Beyond Fossil Fuels
Articles in this series examine innovative attempts to reduce the world’s dependence on coal, oil and other carbon-intensive fuels, and the challenges faced.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Biggest Tech Surprises for 2010
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/28/biggest-tech-surprises-predictions/
Begin quote from above article:
Begin quote from above article:
Monday, December 27, 2010
Where are the Richest Americans?
Where the richest Americans live
To read Yahoo news article click "Where the richest Americans live" above. Below are my comments.
I live in California which is number 6 on the list of richest states.
However, California leads in the number of people in our state whose households earn over 200,000 a year. begin quote.
% of Households Earning $200K+: 6.2%
Total Households: 12,200,672
Households Earning $200K+: 757,411
Median Income: $56,862 end quote.
New York is second with: begin quote.
8. New York
 Getty Images |
Total Households: 7,099,940
Households Earning $200K+: 399,014
Median Income: $50,372
end quote.
Texas is third with: begin quote.
 Jeremy Woodhouse | The Image Bank | Getty Images end quote.However, if you go by state and district alone of percentages with that state or district without accounting for sheer numbers of wealthy people the 1 through 15 list in the article is valid. |
Total Households: 8,244,022
Households Earning $200K+: 313,681
Median Income: $47,143
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Freezing Because of Climate Change
Bundle Up, It's Global Warming
To read news article click "Bundle Up" above. begin ending quote.
It’s all a snow job by nature. The reality is, we’re freezing not in spite of climate change but because of it.
To read news article click "Bundle Up" above. begin ending quote.
It’s all a snow job by nature. The reality is, we’re freezing not in spite of climate change but because of it.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Newly discovered human race relative discovered in Siberia
DNA says new human relative roamed widely in Asia
To read news article about "Denisovans" click "DNA" above. Quote below.
By comparing the DNA to that of modern populations, scientists found evidence that these "Denisovans" from more than 30,000 years ago ranged all across Asia. They apparently interbred with the ancestors of people now living in Melanesia, a group of islands northeast of Australia. end quote.
However, they also point out that this group did not interbreed then with people in Europe at that time.
To read news article about "Denisovans" click "DNA" above. Quote below.
By comparing the DNA to that of modern populations, scientists found evidence that these "Denisovans" from more than 30,000 years ago ranged all across Asia. They apparently interbred with the ancestors of people now living in Melanesia, a group of islands northeast of Australia. end quote.
However, they also point out that this group did not interbreed then with people in Europe at that time.
The Difficulty of Being Christian Internationally
Pope urges courage for Catholics in China, Iraq
To read above article click "Pope urges" above.
Though generally Christians and Muslims do quite well in getting along within the U.S. this is less true in Europe and progressively worse throughout Africa and Asia and the Middle East depending upon the country. As a "Mystical Christian" since birth, even though I don't attend any church regularly anymore I still see myself as a Christian at core. So I'm concerned what is happening now to Christians worldwide during these times. I'm more of the belief that all religions should get along with each other but that doesn't seem possible in many nations who are less educated and self disciplined here on earth.
There is also the quality that one finds in Christianity of "turning the other cheek" that can get Christians in some countries in trouble or "Dead" by not defending themselves. Unfortunately, I don't see the rivalry between most of the religions of the world ending any time soon. As a somewhat educated person, I take pride in being both a Christian and a Tibetan Buddhist simultaneously, because Buddhism is a philosophy more than a religion (at least in the way religion is defined in the western world). So, the main tenet of Buddhism is also pretty much the same tenet in Christianity which is being compassionate to one's fellow man. In Buddhism one extends this compassion to all beings in the universe. So I have no problem being both a Christian and a Tibetan Buddhist at the same time.
However, I am very concerned at the growing conflicts between Muslims and Christians worldwide. It is my hope and prayer this Christmas (and throughout the year) that all religions can get along better with each other and stop killing each other. We don't need another 1000 years of conflict between religions here on earth. A way needs to be found to create a more lasting peace worldwide. I think the most useful way would be through education fostered by the United Nations worldwide.
To read above article click "Pope urges" above.
Though generally Christians and Muslims do quite well in getting along within the U.S. this is less true in Europe and progressively worse throughout Africa and Asia and the Middle East depending upon the country. As a "Mystical Christian" since birth, even though I don't attend any church regularly anymore I still see myself as a Christian at core. So I'm concerned what is happening now to Christians worldwide during these times. I'm more of the belief that all religions should get along with each other but that doesn't seem possible in many nations who are less educated and self disciplined here on earth.
