Pluto — sharpest images to-date

As New Horizons approaches Pluto, the images keep getting sharper. From 5.4 million km on Thursday 09 July, resolution was 27km per pixel.
Credit: NASA/JHU-APL/SWRI/BBC

And there is more to come — NASA’s New Horizons is getting closer to Pluto, at 50,000 kilometres per hour (31,000 mph) — closest approach will be at 11:50 UTC on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, just 12,500km above the surface. Resolution of images will be better than 100 metres per pixel.

The image above was taken on Thursday. Why is it just being published now? Pluto is more than 4.7 billion km away. Over that distance, transmission is at very low bit rates.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33491454

http://www.wired.com/2015/07/new-horizons-scientists-react-geological-detail-pluto/

The view two days previously:
http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/pluto-best-image-to-date-from-nasas-new.html

More about Pluto:

NASA’s “New Horizons Pluto in a Minute” channel on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiuUQ9asub3RUlLBXMFGq8aFEPS5yONT2

New Horizons web page, including a count-down-timer for closest approach
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html / whale’s tail polygonal feature band of complex patterns New Horizons interplanetary space probe launched NASA's New Frontiers program Applied Physics Laboratory Southwest Research Institute Alan Stern spacecraft launched study Pluto moons Kuiper Belt performing flybys Pluto system Kuiper Belt Objects KBOs New Horizons project Pluto 350 project Alan Stern Fran Bagenal Pluto Underground 1990 lightweight cost-effective spacecraft flyby Pluto construction several delays launch site New Horizons launched January 19, 2006, Cape Canaveral Earth-and-solar-escape trajectory Earth-relative speed 16.26 kilometers per second 58,536 km/h; 36,373 mph record highest launch speed of a human-made object from Earth brief encounter asteroid 132524 APL New Horizons Jupiter closest approach Jupiter flyby gravity assist New Horizons speed velocity general test returning data about its atmosphere moons magnetosphere post-Jupiter voyage hibernation mode preserve on-board systems brief annual checkouts first flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015 /

After The Blast

Garth Callender
Credit: ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Garth Callender was the Australian Army's first serious casualty of the Iraq war. He has written a book about his experiences: “After The Blast: An Australian Officer In Iraq And Afghanistan”, published by Black Inc.

Recently, he told his story to Sarah Kanowski of the ABC.

“I recall reaching up & feeling over my head & was somewhat relieved to find I didn’t have a hole in my head.”

Podcast available at:
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2015/07/08/4269568.htm / patrol sniper car bomb light armoured vehicle armored type 1 gun car driver periscope Kevlar turret situationally aware threat level suicide vehicle gunner personnel carrier force munition fuse detonating cord artillery round remote control mortar high explosive survive attack first aid bandage traumatic amputation loss of blood Camp Victory Route Irish recovery Garth returned conflict zones Afghanistan suffered severe injuries armoured vehicle driving Iraq target roadside bomb IED improvised explosive device fully recovered returned to Baghdad second-in-command Australian Army's security detachment volunteered lead weapons intelligence team Afghanistan flown in blast zones helicopter attacks work identify insurgents responsible bombs wife Crystal return to danger After The Blast An Australian Officer In Iraq And Afghanistan Black Inc Garth Callender regular Australian Army distinguished career served Iraq Afghanistan rank of major weapons technical intelligence trained soldiers raw recruits deployment Australian technology company developing detect concealed explosives troops KAIA-N base Afghanistan body armour RAAF flight Kabul coalition troops Australians showered with twisted metal shrapnel fragments armored vehicle flats blast-proof ballistic goggles body armour armor Helmand /

Is this the next Toyota Prius? — leaked images

Credit: Julien JODRY/Twitter

If these images prove to be genuine, it looks like Toyota still doesn’t understand the impact of wheel height on efficiency.

