Laser Animation: Dubai World Central

From: XarrinAT, Added: October 20, 2007

Sample animation created using Utopia 3D.

Solar Power to the People: Modular Residential Solar Shade Structures Created by Envision Solar

LifeTree™ and LifeShade™ Solar Kit-Build Structures Offer Stylish Outdoor Living Space

LA JOLLA, Calif.--9/1/2008

Envision Solar, the La Jolla, California based firm best known for its award-winning design of the Solar Trees™ in Kyocera’s landmark Solar Grove™, has expanded its product line of photovoltaic shade structures to include two “flat-pack” easy to install modular shade structures, each with eight solar panels providing 1.4 kilowatt of clean energy.
The LifeTree™ is a single post steel structure with a cantilevered canopy, and the LifeShade™ is a four-post structure made of Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sustainable wood. Both are an attractive and functional application of solar power that provides recreational shade, without a requirement for a complex and invasive rooftop installation. The structures are shipped in easy to assemble components and include solar power modules, micro-inverters, and access to an online real-time tracking system to monitor production of clean energy. The structures are anchored in post-holes by concrete, in much the same way that basketball hoops or flagpoles are installed, and a local electrician can connect the AC wiring from the structure to the house meter.
At a price point of $15,500 for the LifeShade™ and $18,500 for the LifeTree™, these new products offer a lower cost solar power option for homeowners and businesses. Envision Solar designers have focused on modularity as an important goal, because it offers price efficiency and accessibility to clean energy to more people. CEO Robert Noble adds, “We are committed to massive retail deployment of this product in a flat-pack format for local assembly and installation.”
In addition to their attractive design and low price, The LifeTree™ and LifeShade™ products offer state of the art technical features; they were designed specifically for photovoltaic modules made by Suntech, and both the LifeTree™ and the LifeShade™ are equipped with “micro-inverters” from Enphase Energy. Micro-inverters convert the energy from the sun into usable alternating current at each module, eliminating the need for a bulky inverter on the side of the building at the meter and making connection to the meter a less costly undertaking. Enphase Energy also offers online access to a real-time monitoring package so that owners can track their clean energy production.
Noble describes the company’s mission to employ the principles of sustainable design to innovate in the solar power sector: “We see renewable energy as an architectural element that be integrated into our spaces and our lives.”
About Envision Solar International, Inc.
Envision Solar International, Inc. is a turn-key, solar integrated building systems developer. The company’s mission is to provide aesthetically pleasing photovoltaic systems to increase the worldwide use of renewable energy. Led by a group of visionary architects, builders and engineers, Envision Solar transforms heat-absorbing parking areas into beautiful, efficient solar power plants. Learn more about us at: www.envisionsolar.com.

Nobel Prize awarded for AIDS, cervical cancer research

Issouf Sanogo / AFP/Getty Images
Luc Montagnier dedicated his award to AIDS sufferers and predicted results on a "therapeutic vaccine" for the pandemic within four years.

The awards recognize two French researchers who discovered the human AIDS virus and a German scientist who showed that human papilloma virus causes cervical cancer.

By Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

October 7, 2008

Two French researchers who discovered the human AIDS virus and a German scientist who showed that human papilloma virus causes cervical cancer were awarded Monday the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.The decision in effect ends the long-running dispute between France's Luc Monta- gnier and America's Robert Gallo, concluding that Monta- gnier and his colleague Francoise Barre-Sinoussi were the discoverers of the virus. More than 33 million people worldwide are HIV carriers.

