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 Today, the traditional use where one form of mechanical energy has been transformed into another one is no longer the major application of wind energy. Although there are some places in the world where the use of small-scale windmills in everyday life remains, most of the traditional windmills have only been restored as beautiful landmarks and sights. You’d find some working windmills in the Netherlands, in England or Europe. Another example would be the Isle of Crete where they are still used for irrigation of fields and gardens in some places.

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 Artists also find it very attractive and inspiring to buy an old windmill and refurbish it and use it as a combined artist studio and living room. Some alterations to the building might be necessary to provide for some of the features, a modern living standard requires.

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Because of their history, they seem to be always worth an investment, but it has to be considered that many of the historic windmills are listed and their refurbishment is subject to stringent permissions and rules according to the historic preservation guidelines.

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 In many places they also accommodate regional museums about the local or regional history, about a family or document the evolution of the building over the centuries. In connection with that, you’ll sometimes still a working windmill as a showcase. Some traditional windmills were also transformed into pubs and deliver a very welcoming and unique atmosphere.

 The largest number of windmills, which still remain in operation, can be found in the Netherlands, in East Anglia and distributed over a large number of individual sites across Europe.

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            Cloud computing certainly seems to be the “phrase of the day” in much of the computing world today, and many experts now think that cloud computing will be “the next big thing.” Indeed, Gartner believes that in the end, the impact of the cloud model will be “no less influential than e-business.” Thus, it should not be surprising that in an October 2009 survey of IT executives, conducted by CIO Research, cloud computing was the number one subject of interest amongst an international panel of information technology decision-makers.

What is cloud computing? Cloud computing encompasses a whole range of services (as shown in Table 1) and can be hosted in a variety of manners (as shown in Table 2), depending on the nature of the service involved and the data/security needs of the contracting organization. However, the basic idea behind the cloud model is that anything that could be done in computing — whether on an individual PC or in a corporate data center — from storing data to collaborating on documents or crunching numbers on large data sets can be shifted to the cloud. Certainly, cloud computing enables a new platform and location-independent perspective on how we communicate, collaborate and work. So long as you can access the Web, you are able to work when and where you wish. With fast, reliable Internet connectivity and computer power, it does not matter where the document, the e-mail or the data the user sees on the screen comes from. Cloud computing enables providers to use distant data centers for cloud computing. Still, while some have predicted the end of the PC era with the rise of the cloud computing model, many believe that most organizations and even individuals will continue to make use of traditional PCs and laptops, even if more and more of their use will be to access the cloud.  

Table 1 – Categories of Cloud Services

For individuals, cloud computing means accessing web-based email, photo sharing and productivity software, much of it for free. And for organizations, shifting to the cloud means having the ability to contract for computing services on-demand, rather than having to invest to host all the necessary hardware, software and support personnel necessary to provide a given level of services. And for governments, the value proposition of the cloud is especially appealing, given both changing demands for IT and challenging economic conditions.

Table 2 – Types of Clouds

            Today, we are seeing implementations of cloud computing across the public sector all around the world.

Cloud Computing in the U.S. Federal Government

            In the Unites States, there have been early efforts at shifting IT to the cloud across the U.S. federal government, led by the country’s first CIO, Vivek Kundra. The CIO is attempting to institute massive strategic changes, both in mindsets and operations, in the federal information technology area. Indeed, Kundra believes that cloud computing represents a “tectonic shift” in computing technology (quoted in Campbell, 2009, n.p.), and he has predicted that ultimately, “the cloud will do for government what the Internet did in the ’90s.” In mid-September, Kundra announced the opening of the Apps.gov storefront (viewable at http://www.apps.gov), operated by the General Services Administration (GSA). Through Apps.gov, Kundra hopes to make it as easy for federal agencies to provision cloud services ranging from hundreds to millions of dollars in cost as easy as commercial buyers using cloud services from major cloud providers such as Amazon and Google, who may eventually become providers to the US government. We will also likely see more vendors create government-specific cloud computing products for equipping public sector computers with much of the functionality which today resides on individual machines and agency servers, following the lead of Google, which in September 2009 announced a version of Google Apps that will be specifically geared for U.S. federal agencies.