Although it resembles the Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicle in that respect


Credit: Green Car Reports

Claimed fuel consumption of 2.5 l/100km is extraordinary.

http://www.themotorreport.com.au/61892/toyota-prius-images-and-specs-for-all-new-model-leaked / Toyota’s all-new Prius hybrid range Tokyo Motor Show images may given the game away Japanese carmaker next generation next-gen Prius Toyota Taiwanese website Autonet published images reportedly scanned from official Toyota literature new Prius’ technical specifications green hero fuel consumption report claims official figure 2.5 l/100km 2.5 litres per 100 kilometres kilometers improved improve improvement fuel petrol gas gasoline gasolene current model of 1.4 l/100km based on its Australian figure 36 percent fuel consumption new plug-in hybrid PHEV version 1.42 l/100km all-electric range up to 50km Toyota two-tier approach styling next Prius PHEV version syling take cues new Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell Prius grow in size weight will drop power output 1.8 litre four-cylinder petrol engine 78kW constantly variable transmission CVT automatic development develop hybrid powertrain /

Pluto — best image to-date from NASA’s New Horizons

Credit: NASA

And there is more to come — the image above was taken on 07 July 2015, from just under 8 million kilometres — NASA’s New Horizons is getting closer to Pluto — closest approach will be at 11:50 UTC on Tuesday, July 14, 2015.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-new-horizons-a-heart-from-pluto-as-flyby-begins

But — why is this necessary? Hubble can get detailed views of distant galaxies — why not Pluto?
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2013/02141014-hubble-galaxy-pluto.html?referrer=https://www.google.com.au/ / New Horizons interplanetary space probe launched NASA's New Frontiers program Applied Physics Laboratory Southwest Research Institute Alan Stern spacecraft launched study Pluto moons Kuiper Belt performing flybys Pluto system Kuiper Belt Objects KBOs New Horizons project Pluto 350 project Alan Stern Fran Bagenal Pluto Underground 1990 lightweight cost-effective spacecraft flyby Pluto construction several delays launch site New Horizons launched January 19, 2006, Cape Canaveral Earth-and-solar-escape trajectory Earth-relative speed 16.26 kilometers per second58,536 km/h; 36,373 mph record highest launch speed of a human-made object from Earth brief encounter asteroid 132524 APL New Horizons Jupiter closest approach Jupiter flyby gravity assist New Horizons speed velocity general test returning data about its atmosphere moons magnetosphere post-Jupiter voyage hibernation mode preserve on-board systems brief annual checkouts first flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015 /

How to send SMS messages from any desktop or laptop computer

Credit: NDTV

Not something I’d want to do every day, but it is occasionally useful, & a laptop keyboard is a lot easier to use than anything on a phone.

http://www.howtogeek.com/221476/how-to-send-sms-messages-from-any-pc-or-mac/

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/features/how-to-make-calls-send-and-receive-sms-from-your-computer-using-an-android-phone-654766 / type out text messages smartphone laptop desktop PC full-size keyboard send text messages directly from your PC access to cellular service use some of these tools send SMS messages directly to a phone number cell mobile phone iPhone Mac Apple iPhone Windows PC built-in SMS-message Apple Macintosh Mac iPhone Android phone Continuity Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite enable it on iPhone opening Settings app tapping Messages activating Text Message Forwarding to your Mac work automatically same Apple ID to log into both your iPhone and Mac open Messages app Mac synced history of text messages from iPhone reply from your Mac send entirely new messages from the Messages app text messages synced to iPhone uses iPhone’s text-messaging service cellular carrier charges for texts pay that fee for the messages you send Android phone MightyText app install Android phone sign in to MightyText web app web browser on your computer running Windows Mac OS X Linux Chrome OS view send your phone’s text messages browser extensions AirDroid app Android Messages Mac works entirely through your phone computer gateway to your phone sending and receiving text messages cost cellular carrier charges text messages people based in the USA Google Voice free Google Voice new phone number primary phone number Google Voice service supported by Google sign in to Google Voice website send receive text messages phone number calls text messages automatically forwarded primary phone number sending text messages placing phone calls to numbers US and Canada completely free Google Voice send text messages Skype Skype send text messages Skype desktop app available worldwide Microsoft charge for this service send text messages from Skype pay for credit won’t sync text-message app on your smartphone Email-to-SMS Gateways cellular carriers email-to-SMS gateways email phone number gateway under 160 characters websites send text messages free trustworthy email address spam Airdroid 3 send and receive text messages transfer files computer Web client software download AirDroid Android phone create an account show notifications computer AirDroid Notification Mirror service Android messages app AirDroid phone dialer /

Increasing lifespan & healthspan through diet

Life extension by substantial caloric restriction in a large number of organisms, including yeast, nematodes, fruit flies & rhesus monkeys has a history reaching back to the 1930s.¹

If living longer appeals to you, but a starvation diet doesn’t, there may be hope. Dr. Samantha Solon-Biet at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney, has demonstrated in mice, that similar results can be achieved with a low-protein-high-carbohydrate diet. No reduction in overall caloric intake is required, apart from that consistent with normal weight control.

