Nasa warns solar flares from ‘huge space storm’ will cause devastation around 2013

Britain could face widespread power blackouts and be left without critical communication signals for long periods of time, after the earth is hit by a once-in-a-generation “space storm”, Nasa has warned.

National power grids could overheat and air travel severely disrupted while electronic items, navigation devices and major satellites could stop working after the Sun reaches its maximum power in a few years.

Senior space agency scientists believe the Earth will be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes “from a deep slumber” sometime around 2013, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

In a new warning, Nasa said the super storm would hit like “a bolt of lightning” and could cause catastrophic consequences for the world’s health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken.

Scientists believe it could damage everything from emergency services’ systems, hospital equipment, banking systems and air traffic control devices, through to “everyday” items such as home computers, iPods and Sat Navs.

Due to humans’ heavy reliance on electronic devices, which are sensitive to magnetic energy, the storm could leave a multi-billion pound damage bill and “potentially devastating” problems for governments. …

via Nasa warns solar flares from ‘huge space storm’ will cause devastation – Telegraph.

Rogen stunned by Lucas’ 2012 theory

Funnyman Seth Rogen was left stunned by a recent encounter with his moviemaking hero George Lucas – because the Star Wars director spent 20 minutes telling him the world would end in 2012.

Rogen was left speechless when Lucas and Steven Spielberg joined a movie meeting he was a part of – but the encounter has left him worried his life will be over next year.

He recalls, “George Lucas sits down and seriously proceeds to talk for around 25 minutes about how he thinks the world is gonna end in the year 2012, like, for real. He thinks it.

“He’s going on about the tectonic plates and all the time Spielberg is, like, rolling his eyes, like, ’My nerdy friend won’t shut up, I’m sorry…’

“I first thought he (Lucas) was joking… and then I totally realized he was serious and then I started thinking, ’If you’re George Lucas and you actually think the world is gonna end in a year, there’s no way you haven’t built a spaceship for yourself… So I asked him… ’Can I have a seat on it?’

“He claimed he didn’t have a spaceship, but there’s no doubt there’s a Millennium Falcon in a garage somewhere with a pilot just waiting to go… It’s gonna be him and Steven Spielberg and I’ll be blown up like the rest of us.”

via Rogen stunned by Lucas’ 2012 theory | Movies | Entertainment | Toronto Sun.

Yeah, not really.

The man who created “Star Wars” doesn’t really think the world is going to end.

But he does think it’s flat and the sun revolves around it!

The light-hearted response comes from a Lucasfilm spokeswoman to Wired.com, dismissing the bizarre claim reportedly by actor Seth Rogen that George Lucas thought the world would end next year.

“I spoke with George,” an e-mail from Lynne Hale said. “He was not serious when he talked about the end of the world in 2012, but he is an adamant believer that the world is flat, that Stonehenge was built by aliens, and that the sun revolves around the Earth.”

Hale also noted humorously that the 66-year-old filmmaker talks with Elvis, “who he’s going to digitally insert into ‘Indy 5′ along with a roster of famous dead actors.”

Read more: nydailynews.com

Insect eyes inspire improved solar cells

The eyes of moths, which allow them to see well at night, are also covered with a water-repellent, antireflective coating that makes their eyes among the least reflective surfaces in nature and helps them hide from predators in the dark. Mimicking the moth eye’s microstructure, a team of researchers in Japan has created a new film, suitable for mass-production, for covering solar cells that can cut down on the amount of reflected light and help capture more power from the sun.

In a paper appearing in Energy Express (www.OpticsInfoBase.org/ee), a bi-monthly supplement to Optics Express, the open-access journal published by the Optical Society (OSA), the team describes how this film improves the performance of photovoltaic modules in laboratory and field experiments, and they calculate how the anti-reflection film would improve the yearly performance of solar cells deployed over large areas in either Tokyo, Japan or Phoenix, Ariz.

“Surface reflections are an essential loss for any type of photovoltaic module, and ultimately low reflections are desired,” says Noboru Yamada, a scientist at Nagaoka University of Technology Japan, who led the research with colleagues at Mitsubishi Rayon Co. Ltd. and Tokyo Metropolitan University.

The team chose to look at the effect of deploying this antireflective moth-eye film on solar cells in Phoenix and Tokyo because Phoenix is a “sunbelt” city, with high annual amount of direct sunlight, while Tokyo is well outside the sunbelt region with a high fraction of diffuse solar radiation.

They estimate that the films would improve the annual efficiency of solar cells by 6 percent in Phoenix and by 5 percent in Tokyo.

