How too much fat & sugar + too little fibre is making us sick

Over the past 5,000 years, our culture, technology & diet have changed enormously. Our bodies meanwhile have changed very little.

How has our diet changed? Whereas our ancestors had to work hard to feed themselves, in industrialised societies, food is freely available for little physical effort. Fat & sugar are consumed at high & growing levels, while fibre is consumed at a fraction of historical levels.

Research around the world is showing that our changed diet is implicated in such a diverse range of diseases as diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, dyslexia, emphysema, & of course, obesity.

Recently, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) broadcast a two part documentary covering some of the issues & latest research:



/ gut reaction ABC fat diet sugar salt roughage bran bacteria digestion digestive tract diabetic asthma asthmatic dyslexic puffer smoke smoking carbohydrate protein MS /

Coming: reversible USB plugs (video)

Credit: Intel/Arstechnica

Seriously though, how many times have you had to reverse a standard USB plug to get it to fit into a socket?

A really simple way to improve this situation: when purchasing devices & cables (or bare sockets or plugs), ensure that the plastic piece across the mouth of the socket or plug is white. Makes it much easier to read the orientation. E.g. does the image below leave you in any doubt about the correct orientation?


Credit: How Stuff Works

Even better would be a plug/socket combination which is reversible.

Which is one advantage of Apple's new Lightning standard: plugs are reversible. Remaining problem, is that when you connect your Lightning device to the computer, at the other end of the cable is a non-reversible USB plug.

Rumour has it that Apple is about to fix that, by releasing Lightning-to-USB cables with reversible plugs at the USB end. This appears to be supported by the video below:



Tripp Lite reversible USB cables have been around for some time:



Trip Lite website: http://www.tripplite.com/product/Reversible-USB-Cables/104

As reported previously in these pages, the micro USB-sized, USB Type-C connector (compatible with USB 3.1), will also be reversible.

http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/tiny-reversible-usb-type-c-connector.html / USB Type A Type B mini-USB cable plug socket /

Noke padlock doesn't need a key, or a combination!

Credit: FŪZdesigns /Noke

Noke (developer wants you to pronounce it, "no key") is a padlock you can unlock with your iOS or Android smartphone. So, no key to lose or combination to forget.

With the free app installed on your phone, you can can configure Noke to unlock by clicking the shackle if your phone is within range. Alternatively, you can have the Noke unlock when you:

● click a button in the app
● enter a sequence of long & short clicks — in effect a combination, if that is your preference — or as a backup (reminds me of the Unix shell joke: "Starting next week, all passwords must be entered in Morse code.")

Also allows for:
● shared access
● one time sharing
● time-limited sharing
● time-of-day-limited access

Flat battery?
● claimed battery life is over a year
● Noke warns you in the app, months before the battery dies
● plus you can "jump start" with an external battery



You can sign up for a Noke on kickstarter.com for $US59 until Thursday 18 September 2014 04:00 US EST. / Bluetooth 4.0 security encryption locker bike bicycle lock padlock /

Tesla has already proven that EVs are inherently better — Credit Suisse

“We believe that Tesla has already proven that EVs [electric vehicles] are inherently better, although most industry observers, & certainly the general public, don’t know it yet.” — Credit Suisse analysts Dan Galves & Shreyas Patil

"Inherently better"? How?

In relatively few words: instant throttle response, handling, maintenance, running costs, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution & energy consumption.

Instant throttle response: Put your foot down & an EV starts accelerating. An internal combustion engine vehicle (ICE) is sluggish by comparison.

Electric motors develop maximum torque at zero rpm. An ICE develops zero torque at zero rpm. While an ICE is winding up to the point where it makes a useful amount of power, the EV is already gone. Poor throttle response, inherent in an ICE, is made worse by automatic transmission or turbo.

Handling: ICE vehicles are, with few exceptions, front engined. To make more room for passengers, it is best to use front wheel drive with the ICE as far forward as possible. ICEs are heavy & tall. This is exacerbated when an ICE is mounted above a front wheel drivetrain to make the most possible room for passengers. All of the above makes ICE vehicles nose heavy, with a high centre of gravity.

Front/rear weight distribution can be improved with front engine/rear wheel drive, but this configuration is typically still nose heavy.

A better way to improve weight distribution is to place the ICE in front of the rear wheels & behind the passengers. Problem is, this configuration only leaves space for two people.

EVs are heavy because of their large battery, but unlike an ICE, the shape of an EV battery is very flexible. This gives engineers a lot of flexibility with weight distribution. Small size & weight of electric motors helps too. Result is that EVs have a low centre of gravity & near 50/50 weight distribution. E.g. Tesla Model S, 50/50, & GM Volt 52/48. What went wrong with the Volt? Well it does have the advantage of an EV drivetrain, & so is much closer to the 50/50 ideal than 4 passenger ICE vehicles — but it has an ICE too.

Technical issues raised above are demonstrated in the video below:



Because it only has two seats, engineers were free to place passengers further back in the Corvette. This made room for a bigger engine, further back in the vehicle, thereby improving weight distribution.

