René O'Deay gBlog

ScienceDaily: Microbial Fuel Cell: High Yield Hydrogen Source And Wastewater Cleaner
Penn State environmental engineers and a scientist at Ion Power Inc., a company involved in development of fuel cells, have developed a process to produce hydrogen and clean wastewater.

Hydrogen-producing MFC, a BioElectrochemically-Assisted Microbial Reactor or BEAMR. The BEAMR not only produces hydrogen but simultaneously cleans the wastewater used as its feedstock. It uses about one-tenth of the voltage needed for electrolysis, the process that uses electricity to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen.

Although this method will not produce huge amount or usable hydrogen, it can help reduce the costs of wastewater treatment and contribute to renewable energy.

Penn State Report on Hydrogen and fuel cells.
Fuel cells not an engine, not a battery, an electromagnetic device that directly converts water into electricity. The trick is to make them cheaper.

Part of the expense of fuel cells is the use of platinum in producing them. platinum is very expensive, but so far a necessary part of fuel cells, for its hardness and heat resistance.

Fuel cell research is very complicated, and those involved find it necessary to form teams from many diverse disciplines and institutions for successful outcomes.

Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment

Review by René O'Deay, posted on EzineArticles.com

A delightful adventure story set in the India still under the Raj, a book I
never tire of re-reading, there's always something new I learn or discover.

Talbot Mundy created popular adventure stories, series and books in the
early 20th century, starting with stories in Adventure magazines, serialized
novels, and later on radio programs and movies. among the most popular: King the of Khyber Rifles.

In 1926 he published OM The Secret of Ahbor Valley... perhaps his greatest novel with its metaphysical theme.

I discovered it in 1965 at the same time I had found that fabulous book about
King Tut: Tutankhamen, Life of a Pharaoh, by Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, that started me on my obsession with that wonderful king.

Why did I pick it up?

To him who truly seeks the Middle Way, the Middle Way will open, One step forward is enough.

THE
SAYINGS OF TSIANG SAMDUP

I had already devoured Jack Kerouac's books, including "The Dharma Bums", with its theme about Tibetan Buddhism. I was open to new books about Eastern philosophy. Also was a fan of Sax Rohmer and Edgar Rice Burroughs, and, since Mundy was a popular contemporary of theirs, decided to try it and have never regretted it.

OM opens with an amazing series of catastrophic events. Could this have happened anywhere else than in India? When I first read it, I laughed till I cried.

The adventure story explores the caste system, the various religions, the Secret Ways, the many different tribal areas under the Raj and their widely different customs.

It all centers around a mission in the far reaches of Northeastern Nepal near the where the Brahmaputra River erupts from the Himalayans. A mission founded by an American millionaire philanthropist to teach the natives their own religions along with basic hygiene to improve their way of life. Protaganist Cottswold Ommony, an 'old time forrester', was one of the three trustees appointed to oversee the project, the other two, the woman who runs the mission and a mysterious RingDing Geelong Lama that no one has ever seen.

To complicate the story, there are rumors of a mysterious stone, a huge Jade, with magical properties in the legendary Ahbor country where 'Masters' are reputed to live, of an adopted daughter of the woman who runs the mission, and a report of a stolen piece of that stone. On top of that is the ongoing mystery of the sudden disappearance of Ommony's pregnant younger sister and her husband, the mission's doctor, 20 years before.

That piece of Jade turns up in Delhi, is handed over to Ommony to investigate, and this marvelous adventure takes off.

This book has been kept in print by various publishers.
You can also find it online at:
OM The Secret of Ahbor Valley OnLine

or
better at OM The Secret online at Dustfall

Talbot Mundy, his life, links to sites about him and his books, and an extensive biography of his life:
Talbot Mundy on Wikipedia


An excerpt from OM The Secret online at Dustfall

"And what is imagination, Ommonee, if not a bridge between the known and unknown? Between conventional so-called knowledge and the unexplored realm of truth? Have you no imagination? Electricity was possible a thousand years ago; but until imagination hinted at the possibility, who had the use of it?"

Ommony returned the stone to his pocket. He was interested, and he liked Chutter Chand, but it occurred to him that he was wasting time.

"You're right, of course," he said, "that we have to imagine a thing before we can begin to understand it or produce or make it."

"Surely. You imagined your forest, Ommonee, before you planted it. But between imagination and production, there is labor. You see, what the West can't understand it scoffs at, whereas what the East can't understand it calls sacred and guards against all-comers! I think you will have to penetrate a secret that has been guarded for thousands of years. They say, you know, that there are Masters who guard these secrets and let them out a little at a time. May the gods whom you happen to vote for be grateful and assist you! I would like to go on the adventure with you -- but I am a family man. I am afraid. I am not strong. That stone has thrilled me, Ommonee!"

