And you thought the old way of measuring stuff was good enough...

So have you ever heard of the Michelson interferometer? Well this is the technology of splitting a light wave in half and then recombining the two beams at a later point and measuring the interference created at the detector. Remember light waves can be combined to strengthen the signal at the detector or cancel one another to show differences in the distance the two light beams traveled. Because of this inference pattern, measurements can be made down to half of a wavelength of the light being used. So visible light in the range of 400 to 700 nanometers can be used to measure differences of 200 to 350 nanometers. This may sound pretty good but scientists have found a way to make it even more accurate. They did it using super cooled Cesium atoms and an interferometer.

"Just as waves of light can sometimes act like particles called photons, atoms can be coaxed into showing off their inner waves. In this condition, an atom can exist in two or more places at once, called a superposition." So this wave of atoms can be split and then recombined to measure differences of thousandths of nanometers. This is incredible because the accuracy of measurements just jumped from 100's of nanometers to thousandths of nanometers(a picometer). Anyway take a look at this article Extreme Measures in the February 16, 2008 issue of Science News to read more about this. Take a look. I know you will be impressed.

Good info on Global Warming - Why we should be Concerned

I stumbled across this in my local library the other day and it turned out to be a great source for climate information. It is a mini lecture series on "Earth's Changing Climate" taught by Dr. Richard Wolfson of Middlebury College. Dr. Wolfson takes the viewer through a number of arguments supporting global warming and explains why and what data supports this theory.

What I found most interesting about this mini-lecture series is how he covers carbon content of the air and arctic ice samples. He shows a very good correlation between atmospheric carbon dioxide and temperature over long periods of time. He also shows many graphs and gives the viewer a good foundational view of this topic. At some points I found it a little rudimentary but overall it covers the subject well. Go to your library and check it out...

Whoa look at this. The Carver Motorcycle

OK so you don't like the Aptera. It clashes with your Ray-Ban sunglasses. You need something that expresses your wild untamed personality. So it has to look good on you, and have that energetic racy feel. It has to have that certain cool factor that you just know when you see it. Well look no further, this is the vehicle for you. This is not your grandmother's motorcycle. It gets 100 mpg and it goes over 100 mph. So it is incredibly fast plus eco-friendly. But what is really unique about this cycle besides its sexy look, it that it is fully enclosed, uses a conventional gasoline engine and has three wheels. OK that is the normal stuff now the really far-out attribute of this cycle, is that it tilts up to 45 degrees to give you that cycle ride and feel. Many people describe it like the feel of a fighter jet. The biggest thing is this machine is fun to drive. Check it out at the Carver site. You will like it...

Aptera round two

Ok I can't help but write again about this incredible machine: The Aptera.

Is This Thinking Outside the Box or What?

It looks different than your standard auto. It gets waaaay better gas mileage and it uses state of the art instruments and technology. It is just a very cool machine, plus it is rumored to achieve 200 mpg+.

It doesn't have side or rear view mirrors, it uses cameras instead to keep the profile lean and sleek. It has a drag coefficient of 0.11 and uses gull wing doors. It is so sophisticated that the windows don't even roll down. It uses a state of the art interior cooling and heating system the runs off Photovoltaic cells on the roof so it should be a comfortable temp in the cabin area all year round 24/7.

It has a top speed of 35 mph. Whoa that is not right, it is 95 mph. It seems to do everything a regular auto can do but much better.

It uses LED lights inside and out to conserve electricity. What else, check it out for yourself at Aptera.

I can't wait to hear more about it as the year progresses.

Aptera the latest Electric Car Offering

So what is this thing the Aptera???

It is a new car design wrapped around the electric car concept. It was built from the ground up and is part auto, part airplane and part fish. This Car is built for safety and efficiency getting high gas mileage as a hybrid or 120 mile range as a total electric. It is also very safe due to its crash safe design.

This thing is awesome. It is classified as a motorcycle but carries two or three people. The big drawback, it is only available in California right now and goes into production next October.
Check it out here.

Great Article in National Geographic

There is a great article featured in the October issue of National Geographic on Bio-fuels. It is called Growing Fuel The Wrong way, The Right Way. This article does a great job comparing different ethanol sources and tells us why we could be doing a better job and why sugar cane may make a better cheaper ethanol.

Check out the magazine or look at the online source for even more information at Bio-fuels interactive.

Hey some new information on the GM Volt

Just wanted to let you know of some recent news received today from Robert Lutz. He is the GM vice chairman. Try this link to see more.