“People may think this improvement is very small, but the efficiency of photovoltaics is just like fuel consumption rates of road vehicles,” says Yamada. “Every little bit helps.”

via Insect eyes inspire improved solar cells.

Homeland Security Junks Billion Dollar ‘Virtual Fence’

It only took nearly a year of hiatus and $1 billion in sunk costs, but the Department of Homeland Security has finally gotten rid of the networked suite of sensors that made up its virtual border fence. But some of its technology may live on as zombie border protection.

The virtual fence “cannot meet its original objective of providing a single, integrated border-security technology solution,” Secretary Janet Napolitano conceded in a statement today heralding the program’s termination.

Boeing’s SBInet was supposed to be the ultimate in anti-illegal immigrant technology: miles of surveillance-radar towers (colloquially, “Cameras on a Pole”) hooked up to ground-based sensors that detected the heat of someone’s footprints or the metal of a border-crossing vehicle. Sound impractical? That’s what the Government Accountability Office found in October, when it lamented SBInet’s “well-chronicled history of not delivering promised capabilities and benefits on time and within budget.” (.pdf)

Yet the Customs and Border Protection office boasted in a fact sheet that it would ultimately cover 6,000 miles of the U.S.’ northern and southern frontiers. But only 53 miles of border in Arizona ever actually got outfitted with SBInet. Dissatisfied with the performance of the program since its 2005 inception, the Department of Homeland Security froze the program in March for a review. Today, it conceded the program was an impractical waste.

So what comes next for the border? Some of the same stuff that SBInet had. And lots of drones.

Napolitano said that “proven” technology will be put into effect on the border. That means video surveillance from the guard towers and thermal-imaging sensors — reminiscent of SBInet. And it definitely means unmanned spy-plane flights. Later next year, a DHS initiative is scheduled to fly Predators all the way from California to the Gulf of Mexico, all to spot who’s trying to cross the border.

Only, even with proven technology like the drones, mistakes happen. In June, DHS had to ground its drone fleet after a plane lost contact with its remotely located pilot, a routine occurrence in the drone game.

via Homeland Security Junks Billion Dollar ‘Virtual Fence’ | Danger Room | Wired.com.

Study claims 100 percent renewable energy possible by 2030

New research has shown that it is possible and affordable for the world to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, if there is the political will to strive for this goal.

Achieving 100 percent renewable energy would mean the building of about four million 5 MW wind turbines, 1.7 billion 3 kW roof-mounted solar photovoltaic systems, and around 90,000 300 MW solar power plants.

Mark Delucchi, one of the authors of the report, which was published in the journal Energy Policy, said the researchers had aimed to show enough renewable energy is available and could be harnessed to meet demand indefinitely by 2030.

Delucchi and colleague Mark Jacobson left all fossil fuel sources of energy out of their calculations and concentrated only on wind, solar, waves and geothermal sources. Fossil fuels currently provide over 80 percent of the world’s energy supply. They also left out biomass, currently the most widely used renewable energy source, because of concerns about pollution and land-use issues. Their calculations also left out nuclear power generation, which currently supplies around six percent of the world’s electricity.

To make their vision possible, a great deal of building would need to occur. The wind turbines needed, for example, are two to three times the capacity of most of today’s wind turbines, but 5 MW offshore turbines were built in Germany in 2006, and China built its first in 2010. The solar power plants needed would be a mix of photovoltaic panel plants and concentrated solar plants that concentrate solar energy to boil water to drive generators. At present only a few dozen such utility-scale solar plants exist. Energy would also be obtained from photovoltaic panels mounted on most homes and buildings.

Jacobson said the major challenge would be in the interconnection of variable supplies such as wind and solar to enable the different renewable sources to work together to match supply with demands. The more consistent renewable sources of wave and tidal power and geothermal systems would supply less of the energy but their consistency would make the whole system more reliable.

Delucchi is from the Institute for Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis, while Jacobson belongs to Stanford University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. They first began to study the feasibility and affordability of converting the world to 100 percent renewable energy sources in a Scientific American article published before the Copenhagen climate talks in 2009. …

via Study claims 100 percent renewable energy possible by 2030.

I hope we get there. We have a few obstacles to avoid first, however.

