Ring of fire: Hundreds of millions to witness ‘annular’ solar eclipse this Sunday
By Rob Waugh
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Millions of people in the western United States and Asia will watch the sun turn into a ‘ring of fire’ this weekend.
Shadows on the ground will also turn into crescents and ‘rings’ of light as moon covers as much as 94% of the sun this Sunday.
Shadows on the ground will also turn into crescents and ‘rings’ of light as moon covers as much as 94% of the sun this Sunday
WHAT CREATES THE ‘RING OF FIRE’? ANNULAR ECLIPSES EXPLAINED
Not every eclipse of the Sun is a total eclipse. On occasion the Moon is too small to cover the whole of the Sun. This is because of the Moon’s orbit around Earth which is oval or elliptical in shape.
As the Moon orbits Earth its distance varies from about 221,000 to 252,000 miles. This 13 per cent variant makes its apparent size, from our perspective, vary by the same amount.
If n eclipse occurs while the Moon is on the far side of its elliptical orbit, it appears smaller than the Sun and can’t completely cover it – creating the ‘ring of fire’ effect due this weekend.
‘Because some of the sun is always exposed during the eclipse, ambient daylight won’t seem much different than usual. Instead, the event will reveal itself in the shadows. Look on the ground beneath leafy trees for crescent-shaped sunbeams and rings of light,’ says Nasa.
‘Near the center-line of the eclipse, observers will experience something special: the ring of fire,’ say Nasa experts. ‘As the Moon crosses the sun dead-center, a circular strip or annulus of sunlight will completely surround the dark lunar disk. Visually, the sun has a big black hole in the middle.’
The event is an annular solar eclipse. It occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun, blocking everything but a bright ring of light.
Early risers in parts of China, Taiwan and Japan may catch a glimpse, weather permitting, around dawn on Monday.
The eclipse will be visible Sunday afternoon over parts of Oregon, Northern California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
Much of the rest of the country will see a partial solar eclipse, but the East Coast will miss out. Some three dozen national parks in the eclipse path are planning special events.
The eclipse will be visible Sunday afternoon over parts of Oregon, Northern California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas
A ‘strip’ around 200 miles wide will be able to see the ‘ring of fire’ effect
A Chinese couple watches the solar eclipse over Zhengzhou, in the country’s central Henan province
The skies over Hongdao, China, where the spectacular ‘ring of fire’ could be seen. The eclipse was annular, meaning the Moon blocked most of the Sun’s middle
This type of solar eclipse has not been visible in the U.S. since 1994.
Categories: Science&Tech Tags: 'annular', Eclipse, Fire, Hundreds, Millions, Ring, Solar, Sunday, This, Witness
Google ‘Knowledge Graph’ turns entire internet into one big Wikipedia
- Search engine has 3.5billion facts ready to weave into search results
- Knowledge Base ‘understands what you are talking about, rather than just matching keywords to web pages’
- Information is not just based on sources on Wikipedia and Freebase – but on ‘what Google finds on the web’
- Feature will also appear on tablets and smartphones
- Senior engineer: ‘This is our baby step towards the ‘Star Trek’ computer I have always dreamed of building’
By Eddie Wrenn
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Google has revolutionised the way we use the Internet, quickly rising to almost complete dominance over the search market.
But for all its unerring ability to find what you are looking for, it has – up to now – still used a fairly ‘dumb’ comparison program to match your search terms to pages stored in its database.
But now, Google has unleashed its latest technology on the world – a ‘Knowledge Graph’ which
can understand the relationships between real-world objects, and bring all this information back to the user.
Instead of simply matching your keywords, Google’s technology will try to understand your query, and bring back the information you are looking for on the right-hand-side of the traditional results.
Google says this is a ‘critical first step towards building the next generation of search, which taps into the collective intelligence of the web and understands the world a bit more like people do.’
Smarter on the right: The new look Google will bring in information from sources like Wikipedia if it thinks it knows what you want
Even Leo gets the treatment: The Titanic star also gets his own instant answer within the search results page
Close up: Details for Mona Lisa include the year of completion, a short description, links to related searches and to similar paintings. Leonardo DiCaprio’s answer lists his films, similar searches, and a biography
‘Search is a lot about discovery – the basic human need to learn and broaden your horizons.
‘But searching still requires a lot of hard work by you, the user. So today I’m really excited to launch the Knowledge Graph, which will help you discover new information quickly and easily.’
Explaining the concept, Singhal said: ‘Take a query like [taj mahal]. For more than four decades, search has essentially been about matching keywords to queries. To a search engine the words [taj mahal] have been just that – two words.
