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Luís F. Simões

NASA Goddard to Auction off Patents for Automated Software Code Generation - 0 views

www.spaceref.com/...viewpr.html

nasa patents software fault-tolerance design swarm

shared by Luís F. Simões on 04 Nov 10 - No Cached
  • The technology was originally developed to handle coding of control code for spacecraft swarms, but it is broadly applicable to any commercial application where rule-based systems development is used.
  • Luís F. Simões on 04 Nov 10
     
    This is related to the "Verified Software" item in NewScientist's list of ideas that will change science. At the link below you'll find the text of the patents being auctioned: http://icapoceantomo.com/item-for-sale/exclusive-license-related-improved-methodology-formally-developing-control-systems :) Patent #7,627,538 ("Swarm autonomic agents with self-destruct capability") makes for quite an interesting read: "This invention relates generally to artificial intelligence and, more particularly, to architecture for collective interactions between autonomous entities." "In some embodiments, an evolvable synthetic neural system is operably coupled to one or more evolvable synthetic neural systems in a hierarchy." "In yet another aspect, an autonomous nanotechnology swarm may comprise a plurality of workers composed of self-similar autonomic components that are arranged to perform individual tasks in furtherance of a desired objective." "In still yet another aspect, a process to construct an environment to satisfy increasingly demanding external requirements may include instantiating an embryonic evolvable neural interface and evolving the embryonic evolvable neural interface towards complex complete connectivity." "In some embodiments, NBF 500 also includes genetic algorithms (GA) 504 at each interface between autonomic components. The GAs 504 may modify the intra-ENI 202 to satisfy requirements of the SALs 502 during learning, task execution or impairment of other subsystems."
santecarloni

[1010.3437] Dynamical mass generation via space compactification in graphene - 0 views

arxiv.org/1010.3437

technology science PHY

shared by santecarloni on 27 Oct 10 - No Cached
  • santecarloni on 27 Oct 10
     
    Is it really possible?
  • ...2 more comments...
  • Luzi Bergamin on 27 Oct 10
     
    The affiliation is Saudi Arabia and Marocco, not countries famous for their contributions to physics... But nonetheless, yes this is possible, to me it even looks very plausible! But you should know that the term "mass" in this context just means a certain parameter in the dynamical equations and only has a loose relation to what we usually call "mass" in the macroscopic world.
  • LeopoldS on 27 Oct 10
     
    ok - admit that I only read the abstract but to me the seems to be a little bit of magic happening ... even if "mass is only a certain parameter in the dynamical equations" ... I assume it still bears some "heavy" consequences in terms of their speed, interactions etc, no? and assuming that you gradually bend such a structure from a 2D to a 1D one ... does it "gain" mass gradually? all very strange to me ...
  • santecarloni on 28 Oct 10
     
    I think the problem is in the boundary conditions... the issue is that if you use and infinite sheet or a cylinder in the equations you always take cyclic boundary condition. If this guys are right then the mass of the quasi-particles in a crystal depends on its topology... this is a major thing...
  • Luzi Bergamin on 28 Oct 10
     
    BINGO!! It's almost like good ol' Kaluza-Klein...
Giusi Schiavone

Telomerase reactivation reverses tissue degeneration in aged telomerase-deficient mice ... - 0 views

www.nature.com/...nature09603.html

tissue degeneration

shared by Giusi Schiavone on 16 Dec 10 - No Cached
  • Nature | Letter Previous article Next article Telomerase reactivation reverses tissue degeneratio
Juxi Leitner

Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: Physicist Discovers How to Teleport Energy - 4 views

www.technologyreview.com/...24759

tech phy quantum entanglement nrg

shared by Juxi Leitner on 09 Feb 10 - Cached
pacome delva liked it
  • He gives the example of a string of entangled ions oscillating back and forth in an electric field trap, a bit like Newton's balls. Measuring the state of the first ion injects energy into the system in the form of a phonon, a quantum of oscillation. Hotta says that performing the right kind of measurement on the last ion extracts this energy. Since this can be done at the speed of light (in principle), the phonon doesn't travel across the intermediate ions so there is no heating of these ions. The energy has been transmitted without traveling across the intervening space.
  • Juxi Leitner on 09 Feb 10
     
    wonder if we can use that to power a moon base .... or on-board a SBSP satellite
  • ...1 more comment...
  • LeopoldS on 09 Feb 10
     
    will still have to read the actual article but am a bit sceptic if this interpretation really will hold ... what are our fundamental physicists saying about this?
  • Juxi Leitner on 10 Feb 10
     