The $1.4-million prize was shared with Dr. Harald zur Hausen of the University of Dusseldorf for discovering the viruses that cause genital warts and are responsible for an estimated 500,000 cases of cervical cancer each year."I'm not prepared for this," Zur Hausen, 72, told the Associated Press. "We're drinking a little glass of bubbly right now."Montagnier, 76, is director of the World Foundation for AIDS
Research and Prevention in Paris; Barre-Sinoussi, 61, is still at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where the discovery was made.
Barre-Sinoussi received word of the prize in Cambodia, where she is conducting research, while Montagnier was in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, delivering a lecture.Their work was honored, the Nobel citation said, because never before have "science and medicine been so quick to discover, identify the origin, and provide treatment for a new disease entity."Montagnier and Gallo conducted a bitter public dispute over discovery of HIV in the 1980s, with each accusing the other of misusing samples.At stake was not only scientific primacy for the discovery of the virus but also millions of dollars in licensing fees from HIV detection tests.The dispute was so contentious that then-President Reagan and French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac intervened in 1987, negotiating an agreement that divided the royalties equally.In 1991, however, further studies showed that the virus isolated by Gallo was identical to Montagnier's and different from the viruses carried by the patients Gallo claimed to have isolated it from. Three years later, the U.S. government conceded that the French should receive the lion's share of royalties from the AIDS test, affirming Montagnier's role. The Nobel citation did not mention Gallo, noting only that "after the discovery of the virus, several groups contributed to the definitive demonstration of HIV as the cause" of AIDS.Montagnier said he wished that Gallo had shared in the award. "It is certain that he deserved this as much as us two," he told the Associated Press.Zur Hausen's work was far less controversial, although his proposal that human papilloma virus, known as HPV, causes cervical cancer was initially disparaged. But he reasoned that if the virus played such a role, its genes would be incorporated into those of tumor cells, and he spent more than a decade looking for evidence. His work was complicated by the fact that only segments of the virus made it into the tumor DNA.After a decade of searching, in 1984 he found that one strain, called HPV-16, was in some tumors. The following year, he showed that a second strain, HPV-18, was in others. He then cloned the two viruses and made them available to other researchers.Those two strains are now known to cause an estimated 70% of all cases of cervical cancer, and vaccines against them, Gardasil and Cervarix, are now beginning to play a crucial role in preventing the disease.The prizes will be presented in Stockholm on Dec. 10.

US lawmakers put bailout bill on Internet

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US lawmakers have posted on the Internet their hastily-crafted draft legislation to rescue the country's troubled financial sector, saying the unusual step was taken in the spirit of openness.
The full text of the bill, more than 100 pages, is available at the websites of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- http://speaker.house.gov -- and the website of the House Financial Services Committee -- http://financialservices.house.gov -- though due to high demand both sites were experiencing overload late Sunday.
The draft bill, known as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, is online "for all Americans to see," Pelosi told reporters.
Presenting the bill for public consumption so quickly after it was agreed is an unusual move that Democratic leaders hope will project a sense of transparency.
At the earliest the House of Representatives will vote on the bill on Monday, and the Senate on Wednesday, lawmakers said.
"When this bill passes and is implemented all of the transactions related to this legislation will be on the Internet within 48 hours," said Pelosi.

"And that represents change," she said, adding: "That transparency, that oversight will be very important to the health of our economy."

China astronauts return as heroes after historic spacewalk

BEIJING (AFP) - Three Chinese astronauts returned safely to Earth on Sunday after making the country's first spacewalk, with a hero's welcome awaiting the men whose exploits captivated the nation.
The descent capsule of the Shenzhou VII mission was seen on state television drifting gently down under a giant red and white parachute to an empty plain in northern China's Inner Mongolia region.
Cheers erupted at mission control as the capsule touched down around 5:40 pm local time (0940 GMT).
Mission commander Zhai Zhigang had etched his name in the history books of this country of 1.3 billion people with a 15-minute walk in space Saturday that set another milestone in China's transformation into a global power.
"The mission was glorious and full of challenges but the result was perfect. I feel proud of my country," Zhai told a television crew that arrived at the touchdown site.
Zhai, 41, was watched on television by countless millions around the globe as his spacewalk vaulted China into ranks of the United States and the former Soviet Union as the only nations to complete a spacewalk.

