Cool Tool – Low Rise Cot

luxurylite_cot1.jpg

This is a gadget that would come in handy if the wife and I ever started camping again. Really, for any travel where you don’t know what kind of bedding, if any, you’ll have, the low rise cot would be perfect.

luxurylite_cot2.jpgThis is one of the lightest, and most comfortable sleeping “mats” I have ever found. When rolled up and compacted it is smaller than all the other mats out there, so it takes up less room in a pack or pannier. Only drawback is how to use it effectively in a winter climate. In the summer in a tent, cooler is good most times as you can sleep better since you are not sweltering in the heat. It takes no more time to take down and set up than inflating a thermorest or other compact mattress. Lastly, for larger guys like my self, it distributes my weight better. The stiff feeling I get after a sleep on most foamies, thermorests, and mattresses does not come about on this cot. For these reasons the Low Rise Cot is getting popular with the cycling crowd.

— Ben Eadie

LuxuryLite Low Rise Cot
$190
Available from LuxuryLite

[tags]Cool Tools, Low rise cot[/tags]

Linux Read/Write NTFS driver

(via OSNews)

This is practically old news now, but the Linux NTFS team announced last Friday, July 14th, that a public release of the NTFS for Linux driver is now available.

Hello,

As part of the Linux-NTFS project, I’m happy to announce my contribution to ntfsmount and libntfs which resulted ntfs-3g, a read-write ntfs driver, capable for unlimited file creation and deletion.

The driver was successfully tested very exhaustively for a longer period of time by many ways and methods, creating and destroying millions of files and directories on newly created images, and on over 40 real, very diverse NTFS images collected over the last four years.

[tags]Linux NTFS driver, Linux, NTFS[/tags]

Turtleskin Snake Armor

Going someplace a bit off the beaten path?  You might just want some SnakeArmor.  Lightweight clothing with the strength to repel bites of large snakes like rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths.  I don’t ever find myself in places where I would need this, but I imagine hunters and folks who work in the woods could use these.

TurtleSkin SnakeArmor’s patented technology produces the tightest weave ever made with high-strength fibers. Its weave is so tight, that snake fangs, briar, thorns, and cactus can’t slip past, while TurtleSkin’s ballistic fibers are so strong they resist breaking. This makes the fabric extremely protective while remaining lightweight and flexible. U.S. Patents 5,565,264 & 5,837,623 as well as other patents pending.

If this sounds like the kind of protection you need, hit their online store and buy to your heart’s content.

[tags]Turtleskin Snake Armor, Protective clothing[/tags]

Superheated metal moves liquid uphill

I’ve been reading the latest issue of American Scientist in my spare time lately. A really cool article caught my eye, and I thought I’d pass it on for the more geeky, science-loving types in my audience. While I think half my readership isn’t into the science stuff I enjoy, I believe that other reader might be. For him, I pass along this cool story of liquid moving in the wrong direction.

SCIENCE OBSERVER
Going Against the Flow
Sometimes particles prefer to propel themselves uphill
Fenella Saunders

Particles strive for the life of a couch potato—sinking into a spot that has the least energy, where gravity can’t pull them down any farther and movement is at a minimum. Getting a particle moving requires keeping it off kilter, out of equilibrium. But particles in such a state tend to bounce all over; harnessing their movement in a single desired direction is the goal of many nanoscale devices.

One way to do this is with a ratchet effect—a mechanism that uses spatial asymmetry and energy gradients to make movement easier in one direction than another. It turns out that in some cases, ratchets not only control movement, but can also move particles in unexpected directions—away from a minimum energy state, the molecular equivalent of a creek climbing uphill under its own power.

. . .

If a skillet is heated to an extremely hot temperature, between 200 and 300 degrees Celsius, drops of water flicked into the pan will skitter across the surface, remaining intact for a minute or so. A surface not quite so hot will boil away the water droplets instantly, but the superheated surface instead instantly turns the bottom of the droplets into a layer of steam. Vapor is a poor heat conductor, so the steam insulates the drops from further boiling. It also provides them with a means of movement: The water drops bounce around like hovercraft on a cushion of air.

Linke and his colleagues did not use a smooth metal surface, but one covered with a sawtooth pattern. The teeth inclined more steeply in one direction than the other—an asymmetrical surface, and therefore a ratchet mechanism. Millimeter-sized water droplets piped onto the superheated sawtooth surface zip off in one direction like airport passengers on a moving walkway, reaching speeds of up to 5 centimeters per second, even if the surface is tilted so that the droplets have to climb uphill. As the investigators reported in the April 21 issue of Physical Review Letters, the phenomenon works for many other liquids, such as ethanol and liquid nitrogen, although the temperature at which the Leidenfrost effect kicks in varies from 50 to 150 degrees above the boiling temperature of the liquid.

More details on the science behind this in the full article. Also, access the full issue online, where many of the articles are freely readable. Some of the really juicy stuff requires membership ($28-$70 for 1-3 years in the US), but after reading a single issue, I’m considering a subscription.

