Friday, May 11, 2007

Friday Links!

A giant selection for your Friday reading pleasure.

First off, researchers at Purdue claim to have created "a major leap in engine technology." Here's an excerpt:
Researchers have created the first computational model to track engine performance from one combustion cycle to the next for a new type of engine that could dramatically reduce oil consumption and the emission of global-warming pollutants.

...The concept, known as variable valve actuation, would enable significant improvements in conventional gasoline and diesel engines used in cars and trucks and for applications such as generators, he said.

The rest of the story is here (thanks Slashdot).

Here's a link to an interview over at Wired with Mark Klein, who blew the whistle on ATT's complicity in assisting the U.S. government in spying on us without court approval. It's an excellent interview, and you can read it here.

Next is an article about the science--of flotsam. It's invaluable in assisting scientists track ocean currents, and you can read all about it here.

Sirius sends in a link to a story about a spider that is large enough to eat a chicken. Seriously, that is messed up. The spider is almost a foot across, and you can read about it (and see it) here.

From Frank Regan comes a link to a story about Harry McCracken, former PC world editor, who resigned rather than spike an uncomplimentary story about Apple (advertising money=editorial pressure). Read about it here.

Michael Gilbert sends in a link to an entry in The Dilbert Blog with a link to yet another brawl in the Taiwanese parliament. Even better, it apparently happens all the time:
Earlier this year, dozens of legislators threw shoes and pulled ties over a similar bill, and in the past they have also hurled lunchboxes and microphones at each other.

Read it (Scott Adams is very funny, as usual) here.

Here's a link to an excellent video of James Randi, who's a professional debunker (for lack of a better description), exposing both Uri Geller and former televangelist Peter Popoff. Geller's appearance on the Tonight Show is classic, as Johnny Carson (an ex-magician) consulted with Randi before Geller's appearance. See it here.

Here's a link from Jessie Leimkuehler (among others) to a story about the brightest stellar explosion ever recorded. Read it here.

Another link from Sirius, this one a story about the discovery of Herod's tomb, which you can read here.

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