JustSubsPlayer can add subtitles to any video [Daily Freeware]

Those of us with good hearing often take things like watching videos for granted. Thankfully most movies and TV shows have the option for Closed Captioning, which translates the dialogue to on-screen text. However, this doesn’t always apply to videos watched online. Thankfully there is a program that can assist you with adding captions to existing videos.

JustSubsPlayer is a neat piece of freeware that will allow you to integrate subtitles onto any video, provided that you can find the subtitles somewhere. If you know where to look, you can find .srt files, which contain subtitles for a variety of videos. Just plug the right file into the program, and you’ll be able to position the subtitles anywhere on the screen. This also works great for foreign films that might not have official translations in your language. The hardest part will be finding the captions to use.

View the original article here

Lift Out Coffee Table Mechanism adds some lift to your existing furniture

There are a few of us in the world that do not possess a dining table. Although, there are some who own one, and just feel like eating at a different seating area in the house. Oftentimes, the living room is the most comfortable place to eat, because we like to watch television during a meal. However, crouching over a plate of food on the coffee table can be hard on your back, or mean that you are definitely going to get something on your clothes, or the floor.

That’s why this Lift Out Coffee Table Mechanism looks to be so promising. The top of the table not only comes up from the lower portion, but it also extends closer to you, so your lap will be safe from most spilled foods. It also works well for studying if you don’t happen to own a desk either. However, try not to put more than 20-23 pounds on it, or it might tip. At $199, this is pretty expensive, considering that it doesn’t include the rest of the table. However, if you already have a table that you’re attached to, this will simply add new functionality to it.

View the original article here

Install Plan B after you lose your Android phone to track it down [Daily Freeware]

Smartphones can do so many wonderful tasks, and these days most of us would feel lost without our favorite mobile device. Unfortunately, sometimes you lose track of your phone. Maybe it slipped out of your pocket when you were in a cab, or perhaps someone swiped it from your table at the coffee shop. Whatever the case, you can at least be comforted, since you installed tracking software on your phone. Wait, you didn’t? Well if you have an Android device, there’s still hope.

Plan B is a tracking app for your Android phone that is meant to be installed after your phone has been lost. Just login to the Android Marketplace and tell this app to remotely download to your phone. Within minutes, you’ll receive emails detailing the phone’s current location. It’s always best to install tracking software before there’s a problem, but it looks like this might be a good solution in case you forget.

View the original article here

Illuminating Pet Leash makes nightly walks an easier task

It’s still cold and dreary out, and even though you?ve settled in for the evening, you dog still needs to go out one last time. Evening in this part of the year means darkness at a very early time, so it should only make sense that you have some form of illumination with you out on your frigid stroll with Fido. You could always bring your phone as a light, but when you need to pick up what your dog leaves behind, keep your dog from running off, and be putting light where it needs to be, you find that you are often one hand short.

Combination gadgets like the Illuminating Pet Leash make life much easier. It is a retractable leash that comes with a mounted flashlight, and a compartment for storing waste bags. You will need a trio of AAA batteries and $40, but that is a small price to pay for the convenience that it gives you.

View the original article here

Micro Sonic Grenade is perfect for cubical warfare

Sometimes you work in a great environment, with wonderful coworkers who are genuinely good people, and a boss that will understand if your personal life sometimes interferes with your work. Well, that’s only really normal in dream state, but it is a nice thought. Your coworkers often deserve some sort of unmentionable terror, like a dust bunny in their morning coffee.

Seeing as there would likely be some pretty terrible repercussions from putting something in a person’s? drink, it might be better to pull a prank using something like the Micro Sonic Grenade. It has a 115 decibel alarm that will go off after 5, 30, or 60 seconds. You can launch it over your cubicle, and daze your coworker from a safe distance. It’s rather small, and comes with batteries so it can be put to immediate use. If they decide to keep it forever, fear not, it only costs $4.99 and right now, you get two for the price of one.

View the original article here

Backup one computer’s files to another with CrashPlan

As someone who has spent years working in IT, I know the look of horror that people get when you ask ?do you have everything backed up?? If you take no other steps of preventative maintenance with your computer, schedule regular backups. Don’t have a spare external hard drive or file server to use for backups? That’s okay. If you’ve got another computer in your house that has plenty of free space on it, you can utilize those extra gigabytes to house your backups using CrashPlan.

CrashPlan is a free backup system that allows you to schedule backups for your computer, and send them to another on the network. You can also use an attached USB hard drive, or even a computer located elsewhere, over the internet. You’ll be able to go through and specify what type of backups you want to run, how often they run, and how much CPU power it uses. If you want confirmation that they’ve completed successfully, the software can send you an email or tweet. If you’d rather use CrashPlan’s own servers for your backups, they do have a paid plan that will allow you to do this as well. The best part is that this software works on Windows, Mac OS, Linux and Open Solaris platforms.

View the original article here

We The Lobby uses crowdfunding to lobby for non-corporate causes [Daily Freeware]

During the last few months, and especially in recent weeks there has been a lot of talk about SOPA and PIPA. Thankfully these bills, which had the potential to destroy the open internet as we know it, have been shelved. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they won’t be brought up again at a later time. What’s sad is that when you look behind these proposed pieces of legislature, you find little more than a group of lobbyists funded by large corporations. So how do everyday people fight this? By banding together and lobbying as a collective group.

A site called We The Lobby has cropped up in hopes to combat corporate lobbying. The idea is to use crowdfunding to receive representation for various causes. Think of it as Kickstarter for lobbying. Someone proposes a cause that they believe needs a voice, and they set an amount needed. People pledge to back it, and if enough backers are found, they will partner with another lobbying group with a similar interest, and fight for your cause. It’s definitely an interesting idea, and worth checking out.

We The Lobby uses crowdfunding to lobby for non-corporate causes

During the last few months, and especially in recent weeks there has been a lot of talk about SOPA and PIPA. Thankfully these bills, which had the potential to destroy the open internet as we know it, have been shelved. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they won’t be brought up again at a later time. What’s sad is that when you look behind these proposed pieces of legislature, you find little more than a group of lobbyists funded by large corporations. So how do everyday people fight this? By banding together and lobbying as a collective group.

A site called We The Lobby has cropped up in hopes to combat corporate lobbying. The idea is to use crowdfunding to receive representation for various causes. Think of it as Kickstarter for lobbying. Someone proposes a cause that they believe needs a voice, and they set an amount needed. People pledge to back it, and if enough backers are found, they will partner with another lobbying group with a similar interest, and fight for your cause. It’s definitely an interesting idea, and worth checking out.
http://www.wethelobby.com/

View the original article here

iConvert iPad Scanner

We are definitely in an age of technology. Hundreds of tablets, Smartphones, and other high-tech devices are available to the general public. Being as bulky as they are, paper products are looking to become things of the past. However, a lot of important documents are still on the good old fashioned wood pulp, and if we want filing to be easy, it’s best to keep everything categorized and in order. That’s quite possibly why the iConvert iPad Scanner could come in handy.