‘But we all know that [taj mahal] has a much richer meaning. You might think of one of the world’s most beautiful monuments, or a Grammy Award-winning musician, or possibly even a casino in Atlantic City, NJ. Or, depending on when you last ate, the nearest Indian restaurant.
‘It’s why we’ve been working on an intelligent model – in geek-speak, a ‘graph’ – that understands real-world entities and their relationships to one another: things, not strings.
Similarly, Google yesterday revealed the ‘Research Pane’, which provides a similar service while writing in Google Documents
‘The Knowledge Graph enables you to search for things, people or places that Google knows about – landmarks, celebrities, cities, sports teams, buildings, geographical features, movies, celestial objects, works of art and more – and instantly get information that’s relevant to your query.
‘This is a critical first step towards building the next generation of search, which taps into the collective intelligence of the web and understands the world a bit more like people do.’
He continued: ‘Google’s Knowledge Graph isn’t just rooted in public sources such as Freebase, Wikipedia and the CIA World Factbook. It’s also augmented at a much larger scale – because we’re focused on comprehensive breadth and depth.
‘It currently contains more than 500million objects, as well as more than 3.5billion facts about and relationships between these different objects. And it’s tuned based on what people search for, and what we find out on the web.
‘How do we know which facts are most likely to be needed for each item? For that, we go back to our users and study in aggregate what they’ve been asking Google about each item.
‘For example, people are interested in knowing what books Charles Dickens wrote, whereas they’re less interested in what books Frank Lloyd Wright wrote, and more in what buildings he designed.
WHAT A PANE: GOOGLE DOCUMENTS
Google Documents – which has now been re-christened Google Drive – got a similar ‘knowledge treatment’ this week.
As you type into Google’s online word processor, Google can return facts and images about your subject.
Users can specify if they want Docs – which has recently been re-christened as Drive by Google – to search all of Google, or just keep searches restricted to images and quotes.
Google software engineer Sarveshwar Dudd said: ‘If you find something you like, you can add it by clicking the insert button or, for images, by dragging them directly into your document.
‘From the research pane, you can search for whatever info you need to help you write your document. With just a couple clicks you can look up maps, quotes, images, and much more.
‘If appropriate we’ll automatically add a footnote citation so there’s a record of where you found the info.’
‘The Knowledge Graph also helps us understand the relationships between things. Marie Curie is a person in the Knowledge Graph, and she had two children, one of whom also won a Nobel Prize, as well as a husband, Pierre Curie, who claimed a third Nobel Prize for the family. All of these are linked in our graph. It’s not just a catalog of objects; it also models all these inter-relationships. It’s the intelligence between these different entities that’s the key.
‘We’ve always believed that the perfect search engine should understand exactly what you mean and give you back exactly what you want. And we can now sometimes help answer your next question before you’ve asked it, because the facts we show are informed by what other people have searched for.
‘For example, the information we show for Tom Cruise answers 37 percent of next queries that people ask about him.
‘We’ve begun to gradually roll out this view of the Knowledge Graph to U.S. English users. It’s also going to be available on smartphones and tablets.
‘We’re proud of our first baby step – the Knowledge Graph – which will enable us to make search more intelligent, moving us closer to the “Star Trek computer” that I’ve always dreamed of building.
‘Enjoy your lifelong journey of discovery, made easier by Google Search, so you can spend less time searching and more time doing what you love.’
Sea Lion: Amphibious sports car can hit 125mph on land and 60mph on the HIGH SEAS
By Eddie Wrenn
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A car enthusiast has completed his six-year project to turn his dream sports car into a 60mph sea-worth vehicle.
The Sea Lion, as inventor Marc Witt calls it, is a completely bespoke car that can do 125mph on the roads – and then fly down the pier into the water and keep up a respectable speed as it sails past the yachts and boats.
And this car could be yours today, as Marc is now ready to cast the car-boat hybrid adrift, putting it up for sale for $ 259,500.
Scroll down for video
Off the ramp and on to the water: The Sea Lion can drive straight into the water, and straight out to the horizon
The Good Ship Sea Lion: The $ 250,000 car has a top speed of 180pm by land, and 60mph by sea
Sea view: The Sea Lion prepares for a quick trip across the harbour
Almost like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The car has extendable panels and boot space which fold out at the push of a button
Capped with a brushed aluminum and stainless steel finish, Marc built the car himself over the top of a 174hp Mazda rotary engine, designing a body which could function as a road-vehicle, yet also be waterproof when hitting the lakes and seas for a spin.
