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Sciency Thingamajigs

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Germans create 'free-piston' multi-fuel engine that could answer EV range-anxiety issues. 3D solar panels can produce 20 times more energy than flat panels. We see the trend in 3D technology everywhere: Movie theaters, home theaters, game consoles, 3D printers. But researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently discovered that creating a 3D-inspired solar panel not only help to keep up with the trends, it could draw in 20 times more energy than flat panel designs. Traditional solar panels lay flat on a surface or rooftop, facing the sun to collect energy.

MIT researchers decided to change the shape of solar panels, conducting experiments with a cube, tall cube, and tower-shaped panels to see which design brought in more energy. Compared to flat panels, all three 3D panels created impressive results and outproduced traditional panels, with the accordion-style tower drawing in 20 times more power per square foot. The panels were tested during both cloudy and sunny conditions, and proved to perform consistently despite the weather changes. Future telescope array drives development of exabyte processing.

Innovations in modern science and computer technology are strongly linked together, and astronomy has unquestionably benefited from the advances in high-powered computing systems. However, the proposed Square Kilometer Array (SKA) of radio telescopes promises to push well beyond the current computing ability of the entire planet: if it works as planned, SKA will produce over one exabyte (260 bytes, or approximately 1 billion gigabytes) every day. This is roughly twice the global daily traffic of the entire Internet, and will require storage capacity at least 10 times that needed for the Large Hadron Collider. The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) and IBM announced a collaboration today to develop the exabyte technology needed to support SKA. The initial investment of €32.9 million over five years will be used to investigate the types of new processors, power supplies, storage systems, and networking technology necessary to handle the amount of data needed.

What Sugar Actually Does to Your Brain and Body. Canadian Charger - Canada's national e-weekly » Poll Archive. 10 Amazing Underground Homes - Oddee.com (underground, homes...) With the population growing more and more each year, it was only a matter of time before people started building their homes underground like Hobbits from the Tolkien tale. Mankind started off living in caves, and now we realize that "earth homes" are actually a very eco-friendly way to live. These ten underground homes are so amazing they might make you want to set up camp underground too! Cave House in Festus, Missouri This modern and energy-efficient 15,000-square-foot home is built within a sandstone cave in Festus, Missouri. Built by Curt and Deborah Sleeper, the home features modern interiors that blend with the natural unfinished sandstone walls. This space was previously used as a concert venue and a roller skating rink!

Malator in Druidstone, Wales This contemporary home is touted as one of Wales' architectural masterpieces. "The turf roof, steel chimney and peephole doorway inevitably gave way to its local nickname as ‘the Teletubby house'. Hidden House in Lower Silesia, Poland. P-III autopsy « Sciency stuff. For teaching a course I needed to take a closer look at a CPU. I asked around and got my hands on an old P-III Coppermine that was about to get thrown out. I’ll start with a disclaimer: I know virtually nothing about CPUs, so if I claim something to be true, it probably isn’t.

The first challenge is to get the actual silicon processor chip off of the plastic bonding board. In the picture below, the blue thing you see is the back side of the processor chip. When the processor is finished, it is turned upside down and bonded to the green circuit board. Click images for full-size. The blue part in the middle is the actual Si chip. Back side of the circuit board containing the CPU. I figured I should be able to remove the chip by heating it.

A saw comes in handy sometimes... Below you can see the result. A piece of the processor chip came off. This is the piece that came off. Now the interesting part begins. This is a piece of the processor. Focus is on upper layer. Focus is on middle layer. Transmission | Global Network of Online Video Distribution Projects for Social Change. Anatomy of the Great Adderall Drought.

Last May, Stephanie Lee couldn’t find a pharmacy in Atlanta that stocked Adderall, the prescription drug cocktail of amphetamine salts that helps her treat her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. She called her local pharmacy. All amphetamine salts, as well as generic, extended release Adderall XR were nowhere to be found, thanks to a limit set on the amount of amphetamines produced every year by the federal government.

Luckily, Stephanie’s insurance covered name-brand Adderall XR, so she was still intermittently able to get her prescription filled. At one point, she was trading some XR pills with her sister-in-law for amphetamine salts because pharmacies were all out. When the shortage began, Stephanie had just begun a new job. Today, Adderall is only legal in the United States and Canada. Everybody’s favorite focus drug For many people with ADHD, Adderall is what best manages their symptoms. Click graphic to see a larger version Quotas must be insufficient.