    I am not the physicist but I thought it might be interesting, from a space security point-of-view
  • pacome delva on 11 Feb 10
     
    Yes it seems really interesting and opens new possibilities. However this technology review article is not very good and the guy uses terms which have a precise meaning (like teleportation), which is different from the word we know... Quantum teleportation is what we use for designing quantum computers, but we are quite far from any practical applications. This energy teleportation will allow new scheme involving energy (if it is experimentally confirmed) which is very nice. However it seems this occurs in an entangled many-body system, which the only macroscopic one I know is a bose-eintein condensate (BEC). So it would mean infuse energy in the BEC by doing a measurement on one of the atom and extract it few millimeters away by doing a measurement on another atom. very far from any long distance power transmission...
pacome delva

Supernovae put dark matter in the right place - 3 views

physicsworld.com/...41399

phy astrophysics dark_matter supernovae

shared by pacome delva on 14 Jan 10 - Cached
  • “one of the best papers I have ever seen”
  • pacome delva on 14 Jan 10
     
    Well, with these huge numerical simulation you're never sure of anything... Anyway the idea sounds quite convincing and simple.
  • Francesco Biscani on 14 Jan 10
     
    Whops, sorry for the duplicate bookmark above :)
nikolas smyrlakis

BBC News - 'World's strongest' beer with 32% strength launched - 1 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8380412.stm

alcohol beer news fun

shared by nikolas smyrlakis on 27 Nov 09 - Cached
  • nikolas smyrlakis on 27 Nov 09
     
    Innovation in beer : "This is an extremely strong beer; it should be enjoyed in small servings and with an air of aristocratic nonchalance. In exactly the same manner that you would enjoy a fine whisky, a Frank Zappa album or a visit from a friendly yet anxious ghost."
  • Ma Ru on 27 Nov 09
     
    "Tactical Nuclear Penguin"... wow... [Edit] BTW this news looks hilarious on the feed display right in front of the ACT's official website, lol
Joris _

Earth's atmosphere came from outer space, find scientists - 3 views

www.physorg.com/news179676765.html

climate research space

shared by Joris _ on 11 Dec 09 - Cached
  • From that we now know that the volcanic gases could not have contributed in any significant way to the Earth's atmosphere
  • LeopoldS on 11 Dec 09
     
    tried to find the original science paper but could not .... the only one I found was this one: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/1210/2
  • ...1 more comment...
  • Nina Nadine Ridder on 11 Dec 09
  • nikolas smyrlakis on 14 Dec 09
     
    "Plan 9 from outer space" quote confirmed : atmospheric conditions in outer space stall communications! Wonder how many more facts of the movie will prove right in the end...
  • pacome delva on 14 Dec 09
     
    very interesting study. Although it is not so much a surprise, they cite many papers on planetary formation that predicted this, and the only paper on degassing they cite is from our rather unpopular french ex-minister of research c. allegre, who refuses the fact that humans have an impact on climate...
Francesco Biscani

The End Of Gravity As a Fundamental Force - 6 views

science.slashdot.org/...Gravity-As-a-Fundamental-Force

phy

shared by Francesco Biscani on 11 Jan 10 - Cached
LeopoldS liked it
  • Francesco Biscani on 11 Jan 10
     
    "At a symposium at the Dutch Spinoza-instituut on 8 December, 2009, string theorist Erik Verlinde introduced a theory that derives Newton's classical mechanics. In his theory, gravity exists because of a difference in concentration of information in the empty space between two masses and its surroundings. He does not consider gravity as fundamental, but as an emergent phenomenon that arises from a deeper microscropic reality. A relativistic extension of his argument leads directly to Einstein's equations."
  • ...8 more comments...
  • Dario Izzo on 12 Jan 10
     
    Diffcult for me to fully understand / believe in the holographic principle at macroscopical scales ... potentially it looks though as a revolutionary idea.....
  • pacome delva on 13 Jan 10
     
    never heard about it... seems interesting. At first sight it seems that it is based on fundamental principle that could lead to a new phenomenology, so that could be tested. Perhaps Luzi knows more about this ? Did we ever work on this concept ?
  • Luzi Bergamin on 13 Jan 10
     