This dock for your tablet accommodates paper between 2 and 8.5 inches so anything from official documents to tiny photos can be scanned in no time. The images scanned are done at 300dpi, and are saved in your photo gallery as JPEGs. You must admit, it’s going to be a lot easier to click and drag photos around instead of reading and rereading papers so you can put them in the right folder, and then into the right filing cabinet. It ships next month for around $150.

View the original article here

Micro Sonic Grenade is perfect for cubical warfare

Sometimes you work in a great environment, with wonderful coworkers who are genuinely good people, and a boss that will understand if your personal life sometimes interferes with your work. Well, that’s only really normal in dream state, but it is a nice thought. Your coworkers often deserve some sort of unmentionable terror, like a dust bunny in their morning coffee.

Seeing as there would likely be some pretty terrible repercussions from putting something in a person’s? drink, it might be better to pull a prank using something like the Micro Sonic Grenade. It has a 115 decibel alarm that will go off after 5, 30, or 60 seconds. You can launch it over your cubicle, and daze your coworker from a safe distance. It’s rather small, and comes with batteries so it can be put to immediate use. If they decide to keep it forever, fear not, it only costs $4.99 and right now, you get two for the price of one.

View the original article here

Moshi ClearGuard keeps your Apple keyboard safe from harm

When it comes to wireless Apple Wireless Keyboards, you need a bit of a specific kind of protector as the keys are a bit short. These covers aren’t hard to find, but it is very difficult to find thin, clear covers. You will however, find thick, pink, blue, and green silicone protectors that won’t let you see the keys properly.

Recently I stumbled upon the Moshi ClearGuard keyboard protector, and it looks to be quite promising. It boasts being one-fifth the thickness of other silicone protectors, but will still give you the squishy comfort of something between your fingers and the hard plastic keys. It does cost $25, but considering the money and time it will save you if you happen to spill your coffee all over your keyboard, this is a steal.

View the original article here

Inkless Graphite Quill

The art of writing seems to be disappearing as time goes on. By writing, I mean things like penmanship. These days we spend more time on the computer typing emails and status updates than we do with a pencil, pen or any other writing implement. Although, very now and then we like to write a letter to that relative who lives far, far away and won’t have anything to do with technology. Sure, you could use a regular old mechanical pencil or ball point pen, but why not try out something new?

The Inkless Graphite Quill has been hand-sculpted out of graphite, and will give you the feel of writing with a quill, without all that mess of ink. It will last for up to 9 years of daily use, and won’t smudge your hands or the paper. It should come as no shock that this 4 in x 1.5 in writing utensil would cost $18, seeing as it lasts so long. Of course, if you lose it, then it won’t last nearly that length of time.

View the original article here

JustSubsPlayer can add subtitles to any video [Daily Freeware]

Those of us with good hearing often take things like watching videos for granted. Thankfully most movies and TV shows have the option for Closed Captioning, which translates the dialogue to on-screen text. However, this doesn’t always apply to videos watched online. Thankfully there is a program that can assist you with adding captions to existing videos.

JustSubsPlayer is a neat piece of freeware that will allow you to integrate subtitles onto any video, provided that you can find the subtitles somewhere. If you know where to look, you can find .srt files, which contain subtitles for a variety of videos. Just plug the right file into the program, and you’ll be able to position the subtitles anywhere on the screen. This also works great for foreign films that might not have official translations in your language. The hardest part will be finding the captions to use.

View the original article here

Will this $50 gadget make shooting video with a DSLR easier?

These days DSLRs aren’t just for still photography. Newer models have the ability to capture video at a very high quality. So why doesn’t everyone use a DSLR for their recording? Well there is one feature that makes using one a little more difficult than your average camcorder. Namely, the lack of an autofocus. The good thing is that if you can master using the manual focus while recording, you can get some really good shots. The best way to do this is to use some sort of accessory that gives you greater control over the focus ring, which does tend to cost a good bit. However, one Kickstarter project plans to offer one that looks good for just $50.

Dubbed the 50-Dollar Follow Focus, this contraption looks like exactly what you would need for filming. Made mostly from metal, the construction looks solid, and the ability to swap out belts and gears ensures that you can accommodate most lenses out there. Adjustable tension lets you get the smoothest focus possible. The fund has already surpassed its goal, so if you pledge your $60 (that includes $10 for shipping) you’ll be guaranteed to get one of the first batches.

View the original article here

Sparxgear Fire Piston ensures you can always make a flame

If you’ve ever found yourself to be trapped in the wilderness, you know that making a fire is going to be essential to your survival. However, it’s a little difficult to actually get a fire going. Sure, there’s a lighter or matches, but a little bit of water could completely destroy both of those options.

The KickStarter project called the Sparxgear Fire Piston is an anodized aluminum cylinder alongside a piston that will give you the beginnings of a full blown fire in no time. Most fire pistons have to be taken completely apart, but this one has all its pieces in one place, plus storage for backup pieces. It’s about the size of a small flashlight, so it can easily be tossed into a backpack. Three grooves on the on the outside of the cylinder contain flint, steel, and magnesium, but the piston can use char cloth to get things going. It’s completely waterproof, and can stand up to frigid weather because of it’s aircraft grade aluminum build. For a $35 pledge, you can be the proud owner of one after it hits production. Better hurry though, only 9 days left!

View the original article here

Orangutans use iPads at zoos

We do love our gadgets and electronics. But apparently we aren’t the only ones.

Orangutans in some zoos have been using iPads as enrichment to reduce boredom. For the past six months, these orange primates at Milwaukee zoo have been playing games and watching videos on Apple’s iPad. One of them, a 31-year old orangutan named MJ, is a big fan of David Attenborough’s nature documentaries.

Zookeepers and and the charity Orangutan Outreach are now considering setting up WiFi, cameras and Skype so that the orangutans from different zoos can watch each other. Doing so would serve several purposes. Orangutan Outreach hopes that by seeing these sentient, self-aware, and intelligent animals playing with the same gadgets as us, we’ll be more inclined to support their charity and also to take better care of the environment (Indonesian orangutans are critically endangered due to human activity). And perhaps it would create relationships and communication between different primates who otherwise would never know each other existed. This kind of enrichment has some amazing possibilities to it.

View the original article here

Backup one computer’s files to another with CrashPlan

As someone who has spent years working in IT, I know the look of horror that people get when you ask ?do you have everything backed up?? If you take no other steps of preventative maintenance with your computer, schedule regular backups. Don’t have a spare external hard drive or file server to use for backups? That’s okay. If you’ve got another computer in your house that has plenty of free space on it, you can utilize those extra gigabytes to house your backups using CrashPlan.

CrashPlan is a free backup system that allows you to schedule backups for your computer, and send them to another on the network. You can also use an attached USB hard drive, or even a computer located elsewhere, over the internet. You’ll be able to go through and specify what type of backups you want to run, how often they run, and how much CPU power it uses. If you want confirmation that they’ve completed successfully, the software can send you an email or tweet. If you’d rather use CrashPlan’s own servers for your backups, they do have a paid plan that will allow you to do this as well. The best part is that this software works on Windows, Mac OS, Linux and Open Solaris platforms.

View the original article here

Who needs a hoverboard, when you have this Airboard?

When we have dreams about the future, we’re always thinking of flying cars. The skyways being lined with flying vehicles that are hundreds of feet above our heads. Of course, we don’t quite have the technology just yet to make this a reality, but we have baby steps that let us keep dreaming.

