8 percent of your DNA is made of...

retroviruses!

Yep.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070227213714.htm

Future history of the world, 2015

Get over the first minute... the rest is fascinating... and I have read these ideas in various places... Here, all these ideas are summarized and extrapolated in a few minutes...

Most people have no idea what is coming...

http://epic.makingithappen.co.uk/new-masterfs1.html

This is an updated version. The original was for 2014. This one is for 2015.

Here is the cover of Reason Magazine from June 2004... the one with a picture of "your own house" on the cover.





And here is the Reason Magazine article from that issue.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/29148.html

One of the best sites I have seen...

I read about this site in an article by Rhodri Marsden in The Independent.


http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3177183.ece


How stumbleupon.com works is not obvious from the samples on the front page. You really need to sign up and then pick say 5 to 10 categories.

I spent the first few hours saying wow to 80% of what I saw. I had never seen 95% of the sites before, even in categories in which I am very interested. I can see why it was voted one of the top 100 sites.

Basically, what it does is show you websites that are highly rated by other people with an interest in the category. You will see really surprising things. Try to resist bookmarking everything... but if you see things at the beginning that interest you, it might be a good idea to bookmark them because they will show you the most highly rated sites first. If your browser has a history, all the sites will be there.

New Opening for The Age of Biology

Nova used to open with, well, a nova... But the 21st century will be the century of biology, and so the opening has been substantially changed...



In fact, there doesn't seem to be a nova in it... The opening starts with a spiral galaxy, and ends with a spiral galaxy...

The Fabulous Five

To anyone who was living in Hawaii in the early '70s, just say the magic words:

HIC, Al Davis, Bob Nash, Dwight Holiday, John Penebacker, Jerome Freeman, "Red" Rocha, Chuck Lehey, the Fabulous Five...

and you will get a grin from ear to ear... The HIC never rocked like that! Everyone was glued to their TVs and radios... Probably the most fun I have ever seen... and they kept winning and winning...

http://starbulletin.com/1999/10/26/news/story8.html

http://starbulletin.com/2004/02/22/business/story1.html

Comet Holmes a few days after its discovery in 1892

Here is a picture of Comet Holmes a few days after its discovery almost exactly a hundred and fifteen years ago in 1892!

It is the round bright object in the lower left corner.

Holmes was given a medal by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Holmes


And here is the page announcing the award!
http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?journal=PASP.&year=%3F%3F%3F%3F&volume=...5&letter=.&db_key=PRE&page_ind=54&plate_select=NO&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_GIF&classic=YES

Comet Holmes

--William Hood Photography

The above photograph was taken near Los Angeles International Airport!
It has also just been published online by Sky & Telescope at
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/gallery/skyevents/11088956.html


Click on the link below to see some amazing framed prints! Take a look at the Sierra Sunsets and the astrophotos! Jawdropping!

http://members.aol.com/wmhoodphoto/index.htm

The Blog Turns One!

This blog is a year old... and what a year it's been!

Looking forward to little and big things... 3D movies, mobile computing, genetic therapy, first contact...

Streaming radio is everywhere

If you haven't poked around iTunes or at the webpages of radio stations, you may not be aware that you can usually listen to streaming radio online... it works nearly flawlessly nowadays...

Here is Hawaii public radio... I listened to A Prairie Home Companion on this station the other day... amazing... being in Japan and listening to HPR broadcast a program from National Public Radio... for free... in real time...

http://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/hpr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=30

Totally charming video

Video of the Hayabusa Mission to Asteroid Itokawa... totally charming and very intensely sweet Japanese anime sensibility... in a video about robotic probes!

I love the little robot jumping around on the surface like a Mexican jumping bean...

And it almost made it... only the sample return at the end failed... and so it remains, for a little while longer, in the realm of dreams...

Comet Holmes

Waaay out in the asteroid belt, there are a lot of icy cometlike asteroids. They are so far from the Sun that they hardly give off any gas and dust, and so they are often indistinguishable from asteroids.

One of these is Comet Holmes, which was observed only once a century ago when it suddenly started giving off a lot of dust and gas.

Then, last week, something happened. Comet Holmes suddenly brightened a million times and is now easily visible to the naked eye! Either the outer crust cracked, or something slammed into it, exposing the more volatile gas and dust below.

I saw it last night. Even with a lot of light pollution, it is conspicuous as a fuzzy starlike object. All the stars nearby look sharp, but the comet is obviously fuzzy to the naked eye. In binoculars, it looks just like this!





