Miscellaneous Matters

Cool Tyres

2007-09-03T04:07:00.000-07:00

Michelin has developed radical next generation tyres which
are to be rolled out on streets soon.

These tyres needn't be filled with air and no more burst
tyres too!

Have a look at them below.

Solar Bottle!

2007-09-03T00:07:00.000-07:00

Is it worth a prize? or even to consider it as an 'invention'?

The developers of this system of water disinfection , as
termed SODIS, say that this can help one sixth of the
worlds population who dont have access to 'safe' drinking
water can not have one .

SODIS is nothing but keeping contaminated water in
this 'solar bottle' and exposing it for sunlight for six hours.

this has won the index award for 2007 !

Apparently, the people who don't have access to safe
drinking water are from the poor third world countires .
Those are the same who aren't sure whether they
would have their daily bread and butter.will they be
crazy enough to buy this stuff ?

And, if this is to serve the purpose of providing enough
daily water, each member has to buy atleast four of
them [ provided each one is of 500 ml capacity ] , in
order to fulfil ones daily water requirement of around
2 litres.

will not the people be intelligent enough to use some
transparent bottle thats there in their home ?

The other issue is, it won the 2007 index award ! ain't
the design of the bottle cool ? yes, thats why this thing
fetched the index awards .

But, this ain't an invention ! its just a modification of the
already well known disinfection properties of
sunlight . Those intersted to know more about can visit
the artice by clicking here.

i wish that they make a safety lock and alarm or things
like that so as to ensure this most-of-the-times-outside-home
stuff will'nt be stolen by a neighbour !

index awards 2007

Americans go nuts over 'nuts'

2007-09-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

Almond growers in California are being forced by a law to
pasteurise the almonds before they are out in market !

If the law is enacted, the raw and natural almonds will be a thing of
the past in USA.

The issue is not about the nutirients being killed during the
process,they are adding the higly toxic flammable compound
- propylene oxide - for the process. this is supposedly
being doneto avoid the loss of nutrients had they used
high temperature or a gamma .

Even a simple search for proplyene oxide in Wikipedia provides
the following information: "Propylene oxide is a highly toxic
flammable chemical compound. It was once used as a racing fuel,
but that usage is now prohibited under the US National Hot Rod
rules for safety reasons. It is also used in thermobaric weapons.
It is an epoxide."

All these are being done to prevent the Salmonella outbreaks
in US that were tracked back to raw almonds.

The USDA have decided that spending a few dollars on educating
people (running a few TV advertising spots) on how to wash their
fruits, vegetables and almonds would not be as efficient as killing
all the nutrition and sterilizing the Almonds.

Meanwhile, the Californian almond growers have requested the
government to postpone the implementation ti March 2008, so
that the necessary facilities will be in place by the time!

The 'space' pen !

2007-09-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

Did you know that there exists a pen which can write in space ?
Yes, the 'ordinary' ball pens that we use here don't work there; blame the gravity .

" The americans invented the space pen , spent millions
for the research . But ,wise Russians used the pencil
instead ! "

Should NASA be blamed for spending taxpayers money to
invent a pen that writes in space?

I would have, but they have reasons .

First, the pencil is flammable!

Second, the tip could break off, drifting in microgravity where
it might harm an astronaut or an equipment .

Third, a pencil costed NASA $ 128.89 a piece ; they needed to
find cheaper alternative.

This 'space' pen was invented by the Fischer Pen Company in
1965 .The ink cartiride is pressurised with nitrogen at 35 pounds
per square inch.

Each pen costs $ 2.39 for NASA after a 40% discount .

Even Russia is using these pens now !

Hmmm, even you can own one for $ 50

www.spacepens.com