Turtleskin Snake Armor

Going someplace a bit off the beaten path?  You might just want some SnakeArmor.  Lightweight clothing with the strength to repel bites of large snakes like rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths.  I don’t ever find myself in places where I would need this, but I imagine hunters and folks who work in the woods could use these.

TurtleSkin SnakeArmor’s patented technology produces the tightest weave ever made with high-strength fibers. Its weave is so tight, that snake fangs, briar, thorns, and cactus can’t slip past, while TurtleSkin’s ballistic fibers are so strong they resist breaking. This makes the fabric extremely protective while remaining lightweight and flexible. U.S. Patents 5,565,264 & 5,837,623 as well as other patents pending.

If this sounds like the kind of protection you need, hit their online store and buy to your heart’s content.

[tags]Turtleskin Snake Armor, Protective clothing[/tags]

Superheated metal moves liquid uphill

I’ve been reading the latest issue of American Scientist in my spare time lately. A really cool article caught my eye, and I thought I’d pass it on for the more geeky, science-loving types in my audience. While I think half my readership isn’t into the science stuff I enjoy, I believe that other reader might be. For him, I pass along this cool story of liquid moving in the wrong direction.

SCIENCE OBSERVER
Going Against the Flow
Sometimes particles prefer to propel themselves uphill
Fenella Saunders

Particles strive for the life of a couch potato—sinking into a spot that has the least energy, where gravity can’t pull them down any farther and movement is at a minimum. Getting a particle moving requires keeping it off kilter, out of equilibrium. But particles in such a state tend to bounce all over; harnessing their movement in a single desired direction is the goal of many nanoscale devices.

One way to do this is with a ratchet effect—a mechanism that uses spatial asymmetry and energy gradients to make movement easier in one direction than another. It turns out that in some cases, ratchets not only control movement, but can also move particles in unexpected directions—away from a minimum energy state, the molecular equivalent of a creek climbing uphill under its own power.

. . .

If a skillet is heated to an extremely hot temperature, between 200 and 300 degrees Celsius, drops of water flicked into the pan will skitter across the surface, remaining intact for a minute or so. A surface not quite so hot will boil away the water droplets instantly, but the superheated surface instead instantly turns the bottom of the droplets into a layer of steam. Vapor is a poor heat conductor, so the steam insulates the drops from further boiling. It also provides them with a means of movement: The water drops bounce around like hovercraft on a cushion of air.

Linke and his colleagues did not use a smooth metal surface, but one covered with a sawtooth pattern. The teeth inclined more steeply in one direction than the other—an asymmetrical surface, and therefore a ratchet mechanism. Millimeter-sized water droplets piped onto the superheated sawtooth surface zip off in one direction like airport passengers on a moving walkway, reaching speeds of up to 5 centimeters per second, even if the surface is tilted so that the droplets have to climb uphill. As the investigators reported in the April 21 issue of Physical Review Letters, the phenomenon works for many other liquids, such as ethanol and liquid nitrogen, although the temperature at which the Leidenfrost effect kicks in varies from 50 to 150 degrees above the boiling temperature of the liquid.

More details on the science behind this in the full article. Also, access the full issue online, where many of the articles are freely readable. Some of the really juicy stuff requires membership ($28-$70 for 1-3 years in the US), but after reading a single issue, I’m considering a subscription.

[tags]American Scientist, Liquid moving uphill, Cool geeky science stuff[/tags]

Today in history – moon landing

In addition to being my older brother’s birthday, apparently humans first landed and walked on the moon today (assuming, of course, you discount any ancient alien races taking Egyptians to the moon, of course  🙂 ).  I meant to post this earlier today for edification of those who visit earlier in the day here, but I forgot.  Rather than steal more commentary from Wikipedia (which, in case you haven’t picked up on already, is one of my preferred sources for general information on a wide variety of subjects), I’m stealing details on the moon landing from the History channel today.

ARMSTRONG WALKS ON MOON:
July 20, 1969

At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, speaks these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Stepping off the lunar landing module Eagle, Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon.

The American effort to send astronauts to the moon has its origins in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” At the time, the United States was still trailing the Soviet Union in space developments, and Cold War-era America welcomed Kennedy’s bold proposal. Continue reading “Today in history – moon landing”

Compensate for your shortcomings

Ahhhh, another brilliant Worth1000 contest. This recently ended contest challenged photochoppers to make up fake ads for real products. Some of them just make me laugh too hard to function. For example, the following, advertising a product I’d like but will never get precisely because I think people view it as this ad shows:
hummer-shortcomings.jpg

[tags]Worth1000, Hummer, Your shortcomings[/tags]

RPU – Ray Tracing Processing Unit

(via Tingilinde)
I have no details on this beyond what the brief note at Tingilinde, but apparently the August 2006 issue of Scientific American has an introductory article to new ray tracing hardware.  The information in the article was part of a talk at SigGraph 2005.  Looks like I’ll need to head to the bookstore and pick up the magazine (or possibly get the digital edition).
[tags]Scientific American, RPU, Ray Tracing Processing Unit, Ray Tracing[/tags]

Double-barrel cigarette holder

This brief article from the November 1931 issue of Modern Mechanix has the accessory every smoker needs:
double_cig_sml.jpg

Double-Barrel Cigarette Holder
We don’t know whether the cigarette manufacturers were behind this idea, but it might be a good idea for them to give away one of these new holders to all smokers. Just think how cigarette sales would jump if everybody smoked two at one time!