There is also the quality that one finds in Christianity of "turning the other cheek" that can get Christians in some countries in trouble or "Dead" by not defending themselves. Unfortunately, I don't see the rivalry between most of the religions of the world ending any time soon. As a somewhat educated person, I take pride in being both a Christian and a Tibetan Buddhist simultaneously, because Buddhism is a philosophy more than a religion (at least in the way religion is defined in the western world). So, the main tenet of Buddhism is also pretty much the same tenet in Christianity which is being compassionate to one's fellow man. In Buddhism one extends this compassion to all beings in the universe. So I have no problem being both a Christian and a Tibetan Buddhist at the same time.
However, I am very concerned at the growing conflicts between Muslims and Christians worldwide. It is my hope and prayer this Christmas (and throughout the year) that all religions can get along better with each other and stop killing each other. We don't need another 1000 years of conflict between religions here on earth. A way needs to be found to create a more lasting peace worldwide. I think the most useful way would be through education fostered by the United Nations worldwide.
What Solar Power has already done in Africa
Beyond Fossil Fuels: African Huts Far From the Grid Glow With Renewable Power
begin quote below from above news article:
Starting Small
Charging the phone was no simple matter in this farming village far from Kenya’s electric grid.
Every week, Ms. Ruto walked two miles to hire a motorcycle taxi for the three-hour ride to Mogotio, the nearest town with electricity. There, she dropped off her cellphone at a store that recharges phones for 30 cents. Yet the service was in such demand that she had to leave it behind for three full days before returning.
That wearying routine ended in February when the family sold some animals to buy a small Chinese-made solar power system for about $80. Now balanced precariously atop their tin roof, a lone solar panel provides enough electricity to charge the phone and run four bright overhead lights with switches.end quote.
I have even here in the United States lived at least 10 miles from the nearest gas station or store and without electricity at 4000 feet on 2 1/2 acres on the side of Mt. Shasta in California. Solar power during the 1980s and also cell phones were not available. But I understand how wonderful it would be living that far away from civilization without a telephones or a utility grid of electricity to be able to use charge your cell phone and light your home living this remotely. It would really make a difference both in communication and safety and economically to people all over the world who live remotely.
begin quote below from above news article:
Environment
Beyond Fossil Fuels
African Huts Far From the Grid Glow With Renewable Power
Ed Ou/The New York Times
Thanks to this solar panel, Sara Ruto no longer takes a three-hour taxi ride to a town with electricity to recharge her cellphone. More Photos »
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: December 24, 2010
KIPTUSURI, Kenya — For Sara Ruto, the desperate yearning for electricity began last year with the purchase of her first cellphone, a lifeline for receiving small money transfers, contacting relatives in the city or checking chicken prices at the nearest market.
Ed Ou/The New York Times
Solar power for Ms. Ruto’s hut in Kiptusuri, Kenya, means her toddlers no longer risk burns from a smoky kerosene lamp. More Photos »
Every week, Ms. Ruto walked two miles to hire a motorcycle taxi for the three-hour ride to Mogotio, the nearest town with electricity. There, she dropped off her cellphone at a store that recharges phones for 30 cents. Yet the service was in such demand that she had to leave it behind for three full days before returning.
That wearying routine ended in February when the family sold some animals to buy a small Chinese-made solar power system for about $80. Now balanced precariously atop their tin roof, a lone solar panel provides enough electricity to charge the phone and run four bright overhead lights with switches.end quote.
I have even here in the United States lived at least 10 miles from the nearest gas station or store and without electricity at 4000 feet on 2 1/2 acres on the side of Mt. Shasta in California. Solar power during the 1980s and also cell phones were not available. But I understand how wonderful it would be living that far away from civilization without a telephones or a utility grid of electricity to be able to use charge your cell phone and light your home living this remotely. It would really make a difference both in communication and safety and economically to people all over the world who live remotely.
Keeling: Almost 60 years of constant research on world Carbon Dioxide levels
A Scientist, His Work and a Climate Reckoning
To read news article on Keeling click "A Scientist" above. to read quotes from above article see below.
To read news article on Keeling click "A Scientist" above. to read quotes from above article see below.
MAUNA LOA OBSERVATORY, Hawaii — Two gray machines sit inside a pair of utilitarian buildings here, sniffing the fresh breezes that blow across thousands of miles of ocean.