On the other hand, the Model S accommodates five, or seven with the optional rear facing child seats.

The video above could have been called, "The People Mover Vs The V8 Sports Car" — & the EV people mover fights the sports car to a standstill.

Maintenance & running costs: an electric motor has one moving part. An ICE has hundreds, all grinding away at one another. And the whole thing is driven by explosions! Why does an ICE vehicle have to be serviced so often? Because of the ICE. Explosions & hundreds of pieces grinding one another to destruction have to be cooled &/or lubricated. Oil gradually loses its ability to lubricate due to contamination with fuel & combustion products. Spark plugs, air filters, oil filters & the oil itself all need to be replaced.

What Credit Suisse said:

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/credit-suisse-on-tesla-2014-8

http://chargedevs.com/newswire/credit-suisse-tesla-has-already-proven-that-evs-are-inherently-better/

Who is Credit Suisse?

https://www.credit-suisse.com/uk/en.html / air pollution carbon dioxide CO2 greenhouse gas carbon monoxide petrol diesel petroleum hydrocarbon climate change global warming EV electric vehicle LiIon lithium ion battery cell charge recharge range range anxiety /

What can be learned from debating science with trolls

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/8/20/policy-politics/what-i-learned-debating-science-trolls?utm_source=exact&utm_medium=email&utm_content=870416&utm_campaign=cs_daily&modapt= / discuss science online climate change trolls Don’t feed the trolls education tactics bloggers journalists politicians attack science climate cancer research techniques comically simple emotionally charged evidence-free accusations scams fraud cover-ups common lack credibility accusations polarising debate reducing understanding scientifically incompetent ideologue science religion chairman Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council Maurice Newman old chestnut Australia’s Chief Scientist Ian Chubb online media recently experts Internet trolls experts professors academia contrarians contrarian views respected professors Harvard MIT Princeton science vitriol disconnected knowledge expertise expert opinion totally misrepresented remarkable confidence findings CSIRO’s John Church sea levels distortions variability this century may reduce warming degrees Celsius very small fraction of the warming human activity quote quoted correctly disagree with the vast majority of their equally qualified or more qualified colleagues scientifically illiterate minority of experts choosing experts agreeable conclusions scientific rigour media statement doctor shopping expert opinion misleading conclusions broken logic attacks on science employ flawed logic carbon dioxide CO2 emissions rapid climate change anthropogenic climate change climate change deniers anthropogenic global warming Minister Tony Abbott anthropic Galileo Italian scientist astronomer Galileo Galilei infamously persecuted politically powerful Catholic Church supported by observation Galileo Gambit debating technique perverts history defend nonsense vast majority of scientists minority promoting pseudoscience equated Galileo no scientific expertise ideological reasons attacking science consensus view of climate scientists tactic of trolls cranks /

With Tesla, the future of the burnout is safe — Jay Leno

Road & Track


Jay Leno's Garage (2012)
/ burnout burn out rubber lithium ion smoke LiIon battery cell electric vehicle EV car charge recharge range /

"Shock & kill" approach cures mice of HIV in world first

Credit: scottcamazine.com

One of the difficulties involved with treating AIDS is that the HIV virus, which causes the disease, is able to "hide" from treatment.

A new approach uses a combination of drugs, one of which provides a boost to the immune system, & others which flush the HIV virus from its hiding places. When flushed from their hiding places, the virus particles can be killed by the boosted immune system. Only tested in mice so far, but looks promising.

http://theconversation.com/shock-and-kill-approach-cures-mice-of-hiv-in-world-first-30528?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+18+August+2014+-+1858&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+18+August+2014+-+1858+CID_aabdaa5afc096b963dea579ebc7e8744&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Shock%20and%20kill%20approach%20cures%20mice%20of%20HIV%20in%20world%20first / combination of four drugs flush out HIV-infected HIV infected cells hidden reservoirs kill them boost to the immune system research published journal Cell scientists HIV cure research mouse mice infectious diseases unit The Alfred Hospital Professor Sharon Lewin significant step HIV cure research infected HIV virus hiding DNA immune system HIV latency patients anti-HIV drugs latent virus can persist indefinitely shock-and-kill research induced hidden latent viruses resurface using combination three drugs principle combination of drugs activate latent virus antibodies induce remission slightly artificial HIV-infected mouse model idea exploring test tube models HIV latency clinical trials clinical trials drugs treating cancer wake up latent virus infected cell wasn’t killed kill the cells researchers boosted mice’s immune systems using powerful antibodies broadly neutralising antibodies HIV-infected mice combination activating drugs antibodies keep the virus under control Scientia Professor of Medicine David Cooper, director of the Kirby Institute University of New South Wales NSW UNSW research represented important model difficult extrapolate results humans antiretroviral therapies within a day or two of infection low- and middle-income countries identified identify identification opportunistic infection tuberculosis amount of latent virus toxicity drug combination kick and kill flush and kill strategy /