SARS Treatment Nears

Scientists in Beijing have discovered that there are two human antibodies that neutralise the active components of SARS. SARS is a respitory illness and caused a lot of fear a couple years ago. Fear no more, or less, now that research is finding ways to combat the infectious SARS.

Scientists have identified two human antibodies that neutralise the viral strains that caused the two outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) between 2002 and 2004.

These antibodies could be the first step in producing a treatment to disable the virus that causes SARS.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

No this is not a post about that Daft Punk song, this is about car batteries. Wired is reporting that the next generation of car batteries that are currently in development are going to be better, work harder, allow for faster cars, and hold a stronger cars. Essentially car battery technology is improving thus opening up more possibilities for electric cars.

Firefly has replaced the lead plates found inside conventional batteries with a lead-impregnated foam made from carbon graphite –- one of the few materials that can withstand the highly corrosive sulfuric acid inside batteries. The foam increases the surface area of lead inside the battery, delivering more power and slashing the recharge time, says Firefly CEO Ed Williams.

Equally important, Firefly’s approach eliminates the crystals that can build up inside lead-acid batteries. Over time, those crystals reduce the amount of electricity a battery can hold, one of the major reasons electric and hybrid automakers have favored lithium-ion or nickel batteries, even though lead acid is less expensive.

Sicko Inspires Audience to Fight Injustices

After watching Sicko, an entire audience broke into conversation and grouped together to make their country better. If that’s not good enough, get this – it happened in Texas!

The talk gradually centered around a core of 10 or 12 strangers in a cluster while the rest of us stood around them listening intently to this thing that seemed to be happening out of nowhere. The black gentleman engaged by my redneck in the restroom shouted for everyone’s attention. The conversation stopped instantly as all eyes in this group of 30 or 40 people were now on him. “If we just see this and do nothing about it,” he said, “then what’s the point? Something has to change.” There was silence, then the redneck’s wife started calling for email addresses. Suddenly everyone was scribbling down everyone else’s email, promising to get together and do something… though no one seemed to know quite what.

Via boingboing.

The Question You’ve All Been Secretly Asking

Vortextual
Q: Why, oh why does the shower curtin blow in when I’m in the shower?

A: A vortex.

To do the calculation, I drafted a model of a typical shower and divided the shower area into 50,000 minuscule cells. The tub, the showerhead, the curtain rod and the room outside of the shower were all included. I ran the modified Fluent software for two weeks on my home computer in the evening and on weekends (when my wife wasn’t using the computer). The simulation revealed 30 seconds of actual shower time.

Greener Apple, Nokia Greenest

from Greenpeace
Greenpeace has released their fourth Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics. Apple has been working kinda hard to improve their previously dismal rating, whereas Nokia continues to hover in the top two places. You can see how all the companies rank.

The electronics ranking guide has been our answer to getting the electronics industry to face up to the problem of e-waste. We want manufacturers to take responsibility for the unprotected child labourers who scavenge the mountains of cast-off gadgets created by our gizmo-loving ways.

We’ve been happily surprised at how quickly many corporations have risen to the competitive challenge. It’s especially rewarding to see more than a few CEOs openly vying for the top green spot, and challenging their competitors to adopt industry-wide policies to reduce the problem of e-waste.

I need to get a new cellphone this week because my Motorola (ranked 6th) died, thanks to Greenpeace I know I should get a Nokia.