Temperature Rising
Tracking the NumbersArticles in this series are focusing on the central arguments in the climate debate and examining the evidence for global warming and its consequences.
Related
-
Green Blog: Does the Keeling Curve Still Need a Keeling? (December 21, 2010)
Scripps Institution of Oceanography; U.C. San Diego
THE KEELINGS Charles D. Keeling with his son Ralph in 1989. More Photos »
Readers' Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
They make no noise. But once an hour, they spit out a number, and for decades, it has been rising relentlessly.
The first machine of this type was installed on Mauna Loa in the 1950s at the behest of Charles David Keeling, a scientist from San Diego. His resulting discovery, of the increasing level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, transformed the scientific understanding of humanity’s relationship with the earth. A graph of his findings is inscribed on a wall in Washington as one of the great achievements of modern science.end quote.
next quote.
When Dr. Keeling, as a young researcher, became the first person in the world to develop an accurate technique for measuring carbon dioxide in the air, the amount he discovered was 310 parts per million. That means every million pints of air, for example, contained 310 pints of carbon dioxide.
By 2005, the year he died, the number had risen to 380 parts per million. Sometime in the next few years it is expected to pass 400. Without stronger action to limit emissions, the number could pass 560 before the end of the century, double what it was before the Industrial Revolution.end quote.
One of the few ways to reduce world temperatures even with high carbon dioxide appears to be to increase volcanic glass dust particles above 20,000 feet in the air. However, everyone knows this is but a temporary fix to keep the ice caps from melting. And even with this fix can it be done in such a way as to prevent what is happening right now to Europe's Airports? They have been closed because of extremely low temperatures with snow. Their main problem seems to be not enough Deicing fluid for getting the ice off of the planes wings so they can take off. However, reduced crop output because of less sun and other climatic problems can usually result from several years of volcanic ash in the atmosphere above 20,000 feet.
However, it could be seen as at least a temporary fix of having artificially deposited volcanic glass dust in the upper atmosphere which could at least theoretically reduce increasing temperatures in that hemisphere for several years at a time. However, if nations or corporations secretly do this or publicly through the United Nations do this it might buy us more time. However, if it is secretly done Republicans and worldwide conservatives might claim global warming is a myth. This I can see might be a real problem with doing this secretly which might allow carbon dioxide to become such a problem that no one could solve the problem worldwide and then humans(at least on earth) might go extinct.
The first machine of this type was installed on Mauna Loa in the 1950s at the behest of Charles David Keeling, a scientist from San Diego. His resulting discovery, of the increasing level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, transformed the scientific understanding of humanity’s relationship with the earth. A graph of his findings is inscribed on a wall in Washington as one of the great achievements of modern science.end quote.
next quote.
When Dr. Keeling, as a young researcher, became the first person in the world to develop an accurate technique for measuring carbon dioxide in the air, the amount he discovered was 310 parts per million. That means every million pints of air, for example, contained 310 pints of carbon dioxide.
By 2005, the year he died, the number had risen to 380 parts per million. Sometime in the next few years it is expected to pass 400. Without stronger action to limit emissions, the number could pass 560 before the end of the century, double what it was before the Industrial Revolution.end quote.
One of the few ways to reduce world temperatures even with high carbon dioxide appears to be to increase volcanic glass dust particles above 20,000 feet in the air. However, everyone knows this is but a temporary fix to keep the ice caps from melting. And even with this fix can it be done in such a way as to prevent what is happening right now to Europe's Airports? They have been closed because of extremely low temperatures with snow. Their main problem seems to be not enough Deicing fluid for getting the ice off of the planes wings so they can take off. However, reduced crop output because of less sun and other climatic problems can usually result from several years of volcanic ash in the atmosphere above 20,000 feet.
However, it could be seen as at least a temporary fix of having artificially deposited volcanic glass dust in the upper atmosphere which could at least theoretically reduce increasing temperatures in that hemisphere for several years at a time. However, if nations or corporations secretly do this or publicly through the United Nations do this it might buy us more time. However, if it is secretly done Republicans and worldwide conservatives might claim global warming is a myth. This I can see might be a real problem with doing this secretly which might allow carbon dioxide to become such a problem that no one could solve the problem worldwide and then humans(at least on earth) might go extinct.