René O'Deay, March 15, 2007
A report from Purdue University Scientists on a new process of creating biofuels could lead to the US becoming an exporter of oil, instead of an importer.

"Hybrid hydrogen-carbon process," or H2CAR, will enable us to use the current fuel delivery infrastructure and internal combustion engine tech, a huge economic advantage. The method can be used to produce liquid gas from coal without the production of Carbon Dioxide, eliminating the need for proposed dangerous carbon dioxide "sequestering."

The process uses biomass mass more efficiently, can use diverse biomass, reducing the stress on the land, less pesticides and fertilizers, less CO-2 released, for a more efficient fuel that could potentially produce more fuel than needed for transportation.

The process, gassification, uses hydrogen, now expensive to produce. Advances in more economical production and use of hydrogen are also under research by the Universities of Minnesota, Nevada and Wisconsin-Madison, among others around the world.

...making the concept economically competitive with gasoline and diesel fuel would require research in two areas: finding ways to produce cheap hydrogen from carbon-free sources and developing a new type of gasifier needed for the process.

"Having said that, this is the first concept for creating a sustainable system that derives all of our transportation fuels from biomass," said Rakesh Agrawal, Purdue's Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering.

And that biomass can include wastes of all kinds, even manure. Conversion techniques use the more energy efficient solar power. No CO-2 is produced while producing the fuel or using it, and H2CAR can be used by conventional engines: autos, trains and planes.

Take heart, Global Warming freaks. Help is on its way.

But. It would behoove us all to keep a sharp eye on developments, lest certain corporations or foreign entities try to derail these projects, or deep six them.


Purdue University News Online

For Breaking News in Science: Science Daily

Thanks to nukegingrich for the tip on NowPublic.

Nuke asked, "Is this big?"

I'd say this is really BIG.

Al-Ahram Weekly | Heritage | Don't sink the boat: 1 - 7 March 2007, Issue No. 834

"Ever since its discovery in 1954, the magnificent 4,600-year-old wooden funerary barge of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid, has been kept in poorly managed conditions. Its progressive deterioration has been calamitous."

Hani Hanna, chair of the International Conference on Heritage of the Naqada and Qus region, Egypt 2007. said, the museum's environment and the visiting procedures continue to cause both direct and indirect damage to the wood of the boat.

"In addition to the direct damage that may result from environmental factors and visiting procedures, indirect damage is still taking place as a result of the degree of variation they cause in humidity, temperature, light and pollution levels, which in turn increases the risks of detrimental impact to the structure of the boat."

"It's important to set up a scientific committee to study the report presented here in order to determine what further investigations may be required, or what modifications need to be made to it, before a comprehensive plan is drawn up prior to the implementation of a supervised programme of restoration and conservation," Hanna adds.

"Committees take time to do their business, and while the experts talk, the boat continues to deteriorate. How long, Al-Ahram Weekly asks, before decisions and active steps are taken to save the boat which was extracted from the bedrock a century ago?"

Sad to think, that this Boat of a Million Years began to deteriorate as soon as it came to light, and has continued to do so ever since the Boat museum was built, inspite of modifications to prevent it.

Another Project that needs funding.

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival | April 27-29 & May 4-6, 2007

JazzFest coming up! Make plans now!

New Schedule posted! More Musicians lining up!

That's Cool: Frozen Light!‽

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."Arthur C. Clark
According to this article from the New York Times, Harvard scientists have figured out how to freeze light in its tracks. And, just to make things more interesting, they have been able to make the light pulse reappear somewhere other than where it was first frozen.

The very thing Einstein himself believed could never happen.

That ability to catch, store, move and release light could be used in future computers to process information encoded in the light pulses.
Wizardry at Harvard: Physicists Move Light By KENNETH CHANG, Published: NYTimes, February 8, 2007.

Upon further research I find that this is actually old news, having been accomplished in 2001.

But what I find even cooler is another Harvard Physics Professor might be on the verge of proving that our visible world of four dimensions could be embedded in a higher-dimensional universe.

Harvard Prof Lisa Randall presents her theory on the geometry of space, extra dimensions, and gravity in her book, Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions.

Here's the link to the article, your can check her out yourself.
Universe's Hidden Dimensions
from Jan. 29, 2007

Last Photographer Standing - sponsored and powered by SmugMug.
Got Digital? Here's the details:

Photo Contests Re-imagined.
Forget what you know about old skool photo challenges. We've made them obsolete. Get ready for the most compelling photographic contest ever devised!
Your work seen by millions.
Knockout competition.
Huge Cash Prizes.