IT IS NOW BIGGER THAN THE SUN!!!

http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/11/news/story04.html

Here are directions for finding it.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/10912981.html

How the internet has changed in just the last 10 years

The BBC started its website 10 years ago. Take a look at the graphic showing the number of views going from about a million a month to a thousand times that.

This is a good example of how explosive progress can be... and most progress that is dependent on computing is advancing like this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/7057140.stm

H R Pufnstuff

If you don't recognize that, this won't mean anything to you.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=J86X4D_gem8

What?!?!?!

Sometimes you come across a story that makes you say "Hmm, is it April 1?". Then you realize it isn't, and you say WHATTTTT?!?!?!

Here is one of them.

If you take the toner cartridge of an inkject printer, clean it out, sterilize it, and fill it with living cells in a carrier fluid, you can use the inkjet printer to print 3D living tissue! 95% of the cells survive being shot out of the inkjet and hitting the target!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15231206

The world changes: Kodak's Olympic sponsorship ending

After more than a century, the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing will mark the end of Kodak sponsorship.

Everything is going digital. While film still has its inimitable qualities, the economics of digital photography are becoming overwhelming, and even Kodak realizes that most photography will be digital.

Patients cannot remember which medications they are taking

Half of patients taking antihypertensive drugs were unable to remember a single one of the medications they were taking. Since someone could easily be confused or unconscious when taken to an emergency room, it would be useful to keep a list of medications and dosages in your purse or wallet.

Minor transient strokes need to be treated as emergencies

By the time we reach our 80s, we typically have hundreds of small strokes. Most of these produce no symptoms.

However, if you live long enough, it is very likely you will experience at least a few transient strokes. The symptoms can be very strange (faces may disappear, speech may be unintelligible, confusion), may or may not involve paralysis, and may pass in a few hours. However, these are signs that a much more serious stroke may be coming in the next few days, weeks, or months. Going to the emergency room and treating such a mild transient stroke will reduce the later risk of a major stroke by 80%!

Here are some symptoms of strokes.

http://www.stroke.org.uk/information/what_is_a_stroke/common_symptoms.html

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/85062.php

Sukiyaki (上を向いて歩こう I look up when I walk (so the tears won't fall))

The real title of this song is Ue o muite arukou. The name Sukiyaki doesn't mean anything in the context of the song. It was renamed in English because the Japanese title was too difficult.

The song begins
I look upward when I walk
So the tears won't fall
Remembering happy days in spring
For tonight I am all alone

The singer, Kyu Sakamoto, was killed in a plane crash in 1985.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xcHysLbSk4&mode=related&search=

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukiyaki_%28song%29


http://www.japanorama.com/kyuchan.html

We may know whether life exists on Mars by next summer!

The Phoenix Mars Lander will, if everything goes according to plan, land on Mars in May of 2008 and dig under the surface and perform experiments to determine whether life has existed or currently exists there.

I would bet everything there are living cells there now... and on some of the moons of Jupiter and maybe other outer planets as well.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6926880.stm

First Radio Telescope Dedicated to Searching for Extraterrestrails Begins Operations

The first part of the Allen Telescope Array has started operations.

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn12771-new-radio-telescope-begins-search-for-alien-signals.html


There will soon be a flood of data requiring analysis, so if you leave your computer on all the time anyway, you could join SETI at Home to hunt for alien technological civilizations.

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/

Camelot

With clips from the original with Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, and Robert Goulet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1GqoxJngBI

The funniest joke

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson go on a camping trip. After a good dinner, they retire for the night, and go to sleep.

Some hours later, Holmes wakes up and nudges his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."

"I see millions and millions of stars, Holmes" replies Watson.

"And what do you deduce from that?"

Watson ponders for a minute.

"Well, astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful, and that we are a small and insignificant part of the universe. What does it tell you, Holmes?"

Holmes is silent for a moment. "Watson, you idiot!" he says. "Someone has stolen our tent!"

Is that all there is

Peggy Lee. Is that all there is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-hiDMpcN9Y

How to use Skype

I am sick and tired of explaining this same damn thing over and over, so watch the damn video, and download the damn Skype software... NOW!

October 12, 1997, Henry John Deutschendorf Jr took off in an experimental aircraft from the Monterey Peninsula Airport

John Denver was just plain a lot of fun in the 70s... he is where we get the expression "Faaaar out!"

