Fuel efficiency

In this analysis of fuel efficiency from Robert A. Dileso Jr. at  Good magazine we learn a few things we already knew (e.g., rail and transit are the most efficient ways to move people if you can't walk or cycle) but we also learn a few things we might not have known.  Flying is more fuel efficient than driving a hybrid (and likely better than shown here as hybrids are not so fuel efficient for highway driving).

Regarding the fuel efficiency of motorcycles.  Does that include the ambulance trip?

Venus

You can't miss it!  

If Venus still eludes your observational skills, tonight is the night for the moon to point the way.  Venus will be sitting just off the tip of the crescent moon about 1 hour after sunset (about 6:45 local time).  

Photo Credit: Sky and Telescope Magazine

Evolution

The deep water barrel-fish, Macropinna microstoma, is one of those amazing examples of evolution taking a very peculiar path to adapt to a challenging environment.

You might think that the eyes of this fish are the two dark objects just above the mouth, but you'd be wrong.  Those are nostrils.  The lenses of the eyes are the two green globes inside the transparent head.

This fish lives in water almost completely black.  The eyes are extremely sensitive and are used, it is believed, to see the dim silhouette of prey above the head.  Originally it was thought that these fish could only see directly upward.

Robinson and Reisenbichler at the  Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute have just published a paper in which they have established that, in fact, the eyes can rotate forward when needed so the the fish can see what it is eating.

Amazing, perhaps, but not so amazing that this fish exists at all.  To see a short video of this fish, click here (see Feb 23, 2009 New Release if not available immediately on the home page).

Photo credit: Monteray Bay Aquarium.

E-Books

Today Amazon begins to sell the new Kindle 2, and electronic book reader.  The launch is receiving a fair bit of attention.

The president of the company producing the Kindle 2 appeared on the Daily Show on Monday--an indication this gizmo is considered hot, and the New York Times hosted an op-ed piece on Tuesday from the president of the US Authors Guild denouncing it.

I've seen the Sony equivalent and must say that I was impressed by the quality of the print, visible in darkness or bright sunlight.  I'm just not sure this is how I want to read a book.  Among the pros must be the ease of handling and reading.  No awkward positioning of a tightly bound book while trying to find a comfortable position in bed.  But what about the smug satisfaction of gazing at an overloaded bookshelf.  How will others know I read?

It sounds like this might be the beginning of the end for the paper-bound book.  Fortunately, the price of $430.00 (Canadian), makes it possible to put-off any decision to switch for some time.

Oh..., why was the president of the Authors Guild denouncing the Kindle?  It includes a text-to-speech function that the Authors Guild fears will cut into the billion dollar audio book market.  I listened to this audio feature in a promotional video (that can be found here...scroll down to "Watch a Video Demonstration of Kindle 2"), it isn't that good.

Photo Credit: Amazon.com

Art on Tuesday

Human creativity and expression is boundless.  JR is a street artist who brings humanity back into human spaces, even highly degraded spaces.

In his latest project he has photographed the faces of women living in the slums of Kiberia, Kenya and added them to the slum roofs (with a waterproof material), as well as the hillside and onto the side of a train.  As the train passes by the hillside, for a brief moment, the eyes and lower face align.

For more photos from this project, click here.

Photo credit: JR

I Disagree

At the risk of annoying many of my friends, let me opine on Naturopathy.

Apparently the government of British Columbia is about to allow Naturopaths to prescribe drugs.

This is premised on the argument that Naturopathy is a scientific discipline.  Is it?  At the website for the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM) we learn that Naturopaths believe in homeopathy. 

Homeopathy treatments rely upon extreme dilutions of drugs following the scientifically unsupported idea that you can be cured by being exposed to drugs that, in larger quantities, would produce the same symptoms as the disease being treated.  Apparently the key is the way you shake the bottle (called succussion).  There is no evidence to support this, nor would any be expected from a basic understanding of the thermodynamics of water.

So..., why do Naturopaths want to prescribe pharmaceuticals?  It would seem that a single standard pill would contain enough of the active ingredient to treat everyone on the planet, forever.

Should Naturopaths prescribe drugs?  No.  It isn't at all clear that they understand the basics of pharmacology.

Photo credit: Wikipedia commons (a homeopathic preparation of Labrador Tea)

Internet Throttling

Canadians have until tomorrow, Feb 23, to submit submissions to the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Committee (CRTC) regarding the issue of internet access management.  Of course, that depends on their website actually allowing you to access their on-line comments form....which it doesn't.

Internet Serice Providers (ISPs, e.g., Bell, Rogers) claim that they need to reduce internet traffic to particular sites because they do not have the bandwidth to support data intensive activities (e.g., Bit Torrent, Skype). They want the CRTC to provide them with the legal right to throttle traffic.

There are several problems with this.

1) ISPs have only just recently released limited information relating to their traffic.  The rate of growth in traffic has been declining for many ISPs in recent years suggesting the problem of bandwidth overload is not a serious as initially claimed.

2)  This information does not tell us what their overall capacity really is (Note: much of that capacity was built with the help of government money).  How much Dark Fibre exists?  Dark Fibre is unused communications fibre that was abandoned when new information packaging technology allowed more information to be carried by less fibre?

3) Several ISPs plan to launch new commercial media downloading services  (e.g., movies).  This is a conflict of interest.  Throttling reduces access to competition.

4) ISPs have also expressed interest in creating new two-tiered internet access fees.  The claim that overloaded bandwidth exists is used to support their desire to launch new lucrative business products.  But is the foundational claim true?

Until the ISPs provide the CRTC will complete information about their traffic rates and total capacity, the CTRC should not permit throttling.  Unfortunately an earlier ruling by the CRTC will allow ISPs to continue to do this for the time being.

Are you being throttled?  Google has recently teamed with M-Lab to allow you to see if your ISP is throttling your connection.  Click here.

None of this is good for the future of the internet.