Archives for category: yes but

algebra

The funny thing is that most of us use ‘algebra’ on a daily basis, unwittingly.
And no, I’m not talking about the fact that every modern appliance has a lot of algebra embedded in it during its being designed and manufactured while some of them (the ‘programmable’ ones) continue to rely on algebra while being used…

We all pretend to be logical thinkers, right?

And what else is algebra if not symbols and numbers treated in a logical way while logical thinking means treating ideas in a very algebraic mode?

Read more about this here: http://www.sscc.edu/home/jdavidso/mathadvising/whymath.html

Ca natie.
Pe http://www.edu.ro tocmai au aparut rezultatele finale ale evaluarii nationale a absolventilor de clasa a 8-a iar pe toate televiziunile de stiri se vorbeste doar de Voiculescu.

Coruptia este intr-adevar o problema foarte importanta dar pana la urma este doar un simptom.

Al faptului ca nu ne mai pasa, cu adevarat, de ziua de maine.

intelligent design

 

So this is what ‘intelligent design’ is about!

In fact it’s funny even if rather inappropriate since pigs appeared on the face of the Earth long after dinosaurs went extinct.

Thanks to “I fucking love science” for this subject and for the cartoon.

rocking the boat

Tesla was a great physicist and a very intelligent man but his wording was rather lousy.

I get the gist of what he wanted to say and I basically agree with him but I don’t think “anti-social behaviour” aptly describes what he had in mind.

The real meaning of ‘anti-social’ is ‘acting against the interests of the group of which the perpetrator is a member”: from stealing to high treason.
What I understand of Tesla’s words are gestures made against ingrained habits which induce social stiffness – social rigidity that inhibits innovation and adaptation.
And in fact all these gestures are pro-social, they are good for the society at large and not at all bad or anti-social.

It is true that today ‘anti-social behaviour’ has been ‘stretched’ to include all actions that disturb ‘social norms, socially sanctioned customs and widely held beliefs’ but this would be true only as long as these ‘habits’ were still useful to the society we are speaking about.

I don’t think Tesla would have condoned theft or any other criminal activity, no matter how anti-social, but he would have applauded, had those things happened during his life, what Copernicus, Giordano Bruno and Darwin had done. Or Martin Luther King.

 

urine powered generator

So what do we have here?

Four crafty teenage Nigerian girls have put together an ingenuous rig for a ‘science and technology’ fair.

“The system works like this:

Along the whole way there are one-way valves for security, but let’s be honest that this is something of an explosive device…”

A well meaning ‘eager beaver’ journalist wanting to help promote their exploit  has branded the whole contraption as an ‘urine powered generator’.

An then the hell broke loose:

It is all over the Internet and news, three Nigerian school girls have invented a urine-powered generator that can produce electricity for 6 hours from a single litre of urine!

Really? Sadly, no.

I can’t find an original source for this story, where did it come from? [was it here?] Are there really some Nigerian school girls with a urine-powered generator or is this just a hoax? Either way, all those journalists that repeated the story really should be ashamed of themselves, it is so obviously wrong and/or untrue.”

 

I’m not in the business of apportioning blame all over the internet but after finding out about this succession of events I started to have serious doubts about who is wrong and who should be ashamed of themselves….

I’m sure that most of you have already understood where I’m headed to but please bear with me.

So OK, the ‘eager beaver’ has indeed stretched the reality a little bit. It’s not an ‘urine powered generator’ but an ingenuous ‘science project’ presented by some teen age students.
So what was it that brought the wrath of the ‘eco-scammer’ on those ‘poor’ girls? Or even on the writer of the original article…
Who, and where, claimed that the contraption produced more energy than it consumed? Yes, those arguments involving thermodynamics and all that scientific mambo-jumbo that he is mentioning inside his article are absolutely correct (“trust me, I’m an engineer”, a real one that is) but perfectly misplaced.
As is the original title but while that title is an innocent exaggeration the second article is a malicious  (or myopic?) and undeserved rebuttal.

Getting back to what had started all this, that ‘thing’ is not a ‘generator’ but can be used as an accumulator!
Solar panels produce energy when the sun is up but people need light at night, obviously.
Even more importantly, solar panels produce a type of current (DC) which can be used to ‘split’ water into hydrogen and oxygen and to light a special kind of bulb but for little else. If you want to power a ‘modern appliance’, a refrigerator for instance, you need an inverter – a pricy device that transforms DC into AC.
On the other hand the type of gas powered generator used by those crafty students is relatively cheap and common enough almost everywhere in the world. Adapting it to run on hydrogen is easy, this feat was not even mentioned in the original article.

So the real meaning of what those 4 girls did is that they came up with a way to replace a costly scheme comprising a lot of batteries and an inverter with a gas bottle, an already largely available gas powered generator, an electrolytic cell and two filters.

