Category: News

As this is the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s publication of  ‘On the Origin of Species’, I’ve taken the opportunity to pay a small tribute both to Darwin and his important work. For the past year, in my spare time i’ve been filming primates in various locations. As evolutionary psychiatry is an emerging and potentially important area (see review here), I thought it useful to gain some insights. This is a work in progress and will be updated periodically.

Darwin himself wrote about parallels between humans and other species in his work on the emotional expressions of man. More importantly he noted in 1838

‘He who understands Baboons would do more to metaphysics than Locke‘

Primatology is an area with which I am not familiar and so I have approached this as an amateur. However through the process I have come to learn a little more about primates and developed both a respect and a fondness for these creatures. I have also begun to gain some potential insights which might be transferable to human psychology. Brune and others have outlined a broad theoretical underpinning for evolutionary psychiatry. The hypothetical behaviour of humans in recent history based on reconstruction of archaelogical findings poses the obvious difficulty that behavioural inferences are speculative. Nevertheless the study of primates offers the possibility that behaviours can be witnessed at first hand. The major difficulty with attempting to draw inferences about humans from these observations is that a considerable period of time has elapsed since our divergence from other primates. Take our nearest relatives, the chimpanzees. We have diverged some 6 million years ago. Within this period of time it would be surprising if the chimpanzee had not evolved considerably. This is supported by recent findings. The discovery of Astrolipithecus Ramadus suggests that Chimpanzee hands are more evolved than human hands since they have had more time to evolved. Furthermore experimental evidence suggests that Chimpanzee working memory is superior to humans which is demonstrated in this clip. The extreme time periods over which our species have diverged suggests that we can draw few reliable inferences on the basis of observations alone since we would then be assuming that the other species remains essentially unchanged since our divergence. Nevertheless once the sequencing of all primate genomes is complete and we have a better understanding of the genome differences, I would expect an iterative improvement in understanding the significance of behavioural similarities and differences. Thus I would predict that this field will move from being highly speculative to more realistic and supported by triangulation with data from other fields.

In the interim, I have captured the following footage which can also be accessed via the TAWOP channel on YouTube.

PROSIMIANS

Ruffed Lemur (Black and White)

Ring-Tailed Lemur

Brown Lemur

Black Lemur

Red Ruffed Lemur

NEW WORLD MONKEYS

Pigmy Marmoset

Silvery Marmoset

Golden Lion Tamarin

Golden Headed Lion Tamarin

Emperor Tamarin

Cotton Top Tamarin

Colombian Spider Monkey

Squirrel Monkey

OLD WORLD MONKEYS

Rhesus Macaque

Roloway Monkeys

Diana Monkey

HOMINOIDEA

Gibbon

Orang-Utan

Gorilla

Chimpanzee

Bonobo

Human-Like Behaviours

I have termed complex goal-oriented behaviours which resemble those seen in humans as human-like behaviours. The difficulty with drawing inferences about such similarities in complex behaviours are numerous. Nevertheless having a database of examples of such behaviours offers a starting point for further study. The existence of video sharing sites such as YouTube offers the possibility of rapid dissemination of such information as well as the possibility of establishing research networks.

Bonding Behaviour (Including Kissing-Like behaviours)

I was fortunate enough to have observed this Chimpanzee engaging in what superficially appears to be kissing. Examination of the footage on either side of this segment identifies that it is a continuation of the grooming behaviour that the Chimpanzee engages in both before and after. Nevertheless it does offer the speculative hypothesis that kissing exists in humans as a remnant of grooming behaviour in other primates. The significance of the loss of grooming behaviour in humans has also been considered elsewhere (see review here).

Pets

This clip of a gibbon is one of the most incredible pieces of primate footage I have seen. The gibbon is such a graceful mover but what is striking here is how this one gibbon has complete dominance from its higher position over several tiger cubs. Already we see what may be the rudiments of the ability to exhibit dominance over cats and by the end of the clip we see that the tiger cubs have moved out of the gibbon’s territory. Here we see another gibbon teasing a dog and again it’s quick reactions and use of a nearby tree mean that it has the advantage over the dog. There is other footage that I have observed which leads me to conclude that the gibbon engages in a strategy when it sees dogs or tigers that involves pulling the animal’s tail and then retreating quickly to the safety of a higher altitude which the dog or tiger cannot access. In one of the clips above, this seems to be done to protect the territory but in the other clip above it is unclear what the purpose of this behaviour is. The gibbon antagonises the dog and presumably removes itself rapidly from the scene in order to avoid the obvious consequences. However, if the gibbon did not engage in the initial behaviour it would have no cause to escape. Although the numerous clips of this behavioural strategy exist, this may constitute a selection bias which distorts the impression of the behaviour in these circumstances. Nevertheless there ought to be some explanation for these episodes and it is tempting to speculate that this may be an adaptation to the Gibbon’s environment where it  must adapt to dangerous predators in its native environment. If this is the case then it is either transmitted genetically or through observation of it’s parents or other group members.

