O (b LOG N)

In energy

500kV Switch Opening in the Nevada desert.

And in green:

gadgetDNA

Scotsman Ian Gilmartin, 60, and his friend Bob Cattley, 58, both from Kendal, Cumbria have invented a mini-waterwheel capable of supplying enough electricity to power a house - for free.

Affordable Internet Services Online, Inc. - Solar Powered Web Hosting

Our 120 solar panel system will eliminate the production of
- 19,890 lbs of Carbon Dioxide (CO2/GHG) per year
- 5.9 lbs of Nitrous Oxide (NOX/smog) per year
- 0.45 lbs of Sulfur Dioxide (SO4/acid rain) per year
This is the equivalent of planting 3.5 acres of trees per year

Finally, ye old solar ray of death.

Google’s Page urges scientists to market themselves

News.com

I like Larry Page. I’ve respected him, but I didn’t know I liked him before tonight. I just read about his urging earlier this week to members of AAAS to take their research out of halls of academia and engineer it into something that will benefit society, or, at least, make sure their findings can be consumed by someone who will. He also encouraged them to be politically active.

…take their scientific studies, market them better and make them readily accessible to the world. That way, the world might have a better chance at solving problems like energy consumption, poverty and global climate change.

“Virtually all economic growth (in the world) was due to technological progress. I think as a society we’re not really paying attention to that,” Page said. “Science has a real marketing problem. If all the growth in world is due to science and technology and no one pays attention to you, then you have a serious marketing problem.”

To that end, Page urged the group to take on more leadership roles in society, i.e., politics, so that they could control more funding for research and development. He also said that scientists should get in the habit of investing part of their scientific grant money to marketing budgets, in order to get the word out to the media about their research.

This concept of science having a marketing problem is not new. I’ve heard this discussed for years. However, I’ve not seen it discussed in such a public forum and it’s great to see it getting wide spread coverage. Also, Page’s emphasis on entrepreneurship (not included in the above quote) resonates with me. I believe entrepreneurship (and federally subsidized education) is what’s made our country the dominant world power.

So, we have:

1. Science should make every attempt to ensure research is accessible in order to maximize the potential that science benefits society.
2. Scientist should be politically active.
3. Academia should treat entrepreneurship as a positive outlet for their research.

All very obviously positive thoughts. It’s important to note that scientists need to be politically active now more than ever. Finally, Page provides us with some real world examples of how today’s science can be today’s solutions:

- Build fewer roads in underdeveloped parts of Africa. Instead, he suggested ultralight planes capable of traveling at up to 145 kmh and which would consume less gasoline than ground vehicles.

- Solar energy installations in the Nevada desert were capable of producing 800 megawatts per square mile (2.5 square km), somewhat less than half the 2000 megawatts of a nuclear power plant, he said. (A midsized natural gas-powered plant generates around 400 or 500 megawatts).

- A major limitation to wind power is the need for a distribution grid to move power from regions where wind blows to where populations are centered. He said 80 per cent of the electrical grid of Europe and North Africa could be served by an ambitious wind distribution grid cross-connecting the two regions. “Are we going to build that grid? I don’t think so. But I think it would be a good idea.”

As I write this I’m watching: “Who Killed the Electric Car“. Very relevant. It’s a good watch. Definitely infuriating.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Out of the mountains of Colorado, into Utah, a sliver of Arizona, and onto Nevada. Tara and I escaped the snow covered ground for the debauchery of Vegas. We hit the road before sunrise because our room in the Ramada Inn stunk of stale cigarette smoke. I woke up in the morning and coughed out something I hadn’t seen since I quit smoking three years earlier. We would have changed rooms, but Ashby was so tapped out, as were we, we didn’t bother. Also, we figured the next non-smoking room was likely going to be as smokey.

We watched the sun break the over the Rockies as we neared Grand Junction. The scenery was stunning. An hour or so into Utah we came across some of the most amazing mountains you’ll ever see, they looked as if the wind had blown them on their side. We stopped at a viewing area to take some photos. Turns out at this viewing area I was standing atop rocks from the Permian extinction that have been thrust upward and exposed. I was standing on rocks were from about 250 Million years ago when the greatest global extinction known to man occurred. It’s beleived that volcanic eruptions in Siberia 251 million years ago began a series of of events that lead to high hydrogen sulfide levels in the oceans and atmosphere and precipitating the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history. During this extinction 95 percent of all species on Earth became extinct, compared to only 75 percent of all species in the next major extinction, which is theorized to be when a large asteroid caused the dinosaurs to disappear. When you read up on the Permian extinction it’s a little terrifying. It all with a little global warming. It was all downhill after that. Sound familiar?

After Utah on highway 15 we passed through a small piece of Arizona, about 20 to 30 miles. This was some of the most spectacular scenery of the entire trip. White River Canyon in Colorado was amazing, but this too was brilliant. The section is the Virgin River Gorge. I found this page that describes the highway segment by segment in great detail, very cool. After the gorge you roll out into the desert of Nevada. We were in Las Vegas before 5 PM.

After initially booking a place at the MGM Grand I realized there was no way I could easily slip the cats past the door men. None of the hotels on the strip take cats so we ended up at a La Quinta about a half mile off the strip. After getting the car unloaded for the night we headed for the nearest buffet. Unfortunately it happened to be Excalibur, which sucked. While Tara was with Ashby I played the 3 dollars I promised our renter in a slot machine. He lost. Then I dropped 20 bucks into another machine on my way to catch up with Tara and Ashby. About three minutes later I walked away with $47.75. I broke Las Vegas!! WoooOOOOooo!

• Photo set

Mostly packed, ready to go…

We’re mostly packed now. The movers load the majority of the Minnesota office tomorrow beginning at around 8 AM CST. After that they’ll load the house. Our route to San Diego is completely planned, but I know we’ll be going through Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada before we reach California. The car is loaded. I would have never had enough room if it weren’t for the new (used) 21″ Yakima Skybox I bought off Craigslist for a less than half price. I’ll try to post as we travel. My BlackBerry acts as a modem to my laptop so connectivity won’t be much of a problem. I’ll be glad when we’re on the road this Sunday.