Cloud Computing in European Government

The UK government has made the creation of the “G-cloud,” which is to be a government-wide cloud computing network, a strategic priority. The Digital Britain Report, issued jointly in June 2009 by the Department for Business Innovation & Skills and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, calls for the UK government to take the lead in a wide-ranging digital strategy for the country. As Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the issuance of the report: “Digital Britain is about giving the country the tools to succeed and lead the way in the economy of the future.” An important aspect of the Digital Britain strategy is to improve governmental IT and allow for more services to migrate online. To support this action, the UK’s IT procurement efforts will be focused on enabling the government to become a leading force in the use of cloud computing. The report states that: “The Government’s impact on the digital economy goes way beyond its role as policy maker. In delivering public services, as a large customer of ICT products and services and as the owner of data systems, the public sector has enormous influence on the market. In many areas, such as education, health and defence, Government can use its position as the leading procurer of services, to drive up standards – in some cases to set standards – and to provide an investment framework for research and development.” The Digital Britain team from both cabinet offices has an official forum, where interested parties can learn more about the plan and comment on it, located at http://digitalbritainforum.org.uk/.

            There have been other cloud computing efforts initiated in Europe as well, though none approaching the ambitious scale of the Digital Britain project. Oleg Petrov of the World Bank’s Government Transformation Initiative recently completed a project cataloging active cloud computing initiatives in countries around the world, and in Europe, he identified cloud efforts underway specifically in Sweden, France, and Spain. He found that in addition to setting-up internal, private cloud environments (as Spain is presently working on), European nations were beginning to explore the use of cloud-based computing in the following areas:

·      management of public sector housing

·      transportation service networks

·      economic development

·      census

·      health services

·      contracting and

·      education services.

Likewise, in Denmark, the National IT and Telecom Agency has recently released the results of a pilot effort in which two of its systems, Digitalisér.dk and NemHandel, were shifted from a traditional in-house environment to cloud hosting. The agency reported both significant cost and energy savings through the effort (Government of Denmark, Launching a dialogue on cloud computing in government. Presently, the National IT and Telecom Agency is working with Local Government Denmark (LGDK), a voluntary association consisting of all 98 Danish municipalities, to explore using cloud computing as part of their national and local IT strategies.

            On the European Union (EU)-wide level, we will likely see emerging cooperation of member states on an EU-wide cloud computing effort, which analysts say could well lead towards the creation of a cloud-based, common infrastructure for IT in member states. With many of the same pressures and forces operating on EU governments as in the United States, we will likely see just as many — if not more — coopera­tive efforts and innovative experiments in cloud computing on the national and even transnational level in Europe.  

Managing Government IT in the Clouds

Today, in late 2009, we are in a transitional stage in the history of computing. Cloud computing does appear to be poised for rapid growth in the personal, corporate and governmental realms. Indeed, developments and expectations in the consumer realm are becoming drivers of what can and what is expected to be done in both public and private sector organizations. U.S. federal CIO Kundra, discussing his decision to emphasize greater use of cloud technologies, recently stated: “When employees go home, they have access to more technology at home than they do at work. I said ‘wait a minute, people have this access at home, how can I bring it to the government?’ It made a compelling reason for us to move that direction.”