While normally the prospect of riding on a levitating piece of machinery is something that is envied, I can’t say the same for this expensive mode of transportation. The Airboard Levitating Scooter is about 6 feet tall, and will zoom around at a unimpressive 15 miles per hour if it’s on asphalt. Steering is done with your weight, although there are handle bars to give you some sort of stability. This is an engine-powered fan that runs off of petrol, and can only run for about an hour. This would be a fun amusement park ride, but to own one for $14,500 seems a bit insane.

View the original article here

Pack-Away Collapsible Bucket

Everyone has had a use for a bucket at least once. Whether it’s for watering the plants, cleaning, or bailing out the basement which seems to keep flooding, there seems to be many a use for this simple tool. The only cumbersome thing about this particular tool is that it is rather large, and somewhat awkward to stow away when it’s not in use. This is why the Pack-Away Collapsible bucket is such a welcome relief.

Made of silicone with a stainless steel handle, this container will carry out all your bucket-using wishes, and then collapse into itself whenever you’re finished using it. Obviously, it will take some effort to collapse it, otherwise it wouldn’t be a very effective bucket. It costs about $25, and would be great for those of us who don’t have a lot of extra space at home.

Pack-Away Collapsible Bucket

Everyone has had a use for a bucket at least once. Whether it’s for watering the plants, cleaning, or bailing out the basement which seems to keep flooding, there seems to be many a use for this simple tool. The only cumbersome thing about this particular tool is that it is rather large, and somewhat awkward to stow away when it’s not in use. This is why the Pack-Away Collapsible bucket is such a welcome relief.

Made of silicone with a stainless steel handle, this container will carry out all your bucket-using wishes, and then collapse into itself whenever you’re finished using it. Obviously, it will take some effort to collapse it, otherwise it wouldn’t be a very effective bucket. It costs about $25, and would be great for those of us who don’t have a lot of extra space at home.

http://wackypracticals.com/pack-away-bucket

View the original article here

Ferret posts this week

22 January 2012

reprise

Here’s a quick round-up of Red Ferret posts from the past week for those who missed them. Enjoy.

View the original article here

Cuisipro Scoop And Stack Ice Cream Scoop

Every time you order a cone of ice cream, you always hope that whoever scooped it out knows what they’re doing. If the perfect balance is not there, you’re going to be looking at a giant mess toppling over as soon as you get it. Even at home, making a sundae for yourself can be risky business with a regular scoop, as you can project ice cream all over the place if you’re not careful. There’s always running it under hot water, but then you melt the delicious treat that you want to be frozen.

The Cuisipro Scoop and Stack Ice Cream Scoop seems like the perfect remedy for those of us who aren’t so handy with those regular rounded scoops. It provides you with cylinder shaped balls of ice cream that stack rather perfectly on top of one another. The twist and lift action will cut through the coldest ice cream, and releasing the button will give you a consistent size and shape of your favorite frozen treats. This will cost you about $15, but has a super easy clean up, and will give you much less hassle.

View the original article here

Will this $50 gadget make shooting video with a DSLR easier?

These days DSLRs aren’t just for still photography. Newer models have the ability to capture video at a very high quality. So why doesn’t everyone use a DSLR for their recording? Well there is one feature that makes using one a little more difficult than your average camcorder. Namely, the lack of an autofocus. The good thing is that if you can master using the manual focus while recording, you can get some really good shots. The best way to do this is to use some sort of accessory that gives you greater control over the focus ring, which does tend to cost a good bit. However, one Kickstarter project plans to offer one that looks good for just $50.

Dubbed the 50-Dollar Follow Focus, this contraption looks like exactly what you would need for filming. Made mostly from metal, the construction looks solid, and the ability to swap out belts and gears ensures that you can accommodate most lenses out there. Adjustable tension lets you get the smoothest focus possible. The fund has already surpassed its goal, so if you pledge your $60 (that includes $10 for shipping) you’ll be guaranteed to get one of the first batches.

View the original article here

Sparxgear Fire Piston ensures you can always make a flame

If you’ve ever found yourself to be trapped in the wilderness, you know that making a fire is going to be essential to your survival. However, it’s a little difficult to actually get a fire going. Sure, there’s a lighter or matches, but a little bit of water could completely destroy both of those options.

The KickStarter project called the Sparxgear Fire Piston is an anodized aluminum cylinder alongside a piston that will give you the beginnings of a full blown fire in no time. Most fire pistons have to be taken completely apart, but this one has all its pieces in one place, plus storage for backup pieces. It’s about the size of a small flashlight, so it can easily be tossed into a backpack. Three grooves on the on the outside of the cylinder contain flint, steel, and magnesium, but the piston can use char cloth to get things going. It’s completely waterproof, and can stand up to frigid weather because of it’s aircraft grade aluminum build. For a $35 pledge, you can be the proud owner of one after it hits production. Better hurry though, only 9 days left!

View the original article here

LED ceiling tiles bring the sky indoors

Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO) is a continual hotbed of innovation. They recently introduced their latest – a luminous ceiling made of LED’s that simulates both outdoor light and passing clouds.

Created in collaboration with Fraunhofer’s partners at LEiDs GmbH, each ceiling tile consists of 280 LED’s, with a matt white diffuser film attached beneath them to ensure that individual lights aren’t noticed. Red, blue, green and white LED’s combine to produce full spectrum lighting that lights up an entire room. With periodic lighting fluctuations, the “daylight” appears random and natural.

A virtual sky prototype, with 34,560 LEDs spanning an area of 34 square metersm will be on display at the CeBIT trade show in Hanover from March 6 -10, 2012 at the joint Fraunhofer booth in Hall 9, Booth E 08. This fascinating and potentially very useful virtual sky currently costs approximately 1,000 euros per square meter, but this price will come down. It will be a case of supply and demand – the more you want it, the more they’ll produce and the more cost-effective each luminous ceiling will be. Wonder how long it will take for this to make it to the States and into offices with all those multi-cubicles?

View the original article here

Cuisipro Scoop And Stack Ice Cream Scoop

Every time you order a cone of ice cream, you always hope that whoever scooped it out knows what they’re doing. If the perfect balance is not there, you’re going to be looking at a giant mess toppling over as soon as you get it. Even at home, making a sundae for yourself can be risky business with a regular scoop, as you can project ice cream all over the place if you’re not careful. There’s always running it under hot water, but then you melt the delicious treat that you want to be frozen.

The Cuisipro Scoop and Stack Ice Cream Scoop seems like the perfect remedy for those of us who aren’t so handy with those regular rounded scoops. It provides you with cylinder shaped balls of ice cream that stack rather perfectly on top of one another. The twist and lift action will cut through the coldest ice cream, and releasing the button will give you a consistent size and shape of your favorite frozen treats. This will cost you about $15, but has a super easy clean up, and will give you much less hassle.

View the original article here

Pack-Away Collapsible Bucket

Everyone has had a use for a bucket at least once. Whether it’s for watering the plants, cleaning, or bailing out the basement which seems to keep flooding, there seems to be many a use for this simple tool. The only cumbersome thing about this particular tool is that it is rather large, and somewhat awkward to stow away when it’s not in use. This is why the Pack-Away Collapsible bucket is such a welcome relief.