He died flying a modified experimental Long-EZ aircraft designed by Burt Rutan. He loved to fly. Here is an explanation of what happened.

(Copy and paste the links in your browser window... there are too many of them to make them clickable... the software is confused.)

http://www.asktog.com/columns/027InterfacesThatKill.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Denver


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC8nDdPM_Qk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLBKOcUbHR0&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFgKkTKqh9Y&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eivZd4j5MBs&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwARpaKHx_w&mode=related&search=

And a duet with Karen Carpenter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzlpeV0gK-M&mode=related&search=

Broadcast Satellite Analog Hi-Vision 9 Ends

Analog high definition broadcast satellite transmission by NHK in Japan will end tomorrow, September 30, 2007, at midnight.

This broadcast only started in 1999, but it has already been supplanted by terrestrial digital high definition broadcasting. It is just amazing to see something come in and go out so fast. The US will discontinue analog broadcasting soon. All analog broadcasting will end in Japan in 2011.

The first television broadcast in Hawaii was December 3, 1952; the last will be on February 17, 2009. The rate of technological advance is so great that you can see new things come into use, and marvels they were at the time, and go out of use in the blink of an eye... and the rate is increasing...

Empress of the realm

Here is Kira, Empress, master of the many humans who devotedly wait on her hand and foot.






I had a dream that I was walking in a field, but the sky was pitch black... and there were millions of beagles walking very purposefully in the opposite direction. They flowed around me... like flocks of sheep... not in a panic, but walking quickly. I looked to the right and to the left, and all I could see were beagles...

So I called "Kiiiiraaaa", and I saw a little snout point up in the distance... after a while, she came up to me, and when I saw the white lightning bolt on her back, I knew it was Kira.

"Kira!" I yelled, and she jumped in my arms... and she was cold...

"Oh, oh. Kira, you are dead... and so am I... and we are in the beagle afterlife for some reason..."

I woke up and never figured out what the reason was.

Grave of the Fireflies 火垂るの墓 (Hotaru no Haka)

Or perhaps my translation would be "Grave of the Firetrailers". The Japanese title does not use the common word for firefly and instead uses a much broader term, which in context perhaps better evokes the whole.

Truly extraordinary. If it were to be released now rather than when it was 20 years ago, it would be a sensation. Almost none of the animation since comes even close.

Here is a short description by Roger Ebert.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTBS2k5qDE0


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotaru_no_haka


Try going to eBay and searching for Grave of the Fireflies. See the discussion below.

Amazingly cheap DVDs at eBay, but...

You can find amazingly cheap DVDs at eBay... sometimes for just a couple of dollars... However, there are a few things to watch out for.

THE BIDDING IS RIGGED. If it is a "Buy-it-Now" price, then if you click on it, that is the price you will pay for it. If it is a bidding price, what you are looking at is the second highest bid, not the highest bid. In other words, if there is a bid showing for 2 dollars, bidding 2 dollars and 1 cent is unlikely to win you the item because the actual current bid, which you cannot see, is already above 2 dollars. In this situation, if you try bidding $2.01, you will see the bid immediately jump, as if someone were online bidding against you. That is just because they were hiding the actual highest bid from you.

THE BUY-IT-NOW PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE SHIPPING. The shipping cost can be an important clue that something may be wrong. You will find a number of DVDs selling for only a few dollars... but the shipping is TO the US, and instead of being just a few dollars, is very high... Hmm... then look where the item is located. That may be a clue that it is a pirated copy that may not be what you are interested in.

MOST DVDs HAVE REGION CODES AND WILL ONLY PLAY IN ASIA OR NORTH AMERICA OR EUROPE. This is another clue. If it says "All regions", that is again suspicious and may indicate that it is a pirated copy.

Here is a screen shot of a DVD on eBay that I think is suspicious. Note that the starting bid is only $0.99, the Region Code lists all regions, it says it is new, and the shipping is $6.99.

Worm trying to trick you into infecting your Windows computer by fake Skype chat message

There is a worm for Skype for WINDOWS circulating. It seems to take the form of a chat message, pretending to be from someone you know. If your computer becomes infected, you will be blocked from accessing Symantec and other security sites. Just receiving the message will not infect your computer; you need to follow the link and grant permission for your machine to become infected. This is worth remembering because it is likely we will see future similar attempts.