Photo Contest : Starting on March 5th, 2007 - DigitalGrin Presents the Last Photographer Standing Photo Contest. With over $25,000 (USD) in prizes, this is going to change the face of photography contests! Read all the details on the forum.
Your work seen by millions.

Every two weeks, your goal is to become one of the 50 qualifiers to compete in the semifinals. The public will decide if you'll compete against 40 others, who think they can beat you for the Grand Prize. Will you be The Last Photographer Standing?

Powered by SmugMug an incredible online Photo Gallery, for everyone. Professionals especially will love it!

Take a look at Andy's professional website and you will see what I mean: MoonRiverPhotography.

"Smugmug is like a new religion to me," testified one new user. "Smug Mug is the best photo sharing site I've seen."

Although the site requires a paid subscription, the basic fee is is only $39.95 a year, that's only $3.33 per month. With No Ads Ever! Users do not have to register to view your photos, easy to share, download, purchase prints.

You can try it out for free. SmugMug also provides a great array of tutorials and tools to provide great photos both online and print. Take the tour.

These people are passionate, and you can tell. I'm already convinced and will be trying it out later today.

The first round opened on March 5, and there's still time to enter. There are three more rounds scheduled, before the semi-finals. You do need a digital camera, and photos have to be taken within a two week period with the EXIF details added.

Got digital? Get in on it now!

I'm so pleased to announce that I've been accepted as an Expert Author on EzineArticle.com, one of the largest expert article writing, marketing & publishing communities, with over 1 million visitors per month, bringing writers and ezine publishers together, with a searchable database of over 200,000+ quality original articles.

My First Two Book Reviews with three of my favorite authors:

"Alafair Burke: Close Case, Third Samantha Kincaid Crime Novel, A Journey Inside the Justice System -" - has been accepted and added to the EzineArticles.com directory: Featured Book Review

"Ill Met By Moonlight - Historical Fantasy By Mercedes Lackey And Roberta Gellis" - Featured Book Review

I've got a few more books lined up for some Quick Read reviews to post on EzineArticles.com. I keep you updated.
I've included my link banner to EzineArticles.com in the sidebar.

Close Case (Samantha Kincaid) on Amazon.

Review of Eating Better Than Organic
Eating better than Organic --TIME by John Cloud, Time Magazine Article Online: March 2, 2007

".... the organic-vs.-local debate has become one of the liveliest in the food world....

Cloud presents arguments from both sides and his own observations and experience about the pros and cons of organic foods versus locally grown food. He chronicles his personal quest for answers from local stores and farms, farmers markets, and organic stores like Whole Foods.

Answers he found raised more questions. Some organic foods have higher vitamin content and some don't. Locally grown produce can also be organic, but even if they are not, they are fresher, have less food-miles on them, and can be significantly cheaper. Cloud also provided a link to: Find Organic Local Harvest near you: LocalHarvest.org

A related news item on JourneytoForever.org, indicates: Hi-tech crops are bad for the brain:

"High-yielding Green Revolution crops were introduced in poorer countries to overcome famine," the report says. "But these are now blamed for causing intellectual deficits, because they do not take up essential micronutrients." The report is written by Dr Christopher Williams, a research fellow with the Global Environmental Change Programme, who estimates one quarter of the world's population is affected.

JourneytoForever also defines the idea of "Food Miles: How Far has Your Food Traveled" and fuel conservation.

" Imported food releases 90 times as much carbon as locally grown food."

Another consideration for consumers in their food choices.
I do recommend that you explore your own communities' resources for locally grown and organic products. Cloud documents how he did it, and his own personal reasons for some of the answers and decisions he made.

Make your own.

Map of History of Religion 5,000 years.

How has the geography of religion evolved over the centuries, and where has it sparked wars? Our map gives us a brief history of the world's most well-known religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Selected periods of inter-religious bloodshed are also highlighted. Want to see 5,000 years of religion in 90 seconds? Ready, Set, Go!

This map came from Maps of War. See their other maps.

How to Change the World: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn

Start with Guy Kawasaki's post on Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn, but explore his sites. He has lots to offer.

Guy's the expert on "The Art of the Start" and a Mac Evangelist. I recommend his video on Panel of Web Community Founders: Utter Defiance of the "Venture Capital" Model that he monitored.

Thanks to Guy I now have an impressive global network of professionals, friendly and open, ready to offer advice, services and their own wide networks.

See my LinkedIn Profile to see what I mean. What an incredible way to have your resume posted on line where other professionals can see and contact you with project proposals or job offers.