Friday, December 24, 2010
New solar Machine mimics photosynthesis in creating electricity
New solar fuel machine 'mimics plant life'
In the prototype, sunlight heats a ceria cylinder which breaks down water or carbon dioxide A prototype solar device has been unveiled which mimics plant life, turning the Sun's energy into fuel.
The machine uses the Sun's rays and a metal oxide called ceria to break down carbon dioxide or water into fuels which can be stored and transported. Conventional photovoltaic panels must use the electricity they generate in situ, and cannot deliver power at night.
Details are published in the journal Science.
The prototype, which was devised by researchers in the US and Switzerland, uses a quartz window and cavity to concentrate sunlight into a cylinder lined with cerium oxide, also known as ceria.end quote
I have often thought of solar power being like a form of photosynthesis. So, philosophically and logically inventing a process that works a lot like synthetic photosynthesis makes complete sense to me.
However, in some ways it reminds me of electrolysis where one uses electricity to split H2O into Hydrogen atoms and Oxygen atoms. In this case the sun is making hydrogen and oxygen out of water and carbon monoxide is the byproduct. Carbon monoxide is what kills people in their exhaust from their cars. So, I suppose theoretically one could have these solar generators on ones roof and then store the hydrogen in some kind of safe storage and then use the hydrogen to fuel hydrogen fuel cells to run either ones car or one's home thereby avoiding paying any electrical utility bills at all ever again.
The problem with this is that there is a finite amount of water on earth and as we break away water into hydrogen and oxygen, if the hydrogen ever gets loose in the atmosphere it goes to the very top and stays there closest to space. So trying to rejoin that hydrogen to oxygen to make water if it ever becomes a time with a water shortage here on earth if we are burning up hydrogen or just breaking away hydrogen from oxygen in water could also be problematic for anything that lives that needs water on earth in the future.
China: A re-emerging Historical World Power
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/books/review/Kahn-t.html
The following is a quote from a new york times book review listed above.
In “When China Rules the World,” Martin Jacques, a columnist for The Guardian of London and a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics, argues that China will not just displace the United States as the major superpower. It will also marginalize the West in history and upend our core notions of what it means to be modern.
This bold assertion, he acknowledges, rests on the assumption that nothing will derail the political stability and economic dynamism China enjoys today. It is not clear that even the most senior leaders in Beijing share Jacques’s faith in that forecast. But the future is unknowable, and his extrapolations are, if not provable, at least plausible. The strength of his book lies in his exhaustive, incisive exploration of possibilities that many people have barely begun to contemplate about a future dominated by China.
Much of the journalism and many of the best-selling books on China treat the country’s rise as an economic phenomenon. It is presented as a developing country, albeit the biggest one, that has opened its doors to the West, allowed a Western-style market economy to flourish and exported goods to wealthy consumers abroad. Those things are true. But Jacques argues that the focus on the economic side of the story has lulled the West into a false sense of security. “The mainstream Western attitude has held that, in its fundamentals, the world will be relatively little changed by China’s rise,” he writes. Rather, he says, “the rise of China will change the world in the most profound ways.”
Unlike Britain, the United States or Germany at various times during the past 200 years, China is not emerging on the world stage as a new, powerful nation-state. It is, instead, as one Chinese writer put it, regaining “lost international status,” becoming the first ancient civilization to re-emerge and reclaim its position as a dominant power. end quote.
So, looking at China from this perspective we have a world power that has been going through a major 1 century shift away from Chinese dynastic Rule towards the Present communistic State Capitalistic system. However, no one should underestimate the sophistication of this ancient large civilization re-emerging on the world stage. It is not as simple as asking the question: "Will this be good or bad?"
Because with the emergence or re-emergence of any large nation the answer can only be both in its effects upon the whole world.
The following is a quote from a new york times book review listed above.
In “When China Rules the World,” Martin Jacques, a columnist for The Guardian of London and a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics, argues that China will not just displace the United States as the major superpower. It will also marginalize the West in history and upend our core notions of what it means to be modern.
This bold assertion, he acknowledges, rests on the assumption that nothing will derail the political stability and economic dynamism China enjoys today. It is not clear that even the most senior leaders in Beijing share Jacques’s faith in that forecast. But the future is unknowable, and his extrapolations are, if not provable, at least plausible. The strength of his book lies in his exhaustive, incisive exploration of possibilities that many people have barely begun to contemplate about a future dominated by China.
