Sunday, July 31, 2011
Selamat Ramadan Mubarak
The future battery
BY STEPHANIE LIOU
It sounds like something out of a cheesy science fiction movie, but thanks to new research by several Stanford scientists, transparent cell phones are one step closer to becoming a reality.
Several companies have successfully created partially transparent gadgets such as digital photo frames and cell phones with see-through keyboards. However, fully transparent e-book readers or cell phones have remained largely in the realm of conceptual art due to one last missing puzzle piece.
"I can make the battery more powerful, but I also want to make the battery look fancier," said Cui, who praised Yang for coming up with this unusual research idea.
Since key active materials in batteries cannot yet be made transparent or replaced with transparent alternatives, Yang and Cui realized that they had to find a way to construct a battery such that its nontransparent components were too small to be seen by the naked eye.
"If something is smaller than 50 microns, your eyes will feel like it is transparent," said Yang, because the maximum resolving power of the human eye is somewhere between 50 to 100 microns.
Yang and Cui devised a mesh-like framework for the battery electrodes, with each "line" in the grid being approximately 35 microns wide. Light passes through the transparent gaps between the gridlines; because the individual lines are so thin, the entire meshwork area appears transparent.
This was easier said than done. The pair finally came up with an ingenious three-step process that utilized low-cost, commonly available substances.
First, since regular materials such as copper or aluminum were out of the question, a transparent alternative had to be found. Yang and Cui settled upon a transparent, slightly rubbery compound known as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).
"PDMS is pretty cheap, and already being used in plastic surgery and contact lenses," said Yang. "But it is not conductive, so we had to deposit metals onto it to make it conductive."
To do so, PDMS was poured into silicon molds to create grid-patterned trenches. A metal film was evaporated over the trenches, creating a conductive layer.
The researchers then dropped a liquid slurry solution containing minuscule, nano-sized active electrode materials into the trenches.
Next, Yang developed a special transparent substance to be sandwiched between electrodes. He modified an existing gel electrolyte to make it serve double-duty as both an electrolyte and a separator. Since all of the materials used to make separators in regular batteries are nontransparent, this was a vital step.
By precisely placing an electrolyte layer between two electrodes, one functional battery is created. Multiple layers can be added in order to create a larger and more powerful battery.
As long as the gridlines are matched accurately, transparency is maintained. Yang and Cui's light transmittance tests showed a 62 percent transparency in visible light, and approximately 60 percent transparency even with three full cells stacked on top of each other. The entire battery is also highly flexible.
Perhaps best of all, the transparent battery is less expensive than one might expect.
"Its cost could be similar to those of regular batteries," said Cui. "Especially if we use low cost metals as current collectors, there is no reason this cannot be cheap."
The only current limitation is that the transparent battery is only about half as powerful as comparably sized lithium-ion counterparts.
"The energy density is currently lower than lithium batteries," said Yang. "It is comparable to nickel-cadmium batteries right now."
Most laptops and cell phones are powered by lithium-ion batteries, while nickel-cadmium batteries are often found in cameras and other less energy-intensive devices.
Yang and Cui are optimistic that advancements in materials science will enable the improvement of the energy density of the transparent battery. The manufacturing process is definitely scalable, and there is potential for commercial application, said Cui, who has filed a patent for the battery.
But wait, one might ask – what is the reason to have a transparent device, or even a transparent battery?
"It's very exciting for doing fundamental scientific research," said Cui. "You can study what is happening inside batteries since they are transparent now."
Yang's work is supported by the Stanford Graduate Fellowships Program in Science and Engineering. Funding for this research was provided by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
Sangmoo Jeong, Liangbing Hu, Hui Wu and Seok Woo Lee, all of Stanford, also contributed to this research.
Stephanie Liou is an intern at the Stanford News Service.
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Notice the BIG SILENT from Talent Corp. While the world is going forward, our money is been spent wastefully by the ruling Government cronies to jet round the world gambling and having the time of their lives like there is no tomorrow.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Genetic key to Elephant Man's disfigurement
Joseph Merrick earned his living being displayed as a human novelty.
A century after the death of the Elephant Man, whose hideous disfigurement turned him into a medical curiosity, scientists believe they may have solved the puzzle of what caused his condition.
American researchers have identified a genetic mutation that causes Proteus syndrome, a rare disorder in which tissue and bone grow massively out of proportion. About 500 people are known to be living with the condition, which stems from a spontaneous mutation in the embryo during pregnancy. Sufferers endure gross deformity, typically to their head, hands and feet, and become excluded from society and lead isolated lives as a result.