IT leaders should recognize that there are eight fundamental elements that are vital in enabling the cloud computing concept. For the cloud model to work in the public or private sector, it is essential that there be:

1.     Universal Connectivity — users must have near-ubiquitous access to the Internet

2.     Open Access — users must have fair, non-discriminatory access to the Internet

3.     Reliability — the cloud must function at levels equal to or better than current stand-alone systems

4.     Interoperability and User Choice — users must be able to move among cloud platforms

5.     Security — user’s data must be safe

6.     Privacy — user’s rights to their data must be clearly defined and protected

7.     Economic value — the cloud must deliver tangible savings and benefits

8.     Sustainability — the cloud must raise energy efficiency and reduce ecological impact.  

There are many issues that remain to be worked out from a technology standpoint. Yet it is highly likely that as with other major tech­nological changes, the most important issues to be resolved will be people-based, not tech-based. Resistance to cloud computing from end-users is likely to be limited, so long as they can count on the same type of IT resources as they have had in the past. As one commentator put it, the key metric for them will be: “When I sit down at that computer, do I see the functionality I need?” (n.p.). There will undoubtedly however be some resistance among the IT workforce to the advent of cloud computing. Traditional IT staffers are likely to be the most resistant, while those with experience with web development are likely to be supportive of cloud efforts. However, the rising generation in the IT workforce — comfortable in their use of and reliance upon a whole host of web-based tools and services — will be more willing to shift operations and data to the cloud than will be the current generation of IT decision makers. They will likely see their older colleagues’ concerns about reliability and security issues regarding the use of cloud computing as “exaggerated and quaint.”

Many in IT may also perceive the shift as not just changing what they do in their jobs, but as a threat to their very jobs. Martha Dorris, Deputy Associate Administrator for the GSA’s Office of Citizen Services in the US federal government, commented that the biggest issue in her agency’s changeover to a cloud-based platform was that: “Our technology team did not want to give up the servers.” She observed that in the end: “This isn’t a story about technology. It’s a story of culture.”   As we have seen with so many technological shifts that have previously occurred, it is essential to gain cultural buy-in from employees to get them to do something differently, as it absolutely essential for cultural change to accompany the technology shift. Indeed, many in IT will have to overcome their fear of data and applications not residing within their realm of control within their own four walls.

Many IT professionals are growing more receptive to the concept overall, as these cloud computing tools may in fact make their jobs better by freeing them from the “day-to-day hassles” of maintaining software. Certainly, the nature of IT jobs and the skills required to perform them will change markedly over the next decade. There will be less manual work needed internally, both in data centers (“racking and stacking”) and in the field (doing installations and upgrades). At the same time, there will be a greater emphasis on the negotiation, conceptual and people skills needed to manage contracted cloud services. Indeed, in the near future, there will be a great need for developing expertise in specifying, negotiating, and managing service-level and organizational agreements. On the executive level, the shift to greater use of cloud computing will enable IT managers to be able to focus on how to best deliver services, rather than where they are hosted or how they are implemented. This will, of necessity, lead to changes in how IT and IT managers are evaluated for their performance.

How will this impact IT employment overall? Cloud computing will undoubtedly create jobs in the near-term. Yet over the next decade, there will be both new companies and new jobs emerging in the area of cloud services, countered by a significant displacement of many of the “nuts and bolts” technology jobs in IT — doing “hands-on” work in maintenance, upgrades and the like internally for organizations. Overall, the technical skills needed for IT jobs will likely decrease, as many jobs in the field become more administrative in nature, such as overseeing contracts and handling cus­tomer inquiries. Some have referred to this as a shift away from “blue-collar” IT jobs and careers towards a more white-collar IT workforce.

While IT has certainly seen platform transitions before, from mainframe to Windows to the Web, the fact is that “human capital is the most difficult kind to upgrade.” Thus, at a time when cloud computing is emerging so quickly, it will be difficult to train IT professionals on cloud technologies and then to retain them. This will require retraining of many present IT workers, and those jobs that are found with cloud providers will indeed be away from “traditional” tech centers and major cities and more located in the rural, power-friendly areas where major cloud data centers will tend to be more commonly located. Indeed, some European governments and companies have expressed concern about working with U.S. based cloud computing providers out of concern that their data—housed at least partially on American soil—could be subject to U.S. governmental review due to the provisions of the Patriot Act. And, in order to encourage economic develop­ment, national and regional governments may require cloud providers to either manage operations in govern­ment data centers or to even locate data centers within their jurisdictions—so that the money and jobs stay in their own local area! Thus, cloud computing may indeed be a way to promote growth in areas that have a properly trained IT workforce, cheap electrical power and reliable connectivity. This will occur in developed nations for now, but eventually, as we have seen in other aspects of technology, such operations and their jobs will likely migrate from the first to the third world over time – so long as the Internet and security concerns are addressed.