To Boldly Go..And Never Come Back

Last fall, the Journal of Cosmology published an article by a couple of scientists making the case for one-way trips to the planet Mars. The idea so tickled the imagination of readers that 400 have written in to volunteer, according to FoxNews.com. The article, co-authored by Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University, and Paul Davies of Arizona State University, argue that humans must begin colonizing another planet to hedge against the possibility of a catastrophe that wipes out life on Earth. Schulze-Makuch and Davies say that the planet has sufficient resources for colonists to use to sustain themselves. But in order to keep the costs of any Mars colonization project manageable – reaching Mars would take about six months – they say the trips would need to be one-way. Not exactly the usual come-on you’ll come across in a travel brochure. Still, the idea of adventure has stirred some with an urge to sign on the line which is dotted.”I envision life on Mars to be stunning, frightening, lonely, quite cramped and busy,” Peter Greaves, described as a jack-of-all-trades, told FoxNews.com. Greaves. “Unlike Earth I wouldn’t be able to sit by a stream or take in the view of nature’s wonder, or hug a friend, or breath deeply the sweet smell of fresh air — but my experience would be so different from all 6 to 7 billion human beings … that in itself would make up for the things I left behind.” This all still remains theoretical, but one day might transmogrify into a concrete mission. So, if you think you’ve got the right stuff, NASA’s astronaut application guidelines are online.

via To Boldly Go..And Never Come Back – Tech Talk – CBS News.

Tooth decay? Solution: ProBiora3, not flouride.

Tonight I read a story by Juliet Eilperin:

” Little did I know that filtering my family’s tap water might put our teeth at risk.Two years ago, when I was pregnant and reporting on how the federal government was unwilling to regulate the rocket-fuel component perchlorate in drinking water, my husband and I decided to install a reverse osmosis filter in our kitchen tap. Since D.C. tap water has come under fire for its high levels of everything from lead to hexavalent chromium, it seemed like a sensible move. But during a recent visit to the dentist, my hygenist remarked she had started noticing a rise in tooth decay among children who drank only filtered or bottled water, presumably because they were not drinking fluoridated water. And it suddenly occured to me: Neither was my 20-month-old son, with his 17 teeth. As Americans’ consumption of bottled water has risen – it has doubled over the past decade – it is reducing the daily exposure Americans get to the mineral that helps prevent tooth decay. And while researchers have yet to do a comprehensive study of what impact this is having, especially on children, many dentists and pediatricians believe the issue deserves serious examination. “I think it would be good to look at,” said Howard Pollick, a clinical professor in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences at the University of California at San Francisco and a spokesman for the American Dental Association. Prodded by studies showing that fluoride significantly reduced tooth decay, U.S. municipalities began adding it to public drinking water systems in the 1940s….

via Filtered and bottled water consumption could increase tooth decay risk.

I was thinking, “Juliet, please do more research. This comes off as an ADA propaganda piece.”  I contacted researchers myself almost 10 years ago and learned that systemic fluoride is worthless. It can’t prevent tooth decay because when you drink it, too little ends up on your teeth! It only helps if it is applied directly to your teeth and then too much of it will actually destroy your teeth. Fluoride was added to the water “in the 1940s” because toxic fluoride waste gas from making atomic bombs leaked out and killed some animals and plants and there were lawsuits. To protect national security, a secret group met and a study was done by the Army and the results were falsified. I saw the doctored report. My US mail was tampered with when someone sent me the files, but I got them.  The actual reason fluoride “significantly reduced tooth decay” is because the men treated with it had their damn teeth fall out! Fluoride is used to make atomic bombs. It is a nerve toxin once used as rat poison.  Tooth decay is caused by a contagious bacterial disease, s. mutans.  It eats sugar and makes acid which causes teeth to shed the minerals. This is the cause of decaying holes in your teeth. Good news: You can heal your teeth!  Stop eating sugar and eat things that kill s. mutans bacteria. See my article.

Is the amount of fluoride in bottled water always listed on the label?
The FDA does not require bottled water manufacturers to list the fluoride content on the label, but it does require that fluoride additives be listed. In 2006, the FDA approved labeling with the statement, “Drinking fluoridated water may reduce the risk of tooth decay,” if the bottled water contains from 0.6 mg/L to 1.0 mg/L.

How can I find out the level of fluoride in bottled water if it’s not on the label?
Contact the bottled water’s manufacturer to ask about the fluoride content of a particular brand.

- cdc.gov

Why will no one tell the truth? It is sugar and a particular group of bacteria that causes cavities!

With the introduction of fluoride, the incidence of cavities was greatly reduced. Within the next decade, we may see cavities eliminated altogether.

CaroRx, a tooth-decay inhibiting treatment produced by California-based Planet Biotechnology, Inc., is an antibody produced in genetically altered plants. When painted on cleaned teeth, it prevents the decay-causing streptococcus mutans bacteria from adhering to teeth.