During the manoeuvre, Zhai had floated outside the module holding the Chinese flag -- a moment of great drama and symbolism just days before the 50th anniversary of the US space agency NASA on Wednesday -- which is also China's National Day.
Premier Wen Jiabao watched from Beijing's Aerospace Control Center, applauding as the capsule landed, ending its 68-hour mission.
He later told mission control's dozens of technicians the mission was "a victory for China's space and technological" programmes.
"Your historical feat will be remembered by the country and the people," he said.
In a televised chat Saturday with Zhai live from mission control, President Hu Jintao had praised the space walk as a "breakthrough".
"Your space walk was a complete success. It's a major breakthrough in the development of our manned space programme," Hu said. "The motherland and the people thank you."
China sent its first man into space in 2003 and followed up with a two-man mission in 2005.
It now has its sights on a manned mission to the moon and a space station, said Wang Zhaoyao, spokesman for the manned space programme.
"We believe that as long as we can make further progress in science and technology, we can achieve the dream of a manned space flight to the moon in the near future," he told reporters after the Shenzhou VII's return.
China was mired in political chaos, poverty and isolation when the Americans and Soviets made the first spacewalks, back in the 1960s heyday of their space race, and the Shenzhou VII mission has stirred deep emotions among Chinese.
"I felt so proud when I saw Zhai Zhigang emerge from the cabin with the Chinese flag. Seeing the five-starred red flag in space, it shows China can do anything it sets its mind to," said He Changqiang, a Beijing businessman.
The spacewalk was the highlight of the voyage -- China's third manned foray into space -- and is considered an important step towards China's plans to building a space station.
"Following the Soviets and Americans, the black-haired and yellow-skinned Chinese have now left a footprint in space," declared a Beijing Youth Daily commentary, which also evoked the words of the first man to walk on the moon, US astronaut Neil Armstrong.
"This is one small step for a man, but one giant leap for the country," it said.
Tethered to the craft with two safety wires, Zhai retrieved a test sample of a solid lubricant placed outside the orbital module during the spacewalk.
The modest drill was intended to replicate the type of task that future spacewalkers will have to perform.
During the excursion, Zhai wore a Chinese-made space-suit that also has been touted as a breakthrough in China's technical capacity.
The full hero's welcome will have to wait for up to two weeks, however, as Zhai and his comrades are due to be quarantined for medical and other checks that are now routine for Chinese astronauts, Xinhua said Sunday.

Transformer glitch shuts down biggest atom smasher

By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS, Associated Press Writer

Thu Sep 18, 5:18 PM ET

GENEVA - The world's largest particle collider malfunctioned within hours of its launch to great fanfare, but its operator didn't report the problem for a week. In a statement Thursday, the European Organization for Nuclear Research reported for the first time that a 30-ton transformer that cools part of the collider broke, forcing physicists to stop using the atom smasher just a day after starting it up last week.
The faulty transformer has been replaced and the ring in the 17-mile circular tunnel under the Swiss-French border has been cooled back down to near zero on the Kelvin scale — minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit — the most efficient operating temperature, said a statement by CERN, as the organization is known.
When the transformer malfunctioned, operating temperatures rose from below 2 Kelvin to 4.5 Kelvin — extraordinarily cold by most standards, but warmer than the normal operating temperature.
CERN had not reported any problems with the project since its launch Sept. 10, but issued its statement shortly after The Associated Press called asking about rumors of troubles.
Physicists said it wasn't surprising problems would occur in getting a huge and immensely complicated collection of equipment like the Large Hadron Collider up and running smoothly.
"This is arguably the largest machine built by humankind, is incredibly complex, and involves components of varying ages and origins, so I'm not at all surprised to hear of some glitches," Steve Giddings, physics professor at University of California, Santa Barbara. "It's a real challenge requiring incredible talent, brain power and coordination to get it running."
Judith Jackson, spokesman for the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., echoed that view.
"We know how complex and extraordinary it is to start up one of these machines. No one's built one of these before and in the process of starting it up there will inevitably be glitches," she said.
Fermilab is home to the Tevatron, an accelerator that collides protons and antiprotons in a 4-mile-long underground ring to allow physicists to study subatomic particles. Jackson said transformer malfunctions can be common and aren't dangerous.
"These things happen," she said. "It's a little setback and it sounds like they've dealt with it and are moving forward."
The Large Hadron Collider is designed to collide protons in the beams so that they shatter and reveal more about the makeup of matter and the universe.
After it was started up Sept. 10, scientists circled a beam of protons in a clockwise direction at the speed of light. They shut that down, then turned on a counterclockwise beam.
"Several hundred orbits" were made, CERN's statement said.
On the evening of Sept. 11, scientists had succeeded in controlling the counterclockwise beam with equipment that keeps the protons in the tightly bunched stream that will be needed for collisions, but then the transformer failed and the system was shut down, the statement said.
The clockwise beam was not on at the time. Now that the transformer has been replaced and the equipment rechilled, scientists expect to try soon to tighten the clockwise beam and prepare experiments in coming weeks, the statement said.
Before the problem occurred, scientists had said it would probably be several weeks before the first significant collisions were attempted.

