August 20, 2007, 7:48 AM CT

converting poultry litter into bio-oil

Foster Agblevor, associate professor of biological systems engineering, is leading the team of scientists in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (www.cals.vt.edu) at Virginia Tech (www.vt.edu) developing transportable pyrolysis units that will convert poultry litter into bio-oil, providing an economical disposal system while reducing environmental effects and biosecurity issues.

Agblevor will present the research during the 234th American Chemical Society National Meeting in Boston on August 19-23.

Agblevor is working with poultry growers to test technology that would convert poultry litter to three value-added byproducts pyrodiesel (bio-oil), producer gas, and fertilizer. The pyrolysis unit heats the litter until it vaporizes. The vapor is then condensed to produce the bio-oil, and a slow release fertilizer is recovered from the reactor. The gas can then be used to operate the pyrolysis unit, making it a self-sufficient system.

More than 5.6 million tons of poultry litter are produced each year in the United States. The litter consists of a mixture of bedding, manure, feathers, and spilled feed. As per Agblevor, current disposal methods, such as land application and feeding to cattle, are under pressure because of pollution of water resources due to leaching and runoff and concern about mad cow disease contamination in the food chain. There are also concerns that poultry litter can harbor such diseases as avian influenza. While avian influenza is not harmful to humans, people can spread it on their shoes, with their vehicles, or through movement of litter......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

August 15, 2007, 9:08 PM CT

Hollywood movies hurt students' understanding of science

Movies such as Spiderman 2 and Speed generate excitement among audiences with their cool special effects. But they also defy the laws of physics, contributing to students ignorance about science.

Two University of Central Florida professors show just how poorly Hollywood writers and directors understand science in an article reported in the German journal Praxis der Naturwissenschaften Physik. Common sense may indicate that people should know the stunts in movies are just make believe, but the professors say thats not necessarily true.

Some people really do believe a bus traveling 70 mph can clear a 50-foot gap in a freeway, as depicted in the movie Speed. And, if that were realistic, a ramp would be needed to adjust the direction of motion to even try to make the leap, said UCF professor Costas J. Efthimiou, who co-authored the article.

Students come here, and they dont have any basic understanding of science, he said. Sure, people say everyone knows the movies are not real, but my experience is a number of of the students believe what they see on the screen.

And thats not just a UCF problem. Efthimiou said students across the United States seem to have the same challenge with science. It starts young.

The Science and Engineering Indicators 2006 report seems to support his observations. The report suggests that the average science scores among 12th graders in the U.S. dropped from the prior year. The scores remained stagnant in the fourth and eighth grades. Worse, only about one-third of all students tested were proficient, meaning they had a solid understanding of what they should know......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

August 15, 2007, 8:38 PM CT

Marital violence among Asian-American couples

UC Davis research is shining new light on a neglected issue: marital violence in Asian Americans.

In a new analysis, the scientists observed that, as expected, violence is more common among Asian-American couples who report marital distress.

But UC Davis psychology professor Nolan Zane and graduate student Manveen Dhindsa observed that three other factors also stood out as significant risks for marital violence. Independent of marital distress, violence was more likely to occur if a family lacked closeness or if a spouse suffered from an anxiety disorder or stress correlation to acculturation into American society.

Zane and Dhindsa will present their findings on Thursday, Aug. 16, at the annual meeting of the Asian American Psychological Association in San Francisco.

The findings stem from an analysis of the largest nationally representative survey to explore mental health problems in Asian Americans.

"Until recently, the topic of marital violence has not received much attention among scientists who study Asian American socio-psychological issues," Dhindsa said. "However, marital violence does indeed occur among Asian Americans".

Zane and Dhindsa painstakingly analyzed data from the National Latino and Asian American Study, a National Institute of Mental Health-funded survey of 2,554 Latinos and 2,095 Asian Americans conducted between May 2002 and November 2003. The study, the largest national survey of mental health disorders and use of psychiatric services in these ethnic groups, was led by David Takeuchi, associate dean for research at the University of Washington School of Social Work in Seattle......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 01:07:57 GMT

Underdog.

"A motherless boy, a graceless dog and a witless script propel Underdog, a live-action resurrection of the 1960s television series about a canine superhero who speaks in rhyme while fighting crime. (Sorry, it's catching)," apologizes Jeannette Catsoulis in the New York Times. "Underdog may have been originally created to sell cereal for General Mills, but this latest incarnation couldn't sell Frisbees at a dog park."

"It's the celluloid equivalent of sugar cereal: cheap, empty and headache-inducing," writes Sam Adams in the Los Angeles Tims.

Now then: Craig Phillips "got to sit on a conference call roundtable interview, with a few other bloggers, to chat with Joe Harris, the co-creator and lead animator for the original cartoon series. He's worked with some of the most renowned advertising agencies in New York - he is credited with creating the Trix rabbit - and teamed up with colleagues to develop the Underdog show, which debuted on October 3, 1964. The show ran for nine years (in syndication), with 120 episodes in all." Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

August 6, 2007, 5:34 PM CT

Why do some teens get more out of youth activities?

A University of Illinois study confirms what has long been thought about the benefits of organized youth activities: Its not enough to appear in the yearbooks Pep Club picture or show up for the really big games. To maximize the benefits of any youth activity, teens must invest time and energy in them, participate because they truly enjoy the activity, and take on a leadership role.