[tags]American Scientist, Liquid moving uphill, Cool geeky science stuff[/tags]

RPU – Ray Tracing Processing Unit

(via Tingilinde)
I have no details on this beyond what the brief note at Tingilinde, but apparently the August 2006 issue of Scientific American has an introductory article to new ray tracing hardware.  The information in the article was part of a talk at SigGraph 2005.  Looks like I’ll need to head to the bookstore and pick up the magazine (or possibly get the digital edition).
[tags]Scientific American, RPU, Ray Tracing Processing Unit, Ray Tracing[/tags]

Superhero stamps for the US postal service

stamps_dccomics_600s-b.jpgIt appears I learned about these just in time – the new superhero stamps are due out Friday, July 21st (edit: was Thursday, July 20th). So tomorrow Friday after I drop the kids off at school, I suppose I’ll need to swing by the post office and buy a couple of sheets of stamps. Then, I can take two of each stamp and mail one of each of them to my children. My dad did this for me when I was younger, and that’s what got me started collecting stamps. Sadly, I no longer know where all my stamps are. Nothing I had was worth much anyway, but I hate losing the collection.  Just for kicks, maybe I should ask my mother if she still has my stamps.
To see a larger view of the stamps, click on the above image. The full view will open in a new window.  To see the full list of heros on the stamps, follow the link to the full article: Continue reading “Superhero stamps for the US postal service”

FDA likely to say no to bionic eye

LiveScience.com recently posted this article about the FDA’s refusal to approve a bionic eye. I changed the headline to indicate the FDA is likely to say no. Here’s why:

In the 1970s TV show “The Six Million Dollar Man,” the strapping young astronaut got a bionic eye. A U.S. company had hoped that next year that might be your grandmother. Not so fast, a federal advisory panel said Friday.

A tiny telescope designed to be implanted in the eyes of some elderly patients should not receive Food and Drug Administration approval, the panel recommended on a 10-3 vote.

Later in the article:

The FDA typically follows the recommendations of its outside panels of experts, but isn’t required to do so.

So it is likely the bionic eye will be rejected, but it isn’t a final decision yet. Now, on to the story of the eye.

The first-of-its-kind device is called the Implantable Miniature Telescope. The telephoto lens could enable some patients to do away with the special glasses and handheld telescopes they now use to compensate for the loss in central vision caused by age-related macular degeneration, according to VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies Inc., its manufacturer.

. . .

The device is designed to be implanted only in one eye, which would provide central vision. The other eye, left untouched, would be responsible for peripheral vision, leaving the brain to combine the two views to form a single image. Getting used to that could require patients to undergo professional rehabilitation, the FDA said.

The surgery to implant the telescope is more difficult than conventional cataract surgery and can lead to damage to the inside of the cornea, according to the company. Patients also may experience a higher rate of loss of cells lining the cornea, which can require removal of the device and a cornea transplant.

In clinical trials, 141 of 193 patients implanted with the device showed after a year improved distance and near visual acuity, defined as the sharpness of vision in reading an eye chart, according to FDA documents. Ten patients reported a loss in acuity in either distance or near vision. Doctors removed eight of the devices, four of them from patients dissatisfied with how they worked, FDA documents show.

And more at the above link. And as a co-worker pointed out, that annoying sound whenever you use the bionics would probably drive people crazy. More so than everything slowing down around you when using a bionic leg.

[tags]Bionic eye, FDA[/tags]

Are you getting enough caffeine?

(via boingboing)
I drink Mountain Dew.  I actually like the taste of it.  A few years ago, I converted to diet Mountain Dew, since as much as I drink meant I was taking in an extra 500-1000 calories a day in sugar.  I know the diet drinks have other problems associated with them, but Mountain Dew is one of the few caffeinated drinks I can tolerate, and I’ve not figured how to get more sleep on a consistent basis yet.

That all said, if you ever wondered if you were getting enough/too much/too little caffeine from your beverage of choice, then cspinet has a guide to help you determine how much you are getting.  For the record, here are some numbers that help me decide what to consume.

  • Coffee, grande (16 oz.) Starbucks -  550
  • NoDoz, Regular Strength (1) – 100
  • Mountain Dew (12 oz.) – 55
  • Water, caffeinated (Edge 2 O), (8 oz.) – 70

Now I need to track down an affordable provider of that caffeinated water and I’ll be able to drop my Mountain Dew habit *AND* get a boost to my caffeine intake.  W00t!

[tags]Caffeine[/tags]

Astronomy picture of the day

nlc_molten02.jpg

Noctilucent clouds over Sweden

Explanation: Sometimes it’s night on the ground but day in the air. As the Earth rotates to eclipse the Sun, sunset rises up from the ground. Therefore, at sunset on the ground, sunlight still shines on clouds above. Under usual circumstances, a pretty sunset might be visible, but unusual noctilucent clouds float so high up they can be seen well after dark. Pictured above last month, a network of noctilucent clouds cast a colorful but eerie glow after dusk near Vallentuna, Sweden. Although noctilucent clouds are thought to be composed of small ice-coated particles, much remains unknown about them. Recent evidence indicates that at least some noctilucent clouds result from freezing water exhaust from Space Shuttles.

[tags]Astronomy picture of the day, PotD, Astronomy, Noctilucent[/tags]