Moonlight In The Junkyard

Combining two loves - photography and cars - especially junk yard cars - that's what we see here in these ethereal, surreal photos taken at the legendary Pearsonville Junkyard in the Mojave Desert by Troy Paiva.

Troy shoots long moonlit exposures with colored gels and strobes and lightpaints with LEDs and flashlights. All effects are done in-camera. No Photoshopping here!

The Chart Of The Day

Source

Will The Internet Eventually Black Out?

Prepare to be gob-smacked.

From John Michael Greer: "The energy cost to run a home computer is modest enough that it’s easy to forget, for example, that the two big server farms that keep Yahoo’s family of web services online use more electricity between them than all the televisions on Earth put together (emphasis added). Multiply that out by the tens of thousands of server farms that keep today’s online economy going, and the hundreds of other energy-intensive activities that go into the internet, and it may start to become clear how much energy goes into putting these words onto the screen where you’re reading them."

So what happens when energy costs (according to Mr. Obama) "skyrocket"?

Greer: "There may well still be an internet a quarter century from now, but it will likely cost much more, reach far fewer people, and have only a limited resemblance to the free-for-all that exists today."

I certainly hope this is wrong.

Astronauts Outdoors Again At Hubble

The Hubble repair mission continues today with the third spacewalk in as many days for the shuttle Atlantis crew. Today's wotk is expected to be the most challenging ever performed because of the unprecedented camera repairs. Astronauts have never tried to take apart a science instrument at the 19-year-old observatory.

A Vaccine For High Blood Pressure?

The common virus CMV - cytomegalovirus - infects almost everybody in the world over age 40. A new study shows how it could be implicated in hypertension - high blood pressure - a leading risk factor for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

"We found that CMV infection alone led to an increase in high blood pressure, and when combined with a high-cholesterol diet, the infection actually induced atherosclerosis in a mouse aorta," says [Dr. Clyde] Crumpacker. "This suggests that further research needs to be directed at viral causes of vascular injury. Some cases of hypertension might be treated or prevented by antiviral therapy or a vaccine against CMV."

Still More Pontiac Art

I told you I couldn't help myself, so here's some more delightful Fitzpatrick and Kaufman Pontiac artwork. Looks like the artwork is scanned out of old magazines but the scans are decent quality. We see more of the less fancy cars here too - like the four-door sedans and the station wagons. Lovely stuff. Most of the text is in Japanese and the navigation is clunky but it's worth the visit. But go to Fitzpatrick's website if you'd like to buy some of this stuff. Fitzpatrick is over 90 now and still kicking, so throw him the business.

Sri Lanka And The Tamil Tigers

Interesting analysis on the civil war in Sri Lanka from Austin Bay at Strategy Page: "After 26 years of vicious civil war on the island of Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon in the British colonial era), the Sri Lankan government has decided to do what it once sought to avoid: destroy the fanatical Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) uprising in a relentless offensive. If the result is an ethnic and sectarian bloodbath, so be it. After all, "suicide attacks" are a Liberation Tiger trademark."

Wolfram Alpha Launches Early

New search engine Wolfram Alpha went live a few hours ago - three days ahead of schedule. Some background here and here.

Update: A roundup of aspiring search engines at CNN.

Do-It-Yourself Orchestra

Via Gizmodo, the InBb (In B flat) Project. It's a grid of YouTube music videos that you can play one at a time, a few at a time or all at once. It's unique.

Minnesotans For Global Warming

Via Tom Nelson. Money quote: "All I can say to the polar bears is one thing: Evolve!" Hilarious pastiche on The BareNakedLadies.

Too Much Bling? Give Us A Ring

The Truth About Cars brings us this story from Britain's Daily Mail. Think your neighbor is living too high off the hog? Call the cops! First they came for...

Earlier Detection Of Prostate Cancer?

If you are male and have a family history of prostate cancer you may benefit from new research on a genetic marker that is associated with an earlier onset of prostate cancer.

“Markers such as this one are useful because they may help clinicians distinguish between men who are at risk for earlier onset of disease where intensive screening approaches can be discussed. Men who do not carry genetic markers of risk may not need such screening measures.”

The new research is being carried out at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. We need a lot more of this type of work.

Phacebook Phishing

Today I received an email from what seemed to be Facebook. It was not. It was part of a widespread phishing scam.

Settled Science Unsettled Is Unsettling Scientists

The so-called conveyor belt model of Atlantic Ocean currents has been taught in Universities world-wide for 50 years. The idea is the Labrador current streams cold water south past Newfoundland where it mingles with the Gulf Stream heading to the northeast. Current global warming scenarios account for the conveyor belt as it was previously understood. Now that 50-year old "settled" science has become unsettled. More from Science Daily.