[tags]Modern Mechanix, Cigarettes, Smoking[/tags]

Superhero stamps for the US postal service

stamps_dccomics_600s-b.jpgIt appears I learned about these just in time – the new superhero stamps are due out Friday, July 21st (edit: was Thursday, July 20th). So tomorrow Friday after I drop the kids off at school, I suppose I’ll need to swing by the post office and buy a couple of sheets of stamps. Then, I can take two of each stamp and mail one of each of them to my children. My dad did this for me when I was younger, and that’s what got me started collecting stamps. Sadly, I no longer know where all my stamps are. Nothing I had was worth much anyway, but I hate losing the collection.  Just for kicks, maybe I should ask my mother if she still has my stamps.
To see a larger view of the stamps, click on the above image. The full view will open in a new window.  To see the full list of heros on the stamps, follow the link to the full article: Continue reading “Superhero stamps for the US postal service”

Team Fortress 2 details emerge

(via TechEBlog)

250px-Team_Fortress_2_Group_Photo.jpgIn developement for almost as long as Prey and Duke Nukem Forever, Team Fortress 2 is probably one of the most anticipated, least known about game on the gaming horizon. Valve has just released a brief gameplay video showing the current state of the game.

Just like its predecessor, in Team Fortress 2 players will be able to choose to play as one of several archetypal classes at the start of a match, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses

Head over to Wikipedia for more information on the development and vaporware view of this game:

Team Fortress 2 is the long-anticipated sequel to the original Team Fortress mod for Quake being developed by Valve Corporation. It is a multiplayer team-based first-person shooter with strategy elements. The game has been through various concepts and designs: in 1999 the game appeared to be deviating from the original Team Fortress by heading toward a more realistic and militaristic style of gameplay, and the design metamorphosed further over the game’s seven-year development. The final rendition of Team Fortress 2 currently appears to bear more resemblance to the original Team Fortress design, and sports a distinctive, cartoonish visual style.

The lack of information or apparent progress for six years of the game’s supposed development caused it to be labelled as vaporware, and it was regularly featured in the top 5 of Wired Magazine‘s annual vaporware list among other ignominies.

[tags]Team Fortress 2, Vaporware, Valve software[/tags]

FDA likely to say no to bionic eye

LiveScience.com recently posted this article about the FDA’s refusal to approve a bionic eye. I changed the headline to indicate the FDA is likely to say no. Here’s why:

In the 1970s TV show “The Six Million Dollar Man,” the strapping young astronaut got a bionic eye. A U.S. company had hoped that next year that might be your grandmother. Not so fast, a federal advisory panel said Friday.

A tiny telescope designed to be implanted in the eyes of some elderly patients should not receive Food and Drug Administration approval, the panel recommended on a 10-3 vote.

Later in the article:

The FDA typically follows the recommendations of its outside panels of experts, but isn’t required to do so.

So it is likely the bionic eye will be rejected, but it isn’t a final decision yet. Now, on to the story of the eye.

The first-of-its-kind device is called the Implantable Miniature Telescope. The telephoto lens could enable some patients to do away with the special glasses and handheld telescopes they now use to compensate for the loss in central vision caused by age-related macular degeneration, according to VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies Inc., its manufacturer.

. . .

The device is designed to be implanted only in one eye, which would provide central vision. The other eye, left untouched, would be responsible for peripheral vision, leaving the brain to combine the two views to form a single image. Getting used to that could require patients to undergo professional rehabilitation, the FDA said.

The surgery to implant the telescope is more difficult than conventional cataract surgery and can lead to damage to the inside of the cornea, according to the company. Patients also may experience a higher rate of loss of cells lining the cornea, which can require removal of the device and a cornea transplant.

In clinical trials, 141 of 193 patients implanted with the device showed after a year improved distance and near visual acuity, defined as the sharpness of vision in reading an eye chart, according to FDA documents. Ten patients reported a loss in acuity in either distance or near vision. Doctors removed eight of the devices, four of them from patients dissatisfied with how they worked, FDA documents show.

And more at the above link. And as a co-worker pointed out, that annoying sound whenever you use the bionics would probably drive people crazy. More so than everything slowing down around you when using a bionic leg.

[tags]Bionic eye, FDA[/tags]