Leap Motion Sensor

A company named Leap is working on a really impressive motion tracking hardware/software package for PCs.  If you’ve seen the motion tracking on the Xbox or similar game systems you might have a basic idea of the potential, but Leap has made some huge improvements to the resolution of what can be tracked.  It’s tracking fingertips to sub-centimeter accuracy levels, opening up new possibilities for human-machine interaction.  The cost?  A mere $70, which also means that you can expect this to become ubiquitous in future PCs.

In addition to the website linked to above, here’s a cool demo by the company’s CTO:

Anodized Aluminum

This is a pretty cool video that gives a basic overview of anodizing aluminum, a surface protection that you’ll find on many, many products around you.  Kinda amazing that corrosion can be used to product such awesome finishes!

Can GMO be a good thing?

“Genetically Modified” is a term that can mean a lot when it comes to plants, and I think that’s going to be an interesting issue in coming years.  On the one hand, Monsanto is modifying corn to produce a pesticide, and the idea of eating that scares me (just a warning, you’re probably already eating this!).  However, there are applications for GM plants that I’m more supportive of.  For example, scientists are working on making plants more drought-tolerant.  Considering how human-caused climate changed is predicted to alter future weather patterns, and the increasing demand for food due to a rising global population, I think GM applications like this will be necessary.  They also seem to pose less risk to consumers.  However, I fear that consumers will reject ALL GM foods based upon the results of some of the more scary ones, rather than open their minds to the idea that some GM foods may be OK.  History has shown that it’s not a matter of using science to show whether foods are safe or not; just look at how many Americans reject the indisputable science behind climate change.  This is more of an emotional and social issue, and I honestly don’t know what the answer is…but I do think this is a debate we’ll be having in coming years.

Our food supply is global

As a nice reminder of just how linked our global climate and food supply is, bluefin tuna off the California coast are showing levels of radiation indicating exposure at the Fukushima power plant in Japan.  It’s not a high enough level to cause immediate concern, though should serve as a reminder of just how small this planet is, and how the actions of one country can affect the others.

Read more over at Scientific American.

Greenhouse gas emissions hit new record high

Despite overwhelming scientific evidence pointing to the dangers of increased greenhouse gas emissions, our species still managed to hit a record for 2011 with a 3.6% increase at a time when science says we need to be decreasing that instead.  Our record gas emissions have us on track for a 3.5C or higher global temperature rise.  Check out the full report over at Treehugger.

We’re moving the wrong direction and let’s face it, we don’t have a political or social system that will effect the real, tangible change required to avoid high levels of global warming.  This planet will continue to warm and we can expect global climate patterns to change.  Sea levels will rise.  Food production will be impacted (at a time when a grown global population places more demand on that system).  Our children will ask us why we did this to the planet, and we won’t have a good answer…but we cannot deny that we knew what we were doing.

If this is important to you, prove it.  Drive less.  Vote for politicians who do not deny the science behind global warming (there are both Republicans and Democrats who believe in science here).  Buy less ‘stuff’.  Support truly eco-friendly businesses (not ones that are just good at greenwashing).  Better yet, teach your children about the impact our choices have on this planet, and what it means for their own future.

The case of the extra water

Over the past forty years or so (1961-2003), global sea levels have risen an average of .07″ per year.  Global warming is largely the culprit here, but scientist have struggled to truly make that hypothesis work.  You see, when you account for global warming’s effects on the oceans  (slightly lower density at higher temperatures, and melting ice), the numbers don’t add up…that only accounts for about .04″ of the .07″ per year rise.  Where’s the rest coming from?  Scientists in Tokyo believe the answer is all around us.  Or rather, it IS us…the extra water in the oceans is due to extraction of water from underground aquifers over the past many decades, which is not being replenished at the same rate.

So why does this matter?  Look, the aquifer levels are decreasing (in many areas at least). Forget the ocean for a minute, our lifestyles are not sustainable like this and it’s immoral to pass this problem on to future generations, not when we see it happening around us and have the technology to fix it.

Based on current sea ice melting trends, sea levels are expected to rise 3-5 FEET by 2100.  Living a sustainable lifestyle with water usage can help with that, though we really need to be addressing global warming as well.

(via Phys.org)

Peak Metals

You’re reading this on a computer or other electronics device.  Have you ever thought about what it took to build that device?  Materials were dug up from the Earth and processed into this amazing form you’re staring at.  Great, but this planet is finite in size…just how many more iPads can this planet provide the raw materials for?  How long until the metals we take for granted run out?  The infographic below attempts to answer that question, using data from the US Geological Survey.  Naturally, there are a lot of assumptions in this and the exact numbers may be off…but the underlying point is the same, that the metals and fossil fuels that we depend on for our first world lifestyles are running out, and we’re talking about a matter of only decades before we face critical shortages.  We cannot continue on this path of vast consumption…it simply isn’t sustainable.  Shown here are just a few examples, the more critical ones…though the same idea applies to anything we dig out of the Earth to use…resources are limited.

BPS – the new BPA in plastics

We’ve all heard of the fuss regarding BPA in plastics.  Perhaps a bit overblown, but a valid health concern nonetheless.  The result is that it’s easy enough these days to find BPA-free plastics, but what does that really mean?  In many products, BPA was replaced with BPS, and it’s really not that clear that BPS is any better than BPA.  So, what can you do?  Not much, but start by avoiding plastics in your food chain where possible.  This means avoiding canned foods (the metal cans have plastic linings inside), avoid soda (for oh so many reasons!), avoid #3 and #7 marked plastics, choose BPA free lids for canning, and use glass water bottles.  Ok, so that last one especially seems like a stretch, and I can’t see a glass water bottle being a good choice for an active outdoors lifestyle, but do keep in mind that even metal water bottles have a plastic liner inside.

Billions and billions of stars…

Sure, we know there are billions and billions of stars in the universe, but our species is not good at comprehending large numbers.  What does ‘billions and billions’ actually look like?  Astronomers compiled a giant image of a small slice of the night sky, and if you go to this website, you can click and zoom in on different areas of that.  That’s where it really gets amazing…what at first appears like a light haze resolves itself into an incredible number of stars.  It’s an amazing universe we live in.

 

(via Discover Magazine)

Genetically Engineered Crops

If you’re not sure what all the fuss is about genetically modified crops, you owe it to yourself to check out this quick (4 minute) video that does a great job of explaining the issue:

I’m all for improving our lives through science, but GM foods is not about that…it’s about improving corporate profits through science without scientifically examining what possible effects this has on the species affected by this technology (not just the animals that eat the crops, us, but the animals that live where these crops are grown).

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