[wall]  [ mass  ]   [wall]
   [wall] [ magnet+  ] [wall]
   [wall]||repulsion|||[wall]
   [wall] [  magnet+  ][wall]
   [O  wheeled platform    O]

Will it be easier to drive a platform with mass in this configuration than plain platform?

Why discern Kinetic and Potential Energies? Say we have kinetic energy of the Moon, which prevents Moon's falling onto the Earth, while at the same time this kinetic energy makes potential energy, because some huge body, hitting the Moon, may spiral Moon into Earth. So Other example is water in a river, possesing kinetic energy, which becomes potential energy, if applied to a turbine. I think physical nomenclature is completely retarded.

From seawater to drinking water

How seawater is desalinated

A 411MW combined gas turbine power plant will provide electricity to the desalination plant. Excess electricity will be sold back to the electric grid.

1. INTAKE

Under this buoy beneath the seabed are two 2.5m diameter-wide pipes that take in seawater.

The seawater is pumped in and passes through filter screens of 2mm-20mm to filter out objects such as sand. Next, the seawater passes through auto-strainers that further filter the water.

Sometimes marine life like stingrays and sea snakes are found trapped in the filter. They are put into the container.

2. PRE-TREATMENT

The next step in the desalination process takes place in the Ultra Filtration (UF) building. Kristal UF membranes are used to remove micro-organisms and bacteria.

Filtered water flows inside the follow membrane.

The fibre membranes are thin, noodle-like hollow tubes that allow only objects smaller than 10 nanometres to pass through. Even the Sars virus will be filtered out.

The Kristal UF membranes are stored in these vertical cylinders. To clean the membranes, water is pumped in the reverse direction.

3. REVERSE OSMOSIS

Pressure is applied to push the water through the osmosis membrane to remove salt and impurities.

Pressure → Salt and other impurities - Pure Water

The water recovered is very pure and is re-mineralised with lime and carbon dioxide to adjust the pH level. Chlorine, fluoride and ammonium sulphate are added for fluoridation and chloramination.

The water is stored before being pumped to a reservoir for delivery to homes and industries.

I've got a question for everyone out there familiar with some molecular biology techniques. Could you explain western blotting? I understand the application, and I understand the procedure up to the point where you blot your protein bands onto nitrocellulose or the like. After that, it starts to get a bit hazy for me.
      I understand the use of a probe to isolate your protein of interest, and that the probe has to be attached to some other protein which is itself fluorescent or is an enzyme which cleaves a substrate into something that fluoresces/dyes so identification can occur.
      However, I don't get how someone selects the specific antibody probe, or how you image the damn thing afterwards. Are there just a few, select antibody groups that bind to some tags (6xHIS, etc.), or what? And is there a way to isolate your protein of interest if you haven't tagged its sequence with an AA marker? Like, if you didn't modify the CDS of the gene that produced that protein's mRNA so it had a polyhistidine tag, is there an antibody you could still use based on the protein's understood properties? Any help/explanation would be appreciated.

Creatively Swipe

Improve your personal creativity by mixing from other sources.

It is possible to forge a meaningful connection between seeming disparate items. Most creative ideas are just that: two or more existing elements, 'borrowed' and connected in a new and novel fashion. Very rarely, if ever, do ideas emerge totally without ancestry.

   We can use this idea if we have a specific problem that we want to address. For example, we may want to raise £$1000 for charity. To get the creative juices going about how to raise the cash, we decide to try free association to get some ideas. Begin by picking a word at random. Whatever you come up with has the potential to spark your thinking.

   Say we come up the word 'Apollo'. What else does it bring to mind, and what might those things have to do with our goal of raising money? Associations could go: 'Greek god', 'moon mission', and 'theatre'. That might lead us to the movie Apollo 13 ... which starred Tom Hanks ... who did the voice-over for the character Woody in the movie Toy Story, etc. This might then lead us to the idea of raising money by getting people to donate old toys, or perhaps asking a local cinema to help out with a charity performance of a film.

   Granted, neither of those ideas is irresistible. However, you can keep the process going for longer on the basis that the more options you have, the more likely it is that something will spark a flash of inspiration.

Hayley : "IF I WERE A POP SINGER, I'D BE KYLIE MINOGUE!"

Ken : "IF I WERE A MOVIE STAR, I'D BE ERROL FLYNN!"

