the mechanical cavity of the remote, helping it maintain an acceptable operating temperature. SmartBob-HT and SHT sensors are extremely rugged, featuring a durable, bare stainless steel cable and long-lasting motor design which is completely sealed in a strong, lightweight molded polycarbonate enclosure that is explosion proof and rated for Class II, Groups E, F & G certifications.

“SmartBob-HT and SHT are just two of various sensor options that can be used in conjunction with the SmartBob weight and cable inventory measurement system,” said Todd Peterson, BinMaster’s vice president of sales. “Like the standard SmartBob2 sensor, the HT and SHT high temperature models can be combined with the Windows-based eBob software program and remote push-button control consoles to provide a complete inventory management system for a variety of high temperature applications including the manufacture of steel or foundries processing ferrous and non-ferrous alloys.”

The British Sense About Science charity trust just released its annual report Celebrities and Science 2009 debunking the absurd health claims of celebrities who think their pop culture status gives them the right to play doctor. Sense About Science reviews celebs’ bogus advice, from special diets to miracle cures, and asks real scientists what the “stars” should have said.

Among this year’s gems, actor Roger Moore told the Daily Mail that “eating foie gras can lead to Alzheimer’s, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.” A real shocker — except that it’s false. Dietician Lucy Jones corrects the record, noting that food is broken down into component nutrients during digestion and “it is the balance of these components that is important to our health, not the specific food that they come from.”

The PETA-endorsing model Heather Mills asserted that meat “sits in your colon for 40 years and putrefies, and gives you the illness you die of.” University of Liverpool gastroenterologist Dr. Melita Gordon, however, called Mills’ assertion flat-out clueless. Meat proteins are absorbed by the small bowel before they get to the colon, says Gordon, and any remaining indigestible material is expelled within days.

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty — another PETA endorser, incidentally — said she avoids carbonated drinks because “they sap all the oxygen from your body and make your skin wrinkly and dehydrated.” Wrong again. Physiologist Ron Maughan replies that even “[at] rest, the body is constantly producing carbon dioxide.” Maughan adds that “the amount from a fizzy drink is trivial and there is no obvious mechanism by which the skin would be affected.”

Scientifically-ignorant celebrities can be counted on to regurgitate more and more radical propaganda from activist groups. The Humane Society of the United States is waging a campaign against the consumption of meat while “Twinkie Tax” creator Kelly Brownell and Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest have called for “soda taxes” in a wrongheaded attempt to counter obesity.

Spreading misinformation and prescribing medically spurious advice are par for the course in some activist groups, despite evidence that (for instance) there is no link between obesity and soda drinks. Megan Fox even believes she has a “miracle cure” for obesity: drinking vinegar shots, which allegedly speeds up digestion and “flushes” toxins from the body. (Turns out that it really doesn’t.) Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie still swears, however, organic apple cider vinegar makes “a difference on my stomach.”

Real experts beg to differ. “As attractive as it sounds, there’s no magic pill for a quick fix to weight loss,” counters Jones. “The body, including the liver, is a well-oiled detoxing machine, which will not be improved by vinegar.”

Our celebrity-obsessed Twenty-First Century culture will probably continue to place too much trust in people whose only credentials are their 15 minutes of fame. Before you trust someone who doesn’t even “play a doctor on TV,” check with a real physician. (And no, we don’t mean these guys.)

Scientists are pushing back the date that the first land-walkers stepped foot on solid ground. Thanks to the discovery of prehistoric footprints from an 8-foot-long animal, scientists now say creatures strolled the Earth 20 million years earlier than previously thought. The prints were made by tetrapods—animals with backbones and four limbs—and could rewrite the history of when, where, and why fish evolved limbs and first walked onto land, the study says [National Geographic News]. The researchers published their results in the journal Nature.

Dozens of the fossilized footprints were found in an abandoned quarry in Poland, and the researchers say that the area was probably a lagoon or an intertidal flat when the tetrapod wandered across it about 395 million years ago. Researchers say the footprints in such old rock was a big surprise: They’re about 10 million years older than body fossils of creatures such as Tiktaalik and Panderichthys, … believed to represent the transition from lobe-finned fish to creatures fully adapted to life on land [Science News].

The tracks were made by several four-limbed creatures sporting prehistoric toes. There are distinct “hand” and “foot” prints, with no evidence of a dragging body or tail, because the animals’ body weight would have been partly supported by water [Guardian]. The results highlight how little scientists really know about the early history of land vertebrates, the researchers say, and the find pushes back the evolutionary fork where tetrapods split from fish. The discovery will force scientists to reexamine what they know about water-to-land transition during vertebrate evolution, say the study’s authors.

Related Content:
80beats: Early Mini-Whale Slurped up Mud to Find Hidden Prey
80beats: In Galapagos Finches, Biologists Catch Evolution in the Act
80beats: New Fossil Suggests Dinosaur World Domination Started in S. America

Image: Per Ahlberg et al.

