Some researchers have found that stinky sewer gas can really knock you out. They found that they could put mice into a state of near suspended-animation by exposing them to the smell.
“Hydrogen sulphide, a toxic gas that smells of rotten eggs, occurs naturally in swamps, springs and volcanoes.
But in mice, it was found to slow down heart rate and breathing and decrease body temperature, while keeping a normal blood pressure.”
One of my favorite dirty little pleasures is taking a nice warm bath with a good book. Preferably a book about the environment that inspires me. The best book I recently read and highly recommend is Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment. I only wish it was waterproof. Well now it is with Durabook! They’re not much more expensive than regular books and, even better, they’re completely tree-free and 100% perpetually recyclable. The book lasts as long as you need it to, doesn’t use trees, isn’t too expensive, and can be melted down and reused perpetually. Wondrous!
Slashdot reported that a television company is broadcasting for an audience of alien species.
“The two naked hosts will present their own unclothed bodies as examples of our physical embodiments, and will tell about daily human existence. Music, art, and our own personal messages will be transmitted as well as discussions from sociologists, scientists, and space experts. This project is the brainchild of the French-based Centre National D’etudes Spatiales and is rooted in seriousness as a natural extension of the gold-plated ambassador disks of Pioneer 10. “
Since it is Friday and we try to cover more ridiculous news, here is a gasoline made from pig poo.
A NASCAR feul specialists has found a way to take run of the mill pig waste and turn it into a high-octane adventure! Dean Gokel says he can produce 110 octane “pigoline” that is indistinguishable on a molecular level from petroleum-based additives.
“Here’s how it is supposed to work: First, he prepares the waste, turning it “into the consistency of a milkshake,” and then pumps it into the reactor. The hogs, kindly, do much of the hard work, breaking food into the big carbon-based molecules found in manure. Gokel’s process fractures long carbon chains and ring structures into chemicals closer to gasoline, such as C10 or better yet, C8 (basically, octane). Those smaller molecules are distilled off as a vapor, which is collected and eventually used as a fuel additive. The amines–nitrogen products–left behind can then be packed off and sold as commercial chemicals. Gokel is only running five-gallon batches, but there is no significant waste from it. The process takes about three hours.”
A professor from the University of Washington has calculated what the creation of the universe would’ve sounded like. The big bang was really just a humming sound. You can listen to it and you can find out more information from those good folks over at MetaFilter.