Hayley : "IF I WERE AN ANIMAL, I'D BE A CUTE LITTLE PUPPY DOG!"

Ken : "IF I WERE A MONSTER, I'D BE A GRIFFIN!"

Hayley : "IF I WERE IN A FAIRYTALE, I'D BE THE LONG LOST PRINCESS!"

Ken : "OH YEAH! AND IF I WERE A VEGETABLE, I'D BE A CARROT!!"

Hayley : "OKAY, THIS IS GETTING SILLY."

Voyager 1 goes where no spaceship has gone before

Launched in 1977, it has become first man-made object to exit solar system

Voyager's journey

Voyager 1, launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets, crossed into interstellar space last year, new research shows. Other scientist believe Voyager is in a region between the heliosphere and interstellar space.

In August 2012, the probe detected dramatic changes in the levels of two types of radiation, one that stays inside the solar system, the other which comes from interstellar space

Plutonium power source will cease to generate power in 10 to 15 years.

Sept 1977

Voyager 1 launches

March 1979

Closest approach to Jupiter

Nov 1980

Files by Saturn

Jan 1990

Begins interstellar mission

Dec 2004

Crosses Termination shock

Aug 2012

Leaves the heliosphere


PASADENA (California) - The spacecraft's technology was laughable by today's standards: It carried an 8-track tape recorder and computers with 240,000 times less memory than a low-end iPhone.

   When it left Earth 36 years ago, it was designed as a four-year mission to Saturn, and everything after that was gravy.

   But Voyager 1, which is about the size of a subcompact car, has become - unexpectedly - the Little Spacecraft That Could.

   On Thursday, scientists declared that it had become the first man-made object to exit the solar system, a breathtaking achievement that the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) could only fantasise about back when it was launched back in 1977, the same year that Star Wars was released.

   "I don't know if it's in the same league as landing on the moon, but it's right up there - 'Star Trek' stuff, for sure," said University of Iowa physics professor Donald Gurnett, the co-author of a paper published on Thursday in the journal Science about Voyager 1's feat.

   "I mean, consider the distance. It's hard even for scientists to comprehend."

   Even among planetary scientists, who tend to dream big, the idea that something they built could travel so far for so long and pierce the Sun's reach is an impressive one.

   Plenty of telescopes gaze at the far parts of the Milky Way, but Voyager 1 can now touch and feel this unexplored region and send back detailed dispatches.

   Given the distance, it takes about 17 hours for Voyager's signals to reach Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory here.

   "This is historic stuff, a bit like the first exploration of Earth, and we had to look at the data very, very carefully," said Nasa's top Voyager expert Edward Stone, 77, who had been working on the project since 1972.

   Ever the stoic scientist, he does get excited about what comes next. "It's now the start of a whole new mission," he said.

   The lonely probe, which is 18.8 billion km from Earth and hurtling away at 61,000 kmh, has long been on the verge of bursting through the heliosphere, a vast, bullet-shaped bubble of particles blown out by the Sun.

   Scientists have spent this year debating whether it had done so, interpreting the data Voyager 1 sent back in different ways.

   But now it is official that Voyager 1 passed into the cold, dark and unknown vastness of interstellar space, a place full of dust, plasma and other matter from exploded stars.

   The article in Science pinpointed a date: Aug 25, 2012.

   Voyager 1 stopped sending pictures home in 1990, to conserve energy. In its heyday, it pumped out never-before-seen images of Jupiter and Saturn, but lately there has not been much to see.

   Professor Stone, vice-provost for special projects at the California Institute of Technology and former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, expects Voyager 1 to keep sending back data - with a 23-watt transmitter, about the equivalent of a refrigerator light bulb - until roughly 2025.

   "There are lots of old missions," he says. "But not many are doing exciting new things."

   The cost of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which is not far behind its younger sibling, has been about US$988 million through September, according to Nasa.

   Voyager 2 was launched 16 days earlier than Voyager 1, in 1977. It may take another three years before Voyager 2 joins its twin on the other side.

NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST

It's Weird Science meets comedy at Ig Nobel awards

THE 23rd edition of the Ig Nobels - awarded by the Annals of Improbable Research as a whimsical counterpart to the Nobel Prizes - has been announced.

   Former winners of real Nobels handed out the spoof awards at a ceremony at Harvard University on Thursday night. Here's a look at some of the Ig Nobel winners.