Paul Dorpat has nothing to be ashamed of

I was saddened to see an apology by Paul Dorpat in this Sunday’s Times [“An apology to readers,” Pacific Northwest, Jan 3].

First of all, any true Northwest native loved an Ivar put-on story and understood that it was the zany, fun kind of Northwest humor that all of us looked forward to reading and repeating to others.

Secondly, and most important, the state — particularly the Western part of the state — owes a huge debt of thanks for the tremendous, accurate history that Dorpat has supplied to archives, writers, citizens and students for many, many years.

If there are those who would say otherwise, perhaps they should say it very quietly to those of us who have benefited by Dorpat’s contributions in knowledge to those, like me, who drive 10 miles every Sunday to buy The Times, just because his column is in it and The Times is no longer delivered in our area.

Paul has nothing to be ashamed of. For those who have made it an issue — shame on them.

— Gene Woodwick, Ocean Shores

Dorpat added to legend

Get a grip, Fairview Fannie.

Paul Dorpat does not need to apologize to his readers for his part in the “Ivar-Subgate” prank last spring.

Instead of a nod and a wink at the “gotcha” and a good laugh in the spirit of Ivar Haglund, we get a reaction more akin to a dowager’s harrumph.

That Dorpat and his fellow travelers built a story on and added to Ivar’s legend in Seattle, only shows the collective wit and humor that is needed.

— Jim Perry, Issaquah

Two years ago, Sidecut Reports began with a modest mission: take a look at the world of wireless communications, and explore and explain the details behind technologies at the “cutting edge” of innovation. At CES in 2008, we took a ride in a WiMAX-enabled car and were suitably impressed, and then started waiting for the service to become a commercial reality.

Finally, we’re there!

It’s Wednesday Jan. 6, 2010, and we are sitting in West Las Vegas — far from the Strip and the CES madness — outside a Clearwire “Clear” store (actually outside the nearby Whole Foods store, since they have coffee and cookies for sale) and we just got connected with a Clearwire loaner USB card — and the bits are flowing, megabit-style.

More thoughts on WiMAX and 4G later on, after the big Sprint 4G event tonight. But for now, we’re happy to say that WiMAX is a reality here in Las Vegas.

PEOPLE’s “Sexiest Man Alive” undergoes quite a transfomation for his next big screen role as The Mad Hatter. On Wednesday, Disney released a new promotional image which shows Hollywood hunk Johnny Depp with shocking orange hair and a pale face in Tim Burton’s upcoming 3D fantasy feature, Alice In Wonderland.

The film hits theaters March 5.

by Todd Woody

Solar energy has long been one of the great hopes for
fighting climate change and liberating the world from fossil fuels. And it’s
easy to see why solar has captured the collective imagination: All those
photovoltaic panels look so shiny, futuristic, clean, and green.

Producing solar PV modules involves a witch’s brew of toxic chemicals. And spooky fog for good measure.That’s not quite the case. Any form of energy production has
its dirty side and solar is no exception. While its impact is nowhere near that
of coal-fired power plants, photovoltaic modules are made from a witch’s brew
of toxic chemicals. Arsenic, cadmium telluride, hexafluoroethane, lead, and polyvinyl fluoride are just some of the chemicals used to manufacture various types of
solar cells.

None of this poses much, if any, threat during a solar
panel’s working life. Solar modules—which are linked together to form a solar
panel—for instance, are solid state and encased in glass or other
protective material to keep them dry. The problem, as the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition pointed out in
a 2009 report,
comes at the beginning and end of a panel’s life. Toxins potentially can be
released during the manufacturing process—putting workers at risk—and when
panels finally hit the scrap heap decades later.

“The solar PV industry has the potential to provide enormous
environmental benefits,” according to the Silicon Valley Toxics report, “but
the toxic materials contained in solar panels will present a serious danger to
public health and the environment if they are not disposed of properly when
they reach the end of their useful lives.”

The report compared the nascent but fast-growing solar
industry to the electronics industry of past decades, which left a legacy of
toxic pollution in the 1970s and ‘80s. Unlike the early electronics industry—which in Silicon Valley was literally built on plumes of contaminated
groundwater—solar companies are taking a more responsible approach, as any
green business must.

Companies such as thin-film module maker First Solar have
implemented take-back and recycling programs from the get-go. In labs at the University of Washington and elsewhere
and at startups such as German’s Heliatek, researchers are
working on developing so-called organic solar cells that generate electricity—albeit very inefficiently so far—without using toxic chemicals.

Then there are companies like BioSolar that aim to take the toxics out of solar by substituting environmentally
friendly materials. The company, based in the Southern California city of Santa
Clarita, is developing a plastic made from plant material—called bioplastic—that can be used as components in solar modules.