Scientists from the National Institutes of Health in
Now they plan to test DNA from the skeleton of Joseph Merrick, who briefly gained celebrity and earned his living by being displayed across
He was befriended by Sir Frederick Treves, a surgeon at the
Mr Merrick's skeleton is preserved in the hospital's pathology collection and tissue from it will be used by the
Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the NIH, who led the study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, said: "This rare disorder has been the focus of curiosity and medical observation for decades, but, until now, has never been medically explained. With the analysis reported here, patients and families who face this condition have hope for future therapies."
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Ibrahim Ali's brain should be sent to a lab to be examine what genetic syndrome he is passing to his children and the Malays, when he said that people were jealous of his "leadership award". He added that the people were a "shameful lot" and have "no class."
Had this screw up award been approved, it will be similar to the "broom award" that Khir Toyo gave to his men. Soon after UMNO lost Selangor.
Make my day. For this CLASSLESS so called human being deserve to be punish in public.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
South Korean Scientists create glowing dog
Cloned ... the beagle glows in the dark under ultra-violet light, top, and appears normal under daylight. Photo: Reuters
South Korean scientists say they have created a glowing dog using a cloning technique that could help find cures for human diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, Yonhap news agency reported.
A research team from Seoul National University (SNU) said the genetically modified female beagle, named Tegon and born in 2009, has been found to glow fluorescent green under ultraviolet light if given a doxycycline antibiotic, the report said.
The researchers, who completed a two-year test, said the ability to glow can be turned on or off by adding a drug to the dog's food.
"The creation of Tegon opens new horizons since the gene injected to make the dog glow can be substituted with genes that trigger fatal human diseases," the news agency quoted lead researcher Lee Byeong-chun as saying.
He said the dog was created using the somatic cell nuclear transfer technology that the university team used to make the world's first cloned dog, Snuppy, in 2005.
The scientist said that because there are 268 illnesses that humans and dogs have in common, creating dogs that artificially show such symptoms could aid treatment methods for diseases that afflict humans.
The latest discovery published in 'Genesis', an international journal, took four years of research with roughly 3.2 billion won spent to make the dog and conduct the necessary verification tests, Yonhap said.
Reuters
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Here in Malaysia Najib automatically turn jumpy when he sees anything YELLOW, without doxycycline antibiotic.
.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Police using dirty means to please Najib and Hishamuddin.
"She was hooked up to the polygraph machine with metal leads connected to her chest and stomach. She was unhappy with this," M Narayanasamy (left) told reporters at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today, relating what his sister told him.
He said that she later fell ill after the lie detector test was administered, complaining of chest pains. She was later sent to the hospital for treatment.
At the hospital, doctors then administered a stress test to Sarasvathy to ascertain her cardiac health.
They initially wanted to do it without her being handcuffed as this may interfere with the test, but cops insisted that she must remain handcuffed regardless.
After the hospital visit she was given medication. But after taking it, she felt very sick in her stomach.
It was then that police officers came to her and asked her to sign a statement.
She told them that she could not read nor understand the 62-page document in her current state and refused to sign.
Disregarding her plea, police continue to read the statement to her. Sarasvathy told her brother that under the effect of the medication and in pain, she was unable to understand what was read out.
'Signed against her will'
She was later forced to sign the document against her will.
She stated that she was signing the statement under protest but officers told her that she could not protest and her signature meant she agreed to the statement.
"We are worried about what is in the statement as she was unable to understand what was in the document. We will lodge a police report about this matter," said party secretary-general S Arutchelvan, who was also at the press conference.
The secretary-general also said that the party holds that lie detector tests are illegal since they are not admissible in court and cannot be used to try and elicit information from detainees.
He also challenged inspector-general of police Ismail Omar to come clean on the real reason why the six PSM activists were really held.
'Show us the footage'
“Now that the IGP seems fond of screening videos, I challenge him to screen footage of our 'Udah la tu, berundurlah' campaign. During the campaign I saw that police videotaped us.
“If they have footage of us, like the Al-Mau'nah who were collecting weapons, then please screen it,” sniped Arutchelvan.
Prior to that, he had screened a five-minute video of showing the activities of PSM activists on their nationwide campaign calling for the people to vote for change.
The video clip also showed the scene of how 30 activists including Sarasvathy and Sungai Siput parliamentarian Dr D Jeyakumar were arrested at the Sungai Dua toll plaza in Kepala Batas, Penang.
