Infusion

Need Spermicide? Drink Coke!

2008-10-12T07:21:00.005+08:00

Classic Killer

That's right! In an Ig-Nobel-winning research done by Deborah Anderson, the Reproductive Biology Director of Boston University, she found out that Coke can reduce sperm movement. The acid in Coke is not conducive for sperm movement and propagation. In fact, they found out that sperm wouldn't move when Diet Coke was introduced to a pool of healthy sperm cells.

Besides cleaning pennies and stripping off the paint from cars, Coke can actually act as a spermicide, but not that reliable, according to Deborah. The inspiration for her study came from the stories of her student from Harvard University. Apparently, girls in Puerto Rico drink Coke to prevent pregnancy.

I guess it's time to rethink your Coke-drinking habits.

via Daily Free Press of Boston University

Jetpacks?

2008-08-05T13:31:00.003+08:00

Jetpacks, without the nasty afterburners, have arrived. The test was done in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. In an attempt to introduce a new line of safe hover (jet) packs, they used ducted fans that can keep you afloat for 30 seconds.

Well, it's the 11th prototype since Glenn Martin drew the blueprints on his drawing board. They haven't perfected it yet, but it goes for sale now at $100,000.

His test pilot was his 16-year-old son, who wasn't allowed to tell his friends.

Since pictures (or videos) are worth a thousand words, just go check out the video.

Alternatively, you can go check out the article. http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-%2526-space/article/2008-07/flight-jetpack

Drug Awareness

2008-06-28T04:47:00.004+08:00

Cyanide and Happiness, one of the "in" comics of today, provides another perspective into the side effects of drugs.

So. Uhm. Cocaine, anyone?

All images and cartoons are copyright of Explosm.net

Airport Borders To Be Stricter?

2008-06-02T03:45:00.006+08:00

Hear me out! UK, US, Canada, and other EU Nations are seriously considering looking into your laptops for copyrighted materials, otherwise known as pirated stuff, and see if they infringe the law. Not only your laptops are at stake, but also your iPods and other similar devices.

A United States court last month gave border agents carte blanche to hold a laptop for days and even copy its entire contents.
Matt Ransford

How would this work?

Well, security personnel would open up your laptop, search through your files, and decide right then and there if your files violate the copyright law. If your laptop becomes a victim, you should consider looking for another laptop. By the time you exit, your laptop might be burning in the crematorium (as in the Holocaust), well, maybe in a recycling plant.

Oh, did I mention that there won't be lawyers?

From Border Security to Become Copyright Police? by Matt Ransford (Popular Science)

The Real Iron Man!

2008-05-04T22:24:00.007+08:00

I envy all those who've watched the action-cum-comedy blockbuster The Iron Man. However, I envy more those who've seen the real Iron Man.

Woah! There really is this red iron suit complete with all the weapons that pop out of your body and blast you into space, and even render you bulletproof?

(salivates, eyes get wider, and pants like a tired dog)

Easy with the picturesque details. It is with great honor that I introduce to you man's next great leap in the invention of robotic exoskeletons.

Exo what?

Exoskeletons are skeletons, only they appear outside. In this case, the robots are made of metal (duh) and other peripherals mad scientists can think of.

The world's arguably most advanced robotic exoskeleton, has been engineered by Steve Jacobsen, founder of the robotcs company Sarcos. Later on, Raytheon bought Sarcos, which is why you'll see Raytheon Sarcos embedded on the robotic exoskeletons. His masterpiece, dubbed as XOS, has been funded by Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in hopes of bringing the Iron Man to their side of the battlefield. Pretty cool, come to think of it.

Piloted by Rex Jameson, XOS is the realization of Marvel's dream
Photo by John B. Carnett

Basically, the exoskeleton works by mimicking the pilot's movement. The pilot moves the robot to pick up the heavy barbel, and with the help of hydraulics, pump it up and down as if it were a pebble.

Picture a girl who rests her feet with her dad's. The dad grabs her daughter's hands and moves depending on what her daughter moves. It's as if teaching her how to walk, except he'll carry the heavy bag filled with coloring books and whatnots of the Barbie world. (awww)

That's the same concept of superhuman strength. The pilot moves only so much while the robot magnifies the force. A flick of a finger might bruise someone.