The car is one of 25 vehicles that is currently vying for the title of fastest amphibious vehicle.
When Marc started building the car in 2006, he aimed to reach 60mph – beating the water-speed record of 45mph set by an amphibious car.
That record has now risen to 60mph by a range of competing cars – although with no official body to rule on the faster, many vehicles are claiming the title.
Still, Marc says that if the next owner upgrade his engine, they can reach even greater speeds and land the record themselves – and it is unlikely anyone will top his land-speed record for an amphibian car of 125mph.
Indeed, with an engine switch, the car is built out so that it can take speeds of up to 180mph on the road.
The panels go back: The car converts itself from road-worthy to sea-worthy
By land, by sea… by bike? The car has ‘boot space’ on the side of the vehicle
Writing on Fantasy Junction, where the car is for sale, Marc said: ‘Building Sea Lion has been an enjoyable exploration. I have provided the basic architecture for the car and resolved every conflicting interaction between Car and Boat.
‘The next chapter of this project is to provide an ultimate engine and begin speed trials. There are many highly qualified rotary engine builders who have decades of experience making reliable high performance improvements.
‘It is best to bring a specialist builder on board for the rest of this endeavor and bring the car up to its full potential.
‘I am willing to continue working with the buyer on all future modifications. I will remain available as a consultant, engineer, machinist and psychiatrist for whoever decides to venture further into the amphibious record books.’
The gear stick is a joy stick: The modified cabin/cockpit is ready to tackle both ways of travelling
Engines running, the car sails off into the distance, ready to buzz all the boats
See video here: Project Sea Lion takes to the seas
Categories: Science&Tech Tags: 125mph, 60Mph, Amphibious, High, Land, Lion, seas, Sports
The deadly poison hidden in EVERY home that can burn holes in children’s throats
- Injuries caused by lithium-ion batteries have quadrupled in a decade
- 66% of parents have never heard of dangers
- Most common injuries come from swallowing batteries from remote controls
- Symptoms start off similar to common cold
- Can cause severe injuries or even death
By Rob Waugh
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An increasing number of children are being hospitalised after eating lithium-ion batteries – tiny, coin-sized batteries which can stick in the oesophagus and are highly toxic.
‘It was frustrating because we couldn’t figure what was wrong with him,’ said Sonia Khan, whose child Umar had to be fed through a tube for three months after eating one of the batteries.
In some cases, eating lithium batteries can be fatal – and cases have quadrupled in the past decade.
‘It was frustrating because we couldn’t figure what was wrong with him,’ said Sonia Khan, whose child Umar had to be fed through a tube for three months after eating one of the batteries
Initially, symptoms seem more like a cold, but the poisons inside the batteries can burn a hole inside children’s oesophaguses, leading to severe illness or death
In a recent study by Energizer and Safe Kids USA, 66% of parents indicated they have not read, seen or heard anything about the risks of coin-sized button batteries.
‘It was tough on him,’ Khan said in an interview with ABC news. ‘He didn’t understand why he couldn’t eat. We all had to hide from food from him.’
The tiny batteries – often found in hi-tech remote controls, toys and greetings cards – are dangerous because they are less well shielded than batteries such as AA or AAA batteries.
They are also more easily swallowed.
‘The threat is invisible, as these batteries are often inside compartments within electronic devices,’ says a spokesperson for Battery Controlled, a charity which deasl with the dangers of lithium batteries.
‘However, because many of these devices are not children’s toys, the battery compartments are easy to open. Small children often have easy access to these devices and enjoy playing with them, and many parents do not know there is a risk.
‘The threat is invisible, as these batteries are often inside compartments within electronic devices,’ says a spokesperson for Battery Controlled, a charity which deasl with the dangers of lithium batteries
The number of cases where children have been seriously hurt or have died has more than quadrupled in the past five years (2006-2010) compared to the five years prior (2001-2005).
In 2010 alone, there were more than 3,400 swallowing cases reported in the U.S., according to Dr. Toby Litovitz, of the National Capital Poison Centre who is an advisor to this effort.
Most often, the batteries children swallow have come out of remote control devices. Often, the first symptoms are indistinguishable from a common cold.
Emmett Rauch, two, swallowed a lithium battery from a remote control and has since had 18 surgeries in the past year at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Arizona.
His mother Karla Rauch said no one saw Emmett swallow the battery and the first symptoms he had were similar to a cold.
Little fighter: Emmett Rauch, two, has endured 18 surgeries in under a year after he swallowed a lithium battery at his home in Phoenix, Arizona
She said: ‘Batteries start burning in the oesophagus within two hours and it was in him we think about three days.’