Much of the journalism and many of the best-selling books on China treat the country’s rise as an economic phenomenon. It is presented as a developing country, albeit the biggest one, that has opened its doors to the West, allowed a Western-style market economy to flourish and exported goods to wealthy consumers abroad. Those things are true. But Jacques argues that the focus on the economic side of the story has lulled the West into a false sense of security. “The mainstream Western attitude has held that, in its fundamentals, the world will be relatively little changed by China’s rise,” he writes. Rather, he says, “the rise of China will change the world in the most profound ways.”
Unlike Britain, the United States or Germany at various times during the past 200 years, China is not emerging on the world stage as a new, powerful nation-state. It is, instead, as one Chinese writer put it, regaining “lost international status,” becoming the first ancient civilization to re-emerge and reclaim its position as a dominant power. end quote.
So, looking at China from this perspective we have a world power that has been going through a major 1 century shift away from Chinese dynastic Rule towards the Present communistic State Capitalistic system. However, no one should underestimate the sophistication of this ancient large civilization re-emerging on the world stage. It is not as simple as asking the question: "Will this be good or bad?"
Because with the emergence or re-emergence of any large nation the answer can only be both in its effects upon the whole world.
Memory Technology Breakthrough
IBM Unveils Memory Technology Breakthough
To read news article click on "IBM Unveils" above. Below see quote.
IBM is developing a new type of ultra-low-cost solid-state memory featuring a storage capacity that vastly exceeds what today's hard disk drives can provide. Called racetrack memory, the technology may one day replace hard disk drives in PCs, laptops and servers as well as displace flash memory chips in smartphones, digital cameras, and tablets.
next quote.
The radically new type of storage memory is based on a breakthrough technology known as spintronics, which manipulates the two types of independent electrons found in electrical current -- called the "spin-up" and "spin-down" electrons. The goal is to enable computing devices to store bits of information by manipulating the magnetic state of a region within a nanowire that is just a few tens of nanometers wide.
next quote.
A Year's Worth of Movies
Big Blue's goal is to boost device storage capacities by a factor of 100 times greater that what is currently available today from conventional memory devices. This would enable hardware makers to design portable gadgets capable of storing all the movies produced worldwide in a single year -- and with room to spare, IBM researchers said.
To make such memory densities possible, however, the domain walls of the nanowire racetrack must be manipulated at speeds of hundreds of miles per hour to atomically precise positions along the tracks. According to IBM researchers, the timescales in the tens of nanoseconds and the distances in micrometers are surprisingly long, given that research efforts over the past 50 years were unable to detect them.
"This was previously undiscovered in part because it was not clear whether the domain walls actually had mass, and how the effects of acceleration and deceleration could exactly compensate one another," Parkin said.
IBM researchers have just published their results in the Dec. 24 issue of Science. The paper by Luc Thomas, Rai Moriya, Charles Rettner, and Stuart Parkin of IBM Research is entitled, "Dynamics of magnetic domain walls under their own inertia." end quotes.
Between the information contained and accessed through:
1750 interfaced PS3s
And this blog it is obvious that both on scientific, hard drive and gaming and smart phone and other levels we should expect a 100 fold increase in both Memory and speed of processing during the next 10 years on all new devices.
To read news article click on "IBM Unveils" above. Below see quote.
IBM is developing a new type of ultra-low-cost solid-state memory featuring a storage capacity that vastly exceeds what today's hard disk drives can provide. Called racetrack memory, the technology may one day replace hard disk drives in PCs, laptops and servers as well as displace flash memory chips in smartphones, digital cameras, and tablets.
next quote.
The radically new type of storage memory is based on a breakthrough technology known as spintronics, which manipulates the two types of independent electrons found in electrical current -- called the "spin-up" and "spin-down" electrons. The goal is to enable computing devices to store bits of information by manipulating the magnetic state of a region within a nanowire that is just a few tens of nanometers wide.
next quote.
A Year's Worth of Movies
Big Blue's goal is to boost device storage capacities by a factor of 100 times greater that what is currently available today from conventional memory devices. This would enable hardware makers to design portable gadgets capable of storing all the movies produced worldwide in a single year -- and with room to spare, IBM researchers said.
To make such memory densities possible, however, the domain walls of the nanowire racetrack must be manipulated at speeds of hundreds of miles per hour to atomically precise positions along the tracks. According to IBM researchers, the timescales in the tens of nanoseconds and the distances in micrometers are surprisingly long, given that research efforts over the past 50 years were unable to detect them.