    The paper is quite long and I don't have the time right now to read it in detail. Just a few comments: * We (ACT) definitely never did anything in this direction? But: is there a new phenomenology? I'm not sure, if the aim is just to get Einstein's theory as emergent theory, then GR should not change (or only change in extreme conditions.) * Emergent gravity is not new, also Erik admits that. The claim to have found a solution appears quite frequently, but most proposals actually are not emergent at all. At least, I have the impression that Erik is aware of the relevant steps to be performed. * It's very difficult to judge from a short glance at the paper, up to which point the claims are serious and where it just starts to be advertisments. Section 6 is pretty much a collection of self-praise. * Most importantly: I don't understand how exactly space and time should be emergent. I think it's not new to observe that space is related to special canonical variables in thermodynamics. If anybody can see anything "emergent" in the first paragraphs of section 3, then please explain me. For me, this is not emergent space, but space introduced with a "sledge hammer." Time anyway seems to be a precondition, else there is nothing like energy and nothing like dynamics. * Finally, holography appears to be a precondition, to my knowledge no proof exists that normal (non-supersymmetric, non-stringy, non-whatever) GR has a holographic dual.
  • Luzi Bergamin on 13 Jan 10
     
    Update: meanwhile I understood roughly what this should be about. It's well known that BH physics follow the laws of theormodynamics, suggesting the existence of underlying microstates. But if this is true, shouldn't the gravitational force then be emergent from these microstates in the same way as any theromdynamical effect is emergent from the behavior of its constituents (e.g. a gas)? If this can be prooven, then indeed gravity is emergent. Problem: one has to proof that *any* configuration in GR may be interpreted as thermodynamical, not just BHs. That's probably where holography comes into the play. To me this smells pretty much like N=4 SYM vs. QCD. The former is not QCD, but can be solved, so all stringy people study just that one and claim to learn something about QCD. Here, we look at holographic models, GR is not holographic, but who cares... Engineering problems...
  • LeopoldS on 13 Jan 10
     
    is there any experimental or observational evidence that points to this "solution"?
  • Luzi Bergamin on 13 Jan 10
     
    Are you joking??? :D
  • pacome delva on 14 Jan 10
     
    I was a bit fast to say it could be tested... apparently we don't even know a theory that is holographic, perhaps a string theory (see http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/9409089v2). So very far from any test...
  • LeopoldS on 14 Jan 10
     
    Luzi, I miss you!!!
  • Luzi Bergamin on 14 Jan 10
     
    Leo, do you mean you liked my comment on your question more than Pacome's? Well, the ACT has to evolve and fledge, so no bullshitting anymore, but serious and calculating answers... :-) Sorry Pacome, nothing against you!! I just LOVE this Diigo because it gives me the opportunity for a happy revival of my ACT mood.
  • pacome delva on 14 Jan 10
     
    haha, today would have been great to show your mood... we had a talk on the connection between mind and matter !!
Tobias Seidl

Self-assembled artificial cilia - PNAS - 1 views

www.pnas.org/...1844.abstract

BIO micro selfassembled

shared by Tobias Seidl on 03 Feb 10 - Cached
  • Tobias Seidl on 03 Feb 10
     
    Cilia are hairs driven by molecular motors. They are found in monocellular organisms, etc. If we can build such things artificially, we have micro-pumps etc. Any space usability?
  • Nicholas Lan on 08 Feb 10
     
    carlo's distributed actuator study originally considered cilia as well as peristaltic motion if i remember right. i suppose you might still think about debris transport for digging applications. Originally there was an idea for thermal transport aswell which, it turns out, was bollocks.
Francesco Biscani

STLport: An Interview with A. Stepanov - 2 views

www.stlport.org/...StepanovUSA.html

computer science

shared by Francesco Biscani on 23 Mar 10 - Cached
  • Generic programming is a programming method that is based in finding the most abstract representations of efficient algorithms.
  • I spent several months programming in Java.
  • for the first time in my life programming in a new language did not bring me new insights
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • it has no intellectual value whatsoever
  • Java is clearly an example of a money oriented programming (MOP).
  • Francesco Biscani on 23 Mar 10
     
    One of the authors of the STL (C++'s Standard Template Library) explains generic programming and slams Java.
  • ...6 more comments...
  • Ma Ru on 24 Mar 10
     
    "Java is clearly an example of a money oriented programming (MOP)." Exactly. And for the industry it's the money that matters. Whatever mathematicians think about it.
  • Joris _ on 24 Mar 10
     