The toddler has had four inches of his oesophagus removed after the acid from the battery burned two holes through it.
He has also suffered multiple cases of collapsed lung and had close to 200 X-rays. He has spent more than 19 weeks of his young life in the pediatric ICU.
Household danger: A lithium battery was lodged in Emmett Rauch’s throat for three days
The batteries are so dangerous because they don’t have as much casing as an AA battery.
A nurse who cares for Emmett, Michelle Chacon, said she has seen several cases of children swallowing batteries and that more should be done to make families aware of the household danger.
The nurse has helped the Rauch family set up a charity to raise awareness about the tiny batteries which are used in everyday objects like clocks, cameras and calculators.
Ms Chacon said: ‘You talk about childproofing your home and covering your outlets, and this needs to be a part of that.’
According to the National Capital Poison Center, each year in the U.S. more than 3,500 people swallow miniature disc or button batteries.
The charity called Emmett’s Fight aims to inform about the dangers of button battery ingestion.
The symptoms are similar to the common cold or the flu – fever, lack of appetite, coughing and increase of mucus production.
Survival: Emmett Rauch was close to death after ingesting a battery at his home and has suffered multiple health problems ever since
Hooked up: Emmett Rauch swallowed the lithium battery from a TV remote control at his home in Arizona
Constant worry: The boy’s mother Karla Rauch said at first his symptoms appeared like a common cold
Categories: Science&Tech Tags: burn, Children's, Deadly, Every, Hidden, Holes, Home, poison, Throats
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak admits to not having broadband at home…but he does own every smartphone on the market
By Daily Mail Reporter
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Steve Wozniak, the man who co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs in 1976 has admitted that he does not have broadband at his home.
Admitting that his home’s connectivity is stuck in the last century, Wozniak, 62, was speaking in Perth at an internet technology forum.
‘I don’t have broadband at my home,’ said Wozniak about his Los Gatos, California home, to gasps from the audience according to news.com.au
Steve Wozniak the Apple co-founder admitted recently that he did not have broadband at his home in California
‘I, Steve Wozniak, don’t have broadband at my home.’
Explaining the surprising choice by one of the legends of the micro-chip revolution of the 1970′s, Wozniak told a story all too familiar to some in the U.S
‘I live one kilometre out of the main part of town,’ explained the Apple co-founder.
‘Broadband is a monopoly in my town – that means you can get it from a cable company, but I don’t have cable.
Portrait of American businessmen and engineers Steve Jobs (left) and Steve Wozniak, co-founders of Apple Computer Inc, at the first West Coast Computer Faire, where the Apple II computer was debuted
Steve Wozniak (left) and Steve Jobs (right) work on one of their revolutionary early Apple computers in the mid-1970′s
‘There are 50 companies that want to sell me DSL, but they’ve all got to go through the Horizon wires – the local phone company – and I’ve got one of the two worst Horizons in the country.
‘And so I can’t get broadband in my house.’
Despite not having broadband in his house, the Apple visionary does have an impressive array of smartphones to keep him connected to the outside world.
Famously being the first in line for the iPhone 4S, he claimed that the game-changing smartphone is his primary device.
Wozniak admitted his home’s connectivity is stuck in the last century at a technology conference in Perth, Australia
However, he also has an Android phone as some of the features on that have more use for him than their equivalents on the iPhone.
But most controversially, Wozniak recently made comments that he believes the new Windows Phone 7 to so user friendly that the Microsoft design team seem to have channeled the spirit of Steve Jobs.
‘I’m shocked, every screen is much more beautiful than the same apps on Android and iPhone,’ said Wozniak.
‘The iPhone has a lot of beauty and simplicity and you don’t get lost as much in it but it is more awkward to use’.
Cupertino, California, USA: Steve Wozniak, designer of the Apple II, sits with one of the machines, which was the most successful personal computer of its day
‘I’ll be carrying a Windows Phone with me almost everywhere.’
Known as the chief engineer to Steve Job’s visionary leader, Wozniak was known for innovations in computer technology using floppy disc drives and only hand-held computers.
The Star Trek fan recalled writing the programming for and designing the influential Apple II computer by hand, because the fledgling company did not have enough money.
Falling back on his pioneering spirit in home computing technology, Wozniak said that at the end of the day it is the brain and not money that creates solutions.
‘You need a human brain to come up with an approach to solve problems — you can’t just solve them by brute force (of computing power),’ said Wozniak.
Categories: Science&Tech Tags: Admits, Apple, Broadband, cofounder, Every, Having, home...but, Market, Smartphone, Steve, Wozniak