Beer Prices Got You Down? Gotta Coffee Maker?

Make beer in your Black & Decker. "It may be very bad. It may be good. It will be beer." If it's good, celebrate. If it's bad - well there's only one thing to do with bad beer...

Warily Circling The Pâté Dish

At Marginal Revolution: "The forward march of science continues: Can people distinguish pâté from dog food?"

Mr. Obama, Tear Down That Trade Wall

Canada is America's largest trading partner and all around best friend. Canada is also a relative economic powerhouse right now. But the economic troubles in the US are creating a new protectionism that many of us have not seen in our lifetimes. Americans now want to Buy American. Understandable, but then America will also need to understand that Canada has now opened free trade talks with the European Union. Protectionism is always bad for business. It stifles trade, sometimes in that very thing you need the most. For example, what does only Saudi Arabia have more of than Canada? Hint: It's not sand.

Update: A cartoon.

Riches, Wealth And Fame? No Way!

"If you think having loads of money, fetching looks, or the admiration of many will improve your life — think again. A new study by three University of Rochester researchers demonstrates that progress on these fronts can actually make a person less happy."

But what about being broke, ugly and shunned? Attributed to both Sophie Tucker and Mae West: "I've been rich and I've been poor and believe me rich is better."

I'll take my chances with the "loads of money" thank you. Anytime you're ready now.

Cigarettes - What Allergic Smokers Already Knew

As a now-reformed long-term smoker, I will never go back to the devil weed. But as an allergy sufferer I also knew that when I was in the midst of a dust or pollen induced sneezing fit, I could break the attack by simply lighting up. Other allergic smokers have told me the same thing. Doctors I spoke to however were incredulous and I, like them, knew not to confuse anecdotes with data.

Now here comes the science: A new study at Utrecht University in the Netherlands shows cigarette smoke decreases the allergic response by inhibiting the activity of mast cells, the major players in the immune system's response to allergens.

Oddly though, I have had fewer allergy symptoms since I quit smoking. This suggests to me that something in tobacco smoke causes an allergic response, while something else in tobacco smoke suppresses that response. Insidious. More data please.

Why Canadian Nurses Go South

Here in Newfoundland we face a potential strike by the province's 5000 nurses. Any strike likely won't last long - the last time the government legislated the nurses back to work. But many nurses, especially younger graduates must be wondering if the grass is greener...

The Secret To Raising Smart Kids

I recently came across this article from Scientific American Mind that dates back about a year and a half but is no less timely. Thirty years of research has shown that a focus on effort - not on intelligence or ability - is key to success in school and in life.

"When we gave everyone hard problems anyway, those praised for being smart became discouraged, doubting their ability. And their scores, even on an easier problem set we gave them afterward, declined as compared with their previous results on equivalent problems. In contrast, students praised for their effort did not lose confidence when faced with the harder questions, and their performance improved markedly on the easier problems that followed."

The conclusion - don't tell your kids how smart or gifted they are. Instead praise them for their hard work.

Cars: Buy New Or Fix Old?

That's the question at The Truth About Cars: A reader asks should you fix up an otherwise decent 1999 Nissan Maxima? "At what dollar price point is it reasonable to keep spending money on repairs for a 10 yr old car, per year?"

Sajeev Mehta responds: "Rust issues notwithstanding, a well-maintained car on a well-engineered platform always beats a monthly payment on a comparable new car."

I would agree to the extent that your monthly outlay on repairs does not approach the payment on a new car. As we saw earlier, dealers are closing, new car inventories are at record highs and they will have to be sold. Look for even better bargains on new cars in the near future. If the old beater can be kept safe, hang on to it for another while. It seems to me that cheaper new cars are inevitable.

MD vs. Fighter Pilot: Fight!

If you know anything about doctors and/or fighter pilots you have learned something about competitiveness. So you can imagine how competitive these two guys were to make it as Canada's newest astronauts.

Hmm. Doctor or pilot? Let's see who wins the Google Fight.

Bail Out The "Papers"? No Way!

Close on a dozen reasons not to bail out the dead-tree media.

Google Is Oogling You

What does Google take in return for all the free info it gives out?

"Online tools really aren't free. We pay for them with micropayments of personal information," says Greg Conti, a professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and author of the book Googling Security: How Much Does Google Know About You?

Kevin Bankston, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation: "Google is expecting consumers to trust it with the closest thing to a printout of their brain that has ever existed." Via Daily Rotation.

