Paradigm Shift in Thermostats

Think of all the new revolutionary technology and all the fields in which innovation is occurring.  But the one field that has not had much reinvention is the field of thermostats.  A former employee of Apple, Mr. Nest, has designed his new thermostat, the Nest.  The Nest is a learning thermostat.  However, it is not only smart, it is sleek and a radical departure from the normal thermostat view.  The Nest is a small circular thermostat that sports a dome to cover the screen.  The input is similar to an iPod in that you must turn the dial and push the dome to make selections.  However, the most unique characteristic about this thermostat is its ability to “learn”.  For the first week after installation, you must manually adjust the temperature just as you would your typical thermostat.  Following the first week of programming, the thermostat will pick up on your routines and automatically adjust itself based on the times and temperatures you previously entered.  It also has a sensor to detect when no one is home and will drift outside the typical temperatures to a range set by you.  A second sensor tells when a person wanders by the thermostat.  When someone gets close, the LCD screen lights up and dims when a person walks away.

So what are the implications of this?  Well, it will save money, plain and simple.  Most people with programmable thermostats never bother to actually program them, and in doing so are wasting money.  The energy saved by a programmable thermostat is a rather large amount!  The Nest also tells the user how long it will take the house to reach the designated temperature you have just set.  This feature helps in disproving the common misnomer that if you blast the heat, the house will warm up faster.  This smart thermostat will waste less energy and in result, will save great amounts of money!  The thermostat also includes an eco-leaf that notifies the user when they are being ‘eco-friendly’ giving them an added incentive to use the thermostat.

Too Much DNA!

Watson and Crick discovered the first DNA molecule and the double helix many decades ago.  In 1990 the Human Genome Project began, a large, world-wide project to sequence the human genome.  After only 13 short years, the project was completed in 2003.  The entire human DNA code had been deciphered.  Now, the field of genetics, biotechnology, and DNA is developing at a drastic pace!
Watson and Crick had only dreamed of what could become of the DNA molecule.  In today's world, we are decoding DNA faster that we can analyze it.  This bottleneck is a growing problem in biotechnology.  The cost of sequencing a genome, and the speed of sequencing it as well, has decreased incredibly over the past few years.  The human genome is comprised of 3 billion bases of DNA in a set of chromosomes.  In July 2007, it cost $8.9 million to have your genome sequenced.  Last July this number was $10,500, a decrease by a factor of more than 800 in a short span of only four years!  The problem is, the analyzing speed has decreased by a factor of four in that same time.  The decrease in cost has lead to an inundation of DNA sequencing jobs, but no increase in the analysis of those.
It is important to sequence and analyze various human genomes because these genes and sequence of DNA can help us determine the causes of diseases and tell if they are genetic.  One of the most promising possibilities of analyzing DNA is to determine the causes of cancer.  However, this massive amount of decoded genome has created large amounts of genome data to store.  The problem is, we are also short on space to store that data.  Before, scientists would store as much data on a genome as possible in case more dtailed analyzing methods were developed later.  Then, the genomes could be reanalyzed with the more sophisticated technology.  But, if we run out of room, scientists can only save the bare minimums of new genomes, and possibly have to purge the old genomes.  Leaving us without evidence that could be extremely crucial later once more sophisticated technology is developed.

To Photoshop, or not to Photoshop...

The modern debate over the Adobe photo editing software, Photoshop, is whether or not to use it for body shaping.  Many of us dismiss the photos seen in the hottest magazines or in advertisements because it is common for them to be Photoshoped drastically.  Some people are worried that these images of size 0 and 1 women is adding to the pressure of young girls.  The concept is that these unrealistically slim models are being broadcast as "the norm" and creating self-image issues for vulnerable young teenage girls, leading to eating disorders and related psychological problems.
There has been a bill introduced in some European countries such as Norway, France and England mandating that digitally altered photos be labeled as such.  A professor and Doctoral student at Dartmouth University have used this concept and debate over Photoshop as inspiration for a computer program that measures the altered state of an image.  These two, Dr. Farid, and Eric Kee, have developed the software tool to measures just how much an image has been changed on a scale of 1 to 5.  This algorithm developed by Farid and Kee statistically measures how much the photo of one's face and body has been altered.  Interestingly enough, most of the pictures they used to create the algorithm were taken from websites of "professional Photoshopers" showing off their abilities.  The program simulates how a person would decide if an image has been altered.  In order to do this, they used many people to compare before-and-after Photoshoped images and rank them on a 1 to 5 scale.  These ratings the people gave images were used to train the software so it can accurately decide what altered-state rank to give the photo.
Potentially, either the labeling of altered pictures or this software program, could have drastic implications on society and the social pressures to look like a model.  However, some argue that there is already a decrease in Photoshop usage in the fashion and magazine industry.  One editor commented that it is alright to do simple touch-ups or changes, but mentioned, "Readers arent' fooled if you really sculpt the images.  If you're a good editor, you don't go too far these days.  If you give someone a face-lift, you're a fool."  So, it is up to you to decide, is it a good idea to label images? What could be the impact of this photo-alteration detection technology on society?