Long Term Planning

This clip shows monkeys collecting and breaking nuts. They leave them for a certain period and return to complete the food preparation process. This entire process displays long-term planning as well as tool use.

Hunting

A BBC clip of a tarsier hunting. This is one of the earliest primates and can be seen here engaging in intricate hunting maneouvres.

Play

In this clip, a baby Chimpanzee appears to play with a Baboon although it may be more properly considered sparring. Two Gorillas are seen to be sparring in this clip. Their teeth are bared.

Theory of Mind

Although not a behaviour, I have grouped it here. This clip in my opinion displays that construct usually referred to as ‘theory of mind by a group of Chimpanzees. It is a most unfortunate clip as it results in the killing of other Chimpanzees and consequent cannabalism. Nevertheless in the build-up to this it is possible to see that the chimpanzees organise themselves as a group taking care to remain silent while lying in wait. It is difficult to know how this was achieved other than to suppose that the group had a shared understanding of what was to happen. How they knew to do this without a shared language suggests that they are able to communicate intent using a shared language and/or they had developed this strategy from hunting smaller primates where there is a lower risk from retaliation if there is a failed hunt.

Walking upright

These Bonobos are seen to walk upright. This Chimpanzee which is described as being in Uganda is seen to be walking upright through the grass.

Twitter

You can follow ‘The Amazing World of Psychiatry’ Twitter by clicking on this link

Podcast

You can listen to this post on Odiogo by clicking on this link (there may be a small delay between publishing of the blog article and the availability of the podcast).

TAWOP Channel

You can follow the TAWOP Channel on YouTube by clicking on this link

Responses

If you have any comments, you can leave them below or alternatively e-mail [email protected]

Disclaimer

The comments made here represent the opinions of the author and do not represent the profession or any body/organisation. The comments made here are not meant as a source of medical advice and those seeking medical advice are advised to consult with their own doctor. The author is not responsible for the contents of any external sites that are linked to in this blog.

Outspoken Jersey Shore starlet Snooki has ripped into companies who have pulled their ads from the wildly popular MTV show amid protest that the program fosters negative Italian-American stereotypes.

“I just have one thing to say to Domino’s, Dell, UNICO and all the other haters out there,” Snooki — whose real name is Nicole Polizzi — spat to Steppin’ Out this week. “F— you! If you don’t want to watch, don’t watch. Just shut the hell up! I’m serious. … F— you!”

While Domino’s isn’t taking any lip from Snooki lying down. The pizza giant issued a scathing diss to the pint-sized dynamo in a statement to E! on Thursday: “Our first response was, ‘What a classy young lady—her parents must be so proud,’” a Domino’s rep replied curtly. “There’s no need to get into a war with this young girl, because ticktock, her 15 minutes are almost up.”

Snooki, 21 openly refers to herself as a “guidette” on the program featuring eight drunken twentysomethings sharing a summer house in the Jersey Shore resort community of Seaside Heights. Italian-American organization UNICO has been putting pressure on companies to yank their ads from the program, referring to the castmates as “bimbos and buffoons” and taking aim at Snooki — an aspiring vet tech — in particular.

It was the okay-est of times, it was the meh-est of times.

From the election of the first American social media president… to a nod to social media from the mainstreamiest of mainstream media (Oxford Dictionary, for god’s sake!)… it’s been a big, tumultuous sprawling toddler of a year, prone to tantrums and potty accidents but adorable nonetheless.

Here, then, is 2009 the way it was meant to be remembered… in doodles.

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More Noise to Signal.