The Mother Of All Firesales - At GM Dealers Soon

Robert Farago: "In a business where 60-days worth of inventory is considered ideal, Chevrolet has a 381 day supply of, well, everything. Including a 142-day supply of the new Camaro and a 381 day supply of Aveos. The Pontiac Wave (the Aveo twin) checks in with a 608 day supply."

The plants are closing. Pent-up inventory will be moved. GM cars are depreciating before they are even sold.

On a lighter note, here's one answer to global warming at The Truth About Cars. Click the image to enlarge. Check the comments too.

What The Sunshine Brought Out

It was a sunny day and warm in St. John's today. When I came out of Tim Horton's with my medium black coffee, this triple mint 1951 M-38 Willys Jeep in US Army livery was softly tick-tick-ticking in the sunshine. "Awesome", I thought. "It's Sarge".

Photography: Doctors Without Borders In Afghanistan

The Photographer: Into war-torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders: "...a collaboration between photographer Didier Lefevre, graphic novelist Emmanuel Guibert, and designer Frederic Lemercier. The book is the memoir of Didier, a photographer who accompanied Medecins Sans Frontiers doctors into Afghanistan to staff a clinic in the middle of the Soviet-Mujahideen war." Unflinching and unpretentious. More from Boing Boing.

You can learn more about Doctors Without Borders here.

Web Assimilating TV? Resistance Is Futile

Way back around '95 I told some colleagues that the WWW would one day assimilate TV. "Never happen!", they exclaimed. "TV will always be TV". It took longer than I thought, but that's just what's happening. Do you watch TV over the Web? I sure do. Now, online video search service Blinkx is putting its skills to work for Britain-based Miniweb Interactive, a firm specializing in merging television with the Internet. Browser meet content. More at PhysOrg.Com.

Hudak Would Scrap Ontario Human Rights Tribunal

Well good. Brian Gardiner reports At Home In Hespeler: Ontario conservative leadership candidate Tim Hudak has announced his proposal to scrap the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal "...and instead move to a court-based system bound by rules of evidence as opposed to hurt feelings under the current tribunals. We must vigorously prosecute people for real acts of illegal discrimination," Hudak said. "This is not the case today, where we have a Commission and a Chair that use the Ontario Human Rights Code as a tool of political advocacy.” Suggestions in the comments to bring Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn aboard are apropos.

If Speed Kills Why Am I Here?

If "speed kills" then I ought to be dead. I flew in a jet plane once. It was speeding along at 900 kph. Come to think of it, you and I are "speeding" through space right now at what... ludicrous speed? All this is by way of derailing criticism for a new proposal to increase the speed limit on Ontario's 400 highways from 100 kph to 110 kph. That's right. The speed everybody drives at anyway. The article points out that it is not speed per se that's dangerous, it's variation in speed. Yup, it's not the speed that kills you. It's the sudden stop. Anyway watch this sensible idea get shot down in a miasma of sanctimony from all manner of societal "advocates".

Sarah Palin Writes A Book

I know. I can hear it already. "Has she even read a book?" Totally unfair of course. I believe Sarah Palin has been easily mocked and is seriously underestimated by glib opponents inside and outside politics. I'll read her book when it comes out and judge it - and her - on merit.

There was an interesting piece published last February by Yuval Levin in Commentary Magazine titled The Meaning of Sarah Palin. It is well worth your time especially if you think Palin doesn't have what it takes.

US Purchases Russian Fighters

This is interesting: The US has bought two slightly used Russian SU-27 "Flanker" fighter jets from Ukraine. The Flanker is a modern high-performance, high altitude fighter from the Soviet era that's been sold to India, China, Malaysia, Venezuela and Algeria. It is analogous to the US F-15. USAF will use them for fighter practice.

The Next Industrial Revolution

In today's Globe and Mail, studying nanotechnology - "You get all kinds of neat effects, such as quantum tunnel effects that you can play around with." That's the whole idea of nanotechnology — applying the weird things that we see and trying to better understand them." "There are many start-up companies that are making nano-enabled products and processes. It's an innovative, creative field and lots of entrepreneurs are starting up businesses in nanotechnology," observes Dr. Carty."

No Banking Crisis In Canada. Why?

Megan McArdle writing in The Atlantic suggests (among other things): "When you dig down, most of those [Canadian] explanations seem short on the actual regulations that accomplished this marvelous feat, or even an extraordinary risk management system, and long on glowering regulators putting the fear of God into snivelling bankers through sheer force of moral righteousness."