Wall-e?

I'm sure all of you out there in Cyberspace have either seen or heard of the movie Wall-e, or even for those of us that are products of the 90's, Zenon.  The idea of both these movies is an inhabitable earth.  In which case, we must evacuate and live in space.  So as part of our human curiosity to seek planets with life like ours, we have been searching for planets that could support life.  But I also believe this search is for something that looks like a 'back-up plan.'  If, in the case that we do ruin this very hospitable planet of our's, where will we live?  NASA has sent several rovers and probes up to Mars already.  There is a stationary lander as well as two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.  There was a big buzz several years ago that there was life on Mars!  A photo was leaked from NASA showing part of a white object that looked very similar to a rabbit.  Turns out all this hulla-balloo was simply part of the landing bubble that incased the rover blowing in the wind.  But in any event, over the years Mars has seemed like the most promising of all the planets to support human life (eventually).  Scientists have debated that one of Jupiter's moons, Europa, could in fact also support life!  The idea is that Europa is actually a large ocean covered in an icy shell.  But, it has never been verified of what lies beneath the icy shell, until now!

On November 16th, NASA held a press conference detailing their latest findings about the moon Europa.  Scientists have no provided evidence of a body of liquid water on Europa, approximately equal in size to North America's Great Lakes.  The photo of this can be see here.  Based on their findings, this suggests that Europa could support life in a habitat similar to our's here on Earth.  Many of what we know about Jupiter and its moons, came from the spacecraft Galileo that NASA scientists sent to Jupiter in 1989 via the space shuttle Atlantis.  The photos taken by Galileo initially helped scientists conclude that Europa's icy shell concealed a global salt water ocean below.  (This ocean contains more water than all of Earth's oceans combined.)  The only problem is the icy shell is estimated at tens of miles thick, according to NASA scientists.   formerly, scientist's best inferences were that Europa's thick shell contained one large ocean, which would be bad for inhabiting.  However, these recent discoveries have shown that it may more likely be composed of large shallow lakes, that make inhabiting Europa a much greater possibility.
So, bottom line, if Mars turns out to be unsupportive of life, our next option is one of Jupiter's moons, Europa.

Jan Czochralski

Who?? Pronounced Yan Cho-ral-skee, we owe a lot to Dr. Jan Czochralski.  Czochralski is considered the father of modern crystal growth methods.  The Czochralski method is a way of creating crystals from semiconductors, metals, salts, and synthetic gemstones.  Czochralski discovered this method in 1916 on accident.  He was writing with his pen, and rather than dipping the tip into his ink, he accidentally dipped it into a crucible of hot melted tin rather than his ink.  When he removed the pen, he noted that the pen held a thread of solidified metal at the end.  After some careful research and many experiments, Czochralski was able to perfect this method and it is used in modern day crystal growing plants.  One such company that uses this is Northrop Grumman.  They grow synthetic crystals for use in laser optics.  Czochralski's method of dipping a seed into a crucible and the eventual production of a crystal.  These crystals vary in size and substance based on the application.  You may wonder what on earth does "synthetic crystals for use in laser optics" mean?  Well, basically, anything we need that requires light magnification and lasers, probably has a crystal in it.  Dentists use these crystals in their lasers, the military uses crystals to magnify the lasers they use on defense weapons (hence Northrop Grumman is using this process), these crystals are used in CAT and PET scans to amplify laser light.  And very simply, if you have ever been to Walt Disney World and see the wonderful laser light show they put on, crystals grown with the Czochralski method, are used in that show.  I was amazed how something so simple, and something we never really give much thought to, is used so often in our daily lives! If not for lasers and synthetic crystal growth, our world would be significantly different!  (One of these such Northrup Grumman crystal growth plants is here in Charlotte, North Carolina)