Discuss

Hey, sooner or later everyone falls for some sort of phishing/scamware type of thing, right? It’s just especially embarrassing if you’re the head of the FCC. The NY Times is reporting that FCC Chair Julius Genachowski had his Facebook account spam all his friends with a message saying “Adam got me started making money with this” which was followed by a link to a now defunct site. Facebook has taken down Genachowski’s page, and appears to be effectively blaming him for the problem, putting out a generic notice about how users need to be careful not to click on strange links…

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Irish blues legend Van Morrison has denied a report claiming he fathered a child with his manager, saying a widely reported birth announcement that appeared on his website three days ago was the result of a hacking attack and “completely and utterly without foundation.”

The publicity-shy crooner, now 64, has ordered his management to conduct an “immediate investigation” into the report that claimed he had a boy with his manager, Gigii Lee. The bogus statment said the kid’s name was George Ivan Morrison III and that he was “the spitting image of his daddy.”

Van insists he is happily married to wife Michelle Morrison. The couple are the parents of two.

At a time when the Windows Mobile market share is said to be rapidly fading we have seen our number of readers double over the last 12 months. We therefore know there is a vibrant community of Windows Mobile fans just waiting for the next great Windows Mobile handset (just look at the HTC HD2 carrier shortages).

Over the last 12 months we have had more than 2.5 million unique visitors and over 15 000 comments (with and without intense debate ) and we hope 2010 will bring even more readers hoping to hear the Windows Mobile story from its fans rather than detractors.

We therefore wish to wish all our readers, all 2.5 million of them, a prosperous and Happy New Year!

No more sexting for Tiger……AT&T, one of Tiger Woods’ biggest sponsors, has became the latest company to cut ties with the world’s No. 1 ranked golfer in the aftermath a sordid sex scandal that tarnished the athlete’s once squeaky-clean image.

“We are ending our sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods and wish him well in the future,” the phone company said in a statement.

Earlier this month, the global consulting firm Accenture decided to end its relationship with Woods, and Gatorade discontinued a Tiger-themed beverage. TAG Heuer and Gillette announced plans to scale back the athlete’s role in their marketing programs.

2009 is just about over, and we are just in time with our annual top 10 list of the most-watched Gear Live video episodes. Over the past year, as expected, there was a bunch of Apple gear that made the list, but Microsoft gets the top two spots with our Xbox 360 dashboard tour, and the Zune HD hands-on preview. Also getting an honorable mention is the Motorola DROID and Elgato Turbo.264 transcoding device.

Oh, and if you wanna be sure to get our new video episodes as they come out in 2010, be sure to subscribe to us in iTunes, on YouTube, or in your RSS reader!

Continue reading Top 10 Gear Live Videos of 2009

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It may soon be easier for foreign startup entrepreneurs to set up shop in the United States thanks to immigration reform which would create a specialized startup visa program.

The proposed program would make more visas available to entrepreneurs who have at least $250,000 in funding from a U.S.-based venture capital firm, or $100,000 in angel funding. The startup must also have plans to either create five new jobs every two years, raise at least $1 million every two years, or generate at least $1 million in revenue.

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The current system grants 10,000 visas each year primarily to investors that have financed over $1 million with plans to create at least 10 full-time positions. It also allows lower benchmarks for investors in less wealthy countries.

However, the new requirements – which are part of a bill proposed by Colorado Congressman Jared Polis (above) – would fall far beneath the current benchmarks, making it easier for smaller companies and those from underprivileged countries to create jobs in America.

The idea is the brainchild of programmer, essayist and Y Combinator partner Paul Graham who first wrote of what he called “the founder visa” in April of 2009.

In some cases, inspired entrepreneurs enter the U.S., but after their ideas flourish and their visas run out they are in danger of being forced to go home to start their businesses. Investor, entrepreneur and co-founder of Foundry Group, Brad Feld experienced this first-hand at the TechStars program in Boulder, Colorado this summer as two of the ten groups had foreign founders.

“Over the summer we struggled to figure out ways to get them Visas – all of the proposed approaches were expensive, risky, and tiresome,” Feld says. “Both companies are still trying, but each are now seriously considering returning to their home countries to build their businesses.”

Along with other entrepreneurs, start-up advisors and venture capital investors, Feld has co-founded StartupVisa.com, a homepage Feld says has been a resource for the movement inspired by Paul Graham’s vision. “In the next few months, we’ll be expanding it aggressively to incorporate grass roots support and feedback,” he told ReadWriteWeb.

One of StartupVisa’s contributors, Manu Kumar, helps spread the word about visa reform by recounting his own struggles. “There were multiple points at which I came very close to having to leave the United States because of the visa issues,” says Kumar.

