Michael Giberson
The KP Texas office is alive and functional, I am relieved to discover, just recently emerged from the end of semester rush and not yet enveloped in the holiday rush. So I’ll try to rediscover my internet legs, re-raise the Jolly Blogger flag, and set sail in search of curious, erroneous, surprising or provoking energy policy and/or economics stories.
Yo-ho-ho and happy holidays to all!
Michael Giberson
I like to watch good movies, and particularly for someone who now lives outside a major metropolitan area, Netflix has been unbelievably useful. Netflix really has been amazing. Return one disk by mail and get another a day or two later. Incredible selection.
Recently Netflix raised the price on their DVD/Blu-ray rental packages which lead us to switch to the online streaming-only option to save a few bucks. Really, however, for all practical purposes we’d already switched.
Today I’m mailing back “The Hurt Locker,” the last of the physical disks we received from Netflix, which we’ve had around for nearly six weeks without watching it. In the meantime we’ve viewed about 20 movies via streaming. In fact, I was going to watch it last night before sending it back, but wound up watching the German comedy “Soul Kitchen” instead.
Not every movie is on Netflix, and not every movie on Netflix is available via streaming, but since my Netflix instant queue is up above 100 it hardly seems to matter. It’s “kids with the keys to the candy store” overwhelmingly good. In fact, if it weren’t for the HBO Series Treme, I’d pull the plug on our HBO subscription.
I meant to do some serious damage to the instant queue during the break between semesters, but despite viewing several good movies the queue is longer than ever. Tyler Cowan’s post this morning, ”Important 2010 movies that weren’t released in most of the USA,” added three more. Seems like no matter how much candy you eat, there is still more candy to eat!
For the holiday season I’ve rated the following movies “Really Liked It”: Soul Kitchen, Shutter Island, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Life and Debt, Ip Man, and The Girl Who Played with Fire. Rated “Liked It” were: I am Trying to Break Your Heart, Flame and Citron, Let the Right One In and Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love.
Michael Giberson
I don’t understand the physics here – it’s some combination of quantum mechanics and carbon nanostructures – but according to this news release from the University of Arizona, it can turn waste heat into electric power. So far the interesting properties have been simulated in a computer model, but not demonstrated in a physical device.
Turning Waste Heat Into Power
UA physicists have discovered a new way of harvesting waste heat and turning it into electrical power. Taking advantage of quantum effects, the technology holds great promise for making cars, power plants, factories and solar panels more efficient.
Follow the link for more. The underlying research is forthcoming in ACS Nano: Justin P. Bergfield, Michelle A. Solis and Charles A. Stafford, “Giant Thermoelectric Effect from Transmission Supernode.”
Michael Giberson
I could have used a Copenhagen cargo bike (see video at linked post) last year when I occasionally carried my son’s baritone horn up to school for him. Come to think of it, I could probably still make use of a cargo bike. Better yet, my son could make use of a cargo bike!
Want more cargo biking? Here is a link to the “cargo bike culture” posts at Copenhagen Cycle Chic. Or check out the images and video at the website of Larry vs. Harry (designers/manufactures of the Bullitt cargobike).
A photo from the Larry vs. Harry archive
Lynne Kiesling
Steve Strogatz is a professor of applied mathematics at Cornell and a master of explaining abstract mathematical principles to non-mathematicians. He also posts occasionally on the New York Times’ Opinionator blog, and his post on Sunday was a real treat. Using the domestic conundrum of how to flip your mattress to maximize its longevity and inspired by a couple of recent publications, his delightful and clear post provides a wonderful introduction to group theory.
By looking into mattress math in some detail, I hope to give you a feeling for group theory more generally. It’s one of the most versatile parts of mathematics. It underlies everything from the choreography of contra dancing and the fundamental laws of particle physics, to the mosaics of the Alhambra and their chaotic counterparts …
The mattress group also pops up in some unexpected places, from the symmetry of water molecules to the logic of a pair of electrical switches. That’s one of the charms of group theory. It exposes the hidden unity of things that would otherwise seem unrelated …
I’m fascinated with symmetry and spatial relationships of objects, so I relished this post, and I hope you do too.