"This was previously undiscovered in part because it was not clear whether the domain walls actually had mass, and how the effects of acceleration and deceleration could exactly compensate one another," Parkin said.
IBM researchers have just published their results in the Dec. 24 issue of Science. The paper by Luc Thomas, Rai Moriya, Charles Rettner, and Stuart Parkin of IBM Research is entitled, "Dynamics of magnetic domain walls under their own inertia." end quotes.
Between the information contained and accessed through:
1750 interfaced PS3s
And this blog it is obvious that both on scientific, hard drive and gaming and smart phone and other levels we should expect a 100 fold increase in both Memory and speed of processing during the next 10 years on all new devices.
Home for Christmas
All my children are home for Christmas. From 14 to 36 they are all here. (All my biological children).
I was thinking this morning how very grateful I was as our Christmas tree was delivered that we will trim later today. We had already decorated the outside of our home and inside our home so decorating the tree we will all do together. So, my son graduating with a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) and having all my children here(there are others like step kids and God Daughters that won't be here). But still to have my 3 children here along with my middle daughter's boyfriend is really wonderful!
I was thinking this morning how very grateful I was as our Christmas tree was delivered that we will trim later today. We had already decorated the outside of our home and inside our home so decorating the tree we will all do together. So, my son graduating with a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) and having all my children here(there are others like step kids and God Daughters that won't be here). But still to have my 3 children here along with my middle daughter's boyfriend is really wonderful!
1750 interfaced PS3s
I was watching Fareed Zaharia GPS on CNN Sunday morning and one of his segments was on the Air Force and Government's 1750 PS3s that have been interfaced to create the fastest computer on earth. In fact "clustered" PS3s have been all the rage within Universities using various Linux operation systems over the past 3 years. However, I think Sony (As of March 2010) has disabled new PS3s from being able to use different operating systems so has stopped this now in new PS3s. It is said that a linux powered 8 PS3 cluster outperforms 100+ Intel Xeons which is very impressive in regard to scientific calculations.
The following quote is from wikipedia under the heading
The NCSA had already built a cluster based on the PlayStation 2.[2] Terra Soft Solutions has a version of Yellow Dog Linux for the PlayStation 3,[3] and sells PS3s with Linux pre-installed,[4] in single units, and 8 and 32 node clusters.[5] In addition, RapidMind is pushing their stream programming package for the PS3.[6]
On January 3, 2007, Dr. Frank Mueller, Associate Professor of Computer Science at NCSU, clustered 8 PS3s. Mueller commented that the 256 MB of system RAM is a limitation for this particular application, and is considering attempting to retrofit more RAM. Software includes: Fedora Core 5 Linux ppc64, MPICH2, OpenMP v2.5, GNU Compiler Collection and CellSDK 1.1.[7][8][9]
In Summer 2007, Dr. Gaurav Khanna, a professor in the Physics Department of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth independently built a message-passing based cluster using 8 PS3s running Fedora Linux. This cluster was built with support from Sony Computer Entertainment was the first such cluster that generated published scientific results. Dubbed as the "PS3 Gravity Grid", this PS3 cluster performs astrophysical simulations of large supermassive black holes capturing smaller compact objects [10]. Khanna claims that the cluster's performance exceeds that of a 100+ Intel Xeon core based traditional Linux cluster on his simulations. The PS3 Gravity Grid gathered significant media attention through 2007 [11] [12], 2008 [13][14], 2009 [15] [16] [17] and 2010 [18] [19]. Khanna also created a DIY website [20] on how to build such clusters, accessible to the general public. end quote.
If you are interested in building your own cluster I would recommend finding PS3s on someplace like Ebay and specify that they must have been built before March 2010 when the capacity to use multiple operating systems was disabled by Sony.
begin quote from same wikipedia site listed above:
On March 22, 2007, SCE and Stanford University expanded the Folding@home project to the PS3.[22] Along with thousands of PCs already joined over the Internet, PS3 owners are able to lend the computing power of their game systems to the study of improper protein folding and associated diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, cystic fibrosis, and several forms of cancer. The software was included as part of the 1.6 firmware update (March 22, 2007), and can be set to run manually or automatically when the PS3 is idle through the Cross Media Bar. The processed information is then sent back to project's central servers over the Internet. Processing power from PS3 users is greatly contributing to the Folding@home project, and PS3s have overtaken all other participating operating systems in teraflops contributed.[23][24] As of April 23, 2007, more than 250,000 PS3 owners have allowed the Folding@home software to be run on their systems, averaging over 400 teraFLOPS and peaking at over 700. By comparison, the world's most powerful supercomputer as of April 2010, the Cray Jaguar has a peak performance of 1.75 petaFLOPS, or 1750 teraFLOPS.[25] The latest report stated that Folding@Home has passed the 1PF (petaFLOPS) mark, of which 800TF(teraFLOPS) are supplied by PlayStation 3 clients.