            As government executives consider the move to cloud environments, they must weigh the potential savings, increased collaborative capabilities and operational advantages with the security, reliability, and privacy concerns that “cloud” the overall outlook for cloud computing. Still, cloud computing represents a revolutionary change in the way computing power will be used and procured, and as such, it will have significant impact both in the developed world and in developing nations.

David C. Wyld (dwyld@selu.edu) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management, Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His most recent work is “Moving to the Cloud: An Introduction to Cloud Computing in Government,” by David C. Wyld. It is a research monograph published by The IBM Center for the Business of Government, Washington, DC in November 2009. The complete report is available for free on the web in PDF format at: http://www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/WyldCloudReport.pdf.

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Cloaking Device

The ability to truly cloak something in warfare would greatly improve the chances of victory. The British Army have already managed to successfully do it. They managed to ‘hide’ a 60 tonne tank just by projecting images from behind the tank to the front, giving the impression that there was nothing there.

Communicator

Sitting proudly on the uniform, all Captain Kirk had to do was hit the button and he could talk to anyone else. The crazy thing is, it actually exists. Vocera Communications has made the device like-for-like, using hands-free voice activated devices (carried around the neck) they can talk to all their fellow workers.

Holodeck

Virtual reality made good. In the series, all a crew member had to do was step on to the holodeck and they would be whisked away into whatever place they wanted to be. Similar technology is being worked on in the real world. MotionWare headsets already exist that trick your brain into thinking you are somewhere you are not.

Hypospray

In the original Star Trek, Dr Leonard McCoy used a hypospray to administer medicine without the use of needles. Back in the real world, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemical engineer has designed a device that parts the skin temporarily, thus allowing any medicine to pass through freely.

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Phaser Gun

Set phasers to stun – sounds good doesn’t it? It is not far from becoming reality. The US defence firm Ionatron is in the process of developing laser guided, directed energy weapons that can annihilate or stun. The company are also currently developing weapons for the US military.

Super Glass

If you are going to be flying through space and have no idea what you may encounter, it would be ideal to have some kind of super glass protecting the windows of your craft. The US Air Force has developed a type of super glass that can withstand bomb blasts and armour-piercing bullets.

Tractor Beam

It would be a amazing if you had a spaceship that had a tractor beam, hauling in nearby spaceships at any time you wanted. A version currently exists. Scientists at St Andrews University created a tractor beam of sorts, they successfully used it to move glass beads with a beam of light under a microscope.

Tricorder

In Star Trek, they used a tricorder to detect any illnesses in the body, merely by moving the device over it. There is a version in existence just now but it is limited to detecting pneumonia by sampling the air the patient breathes.

Universal Translator

Wouldn’t it be good if there was a gizmo that allowed you to translate any type of alien speak into English so you could understand it? Well it already exists – sort of. A device currently exists that translates most Earth languages and speaks them back to the recipient.

Warp Speed

In Star Trek, the Enterprise could travel faster than the speed of light. NASA haven’t yet managed to reach such speeds. They have managed to reach speeds of 17,000mph but a new engine they have been working on will have a top speed of 34,000mph and scientists believe that it could make interplanetary space travel a reality.

The radio controlled bat, will be equipped with micro sensors that can detect, chemical, nuclear and biological agents. And unlike tiny airplanes and helicopters, it will have better maneuverability and the size to complete missions without being detected.