Yeah, aesthetically, it's still ugly, with all the exposed wires and God-knows-what stuff attached all over. He's not yet bulletproof. Give it 5 years, and probably, they'll think of a way to make one. (Shrugs the genuis Tony).

Thanks to Steve's team, we're getting closer to the premiere night of the Iron Man zipping through the skies.

To those who have insatiable hunger for visuals, feast on these:

No Sweat!

and the demo video. Watch it

via Popular Science

Do We Use Only 10% of Our Brains?

2008-05-03T01:04:00.007+08:00

The answer is no.

The untapped 90%, when learned, could promise savant-like capabilities such as super speed reading, superior memory, and telekinesis (moving objects by just thought). But, that's how media sees it.

Science, on the other hand, views that statement as a downright myth. Parkinson's disease and strokes could occur when a tiny puny part of the brain is damaged. If we only use 10% of our brain, banging your head against thick walls is no problem, if you want to die early.

Many scientists believe that the brain is the most complex structure in the universe.
Bill McLain

According to Bill McLain, author of What Makes Flamingos Pink?, it would be impractical to make our brains big, but only use a part of it. Using 10% of our brains is comparative to the size of the sheep's brain. We aren't as reticient or boring as the sheeps, right? Nature would had just stopped growing our brains in the past millenias. Still, scientists believe that all brain cells participate in a healthy brain.

Even though our neurons seem to be silent, they're still receiving signals from other neurons. In effect, they are still active.

Fact: We use 100% of our brain.

Are Men Better At Giving Directions Than Women?

2008-04-18T08:08:00.002+08:00

Picture this: a couple's child gives them a map to find their way to his Saturday basketball game. Along the way, the mother tells the father to turn right at McDo, but the father argues that they won't turn until another kilometer. The argument goes on until both arrive an hour after the game. Oh boy! Who's to blame?

"Chill!" she and he say.
Photo from iStockPhoto

Deborah Saucier--a neuroscience professor at the University of Lethbridge in Canada-- theorized that during the caveman era, men may have relied on the positions of the sun and their uncanny skills in navigation to find the quickest route back after the day's hunt in an unknown territory.

After a single tasting tour of the market, women could more accurately point to food stalls they had visited, noting, in particular, the locations of foods with high energy content.
Corey Binns (from Joshua New's study)

A native American mother with her baby
Photo from North Coast Journal

Meanwhile, women would use landmarks to remember where to find the delectable fruits or eye-catchy flowers they've seen. Since it's just fruits, a long trip from home isn't necessary. Besides, who'll take care of the baby?

Man chasing his prey.
Photo from Maasai Association

Deborah suggests that gender-specific maps be made so that it'll be much easier to find our way. But right now, when it comes to driving, just assign a trustworthy navigator regardless of sex. It'll be much easier that way, believe me. And, it doesn't hurt to ask for landmarks.

Now you know why women could easily pinpoint shops that would easily drain out men's cash.

Adapted from Corey Binns in Popular Science

Blast from Star Wars

2008-04-17T15:51:00.003+08:00

As a kid, you wouldn't dare miss out on any Star Wars saga. Yes, the behemoth capital ships roving around worlds filled with towering skyscrapers--you'll need a flying car to get around--have been featured on-screen. And yes, the wicked lightsaber duels cover the story from end to end. Yet, what amazes me are the sound effects.

ZwhooBOOM
photo from Sacred Art Murals

Take the space wars as an example. The producers and writers would tell us that the phrase "sound fx: explosion" is necessary for realism. In the real world, physicists would yell at you.

But hey, I guess all those sound designers and THX-equipped theaters need to be used for something, right?
PopSci

Why aren't there sound effects in space?

To put it simply, sound needs a medium to travel. When we sing, sound travels through the air. When we ring the bell, sound travels through the metal. But, when the space lasers hit the explosive part of the ship in Star Wars, sound can't travel because space is an empty void. Sound cannot be effectively transmitted unlike water or air.

Well, Duh!

2008-04-16T18:53:00.002+08:00

After a long--20 days to be exact--hiatus, I've decided to make a comeback. Sorry to cut the IHW short, but I'll feature them some other time. Let's go back to the trivia. :D

If you've read PopSci over the past few days, you probably came across their feature Science Confirms the Obvious. Well, here's one obvious fact that science has finally confirmed (thank goodness).