    It is actually a good thing that it is "MOP" (even though I do not agree with this term): that is what makes it inter-operable, light and easy to learn. There is no point in writing fancy codes, if it does not bring anything to the end-user, but only for geeks to discuss incomprehensible things in forums. Anyway, I am pretty sure we can find a Java guy slamming C++ ;)
  • Francesco Biscani on 24 Mar 10
     
    Personally, I never understood what the point of Java is, given that: 1) I do not know of any developer (maybe Marek?) that uses it for intellectual pleasure/curiosity/fun whatever, given the possibility of choice - this to me speaks loudly on the objective qualities of the language more than any industrial-corporate marketing bullshit (for the record, I argue that Python is more interoperable, lighter and easier to learn than Java - which is why, e.g., Google is using it heavily); 2) I have used a software developed in Java maybe a total of 5 times on any computer/laptop I owned over 15 years. I cannot name of one single Java project that I find necessary or even useful; for my usage of computers, Java could disappear overnight without even noticing. Then of course one can argue as much as one wants about the "industry choosing Java", to which I would counterargue with examples of industry doing stupid things and making absurd choices. But I suppose it would be a kind of pointless discussion, so I'll just stop here :)
  • Joris _ on 24 Mar 10
     
    "At Google, python is one of the 3 "official languages" alongside with C++ and Java". Java runs everywhere (the byte code itself) that is I think the only reason it became famous. Python, I guess, is more heavy if it were to run on your web browser! I think every language has its pros and cons, but I agree Java is not the answer to everything... Java is used in MATLAB, some web applications, mobile phones apps, ... I would be a bit in trouble if it were to disappear today :(
  • Dario Izzo on 24 Mar 10
     
    I personally do not believe in interoperability :)
  • Ma Ru on 24 Mar 10
     
    Well, I bet you'd notice an overnight disappearance of java, because half of the internet would vanish... J2EE technologies are just omnipresent there... I'd rather not even *think* about developing a web application/webservice/web-whatever in standard C++... is it actually possible?? Perhaps with some weird Microsoft solutions... I bet your bank online services are written in Java. Certainly not in PHP+MySQL :) Industry has chosen Java not because of industrial-corporate marketing bullshit, but because of economics... it enables you develop robustly, reliably, error-prone, modular, well integrated etc... software. And the costs? Well, using java technologies you can set-up enterprise-quality web application servers, get a fully featured development environment (which is better than ANY C/C++/whatever development environment I've EVER seen) at the cost of exactly 0 (zero!) USD/GBP/EUR... Since many years now, the central issue in software development is not implementing algorithms, it's building applications. And that's where Java outperforms many other technologies. The final remark, because I may be mistakenly taken for an apostle of Java or something... I love the idea of generic programming, C++ is my favourite programming language (and I used to read Stroustroup before sleep), at leisure time I write programs in Python... But if I were to start a software development company, then, apart from some very niche applications like computer games, it most probably would use Java as main technology.
  • Francesco Biscani on 24 Mar 10
     
    "I'd rather not even *think* about developing a web application/webservice/web-whatever in standard C++... is it actually possible?? Perhaps with some weird Microsoft solutions... I bet your bank online services are written in Java. Certainly not in PHP+MySQL :)" Doing in C++ would be awesomely crazy, I agree :) But as I see it there are lots of huge websites that operate on PHP, see for instance Facebook. For the banks and the enterprise market, as a general rule I tend to take with a grain of salt whatever spin comes out from them; in the end behind every corporate IT decision there is a little smurf just trying to survive and have the back covered :) As they used to say in the old times, "No one ever got fired for buying IBM". "Industry has chosen Java not because of industrial-corporate marketing bullshit, but because of economics... it enables you develop robustly, reliably, error-prone, modular, well integrated etc... software. And the costs? Well, using java technologies you can set-up enterprise-quality web application servers, get a fully featured development environment (which is better than ANY C/C++/whatever development environment I've EVER seen) at the cost of exactly 0 (zero!) USD/GBP/EUR... Since many years now, the central issue in software development is not implementing algorithms, it's building applications. And that's where Java outperforms many other technologies." Apart from the IDE considerations (on which I cannot comment, since I'm not a IDE user myself), I do not see how Java beats the competition in this regard (again, Python and the huge software ecosystem surrounding it). My impression is that Java's success is mostly due to Sun pushing it like there is no tomorrow and bundling it with their hardware business.
  • Joris _ on 24 Mar 10
     