Here is an excerpt from a PC World article:

... the worm sends chat messages that attempt to trick victims into thinking they were accidentally sent a file with messages such as "look what crazy photo Tiffany sent to me,looks cool" and "oops sorry please don't look there :S."

The displayed link attempts to download a file ending with a .scr extention, used for screen savers. If double-clicked, the malware - known variously as Skipi, Pykspa and Ramex - will first attempt to disable securty software, and then install another, data-stealing piece of malware, according to research from Symantec.

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/005384.html

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/09/windows-worm-ta.html

The most distant object made by humans

Thirty years ago, Voyager I was launched... it is now more than a hundred times farther away than the distance from the Earth to the Sun.

It is now more than one-half light-day away! At that rate, if it were going toward the nearest star, it is still only about 1/3,000th way there... meaning it would take nearly 100,000 years to arrive.

Voyager I is still functioning and is still sending back data! However, the power supply will run out in about 10 years.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14261627



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_I

It is raining cats and dogs... and the typhoon isn't even here yet!

Typhoon No. 9 is still far to the south of Honshu, but it is raining like mad outside... and it is supposed to get worse tomorrow!

http://www.tenki.jp/typ/index.html

Does corn syrup cause even more problems than we thought?

Carbonyl compounds are elevated in people with diabetes and are well documented to be linked to diabetes complications such as ulcers and nerve damage.

It seems that these harmful compounds form in substantial amounts when, instead of sugar cane sugar, you use corn syrup to make soda.

If you don't know what diabetic foot ulcers look like, try Google Images. I warn you, it is pretty shocking.

Another example of improved computing making the impossible into the practical and routine

A decade ago, the peak intensities of many meteor showers were difficult to predict and were often just guesstimates. Meteor storms were predicted, and observers saw nothing. No one was looking, and surprise showers appeared. That is why the Aurigid meteor shower is known to have been observed by only three people before yesterday. (I woke mom up at 1:20, and she saw one in a few minutes even though it was nearly completely overcast!)

Improved computing now allows much better prediction of meteoroid streams. Models are so good that the predicted peak of the Aurigids was 4:33 AM PDT, and the actual peak was 4:15 AM; the predicted peak rate was right on target. A decade ago, you would have gotten tentative guesses as to whether or not one would see anything at all.

http://aurigids.seti.org

Les Miserables

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3698104979232723548&q=les+miserables&total=2171&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3698104979232723548&q=les+miserables&total=2171&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

The expression "to jump the shark"

"To jump the shark" means, especially for a TV show, to do something desperate because of falling ratings... Here is where the expression comes from... Hilarious... and not in a good way...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE&mode=related&search=

Oh, oh... the power supply is barely above the power demand

After the earthquake last month north of Tokyo, the largest nuclear power plant in the world went offline. It will probably be offline for a year. That power plant supplied a substantial fraction of the electricity in Tokyo.

Over the last few weeks, the temperature around Tokyo has gone as high as 40 degrees C (about 105 degrees F). When the temperature in downtown Tokyo reaches 36 degrees C (97 degrees F), electricity use peaks at about 62 million kilowatts... the total supply, even bringing power from as far away as Hokkaido, is 63 million kilowatts. The supply is only a few percent above the demand, which is really risky... the supply is usually 20% or more above demand.

Wednesday, August 22, was really hot, and The Daily Yomiuri newspaper reports that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) narrowly avoided the worst-case scenario. By one method of estimating demand, supply exceeded demand by only 1.6 percent.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20070824TDY03002.htm

The risk of a blackout will be relatively high over the next few days because the temperature is forecast to again hit 36C (97F).

Update: Great! This morning, the forecast highs for the next few days has been reduced by several degrees! Maybe we will be OK!

One longterm solution to this problem is to raise the albedo (reflectivity) of the city as much as possible by applying elastomeric roof coatings and paints containing titanium oxide ceramic powders to as many surfaces as possible. This will reduce the heat-island effect. It can be done quickly and cheaply. Planting trees would also help, but that would be much more expensive and would take a long time.

Update, Saturday, August 25: The forecast is for above 95F today.

Take a look at the first episode of Connections by James Burke. The series is excellent. You will see why this pertinent.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2010590024183774407&q=connections&total=23594&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

And here is an explanation of the Northeast Blackout of 1965.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Blackout_of_1965

Some red, blue, or purple vegetables may fight colon cancer

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/aug/20/sciencenews.cancer

Carrots used to be... purple???