Keith Wycoff, Planet Biotechnology’s research director, said the treatment should be available to dentists and the public within the next five or six years. It is currently undergoing clinical trials at the University of California in San Francisco.

via SoftDental

Great! I’m so glad we will have access to a cure in five or six billion years.  The title of the above article is “Can we kiss cavities goodbye in 2010?” Welcome to 2011. Apparently not.

A caries vaccine is a vaccine to prevent and protect against tooth decay.

Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) has been identified as the major etiological agent of human dental caries. Several types of vaccines are being developed at research centers. Development of a vaccine for tooth decay has been under investigation for more than 30 years. In 1972 a caries vaccine was said to be in animal testing in England, and that it would have begun human testing soon.^[2] Intrinsic difficulties in developing it, coupled with lack of strong economic interests, are the reasons why no such vaccine is commercially available as of 2010^[update]. …

On a different line of research, Dr. Jeffrey D. Hillman has developed a genetically modified strain of Streptococcus mutans. The new strain, called BCS3-L1, is incapable of producing lactic acid, which dissolves tooth enamel, and aggressively replaces native flora. In laboratory tests, rats who were given BCS3-L1 were conferred with a lifetime of protection against S. mutans.^[5] BCS3-L1 colonizes the mouth and produces a small amount of a lantibiotic, called MU1140,^[5] which allows it to out-compete S. mutans.^[6]

Hillman suggests that treatment with BCS3-L1 in humans could also provide a lifetime of protection, or, at worst, require occasional re-applications. He figures the treatment would be available in dentists’ offices and “will probably cost less than $100.”^[7]FDA Phase Ib clinical trials are to be held in 2008.^[8] The product is being developed at Oragenics under license from the University of Florida. -

- wiki

Here is the initial paper from 2000, and the update from 2002. They’re both still cited periodically, but typically for the general idea of creating symbiotic bacteria, and not in support of this specific bacteria.

Neither the FDA nor Clinical Trials.gov have any record of clinical trials, though they have plenty of other information of trials intended to cure “dental caries.” So the project ran out of funding, the scientists moved on or sold the bacteria, the project ran into a big problem and dropped the whole thing, or maybe they’re just moving very slowly.

Ah, found him! There is a new product, something not genetically modified. This is great and it fits something I previously discovered: kissing someone without cavities can get rid of your cavities. This is because they have bacteria which do not make acid and which out compete the bad bacteria which cause cavities. The scientist who was working on MU1140 has now discovered which naturally occurring bacteria are good for you. Sounds promising! I’m excited about this.

In clinical trials, young, healthy individuals, using ProBiora3 twice daily for a month, experienced a significant drop in the numbers of opportunistic bacteria in their mouths. In weeks, users will begin to notice whitening and an improvement in breath. …

ProBiora³ is a 100% natural ingredient that helps to reestablish a healthy balance of oral micro flora and provides the additional benefits of whiter teeth, fresher breath and healthy gums and teeth.

Although probiotics have been used for decades in gut-health applications, the ProBiora3 ingredient represents a novel approach for achieving and maintaining complete oral health.

Certain common problems of the human oral cavity – dental caries, periodontal or gum disease and bad breath – are known to result from an imbalance of the normal populations of certain bacteria. A small number of the more than 500 microbial species that inhabit the oral cavity can cause a negative shift from oral health when they are able to achieve sufficiently large numbers in localized areas of the teeth or gums. In contrast, it is known that a small number of bacterial species can help maintain a microflora population balanced in favor of healthy gums and teeth. These beneficial strains are included in ProBiora3: Streptococcus oralis KJ3, Streptococcus uberis KJ2 and Streptococcus rattus JH145.

… When the ProBiora³™ ingredient enters the mouth and contacts saliva, the freeze-dried probiotics activate and attach themselves to the teeth and gum tissue, establishing Colony Forming Units (CFU) of live, active bacteria both on the surface of the teeth and deep beneath the gum line. These colonies compete for both nutrients and space with the opportunistic bacteria known to be linked to pathogenic activity in the mouth. With daily replenishment, the ProBiora³ bacteria re-establish the natural microbial balance in the mouth and create whiter teeth, fresher breath and healthier teeth and gums.