    OK, I think there is a bit of everything, wrong and right, but you have to acknowledge that Python is not always the simplest. For info, Facebook uses Java (if you upload picture for instance), and PHP is very limited. So definitely, in company, engineers like you and me select the language, it is not a marketing or political thing. And in the case of fb, they come up with the conclusion that PHP, and Java don't do everything but complement each other. As you say Python as many things around, but it might be too much for simple applications. Otherwise, I would seriously be interested by a study of how to implement a Python-like system on-board spacecrafts and what are the advantages over mixing C, Ada and Java.
Christos Ampatzis

BBC NEWS | Health | A step closer to reading the mind - 3 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...7937926.stm

neural brain virtual reality

shared by Christos Ampatzis on 12 Mar 10 - Cached
  • Christos Ampatzis on 12 Mar 10
     
    memory cloning
  • Luzi Bergamin on 12 Mar 10
     
    "It would be very easy not to co-operate, and then it wouldn't work", that's still the important part. I'm sure Dario LOVES this paper. Would be nice to have a coffee with him right now...
nikolas smyrlakis

mentored by the Advanced Concepts Team for Google Summer of Code 2010 - 4 views

socghop.appspot.com/...advancedconceptsteam

pagmo google summerofcode

shared by nikolas smyrlakis on 19 Mar 10 - Cached
LeopoldS liked it
  • nikolas smyrlakis on 19 Mar 10
     
    you propably already know,I post it for the twitter account and for your comments
  • ...4 more comments...
  • LeopoldS on 20 Mar 10
     
    once again one of these initiatives that came up from a situation and that would never have been possible with a top-down approach .... fantastic! and as Dario said: we are apparently where NASA still has to go with this :-)
  • Joris _ on 20 Mar 10
     
    Actually, NASA Ames did that already within the NASA Open Source Agreement in 2008 for a V&V software!
  • Joris _ on 20 Mar 10
  • LeopoldS on 20 Mar 10
     
    indeed ... you are right .... interesting project btw - they started in 1999, were in 2005 the first NASA project on Sourceforge and won several awards .... then this entry why they did not participate last year: "05/01/09: Skipping this years Google Summer-of-Code - many of you have asked why we are not participating in this years Summer of Code. The answer is that both John and Peter were too busy with other assignments to set this up in time. We will be back in 2010. At least we were able to compensate with a limited number of NASA internships to continue some of last years projects." .... but I could not find them in this years selected list - any clue?
  • LeopoldS on 20 Mar 10
     
    but in any case, according to the apple guru, Java is a dying technology, so their project might as well ...
  • Joris _ on 21 Mar 10
     
    They participate under the name "The Java Pathfinder Team" (http://babelfish.arc.nasa.gov/trac/jpf/wiki/events/soc2010). It is actually a very useful project for both education and industry (Airbus created a consortium on model checking soft, and there is a lot of research on it) As far as I know, TAS had some plans of using Java onboard spacecrafts, 2 years ago. Not sure the industry is really sensible about Jobs' opinions ;) particularly if there is no better alternative!
pacome delva

Fruit Fly Aerial Maneuver Explained - 1 views

focus.aps.org/st13

bio biomimicry fruit_fly

shared by pacome delva on 12 Apr 10 - Cached
LeopoldS liked it
  • Insects can execute flying feats more impressive than fighter jets, and a team of researchers has now learned the trick behind one of them. They used high speed video cameras and a new 3D reconstruction technique to show how fruit flies execute their acrobatic turns. As they report in the 9 April Physical Review Letters, despite the complex wing motions, a fly can execute quick pirouettes by adjusting just a single parameter that controls the difference between the way its left and right wings oscillate. The results may be relevant for engineers designing flight control strategies for tiny robotic insects for search-and-rescue and surveillance.
Luzi Bergamin

Vivos Underground Survival Shelter Network for 2012 and Beyond - 0 views

www.terravivos.com/...secureindex.htm

fun apocalypse doomsday

shared by Luzi Bergamin on 29 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Luzi Bergamin on 29 Apr 10
     
    The world will end on 21.12.2012, the Maya knew this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04OilEWckAU in German,) so be prepared! There should be an extra shelter for all (Ex-)ACT members. This would be real fun!! Endless strategic meetings on how to survive after apocalypse!
  • Dario Izzo on 30 Apr 10
     