The Computational Biochemistry and Biophysics Lab in Barcelona has launched a distributed computing project called PS3GRID. This project is expected to run sixteen times faster than an equivalent project on a standard PC. Like most distributed computing projects, it is designed to run only when the computer is idle.
eHiTS Lightning is the first virtual screening and molecular docking software for the PS3.[26] It was released by SimBioSys [27]. as reported by Bio-IT World in July 2008[28]. This application runs up to 30x faster on a single PS3 than on a regular single CPU PC, and it also runs on PS3 clusters, achieving screening of huge chemical compound libraries in a matter of hours or days rather than weeks, which used to be the standard expectation. end quote.
So, the capacity for PS3 clusters potentially to be used for good in helping mankind is potentially almost limitless. So, if you have a good use to put a PS3 cluster to---Go for it!
The following quote is from wikipedia under the heading
"PlayStation 3 cluster"
The NCSA had already built a cluster based on the PlayStation 2.[2] Terra Soft Solutions has a version of Yellow Dog Linux for the PlayStation 3,[3] and sells PS3s with Linux pre-installed,[4] in single units, and 8 and 32 node clusters.[5] In addition, RapidMind is pushing their stream programming package for the PS3.[6]
On January 3, 2007, Dr. Frank Mueller, Associate Professor of Computer Science at NCSU, clustered 8 PS3s. Mueller commented that the 256 MB of system RAM is a limitation for this particular application, and is considering attempting to retrofit more RAM. Software includes: Fedora Core 5 Linux ppc64, MPICH2, OpenMP v2.5, GNU Compiler Collection and CellSDK 1.1.[7][8][9]
In Summer 2007, Dr. Gaurav Khanna, a professor in the Physics Department of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth independently built a message-passing based cluster using 8 PS3s running Fedora Linux. This cluster was built with support from Sony Computer Entertainment was the first such cluster that generated published scientific results. Dubbed as the "PS3 Gravity Grid", this PS3 cluster performs astrophysical simulations of large supermassive black holes capturing smaller compact objects [10]. Khanna claims that the cluster's performance exceeds that of a 100+ Intel Xeon core based traditional Linux cluster on his simulations. The PS3 Gravity Grid gathered significant media attention through 2007 [11] [12], 2008 [13][14], 2009 [15] [16] [17] and 2010 [18] [19]. Khanna also created a DIY website [20] on how to build such clusters, accessible to the general public. end quote.
If you are interested in building your own cluster I would recommend finding PS3s on someplace like Ebay and specify that they must have been built before March 2010 when the capacity to use multiple operating systems was disabled by Sony.
begin quote from same wikipedia site listed above:
On March 22, 2007, SCE and Stanford University expanded the Folding@home project to the PS3.[22] Along with thousands of PCs already joined over the Internet, PS3 owners are able to lend the computing power of their game systems to the study of improper protein folding and associated diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, cystic fibrosis, and several forms of cancer. The software was included as part of the 1.6 firmware update (March 22, 2007), and can be set to run manually or automatically when the PS3 is idle through the Cross Media Bar. The processed information is then sent back to project's central servers over the Internet. Processing power from PS3 users is greatly contributing to the Folding@home project, and PS3s have overtaken all other participating operating systems in teraflops contributed.[23][24] As of April 23, 2007, more than 250,000 PS3 owners have allowed the Folding@home software to be run on their systems, averaging over 400 teraFLOPS and peaking at over 700. By comparison, the world's most powerful supercomputer as of April 2010, the Cray Jaguar has a peak performance of 1.75 petaFLOPS, or 1750 teraFLOPS.[25] The latest report stated that Folding@Home has passed the 1PF (petaFLOPS) mark, of which 800TF(teraFLOPS) are supplied by PlayStation 3 clients.
