Four British-built electric buses hit the streets of London

Credit: Transport For London/Charged EVs

Battery prices continue to fall, but purchase prices of electric vehicles (EVs) are still higher than for comparable internal combustion engine vehicles (ICE). On the other side of the balance sheet, running costs are much lower.

Fuel cost: typically, charging an EV is about one third of the cost of fuel for an ICE to cover the same distance.

Maintenance: Think about the cost of having an ICE vehicle serviced. Most of the cost — labour & material (engine oil, spark plugs, air & oil filters) — is related to the engine.

With 100+ years of development, a state-of-the-art ICE is a masterpiece of engineering. But it's fundamental shortcomings remain: Inefficiency is fundamental to an engine based on compression & expansion of burning gasses. Hundreds of moving parts grinding away at one another; pistons attached to a crankshaft are fundamentally unbalanced.

An electric motor, on the other hand has one moving part, is easily balanced & requires essentially no maintenance.

Health: ICEs emit a range of chemicals harmful to human health, plus particulate matter. Particulate matter from ICE exhausts causes asthma. If you live in an industrialised country, you are suffering from measureable, low-level, carbon monoxide poisoning.

http://chargedevs.com/newswire/four-british-built-electric-buses-hit-the-streets-of-london/ / British built pure electric bus buses into service London MetroCity single-deck single deck buses manufactured Optare Hinduja Group North Yorkshire trial basis route H98 Hayes Hounslow manufacturer test tests initial cost vehicles legacy diesel buses significantly lower running maintenance costs typical lifetime vehicle five hours fully charge overnight 15.2 kW on‐board on board charger 50 kW off-board fast charge technology range of up to 100 miles small diesel-fueled diesel fueled heater winter months more efficient battery capacity heating Optare buses Mayor’s plan central London zero emission zero-emission 2020 electric buses operating hybrid bus fleet ABB Volvo partnership bus fast charging Mike Weston Transport Director of Buses pure electric vehicles technology results trials new clean technology Gopichand Hinduja Hinduja Group Optare’s MetroCity electric vehicle manufacturing excellence technology innovation zero-emissions solution improve air quality in London Europe worldwide /

Does eating salmon lower the murder rate?

Credit: Fine Cooking

Omega-3 is found mainly in cold water oily fish, such as tuna & salmon. For some time, it has been speculated that various positive psychological effects can be associated with high levels of Omega 3 consumption. Now, research is supporting some of those speculations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/magazine/16wwln_idealab.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-23/university-of-wollongong-researchers-study-whether-omega-3-fats/4906982

http://www.naturalnews.com/040883_omega-3s_aggression_violent_behavior.html / University of Wollongong researcher good fats Omega 3 reduce criminal behaviour Associate Professor Barbara Meyer university School of Health Sciences prisons prison quality of their cuisine food menu inmate resident violent test novel hypothesis violent aggression largely a product of poor nutrition research researchers inmates less violent diet rich in vitamins fatty acids seafood salmon steak spinach curb violence prison Dr. Joseph Hibbeln senior clinical investigator National Institutes of Health study provocatively titled seafood consumption and homicide mortality correlation higher intake omega-3 fatty acids fish lower murder rates oily cold water fish tuna fatty acids nonviolence fatty acids inhibit violence Bernard Gesch senior research scientist Oxford University better nutrition decrease violence enrolled 231 volunteers British prison study placebo received fatty acids supplements antisocial behavior measured assaults violations inmates supplements dropped by more than a third relative to their previous records control group showed little change trials Holland Norway clear link between diet and violent behavior violence product of free will impulsive acts of violence choice failure to rein in one's worst instincts study conducted researchers Finland tested prisoners convicted violent crimes lower levels of omega-3 fatty acids ordinary healthy subjects Omega-3's foster the growth of neurons brain's frontal cortex gray matter controls impulsive behavior fatty acids keep violent impulses in check violent criminals fatty acids in their diet recent double-blind trial omega-3 given people history of substance abuse symptoms of anger fell by 50 percent omega-3's boosting health silver bullets state of the evidence dietary fat changes in behavior interdependent nutrients nutrition violent behavior brain needs nourished educated nutrients social depression intelligence /

Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens

Worker checks on containers of seeds at the Millennium Seed Bank Project. Why the hood & jacket? Seeds are stored at -20ºC.
Credit: Millennium Seed Bank Project

Between 22 & 47% of the world's plant species are endangered [1].

Part of a solution is the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens. As of 14 March 2014, they had in total: 1,980,405,036 seeds in storage. While I'm inclined to doubt the level of accuracy claimed, they definitely have a lot of seeds. I'm a bit more comfortable with their claim that those almost 2 billion seeds, represent 34,088 wild plant species.