As the country attempts to pull itself out of one of the largest recessions in history, it only seems logical to make it as easy as possible for foreign entrepreneurs to enter the country and create jobs for Americans.

“I think this would have such a visible effect on the economy that it would make the legislator who introduced the bill famous,” says Graham. “The only way to know for sure would be to try it, and that would cost practically nothing.

Discuss

My sister grabbed her crock pot lid to stick it on the pot filled with her delicious meatballs. It slipped from her hand and shattered all over the her floor. Luckily, it was the lid instead of the pot filled with meatballs and sauce, so she only had to clean up glass all over the floor instead of sauce and glass. But her crock pot is no longer usable. So, does she toss it and buy another pot? Use the pot insert as a planter or a jar to hold little odds and ends? How about just getting a replacement lid?

That’s right. Most crock pot brands, including the original Crock-Pot, sell replacement parts, from lid handles to lids themselves. Unfortunately, by the time I heard the whole tragic tale, she’d already tossed her old crock pot, so she’s going to have to buy a new one instead of just getting a new lid for about $10. To search for replacement parts for your crock pot, you should know the brand and model number. This information is almost always found on the bottom of the crock pot. Then, head to the company site to see if there is a replacement parts section. My search at Rival’s website redirected me to crock-pot.com, which had a replacement parts section. If you don’t see an option to get replacement parts for your hot pot brand, do a quick search for replacement part companies and buy your part through one of them.

Have you ever had a crock pot lid tragedy?

Photo: Amazon.com

Post from: Blisstree

Cracked Crock Pot Lids and Other Sad Tales

by Tom Philpott

In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages from the meat and livestock industries.

————-

Few who saw the documentary Food Inc. will forget the scene involving Beef Products Inc., a South Dakota company that makes a widely used hamburger filler product.

No other industrial-meat company allowed director Robert Kenner to enter the shop floor with his cameras. In sharp contrast, a Beef Products executive invited the Food Inc. crew to record his company’s inner workings. The man is clearly proud of his company’s product. “We think we can lessen the incidence of E. Coli 0157:H7,” he says.

The scene, a clip of which appears above, features the Beef Products executive talking over a scene straight out of Chaplin’s Modern Times: a vast network of steaming tubes, with people in protective gear and face masks wandering about fussing with dials. Evidently, scraps of cow flesh, swept up from slaughterhouse floors and pulverized into a kind of paste, are moving through the tubes, subjected to a lashings of ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria.The scene ends with those heavily protected workers carefully packing uniform flesh-colored blocks into boxes. “This is our finished product,” the executive declares. He then claims that the product ends up in 70 percent of hamburgers served in the U.S. “In five years we’ll be in 100 percent,” he predicts.

The brief scene seems to me to be a more accurate document of our material food culture than 1000 hours of the Food Network. “I’m a mechanic, that’s what I am,” the exec says over the whir of the machines. I don’t think anyone had been mistaking him for a chef.

What the company essentially makes is hamburger filler. Companies like McDonald’s and institutions like the National School Lunch Program buy it and mix it into fresh ground beef to make burgers. The selling point is this: while conventional beef-processing plants routinely churn out meat tainted with the deadly  E. coli 0157:H7 and with antibiotic-resistent salmonella, this stuff has been sterilized and is thus infection-free.

Except…not so much. In one of the most important articles published in 2009 on the scandal-wracked meat industry, New York Times reporter Michael Moss revealed that BPI’s blocks of burger filler often do carry E. coli and salmonella. Indeed…

With the U.S.D.A.‘s stamp of approval, the company’s processed beef has become a mainstay in America’s hamburgers. McDonald’s, Burger King and other fast-food giants use it as a component in ground beef, as do grocery chains. The federal school lunch program used an estimated 5.5 million pounds of the processed beef last year alone.

Ouch. Bending to Meat Wagon tradition, I ran that factoid through our proprietary mathematical model and found that last year, public-school cafeterias procured enough ammonia-treated beef product to serve the equivalent of 22 million Quarter Pounders.

But all of that ammonia evidently doesn’t always do the trick of killing deadly pathogens. Writes Moss:

[G]overnment and industry records obtained by The New York Times show that in testing for the school lunch program, E. coli and salmonella pathogens have been found dozens of times in Beef Products meat, challenging claims by the company and the U.S.D.A. about the effectiveness of the treatment. Since 2005, E. coli has been found 3 times and salmonella 48 times, including back-to-back incidents in August in which two 27,000-pound batches were found to be contaminated. The meat was caught before reaching lunch-rooms trays.