Orange carrots were an invention of the Dutch in the 1500s... for the House of Orange...

http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html

You can buy purple carrot seeds from Park Seed

http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=5074&PrevMainPage=textsearchresults&scChannel=Text%20Search&SearchText=carrots&OfferCode=TH1

HurriQuake nails seem to be widely available now

When HurriQuake nails first came out last year, they could not make them fast enough to satisfy demand, and they were generally available only in the Gulf states to help with rebuilding.

Now, it seems they are widely available at hardware stores, although you might want to search on the net first. You can also buy them from Amazon, but there were a lot of complaints at the Amazon site, so maybe it is better to inspect at a store before buying.

We are going to have hurricane straps installed and use the HurriQuake nails to reinforce structural joins. People seem to be concerned about their windows, but I think that is secondary to the roof... intact windows won't do much good if you don't have a roof.

Skype was out of service for a day

Skype was out of service for a day or two due to a software problem. The amount of screaming from users was, I think, more a reflection of how good Skype usually is... it is so good, so useful for 200 million users that when it is gone they are in shock.

For me, I missed it on that one day (I had to actually use the telephone to make a phone call!), but I am thankful for the 729 other days it worked fine over the last two years.

Once you get Skype, you too will be unable to get along without it!

Why do people of other races "all look alike"?

The answer is surprising. It seems it is not a difference in race per se. Even if everyone is of the same race, it is more difficult to distinguish faces of out-groups rather than faces of in-groups... even if that distinction is made up!

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/afps-wwa081407.php

30 years ago, the "Wow!" signal from aliens?

In 1977, at the Big Ear Radio Observatory in Ohio, a very strong signal was detected, perhaps from outer space. For the last 30 years, researchers have been trying to figure out if it was terrestrial interference or an equipment problem, but the principal researcher concludes that that is unlikely. That part of the sky from which the signal came has been monitored from time to time, but nothing...

Now, the Allen Telescope Array is about to come online, and it will be devoting some of its time to searching that area of the sky...

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/15/319127.aspx

You can use your computer to search for transmissions from extraterrestrials by going to

http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/

Took all the trees, put 'em in a tree museum, and charged the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em...

The "tree museum" is Foster Botanical Garden!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Yellow_Taxi

The last 50 years

Yikes. Things used to be so bad... take a look back over the last 50 years.

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/classic-articles

Forecasts about the Next 50 Years

Take a look at these forecasts about the next 50 years.


http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/science-forecasts

Most people want to stay at home and out of a care home for as long as possible

Every year you can stay out of a care home is worth 50,000 dollars or more. Almost everyone wants to stay at home for as long as possible, but very often people move into a care home earlier than they need to because of relatively minor problems like being unable to do small repairs to their houses or being unable to drive. Groups of people are banding together to solve these kinds of problems so they can stay in their own homes as long as possible.

Everyone needs to read this. One way or another we are all going to have to confront these problems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/health/14aging.html

The perils of denying human nature

When I was about seven years old, I started to play with fire. My grandfather, knowing that children who are told not to play with fire sometimes hide and set the house on fire, and recognizing that this was a normal part of learning and would stop when the skill had been mastered, said: "If you want to play with fire, you can do whatever you want as long as you do it in front of me; if you hide and play with fire, you are gonna get a lickin'..."

True to his word, I played with fire for years, burning all kinds of things, until one day, when I was thirteen, it was no longer interesting...


One night while making a bonfire at a beach house near Mokolii Island, I burned my finger and there was a big blister. My mom started to get her keys, and my uncle said to her, "Where are you going?" And my mom said, "To buy aspirin." And the only time I have ever seen my uncle angry, he said to my mom, "No! The kid got burned and it is supposed to hurt!" I could not sleep all night. But uncle was right. It is supposed to hurt. That's why I remember to this day exactly what happened, and I haven't burned my finger again... so far...

Interview with Neil Armstrong

I guess the hero worship must get tiring pretty fast. Very rare interview.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1722270428583799532

The solution to Alzheimer's disease?

In Alzheimer's disease, abnormal proteins accumulate in brain cells and cause the cells to stop functioning properly and die, so the focus of a lot of research has been on the brain cells themselves.

But what if that is not the true underlying problem?

The abnormal proteins are not found only in brain cells. There are substantial amounts in the bloodstream. What if that is the real problem?

It seems that increasing the rate at which the abnormal protein is removed from the blood will stop the progress of Alzheimer's and even reverse some of the symptoms.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/uorm-dab080907.php