The image of snivelling bankers being glowered at gives me a certain er, comfort.

"Goals Gone Wild"

That's the title of a new paper by Adam Galinsky, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Individuals, governments, and companies like GM show ample ability to hurt themselves by setting and blindly following goals, even those that seem to make sense at the time. Boston.Com has this article - "Ready, Aim... Fail": on why setting goals can backfire.

Straight Up Car Facts From TrueDelta

How reliable is that car really? What kind of real-world mileage does it get? Why do people buy--or not buy--a particular car?You could probably dig up a lot of this info for yourself using Consumer Reports and some of the buff books. But you might also find TrueDelta to your liking. Here, 35,000 owners track the same questions you might be asking about that new or used car you're thinking about. Best of all, if you report on your own whips, it's free.

Young Spocks - Lots Of 'Em

Science Daily reports "A research project at the University of Gothenburg has been testing large groups of 13-year-olds in Sweden since the early 1960s using the same intelligence test. The tests have taken place at approximately five year intervals and consist of an inductive-logic test, a verbal test and a spatial test." "The good news is today’s teenagers are achieving demonstrably better results in the logic test than was the case fifty years ago."

Underwater Mysteries

"What lies beneath the surface of New York Harbor? For starters, a 350-foot steamship, 1,600 bars of silver, a freight train, and four-foot-long cement-eating worms." Cool! New York Magazine peers into the murk.

It's An Insta-lanche!

Instapundit Glenn Reynolds links to VOKL - Voice Of Ken Lawton helping us men keep up the good-guy fight against prostate cancer. Thanks a million Glenn!

Dangerously Clueless Celebrities

In today's National Post via Slate:

"Celebrities take on all kinds of causes. They campaign for presidents, and they rally to save the women of Darfur and the hungry masses of Bangladesh and Africa. Some of these appearances may do some good, while others are merely benign grandstanding. But wealthy, toothsome, vivacious and sexy Jenny McCarthy's impassioned campaign is actually harmful."

Why? Because against all scientific reason she is promoting her opinion (and naturally her book) that measles-mumps-rubella vaccines cause autism. And top celebrities - like Oprah - are buying into this dangerous hogwash.

29% Of Cancer Studies Declare Conflict Of Interest

"A serious concern is individuals with conflicts of interest will either consciously or unconsciously be biased in their analyses. As researchers, we have an obligation to treat the data objectively and in an unbiased fashion. There may be some relationships that compromise a researcher's ability to do that..."

At least the cancer researchers declare their conflicts. Is this true in other branches of science? What about the warmists? They smear their opponents as being in the pockets of big oil and so on. Do they declare their conflicts?

Prostate Cancer Surgery And Younger Men

"Although the majority of all prostate cancer are diagnosed in men older than 65, its prevalence is growing among men younger than 50. In fact, about one in 10,000 men under the age of 40 will be diagnosed this year with prostate cancer." " For men younger than 50 with prostate cancer, undergoing a radical prostatectomy can greatly increase their chances for long-term survival, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital." For more information about prostate cancer, see Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, and elsewhere.

Get checked gentlemen. Do not be afraid to ask your doctor. And please talk it up and spread the links.

Update: Insta-lanche! - Professor Reynolds heeds the call.

Environmentalism = Religion

Tom Nelson asks if environmentalism is just a religion for people who are too cool to go to church. In addition to all the excellent parallels Tom makes, I would add that the religion of environmentalism also has its own original sin - humans are guilty simply for the act of being born.

Spooks Out-Spooked

In a courtyard inside the Central Intelligence Agency's headquarters in Langley, Virginia lies a sculpture. It consists of four half-inch thick sheets of copper inscribed with code. Three of the four codes have been broken. But to this day no one - not even the CIA's most advanced cryptanalysts - has been able to crack the last piece. This fascinating article appeared in Wired last month.

Life-like (Read: Creepy) Medical Simulator

The SimMan 3G is actually more like a robot that can cry, bleed, convulse, go into cardiac arrest, and have all sorts of medical conditions that are better practiced at first without a human subject. Gizmodo has the story and links to MedGadget with BBC video.

Can Bumblebees Really Fly?

Well yes they can, but it has long been thought that bumblebee flight was aerodynamically impossible. So how do they do it? Brute force.