Made of silicone with a stainless steel handle, this container will carry out all your bucket-using wishes, and then collapse into itself whenever you’re finished using it. Obviously, it will take some effort to collapse it, otherwise it wouldn’t be a very effective bucket. It costs about $25, and would be great for those of us who don’t have a lot of extra space at home.

Pack-Away Collapsible Bucket

Everyone has had a use for a bucket at least once. Whether it’s for watering the plants, cleaning, or bailing out the basement which seems to keep flooding, there seems to be many a use for this simple tool. The only cumbersome thing about this particular tool is that it is rather large, and somewhat awkward to stow away when it’s not in use. This is why the Pack-Away Collapsible bucket is such a welcome relief.

Made of silicone with a stainless steel handle, this container will carry out all your bucket-using wishes, and then collapse into itself whenever you’re finished using it. Obviously, it will take some effort to collapse it, otherwise it wouldn’t be a very effective bucket. It costs about $25, and would be great for those of us who don’t have a lot of extra space at home.

http://wackypracticals.com/pack-away-bucket

View the original article here

iConvert iPad Scanner

We are definitely in an age of technology. Hundreds of tablets, Smartphones, and other high-tech devices are available to the general public. Being as bulky as they are, paper products are looking to become things of the past. However, a lot of important documents are still on the good old fashioned wood pulp, and if we want filing to be easy, it’s best to keep everything categorized and in order. That’s quite possibly why the iConvert iPad Scanner could come in handy.

This dock for your tablet accommodates paper between 2 and 8.5 inches so anything from official documents to tiny photos can be scanned in no time. The images scanned are done at 300dpi, and are saved in your photo gallery as JPEGs. You must admit, it’s going to be a lot easier to click and drag photos around instead of reading and rereading papers so you can put them in the right folder, and then into the right filing cabinet. It ships next month for around $150.

View the original article here

Orangutans use iPads at zoos

We do love our gadgets and electronics. But apparently we aren’t the only ones.

Orangutans in some zoos have been using iPads as enrichment to reduce boredom. For the past six months, these orange primates at Milwaukee zoo have been playing games and watching videos on Apple’s iPad. One of them, a 31-year old orangutan named MJ, is a big fan of David Attenborough’s nature documentaries.

Zookeepers and and the charity Orangutan Outreach are now considering setting up WiFi, cameras and Skype so that the orangutans from different zoos can watch each other. Doing so would serve several purposes. Orangutan Outreach hopes that by seeing these sentient, self-aware, and intelligent animals playing with the same gadgets as us, we’ll be more inclined to support their charity and also to take better care of the environment (Indonesian orangutans are critically endangered due to human activity). And perhaps it would create relationships and communication between different primates who otherwise would never know each other existed. This kind of enrichment has some amazing possibilities to it.

View the original article here

Cuppow Transformer Top turns a canning jar into a coffee cup

Our generation seems to be rather concerned with ?going green?. This means recycling, using less plastics, and trying to reuse things as opposed to throwing them away. If you happen to have a canning jar lying around, then Cuppow might just be a first step for reusing an old item if you haven’t started already.

Cuppow is a silicone coffee lid that will fit underneath the cap of a canning jar, where normally a round silver plate would go. This way you can sip coffee, tea, or any other beverage, as if you were drinking from a fancy travel mug. It only costs $7.99, but would mean you’d need to have a jar on hand if you wanted to put it to use. Take caution when drinking anything that is hot, as a glass jar doesn’t do such a great job of insulating, which means it will get toasty on the outside.

Cuppow Transformer Top turns a canning jar into a coffee cup

Our generation seems to be rather concerned with ?going green?. This means recycling, using less plastics, and trying to reuse things as opposed to throwing them away. If you happen to have a canning jar lying around, then Cuppow might just be a first step for reusing an old item if you haven’t started already.

Cuppow is a silicone coffee lid that will fit underneath the cap of a canning jar, where normally a round silver plate would go. This way you can sip coffee, tea, or any other beverage, as if you were drinking from a fancy travel mug. It only costs $7.99, but would mean you’d need to have a jar on hand if you wanted to put it to use. Take caution when drinking anything that is hot, as a glass jar doesn’t do such a great job of insulating, which means it will get toasty on the outside.

http://www.cuppow.com/

View the original article here

We The Lobby uses crowdfunding to lobby for non-corporate causes [Daily Freeware]

During the last few months, and especially in recent weeks there has been a lot of talk about SOPA and PIPA. Thankfully these bills, which had the potential to destroy the open internet as we know it, have been shelved. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they won’t be brought up again at a later time. What’s sad is that when you look behind these proposed pieces of legislature, you find little more than a group of lobbyists funded by large corporations. So how do everyday people fight this? By banding together and lobbying as a collective group.

A site called We The Lobby has cropped up in hopes to combat corporate lobbying. The idea is to use crowdfunding to receive representation for various causes. Think of it as Kickstarter for lobbying. Someone proposes a cause that they believe needs a voice, and they set an amount needed. People pledge to back it, and if enough backers are found, they will partner with another lobbying group with a similar interest, and fight for your cause. It’s definitely an interesting idea, and worth checking out.

We The Lobby uses crowdfunding to lobby for non-corporate causes

During the last few months, and especially in recent weeks there has been a lot of talk about SOPA and PIPA. Thankfully these bills, which had the potential to destroy the open internet as we know it, have been shelved. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they won’t be brought up again at a later time. What’s sad is that when you look behind these proposed pieces of legislature, you find little more than a group of lobbyists funded by large corporations. So how do everyday people fight this? By banding together and lobbying as a collective group.

A site called We The Lobby has cropped up in hopes to combat corporate lobbying. The idea is to use crowdfunding to receive representation for various causes. Think of it as Kickstarter for lobbying. Someone proposes a cause that they believe needs a voice, and they set an amount needed. People pledge to back it, and if enough backers are found, they will partner with another lobbying group with a similar interest, and fight for your cause. It’s definitely an interesting idea, and worth checking out.
http://www.wethelobby.com/

View the original article here

Will this gadget solve all of your neck pain problems?

Sometimes our muscles get tired, so we go and get a massage. However, if you have ever experienced chin, neck, or facial muscle pain, you’ve probably discovered that there aren’t many people who are going to know how to properly massage your face. I can’t seem to tell if this is a serious product or not, but the Rhythm Slim Chin Muscle Exercise Beauty Anti-Aging Face Neck Jaw Pain Gadget (yes, that’s the real name) looks as if it is made to fix this very particular problem.

It looks extremely silly, but might do what its advertising states. There are no batteries required as it is merely based on resistance. Placed under your chin, you press down on the top piston, holding down for ten seconds at a time. If this wonder machine does all it says that it will do, you will have less facial muscle cramps, fewer wrinkles, and lessen sagging skin. Of course this mega product won’t come cheap, so you’ll have to be willing to fork out $136 if you want to try this odd machine out.

View the original article here

Need to spice up your table tennis games?