Copied from PopSci:

Loneliness Sucks
Photo by Tom@HK
The Study: “Aging and Loneliness: Downhill Quickly?” Current Directions in Psychological Science, August 2007

The Findings: University of Chicago researchers investigated the physical effects of loneliness on the overall health of young, middle-aged and older people. Sustained loneliness found in the 50- to 68-year-old subjects correlated with increased blood pressure, as well as a spike in epinephrine levels, both health-risk factors for older adults.

Why Bother? Because the U.S. is becoming lonelier, with 25 percent of Americans unable to name a trusted confidante, according to the American Sociological Review. Understanding how this trend affects health is becoming more important as aging baby boomers come to dominate the population.

Hold the tissue first. Yeah, noses might bleed, but I can't blame geekophbias. The bottom line: loneliness is dangerous, and it sucks big time. So the next time your parents think that that's a hoax, let them read this. Drag a doctor along if you have to. Surely, you'd want to be happy. Who doesn't?

IHW: Chester Carlson

2008-03-24T20:34:00.012+08:00

Chester Floyd Carlson
Born on February 8, 1906 (Seattle, Washington)
Died on September 19, 1968 (Rochester, New York)
American

Introduction

Carlson, as known by many, was a physicist, a patent attorney, and the inventor of the famous photocopier. Because of his hard work and determination in ushering the new era of duplicating copies, he was able to popularize his invention under the name electrophotography, and then, xerography, which means dry copying in Greek.

Bad Start

Chester was plagued with a barrage of misfortunes. Starting from the tuberculosis that both of his parents suffered, up to the death of his mother at age 17, and his father at age 21. In addition, his father suffered from arthritis of the spine. Because of their illnesses, Carlson had to work to support his family.

"I had read of [Thomas Alva] Edison and other successful inventors, and the idea of making an invention appealed to me as one of the few available means to accomplish a change in one's economic status, while at the same time bringing to focus my interest in technical things and making it possible to make a contribution to society as well."
Chester Carlson

Inspiration

After graduating from the California Institute of Technology back in 1930, he tried to apply to 82 firms despite the developing Depression in the US. Unfortunately, only 2 firms replied. He entered as a research assistant in Bell Telephone Laboratories in New York City. He earned $35 a week.

As the Great Depression worsened, Bell Labs had to fire people, including Chester. But, to compensate for the loss, he worked briefly as a patent attorney. Later on, electronics firm PR Mallory & Co. hired him. At night, he was a law student in a college in New York. Because of hard work, he was eventually promoted to manager, and gained a degree in law.

As a patent attorney, he was frustrated with the slow and expensive mimeograph machine. As a result, he knocked at the doors of his physics understanding, and began to develop the electrostatic process. During those times, the only ways out of the mimeograph machine were chemical copying and photography. Still, those were expensive.

Photo from Lemelson-MIT

Ta-da!

After 15 years of hard work with his German assistant, Otto Kornei, they were able to produce the perfect replica using their process of electrophotography. The picture above shows the perfect copy. But then...

Frustrations

He asked General Electric, IBM, RCA and the U.S. Army Signal Corps to invest in his invention, but no one was interested. After countless nights of research, reading all about image processing, at the New York Library, it just didn't pay off.

TRIVIA
The historic patent for electrophotography, later called xerography, was filed April 4, 1939, several months after Carlson made the first xerographic image. It was issued Oct. 6, 1942 as number 2,297,691.
The Great Idea Finder

Finally...

In 1944, Battelle Corporation, an Ohio-based non-profit organization, sponsored Carlson's invention. Soon, Battelle got Haloid Company to further refine the invention. Haloid named the process as XeroX, short for xerography. Eventually, Haloid Company was renamed to Xerox Corporation, the brand name that is well-known.

Later on, he earned $150M for his invention. He donated $100M to charitable causes.

TRIVIA
It was not until 1959, twenty-one years after Carlson invented xerography, that the first convenient office copier using xerography was unveiled.
The Great Idea Finder

Photocopier Concept

In Physics class, most of us were amazed when the strands of hair became attracted to the balloon that teacher had just rubbed. The concept behind that is opposites attract.

You could see through the glass of the photocopier a big drum. That drum is like the balloon. It is statically charged. The toner, or the ink used, acts as the strands of hair. As the toner is attracted to the drum, the toner rolls through the paper, making the copy.