“The solar industry will have some of the same problems the
electronics industry had unless we plan now,” says David Lee, BioSolar’s chief
executive. “The solar industry involves a lot of toxic chemicals and we have to
look at the lifecycle of these materials, from mining to manufacturing.”

That, of course, is easier said than done.

Most bioplastics are used to make disposable things—cups,
plates, and trash bags—and are designed to be biodegradable. A bioplastic used
in a solar cell is built to last for the typical 25-year life of the cell. It
must be able to withstand the high temperatures generated by photovolatic
modules and be water tight to keep moisture at bay.

BioSolar’s solution was to develop a proprietary process
that strengthens petroleum- and toxin-free bioplastics so they can withstand
temperature and moisture yet still be recycled or biodegrade in a landfill.

The company’s first product is Bio Backsheet, a replacement
for the the material that forms the protective back of a solar cell. Standard
so-called backsheets are usually made of polyvinyl fluoride, a chemical
compound that can contain lead, chromium, cadmium, selenium, arsenic, and
antimony.

“Existing backsheets are extremely hard to recycle,” says
Lee, who holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. “The only way to get rid of
them is by burying them in the ground.”

According to Lee, BioSolar’s Bio Backsheet can be safely
recycled at the end of a solar module’s life or disposed of in a landfill. It
will degrade—eventually I’ll have to check but I suspect I’ll just get a
vague estimate—but without causing environmental contamination.

So far, BioSolar has only manufactured limited quantities of
the Bio Backsheet, mainly so that solar module makers can test the product. Lee
says BioSolar is working with several solar companies who are testing the
product, which he declined to identify.

BioSolar is also developing bioplastics that can be used to
replace chemical-based substrates that form solar cells.

[A customary word of caution about startups: It’s impossible
at this stage to verify BioSolar’s claims or whether its products will live up
to their billing. Founded in 2006, BioSolar was initially funded by family and
funds before going public in 2007. It trades in the over-the-counter market and
has accumulated losses of $2.6 million since its inception, according to
financial filings.]

While BioSolar talks about greening the solar industry, the
company’s pitch to photovoltaic module makers is just as much about saving
money as the world. “We all know that everyone loves green products,” says Lee,
“but unless the cost is less, manufacturers don’t pay much attention.”

Lee is aiming to produce bioplastic solar cell components at
half the cost of their chemical-based counterparts. If he succeeds, solar power
may finally start to live up to its clean, green billing.

Related Links:

Ask Umbra on water bottles, gas dryers, and tea lights

Broken promises follow Tennessee coal ash disaster

Ask Umbra on Christmas trees, broken lights, and naughty birds

Over at Phone Arena they’ve got their hands on a what most definitely looks to be a specifications sheet for the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus. Anybody hoping for big time upgrades over their Sprint counterparts best turn away now, as it seems the following is the gist of the upgrades:

• Palm Pre Plus: 16 GB storage
• Palm Pixi Plus: Add Wi-Fi

Both phones appear on a Verizon-logoed sheet, so take that for what you will. Either way, we expect this to be at least part of what we will see tomorrow at CES. The question we have to ask is, are such upgrades worthy of a “Plus” moniker?

GREENPEACE BACKING DOWN ON GMOs

Greenpeace has for the second time in eight years backed down on opposing the development of Golden Rice.

Kumi Naidoo of Durban , the South African born newly appointed executive director of Greenpeace International, in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, on the question of Golden Rice, said: “In view of developments like Golden Rice, Greenpeace must reconsider its position with regard to GMOs. We must make sure not to dismiss new and important developments.”

“This is a very welcome approach to the acceptance of GMOs in general and not only concerns Golden Rice. It will undoubtedly boost Africa’s endeavours to speed up the development of GM crops to alleviate hunger and poverty,” says Professor Jocelyn Webster, executive director of AfricaBio , South Africa , a biotechnology stakeholders’ organisation. “It is an encouraging move away from the usual radical view of activists to a more open approach where things can be discussed, which is a boon to GMO acceptance worldwide in general,” says Professor Webster.

This is the second positive statement from Greenpeace on Golden Rice, Prof Webster emphasised. She pointed out that in February 2001 at the BioVision Conference in Lyon , France , Benedict Haerlin, genetic engineering coordinator of Greenpeace, also backed down from the stand against GM crops. He admitted that Greenpeace would not oppose field trials of Golden Rice being developed to combat blindness in the Third World . (Daily Telegraph, London , 10 February 2001)

Golden Rice was developed to combat Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) which kills 6000 people daily and causes blindness in 500 000 children annually. (UNICEF 2007) “A single month of delay in the marketing Golden Rice would cause 50 000 children to go blind. This is the price to pay for opposing the development of this unique scientific breakthrough in human food.

