WEBVTT - Marshall Brain's News Roundup: April 29th, 2011

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from house stuff works dot com

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<v Speaker 1>where smart happens him Marshall Brain and welcome to this

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<v Speaker 1>week's Friday news round up, where we look at the

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<v Speaker 1>week's science and technology news and review. Here are some

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<v Speaker 1>of the articles that seemed the most interesting this week

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<v Speaker 1>from the Interesting Reading series on the brain Stuff blog.

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<v Speaker 1>If I had to pick something that surprised me this week,

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<v Speaker 1>it would be an article I saw about laser spark plugs.

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<v Speaker 1>Spark plugs have been around in almost exactly their current

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<v Speaker 1>form for more than a century, and it really hadn't

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<v Speaker 1>crossed my mind that this area needed improvement. But these

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<v Speaker 1>laser spark plugs are amazing if they can get them

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<v Speaker 1>working in real life engines at a reasonable price. They're

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<v Speaker 1>not amazing because they're lasers, even though lasers are always cool.

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<v Speaker 1>They're not amazing because their thousand watt plus pulse lasers,

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<v Speaker 1>although that's definitely cool as well. They're amazing because there

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<v Speaker 1>is a claim that they can improve fuel economy by

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<v Speaker 1>and that claim comes from real engines using real prototype

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<v Speaker 1>laser spark plugs. If you ever look at a spark

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<v Speaker 1>plug fire, and if you want to do this, you

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<v Speaker 1>could pull the plug on your lawnmower and watch it fires.

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<v Speaker 1>Somebody else pulls the string. It's a very tiny little spark.

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<v Speaker 1>It's it's practically nothing. It ignites a flame front that

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<v Speaker 1>has to expand outward from that tiny source of ignition,

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<v Speaker 1>and there just isn't that much time available for that

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<v Speaker 1>expansion to occur. An engine running at six thousd rpm,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, fires spark plugs fifty times per second. In

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<v Speaker 1>contrast to that, when you use a laser as the

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<v Speaker 1>spark plug, the flame front is huge by comparison, because

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<v Speaker 1>the beam penetrates down into the cylinder. The only problem

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<v Speaker 1>I have with this idea is that it falls in

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<v Speaker 1>to that big stack of other ideas that claim they'll

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<v Speaker 1>improve engine efficiency by I mean, how many times have

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<v Speaker 1>we heard this claim. Let's hope that this one pans out,

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<v Speaker 1>or that electric cars really take off and this idea

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<v Speaker 1>becomes irrelevant. Speaking of electric cars, what would make electric

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<v Speaker 1>cars explode in popularity? What we need is something that's

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<v Speaker 1>better than the current crop of batteries that we're using.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, the batteries we have right now are relatively speaking,

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<v Speaker 1>really big and really heavy and really expensive. Something small

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<v Speaker 1>and cheap and lightweight that can store or produce lots

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<v Speaker 1>of power is what is necessary for electric cars to

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<v Speaker 1>really revolutionize anything. This week there were two announcements that

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<v Speaker 1>hold promise for something happening in this arena. There was,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, a recent announcement that fuel cell prices could

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<v Speaker 1>drop by a factor of ten. The problem with current

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<v Speaker 1>fuel cells is that they need a lot of platinum,

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<v Speaker 1>which is pricey, to help catalyze the reaction that produces

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<v Speaker 1>the power or scientists have come up with a new

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<v Speaker 1>catalyst made of much cheaper materials like iron. If this

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<v Speaker 1>works out, it may be possible to consider using fuel

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<v Speaker 1>cells in cars in the relatively near future. You can

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<v Speaker 1>google Interesting Reading number seven thirty six for details. But

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<v Speaker 1>even better is a Darper project that's trying to develop

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<v Speaker 1>tiny fusion reactors. The idea is to shrink atomic accelerators

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<v Speaker 1>down to chip scale and then collide ions together to

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<v Speaker 1>create fusion. DARPA is shooting for an energy ratio of twenty,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning that the power out is twenty times greater than

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<v Speaker 1>the power in. How hard could it be? But if

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<v Speaker 1>they could get this idea working, it would certainly make

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<v Speaker 1>electric cars more viable. Google Interesting Reading number seven forty

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<v Speaker 1>to learn more about DARPA's attempts and speaking of electric

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<v Speaker 1>cars and cars that get really good gas mileage, the

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<v Speaker 1>Purdue team in the Shell Eco Marathon this year created

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<v Speaker 1>a car that got an equivalent of two thousand and

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred miles per gallon. The car weighs only two

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<v Speaker 1>seventy pounds, it's super aerodynamic, and it got an extra

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<v Speaker 1>boost from solar panels worked into the carbon fiber body.