Let this interactive Flash diagram from HowStuffWorks (Yes, my favorite website) show you how the photocopier basically works.

What Happened to the Electrophotography Process?

That became the fundamental concept that most photocopiers nowadays use. Eventually, making copies became much easier and faster.

Xerox became a colloquial term. "Pa-xerox mo naman itong notebook ko o!"
(but still, the proper term is pa-photocopy)

What Happened to Carlson?

As mentioned awhile ago, he earned $150M for his invention.
Donated $100M to charities, especially those related to the 1960s civil rights movement.
Donated money to help in the founding the Vedanta Center in Chicago, a center that involves Zen.
He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
In 1959, the company successfully sold its machines in just six months.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Carlson
http://inventors.about.com/od/xyzstartinventions/a/xerox.htm
by Mary Bellis
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/carlson.htm
http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/carlson.html
http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/27.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/chester-carlson?cat=technology
http://www.howstuffworks.com/photocopier1.htm
by Ann Meeker-O'Connell

NOTE: Literary works and/or sources were summarized, annotated, ascribed, adapted, and quoted from the abovementioned sources.

IHW: László Bíró

2008-03-23T17:14:00.015+08:00

László József Bíró

Born on September 29, 1899 (Budapest, Hungary)
Died on November 24, 1985 (Bueno Aires, Argentina)
Hungarian

Introduction

Bíró (pronounced as bee-raw) started off as an editor in the journal Hongrie-Magyarország-Hungary. When that journal company closed down, he worked for the newspaper Elôtte. While working one day, he noticed that the ink in the newspaper dried quickly, making it smudge-free, and neat. This sparked his interest to find a new kind of pen. During those times, the fountain pen, that took so long to dry, dominated the world of portable pen.

How It All Began

Frustrated with the inefficient and difficult-to-use fountain pen, he went to great lengths to develop the convenient way of transferring ink onto a paper. Like any scientist, developing the one wasn't as easy as spoon feeding. Met with failures and disappointment, and driven by his quest to make a new kind of pen, he pushed through.

“Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.”
Bern Williams

Why Not the Fountain Pen?

According to HowStuffWorks, fountain pens were unattractive because of the following reasons:

The ink can flow unevenly.
The ink is slow to dry. The ink is exposed to the air while it is flowing through the pen, so it cannot dry quickly or it would clog the pen.
When it does accidentally dry in the pen, the ink gums the whole thing up and requires meticulous cleaning.

Big Problem

As Biro was developing his ball pen, he was met with one of the biggest problem: the ink was too viscous to even flow from the pen. With the help of brother Georg, a chemist, he developed the socket-based ball pen we see today. Eventually, he patented his invention in Paris on 1938.

And in 1939, life-threatening problems in Hungary forced his family to migrate to Paris, then to Argentina where he continued most of his work.

Ball Pen Concept

Ball pen is actually short for Ballpoint pen. Ballpoint means the point or the mark the ball pen makes. More on ballpoint later on.

If you've ever used a deodorant that uses a ball (liquid-based), you would notice that there is a rotating ball.

Photo from HowStuffWorks

Removing the ball, we would see the liquid, or the path to the liquid.

Photo from HowStuffWorks

So exactly, how does the ball pen work?

Photo from HowStuffWorks

The ball mentioned awhile ago allows it to pick up the ink, and then leave the ink on the paper as the ball rolls toward the paper. The ball keeps rolling and transferring the ink from the long slender tube to the paper.

If you ever wonder why your ball pen leaks (or nagtatae), it could only mean that the ball is loose. Conversely, if your ball pen wouldn't write despite having tons of ink left, the ball is already tight. It just wouldn't roll anymore.

TRIVIA
A 0.5-mm-wide ballpoint pen means that the when you draw a line with that ballpoint pen, it is 0.5 mm thick.

What Happened to the Ball Pen?

Obviously, the ballpens we use today are products of Biro's ingenuity. More variants of pens came along.
People from Argentina call their ball pen "birome."
In Britain, a ballpoint pen is usually referred to as a "Bíró" (pronounced as by rowe).

What Happened to Bíró?

Argentine Inventors' Day is celebrated on his birthday September 29th.
His name became a colloquial term. Much like the photocopier, which is known to most as Xerox. "Pa-xerox mo naman oh!" Similarly, in other countries, they would say "Do you have a biro?"