Table Tennis is taken extremely seriously as a sport. I mean, it’s actually part of the Olympics, so there is definitely a degree of physical exertion it takes to play this game. However, if you just want some friends over, and enjoy playing the game casually, it’s hard to get more than two to play what with all the swinging and running around. That’s why the Quad Table Tennis set is such a great option for gatherings.

These four angled tables will give you much more of a challenge, as your table can now be spread over an entire room if you?d like. The point of this game however, is not to get the other players to miss, but for you to get the ball into the center hole that is on each players table. Be ready to drop some money on this game though, as it will cost about $250.

Need to spice up your table tennis games?

Table Tennis is taken extremely seriously as a sport. I mean, it’s actually part of the Olympics, so there is definitely a degree of physical exertion it takes to play this game. However, if you just want some friends over, and enjoy playing the game casually, it’s hard to get more than two to play what with all the swinging and running around. That’s why the Table Tennis For Four set is such a great option for gatherings.

These four angled tables will give you much more of a challenge, as your table can now be spread over an entire room if you?d like. The point of this game however, is not to get the other players to miss, but for you to get the ball into the center hole that is on each players table. Be ready to drop some money on this game though, as it will cost about $250.

http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=82014Need to spice up your table tennis games?

Table Tennis is taken extremely seriously as a sport. I mean, it’s actually part of the Olympics, so there is definitely a degree of physical exertion it takes to play this game. However, if you just want some friends over, and enjoy playing the game casually, it’s hard to get more than two to play what with all the swinging and running around. That’s why the Table Tennis For Four set is such a great option for gatherings.

These four angled tables will give you much more of a challenge, as your table can now be spread over an entire room if you?d like. The point of this game however, is not to get the other players to miss, but for you to get the ball into the center hole that is on each players table. Be ready to drop some money on this game though, as it will cost about $250.

http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=82014

View the original article here

Lift Out Coffee Table Mechanism adds some lift to your existing furniture

There are a few of us in the world that do not possess a dining table. Although, there are some who own one, and just feel like eating at a different seating area in the house. Oftentimes, the living room is the most comfortable place to eat, because we like to watch television during a meal. However, crouching over a plate of food on the coffee table can be hard on your back, or mean that you are definitely going to get something on your clothes, or the floor.

That’s why this Lift Out Coffee Table Mechanism looks to be so promising. The top of the table not only comes up from the lower portion, but it also extends closer to you, so your lap will be safe from most spilled foods. It also works well for studying if you don’t happen to own a desk either. However, try not to put more than 20-23 pounds on it, or it might tip. At $199, this is pretty expensive, considering that it doesn’t include the rest of the table. However, if you already have a table that you’re attached to, this will simply add new functionality to it.

View the original article here

Inkless Graphite Quill

The art of writing seems to be disappearing as time goes on. By writing, I mean things like penmanship. These days we spend more time on the computer typing emails and status updates than we do with a pencil, pen or any other writing implement. Although, very now and then we like to write a letter to that relative who lives far, far away and won’t have anything to do with technology. Sure, you could use a regular old mechanical pencil or ball point pen, but why not try out something new?

The Inkless Graphite Quill has been hand-sculpted out of graphite, and will give you the feel of writing with a quill, without all that mess of ink. It will last for up to 9 years of daily use, and won’t smudge your hands or the paper. It should come as no shock that this 4 in x 1.5 in writing utensil would cost $18, seeing as it lasts so long. Of course, if you lose it, then it won’t last nearly that length of time.

View the original article here

Need to spice up your table tennis games?

Table Tennis is taken extremely seriously as a sport. I mean, it’s actually part of the Olympics, so there is definitely a degree of physical exertion it takes to play this game. However, if you just want some friends over, and enjoy playing the game casually, it’s hard to get more than two to play what with all the swinging and running around. That’s why the Quad Table Tennis set is such a great option for gatherings.

These four angled tables will give you much more of a challenge, as your table can now be spread over an entire room if you?d like. The point of this game however, is not to get the other players to miss, but for you to get the ball into the center hole that is on each players table. Be ready to drop some money on this game though, as it will cost about $250.

Need to spice up your table tennis games?

Table Tennis is taken extremely seriously as a sport. I mean, it’s actually part of the Olympics, so there is definitely a degree of physical exertion it takes to play this game. However, if you just want some friends over, and enjoy playing the game casually, it’s hard to get more than two to play what with all the swinging and running around. That’s why the Table Tennis For Four set is such a great option for gatherings.

These four angled tables will give you much more of a challenge, as your table can now be spread over an entire room if you?d like. The point of this game however, is not to get the other players to miss, but for you to get the ball into the center hole that is on each players table. Be ready to drop some money on this game though, as it will cost about $250.

http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=82014Need to spice up your table tennis games?

Table Tennis is taken extremely seriously as a sport. I mean, it’s actually part of the Olympics, so there is definitely a degree of physical exertion it takes to play this game. However, if you just want some friends over, and enjoy playing the game casually, it’s hard to get more than two to play what with all the swinging and running around. That’s why the Table Tennis For Four set is such a great option for gatherings.

These four angled tables will give you much more of a challenge, as your table can now be spread over an entire room if you?d like. The point of this game however, is not to get the other players to miss, but for you to get the ball into the center hole that is on each players table. Be ready to drop some money on this game though, as it will cost about $250.

http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=82014

View the original article here

Will this gadget solve all of your neck pain problems?

Sometimes our muscles get tired, so we go and get a massage. However, if you have ever experienced chin, neck, or facial muscle pain, you’ve probably discovered that there aren’t many people who are going to know how to properly massage your face. I can’t seem to tell if this is a serious product or not, but the Rhythm Slim Chin Muscle Exercise Beauty Anti-Aging Face Neck Jaw Pain Gadget (yes, that’s the real name) looks as if it is made to fix this very particular problem.

It looks extremely silly, but might do what its advertising states. There are no batteries required as it is merely based on resistance. Placed under your chin, you press down on the top piston, holding down for ten seconds at a time. If this wonder machine does all it says that it will do, you will have less facial muscle cramps, fewer wrinkles, and lessen sagging skin. Of course this mega product won’t come cheap, so you’ll have to be willing to fork out $136 if you want to try this odd machine out.

View the original article here

Ferret posts this week

22 January 2012

reprise

Here’s a quick round-up of Red Ferret posts from the past week for those who missed them. Enjoy.

View the original article here

LED ceiling tiles bring the sky indoors

Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO) is a continual hotbed of innovation. They recently introduced their latest – a luminous ceiling made of LED’s that simulates both outdoor light and passing clouds.

Created in collaboration with Fraunhofer’s partners at LEiDs GmbH, each ceiling tile consists of 280 LED’s, with a matt white diffuser film attached beneath them to ensure that individual lights aren’t noticed. Red, blue, green and white LED’s combine to produce full spectrum lighting that lights up an entire room. With periodic lighting fluctuations, the “daylight” appears random and natural.

A virtual sky prototype, with 34,560 LEDs spanning an area of 34 square metersm will be on display at the CeBIT trade show in Hanover from March 6 -10, 2012 at the joint Fraunhofer booth in Hall 9, Booth E 08. This fascinating and potentially very useful virtual sky currently costs approximately 1,000 euros per square meter, but this price will come down. It will be a case of supply and demand – the more you want it, the more they’ll produce and the more cost-effective each luminous ceiling will be. Wonder how long it will take for this to make it to the States and into offices with all those multi-cubicles?