Not a small feat, by any means!
If you take some time to think about it, of course.

And yes, there are four girls that did this, not three like the ‘eco-scammer’, who probably didn’t even bother to read the original article, wrote insouciantly after merely taking a glance at the photo that came with the inappropriately titled  news.

The original story can be read here: http://makerfaireafrica.com/2012/11/06/a-urine-powered-generator/
and the ‘eco-scammer’ rebuttal here: http://www.eco-scams.com/archives/790

 

There is a intense debate going on in some circles about this subject.
Some think that vaccines are poisonous because some of them contain traces of mercury.
Some others believe that autism can appear, at least in part, as a reaction to certain vaccines.

No real proof has ever been presented for any of those assertions yet the storm is raging on.

Here is my take on this.

Basically we have two kinds of infectious diseases that can be prevented through vaccination.
Some that have high mortality rates or survivors are left with permanent damages: small pox, polio and rabies come to my mind right now.
Others that are milder or just a nuisance, for most people at least. Measles, mumps, chickenpox… Of course, there are people who develop serious consequences from having one of these, for instance mumps can be a real problem if had at an older age and chickenpox is really dangerous for pregnant women, but on the whole this second category is less dangerous than the first.
Now what I would really like to know is would anyone seriously consider not vaccinating their children for the first category of diseases IF MOST OF THE GENERAL POPULATION HADN’T ALREADY BEEN VACCINATED?

I know that there are some religious extremists who try to disrupt immunization against polio in their countries. This only fuels my dilemma: what does it really mean to be a rational human being?

Image

Stirea asta face turul internetului de vreo doua zile insa abia astazi mi-am dat seama cu adevarat de semnificatia gestului facut de Inalt Preafericitul.

Toata tarasenia este profund ‘anticonstitutionala’, adica nesocoteste/batjocoreste niste obiceiuri adanc inradacinate in ritual.

Toti stim ca in mod “normal” agheasma este imprastiata asupra celor ce urmeaza a fi sfintite cu ajutorul unei legaturi de busuioc.
Fiecare dintre noi are cate o explicatie pentru acest lucru:
-Credinciosul autentic invoca traditia.
-Cei cu oarecari cunostinte in domeniul plantelor medicinale stiu ca busuiocul este un puternic dezinfectant.
-Paganilor le place pentru ca miroase frumos.

Eu unul inteleg de ce a folosit Daniel un trafalet, ca doar nu era sa se apuce sa stropeasca haotic cu apa, oricat de sfântă, intr-un studio TV  plin de aparatura electronica extrem de scumpa.
Problema este ca actiunea sa deschide larg poarta indoielii:

Oare ce alte traditii mai este dispus sa incalce intai statatorul bisericii autocefale romane?

Incotro isi conduce turma, catre mântuire sau către mântuială?

De ceva timp imi tot propun sa trec la lucruri mai serioase si sa nu ma mai ‘agat’ de tot felul de exagerari sau de articole scrise doar de dragul de a mai face niste audienta.
Si iar dau de cate o chestie ‘groasa’…

Cea de astazi a aparut in Money.ro, o publicatie on line de actualitate economica, destul de interesanta de altfel. Si tocmai caracterul ei ‘specializat’ ma face a ma mir de ‘naivitatea’ celui care a scris acest articol, chiar crede ca poate ‘prosti’/impresiona pe cineva cu logica sa scolareasca?

http://www.money.ro/prc-c8prc-9aara-bogaprc-c8prc-9bilor-din-europa-depinde-aproape-total-de-gazul-rusesc_1258957.html

Pentru inceput aflam ca Luxemburgul are cel mai ridicat nivel de trai din Europa – cred ca stiam toti asta, in orice caz toti cei care stim cam pe unde vine pe harta. Apoi ni se spune ca Luxemburgul este statul european care depinde cel mai mult de importurile de gaz, 99.7% din consum provenind din afara granitelor sale. Aha, prima noutate, nu stiam ca Luxemburg are si surse interne de aprovizionare cu gaz – chiar si cele 0.3% trebuie sa provina de undeva, nu?

Si acum urmeaza bomba. Cica 97% din importurile europene de gaze provin din Rusia iar de aici rezulta ca daca cumva Rusii opresc robinetul Luxemburghezii vor ingheta de frig, in ciuda bogatiei lor – pai doar ei depind in proportie de 99.7 de importuri. De unde rezulta, pentru autorul articolului, ca daca Rusii nu mai vand gaze atunci Luxemburg nu va mai avea nici macar cu ce sa-si fiarba un ceai.