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laszlo_Biro
http://www.budpocketguide.com/TouristInfo/famous/Famous_Hungarians17.asp
http://www.kkmk.hu/onszolg/eletrajz/kepek/nagy/birolaszlojozsef.jpg
http://www.howstuffworks.com/pen3.htm by Melissa Russell-Ausley
http://www.howstuffworks.com/pen2.htm by Melissa Russell-Ausley

NOTE: Literary works and/or sources were summarized, annotated, ascribed, adapted, and quoted from the abovementioned sources.

IHW: Alessandro Volta

2008-03-22T17:28:00.008+08:00

Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta

Born on February 18, 1745 (Como, Italy)
Died on March 5, 1827 (Como, Italy)
Italian

Introduction

Alessandro Volta, or much commonly known as Volta, was responsible for the modern day direct current, or the batteries. He discovered the field of electrochemistry, a field that studies the conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy.

Major Ouch

Volta was born into a rich family in Como, Lombardy. However, it was only at the age of four that he learned how to speak, and unlike his siblings, he didn't step foot on churches. He didn't have the makings of a prodigy child. As a result, his family considered him retarded. But that didn't stop him from doing what he wanted. His relatives supported his education.

Path to Success

By age fourteen, he made up his mind to be physicist. At age twenty-nine (1774) he became the professor of Physics at Como High School. A year later, he improved and popularized the electrophorus, and as a result, he was credited for inventing it. In reality, it was Swedish professor Johan Carl Wilcke who invented the electrophorus in 1764. In case you didn't know, electrophorus is like a modern day generator, except during those times, you have to manually wind the generator to produce electricity.

Discoveries and inventions later, he became the professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Padua for almost 40 years starting 1779. In 1800, he made one of the most valuable inventions: the battery. Originally known as the voltaic pile, his "frog-twitch" discovery back in 1791 allowed him to understand that the frog's legs were conductors (or electrolytes) and detectors of electricity (the twitch), and that animal tissues had nothing to do with electricity, much to Galavni's dismay. He tried replacing the frog's leg with brine-soaked paper, and later on developed the forerunner of battery.

Volta's work was characterized throughout by forethought; there was no empiricism, nothing due to mere chance.
Brother Potamian

So what happened to Galvani? According to this website, Galvani, the scientist who claimed that animal tissues produce electricity, died embittered.

Voltaic Pile Concept

from Borbrav of Wikipedia

Here, electricity is produced by the chemical reactions of brine (strong salt solution). Taken from HowStuffWorks, here is the molecular process of the reaction:

The acid molecules break up into three ions: two H⁺ (hydrogen) ions and one SO4^-- (sulfate) ion.
The zinc atoms on the surface of the zinc rod lose two electrons (2e^-) to become Zn⁺⁺ ions.
The Zn⁺⁺ ions combine with the SO4^-- ion to create ZnSO4 (zinc sulfate), which dissolves in the acid.
The electrons from the zinc atoms (Zn^--) combine with the hydrogen ions in the acid to create H2 molecules (hydrogen gas). We see the hydrogen gas as bubbles forming on the zinc rod.

As (Zn^--) and hydrogen ions combine, an electrical charge is produced. 0.76 of a volt is produced in one cell. Adding more cells (or elements as shown in the figure above) will increase the net voltage. Eventually the battery "dies" when the hydrogen ions get used up, or when zinc dissolves.

What Happened to His Invention?

His invention eventually led to the batteries we use today. Car batteries, 12-volt batteries, 9-volt batteries, AA batteries, AAA batteries, and other batteries we know of basically came from the voltaic pile. More discoveries came from his work. One example is Oersted's discovery of electromagnetism.

What Happened to Volta?

Oh, the great things came to him such as the following:

Volt was named after him. (Yes, the annoying topic in Physics. And yes, the thing you see in batteries and gadgets. Volt carries the sign V.)
Napoleon Bonaparte made him a count in 1810.
In 1815, the Emperor of Austria named him a professor of philosophy of Padua.
He was featured in a 10,000 Italian lira (before the Euro made its way to Italy).
A museum in his honor was erected.