In the scene, the police officer who explained why they were being arrested said clearly that they were arrested under suspicion of trying to campaign for people to attend the Bersih 2.0 electoral reform rally.
Referring to the video, he said that they were very transparent of what the campaign was about and urged the IGP to furnish evidence of any wrongdoing that they had committed, if any.
“I think even the police don't know what to do now. Hence their flip-flop over the reason for the arrest. They arrest our comrades and now they are hard-pressed trying to justify it,” said Arutchelvan.
Why is Najib afraid?
Monday, July 25, 2011
Help support the project
Before I Die
It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget what really matters to you. With help from friends and neighbors, I turned the side of an abandoned house in my neighborhood into a giant chalkboard to invite people to share what is important to them. Before I Die transforms a neglected space into a constructive one where we can learn the hopes and aspirations of the people around us. If you’re in New Orleans, stop by the corner of Marigny and Burgundy (900 Marigny Street) to add your thoughts to the wall and discover what matters most to your neighbors. It’s a question that changed me over the last year after I lost someone I loved very much. I also believe the design of our public spaces can better reflect what’s important to us as residents and as human beings. The responses and stories from passersby while we were installing it have already hit me hard in the heart. Concurrently installed in East/West Galleries. I’ve received an incredible response to this project (thank you!) and many things are in development including a project website, more installations, a book, and a kit with a stencil and how-to guide (fill out part of this form if you want to be notified when it’s ready). More updates below.
Made with primer, chalkboard paint, stencils, spray paint, chalk. Self-initiated with permission from the property owner, residents of the block, the neighborhood association’s blight committee, the Historic District Landmarks Commission, the Arts Council, and the City Planning Commission. February 2011 (with more to come!) If you are a publication and would like a press kit with high-res photos, contact us.
With generous installation assistance by Kristina Kassem, Alan Williams, Cory Klemmer, Anamaria Vizcaino, James Reeves, Alex Vialou, Sean Knowlton, Carolina Caballero, Earl Carlson, and Gary Hustwit.
The word on the street: Wired, Brain Pickings, GOOD, Post Secret, Times Picayune, Wooster Collective, WeTheUrban, Design Milk, Creative Review, Life and Times, HOW, Juxtapoz Magazine, The Atlantic, and many more. Read more about the project in an interview with Juxtapoz Magazine.
Update Feb 26, 2011 – Wow. Check out the completely-filled wall of responses after one day! Photo strip here.
Update March 6, 2011 - And after three days:
Once the wall is filled, we wash the board with water and start with a clean slate again. We are documenting all responses and some will be included in a book. The response to this project has been incredible – thank you! I have received hundreds of requests from people who’d like to install it in their city, so we are currently working on providing a kit with a how-to guide and large one-column stencil that will make it easier to produce the wall and understand the process. This should be ready around July 2011 – fill out part of this form if you want to be notified when it’s ready. We are also interested in visiting your city to install it together and learn more about the stories behind your buildings. If you’d like to spread the love to your city or if you have suggestions or beyond, let us know through the project website!
Update March 16, 2011 – This out-of-pocket project now has a pocket thanks to the Black Rock Arts Foundation! It will make a big difference, thank you.
Update April 2, 2011: Every day blown away by all the thoughtful, creative, funny, and heartbreaking responses. One day after washing it again:
Update April 5, 2011: Time to evaporate into the light… I knew that this project would come to an end on this house in my neighborhood at some point, and I couldn’t ask for a better way. Someone bought the house and, to comply with city regulations on blight, must begin renovations soon. For the record, they are fans of the project and have done everything they can to let it ride before turning this building into a home again after years of collecting dust. So if you’d like to see and share on the wall, I encourage you to come before Sunday April 10th. Its life is tenuous after that. But this isn’t the end. It will rise again in another place in New Orleans. Thank you for all the love for this project! I’m blown away by the responses on the wall and beyond, and the project will continue to expand to other cities and grow for years to come. We are currently working on providing a kit with a how-to guide and large one-column stencil that will make it easier to reproduce and understand the process. We’ll let you know when it’s ready (around July 2011). A project site is also in the works where everyone can share their hopes and dreams from all the corners of the world. And I’m very happy that this house will become a home again.
Update May 5, 2011: The wall still lives! The new owners’ renovations have been delayed. In the meanwhile, we have their permission to continue with the project. So do stop by the corner of Marigny and Burgundy if you’d like to enjoy it in person. And add your own dreams online on the new project site in progress.
Update June 7, 2011: The wall is still alive and kicking!
