tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73489928744386692172023-11-15T09:08:27.808-08:00CIARD Science Update BlogExploring scientific discoveries and their implications.Eric Oijhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015932116034764732noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348992874438669217.post-71708942028333820082009-02-19T14:50:00.000-08:002009-02-19T15:02:14.364-08:00StimulusHey sciencers, <br /><br />we will have to wait and see, but from what i gather there is a opportunity for the U.S. to finally get some renewable energy infrastructure built. This blog is not for politics, so i will not discuss the political junk behind it, but included in the bill is some 80 billion dollars for new science and production of clean energies, which will have a hopeful impact on the dismal state of our energy economy. And I add, if nothing is done now, the planet will not be a fun place to live, unless you like more lightning. <br /><br />So the government is finally realizing that markets alone will not fix the greenhouse gas issue. I don't know what will happen or when it will happen, but we could be at a cross roads for lowering the human impact on the planet. Being trained in meteorology, I have a unique perspective in this debate. Naysayers use manipulated scientific studies and lack of evidence to justify their position. The fact of the matter is that reducing the impact that humans have on the globe is the smartest thing that we can do right now, even if no doom and gloom scenario exists in the future. Preserving our planet is the best way to ensure that humans will thrive for years to come, for we evolved on this planet and are uniquely tied to the well being of the planet, no matter what technology arises to combat environmental challenges. So, I say, for the first time in my life, yeah! gov't for giving a damn about the planet while trying to fix the economy.Eric Oijhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015932116034764732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348992874438669217.post-58457050858411832242009-02-03T14:20:00.001-08:002009-02-03T14:32:31.642-08:00naked singularitiesIn this month's issue of Scientific American, there is an article postulating the possibility of having a singularity without having a event horizon. This has many, many implications to our knowledge of black holes, which are singularities that are shrouded by an event horizon, or boundary or point of no return for things being pulled into a black hole. The mechanism for creating these naked singularities arises from solutions to Einstein's General Relativity equations, that take density variations in account during star collapse. These solutions still do not take pressure against gravity, the force that keeps a star from collapsing. There are also other mechanisms that could cause a singularity to loose it's event horizon, by either adding spin or an electric charge to the singularity, but these solutions prove even MORE complicated than the already insanely complicated solutions. This also means that humans may finally be able to directly detect singularities, where as as of now the only means we have of detecting black holes is by watching the material and celestial bodies that are gravitationally bound to said black holes. We may also be able to create a singularity that we could see and detect, depending on how much mass and/or energy is required to make a singularity. Seems pretty cool to me, and it could shed light on a otherwise dark topic.Eric Oijhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015932116034764732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348992874438669217.post-78628786028940425592009-01-20T11:37:00.000-08:002009-01-20T11:41:28.314-08:00Mars Alive?!?!?!NASA has recently discovered methane in the martian atmosphere. This is significant because methane arises from either biological or geological activity. Mars has been long thought to be geologically inactive, and of course devoid of life. Could we see the evidence of life outside our planet, or disprove our long thought beliefs about Mars? Either way, the solar system became slightly more interesting.Eric Oijhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015932116034764732noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348992874438669217.post-55582316310425614172009-01-20T06:23:00.000-08:002009-01-20T06:32:47.591-08:00Miniaturization of Motors Catch up with the 21st CenturAs this <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7837967.stm">BBC article</a> explains, the miniaturization of mechanical motors has not evolved at nearly the same pace as their electrical counterparts. Combustion is pretty much out of the question and as the the article states, the resistance of electrical motors when scaled down that small is almost more than can be overcome. So, take a tiny piezoelectric element, send a charge through it, incorporate a little bit of nature's design for microscopic propulsion and there you have a good recipe for modernizing one of humanities most influential creations.chadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11403876646914439913noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348992874438669217.post-89590307673150903072009-01-14T20:18:00.000-08:002009-01-14T21:07:30.726-08:00Hey Science UpdateWe've been recording. I would like to pose a public opinion poll.<br /><br />1. Do you think that we will discover the higgs boson when they turn on CERN?<br /><br />2. How do you feel about nanobots?<br /><br />3. Will the cosmological constant be negative, positive or 0?<br /><br />4. Will we discover a planet that is relatively earth like?<br /><br />5. Will Mad Cow disease become a pandemic in the upcoming decades?<br /><br />6. Do you think that there is a cure to cancer?<br /><br />7. Do you think that consciousness has the ability to transmit through extra dimensions?<br /><br />8. Who is your favorite band?<br /><br />9. Are there things that quarks can be broken up into?<br /><br />10. Has or does the Himalayan Yeti exist or existed?<br /><br />11. Does pi have an ending?<br /><br />12. What is your favorite number, excluding 5, 7, 11, and 19?<br /><br />13. Will you see a tornado sometime soon?<br /><br />14. Howz' bout Thundersnow?