To grasp the full extent of regulatory negligence on display here, you have to read the full article.

But I think it’s high time to start asking: do we as a society really want to be feeding children the lowest-quality food on offer? processed in a manner so industrial that handlers need to wear protective gear and face masks, and so ineptly that deadly pathogens routinely survive the chemical onslaught?

An excellent question for the new year.

Related Links:

Lessons on the food system from the ammonia-hamburger fiasco

Pollan on the Daily Show

Boring conference food: our culinary future?

Overview
SICOM6424SM is layer 3 managed modular industrial Ethernet switch with up to 24 ports of 100Base-FX or 10/100Base-TX, and 4 Gigabit modules of SFP TP/fiber ports or 4 10/100/1000Base-TX ports. Offering layer 3 switching of hardware wire speed, they can support static/dynamic routing to optimize the network. They provide high performance and reliable solutions for industrial projects with modular design.

Features
1) Up to 24x100M fiber ports, 4xGigabit fiber ports
2) Support DT-Ring Suite (recovery time<50ms) and STP/RSTP/MSTP/VRRP 3) Support Qos, Vlan, SNMP MIB V1/V2/V3 and RMON(Group 1,2,3 and 9) 4) Support static routing protocol and dynamic routing protocols such as RIP v1/v2,OSPF v2 and BGP v4 5) Support multicast routing protocols such as PIM-SM,PIM-DM and DVMRP 6) Support network time protocols such as NTP and SNTP 7) 36Gbps backplane bandwidth, hardware routing, layer-three line-speed switching rate of 19.6Mpps 8) Powerful ACL, support data filtering from L2 to L7 9) Broadcast storm auto-detection and control; support the detection of IGMP V1/V2/V3 message to effectively prevent the spreading of broadcasting message 10) Support full/half duplex flow control with the speed limitation of 64K 11) Support QinQ to realize double VLAN security 12) Support DHCP,BOOTP and other address-attaining ways 13) Abundant power supply options, able to provide redundant power supply 14) Operating temperature: -40 to 85°C(-40 to 185°F) 15) Ribbed Alumnium heat disspension (patent), fanless design 16) Rack-mounting (19 Inch 1U) 17) IP40 protection class

The NEW Legato 200 Series from KD Scientific is the next generation of syringe pumps.

The Legato 200 Series offers unparalleled ease of use through the high resolution color touch screen user interface. The full touch screen interface enable the user to quickly create configurations and recall them for easy use. The intuitive run screen combines multiple parameters simultaneously with internationally recognized graphic Icons which allow the Legato 200 series to provide a new level of intuitive syringe pump operation.

Three basic models ensure the right pump for your application. Infuse only, Infuse and Withdraw and Push Pull.

Each of these pumps is available in a programmable version for maximum flexibility and capability.

Each of the basic models work with one syringe or two and can be reconfigured in the field to use with multiple syringes.

The Legato Series optimizes laboratory bench space. For limited laboratory space the Legato 200 Series can be placed on its side to reduce the footprint by 4 Times. The footprint is only 3.5 in x 9.75 in. The display also tilts with the change to allow the user operate the pump vertically.

… which ensures maximum freedom of movement through one-hand operation. The newest member of the successful KeTop product family offers genuine, one-hand operation and hence the major advantage that during operation, one hand constantly remains free for process support activities. The devices can be fitted with a variety of operating elements such as key switches, push buttons, hand wheels, potentiometers, or axis selection switches and can thus be ideally adapted to every application. The device is suitable for control, teaching and visualization functions and is therefore highly flexible. An OMAP3503 high-performance processor, based on ARM Cortex A8 architecture, delivers the performance needed for these purposes. The terminal can be easily integrated into existing automation systems via Ethernet, RS-232-C and RS-422-A interfaces. In addition, the device is also supported by standard bus systems such as CAN and PROFIBUS, as well as real time Ethernet protocols, e.g. EtherCAT und SERCOS III. KeTop T20 terminals dispose over high-contrast OLED displays, which ensure optimum legibility and are also available as touchscreens. The new, one-hand operated device is available in two versions. The KeTop T20 eco offers high computing performance, ergonomics and industrial robustness for price sensitive applications. Alternatively, as a result of its innovative, freely programmable display keyboard with tactile keys, the KeTop T20 techno furnishes a wealth of keyboard layouts for specific applications and thus facilitates further increases in operational efficiency.