• PEACE PRIZE: Jointly awarded to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, for making it illegal to applaud in public, and the Belarus police "for arresting a one-armed man for applauding".

• SAFETY ENGINEERING PRIZE: Went to late US researcher Gustano Pizzo, who invented a system to trap aeroplane hijackers, seal them into a package and parachute them into the hands of police.

• PROBABILITY PRIZE: A team from Britain, the Netherlands and Canada, won for determining that the longer a cow has been lying down, the likelier it is to stand up soon.

• PHYSICS PRIZE: Went to researchers who discovered that some people would be physically capable of running across the surface of a pond - if those people and that pond were on the moon.

• BIOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY PRIZE: Awarded to a team from Sweden, Australia, Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom who found that when dung beetles get lost, they can navigate their way home by looking at the Milky Way.

• PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE: Went to researchers who confirmed that drunk people really do think they are more attractive.

• PUBLIC HEALTH PRIZE: Went to a team of doctors in Thailand who developed treatments for the victims of penile amputations.

• ARCHAEOLOGY PRIZE: Went to a US-Canada team who parboiled a dead shrew, swallowed it without chewing, then studied their excretions to see which bones dissolve in the human digestive system.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

THE SCIENCE OF CHEMICAL WARFARE


The Syrian government is accused of the worst chemical attack the world has seen in decades, allegedly killing over 1,400 people with sarin gas, just like a nuclear bomb, a chemical weapon is a weapon of mass destruction. Below explains why such warfare is so reviled.


SARIN

People allegedly killed by a sarin attack in rebel-held areas of Syria last month. Hundreds of suffocating, twitching victims flooded into hospitals after the attack. Others were later found dead in their homes.

IS A: Nerve agent,which attacks the body's nervous system. It has no smell, colour or taste, evaporates when exposed to the air, and can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Other nerve agents include tabun, VX and some insecticides.

INVENTED BY: Germans during the 1930s Nazi regime, originally as a pesticide,

ATTACK MODE: Blocks the "switch-off" signal for muscles and glands, causing them to convulse and twitch uncontrollably.

HOW DEADLY: It quickly causes difficulty in breathing, nausea and drooling, followed by loss of bodily functions, vomiting, convulsions, paralysis and death.

IN HISTORY: The Aum Shinrikyo's supreme truth cult killed 13 and injured 6,000 others when it unleashed sarin on the Tokyo subway in 1995. Saddam Hussein's sarin attacks killed 5,000 Kurdish villagers and injured 65,000 in 1988.


HYDROGEN CYANIDE

IS A: Blood agent, a toxic chemical agent that affects the body by being absorbed into the blood. A colourless gas that smells slightly of almonds, it can be breathed in or ingested. Other blood agents include cyanide and arsenic compounds.

INVENTED BY; Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele in the 1700s.

ATTACK MODE: Inhibits the ability of blood cells to utilise and transfer oxygen, causing the body to suffocate.

HOW DEADLY: Can kill within minutes.

IN HISTORY: Hydrogen cyanide, under the name Zyklon B, was used as a genocidal agent by the Germans in World War II. It was used to kill hundreds of thousands of the six million Jews slain during the Nazi Holocaust.


MUSTARD GAS

IS A: Blister agent, which causes severe burns. This oily substance does its damage if breathed in or if it comes into contact with skin. It can stay in the environment for days. Another blister agent is lewicite.

INVENTED BY: Possibly French scientist Cesar-Mansuete Despretz in the 1800s.

ATTACK MODE: It is fat soluble and hence easily able to permeate the skin, where it causes cells to die.

HOW DEADLY: Causes severe pain in the skin, eyes and mucous membranes. Blister agents are named for the ability to cause large and often life-threatening skin blisters which resemble severe burns, as well as blindness and respiratory system damage.

IN HISTORY: First tested in combat in 1917 by Germany, and used in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.


CHLORINE GAS

IS A: Choking agent, with an extremely irritating odour. It makes breathing difficult. Other choking agents include phosgene and diphosgene.

INVENTED BY: Swedish chemist, Carl Wilhelm Scheele in the 1700s.

ATTACK MODE: Irritates the nose, throat and lungs. When inhaled, it causes the lung's air sacs to secrete a constant flow of fluid.

HOW DEADLY: The build-up of fluid essentially drowns the victim.