We receive hundreds of messages each day and we try our best to answer them while still continuing to make projects and maintain our own well-being. If you have questions about making a Before I Die wall, please use this form on the project site and we will keep you posted on project developments. And you can add your dreams online on the project site here. Thank you and we appreciate your support!
Update June 23, 2011: The wall is still up, the DIY kit is in the works, and we’re going to install another wall in the great wide open. Tell us where!
Update July 6, 2011: Help support the project and purchase a Before I Die limited edition painting!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Sultan of Johor and his Bugatti Veyron
With a base price of RM 5.2 million (USD 1.7 million), I don’t even want to guess how much this particular one cost. Said to be the first Bugatti Veyron to ever land in this country, this special blue-white version of the car is owned by the Sultan of Johor , Sultan Ibrahim Ismail .
Powered by an 8-litre W16 quad-turbocharged engine that produces around 1001 horsepower, the Bugatti Veyron is able to reach from 0 to 100km/h in just 2.46 seconds and a top speed of more than 400 km/h which made it one of the fastest production cars in the world. Don’t even ask about its fuel consumption.
UMNO using money to fish for foreign voters
Now after BERSIH arrest, the Home Ministry and Election Commission are embarking on another dirty project to fish for foreign legal and illegal voters for the coming 13th General Election.
Time must be hard. There is a TOKEN SUM OF RM200 ONLY for just a thumbprint.
So MALAYSIANS, the foreigners who are the REAL PENDATANGS will take the RM200 to SEAL and DECIDE OUR FUTURE. IS THIS WHAT YOU REALLY WANT?
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Youngest Mum in the world.
(age 5, Lida)
Linda Medina was the youngest girl ever to give birth. She was just 5 years, 7 months, and 21 days when her 2.7 kg (6.0 lb) son Gerardo was born. Linda got attendance of her parents when they noticed abnormal increase of her belly; she was thought to have had a tumor but when Linda was taken to hospital, there they get to know about her pregnancy. The mystery remains unsolved about the father of Gerardo. Both mother and son died at the age of 40 and 76 respectively.
(age 8, Lima)
The father of Gerardo was never discovered, but this girl was raped by two of her own cousins. She got pregnant and gave birth to a baby weighing 2 kg (4.4 lb) by cesarean section at a hospital in December 2006.
(age 9, Hilda Trujillo)
Hilda Trujillo was third youngest mother to give birth at the age of nine. In November Hilda entered the Maternity Hospital as the patient of Obstetrician Rolando Colareta, underwent examination by a team of 16 obstetricians, gland specialists, radiologists, psychiatrists and general practitioners. They reported her to be normal, only a little older-looking than other girls of her age. After one month, on December 1957 she gave birth to a baby girl. Her 22 year old cousin was arrested, accused of rape. Dr Rolando Colareta who examined her gave reasoning saying “the rape of minors is nothing so unusual here or anywhere else. But of course rape does not mean pregnancy in children so young, except in rare cases”.
(age 9, Phetchabun.Thailand)
Not that long ago in the month of February 2001 Wanwisa Janmuk became youngest Asian mother. World’s forth youngest mother was married to a 26 year old man; by the time of birth mother and father were nine and twenty seven year old respectively.
(age 9, Singapore)
After Thailand, Singapore was second Asian country where a nine year old girl gave birth to a baby. She was student of primary school, had an affair with 14 year old student. Both were alone at home in the absence of their parents and she ended up getting pregnant.
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How old do you think the youngest mum in Chow Kit is?
RM7.6 million scam by none other than Rustam Ali
【惊爆】先进州豆腐渣工程,耗资760万桥段竟以保丽龙砌成!
