Left field

[Mark]

U.S. Army orders its first batch of suicide drones
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44412133/ns ... nnovation/

[Mark]

Novel Magnetic, Superconducting Material Opens New Possibilities in Electronics
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 121955.htm

[Mark]

I wonder if one day you could run a jam jar on anti-matter?
Matter-Antimatter Engine
http://science.howstuffworks.com/antimatter2.htm

[Mark]

The Singularity Summit Program
http://www.singularitysummit.com/program

[Mark]

When presented with a plate of breakfast ham the next morning, he pushed it away muttering, "It's like eating a corpse."
http://moreintelligentlife.com/node/399

[Mark]

Note the last votices in this clip, how they leapfrog.
Extraordinary Toroidal Vortices
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHyTOcfF99o

The dolphins pushing their bubble rings along reminded me of this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6JKwzK37_8

[Mark]

Grace under pressure
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011 ... essure.php

[Mark]

New metal 100 times lighter than Styrofoam
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011 ... -styrofoa/

Super-light lattice packs heavy-duty potential
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-57327 ... topStories

"By contrast, other ultralight substances, including aerogels and metallic foams, have random cellular structures. This means they are less stiff, strong, energy absorptive or conductive than the bulk of the raw materials that they are made out of."
World's 'lightest material' unveiled by US engineers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15788735

[Mark]

Energetic Methanol
4 Students Burned At Maple Grove Junior High
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/12/0 ... gh-school/

[Mark]

French MicroJoule concept car gets 8,923 miles per gallon
"What is the most efficient vehicle on the planet? And more importantly, how far can it go on a single liter of gas? The Microjoule is your answer, getting over 3,794 kilometers per liter, or approximately 8,923 miles per gallon! Looking less like a car than an amoeba-on-wheels, the Microjoule is the design of students from the French Technical School, St. Joseph La Joliverie, who are set to compete in the Eco-Marathon 2008 to be held in Europe this coming May."
"It uses gasoline, just like any other vehicle, but it only really sits one person, and has no bells and whistles. Still, that is one very impressive fuel efficient vehicle. The Eco Marathon will be held on May 22."
http://inhabitat.com/transportation-tue ... er-gallon/

[Mark]

I bought a Corona beer today, just a single 24 oz bottle and the grocery store in Bandera, Texas asked me to swipe/scan my driver's license. Here's something similar in Tennessee. Big Brother or what? What do you do if you don't have a license?

"NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Comer Wilson hasn't had to show his ID to buy beer in a while. Maybe it's the 66-year-old man's long white beard."
"I don't mind them asking for my ID, but they don't need my driver's license number," said Campbell, 43. "I'm just buying a six-pack. All they need to know is how old I am."
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/silence/archi ... ee_1.shtml

[Mark]

"Experts agree that when used correctly, such scans can save lives. However, according to some estimates, the radiation exposure a patient receives from a full-body CT scan is often 500 times that of a conventional X-ray and about the same as that received by people living 2.4 kilometres away from the centres of the World War II atomic blasts in Japan.
A CT scan might increase a person's risk of cancer by about 0.05%, although experts stress that on average a person's lifetime risk of cancer is about 20%.
One recommendation in the report suggests that medical students should receive mandatory training on this issue. It also says that the risks of these scans need to be better conveyed to the public. "We're concerned and we're aware of it," says Arl Van Moore, chair of the ACR.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1 ... osure.html

[Mark]

According to Villasenor, “For the first time ever, it will become technologically and financially feasible for authoritarian governments to record nearly everything that is said or done within their borders--every phone conversation, electronic message, social media interaction, the movements of nearly every person and vehicle, and video from every street corner.”
http://www.fastcompany.com/1802688/pew- ... rveillance

[Mark]

Oh, the Places You'll Go at Burning Man!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahv_1IS7SiE

[Mark]

Whatever side of the fence you are on, I think you will find this remarkable in some ways, he's pretty smart. The latter part most curious.
Controversial retired bishop John Spong on religion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AfFcAmx-Ro