<br /><br />15. Who's your favorite Scientist?Eric Oijhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015932116034764732noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348992874438669217.post-34447247630509994402009-01-03T12:18:00.000-08:002009-01-03T12:36:20.595-08:00Music in the etherSo, I was playing music last night and a friend of mine helped make a connection in my mind. What if dark energy, which according to theorists exists throughout everything and is in a plane that is beneath our level of understanding, is a material that can connect consciousness. I find this thought extremely fascinating, I implore this internet community to explore this concept and provide evidence of these connections, ask more questions and theorize the way these connections materialize in every day life.Eric Oijhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015932116034764732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348992874438669217.post-6779211013904865792008-12-26T12:26:00.000-08:002008-12-26T12:29:10.681-08:00Realtime cosmic monitoringCheck out this website<br /><br />http://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.php<br /><br />There are dashboard widgets, real time models and much more to explore. keep an eye on the space weather and see the effects on everyday life.Eric Oijhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015932116034764732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348992874438669217.post-82126964573820845322008-12-24T18:34:00.000-08:002008-12-24T18:58:37.442-08:00where did that mass go?Fusion. The combination of two atoms to form one heavy atom. Sounds boring, huh? There is a small amount of discrepancy between the mass of two hydrogen atoms and one helium atom. One can actually fuse most two atoms that are light. This process in reverse is known as fission, which is what powers our nuclear power plant. Both these processes are used in hydrogen bombs, in which the fission is used to trigger fusion. Fusion is also the source of energy for our sun. In both, Einstein's most famous equation, E=mc^2, gives us the relationship between the small amount of mass lost and the extravagant amount of energy created from said mass.<br /><br />So what does this matter? well, nuclear power (fission) produces vast amounts of radioactive waste that is mostly stored on-site and is a significant risk to those around it. If we could make energy using fusion rather than fission, the resulting by product would be the gas that makes our voices go high when we inhale it, helium. The amount of energy is vast. <br /><br />Two ex-printer engineers from Canada have undertaken an experiment that seems to bypass steps that have been hampering scientists for years. instead of using a tomahak chamber, these ingenious people created a device that uses pneumatic pistons to create a shock wave that compresses the plasma inside the chamber to a level critical to allow fusion to begin, and once it begins, use that energy to power the next resulting shock wave, creating a pseudo-perpetual motion machine. This, with hydrogen (mainly in the form of deuterium and tritium, which, it turns out we can extract from water) can run creating electricity from the small amount of mass lost in the fusion. If this works... well nearly infinite energy from water. Sounds like peak oil would be inconsequential.Eric Oijhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015932116034764732noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348992874438669217.post-31924773674244252702008-12-20T14:03:00.000-08:002008-12-20T14:19:00.657-08:00enough with energy, how about matterThere is recent speculation that the earth and moon have a halo of dark matter around it. This arises from recent experiments with increased accuracy. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">if</span> it is not true then <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Einstein's</span> laws are flawed, which would make the world of physics even more interesting.<br /><br />What is dark matter? There is much speculation about this. Is it a congregation of non-interacting particles like neutrinos, or some new <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">weird</span> heavy particle. Do they exist in our <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">dimension</span>, or float through the inner being of the universe and thus are not affected by light. maybe the connection to the other <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">dimension</span> is where gravity interaction lies, thus particles that venture into the "gravity <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">dimension</span>" are affected, and particles like photons go without being touched, and visa <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">versa</span> with dark matter, not existing in the universe of light, only gravity. oh, how fun to speculate. <br /><br />All i know is there is more to know, and knowing will lead humanity into the nth <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">dimension</span>.Eric Oijhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015932116034764732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348992874438669217.post-26108660452447198652008-12-18T11:49:00.001-08:002008-12-18T12:03:32.847-08:00From CIARD HQIn the light of the news, and the snow, I have decided to begin <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">blogging</span> once again. I pose questions about the new nothing. The news of yesterday was that a new report was released on dark energy, and hearing the story twice on <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">NPR</span> got me thinking, what is nothing and what exists beyond the smallest forms of matter.<br />I enjoy the theories that there are whole universes in the atoms of us, and that we could be the in the body of a even greater thing. if this is true, when sub-atomic particles collide, are these universes destroyed, morphed into <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">weirdness</span> or <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">unaffected</span>? Could the same thing happen to our universe, and if it can, how often does it happen?<br />This, of course, is only if these <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">inside out</span> theories are true. I would like to also point out that the new nothing contains 70% of the energy-mass content of the universe. Could this be the new <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">renewable</span> energy source. What implications would sucking energy from this field have on the physical universe. There has been some research on so called "zero point energy." Could this research have <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">relevance</span> to the new declaration of nothing? <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Astrophysicists</span> and Mad Scientists could combine to solve the pressing issue of energy creation! All that that is there in nothing.Eric Oijhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015932116034764732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7348992874438669217.post-72514565877639287362008-12-18T11:19:00.000-08:002008-12-18T11:48:40.104-08:00Welcome to the CIARD Science Update BlogHello <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">blogosphere</span>,<br /><br />This is Eric <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Oij</span>, science officer for the Chicago Institute for Advanced Research and Discussion. This blog is being created to monitor and discuss current advances in all fields of science. I implore you to enter this discussion in an attempt to understand current scientific discoveries and their implications for the present and the future. Please also visit the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">CIARD</span> HQ blog for current <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">CIARD</span> events and developments. Thank you for exploring the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">CIARD</span>, and have a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">scienterrific</span> day!<br /><br />Eric <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Oij</span><br />Science Officer, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">CIARD</span>Eric Oijhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02015932116034764732noreply@blogger.com0