View the original article here

Illuminating Pet Leash makes nightly walks an easier task

It’s still cold and dreary out, and even though you?ve settled in for the evening, you dog still needs to go out one last time. Evening in this part of the year means darkness at a very early time, so it should only make sense that you have some form of illumination with you out on your frigid stroll with Fido. You could always bring your phone as a light, but when you need to pick up what your dog leaves behind, keep your dog from running off, and be putting light where it needs to be, you find that you are often one hand short.

Combination gadgets like the Illuminating Pet Leash make life much easier. It is a retractable leash that comes with a mounted flashlight, and a compartment for storing waste bags. You will need a trio of AAA batteries and $40, but that is a small price to pay for the convenience that it gives you.

View the original article here

Install Plan B after you lose your Android phone to track it down [Daily Freeware]

Smartphones can do so many wonderful tasks, and these days most of us would feel lost without our favorite mobile device. Unfortunately, sometimes you lose track of your phone. Maybe it slipped out of your pocket when you were in a cab, or perhaps someone swiped it from your table at the coffee shop. Whatever the case, you can at least be comforted, since you installed tracking software on your phone. Wait, you didn’t? Well if you have an Android device, there’s still hope.

Plan B is a tracking app for your Android phone that is meant to be installed after your phone has been lost. Just login to the Android Marketplace and tell this app to remotely download to your phone. Within minutes, you’ll receive emails detailing the phone’s current location. It’s always best to install tracking software before there’s a problem, but it looks like this might be a good solution in case you forget.

View the original article here

Moshi ClearGuard keeps your Apple keyboard safe from harm

When it comes to wireless Apple Wireless Keyboards, you need a bit of a specific kind of protector as the keys are a bit short. These covers aren’t hard to find, but it is very difficult to find thin, clear covers. You will however, find thick, pink, blue, and green silicone protectors that won’t let you see the keys properly.

Recently I stumbled upon the Moshi ClearGuard keyboard protector, and it looks to be quite promising. It boasts being one-fifth the thickness of other silicone protectors, but will still give you the squishy comfort of something between your fingers and the hard plastic keys. It does cost $25, but considering the money and time it will save you if you happen to spill your coffee all over your keyboard, this is a steal.

View the original article here

Who needs a hoverboard, when you have this Airboard?

When we have dreams about the future, we’re always thinking of flying cars. The skyways being lined with flying vehicles that are hundreds of feet above our heads. Of course, we don’t quite have the technology just yet to make this a reality, but we have baby steps that let us keep dreaming.

While normally the prospect of riding on a levitating piece of machinery is something that is envied, I can’t say the same for this expensive mode of transportation. The Airboard Levitating Scooter is about 6 feet tall, and will zoom around at a unimpressive 15 miles per hour if it’s on asphalt. Steering is done with your weight, although there are handle bars to give you some sort of stability. This is an engine-powered fan that runs off of petrol, and can only run for about an hour. This would be a fun amusement park ride, but to own one for $14,500 seems a bit insane.

View the original article here

Cuppow Transformer Top turns a canning jar into a coffee cup

Our generation seems to be rather concerned with ?going green?. This means recycling, using less plastics, and trying to reuse things as opposed to throwing them away. If you happen to have a canning jar lying around, then Cuppow might just be a first step for reusing an old item if you haven’t started already.

Cuppow is a silicone coffee lid that will fit underneath the cap of a canning jar, where normally a round silver plate would go. This way you can sip coffee, tea, or any other beverage, as if you were drinking from a fancy travel mug. It only costs $7.99, but would mean you’d need to have a jar on hand if you wanted to put it to use. Take caution when drinking anything that is hot, as a glass jar doesn’t do such a great job of insulating, which means it will get toasty on the outside.

Cuppow Transformer Top turns a canning jar into a coffee cup

Our generation seems to be rather concerned with ?going green?. This means recycling, using less plastics, and trying to reuse things as opposed to throwing them away. If you happen to have a canning jar lying around, then Cuppow might just be a first step for reusing an old item if you haven’t started already.

Cuppow is a silicone coffee lid that will fit underneath the cap of a canning jar, where normally a round silver plate would go. This way you can sip coffee, tea, or any other beverage, as if you were drinking from a fancy travel mug. It only costs $7.99, but would mean you’d need to have a jar on hand if you wanted to put it to use. Take caution when drinking anything that is hot, as a glass jar doesn’t do such a great job of insulating, which means it will get toasty on the outside.

http://www.cuppow.com/

View the original article here

More Big Bang Theory Science!

First, I have posted an article about the most recent season 5 episode, "The Speckerman Recurrence," which features Sheldon watching the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics awards streaming live online. This episode, therefore, took place on December 10, 2011.

Also, I've posted three more "classics" from season one into our episode archives:

It's definitely fun to catch up on some of these earlier episodes. While the dynamic has certainly changed over the years, specifically with the integration of Amy & Bernadette as regular female characters, the show's done a very good job of maintaining itself. Here's hoping that there are many more seasons of science-filled mirth in store for us!

View the original article here

The Google+ Space Hangout Returns!

For the second week running, something uber-awesome happened.

Yesterday, Fraser Cain, of Universe Today fame, once again hosted the weekly Google+ Space Hangout! Although it is still technically "an experiment," Fraser seems right at home taming some of the best space science bloggers and writers in the country who hung out online to discuss everything from dark matter to exoplanets.

This week's Hangout was especially cool as it ran right at the tail end of the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin, Texas. Needless to say, we weren't short of topics to discuss. The full Hangout video can be watched below. Note to self: next time, don't sit on a swivel chair while getting carried away discussing the awesomeness of exoplanetary discoveries...

The weekly Space Hangout can be tuned into LIVE on Google+ every Thursday at 10 am PST (1 pm EST), but the recordings can be watched shortly after. Keep an eye on my Google+ for details. Don't miss it!

View the original article here

Book Review: Fool Me Twice

Politicians often make decisions that have an impact on science, but because they usually lack basic scientific literacy, they really don't have an understanding of the scope involved in these decisions. In his new book, Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America, filmmaker and science advocate Shawn Lawrence Otto argues that scientists need to become more engaged in the political realm and politicians need to have a better scientific understanding in order to make more informed decisions.

Among at least one Republican candidates for president, there is some concern about whether this science antagonism is good for their party, let alone the country as a whole. In his book, Otto explains how scientific ignorance on both the left and right ends of the political spectrum are leading to decisions which are based more on ideology than on fact-based evidence. In order to solve the significant challenges our country will face in the years ahead, we must invoke a solid understanding of science.

Otto's argument goes beyond mere pragmatism, though, making the case that the anti-authoritarian nature of scientific thinking is fundamentally and ideologically tied into the character of American democracy.?This book is a critical values check and should be required reading for every American politician ... and citizen.

You can find out more about the book by reading our full review.

View the original article here

Virus Attacks Japanese Space Agency Computer

Potentially sensitive information has been leaked from a Japanese space agency (JAXA) computer. Information about Japan's unmanned H-2 Transfer Vehicle may have been compromised. It is currently unknown how the virus was contracted.