Sources

http://www.thevillapassalacqua.com/images/uploads/volta.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Volta
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/volta.htm
http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Biographies/VoltaBio.htm
http://www.italian-american.com/volta.htm
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15503a.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrophorus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltaic_pile
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/battery2.htm
by Marshall Brain and Charles W. Bryant

NOTE: Literary works and/or sources were summarized, annotated, ascribed, adapted, and quoted from the abovementioned sources.

Inventors' History Week

2008-03-21T23:49:00.001+08:00

This week's posts will be dedicated to the men and women who took risks in order to change the world. Truly, their life and their works are worth mentioning.

Probably, without their inventions and discoveries, we would not have enjoyed today's technologies.

An inventor is a person who creates or discovers new methods, means, or devices for performing a task. The word "inventor" comes form the latin verb invenire, invent-, to find.
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inventor)

Worldwide, and across the span of history, there were curious brains who devised ingenious ways to solve problems. May the inventors that I will present inspire you to continually find creative ways to solve a problem. You may not be an Einstein or a savant, but a curious mind, a determined soul, and a magnanimous heart are all you need to start changing the world.

Yes, you can change the world, if you never lose hope. The greatest minds have faced their roughest seas.

Old Man Solves a 38-Year-Old Math Problem

2008-03-21T18:58:00.000+08:00

"Say you've lost an e-mail and you want to get it back — it would be guaranteed," he said. "Let's say you are lost in a town you have never been in before and you have to get to a friend's house and there are no street signs — the directions will work no matter what."
Trahtman to Heller, Associated Press Writer

A 63-year-old Israeli immigrant, Avraham Trahtman, was able to solve one of the challenging problems posed by Benjamin Weiss in the 1970s. Trahtman, a mathematician who gave a simple solution to the problem, was able to solve the "Road Coloring Problem." With that new discovery, finding your way back without the breadcrumbs is not far from being a reality.

For Math geeks, check out his solution >>

Heller, A. (2008, March 20). After 38 years, Israeli solves math code. Associated Press, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080320/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_math_riddle.

Most Widely Spoken Languages

2008-03-21T01:27:00.000+08:00

English isn't the top 1 most spoken language in the world.

Language	Approx. number of speakers
1. Chinese (Mandarin)	1,075,000,000
2. English	514,000,000
3. Hindustani	496,000,000
4. Spanish	425,000,000
5. Russian	275,000,000
6. Arabic	256,000,000
7. Bengali	215,000,000
8. Portuguese	194,000,000
9. Malay-Indonesian	176,000,000
10. French	129,000,000

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0775272.html
Statistics may vary per site.

Nanotechnology

2008-03-19T19:35:00.000+08:00

Ruptured Blood Vessel

2008-03-18T23:21:00.001+08:00

Biology can be so darn hard, but when you see this masterpiece (taken by some kind of high performance camera or microscope), you'll see why biologists love, well, biology.

Photo by Anne Weston, Wellcome Images

Red blood cells drip out of a broken blood vessel (in blue). A mutation in the ephrinB2 gene weakens blood vessels, making them more susceptible to rupturing.

Taken from From PopSci

Nokia Morph

2008-03-18T16:27:00.000+08:00

Amaze yourselves. If you are having a hard time seeing this (because of slow internet connection, or something else you can't explain), just check out Nokia Morph.

How Your Flash Drive Works (and History)

2008-03-16T21:08:00.000+08:00

Flash drives are becoming the mainstream storage medium of today. But, to have an idea on how mankind was able to store abstract thoughts in the form of simple binary logic, let's unveil the history of the storage devices.

Thanks, Wikipedia.

THE IDEA

In 1967, IBM tasked it's Storage Development Center in San Jose, California to basically develop a cheap way of storing microcode (basically data). Since tapes were bulky and slow (much like carrying the shameful 8-inch floppy disk around these days), the disk was later commercialized in 1971 after a series of developments. However, you couldn't save files on it yet. David Noble was able to invent the first floppy disk in 1969.

8-inch Floppy Disk

When your parents thought that this would be their memory bank, think about their reaction when they see a million of these 175-kilobyte floppy disks (the flash drive). So anyway, 1973 marked the commercialism of the read and write (thank God) storage medium.

but then...

And then things started to shrink from 8 inches to almost 5 inches. Memory also got a boost. It now went up to 1.2 MB (that's in 1976)

and then...
the famous floppy disk we all know

1.4 MB diskette

popularized by Apple in the 80's

The ZIP drive popularized by Iomega. This could store more than 100 MB of data.

but then...