Transcript & podcast of an interview with Dr. Norman Swan at:

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/healthreport/increasing-lifespan-healthspan-through-diet/6511294
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¹ “Caloric Restriction” http://www.lifeextension.com/protocols/lifestyle-longevity/caloric-restriction/Page-01 / LPHC diets improve metabolic health LPHC diet mice metabolic benefits 40% caloric restriction without any actual caloric intake reduction Health Report ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation low carb diets increase longevity low carbs restricting total calorie intake improves health prolongs life span total calories proteins carbohydrates fats reduce calories 30% 40% live longer no evidence in humans lifespan health span reducing calorie intake improve insulin sensitivity lower blood glucose improve lipid profiles in humans Cell Reports much extra lifespan calorie restriction 30% increase in lifespan significant in reasonable health proteins carbohydrates fats interaction macronutrients total calories fat in isolation protein in isolation carbohydrates in isolation all interact together compared low calorie diet macronutrient diet larger mouse study published Health Report 25 different diets energy density calorically restricted free access to food balance protein carbohydrate main driver of health span lifespan low calorie diet compare two nutritional interventions known to improve health and lifespan traditional caloric restriction low protein high carbohydrate diet caloric restriction mice metabolic benefits obesity loading up on carbohydrates carbohydrates increase risk of heart disease eat doughnut cake sugar balance healthy carbohydrates not sugar processed highly refined carbohydrates complex carbohydrates primary carbohydrate wheat starch very little sucrose diet fat fat was fixed 20% modern Western diet is about 40% fat low fat equivalent increased lifespan health span put on weight low protein high carb diet had better health a bit fatter compared to the high protein mice Brad Pitt abdomen washboard six pack thin thighs research researcher evidence low protein diets beneficial for humans paper published Cell Metabolism low protein diets reduce risk of cancers death in people over 65 evidence CSIRO diet inhibits appetite mouse researcher extrapolate to humans diet moderate protein intake low to moderate 15% protein high quality protein high quality carbohydrates low amount of fat thick T-bone steak small fish steak living longer little bit of extra body fat beneficial for survival extra energy stores Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Ageing metabolic syndrome diseases quality of proteins carbohydrates proteins branched-chain amino acids branched-chain amino acids building blocks of proteins branched-chain amino acids turn on specific metabolic pathways leucine isoleucine valine animal proteins very high in branched-chain amino acids manipulating in mice ratios of branched-chain amino acids diet fish meat high in fish reduce intake relative to healthy carbohydrates agriculture adjust amino acids Mediterranean diet very low in red meat lots of vegetables good fats healthy carbohydrates /

Building a better wind turbine

8 mega Watt prototype in Østerild, Denmark, February 2014
Credit: Vestas/RenewableEnergyWorld.com

Wind turbines have a number factors limiting their performance:
● Loaded lever arms — “don’t load a lever arm at 90 degrees”, is a fundamental principle of engineering. Wind turbines do exactly that. As a result, wind turbines require up to 700 tons of steel for the tower, to stop it from bending, & up to 4,000 tons of concrete to stop it from being levered out of the ground. Substantially as a result of this, as of Febraury 2014, the most powerful wind turbine in the world was a prototype, capable of generating 8 megaWatts.¹
● Forces in a lever arm increase with length — this restricts towers to a height of 150 metres.
● In general, wind velocity increases with altitude.
● Wind power increases as the cube of velocity — e.g. if the the velocity of the wind doubles, power increases 2³ = 8 times.
● There’s a lot more wind energy up there, but towers just can’t reach it.
● Subject to wind damage.²

Attaching wind turbines to drones promises to overcome all of these difficulties:
http://www.techthefuture.com/technology/the-trillion-dollar-drone/

Conventional drones also have a future in visual inspections of tower wind turbines

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¹ “Meet The New World's Biggest Wind Turbine“ http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2014/02/meet-the-new-worlds-biggest-wind-turbine.html

² “Who, what, why: What happens to wind turbines in a storm?” http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-24706238 / searchkeys /