A computer virus infected a data terminal at Japan's space agency, causing a leak of potentially sensitive information, officials announced today (Jan. 13).

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) discovered the malware Jan. 6 on a terminal used by one of its employees. A trace showed that the computer virus had gathered information from the machine, officials said.

JAXA still isn't sure how the virus got on the computer, or who put it there.

"Information stored in the computer as well as system information that is accessible by the employee have been leaking outside," JAXA said in a statement today. "We are now confirming the leaked information and investigating the cause."

SCIENCE CHANNEL: Top 10 Computer Viruses

The employee in question works on JAXA's H-2 Transfer Vehicle, an unmanned vessel that ferries cargo to the International Space Station. Information about the robotic spacecraft and its operations may thus have been compromised, officials said, along with stored email addresses and system login information accessed from the infected computer.

This same computer has had issues before. JAXA detected a different virus on the machine last August and removed the software. They kept monitoring the computer and noticed further anomalies, leading to the virus detection on Jan. 6.

JAXA also has determined that the computer "sent out some information" sometime between July 6 and Aug. 11 of 2011, officials said.

The space agency is working to minimize the damage and prevent further incursions.

"With the above backdrop, passwords for all accessible systems from the computer have been immediately changed in order to prevent any abuse of possibly leaked information, and we are currently investigating the scale of damage and the impact," JAXA said in the statement. "Also, all other computer terminals are being checked for virus infections."

NEWS: Japan Reportedly Building Vigilante Virus Assassin Squad

Computer viruses aren't just a problem on terra firma anymore. In 2008, a laptop used by astronauts aboard the International Space Station was found to be infected with a virus designed to swipe passwords from online gamers.

That malware proved to be more of a mysterious nuisance than a real problem, NASA officials said.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Copyright 2011 Space, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Teaching Scientific Values

I've been thinking a lot about scientific values lately, since watching a talk by neurologist Sam Harris, where he is speaking on whether science can say anything about morality. I won't speak to his larger point (other than to direct readers to his book The Moral Landscape), but I will pull this one quote out of his statements (starting around the 19:30 minute mark on the video):

... science has always been in the values business. We simply cannot speak about facts without embracing certain values. It's not that you can't get an "ought" from an "is," you simply can't get an "is" without embracing certain "oughts." Consider the simplest statement of scientific fact. Water is two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. This seems to be as value-free an utterance as human beings ever make. What do we do if someone doubts the truth of this proposition? What if someone comes forward and says, "I'm sorry, but that's not how I choose to think about water"?...

What do we do with that person? All we can do is appeal to scientific values. If a person doesn't share those values the conversation is over. We must appeal to the value of understanding the world. The value of evidence - in this case some hundreds of years of evidence in chemistry. The value of logical consistency? Much of what we believe about the world is predicated on the validity of our beliefs about the structure of water. If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide that proves someone should value it. If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you invoke to show that they should value logic?

Now, Harris is using these points as part of his overall discussion of morality ... but I want to go another direction with his invocation of the "values" of science. My undergraduate degree includes a minor in philosophy, so in addition to my work in science, I also have familiarity with the philosophy of science. This notion that scientific investigation requires inherent value judgments resonates with that part of my education.

Really, these "values" all represent something which I gather together under the general umbrella of "scientific reasoning" in my article on skills needed to study physics. At the time, however, I didn't make the connection between scientific reasoning and any sort of value system, but the connection is certainly there. As Harris points out, scientific reasoning is at its heart a decision about what sort of things we value.

In other words, as I'll argue, the primary goal of science instruction - especially in the early years - is (or at least should be) to instill these intellectual values into students.

Political Correctness and Scientific Values

Immediately, I can sense some readers balking at the idea that a science teacher should be involved in the teaching of any sort of values, but I say that these values are so crucial to the scientific enterprise, and making students into rationale thinking adults, that they can't be overlooked. The problem with science education is that it's stepped away from teaching scientific thinking (including scientific reasoning and scientific values) in favor of a spattering of facts and procedures.

Part of this reason has been the politically correct need to give all opinions equal weight, even those which are dangerous to scientific teaching.

A few years back I wrote the article "Why Study Physics?" which puts forth my basic argument for why scientific literacy is so important to our society and culture. That article includes the following quote by Richard Feynman, describing what science is:

Science is a way to teach how something gets to be known, what is not known, to what extent things are known (for nothing is known absolutely) , how to handle doubt and uncertainty, what the rules of evidence are, how to think about things so that judgments are made, how to distinguish truth from fraud, and show.

I then suffered from some bizarre bout of political correctness and said: "The question then becomes (assuming you agree with the merits of the above way of thinking) how this form of scientific thinking can be imparted upon the population."

Looking back on it, though, whether or not anyone "agrees" with the merits of scientific thinking (as described by Feynman) is irrelevant.

First of all, I find it difficult to imagine that anyone would stand up to oppose any of the above thought processes. Even the most anti-scientific person is hardly likely to take to the floor of Congress (where many of these anti-science people seem to gather) and say, "I don't believe that knowing how to handle doubt and uncertainty has any merit." While the anti-science crowd often make their livings from people's inability to distinguish truth from fraud, I'd say that they still see the merit in it, at least in their own lives.

Second, even those who oppose such thinking (probably on a subconscious level) don't have the right to prevent it from being imparted upon the population. If their way of thinking would result in people being unable to distinguish truth from fraud and show, or to be unable to think about things so judgments can be made, then their thought system is just plain inadequate to the task of dealing with the world.

Why Creation Science is Dangerous

At the beginning of 2012, Indiana's State Senate (my home state) introduced Senate Bill 89, which consists of this text:

"the governing body of a school corporation may require the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life, including creation science, within the school corporation."

I felt strongly enough about this to contact my state senator. (New Hampshire has a more complex bill, which I'm sure I'll get to in another post.) Once I laid out my bona fides - my science, education, and writing background - I got to the meat of my protest:

Science must address the evidence, and by its very nature saying that a natural phenomenon can only be explained by reference to a non-natural phenomenon is anti-scientific. Allowing public schools to teach "creation science" as part of an established science curriculum puts us in danger of having students ill prepared to understand how science really works. The Creation/Evolution debate may be worthy of discussion in a social studies or religion class, perhaps as some sort of elective, but there is nothing scientific about "creation science," and it has regularly been shot down as an attempt to inject religion into science curricula. The current wording seems to allow it to be taught on equal footing with evolution, which would be doing a disservice to the students, parents, and taxpayers in our state, who expect that science classes will actually inform students about science, rather than be used to indoctrinate non-scientific thinking.

To my way of thinking, the invocation of God is not the biggest problem with "creation science." God could exist, after all, despite the general lack of evidence. The problem with it is that running up against a natural mystery and invoking an un-natural explanation is not scientific and has no place in a science classroom.

Teaching this as a valid scientific methodology is equivalent to teaching randomly picking numbers as a valid addition process in math class!

Scientific Values

In other words, creation science fails to mesh with the basic values at the heart of the scientific enterprise.