Target is 25% of wild species by 2020. That will be 75,000 individual species.



http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/millennium-seed-bank
_______________
[1] http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/global-estimate-of-endang/ / Millennium Seed Bank Partnership plant conservation programme program in the world focus global plant life threat of extinction plants conserve conservation conserved seed banks insurance risk extinction native habitat network of partners 80 countries banked 13% of the world's wild plant species 25% bankable seeds by 2020 75,000 species target plants regions risk increasing impact human activities land use climate change seed drying /

Why USB security is fundamentally broken

Credit: Josh Valcarcel/Wired

Take home message from the articles: this exploit will make it unsafe to use USB devices for exchanging files between computers unless you control both of them. Neither a reformat, nor any existing scan, is protection against this exploit.

Some of the comments paint a different picture, so be sure to check them too.

http://www.wired.com/2014/07/usb-security/

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/08/usb-has-a-fundamental-security-flaw-that-you-cant-detect/ / computer users pass around USB sticks like silicon business cards carry malware infections antivirus scan format reformat reformatting drive thumbdrives flash memory stick security problems USB devices security researchers Karsten Nohl Jakob Lell present black hat hacker demonstrating proof-of-concept malicious software security of USB devices fundamentally broken malware BadUSB installed USB device take over a PC invisibly alter files redirect user’s internet traffic flash memory storage firmware attack code remain hidden contents device device’s memory research no easy fix nearly impossible to counter Black Hat security conference Las Vegas exploit exploiting the very way that USB is designed infect infected non trusted non-trusted computer security consultancy SR Labs USB devices store and spread malware hackers custom-coded infections into USB devices’ memory reverse engineering firmware basic communication functions of USB devices controller chips communicate move files USB firmware all USB devices reprogrammed hide attack code IT security people scan it delete some files find and analyze firmware USB devices keyboards mice smartphones firmware reprogrammed USB memory sticks test tested attack Android handset grab bag of evil tricks it can play software installed corrupted backdoored version malware silently hijack Internet traffic DNS settings /

9 best new Android apps of July 2014

A couple of interesting ones:

LokLok — messaging on your lock screen — lots of potential for embarrassment with this one

SWIP3 — first game designed specifically for Android Wear at $1.69

Wear Mini Launcher — launcher for Android Wear — a lot of positive reviews & it’s free

http://www.androidauthority.com/best-new-android-apps-july-2014-410944/ / Google I/O Android apps game release Bamboo Paper price free application called Bamboo Paper Wacom doodling doodle note taking app free Commandr extends functionality Google Now turn on and off utilities flashlight Bluetooth with your voice through Google Now Tasker support suggestions developers are working to include Leo’s Fortune demo Android TV popular smooth game play amazing graphics high Google Play rating really good game Modern Combat 5 blockbuster game releases improved graphics multiplayer support more campaign missions early bugs LokLok new messaging service message on your lock screen communicate friends doodle take pictures personal Speakle social media service receive likes comments users vaguebook SWIP3 game designed specifically for Android Wear Timberman app purchase Wear Mini Launcher positive reviews /

Now this is real fame!

Credit: Bloomberg Businessweek

PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors, wealth, dinner at The White House. All very nice, but how do you know when you've really made it?

An appearance on The Simpsons!

Tesla Motors CEO, Elon Musk, is about to receive the ultimate accolade:

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1093570_tesla-ceo-elon-musk-makes-it-big-will-appear-on-the-simpsons-as-himself

We all have to start somewhere — cameo in Iron Man 2:

/ wealth success power fade to insignificance made it guest appearance on The Simpsons arrived Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk guest-starring guest starring star 26th season popular cartoon comedy Tesla Panasonic Gigafactory Project Jalopnik brief cameo Paypal Tesla SpaceX billionaire episode, bankrupting character 104-year old nuclear plant owner Mr Burns sustainable energy Model S either cameo appearance playing himself previously appeared Iron Man 2 executive producer Al Jean San Diego Comic-Con convention automakers vehicles Chrysler Hyundai MINI startup Elio Motors three-wheeled $6,800 concept high-profile goes Tesla guest The Simpsons /

New Amazon store lets customers customize & print 3D products for delivery

Credit: Amazon/Gizmag

3D printing is a disruptive technology. Uses include:

● ultra-small-scale manufacture
● just-in-time manufacture of ultra-small-scale parts
● upload customer file to 3D printer site for printing & delivery
● purchase item online for local printing
● customer modification of seller design prior to 3D printing

Amazon is just now entering into the last of these markets:

http://www.gizmag.com/amazon-3d-printed-products-store/33151/ / 3D Printed Products store launch launched 200 print-on-demand print on demand designs users custom customize earrings pendants rings bobble head dolls special widget 3D printed 3D-printed print deliver delivered deliver offer 3D printed items for sale websites Shapeways i.materialise Thingify 3D printing options site users upload print their own items buy items designed by others customize items designed by others community aspect too entrance of Amazon into the market disruption disrupt disruptive store online find and purchase 3D-printed products size popularity ubiquity raises competitors market markets marketplace market place creators retailers sell their offerings Amazon store i.materialise Thingify shift in online retail manufacturing more nimble adaptable adaptive immersive customer experience Petra Schindler-Carter sellers designers manufacturers more dynamic inventory customers personalize customize available designs customization engine interactive 3D preview /