IN HISTORY: Among the first chemical agent produced in large quantities. It was used extensively in World War I. Because it sinks into and fills depressions, it was well-suited to trench warfare, and its successful use on the battlefield led to research and development programmes to create even more toxic and effective chemical weapons.


OTHER CHEMICAL AGENTS:

• Tear gas is a riot control agent that irritates the eyes, skin and respiratory tract, and can be fatal in concentrated doses.

• LSD, BZ and PCP are incapacitants which cause psychotic disorders.

• Agent Orange is a defoliant which destroys vegetative cover and crops, and can cause nerve damage.

• Like most of the world, US has pledged not to use chemical weapons under the Chemical Weapons Convention.


SOURCE: ORGANISATION FOR THE PROHIBITION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS, UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND DISEASE REGISTRY.

Yep, the subject says it all.
How are you studying anon?

Business of One

To succeed professionally today, apply an organisation's strategies and business principles to managing your career

IN THE age of extreme globalisation and rapid technological advances, employees can no longer depend on national borders and organisations to shield them from an increasingly competitive world.

   The upcoming decade is likely to witness even more market turbulence, driven by the digital disruption of industries, especially manufacturing, media, education, health care and transport.

   These traditional industries are poised to undergo major transformations, causing notable job extinctions while creating new exciting professions.

   As Thomas Friedman, prize-winning author of The World Is Flat, put it: "Globalisation 1.0 is the competition between empires and version 2.0 is fought between corporations. Today, we are in Globalisation 3.0, which has brought the level of global competition down to the individual."

Plan your career like a start-up

Under intense competition and without the traditional safety nets of a secure job, everyone has to take the initiative to think, plan and execute their careers. In a hyper-competitive and hyper-connected world, some experts believe there will be no more employees and workers. Everyone will be a Business of One (BO1).

   Reid Hoffman, chairman and co-founder of Linked-In, wrote the book The Start-Up Of You to inspire employees to plan their careers like a start-up. He says: "Entrepreneurs deal with uncertainties, changes and constraints head-on. They take stock of their assets, aspirations and the market realities to develop a competitive advantage. To succeed professionally in today's world, you need to adopt these same entrepreneurial strategies."

   Adds foremost management guru Tom Peters: "It's over. No more vertical. No more ladder... Linearity is out. A career is now a checkerboard. Or even a maze. It's full of moves that go sideways, forward, slide on the diagonal, even go backward when that makes sense.

   "A career is a portfolio of projects that teach you new skills, gain you new expertise, develop new capabilities, grow your colleague set, and constantly reinvent you as a brand. We are CEOs of our own companies: ME Inc."

Be your own C-Suite

Conceptually, businesses and individuals are similar economic entities - they perform their work and sell their products to the highest bidder they can find in the marketplace.

   The only difference is that employees sell their services to one buyer (employer). The key idea behind BO1 is that individuals have a lot to gain from applying proven management strategies and business principles to their own careers.

   There are five parts to implementing the BO1 Concept, each mirroring a key function of an enterprise:

• Vision

You need to understand your own role and contribution to the economic universe. Having a vision and mission statement helps you to crystallise career direction and goals.

   As an example, consider an example statements. Vision: "To be a very impactful entrepreneur, educator and consultant in the fields of strategic foresight, innovation and entrepreneurship". Mission: "Helping organisations and people to plan and prepare for a future they do not yet understand."

• Strategy

It is essential for you to create your own business model. One example is the highly recommend Tim Clark's revolutionary book, Business Model You, which shows how you can design a personal business model on a single page.

   Also, consider that being an employee is not the only, nor necessarily the best, way to monetise your skills. Other than being full-fledged entrepreneurs, middle ground options are to become independent consultants, marketers and trainers.

• Product development

This entails developing a good view of what is and will be in high demand through market and competitive analysis (that is supply and demand). You will then have to design your product differentiation and competitive advantages and constantly upgrade your own capabilities as product improvement.

• Marketing

Branding helps businesses to articulate their differentiation and command a higher price. Networking enhances the mindshare and outreach of the brand. The fusion of both magnifies your brand value and helps you to secure a high-priced customer.

Operations

This is what you do in your job and how you deliver your value.

   From past research, most career professionals only diligently perform the operation function, while neglecting the planning and marketing functions.

   To be successful in your career, you have to move to a higher level and take on the CEO role of ME Inc. No one else will. To borrow a famous axiom from small business guru Michael Gerber: "Work on your business, not in your business."