Just when we all thought that floppy disks were in, another wave of storage media arrived in the market. I'm very sure you've heard of (or even seen or used; I seriously pity you if you haven't) the CD. (700 MB)

and then now, the ever-virus-ridden storage medium: the flash drive.

You gotta hate people plugging flash drives into your computer. It just makes me go red in anger when I see the "VIRUS DETECTED" screen. You gotta understand. Please.

ok

on with the real topic

How a flash drive works
photo and article from PopSci
10,000 times zoom

The computer, believe it or not, can only understand 1 and 0 (binary). Your 3 x 2-inch flash drive is like our tongue. It contains millions of taste-bud-looking transistors (that are a thousand times as thin as a hair strand) that act as switches. If the transistor conducts electricity, the chip reads it as 1; else, it's 0.

For Science geeks, read on >>

Since a flash drive has no moving parts, dropping it 10-stories high will not affect your data. Just don't throw it around like some destressor. (It seriously hurts)

And would you believe that there is a 64-GB flash drive?
www.micron.com

Cool, right? :)

You gotta admit, PopSci's one hell of a website.

Pi Day

2008-03-14T16:59:00.000+08:00

First known to Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian and Greek geometers

Thanks to π, we have real decent car wheels.

Or else, traveling on the road might have been painful.

Ads Galore

2008-03-13T23:59:00.000+08:00

On the way home, my driver, my sister, and I were greeted with this:

Yes, the traffic snarl does suck.

But what does suck more than some freeloader reaping the rewards of his cajoling are the billboards littered all over the avenue. It's just plain disgusting.

And, apparently, size does matter. Just take a look at the billboards when you happen to pass by EDSA.

Caution: The objects may appear to be larger than you think.

That Sunsilk Ad is as tall as a 4-story building, and as wide as 2 buses parked bumper-to-bumper.

And what you see now is just a small fraction of all the billboards along EDSA. There are even ads along the MRT track.

Now, since the avenue is filled with non-sense commercialism, where else can the safety signs be placed? What happened to the "Speed Limit" and "Buckle Up" signs?

And what happens if we (considering our attention span) look left and right at the ads while driving. Isn't that dangerous?

If you think littering the avenue with billboards is just fine, how would you feel if your house were littered with ads? What would the neighbors make of your house? A trade-expo? What about the furniture and the wallpaper you are so proud of?

Another thing, consider the geographical location of the Philippines. Annually we are hit with more than 3 typhoons. Believe or not, the strong winds can topple down the billboards. If you remember typhoon "Milenyo," (International Name: Xangsane) you'd know what I mean.

You wouldn't want that to happen to your shiny BMW.

So, here goes my point:
There has to be a limit!
(including our habits)

Too much of everything (like the ads) can hurt somebody (like the bus).

MIT Decisions... out soon

2008-03-13T02:53:00.000+08:00

This is our situation.
A C4 ready to detonate 2 days later
on a wall with a screen at the back
only to say either ACCEPTED or REJECT

and... we all wish for the best

Well, 2 days left (3 for me since there's a 13-hour difference + daylight savings)

IHTFP... I hate this frickin' pressure..

well... if I were you,

let's just chillax
and wait

No good will ever come out of ranting all day and being uber anxious

you might just hurt your cat.

Sunday 2 am... right after the grad ball...
what a way to end the night
and might I add, another reason to party harder all-night

Infusion

Need Spermicide? Drink Coke!

Jetpacks?

Drug Awareness

Airport Borders To Be Stricter?

The Real Iron Man!

Do We Use Only 10% of Our Brains?

Are Men Better At Giving Directions Than Women?

Blast from Star Wars

Well, Duh!

Loneliness SucksPhoto by Tom@HK

IHW: Chester Carlson

IHW: László Bíró

IHW: Alessandro Volta

Inventors' History Week

Old Man Solves a 38-Year-Old Math Problem

Most Widely Spoken Languages

English isn't the top 1 most spoken language in the world.

Nanotechnology

Ruptured Blood Vessel

Nokia Morph

How Your Flash Drive Works (and History)

Pi Day

Ads Galore

MIT Decisions... out soon

Loneliness Sucks
Photo by Tom@HK