Imagine bats spread out in a large area laying in wait, for the slightest hint of any agent, ready to sound the alarm. I think it would be the perfect early warning system for such attacks and could help save lives. It could also help detect the spread of agents, and get unaffected people and first responders out of harms way.

A prototype of the radio controlled bat is still under construction. Researchers at the State University of North Carolina is using what nature has given them. By modeling there prototype on the skeletal structure of a bat, they get rid of the traditional fixed wing design and replace it with a flapping motion.

The prototype skeleton weighs less than ten grams and uses a super elastic metal alloy, that allows the same muscular moments of a living bat and always returns to its original shape. The radio controlled bat is nearing completion, the last thing to do is construct a flexible membrane to cover and form the wings.

This amazing new design features a special metal wire, that contracts when current is placed through it and reacts with the elastic metal alloy muscles causing them to contract also. This coupled with an exact copy of a bats skeletal and muscular structure, always the radio controlled bat to fly just like the real thing.

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It was a few months ago that Scienceray took a preliminary look at the momentous construction project going on near the Hoover Dam – you can see it here.  Then we saw how the project began in 2005 and we left it in June of 2009.  At that point the arch was more than fifty percent complete and it was hoped that the two sides would meet in the fall.  That is in the here and now, so let’s take a look at how the project has progressed since then.  Have the hopes of the bridge builders come to fruition?

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All attention since June has been focused on the arch that will underpin the road that will connect the States of Arizona and Nevada.  Certainly, it seems to be painstaking work and the work literally seems to inch towards completion.  Not to worry, though.  The folks of the two neighboring States are patient people – after all the Dam itself is close to celebrating its seventy fifth birthday.  Those who remember its grand opening back in the Great Depression are now octogenarians.  Still, the near completion of the arch is cause enough to fly the flags, even though there is a painstaking six feet still to go. Look at this great shot from the completion day in August, however.

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If you look to the right of the flags – about ten meters or so, you will see a tiny figure with a safety hat and orange coat.  That’s one of the construction workers and gives an idea of the sheer scale of the project.  There is no doubt that those working on the project must not be afflicted by bouts of vertigo – however occasional.  Would you want to be up that high?  Just to put it in to context, it is over two hundred and fifty meters down from this height.  As Shaggy might say, yikes.

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Talking of things (rather than people) in their eighties, the bridge is now eighty five percent complete.  The arches have been connected.  Earlier in the year the contractors had finished work on the steel tub girders and the deck on the spans and the first segments of each arch were cast.  The very last sections of the arch were connected on 27 August 2009.  After this the supporting cable system had to be removed and this took a further two weeks.  The arch became free standing and self supporting on 27 August. 

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There is more work to be completed.  This includes setting the precast columns and erecting the steel girders.  What is most important, of course, for those who will use the bridge, is the casting of the roadway itself – both the deck and the barriers.  From road level, the archway is nearing completion in July.

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It is still July and the arch is nearing completion.  Although there is a month to go before their removal, the supporting cable system is still in place.  What a tragedy it would be if the cables were to give way at this point in time – the whole construction would plummet in to Lake Mohave like the denouement of some James Bond movie.  Fortunately, the brilliance of the engineers and the construction workers would pay off.  By August the arch would be free standing.

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So, when visitors are allowed on the bridge, what will the view of the Hoover Dam be like?  The picture above gives you an idea, taken from the bypass bridge itself.  Breath taking is quite the word.

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The next part of this piece contains photos from the actual bridge itself taken on the day that the arch became free standing – August 27 2009.   The bridge itself is huge – but it is close to the dam – around five hundred meters all told.  If you want the full name for the bridge then you must refer to it as the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.  Could we not call it the M&P for short perhaps?  O’Callaghan was the Governor of Nevada back in the nineteen seventies and a Korean War veteran.  Tillman too was a veteran, but of the Afghanistan conflict where he was killed in action in 2004, his death surrounded by more than a few conspiracy theories.