Intended for integration into industrial equipment, the Ylia M20 from Quantel delivers high peak power pulses for applications such as marking, engraving, micromachining and surface treatments via a flexible output fiber and collimating optics.
The system produces ultra-bright, near diffraction-limited, infra-red laser light, is maintenance free and extremely user-friendly.
Its 100 nanosecond pulse duration from 20 to 100kHz features a high peak power even at high rep rates, making the Ylia M20 suitable for high duty-cycle productions in the semi-conductor chips marking industry for example.

Typical applications of Ylia M20 include:
marking and engraving on metals, polymers and ceramics, thin film micro cutting by ablation, laser trimming, laser cleaning…

The new Q170MCPU multi-axis motion controller is a powerful addition to Mitsubishi Electric’s line of independent motion control-lers for factory automation applications. The new controller can handle complex motion sequences with up to 16 axes simultane-ously. Designed for use with the very dynamic MR-J3-B series of servo drives, the new multi-axis controller is ideal for applications requiring both high precision and economy. The motion controller has its own integrated PLC functionality and can be deployed both as a stand-alone device and in combination with all current control-lers. Among other things, the control features include an encoder input for synchronisation with the drive systems of upstream proc-esses and four high-speed digital inputs for registration mark sen-sors. Standard equipment also includes an Ethernet port, a serial port (RS-232) and a USB port. A variety of expansion units and over 100 different I/O, special function and network modules are available for applications requiring additional interfaces or func-tions. The compact design and wide range of available servo am-plifiers and motors make this drive technology exceptionally versa-tile. Typical applications include high-speed machines and sys-tems with interpolated or synchronized axes, like those found in modern packaging and printing plants.

Without and With

The position of this controversial item so close to the top may puzzle some, but unfortunately the fact is that one of the primary features which differentiates a modern smartphone in the mind of the public from a less featured one is the presence of a capacitive screen.

The capacitive screen on the HTC HD2, the only Windows Mobile example, is for example one of the main differentiators between the smartphone and the Acer neoTouch, resulting in the HD2 winning major mainstream plaudits and the neoTouch, well, not.

2010 should see a large number of Windows Mobile capacitive screens, with or without Microsoft’s support, and also eventually support for the technology in Windows Mobile 6.5 and of course 7.

Do our readers agree or disagree with this assessment?  Let us know below.

Good visibility, even in direct sunlight, is a basic precondition for the reliable deployment of signal devices in outside areas. This is a standard feature of the signal beacons and towers from WERMA Signaltechnik, located in the southern German town of Rietheim. There are however applications which place even more extreme demands on the visibility of optical signalling.

Brighter than sunlight
For example, the signalling of mobile cranes movements on large construction sites must be clearly visible over large distances, even when the signal beacon is exposed to direct sunlight. The new, “ultrabright“ LED signal tower element for the WERMA signal towers KombiSIGN 70 and 71, effortlessly meets these requirements. Its bundled light is brighter than the incidental sunlight, making it clearly visible.

Up to 20 times brighter
Thanks to its sophisticated triggering, the innovative LED element “ultrabright” is up to 20 times brighter than conventional LED beacons making it almost certainly the brightest permanent light that the world of signalling technology currently has to offer. Furthermore, the intelligent electronics ensure that the LEDs operate at maximum brightness, depending on the ambient and operating temperatures. The “ultrabright“ LED element is therefore always working at its optimum, and the energy-saving LED technology also ensures that power consumption is kept to a minimum.

“Ultrabright“ masters the reflection of sunlight in snowy conditions
Skiers on the piste enjoy the sunlight. However, at the lift turnstiles sunlight reflected from the snow can be debilitating. Even in these extreme conditions, the KombiSIGN “ultrabright“ element wins out against the blinding sunlight, providing a clear and unambiguous signal: “Please enter now!“

“Ultrabright“ triumphs over neon tubes and illuminated signs
A similarly bright environment is to be found at airport baggage reclaim areas. Harsh lighting and illuminated signs make it hard to see the warning light that indicates the operation of the baggage carousel. However the “ultrabright“ element triumphs in such bright surroundings with its light intensive signal, ensuring it is clearly seen.

In short: Wherever the sun or other lighting factors impede visual perception, the WERMA signal towers KombiSIGN 70 and 71 triumph with their new, “ultrabright” LED element.