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ъглови легла с ракладомейнSymphony of Science

www.symphonyofscience.com

Follow this thread. It’s a very fun, creative project to help us all assimilate some of the astonishing and inspiring scientific thoughts and language from our recent and current leaders in scientific discovery. It has the power to change your perception of yourself and your place in the cosmos, and in the human family.

From the site itself:

The Symphony of Science is a musical project headed by John Boswell designed to deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form. Here you can watch music videos, download songs, read lyrics and find links relating to the messages conveyed by the music.

The project owes its existence in large measure to the wonderful work of Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steve Soter, of Druyan-Sagan Associates, and their production of the classic PBS Series Cosmos, as well as all the other featured figures and visuals.

Continuation of the music and videos relies upon generous support from fans and followers. You can make a donation if you wish to contribute support to the project. Thanks to everybody who has donated- enjoy what you find!

Radiator Mug - Home & Office - Yanko Design

I am digging the Yanko Design website…so many beautiful and creative interpretations of everyday stuff, and some not so everyday.   Here is a particularly pedestrian item with a “why didn’t I think of that?” twist….no more scorched hands when enjoying that cuppa joe.

Here’s another…more cutsy than cutting edge, but still..I want em.

Yesterday afternoon at the Solar Power International Conference, Solar Energy Industries Association CEO Rhone Resch, announced a Solar Bill of Rights. I thought it was exceptional, so I decided to pass it along to you today.

Here’s what Resch delivered. . .

“We declare these rights not on behalf of our companies, but on behalf of our customers and our country. We seek no more than the freedom to compete on equal terms and no more than the liberty for consumers to choose the energy source they think best.”

1. Americans have the right to put solar on their homes or businesses Restrictive covenants, onerous connection rules, and excessive permitting and inspections fees prevent many American homes and businesses from going solar.

2. Americans have the right to connect their solar energy system to the grid with uniform national standards. This should be as simple as connecting a telephone or appliance. No matter where they live, consumers should expect a single standard for connecting their system to the electric grid.

3. Americans have the right to Net Meter and be compensated at the very least with full retail electricity rates. When customers generate excess solar power utilities should pay them consumer at least the retail value of that power.

офис обзавеждане4. The solar industry has the right to a fair competitive environment. The highly profitable fossil fuel industries have received tens of billions of dollars for decades. The solar energy expects a fair playing field, especially since the American public overwhelmingly supports the development and use of solar.

5. The solar industry has the right to equal access to public lands. America has the best solar resources in the world, yet solar companies have zero access to public lands compared to the 45 million acres used by oil and natural gas companies.

6. The solar industry has the right to interconnect and build new transmission lines. When America updates its electric grid, it must connect the vast solar resources in the Southwest to population centers across the nation.

7. Americans have the right to buy solar electricity from their utility. Consumers have no choice to buy clean, reliable solar energy from their utilities instead of the dirty fossil fuels of the past.

8. Americans have the right, and should expect, the highest ethical treatment from the solar industry. Consumers should expect the solar energy industry to minimize its environmental impact, provide systems that work better than advertised, and communicate incentives clearly and accurately.

The manufacturer of a hydrogen car unveiled in London on Tuesday will make its designs available online so the cars can be built and improved locally.

The Riversimple car can go 80km/hr (50mph) and travels 322km (200mi) per re-fuelling, with an efficiency equivalent to 300 miles to the gallon.

The cars will be leased with fuel and repair costs included, at an estimated £200 ($315) per month.

The company hopes to have the vehicles in production by 2013.

Next year, it aims to release 10 prototypes in a UK city which has yet to be confirmed.

Riversimple has partnered with gas supply company BOC to install hydrogen stations for the cars in the city where the prototypes are launched.

‘Open source’ model

The car itself is an amalgam of high-efficiency approaches in automotive design.

Its four motors are powered by a fuel cell rated at just six kilowatts, in contrast to current designs that are all in excess of 85 kilowatts - required because the acceleration from a standing start requires a great deal of power.

Riversimple’s solution is to power the car also from so-called “ultracapacitors”, which store large amounts of electric charge and, crucially, can release that charge nearly instantly to provide the power needed to accelerate from rest.

The ultracapacitors are charged as the vehicle brakes to a halt, converting the energy of the moving car into stored energy.

Under the bonnet is a comparatively tiny fuel cell

Without a combustion engine, gearbox, or transmission, and with a shell made of carbon fibre composites, it weighs 350kg.

The company claims that it is closer to market than any of its start-up competitors, but what sets them apart is an unusual business model.
“Riversimple has effectively rethought the whole of what in the business school world we call the ‘value chain’ of the auto industry,” said John Constable, chair of the Riversimple project.

The company asserts that in the leasing model, the vested interest for the manufacturer is in producing long-lasting, fuel-efficient, high-quality products, since it bears the cost of both hydrogen and repairs.

Its partnership with BOC is designed to resolve the chicken-and-egg question of who would build the infrastructure required to refuel hydrogen cars when there are none on the road. Meanwhile, would-be hydrogen car buyers are concerned about the dearth of re-fuelling stations.

“You can incrementally put in a template package of one re-fuellling point and 50 cars in different cities, and each city one by one can build an urban hydrogen infrastructure, and that incrementally builds a nationwide infrastructure,” said Hugo Spowers, the former race car designer who conceived the Riversimple idea in 1999.

The company will distribute the engineering designs to the 40 Fires foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that will make the designs “open source”.

The idea, they say, is to allow local manufacturing in small plants. This stands in contrast to the “economies of scale” that drive current plants to huge sizes and workforces.

In addition, designs can be adjusted for local markets, using locally sourced parts or materials.
The agreement will be such that if the designs are improved by a local manufacturer, those improvements will be sent back, so that what the company refers to as its “network of manufacturers” can contribute to the overall development of the product line.

From the BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8103106.stm

BBC NEWS | Americas | Obama moves to curb car emissions:

Here’s what you need to know:

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