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The bridge on the day the arch became single.  If you look between the two spans you will see another worker, crouching on a platform.  Again, this gives you a sense of sheer scale but, rather more interesting (to Science Fiction fans, at least) is the small blue box on the center right hand side of the picture.  Could it be that a certain Time Lord is thwarting another attempt by evil alien invaders to launch an attack on the earth from the Hoover Dam?  Or is that just what construction workers, taken short, refer to as a room called rest?

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This shot gives a really good feeling of how high the actual bridge will be when it is completed.  As you can see, the bridge will not be slim, exactly.  It is a new section of Highway 93 and as such will have two lanes each way over the complete span of five hundred and seventy meters.  A stagger inducing two hundred and fifty six meters above the river at its base, the bridge will not, however, afford drivers a view of the Hoover Dam as they cross.  It is way too high for that.  They will, however, be able to park and walk across the entire span should they wish, pretty much where the workers are on the left.

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Now the arch is complete there is almost another full year of work to be done to complete the bridge.  That will include the construction of columns on the arch itself that will eventually provide support for the roadway (see second to last picture – work has started).  Overall the statistics are very impressive.  About twelve hundred construction people have worked on the project with a further three hundred engineers.  The bridge is not the only feat of engineering – the four miles of four lane highway (which doesn’t in itself sound too impressive) was very difficult because of the rugged terrain that surrounds the area on all side.  The highway on its own cost over twenty million dollars.

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This picture of the Hoover Bypass Bridge was taken from Lake Mohave by boat in September 2009.  You can clearly see how the supporting cable system has now been removed and the arch is now free standing.  This marvelous image captures the sheer scale and grandeur of the project and proves that sometimes, when it comes to photography, looking up is just as effective as looking down.

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However, the view from the heavens is just as remarkable.  These shots were taken from a passing United Airlines flight to Las Vegas.  A breathtaking view from September 13 2009, the project can now be easily imagined complete.  Scienceray will return for the opening of this amazing bridge – hopefully in November 2010.  Watch this space.  For now, in October 2009, we say goodbye to the bridge.  As you can see, the pillars which will support the bridge road are now being built from the arch itself.  Amazing.

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Let us finish here, however, with a gorgeous high definition shot of the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge taken in October 2009.

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You may Also Like: The Incredible Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge Under Construction (this site)

iRobots new silicone based Blob robot known as a chem-bot uses an innovative new concept called Jamming. The Blobrobot is comprised of several cellular chambers that are filled with a jamming fluid. Each of the cellular chambers can be jammed and unjammed an then inflated with air. This causes the Blob to take on a multiple of shapes an sizes.

Researchers in the iRobot development team have found ways to control each cellular chamber an have basically created a new type of movement for robots by changing its shape, size an viscosity. The silicone Blob robot is still in it’s infant stages of development.

DARPA has been funding iRobots Blob robot project giving them an estimated 3 million to develop a robot that can get through the smallest of places an detect chemicals. but the Blob robot appears to have many more uses then it was originally designed for.

With this new technology great possibilities are opened up to the Scientific Community.  Just imagine a giant Blob robot rolling around on the surface of mars collecting data or floating in space changing its shape to create movement. With an endless configuration of chambers the Blob robot can be programed to take on just about any shape or size an fit in places much smaller then itself making it a valuable tool that can be used in all aspects of survallience.

Just like the cell phone, there is no doubt that the Blob robot will get smaller an smaller. With the ability to take on a soild or liquid form this silicone based robot, will be able to detect anything an go anywere. Researchers are even working on connecting the Blobs togather.

In the future these robots will offer the first line of defense in a war. I can imagine these little bots being dropped from a reaper drone, onto an enemy location. All of them equipped with cameras an sensors that detect movement and see enemy positions. The Blob robots will set up an invisible wireless network of survallience, that will allow are troops to take down the enemy without causing collateral damage.