In the oral cavity, opportunist harmful bacteria convert sugar and carbohydrates into lactic acid. Lactic acid is the bacterial byproduct which is responsible for dental caries and the erosion of tooth enamel. The Standard American Diet promotes the ongoing conversion to lactic acid by providing a constant source of simple carbohydrates for bacterial cell growth, thus creating an even greater imbalance in oral microflora. Eating a healthy diet contributes about 50 percent to the overall health of the oral cavity. As such, the Standard American Diet is a key contributor to periodontal disease that can strike up to 75 percent of the population at some point in their lives. Without requiring lifestyle changes, the addition of the ProBiora3 probiotic ingredient can quickly, dramatically and painlessly affect the long term health and wellness of the mouth and the other health systems dependent on oral health. If oral health is managed with ProBiora3 supplementation daily, the majority of the population could greatly minimize the effects of this serious, costly and painful condition.

The best formula I’ve found with the fewest ingredients is this from Garden Herbs.

Xylitol, Natural Vanilla, ProBiora3, (S. oralis KJ3, S. uberis KJ2, S. rattus JH145-300 Million CFU*), Natural Spearmint, Cellulose.

Nice. I just ordered 120 of these mints and I’ve asked about investment opportunities in the company that makes ProBiora3.  Too much Xylitol is bad for your stomach, but I’m going to try this and see if it helps my teeth. I’ve had no cavities for years, but I’d like to keep it that way.

Exceeding six to eight grams daily as an oral care plan can result in stomach discomfort. Exceeding forty grams per day when used as a sweetener can cause discomfort and diarrhea. The real dangers of the substance are to our furry friends. Even small amounts can cause liver failure, seizures and death in dogs.

Read more: What Are the Dangers of Xylitol?

Snopes says 3 grams can kill a 65 lb dog and a smaller dog could easily die of liver failure by ingesting two sticks of gum sweetened by Xylitol, so be careful around your pets.

 

White cigar-shaped UFO in Tennessee

image: Lockheed Martin is working on a hyprid airship – a dirigible.

Tennessee witnesses had a good view of a white cigar-shaped UFO for a minute and-a-half beginning at 9:52 a.m. on January 8, 2011, that they note had no visible tail, wings, windows, or markings, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

While no city was mentioned in the public portion of the MUFON report, the driver and two children were traveling west on Union Avenue at Cooper Avenue when the “large, white, non-reflective, cigar shaped object” moved overhead.

“This object was a long cylinder-shaped (cigar) and rounded on both ends,” the reporting witness stated. “It was white, but not reflecting the sun at all. It moved at a steady pace toward the south and slowly began ascending and turning slightly to the south west. We continued to watch this object, discussing it the entire time, looking for anything that could identify it (ie wings, tail, propeller, windows, colors or markings).”

No images or video were included with the MUFON report, which was filed on January 11, 2011.

via The Canadian National Newspaper: Tennessee witnesses describe cigar-shaped UFO.
see MUFON case closed: cigar-shaped UFO over Ridgefield, NJ

House backs repeal of Obama healthcare law

In the first major act of the new Congress, the Republican-led House voted Wednesday to repeal the Democrats’ health-care overhaul, fulfilling a pledge that GOP candidates made during the fall midterm campaigns. Three Democrats sided with a unified GOP in the 245 to 189 vote, a largely symbolic step that has little chance of being considered by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

via WashPost

“Our pledge was to repeal ‘Obamacare,’” said House Speaker John Boehner, using a derisive term for the law. “Why? Because it is going to increase spending, increase taxes and destroy jobs in America.”

Polls show that Americans are split on the law. An ABC News/Washington Post poll this week found that more Americans now believe it will hurt rather than help the struggling U.S. economy. But the poll also showed that just 18 percent favor full repeal of the law. …

via House backs repeal of Obama healthcare law | Reuters.

Naked Tourist Richard Gervasi Blocks Traffic in Florida, Gets Shot With Taser

Ben Muessig – A tourist was shot with a taser three times by Florida police after he allegedly got naked and blocked traffic in Big Coppitt Key while screaming he was “king of the world.”After receiving a call about a nude man obstructing traffic on U.S. 1 at around 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 16, law enforcement officials say they encountered Richard Gervasi of Phoenixville, Pa., and two of his friends in a restaurant parking lot, according to KeysNet.com.

When a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived on the scene, Gervasi, 43, allegedly began attacking one of his friends, then started approaching the cop.

The deputy fired her taser, but Gervasi reportedly ripped the prongs from his skin and continued to advance on the officer. So she fired again, knocking the nude man to the ground. Gervasi allegedly got back on his feet, only to be shot a third time with the taser and cuffed. The suspect — who reportedly claimed he was “made of steel” — admitted to drinking and taking LSD before the incident. He has been charged with disturbing the peace and resisting arrest.

via Naked Tourist Richard Gervasi Blocks Traffic in Florida, Gets Shot With Taser.

Ben Muessig writes some of the most interesting news.