Lynne Kiesling
Yes, you saw that correctly, a turbine. According to Wired:
Jaguar Land Rover is working on the car with British gas turbine manufacturer Bladon Jets and electric motor manufacturer SR Drives. The Technology Strategy Board, which funds business development in the U.K., is underwriting the first serious attempt at a turbine car since Volvo built the Hybrid Environmental Concept in 1993. The goal, according to Bladon, is the “world’s first commercially viable – and environmentally friendly – gas turbine generator designed specifically for automotive applications.”
… But the Jag — like the Volvo — would use a miniature gas turbine only to generate juice for the electric motor. Bladon says its axial flow turbines are small, lightweight and run on anything from natural gas to biofuel. That, it says, makes them a great alternative to the conventional engines used in range-extended hybrids like the Chevrolet Volt.
That’s pretty cool! Previous turbine vehicles didn’t make it because they were noisy, so it will be interesting to see if this venture fares any better.
And I love that one of the commenters on the post told one of my favorite jokes:
Q: Why is it the British don’t make computers?
A: Because they haven’t found a way to make them leak oil yet.
When I was a kid my dad had a 1967 Jaguar XKE (burgundy, with black leather seats). I think it spent more time in the shop than on the road, but it was a gorgeous car.
Lynne Kiesling
Check out this cool new data center plan — locate the servers under a cathedral and use the waste heat to warm the cathedral and the neighboring buildings! This is an established system called district heating, which uses a network of steam or hot water pipes to heat distributed buildings.
Michael Giberson
I haven’t been much of a radio music fan since, I don’t know, high school. I liked music that wasn’t played much by the local radio stations and in general the signal-to-noise ratio on most radio stations was too small. Cassette tapes, then CDs were part of the answer, but that cuts off access to new tunes.
Fast forward to the present. Lubbock radio is mostly not too interesting for me. Classic Rock. Pop. Pop Rock. Country. Latin. One “alternative” station with a weak signal but wide-ranging playlist, and usually my choice in the car. (Too be fair, Washington DC music radio wasn’t too interesting, either, after the demise of WHFS other than the occasional jazz programs and Texas Fred’s Zydeco show on WPFW.)
Now there is a new option. Pandora is one of my favorite online music services. Recently picked up an iPhone. More recently added the Pandora iPhone app. Just discovered that the adapter my wife has to connect her iPod to the car radio also works fine with my iPhone.
I can run Pandora in my car. If you have Pandora and a compatible phone and a way to link to your car radio, so can you.
Fantastic. And when I get to my destination I can pop the iPhone out of the adapter, insert headphone jack, and keep the music rolling.
How about little Snooks Eaglin radio to celebrate?
Michael Giberson
Have you ever hopped into your car heading out of town, and thirty minutes down the road you wonder, “Did I remember to adjust the thermostat?”
There will soon be an app for that, at least if you have Ecobee‘s thermostat and an iPhone.
Toronto-based Ecobee Inc., which has developed a cool-looking smart thermostat that connects to your home Wi-Fi network, will soon be launching a new application that lets a person control the thermostat from their iPhone wherever they happen to be. “Basically we have created an iPhone application that turns the iPhone into a thermostat replica,” a spokesperson told me.
Or also, if you happen to be sitting on the couch watching football and decide the house is a little warm, you can adjust the thermostat without having to get up.
Lynne Kiesling
How cool is this: a University of Wisconsin biomedical engineering student has developed a way to type using brain waves. He posted to Twitter using his brain, literally and not just metaphorically!
That’s right, no keyboards, just a red cap fitted with electrodes that monitor brain activity, hooked up to a computer flashing letters on a screen. Wilson sent the messages by concentrating on the letters he wanted to “type,” then focusing on the word “twit” at the bottom of the screen to post the message.
The development could be a lifeline for people with “locked-in syndrome” — whose brains function normally but who cannot speak or move because of injury or disease.
Hat tip to Scott Jagow at Marketplace’s Scratch Pad blog.
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