    No, Luzi, there was an error in the profecy transcription... they meant that Italy would end in 2012, not the world..... and they seem to be quite right according to most observers. I am actually surprised it lasted so long!!!
  • Ma Ru on 30 Apr 10
     
    Of course one of the major reasons behind the apocalypse will be European football championship taking place in Poland+Ukraine...
LeopoldS

ScienceShot: Cockroaches Prefer Right Turns - ScienceNOW - 0 views

news.sciencemag.org/...ceshot-cockroaches-prefer.html

BIO science

shared by LeopoldS on 12 Dec 10 - No Cached
  • LeopoldS on 12 Dec 10
     
    also when flying, tobias??
  • LeopoldS on 12 Dec 10
     
    also when flying? any clues from our drop experiments? Tobias?
Luís F. Simões

SETI, Citrus Division - 1 views

www.newscientist.com/...cted-at-kinetica-art-fair.html

SETI fun

shared by Luís F. Simões on 07 Feb 11 - No Cached
  • A nice contrast to these high-tech installations, Adrian Lee's Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Citrus Division (below), sees 65 lemons trying to communicate with aliens. Using their own juices, these lemon batteries power a small motor - which turns a disc into which is punched the Morse code for "We are here". As the disc rotates, a class 2 laser - also powered by the lemons - shines through the holes and the encoded message is then directed by a small mirror up into space...or in this case, onto the ceiling of the Ambica P3 venue. Amusing, simple and sophisticated all at once, the Citrus Division mixes old and new science and technology in just the right measure.
Joris _

Cosmic Log - Volunteers find another prize pulsar - 2 views

cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/...eers-find-another-prize-pulsar

phy pulsar @home

shared by Joris _ on 02 Mar 11 - No Cached
LeopoldS liked it
  • Joris _ on 02 Mar 11
  • LeopoldS on 05 Mar 11
     
    like the profiles ... "The clearest evidence for the pulsar's existence was provided by computers operated by two volunteers: Vitaly Shiryaev, a Russian researcher who has a Ph.D. in radio physics; and Stacey Eastham, who does vehicle testing for the British government in Darwen. In his profile, Eastham says he's studying astronomy and physics on the side. He got involved in the Einstein @ Home project because he's interested in "anything space-like, and being able to be part of something like this is right up my street."
duncan barker

Vertical Farming is Already Here- Organitech - 2 views

www.treehugger.com/...vertical_farmin_2.php

shared by duncan barker on 24 Feb 11 - Cached
  • duncan barker on 24 Feb 11
     
    "Currently a single containerized unit can crank out several hundred heads of lettuce per day."
  • ...1 more comment...
  • Luzi Bergamin on 24 Feb 11
     
    Great!! The typical Dutch tomato differs from the typical Dutch cucumber only by its color, not by its taste, we all know this. In vertical farming I guess the next step to the UGV (uniform garbage vegetable) will be made. Perhaps now they only differ by its geometrical form, the color is the same for all vegetables, who knows??
  • duncan barker on 24 Feb 11
     
    right ....... ok .......... so whats your point?
  • Luzi Bergamin on 25 Feb 11
     
    Point?? As a professional bullshitter I don't have a point. Just grouch, never critizise (freely translated from the Austrian principle "Nur raunzen, nie kritisieren!") :-) If I have sort of a point: I'd rather not try the vegetable they produce in this "vertical farming", Dutch experience was by far enough.
Luís F. Simões

Shell energy scenarios to 2050 - 6 views

www.shell.com/...shell_energy_scenarios_2050

energy future forecast politics economy climate_change

shared by Luís F. Simões on 09 Mar 11 - No Cached
  • Luís F. Simões on 09 Mar 11
     
    just in case you were feeling happy and optimistic
  • ...7 more comments...
  • Francesco Biscani on 09 Mar 11
     
    An energy scenario published by an oil company? Allow me to be sceptical...
  • Joris _ on 10 Mar 11
     