From Sci Fi to Child's Play

I'm sure that when we were kids, we all watched Star Wars at some point and tried to use "the force" to move an object with our mind.  "If I focus enough on the cookie, maybe it'll come over here!"  But, we all know that unfortunately, mind control levitation powers are not the everyday occurrence.
Mattel has found a way to make all of our childhood levitation hopes and dreams come true!  The game MindFlex uses EEG technology that has been around in hospitals for decades.  The game includes a headset that fits tightly around your head and a clip for each earlobe.  These allow the game to read the activity of your brain and relays the information.  The goal of the game is to move the small blue ball around the obstacle course.  You move a fan located in the boardset around the game with a dial.  The power of the fan is controlled by your brain though.  The more you concentrate, the faster the fan moves, and the higher the ball goes!  Loose concentration or calm your brain, and the fan dies a little, decreasing the height of the ball.
I was definitely skeptical about the game when I first saw it.  "What? I can make that little ball move with just my brain, you're kidding me, right?"  I really wanted to know more information about it.  And it turns out the woman I was then employed by at a tutoring agency, uses it for cognitive therapy.  The game forces one to focus and control brainwaves in order to succeed.  It is great for therapy in children with ADD and ADHD because they must focus if they want to win.  When used in small amounts, this is a wonderful therapy!  This, coupled with a few other focusing games, shows improvement in one session! I was truly amazed.
Not only did I see this is the proffessional setting as therapy, I also saw it in my home.  My younger brother certainly had to have this when he heard about it.  I decided to try it out myself.  And, while it takes some practice to master, it is really a very neat toy.  Mattel mentions using it at parties or with a group of friends.  When, in actuality, that would all probably be too distracting to get the ball into the air!
This is an example of science fiction in engineering as well.  This mind control theory was first seen in science fiction and Hollywood.  Eventually an engineer decided they could actually do that! Over time, it became part of the adjacent possible and became a workable object.  Now, it is used in a child's toy.  We can all have mind control powers!  MindFlex has now been on the market for almost two years, and has enjoyed a great range of success.  I'm sure when we head home for Thanksgiving we'll certainly see commercials for it with Christmas quickly approaching.  For a child, and even some adults, mind control is extremely enticing, even if it is in the form of a small game.  I definitely encourage you to try MindFlex for yourself, it is a genuinely interesting experience.  You may see it work in a video, but the first time you actually get it in the air yourself, you'll be surprised and all the skepticism will go away.  Happy feasting over the Holiday to all!

Green, or rather White?

This blog posting is in Semi-response to a fellow classmate's blog, http://sawiggi2.blogspot.com/
In his blog, Stanton writes about Temperature Control and he is shocked by the amount of energy we use to cool things.  This reminded me of a research project I worked on during high school, "A Comparison of Rooftop Surfaces Using Albedo."
Essentially, in this project, I turned my childhood playhouse, into a research experiment.  You can see the picture below.  I put a green roof on one third of the roof, left one third as the existing tar roof, and painted the other third with standard white, outdoor paint.

Now you may be asking what on earth possessed me to do this?  So let's go through some background information:
One problem very evident in large cities today is something called the Urban Heat Island Effect.  This occurs when the cities are significantly cooler than their surrounding countrysides at night.  As much as 10-12 degrees Celsius!  Why? Well, the abundance of black surfaces in the city absorb great amounts of heat during the day and release it all at night.  

So, two of the most promising mitigation techniques are green roofs and white roofs.  The idea is to replace the low albedo (low reflectivity) surfaces with other surfaces that have high albedos and will reflect rather than absorb the majority of light.  In my experiment, I kept a constant measurement of the surface temperatures for 250 hours.  I had a temperature probe on each roof surface on both the East facing and West facing sides.
As for results, well, it turns out these are both very promising techniques!  The cold hard facts based on my temperature analysis say that the white roof maintains cooler temperatures and is the 'better' choice.  However, we cannot ever simply rely on the facts.  As modern-day scientists and engineers we have to critically analyze this data and decide what it actually means.  The white roof did indeed keep lower temperatures and had the smallest range of temperature values, which is ideal.  But over time, white roofs become dirty and this greatly decreases their albedo.  A green roof, depending on which type you choose to install, is little to no maintenance, ascetically pleasing, helps with water runoff, and greatly extends the life of your roof.

The greenroof I used is a wonderful creation, you can see the layers in the image to the right.  this green roof is incredibly easy to install and very low maintenance.  It was donated by Xeroflora and still remains looking great on my playhouse roof several months later!