Especially since becoming a parent, I have firmly come to believe that the task of teaching science is really the task of instilling scientific values, and the earlier the better. Children are inherent question machines, and the way we respond to these questions will teach them how to answer questions throughout the rest of their lives.?Responding to questions with honesty and an open sense of inquiry, to see if they can figure out a way to find the answer on their own, either through investigation, experimentation, or research, is probably the best thing you can do for instilling scientific values.

I certainly realize how hard it is (Kids ask so many questions!), but the good thing is that this process tends to be a lot of fun for everyone involved.

What values are necessary for the scientist (or at least the good scientist)? Some are proposed by Harris, and I've added a couple more that I've thought up:

Understanding the World/Universe is a Worthy EndeavorRespect for EvidencePrinciples of Logical ConsistencyLearn from OthersCommunicate Results to Others

How's this list look? Can you be a good scientist without any of these? Should some be rephrased? Do you have any suggestions for scientific values that I've missed?

I'll be exploring these values in more details in the coming weeks, and I look forward to advice on how to help flesh out the list and make it useful to teachers of science.

View the original article here

Biggest Physics Stories of 2011

Two physics stories in 2012 easily eclipsed all the others, making headlines all over the place. Here are the two stories that caused the entire physics world to sit up and take notice:

Easily the most significant of these stories, if it pans out, would be the discovery of neutrinos that move faster than the speed of light. If further evidence suggests that this is happening, then 2011 will become a defining, benchmark year for physics.

Physicists have a tendency to define physics into three basic epochs:

Pre-Newtonian physics (which really isn't considered physics)Classical (Newtonian) physicsModern physics

The modern physics era is usually defined as beginning in 1905, when Einstein published the papers that basically formed the origin of both relativity and quantum physics.

If neutrinos are moving faster than the speed of light, then 2011 will be yet another dividing line, because physicists will have to completely revise what they've believed they understand about the universe, possibly adopting some form of variable speed of light cosmology, which has until now been just a fringe, abstract hypothetical conjecture.

However, don't throw out your old physics textbooks just yet! Physicists are still extremely skeptical about these neutrino results, and rightly so. The whole situation is caused by results out of only the OPERA experiment at CERN and, though follow-up research has supported the original findings, there's still very little overall evidence for such a bold claim. In addition to more work at OPERA, scientists at other facilities are hoping to test the findings to get confirming evidence. It'll really be in 2012 that these results will stand or fall ... but then it took over a decade from 1905 for Einstein's papers to bear fruit, as well!

One of the main goals of the Large Hadron Collider has been to search for the elusive Higgs boson, the particle which rounds out the Standard Model of particle physics by giving the other particles their mass. See, the problem with the Standard Model is that it's too perfect. The symmetries involved match up in such a way that, if it described the universe, there would be no mass of any kind.

Enter the Higgs boson. This particle is a crucial component of the Higgs mechanism, which throws the symmetries involved off just enough to allow for the observed masses to manifest in our universe. In other words, it's the particle that makes "stuff" out of energy.

For a few weeks in November and December, it was sounding like CERN scientists were going to announce that they'd discovered the Higgs boson, but these rumors appeared to be overblown. Instead, they offered only "a hint of a detection." Normally, this annual report of findings doesn't come out until the new year, but CERN decided to release them before the holiday season this year.

These results, which come from the ATLAS and CMS projects, both show some data bumps which scientists think may correspond with regions where the Higgs boson would reside. Right now, the scientists involved are saying there's about a 50% chance that the results are the Higgs.?Next year, the research will ramp up in these areas and we'll have better confirmation (or refutation) of the results.

The ATLAS results indicate a mass of 126 GeV while the CMS results give 124 GeV. (GeV = gigaelectron-volts, which is an energy measurement corresponding to mass. A hydrogen atom is about 1 GeV. These results would give the Higgs boson about the same mass as a cesium atom.) It looks like the results do narrow the range of the Higgs boson's energy level to somewhere between 115 GeV and 130 GeV, giving the CERN scientists a range to explore in the future, even if they don't find further evidence right at the 124-126 range.

If these are the right energies for the Higgs, then the current version of the theory will need to be modified to account for it. There's a possibility that something like supersymmetry (or something new) would need included to make the theoretical Higgs boson match up with the one we ultimately observe.

This isn't to say that other physics stories haven't proven interesting as well. For example, an internet video demonstrating quantum levitation went viral this year, ending up ultimately on The Today Show. Ultimately it caught my attention by sparking a fun segment on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report.

Possibly one of the biggest stories in 2011 hasn't been strongly tied to science, but rather to economics. The economy is still tottering along, trying to right itself, and science research budgets have been slashed along with everything else. Easily the most iconic aspect of humanity's space program, the costly space shuttle was retired in 2011, calling into question man's future in space. Though this means little for science itself (which can easily be carried out with unmanned missions), there's certainly something emotional that gets lost in removing direct human experience from the equation.

But science isn't safe from these cuts either. For much of the year, it looked likely that Congress was going to cut funding to the James Webb Space Telescope, the currently-being-built successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Without it, we'll be very hard pressed to observe the universe in greater detail, which is needed to gain a better understanding of the role played by both dark matter and dark energy in the formation and development of the cosmos. (In 2012, there may also be more Earth-based experiments that shed light on these.)

In November, however, some budget-wrangling saved the James Webb Space Telescope, though it did put a cap on how overbudget the project is allowed to go.

With an election year ramping up, this certainly isn't the last we'll hear of funding cuts to science research projects. As with the stories above, it looks like 2012 will help decide how this one comes out.

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Underwater City A Life Saver or Titanic Failure?

When the idea emerged in 2008, environmentalists balked. So did reasonable people everywhere. Dutch architect Moshé Zwarts suggested draining Amsterdam's canals, building an enormous parking and entertainment complex under the city, and then refilling the canals. Presto! More space!

Granted, Amsterdam did -- and does -- have little space to spare, but the project would have cost an estimated $14.4 billion. Not to mention the tiny problem of exhaust buildup. And logistics. Mercifully the idea was backburnered. Zwarts' architectural firm returned to making futuristic designs for structures like bridges, bus stations, and viaducts.

PHOTOS: Flood Waters Along the Mississippi River

Now Green Prophet writer Maurice Picow has dug up the old plan, calling it at the very least far more feasible than a domed Atlantis-type city of science fiction fame. Picow compares Zwarts' original idea to the man-made floating islands concept for areas facing the prospect of rising waters. After mulling it over, he ultimately decides that the islands "may hold water better."

As widely criticized as Zwarts' vision was at the time, there's something about it that still captures the imagination. Picow's post prompted Gizmodo's Nick Broughall to wonder what had happened to Amsterdam's giant underground city.

'Earthscraper' Takes Architecture Underground

"It wasn’t a universally loved idea, obviously, but had it been approved, [it] could have created an amazing tourist destination or a superb underground lair for an evil mastermind," he wrote.

It might be time to think of some radical architectural ideas for Amsterdam again, though. Storms across the area recently caused massive flooding. And there hasn't been an Aquaman sighting yet.

Image: A rendering by Dutch architect Moshe Zwarts from 2008 proposed creating a cityscape underneath Amsterdam. Credit: Zwarts and Jansma Architects.

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