桥下的拱门支座竟然全是由保丽龙砌成的空心铁架 用保丽龙建桥,竟发生在自称先进州的马六甲!马六甲耗资760万令吉重建的地保桥,竟然是豆腐渣工程,拱门式支座,全是脆弱的保丽龙砌成,启用一年半后,拱门支座的保丽龙开始脱落,才揭发了这个骇人听闻的“豆腐渣丑闻”! 地保桥于2008年展开重建工程,2009年12月建竣通车,因为该桥通达市区,学校等重要据点,车辆流量很高,承包商不顾使用者的安危,竟然用劣质的保丽龙作为拱门式的支座,舞弊层度非常严重。 外表只是薄薄的石灰面,确实是真真的保利龙 四个支座全是保利龙砌成 平面媒体已在昨日刊载这起事件,甲州眼采访人员今午亲往地保桥探个究竟,当局还未采取任何修补行动,脱落的保丽龙散落满地。 这是将相机伸入破洞内拍摄的照片 拱门支座是桥梁的重要结构,竟然是由保利龙包装的空心物! 记者将相机伸入破洞往里头拍,果然整座桥的拱门支座是“空空如也”的,里头由普通铁架支撑,外墙全是由保丽龙覆盖。四个支座也全是保丽龙砌成,简直不可思议!万一不小心发生火灾,整座桥就像“易燃物”,短时间内烧毁! 桥身护坡裂开砖块散落满地 拱门支座是一座桥梁中所设置的传力装置,它不仅要传递很大的荷载,并且要保证桥跨结构能产生一定的变为。承包商竟然用外表是灰石的加工保丽龙,砌成给人感觉很稳固的桥身,令人发指! 桥身护坡出现大裂缝,砖块跌落满地! 此外,桥身的护坡也出现偌大的裂缝,砖块散落满地,如果击中行人,后果不堪设想! 监督工程行政议员会不知情? 我们很怀疑,用保丽龙包装支座外表需要很长时间,难道当时监督整个重建计划的行政议员颜天禄全然不知?用保丽龙建桥,是承包商隐瞒导致市政厅不知情?还是市政厅照单全收?这一切当局必须给人民清楚交代。 马六甲还有多少个这样的豆腐渣工程?那些正在重建的桥梁,是不是都是以保利龙砌成的? 保丽龙桥,只有先进州的马六甲才看得见! 已经有两个支柱的保丽龙外墙开始破损。 清楚可见,外表是石灰,实际是保丽龙。 这些支座全是保丽龙空心架,没有承重功用! 车流量很高的地保桥,重建后宽度变得更小,如今却被揭发是豆腐渣工程, 华丽的外表,里头却是不为人知的舞弊乱像! 甲州眼 追踪报导 |
P7060017.JPG (141.35 KB)
All bearing even under the bridge arch is built of hollow styrofoam formwork
With styrofoam bridge, actually occurred in the claim advanced state of Malacca!Malacca cost 7.6 million ringgit's guarantee of the bridge reconstruction, turned out to be shabby, walk-bearing, all fragile styrofoam brick, half a year after opening, the arch bearing the styrofoam began to fall, only came to light this appalling "rubbish scandal!"
Guarantee of the bridge reconstruction project started in 2008, construction completion in December 2009 opening, because the bridge accessible urban areas, schools and other important locations, traffic flow is high, the contractor regardless of the user's safety, even with poor styrofoam as an arch-like bearing, degree of fraud is very serious level.
Appearance is a thin limestone surface, is indeed Barbara Poly Long
Bearing all four styrofoam brick
Print media have been published in this incident yesterday, a state eye interview this afternoon to explore what happens personally guarantee of the bridge, the authorities have not taken any remedial action, off the Styrofoam scattered over the floor.
This is inserted into the hole in the camera photographs
Arch bridge bearing is an important structure, even by the hollow styrofoam packing material!
Reporters Wang Litou shoot camera inserted into the hole, and sure enough the whole bridge arches bearing the "empty", and inside the normal metal frame support, the whole wall is covered by the styrofoam. Four bearings are all styrofoam brick, incredible! Wan accidentally fire, the whole bridge as "combustible", a short burn!
Bridge cracked bricks scattered over the floor slope
Arch bridge in the bearing is a set of power transmission equipment, it is not only a great load to pass, and to ensure that cross-bridge structure can have some changes. Contractors, even with the appearance of a limestone processing Styrofoam, people feel very solid brick bridge, outrageous!
Big cracks in bridge slope protection, floor bricks fall!
In addition, the slope also bridge the huge cracks in the bricks scattered everywhere, and if you hit the pedestrian, the consequences could be disastrous!
Members will not know the executive supervision of works?
We suspect that, with the styrofoam packing bearing surface takes a long time, are then oversee the redevelopment of the executive members Yantian Lu had no idea? With styrofoam and bridges, leading to City Hall to conceal knowledge of the contractor? Accept or City Hall? All authorities must explain clearly to the people.
Malacca, the number of such shabby work there? Those who are rebuilding the bridge, is not all the styrofoam brick?
Clearly visible, the appearance of the lime, is actually Styrofoam.
These bearings are all styrofoam hollow frame, there is no load-bearing function!
The guarantee of a high traffic bridge, rebuilt after the width becomes smaller, is now being revealed is shabby,
Looks gorgeous, but it is unknown inside the corrupt mess like!
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Very Sad Day for All Malaysians
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