It's Snowing In Newfoundland Today Too

According to The Telegraph's Christopher Booker, the elements are conspiring against the warmists: "That great authority Ban Ki-moon, the UN's Secretary-General, solemnly tells us that the polar ice caps are "melting far faster than was expected just two years ago". Yet the latest satellite information from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (passed on by the Watts Up With That blog) shows that, after the third slowest melt of April Arctic ice in 30 years, the world's polar sea ice is in fact slightly above its average extent for early May since satellite records began in 1979. This news came as the skiinfo.com website (which oddly excludes Newfoundland) was reporting "It's snowing all over the world". Snow was still falling in the Alps after a record winter, while in the southern hemisphere the skiing season was starting "five weeks early"."

But Look At The Picture

Ann Althouse asks: "Why would people (be) going to all this trouble and expense to get a photograph that looked so awful?" Good question. So who was joyriding in AF-One?

Bail Out The "Papers"? Er, Wait...

A week ago White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said there would be no bailout for newspapers. I speculated that the US government would not bail out failing media - like newspapers - because even President Obama realizes the last thing America needs is a state-owned media. I spoke too soon. This from Gateway Pundit: "Last night at the White House Correspondents Dinner Barack Obama prepared the country for the inevitable liberal newspaper bailout. There's just no way Democrats are going to allow the liberal media to go under."

Still More Pontiac Art - From The Source

Last week I linked to some gorgeous vintage Pontiac artwork. Now I've found the website of Art Fitzpatrick. He's the now-90-odd-year-old guy who created this evocative artform for Pontiac fifty years ago. Shown here is a 1965 Pontiac Safari station wagon in a piece Fitzpatrick called "Sailor's Delight". As a kid I loved leafing through National Geographic and Life and the Saturday Evening Post in hopes that there would be new Pontiac artwork. I remember every single one of these images and lots of them ended up taped on my bedroom wall. Fitzpatrick's backgrounds were all painted by his partner, former Disney animator Van Kaufman. More recently, Fitzpatrick was hired as a consultant on the Disney-Pixar hit "Cars".

Examining Ancient Texts In The Digital Age

From the Wall Street Journal: "Improved technology is allowing researchers to scan ancient texts that were once unreadable -- blackened in fires or by chemical erosion, painted over or simply too fragile to unroll. Now, scholars are studying these works with X-ray fluorescence, multispectral imaging used by NASA to photograph Mars and CAT scans used by medical technicians." "In the process, they're uncovering unexpected troves of new finds, including never-before-seen versions of the Christian Gospels, fragments of Greek poetry and commentaries on Aristotle."

Hubble Gets Its Monocle Buffed

NASA is sending the shuttle Atlantis and its space walkers up to service the 19 year old Hubble Space Telescope Monday afternoon. Liftoff is scheduled for not 2 PM but 2:01:49 PM. Rocket science I guess.

Since astronauts cannot seek refuge at Hubble as they can when they dock at the International Space Station, NASA has plans to launch an emergency rescue mission if the Atlantis astronauts encounter any major problems that might prevent a safe re-entry.

This will be the fifth - and final - update to the Hubble. It will be replaced by the James Webb Space Telescope in 2014.

I linked to some classic Hubble photos earlier.

Update: From Physorg.com - "Hubble: From cosmic joke to cherished eye in space."

Thoughts On Friendship

Over drinks and dinner with old friends last night I was reminded that a very wise man - my father - once told me many years ago that as you grow older you begin to realize that you can count your closest friends on one hand. Who are your closest friends? Not counting your own family, they will most likely be the friends you made in your teens and twenties. And they will be the ones who have stuck with you through thick and thin for all these years. I would also say they are people you can call in the middle of the night and they will come no matter what. You celebrate with your friends and you mourn with your friends. These long term relationships are therefore exceedingly rare and exceedingly valuable. But what happens when friends fall out? How is it that people can throw away decades of friendship? Here are more thoughts from Dorothy Rowe in a recent article in The Guardian.

What Protects The Internet?

You might think protecting the Internet means robust online security protocols, firewalls, anti-virus and anti-trojan sweeps and so on. And that's true at the software level. But what is protecting the critical fiber optics hardware and related infrastructure? Well, to an ever increasing extent, as Strategy Page explains, its submarines.

Sage Advice About Facebook - Don't Be An Idiot

In today's Globe and Mail a story about a "Newfoundland man's lawsuit (that) was largely foiled, partly because of Facebook postings that contradicted his claims. “As these decisions come out, lawyers clue in that we have to warn our clients about this, and I'm willing to bet that (for) most personal injury lawyers, that's part of their opening pitch to prospective clients: ‘Don't be an idiot about what you put on Facebook.' ”

A Message To All Guys

Today is Mother's Day. If your Mom is still with us give her a call. It'll mean the world to her.