This is a really fascinating video showing CO2 levels dispersed throughout the atmosphere over a year, as simulated by NASA’s climate modeling program GEOS-5. It’s really interesting to see how the levels change over the year based on plant growth, and also the stark differences between the northern and southern hemispheres. Check it out below, or read about it more over at Wired.
Study looks at the effect of cannabis extract on brain cancer
I’ve seen plenty of stories about people using cannabis to treat brain cancer and other medical problems, but there hasn’t been a lot of hard science looking at this treatment. That’s where this new study is particular interesting, for it does just that – looks at the effects of using two cannabis extracts, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), both by themselves, and also in conjunction with irradiation. The result showed a clear benefit of the cannabis extracts, and the best results were when the treatment included both those extracts and the irradation – where the tumors virtually disappeared. Pretty promising stuff…read more here.
Cool experiment – bowling ball versus feathers, falling
Galileo is usually credited with first describing the idea that objects will fall to the Earth at the same rate, regardless of mass (there’s some debate over whether he actually experimented with this at the Tower of Pisa though). So yes, a feather should fall at the same rate as a bowling ball…but air resistance gets in the way of performing this experiment. Unless you remove the air of course, which is exactly what physicist Brian Cox did in the video below, using an enormous vacuum chamber in Ohio. Great video to show your kids!
Wireless transmission of electricity using ultrasound
Ever since Nikola Tesla demonstrated the wireless transmission of electricity, the world has been fascinated by the idea and countless people have tried to make it work. Physics have continuously gotten in the way…the power transmitted decreases dramatically with distance. UBeam is taking a different approach though…using targeted ultrasound to accomplish this. Electricity is converted to ultrasound, broadcasted to your approximate location, where a receiver then converts it back into electricity. Imagine your iPhone automatically charging when you walk into Starbucks, for example. Pretty cool. Read more about it here.
The possibility of irreversible climate change
A draft UN science report, expected to be approved this week, warns that we’re on the path toward irreversible climate change. We can still avoid that by making significant cuts to CO2 emissions, but the question is, will we? Unless you’re a Republican (sorry, but I call it like I see it), you’ve probably already accepted that the current situation is unsustainable and that immediate change is needed. What will it take? Fortunately, the answer is ‘not much’…well, apart from a decision to change (which in this political climate in the US, is no small feat!). A report from Deutsche Bank finds that rooftop solar will reach grid parity in all 50 states in the US by 2016. This means the cost will be the same or less than getting power from the electric grid (10 states have already reached grid parity). Removing the ‘cost’ argument from the debate will help a ton. What about the reality that solar power is not a 24/7 energy source? Good news there, too. Many companies have been working on energy storage systems, and they’re looking more and more promising (meaning, closer to production!). The latest is interesting…a company called Alevo has been operating out of the spotlight (sort of in stealth mode, though not like some startups)…and expects to be producing hundreds of utility-scale (read:massive) energy storage systems within a year. These 1MWh containers use lithium ferrophosphate and graphite batteries..cool tech. It’s easy to perhaps dismiss Alevo as yet another company with dreams and promises…except this one has raised a billion dollars from Swiss investors. Whoa. So they have the technology, they have the money, and they’re taking over a former Phillips Morris plant in North Carolina. This is a company to watch. Then of course you have Solar City looking to include battery storage systems with every home solar installation within 5-10 years.
So the future is bleak if we do not act…yet advances in technology along with greatly decreased costs is looking to push renewable energy to the forefront, despite the best efforts of Republicans opposing it. Now, just imagine how awesome that industry could be if it actually had broad support! Oh well. It’s a tsunami that can’t be stopped, I think…fortunately!