The Computational Biochemistry and Biophysics Lab in Barcelona has launched a distributed computing project called PS3GRID. This project is expected to run sixteen times faster than an equivalent project on a standard PC. Like most distributed computing projects, it is designed to run only when the computer is idle.
eHiTS Lightning is the first virtual screening and molecular docking software for the PS3.[26] It was released by SimBioSys [27]. as reported by Bio-IT World in July 2008[28]. This application runs up to 30x faster on a single PS3 than on a regular single CPU PC, and it also runs on PS3 clusters, achieving screening of huge chemical compound libraries in a matter of hours or days rather than weeks, which used to be the standard expectation. end quote.
So, the capacity for PS3 clusters potentially to be used for good in helping mankind is potentially almost limitless. So, if you have a good use to put a PS3 cluster to---Go for it!
Levels of Truth
If you are over 15 to 20 years of age now we are all familiar with all the stages and levels of truth that we are exposed to throughout our maturation period. If we are lucky we have people around us both as children and as adults that don't incessantly lie to us or manipulate us. However, sometimes it is good for us to be lied to so at least we learn how to deal with it and become less naive and capable of manipulation through lies or half lies. If we continue to be lucky we have grown up around people who have good education and intentions and they share all that is best about who they are and what they know. If we are really lucky we go to a 4 year university and get a Bachelor's or Master's Degree or even a PHd if we want to. But even at that point it doesn't mean we know everything not even in the subject we get a degree in. Everything is constantly changing and there is always more to learn throughout one's life.
Throughout this whole process one learns through many levels of truth. The things one believes as a child under 5 are replaced by the new and ever evolving beliefs of a 5 to 12 year old. And then those beliefs are superseded by the new beliefs learned through both experience and formal education of a teenager. And those beliefs are then superseded by the beliefs and experiences of a 20 something. And if one is lucky this growth of knowledge and experience continues throughout one's life to the point where those listening to the wisdom garnered from such an ongoing growing person also stand on the shoulders of all those who have gone before and learned and shared all that they could learn in their lifetimes. In this way the experience and knowledge of the human race becomes more rich and more varied with each generation. And therefore each generation in it's own way becomes more amazing than the last.
Throughout this whole process one learns through many levels of truth. The things one believes as a child under 5 are replaced by the new and ever evolving beliefs of a 5 to 12 year old. And then those beliefs are superseded by the new beliefs learned through both experience and formal education of a teenager. And those beliefs are then superseded by the beliefs and experiences of a 20 something. And if one is lucky this growth of knowledge and experience continues throughout one's life to the point where those listening to the wisdom garnered from such an ongoing growing person also stand on the shoulders of all those who have gone before and learned and shared all that they could learn in their lifetimes. In this way the experience and knowledge of the human race becomes more rich and more varied with each generation. And therefore each generation in it's own way becomes more amazing than the last.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
One Story
There are many stories and theories about how the human race of which we are all apart got here. Here is my version of the story. First of of all humanoids or beings with five fingers on each of two hands, five toes on each of two feet, two eyes and one brain have been visiting earth for millions of years and even settled eventually on many planets in the solar system and came from other solar systems before that. When the planet they lived on in this solar system was having atmosphere problems they noticed that there were neanderthals living on Earth. Since they needed people to work for them to mine gold which would help them build devices to filter their air for their living structures on their planet, they decided Neanderthals weren't much use as slaves. So, they interbred their own genes (some say 80% along with 20% Neanderthal) to create an alien Humanoid Neanderthal hybrid (that is us) to mine gold and other minerals for them, since this atmosphere and the organisms in it isn't the best for them to breathe because the atmosphere they are used to is different even though it is oxygen based as well. So, we (the humanoid neanderthal hybrids) mined but eventually the aliens got enough gold and whatever else they wanted and returned to their planet and only eventually returned to get enough minerals to keep their living system going. They left in place Royals in every country on earth loyal to them (often with the common people considering those Royals to be Gods incarnate). In this way when they returned the Royals would order their people to get more gold for the aliens. It went on for thousands of years like this non-stop. However, then the Earth created Atomic Weapons and they had to return to protect their investment (us, the hybrids) from extinction as well as their source for obtaining minerals to keep their culture alive on another planet. This theory millions of people believe is the likeliest story of what has been going on here on Earth for millions of years now. And so most religions are in some way a part of this story either directly or indirectly. So, it makes the average person who is now alive on earth have a very difficult time in ferreting out the truth because the truth might not be as helpful to know as one might think. However, this is just one story. There are thousands of others as well.
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