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<v Speaker 1>The most interesting part is the fact that they hope

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<v Speaker 1>to make this vehicle street legal at some point. If

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<v Speaker 1>you google Interesting Reading number seven thirty eight, you can

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<v Speaker 1>get the details on this, and you can also see

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<v Speaker 1>Interesting Reading number seven thirty seven for a discussion of

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<v Speaker 1>Michigan's solar car strategies that's quite revealing. Also in Interesting

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<v Speaker 1>Reading number seven forty there's a video that's worth watching.

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<v Speaker 1>The problem that they're trying to solve is the truck

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<v Speaker 1>full of explosives trying to drive through a checkpoint problem.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not easy having a barrier that's strong enough to

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<v Speaker 1>keep a multi ton high speed truck out, but that's

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<v Speaker 1>also easy to raise and lower, and is also inexpensive

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<v Speaker 1>and is also attractive. This company offers a number of

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<v Speaker 1>solutions that fit the bill, and of course, how better

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<v Speaker 1>to demonstrate them than to ram some real trucks into

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<v Speaker 1>some real barriers and show it on a video on YouTube.

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<v Speaker 1>The most interesting one is this thing that looks like

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<v Speaker 1>a flimsy fabric net. When it rises out of its

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<v Speaker 1>little protective pocket in the road, it is surprisingly effective. However,

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<v Speaker 1>then there's this bar that looks like a flimsy piece

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<v Speaker 1>of wood that the guard can raise and lower by hand. Again,

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<v Speaker 1>you might think that you could drive right through it.

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<v Speaker 1>This video demonstrates otherwise. If you google interesting Reading number

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<v Speaker 1>seven forty you can see the video. Why is it

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<v Speaker 1>that human beings are sometimes so bad at self control?

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<v Speaker 1>For example, more than half of Americans are overweight, and

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<v Speaker 1>that happens because we're not particularly good at controlling what

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<v Speaker 1>we eat. Why is eating so hard to control? Scientific

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<v Speaker 1>American has an article this week that tries to explain it.

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<v Speaker 1>The theory proposed is something called a dual system model

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<v Speaker 1>in our brains. According to the article, we have quote

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<v Speaker 1>two emotional stems, our impulses and our powers of reflection

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<v Speaker 1>end quote. These two systems are constantly fighting with each

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<v Speaker 1>other and impulses often went out because they're impulsive, they

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<v Speaker 1>don't require a lot of processing power or energy. The

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<v Speaker 1>article goes through the research in this area and offers

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<v Speaker 1>several techniques to try in order to gain better self control.

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<v Speaker 1>Simply knowing that obesity is unhealthy is not enough to

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<v Speaker 1>stop impulsive behaviors around obesity. One thing you can try

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<v Speaker 1>is pre planning strategies or rules that you can rehearse

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<v Speaker 1>and execute whenever temptation arises. For example, if I have

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<v Speaker 1>a problem with peanut m and m's, I might say, look,

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<v Speaker 1>if I ever see a peanut eminem, I'm going to

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<v Speaker 1>physically turn around and walk in the other direction. If

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<v Speaker 1>I practice this enough, I do it automatically. The article

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<v Speaker 1>suggests that an alcoholic person can practice ordering a nonalcoholic

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<v Speaker 1>beverage at a bar until the behavior becomes automatic, and

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<v Speaker 1>so on. If you google Interesting Reading seven forty you

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<v Speaker 1>can get the details on these techniques. So let's say

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<v Speaker 1>that you're going to buy an hd TV or a

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<v Speaker 1>bluebery player or something in the video sphere. There are

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<v Speaker 1>all kinds of headline specs that most people can deal with,

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<v Speaker 1>like screen size and resolution and the contrast ratio. But

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<v Speaker 1>when you get into some of the esoteric stuff, it

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<v Speaker 1>gets harder. For example, what kind of motion interpolation algorithms

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<v Speaker 1>should you look for if you're buying an HD TV.

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<v Speaker 1>The article points out that when a film gets converted

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<v Speaker 1>from its native twenty four frames per second to a

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<v Speaker 1>TV refresh rate, there are different ways to do it

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<v Speaker 1>depending on the TV you buy. For example, if you're

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<v Speaker 1>increasing from twenty four frames per second to a sixty

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<v Speaker 1>hurts TV signal, one way to handle it is called

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<v Speaker 1>three to pull down processing. The CPU repeats one frame

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<v Speaker 1>three times and the next frame two times to create

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<v Speaker 1>sixty frames per second. The article then points out that

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<v Speaker 1>the imbalance the three and the two ratio creates an

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<v Speaker 1>artifact called jutter. An easy solution is to jump up

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<v Speaker 1>to a twenty hurts refresh rate. Now you can use

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<v Speaker 1>five five pull down processing and get rid of the jetter.

