As engineers scramble to utilize the new found efficiency in car power known as hybrid technology, it's interesting to watch "the big 3" as they attempt to portray Fuel Cell technology as the next big thing.

Hybrids like this one are already making a big difference and research has barely been fully funded.  Hybrid efficiency is not hype or fantasy, it is real.

Fuel cells, on the other hand, are not a real source of saved energy.  Their net result, when introduced into an energy system (such as car energy), is a NET LOSS of energy.  

But then it gets worse.  The cheap way to keep that hydrogen flowing to fuel cells involves burning more coal or natural gas.  That's right, we'd have to burn more to get less energy, polluting more in the process. 

So why on earth are fuel cell solutions being portrayed as environmentally friendly?  I suppose it's because they would actually increase consumption of energy, and therefore cause a boost to the economy.  Anything that'll get us some short term bling is automatically on the fast track.  Corporate America is shaping our perceptions, instead of science and technology.  Imagine that.

Update:  You can read more about hybrid drivers here at The Onion. 

Climateprediction.net is a huge computer program designed to produce a forecast of the climate in the 21st century.  You can donate your computer's processing power if you have broadband access.  The system will utilize your resources (while they are not in use by you) to help compute the climate forecast.

http://www.climateprediction.net/

This system makes use of shared processing time by coordinating the computation of seperate code blocks across the Internet.  You might recall that SETI uses a similar architecture to compute their radio signals.

Their first set of results have just been released:

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050124/full/050124-10.html

Back by popular demand, is the now famous physically challenged turkey known as "Y".  No, this is not a form of torture applied to turkeys who refuse to fatten up for Thanksgiving.  This turkey was born without the ability to walk.  My kind hearted sister provided him with wheels, much like a wheelchair.  This is actually more like a wheelbed.  True, most wheelchair users are not strapped involuntarily to their chairs like this poor bird.  But I can absolutely confirm that the little guy was better off in this contraption because it was his only chance to get around independently.

Software developers are required to develop a certain expertise in user interface design.  Applications are held to a fairly high standard of usability, and there's good reason for that.  Irate customers are generally a bad thing.

So I am more than a little surprised at the audacity of the chumps that design these some of the interfaces that are used to access DVD movies.  First of all they make you sit through six previews before they'll even let you fast forward, much less access the main menu.  I paid good money for this movie and now you're going to make me watch commercials?

It's all to apparent that their lack of decency is complimented by a complete lack of consistency.  Seemingly, no two DVD user interfaces are alike.  Navigating through these menus is like stumbling on to a Website that was designed and architected by a computer assisted monkey.

Welcome to my new blog.  The old one was just not cutting the cheese.  What the hell does that mean?

Anyway, this new code base will provide a much richer experience, for you, the user.  I will be attempting to import all my old entries from days gone by.  And I will also be linking to those boring pictures of my family again.  Please be patient and leave a lot of kooky comments.

"Recently awarded a Dream Time Fellowship by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, Grand is working on giving Lucy better eyesight, hearing, stronger muscles and a more powerful brain. Steve hopes Lucy will be able to learn to crawl before taking those first steps and repeating simple sounds, just like other toddlers do. Lucy's brain was built to explore ways in which machines could be given the capacity for imagination. The design of the bot's brain was guided by a key set of hunches about how such a mechanism could be artificially engineered using simulated neurons and biochemicals."

Nice hair, too. This style is apparently all the rage among baby/monkey robots.

I've always presumed that the first remarkable results from AI would come from a machine that mimics the developmental process of young humans.

Link to Wired

It's amazing how animals and humans adapt to changing environmental conditions. Evolution has apparently built in the propensity for animals and humans to spawn more females during food shortages:

Overall, the ratio of boys to girls born dropped to 0.88. Sons require more reproductive effort than daughters. "They grow a bit faster, they're bigger when they're born," Mace says. Males are also less likely to survive if malnourished as children, and stunted males are less attractive as potential mates.

So the girls are easier to raise during troubled times. I'll vouch for that :)

Link

"An exhaustive study of 643 children from before birth to 9 years of age shows no detectable risk from the low levels of mercury their mothers were exposed to from eating ocean seafood..."

These people were eating an average of 12 meals of fish per week! Looks like another myth has been exposed...

Link

For those of us who believe in the importance of fish oil as a source of Omega 3, news like this is particularly distressing.

90% and counting...

Link

Microsoft is developing a virtual brain -- a database that holds human memories. As one analyst put it -- this is Web logging run amok.

"By 2047, almost all information will be in cyberspace -- including all knowledge and creative works," said one of the project's leaders, Gordon Bell. "The most significant benefit will be a breakthrough in our ability to remotely communicate with one another using all our senses."

Gordon is actually the guinea pig and lead researcher on this project.

Link

For those of you that missed it, here is a link to the infamous Gene Simmons interview from Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Don't miss this fascinating discussion between the outspoken, womanizing rocker and his antithesis.

Link

Sometimes as a parent it helps to try and step back, look at the big picture, and evaluate your parenting style in hopes of making changes for the better. Inevitably your kid(s) will do something out of the ordinary that makes you wonder, "Am I doing this right?"

In the past few years, Holly and I have embraced a somewhat controversial parenting style, called "Attachment Parenting". Truth be told, we sort of fell in to this style naturally, and later learned it's name. We both embrace the idea that youngsters are better off with the constant reassurance of parental closeness. This closeness manifests itself in several ways, including breast feeding, the family bed, rocking the kids to sleep, and attending to their needs very closely. We rarely will allow one of our kids to cry for very long without intervention.

It's all about confidence. Babies and toddlers are too young to learn the truth about the harshness of life. They just need love, and when they are seperated from the warmth of their mothers body, the result can be devastating to their physical and mental health. If you don't believe it, try reading some of the research that's available regarding the family bed and breast feeding.

Overall, Holly and I are extremely happy with attachment parenting. Our only regret, so far, is that we didn't identify and learn about our parenting style earlier.

Quite possibly the most important medical discovery of our generation, especially for those of you with ADHD, depression, heart problems, memory problems, kids, or diabetes/low blood sugar: Omega 3.

Learn about it here:

Link

"Along with major epidemiological evidence that shows lower rates of depression in those cultures that consume a great deal of omega-3s, Stoll's own studies indicate that boosting their intake can reduce depression symptoms. And Stoll cites stacks of additional studies suggesting that omega-3s can also help with major depression, schizophrenia, and postpartum depression. Going even further, Stoll makes a strong argument that omega-3 deficiency could be contributing to rising rates of teen violence and attention deficit disorders." -Amazon.com

Traverse City was buried by a blizzard in '78 of epic proportions. The same blizzard hit my home town (Grand Rapids). My friends and I hollowed out a snow drift that was big enough to handle furniture. I still remember eating cereal inside the drift. This storm was huge. At the time I had no idea that it would turn out to be a unique weather event. I've been waiting for another storm like this for 25 years. For you amateur weather buffs, check out the meteorlogical details, thanks to the Detroit NWS.

"Once upon a time, some thousands of generations ago, a threshold was crossed. Somewhere in the evolutionary backwoods of the brain, something unprecedented happened in the story of life on Earth."

Find out why you have such a big-ass head.