This neat robot could change the way we fight terrorists. The biggest problem we have is finding them! If we were to drop hundreds of these Blob robots in the remote regions of Afganistans mountains or a suspected terrorist hidout. We Could set up an invisible network something like a ground radar, mixed with video cameras and coupled with facial recogniton. We could locate top targets send in robotic drones and eliminate them, all without putting a single troop in harms way.

Biodiesel, natural gas and hydrogen are three of the more environmentally responsible options for the development of future automobile fuels. Let’s examine these choices in more detail, beginning with biodiesel. This is a renewable fuel produced from domestic vegetable oils such as canola, soybean, and cooking oil, or animal fats. Biodiesel is often combined with standard petroleum-based diesel to reduce tailpipe emissions, including diesel particulates, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. This fuel should not be confused with SVO, or straight vegetable oil, which requires the retrofitting of a diesel engine to burn it. Most existing diesel engines can burn biodiesel fuel just as easily as conventional diesel fuel.

Advantages of biodiesel include lower overall emissions, and a greater number of vehicles available to consumers, since any conventional diesel engine can run this fuel. Biodiesel’s pricing is fairly comparable to standard diesel, and drivers can alternate between diesel and biodiesel when the latter is not available. In addition, the domestic production of plant and animal oils for the fuel lessens our dependence on foreign sources. Drawbacks include the current shortage of biodiesel fueling pumps, the challenge of diverting existing crop harvests for fuel instead of food, and the fact that it currently requires a greater amount of energy to grow and convert crops for biodiesel than the energy generated by the fuel itself. In addition, the majority of U.S. vehicles do not feature diesel engines. While carbon dioxide emissions are lower from biodiesel fuel than from standard diesel, particulate emissions are still quite high. Finally, drivers in more frigid areas may be negatively impacted by the cold’s effect on the viscosity of biodiesel fuel. 

Natural Gas

The number of natural gas-fueled vehicles found around the world today stands at about 8.7 million, according to the Natural Gas Vehicles for America website. Of this number, 120,000 are presently being driven in the U.S. This vehicle is fueled by either compressed natural gas or liquefied natural gas, which is less common. There are currently 150 models of light, medium and heavy-duty engines and vehicles available on the word market, and 22% of all new transit bus orders are now natural gas-fueled. Many companies now maintain fleets of natural gas-fueled cars and trucks, and benefit from the convenience of firm-owned fueling facilities as well.

Advantages of natural gas include its reduced emissions rates, a comparatively lower fuel cost, and a decreased dependence on foreign oil. Another plus is the continuing development of economical home fueling equipment. There are also a variety of federal and state new energy incentives now available to consumers willing to invest in this type of vehicle. One major drawback of natural gas is the very low number of available fueling stations in the U.S. Compared with an estimated 200,000 traditional gas stations open in this country, the total number of natural gas fueling stations is currently just over 1,100. Other pitfalls include a shorter driving range between fill-ups, and the fact that while natural gas is a cheaper fuel than traditional oil, it is still a fossil fuel available in a limited supply.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen-fueled vehicles produce engine power by burning either a compressed liquid or gaseous form of the element. The greatest benefit of hydrogen fuel is, first and foremost, zero-emission, non-toxic water vapor as its only tailpipe discharge. Scientists are presently working on a variety of ways to produce hydrogen without the use of natural gas, which is currently a traditional component of its production. Many automotive engineers predict that hydrogen may very well be the fuel of the future, if further innovation and development can bring about a more environmentally friendly way to produce it (e.g., water), and a more compact means to store it. The estimated mass-produced cost of hydrogen at the pump is the equivalent of $2.00 to $3.00 per gallon. One major disadvantage at this time is the much larger and heavier fuel tank required to store hydrogen successfully in an automobile, at a temperature of -423°. The intense high-pressure level needed to store it poses a potential explosion threat as well, although this is no greater than that of a conventional gas tank. The investment necessary to build hydrogen service stations across the country is another economic hurdle.