Pe bune?!?

gas in europe

Astia de la BP spun ca Europa importa cam la fel de mult gaz metan din Norvegia pe cat vine din Rusia precum si o cantitate cam la fel de mare de gaz lichefiat (LNG – care intr-adevar nu este gaz metan ca cel rusesc ci un amestec de propan cu butan adica gaz de bricheta sau de butelie). A…, cred ca am inteles ce vrea sa spuna autorul articolului… el se refera exclusiv la importurile de gaz Metan facute de Europa in intregul ei (adica inclusiv toate statele scandinave, ca si ele sunt in Europa)…iar in cazul asta chiar are dreptate. Dupa cum se vede si in infograma de mai sus in Europa, luata in intregime, intra gaz Metan doar din Rusia si din Libia. Aha!

Si totusi autorul a mai uitat ceva. Oare in ce proportie isi acopera Europa consumul din productia interna? Chiar daca acceptam idea ca 97% din importuri ar proveni din Rusia asta nu ne spune nimic despre cat importa Europa din consumul anual, nu? Ni s-a spus intr-adevar ca Luxemburg consuma exclusiv gaze din import (sa ne facem ca uitam de aia 0.3%) dar asta nu ne spune in ce masura depinde intreaga Europa de importuri, corect?

“On the gas supply side, indigenous production registered a slight decrease of 1% to 1690 TWh (156bcm), in comparison with 2012. EU production nevertheless still remained the largest source of gas for EU28 customers, making up 33% of the total net supplies. The main external sources of supply were Russia at 27%, Norway at 23% and Algeria with 8%.”

Aha! Adica cel mai mare furnizor al Europei (ma rog, al Uniunii Europene) este chiar Europa (cu 33% sau aplicand idea ‘continentala’ in intregul ei chiar 56%) iar Rusia vine abia pe locul doi cu un important, intr-adevar, 27%. Important, important dar totusi abia un pic mai mult de un sfert…

Si pana la urma cum ramane cu dependenta bogatilor Luxemburghezi de gazul rusesc? 99.7% din 27% inseamna, grosso modo, cam tot 27%. Cu alte cuvinte cam un sfert din gazul ars in Luxemburg provine din Rusia, evident in conditiile in care importurile s-ar distribui uniform. Nu mai pare chiar asa de ingrijoratoare dependenta asta, nu? Iar daca ne gandim ca la banii lor Luxemburghezii ar putea sa ne plateasca pe noi, de exemplu, sa dardaim un pic si sa le vindem lor o parte din ‘cota’ noastra (noi consumam cam 12.9 miliarde de metri cubi pe an, ei 1.3 miliarde) s-ar putea ca acesta dependenta (perceputa de autorul articolului) sa dispara cu totul…

‘Mai lasati-o bai jos ca a-nceput sa macane…’

Alternative natural gas supplies Europe in 2013 received natural gas from Russia (27%), Norway (23%), North Africa (8%), as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from other suppliers (9%) and domestic production (33%). Increasing pipeline imports from Norway (102 bcm in 2013) is possible up to about 120-130 bcm. There is certainly spare capacity for importing more in the summer months to fill the European gas storages. Increasing natural gas imports from North Africa by at least 5 bcm also seems feasible. The cost of this gas might be slightly higher than Russian gas (US$350/tcm). | Read more at Bruegel http://www.bruegel.org/nc/blog/detail/article/1283-can-europe-survive-without-russian-gas/
Alternative natural gas supplies Europe in 2013 received natural gas from Russia (27%), Norway (23%), North Africa (8%), as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from other suppliers (9%) and domestic production (33%). Increasing pipeline imports from Norway (102 bcm in 2013) is possible up to about 120-130 bcm. There is certainly spare capacity for importing more in the summer months to fill the European gas storages. Increasing natural gas imports from North Africa by at least 5 bcm also seems feasible. The cost of this gas might be slightly higher than Russian gas (US$350/tcm). | Read more at Bruegel http://www.bruegel.org/nc/blog/detail/article/1283-can-europe-survive-without-russian-gas/

Industrial Age

I found this picture on Bob Colgan’s FB page accompanied by the following caption:

THE LONGER You stare at this…….the more you realize how wrong the Industrial Age has been

I don’t want to sound apologetic but isn’t it that the ‘Industrial Age’ is nothing but a set of circumstances that lays at our discretion the technical/social means for us to complain about the shortcomings of the very ‘Industrial Age’ itself?

What if it is US that are responsible for the way WE (mis)use the means at OUR disposal?

 

Supposedly humans are autonomous and sometimes rational individuals. Overwhelming them with huge quantities of information while restricting the scope of that information – with the declared goal of keeping them focused – will shortly reduce those individuals to the status of highly biased and eventually completely programmed hu(man)-bots.

Whole article appeared in Bizcloud, http://bizcloudnetwork.com/salesforce-wear/