Associated Press writer Carley Petesch in New York contributed to this report

Upside down house built in Germany

A worker stands in front of the 'Upside Down House' in Trassenheide on Usedom Island, northern Germany, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008. The house of an entrepreneur from Poland is part of the project 'The World Upside Down' that should allow visitors a different view of every day items. The building is expected to open its doors for visitors in the upcoming week.
(AP Photo/Frank Hormann)

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Hybrid Technologies' Super Car to Get 220mpg

Hybrid Technologies' Super Car to Get 220mpg

When it comes to hybrid and electric vehicles, startup companies have made an incredible impact on the market. Startup companies have the freedom to think outside of the box when it comes to building new concepts. They don’t have the same expectations of established companies, so they can use their creative juices to truly make a vehicle that will put a smile on customers’ faces. Hybrid Technologies is the latest startup to step into the ring, and what they have come up with has gotten the automotive world excited. They have come up with a concept for a super car which almost seems too good to be true. The company has assured the public that it is, in fact, a workable concept, and it will see sales’ floors when they are done with the modifications.
The super car, yet to be named, is being produced in two different models. One model will be a lithium ion hybrid, while the other will be completely electric. As electric cars are known as the ride of the future, people may want to take notice to what Hybrid Technologies is doing. This could easily put them in a position as a major force in the automotive industry.
The company claims that its hybrid model will be able to get at least 220mpg. That’s on the low end of the stick. It is possible for it to get even better gas mileage. As for the electric model, Hybrid Technologies is planning on getting it to the 120-150 mile range between charges before it is released to the public.
The car is also expected to dominate in the terms of horsepower. Hybrid Technologies claim that this car is in a league of its own. When asked if it could keep up with the Corvette ZR-1, which produces horsepower in the mid 600s, the company stated that the Corvette ZR-1 would not even be in the same ballpark as their new vehicle. It is supposed to run circles around the Corvette.
An added advantage that Hybrid Technologies has over much of its competition is their view on electric and hybrid cars. Hybrid Technologies does not believe hybrids and electric vehicles are merely for show. The company has insisted they plan to bring comfort back to eco friendly vehicles. While the car does in fact look great, it is the comfortable features that set it apart from the competition. Hybrid Technologies believes that these are the vehicles that will take us into the future, so we need comfort, style, and something that drives well. Driving a hybrid or electric car should be an advantage, not a disadvantage.
Hybrid Technologies has just come forward with the information about the unnamed car, so it is not yet available for a test drive. However, they did say that they plan to have the car available for sale in 2009 or 2010, when the push for electric vehicles is expected to be at an all time high. Since the vehicle is currently in production, a test drive is feasible for 2008. The public will be waiting anxiously for this piece of machinery to hit the roads.

Alternative Energy Breakthrouh : Windbelt Technology

Posted on Nov 27, 2007 - 07:18 PMBy: Adam Beazley
Shawn Frayne, an inventor from California recently discovered an excellent new way to transforming wind energy into electricity. His invention was so significant that Popular Mechanics awarded him the 2007 Breakthrough Award. Frayne’s wind-belt invention works by using the oscillating motion produced when air passes over a thin membrane or belt, by attaching magnets at either end of the membrane and allowing the magnets to oscillate between two metal coils on each side, producing an electrical current.
Frayne recently opened a website for this revolutionary product which he is calling the ”Humdinger Windbelt” and whatever revenue the company makes in 1st world countries, he hopes to use to help out third world countries. Considering that this technology is very cheap to make and easily repaired, Frayne believes that it is perfect for third world country applications.