At last it seems that Greenpeace is seeing the light that could save the loss of sight of 500 000 children annually in the developing world.”

“I’m sure that South African born Naidoo is encouraged by the success of GM crop production in South Africa over the past eleven years. There have been no adverse effects on human and animal health nor the environment. Main beneficiaries have undoubtedly been the thousands of smallholder farmers who have increased their yields by up to 30%, providing them with a sustainable food supply,” according to Prof Webster.

Commenting on Naidoo’s remarks, Professor Klaus Ammann, eminent Swiss scientist said: “Greenpeace’s aggressiveness towards Golden Rice and Naidoo’s encouraging stance will soon turn into a major success like Bt rice in China. China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of rice and has just approved the production of GM rice promising a yield increase of 8% and an 80% decrease in insecticides.” Golden Rice is scheduled to be launched in 2011/12.

END
goldrice/01-10/1

January 2010
Issued on behalf of AfricaBio
Issued by Hans Lombard Public Relations T. 011-476-6926

Update

8 February 2010: Greenpeace continue their anti-GM campaign, including particularly GM-rice. Seems likely this report was not indicative of a change in GP direction.

Social media is likely to be factored into your ad budget for the new year, but the problem is deciding which format best suits you. Highly controversial, tech influencers like Chris Pirillo and Robert Scoble are being paid to tweet periodic product endorsements. The question is: Are sponsored tweets worth it? ReadWriteWeb caught up with Likes.com co-founders Bindu Reddy and Arvind Sundararajan as they made the case for conversational advertising and the sponsored tweets landscape.

Sponsor

Similar to Ad.ly and Sponsored Tweets, MyLikes is a service that pays influencers to Tweet about specific products. In what resembles an AdWords-style dashboard, advertisers create a budget for their campaign and set the parameters and URL for where they’d like endorsers to redirect their friends.

This month, Moo created a campaign in the hopes of selling business card packages to U.S.-based users. Rather than being forced to endorse Moo, MyLikes members could chose to endorse them from a long list of companies. From there the endorser creates a short line of text about why they like a particular company, with a link to pre-populated images, video and the campaign URL from their blogs and Twitter accounts. Bindu believes that because the network gives users options in who to endorse, the sponsored tweets become more authentic and are better targeted to the user base. On a cost-per-click basis, campaigns range between $0.20 and $0.60 cents per click based on the influence of the endorser. If you compare this against some of the higher-priced AdWords keyword campaigns, Twitter sponsorship is quite reasonable.

While a budget analysis is an obvious indicator of whether or not you should sponsor tweets, another factor to consider is your company culture. When Izea’s sponsored tweets program launched in late June, many questioned the process of disclosure and the role of a social media influencer. While the FTC Act revisions make the space more regulated, they don’t change the fact that your stakeholders may simply be put off by the practice.

I’m going to answer your question about sponsored tweets with another question, “Are sponsored tweets more cost effective than your current click-thru campaigns and will your audience embrace it?”

Discuss

Panasonic is betting hard on 3D, pushing out not only a new 3D camcorder, but also a full line of 3D Viera HDTVs.

Love is in the air this first week of 2010: 30 Rock’s own Jane Krakowski is engaged to marry boyfriend Robert Godley, co-founder of the upscale Psycho Bunny menswear.

“Jane Krakowski and Robert Godley are thrilled to announce that they are engaged to be married,” a rep for the actress told The Insider Wednesday. “Mr.Godley proposed to Ms. Krakowski over the holidays.”

The couple, who has been dating for more than a year, has not picked a date for the ceremony yet.

What’s even more amazing and humbling than a latest Hubble ultra-deep field image? This panoramorgasmic 3.4-megapixel-wide image encompassing “12 billion years of cosmic history” in thousand of galaxies at different stages of evolution.

Click to get the full definition image

The image—which is the first of its kind— was created using two cameras from the Hubble: The new Wide Field Camera 3 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. The WFC3 captures a series of images in September and October, after its installation. The ACS took them in 2004. After lots of post-processing and matching work, they came up with this overwhelming result. [NASA]

Kwikset’s new SmartCode Lever allows you to rest assured your home is always locked when it needs to be. SmartCode, which is an addition to Kwikset’s Home Connect product line, allows users to remotely connect to their home door locks and check its lock status. It enables you to automatically arm or disarm your security system from any internet browser or web-enabled cell phone. This is the only web enabled door lock on the market. As added security, SmartCode can also send you text message alerts anytime somebody enters your home. The lock itself is a keyless touchpad electronic lock with a one-touch locking mechanism. It is designed to be used on basically any door in your house; your front door, the door from your garage to your home, even a home office.  Kwikset also announced a new motorized deadbolt today at CES, which works in conjunction with SmartCode. Pricing and availability is to be determined.