Quite naturally, the kids who go to all the games, become club officers, teach new cheers, make and wave banners, and care passionately about whether their team wins or loses are the ones who get the most out of being in Pep Club, said David Hansen, a U of I assistant professor of human and community development.

But Pep Club? What can you get out of Pep Club? As per the study, engagement in an activity may more important to a teens development than the activity he chooses, the researcher said.

Why are youth activities so important" As a rule, participation in organized youth activities predicts college achievement, interpersonal competence, reduced risky behaviors, and adult civic engagement, he said.

So knowing the factors that enhance teens participation in youth activities is important to understanding how to improve their development in these groups, he added......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

August 6, 2007, 5:15 PM CT

Forecasts on 401(k) retirement saving behaviors

A Dartmouth economist, working with colleagues from Harvard and MIT, has developed projections of future levels of retirement wealth to address what some analysts have called a perfect storm of events that threatens the retirement security of future retirees.

Over the past 25 years, weve seen a fundamental shift in the way Americans save for retirement, says Steven Venti, professor of economics at Dartmouth. Traditional pension plans based on salary and years of service are withering away while self-directed personal savings plans such as 401(k) plans are growing rapidly. At the same time, the large baby boom population is entering their retirement years. This raises two big concerns. If the retiring boomers all decide to cash out their pensions at the same time, will an asset-selling frenzy lead to a financial market crisis and will the next generation of retirees have enough wealth to retire".

Venti and his colleagues James Poterba of MIT and David Wise at Harvard address these questions with a model of the retirement saving sector that accounts for the changing nature of pensions and the aging of the population. Their results suggest that most of these concerns are overstated. They say that 401(k) wealth will continue to grow and that a financial market meltdown is unlikely. Their study was published the week of August 6-10 in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, or PNAS......... Posted by: Ethen      Read more         Source

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 03:25:57 GMT

Simply Vera on Wednesday!

What's that you say, Budget Fashionista? Vera Wang's line for Kohl's is debuting this Wednesday? YAY!!!!!!

This is a good week, my friends. Eclipse on Tuesday and Simply Vera on Wednesday. Not to mention there's a meteor shower every night. It's a sign! Posted by: Kori      Read more     Source

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 15:33:12 GMT

Lindsays Mom Sued for Fraud

Lindsay Lohans mom, Dina Lohan will once more land in court as she has been sued for fraud of $400,000. Businessman Antonio Almeida lent this amount to Dina four years back as she wished to kick-off her daughters career with the money. She has been accused of not returning the money.

The money was used in recording Lindsay songs with Gloria Estefan’s husband, Emilio Estefan, who formed Miami Sound Machine. The same company released Lindsays album ‘A Little More Personal’.

Lindsay then struck a deal with Casablanca Records, which made her leave Estefan.

Almeida’s lawyer, A. Raymond Hamrick said:

My clients were out their money.

Currently Dina is fighting a court case for custody of her two youngest children, Aliana and Dakota with estranged husband Michael.

Image

Source:Nypost Posted by: Fineblog      Read more     Source

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 02:36:26 GMT

Sun Microsystems Eco-responsibility Takes It to Project Blackbox

Sun Microsystems has always been a forward-thinking company committed on eco-responsibility programs, and here carrying on the stride, the company is now out with Project Blackbox.

Project Blackbox is a virtualized, mobile and an easily deployable datacenter that delivers multiple services ranging from energy, space and performance efficiencies to some hard to reach locations and areas of the planet. This data center can be deployed in deserts, disaster zones or even on the red planet.

The prefab tech datacenter, comes in a container that offers ease of deployment, high-density computing, flexibility, scalability and other highly efficient tasks at low costs. The Blackbox is installed on oilrigs for seismic modeling and windmills to underdeveloped areas and some offsite corporate locations.

[Source: Inhabitat] Posted by: Bharat      Read more     Source

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 08:45:32 GMT

The 'Doubly Lucky' Google

According to an analyst, Google is planning a "doubly lucky" version of search for mobile devices that will add location and time of day to predict what a user is seeking.

Speaking before iBreakfast participants in New York held Thursday Stephen Arnold of ArnoldIT, a Harrod's Creek, Kentucky-based analyst, said that Google's interest in extending its search domination to mobile devices also could prompt it to shop a prototype handset around to carriers. "I think that's very likely what Google will have available in six to eight months," he said.

The Internet search giant took another step into the mobile world on Friday by announcing it will offer mobile search and social-networking tools to subscribers on the new WiMax network Sprint Nextel is beginning to roll out, wrote Ken Schachter.

A Bear Stearns analyst report to which he contributed notes that Google also is changing the game in traditional desktop search. The report cites a February 2007 patent application that indicates Google will augment its PageRank algorithm with a "Programmable Search Engine."

PSE will be a two-way system that lets webmasters give Google deeper access to their databases. For instance, the report says a car dealer might list his inventory instead of merely providing a phone number, the report added.

The new system, which utilizes Extensible Markup Language, or XML, to allow Google "read" the content, will let the search giant put content in categories and create links to other information in Google's massive database. The system also would cut down on "spoofed results" by spammers and search engine optimizers, whose world will be turned upside down. "The entire search engine optimization structure will change," Arnold concluded.

[via: Red Herring] Posted by: noel      Read more     Source