Integrated Science Solutions Inc.'s Thomas Anderson receives 2008 Preservation Design Award from the California Preservation Foundation

Tom Anderson will be a recipient of the 2008 Preservation Design Award for their work on the "Evaluation of Historic Resources Associated with the Space Shuttle Program at NASA Ames Research Center".
Walnut Creek, CA (PRWEB) July 27, 2008 -- Tom Anderson, together with Rich Sucre, from Page and Turnbull, and Keith Venter, from NASA Ames's Historic Preservation Office, will be a recipient of the 2008 Preservation Design Award for their work on the "Evaluation of Historic Resources Associated with the Space Shuttle Program at NASA Ames Research Center". The non-profit California Preservation Foundation (CPF) recently announced that the report was recognized in the "Cultural Resources Studies and Reports" category.
In announcing the award, CPF executive director Cindy Heitzman praised the team for its "exemplary contribution to the preservation of California's rich and diverse historic resources."
With the space shuttle program scheduled to end in 2010, NASA initiated an historical survey and evaluation of all agency facilities that have supported that program to determine their eligibility for the National Register of Historic places.
Integrated Science Solutions, Inc. (http://www.issi-net.com/) is a successful, certified, woman-owned small business, providing cost-effective professional and engineering services to a variety of federal, state, and commercial clients. ISSi offices are located in Walnut Creek, CA; Sunnyvale, CA; Mojave, CA; Las Vegas, NV; and Albuquerque, NM.

NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 24 July 2008

NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 24 July 2008

[Friday, July 25, 2008] CDR Volkov made preparations for a run of the Russian/German TEKh-20 Plasma Crystal-3 Plus (PK-3+) experiment payload, the first of Expedition 17, by unstowing the hardware, installing it in the SM for operation and photographing the setup.
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Day-Care Babies Gain More Weight

Day-care babies gain more weight
Infants cared for by someone other than mom or dad are more apt to be exposed to “unfavorable” feeding practices and to gain more weight during their first year of life, a new study shows, which could contribute to childhood weight problems.
“Parents may want to have enough communication with child care providers about when, what and how to feed their babies during their stay in day care, which is important to avoid potential risk of overfeeding or underfeeding at home,” Dr. Juhee Kim of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told Reuters Health. — Reuters

Rock and Roll High School For Science and Technology II

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FAST is a blast! The Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology
ShareReport ProblemReport Problem Oops! A popup blocker is preventing the bookmarklet from opening. Try holding the Shift key and clicking on the bookmarklet again. Oops! We seem to be experiencing network problems. Please check your connection and try again. en
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This video introduces the Fulbright Academy of Science & Technology. FAST is an international organization established by alumni of the prestigious Fulbright Exchange Program. One of our activities is organizing conferences and meetings - this video was filmed on location at the Second Annual Conference, held in Panama in March 2007. FAST is creating a worldwide network of individuals and institutions - with a focus on a broad range of science and technology disciplines - natural, social, life sciences, engineering, and medicine, as well as business management, law, public administration and other fields. FAST has individual and institutional members worldwide. Regular membership is $60. Institutional is $500. We welcome your participation. FAST is not sponsored by the Fulbright Program. For more information, please visit www.FulbrightAcademy.org. The video was produced with support from Winikur Productions, the Johnny Carson School of Theater and Film and Florida State University. «
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Racing with the sun, Solar cars cross North America on the energy to power a microwave