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<v Speaker 1>The best TVs can then do some image processing and

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<v Speaker 1>do frame interpolation, essentially creating new frames between two film

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<v Speaker 1>frames using computational techniques. Now, Lee and I would end

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<v Speaker 1>up buying whatever TVs on sale, But if you have

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<v Speaker 1>the time and the money to explore the high end stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a really interesting article. Google Interesting Reading number seven

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<v Speaker 1>thirty nine for details. Do you own an iPhone? Would

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<v Speaker 1>you like to get more out of it? If so,

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<v Speaker 1>there's an article entitled getting the most out of your

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<v Speaker 1>iPhone twenty easy tips and tricks that you may be

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<v Speaker 1>interested in this week. A lot of these are tiny

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<v Speaker 1>little features hidden in the user interface. This simply may

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<v Speaker 1>have escaped your notice. For example, there's a way to

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<v Speaker 1>lock the screen orientation, and Lee has actually been looking

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<v Speaker 1>for this because she likes to read in bed and

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<v Speaker 1>when she puts the thing sidewise, it flips on her.

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<v Speaker 1>There's an easy way to bring up the music controls

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<v Speaker 1>even if the screen is locked, and so on. Google

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<v Speaker 1>Interesting Reading number seven thirty eight to read this article.

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<v Speaker 1>Is peanut butter carcinogenic? Yes? It turns out it can

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<v Speaker 1>be because of a chemical called a plot toxin that's

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<v Speaker 1>common in peanuts. If you're the sort of person who

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<v Speaker 1>eats a lot of peanuts or peanut butter, you may

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<v Speaker 1>want to google Interesting Reading number seven thirty seven to

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<v Speaker 1>learn more about this threat to your existence. What are

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<v Speaker 1>the chances that you or I will ever travel in space?

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<v Speaker 1>I'd say they're pretty slim, but it's still fun to imagine. So,

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<v Speaker 1>while we're imagining traveling in space, what are the six

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<v Speaker 1>most common space dangers we will face in our dreams?

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<v Speaker 1>An article entitled the six Weirdest Dangers of Space Travel

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<v Speaker 1>tackles this question. The winners are, in order, moon, dust,

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<v Speaker 1>space debris, static electricity, heat stroke, an inability to stop,

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<v Speaker 1>and kidney stones. Kidney stones. Yes, kidney stones, because astronauts

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<v Speaker 1>get kidney stones more often then regular people do. It's

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<v Speaker 1>because weightlessness causes bone loss, and bone loss drops a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of calcium into the bloodstream, and calcium causes kidney stones.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're interested in these threats to your dream world,

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<v Speaker 1>you can google Interesting Reading number seven thirty seven for details.

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<v Speaker 1>And finally, you've probably heard of royal jelly. In a beehive,

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<v Speaker 1>the worker bees need to sometimes raise up new queens,

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<v Speaker 1>and they do this by picking an egg at random

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<v Speaker 1>and feeding it royal jelly. For some reason, royal jelly

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<v Speaker 1>causes some kind of transformation that turns what would have

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<v Speaker 1>been an ordinary worker bee into a queen bee. Scientists

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<v Speaker 1>obviously have been trying to figure out how a food

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<v Speaker 1>could do this. What a scientist in Japan named Massaki

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<v Speaker 1>Kamakura has discovered is a new protein that he is

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<v Speaker 1>named royal actin. It works by activating a gene that's

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<v Speaker 1>common in many animals. For example, when he fed royal

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<v Speaker 1>actin too fruit flies, they increased in size and they

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<v Speaker 1>laid more eggs. In bees, the genes effects are simply

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<v Speaker 1>more pronounced. If you google Interesting Reading number seven thirty seven,

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<v Speaker 1>you can learn more about royal jelly and how it

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<v Speaker 1>turns worker bees into queen bees, and it raises the

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<v Speaker 1>obvious questions should we be feeding this stuff to our kids?

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<v Speaker 1>So that's it for this week. To learn more about

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<v Speaker 1>these and dozens of other topics, you can google Interesting

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<v Speaker 1>Reading number seven thirty six, seven thirty seven, seven thirty eight,

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<v Speaker 1>seven thirty nine, and seven forty have a great weekend

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<v Speaker 1>for more on this and thousands of other topics. Does

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<v Speaker 1>that house stuff works dot com and don't forget to

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<v Speaker 1>check out the brain stuff blog on the house stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot com home page. You can also follow brain

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