    Indeed, Shell is an energy company, not just oil, for some time now ... The two scenarii are, in their approach, dependant of economic and political situation, which is right now impossible to forecast. Reference to Kyoto is surprising, almost out-dated! But overall, I find it rather optimistic at some stages, and probably the timeline (p37-39) is unlikely with recent events.
  • Luís F. Simões on 10 Mar 11
     
    the report was published in 2008, which explains the reference to Kyoto, as the follow-up to it was much more uncertain at that point. The Blueprint scenario is indeed optimistic, but also quite unlikely I'd say. I don't see humanity suddenly becoming so wise and coordinated. Sadly, I see something closer to the Scramble scenario as much more likely to occur.
  • LeopoldS on 12 Mar 11
     
    not an oil company??? please have a look at the percentage of their revenues coming from oil and gas and then compare this with all their other energy activities together and you will see very quickly that it is only window dressing ... they are an oil and gas company ... and nothing more
  • Joris _ on 14 Mar 11
     
    not JUST oil. From a description: "Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies." Of course revenues coming from oil are the biggest, the investment turnover on other energy sources is small for now. Knowing that most of their revenues is from an expendable source, to guarantee their future, they invest elsewhere. They have invested >1b$ in renewable energy, including biofuels. They had the largest wind power business among so-called "oil" companies. Oil only defines what they do "best". As a comparison, some time ago, Apple were selling only computers and now they sell phones. But I would not say Apple is just a phone company.
  • LeopoldS on 14 Mar 11
     
    window dressing only ... e.g. Net cash from operating activities (pre-tax) in 2008: 70 Billion$ net income in 2008: 26 Billion revenues in 2008: 88 Billion Their investments and revenues in renewables don't even show up in their annual financial reports since probably they are under the heading of "marketing" which is already 1.7 Billion $ ... this is what they report on their investments: Capital investment, portfolio actions and business development Capital investment in 2009 was $24 billion. This represents a 26% decrease from 2008, which included over $8 billion in acquisitions, primarily relating to Duvernay Oil Corp. Capital investment included exploration expenditure of $4.5 billion (2008: $11.0 billion). In Abu Dhabi, Shell signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to extend the GASCO joint venture for a further 20 years. In Australia, Shell and its partners took the final investment decision (FID) for the Gorgon LNG project (Shell share 25%). Gorgon will supply global gas markets to at least 2050, with a capacity of 15 million tonnes (100% basis) of LNG per year and a major carbon capture and storage scheme. Shell has announced a front-end engineering and design study for a floating LNG (FLNG) project, with the potential to deploy these facilities at the Prelude offshore gas discovery in Australia (Shell share 100%). In Australia, Shell confirmed that it has accepted Woodside Petroleum Ltd.'s entitlement offer of new shares at a total cost of $0.8 billion, maintaining its 34.27% share in the company; $0.4 billion was paid in 2009 with the remainder paid in 2010. In Bolivia and Brazil, Shell sold its share in a gas pipeline and in a thermoelectric power plant and its related assets for a total of around $100 million. In Canada, the Government of Alberta and the national government jointly announced their intent to contribute $0.8 billion of funding towards the Quest carbon capture and sequestration project. Quest, which is at the f
  • Joris _ on 14 Mar 11
     
    thanks for the info :) They still have their 50% share in the wind farm in Noordzee (you can see it from ESTEC on a clear day). Look for Shell International Renewables, other subsidiaries and joint-ventures. I guess, the report is about the oil branch. http://sustainabilityreport.shell.com/2009/servicepages/downloads/files/all_shell_sr09.pdf http://www.noordzeewind.nl/
  • LeopoldS on 16 Mar 11
     
    no - its about Shell globally - all Shell .. these participations are just peanuts please read the intro of the CEO in the pdf you linked to: he does not even mention renewables! their entire sustainability strategy is about oil and gas - just making it (look) nicer and environmentally friendlier
  • Joris _ on 16 Mar 11
     
    Fair enough, for me even peanuts are worthy and I am not able to judge. Not all big-profit companies, like Shell, are evil :( Look in the pdf what is in the upstream and downstream you mentionned above. Non-shell sources for examples and more objectivity: http://www.nuon.com/company/Innovative-projects/noordzeewind.jsp http://www.e-energymarket.com/news/single-news/article/ferrari-tops-bahrain-gp-using-shell-biofuel.html thanks.
santecarloni

On Curing Everything § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM - 2 views

seedmagazine.com/...on_curing_everything

bio science

shared by santecarloni on 10 May 11 - No Cached
  • santecarloni on 10 May 11
     
    Kary Mullis offers a radical new way to treat infectious diseases as the effectiveness of our current antibiotics wanes
  • dejanpetkow on 11 May 11
     
    The thing I like about it is that, if I got it right, the last flu infection you had may safe your live once you get cancer... Similar holds for any kind of infection, as long as you got immune to a specific virus and the doctors are able to identify (and reproduce) the virus to which you are immune.
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