BRIGHT IDEAS, Racing with the sun Solar cars cross North America on the energy to power a microwave
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 5:22 PM ET Comments23Recommend61
CBC News
University of Michigan team members run with their solar car, driven by Brooke Bailey, as it crosses the finish line to win the North American Solar Challenge in Calgary, Alta., on Tuesday. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)
In December 1982, the Quiet Achiever was at the leading edge of solar car technology. Powered by the sun's rays, Danish adventurer Hans Tholstrup drove it right across Australia in just under three weeks, at an average speed of about 23 km/h.
Fast forward a quarter-century. The cars in this summer's North American Solar Challenge, including four teams from Canadian universities, would leave the Quiet Achiever in their environmentally friendly dust. Drivers in the race must abide by posted speed limits as they travel more than 3,800 kilometres from Texas to Calgary. Since some solar cars can top speeds of 160 km/h — worthy of a hefty speeding fine in most places — the rule is not just for show.The Red River College team's car, the Raycer, is seen during qualifying in Texas in early July. The college is based in Winnipeg. (Red River College Solar Team) Teams from Queen's University, the University of Calgary, the University of Waterloo and Red River College in Manitoba are competing in this year's challenge, which started July 13 and ends July 22. More..news.... http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/18/f-solar-cars.html

NASA refutes story of boy who predicted asteroid collision

NASA refutes story of boy who predicted asteroid collision
Last Updated: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 3:43 PM ET Comments27Recommend55
CBC News
It's an amazing story: a 13-year-old German boy's science fair entry spots a miscalculation in NASA's estimates on an asteroid colliding with Earth, forcing the space agency to change its prediction. But the story — first published in a German newspaper and widely
distributed in European media on Wednesday — is also inaccurate, said NASA. An artist's image of an asteroid hitting Earth. The picture shows a celestial impact far larger than any that has taken place.(NASA) "NASA has never corresponded with this individual," NASA spokesman Dwayne Brown told CBC News. "We've spoken with [Near-Earth Object program manager] Don Yeomans, who came up with our current prediction for the asteroid, and he's sticking to his numbers." The German tabloid Potsdamer Neuerster Nachrichten reported that German student Nico Marquardt used telescopic findings from the Institute of Astrophysics in Potsdam to calculate that the Apophis asteroid had a one-in-450 chance of colliding with Earth in 2036, a far greater likelihood than the one-in-45,000 chance NASA had given. Marquardt reportedly came upon the new figure by taking into account the chance of Apophis having its trajectory altered by a collision with a satellite orbiting Earth.The story was picked up by a number of news organizations, including Agence France-Presse and Reuters news agency. The story claimed NASA and the European Space Agency both corrected the odds in response to the boy's findings. In addition to NASA, the ESA has also denied giving such approval, according to the Guardian and the UK technology publication The Register.
NASA's Near-Earth Object (NEO) program office tracks the paths of both near-Earth asteroids and comets. As of Jan. 20, 2008, the NEO office said it has discovered 5,086 near-Earth asteroids. The NEO office lists 910 known asteroids that can be classified as potentially hazardous to Earth. Apophis is of particular interest because it was once thought to be far more likely to strike Earth, according to NEO predictions. The asteroid once rated a four out of 10 on the Torino scale and was given a one-in-42 chance of striking Earth in 2036. Later study dropped the likelihood of a collision to one in 45,000. The Torino scale starts at zero, given to events of "no likely consequences." Phrases such as "regional devastation" start creeping in at about four on the scale. The scale ends, at 10, with what the NEO office describes as a certain collision "capable of causing global climatic catastrophe that may threaten the future of civilization as we know it."

How the Galapagos Islands Changed the World (LiveScience.com)

How the Galapagos Islands Changed the World (LiveScience.com)Published July 21st, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed
LiveScience.com - Each Monday, this column turns a page in history to explore the discoveries, events and people that continue to affect the history being made today.

Storm Dolly to become hurricane, hit Texas (Reuters)

Storm Dolly to become hurricane, hit Texas (Reuters)Published July 21st, 2008 in Uncategorized. Closed
Reuters - Tropical Storm Dolly churned toward southern Texas on Monday, and forecasters said they expected it to grow into a hurricane before hitting land near the Mexican border later this week.