Although the mass-utilization of hydrogen fuel will require additional much more development, as well as a vast infrastructure investment to enable fueling convenience throughout the U.S., the end result may be the cheapest and most environmentally responsible means possible to rid ourselves once and for all of our massive dependency on fossil fuels and foreign oil. A great deal of research and testing has also been devoted to the hydrogen fuel cell for automobiles, and this option may prove even more adaptable and just as clean-burning, in an electric vehicle. There are certainly other alternative fuel options we can utilize for the shorter-term, but the two mentioned previously will also require a considerable network of service station construction, and it doesn’t seem sensible for a country with a weakened economy to consider investing in multiple fueling infrastructures. In addition, both biodiesel and natural gas continue to contribute to emissions, and tax supplies of food crops and fossil fuels. Conversely, some experts suggest that further research may yield a highly-sustainable means to mass-produce hydrogen as the most cost-effective and eco-friendly fuel of the future, utilizing water or another natural, renewable source in its production.

Recently, we started to hear a new science branch named as ‘Biomimetic’ or ‘Biomimicry’. In short, it investigates and inspects the nature in order to simplify technological enhancements and obtain new ideas for future’s science and technology. Actually to be honest: Science is the study of the universe. Most of the big scientists are famous of their experiments and equations found during these experiments.  However, mostly they realize that there is an order to be found, outside their laboratories. For example, Archimedes found water lifting force in a bathhouse with the help of a not sinking dipper and Newton found gravity force with the help of an apple which dropped to his head. It was not the first apple dropped from a tree but it was Newton to realize gravitation system. As we can see, biomimetic itself is not so new.

After this brief introduction there are some interesting examples mentioned below. They are also special because they are milestones in technological improvement history of humanity.

Eiffel Tower (Thigh Bone)

Eiffel Tower is one of best civil engineering structures in the world. It has a very special system known as truss system but it is not unique at all. Following the anatomist Hermann von Meyer, Swiss engineer Karl Cullman was inspired by the outcome: The bone was made up of tiny interconnected struts, like a cage. These struts reduced the effect of any weight or pressure placed on the bone. That is because they are arranged along the force influence lines generated when standing or walking. Thigh bone can bear upto one-ton weight. Cullman thought that this formation could be used in structures. This lucky structure was  the Eiffel Tower constructed with truss system (cage-like struts), just as in the thigh bone.

Suspension Bridges (Tendons)

Different from traditional bridges that have heavy footings, it is more economical to build cable suspension bridges. Furthermore, it is also much more economical and durable with cables that have a twisted bundle form. Each individual cable is itself a twisted bundle of thinner cables. Each of these thinner cables is itself a twisted bundle of molecules, which are, of course, twisted, helical bundles of atoms. It sounds twisty but works perfect at all.

Kevlar (Spider Silk)

Most of the people knows that spider silk is the one of the most strongest materials. Although it has a diameter less than 1 millimeter, it is 5 times stronger than steel wire of the same dimensions. Moreover it is so ductile that it can elongate 4 times of its original length. Besides, it is so light that a thread stretching three times around the world would weigh less than 1 kilogram. These properties make spider silk very special for industry. One company called DuPont also realized this fact and studied on spider silks and came up with ‘Kevlar’; world`s known strongest industrial material. A bullet flying with a speed of 150 km/h could not pass though a fabric made of kevlar which is very good for a bullet-proof vest. In addition to this, kevlar is used for aircraft carrier hawsers, mine shoes and where strength is the in primary requirements.

Underwater Exploration Robot: Aeriol (Crab)

We are not so keen on working in dangerous conditions. Therefore, we look for someone to do it for us. Thanks to the biomimetic, our robot friends started to apply for this kind of job opportunities. Aeriol is one of the bravest at all. He is working underwater for unknown zone explorations. It was designed by imitating crab because researches show that crab’s body formation is very suitable for underwater walking.  

It is possible to extend examples for imitated technological products that are very useful and successful. As previously mentioned the main difference between the Newton and his fellows was his manner of investigation and realizing the order of the nature. However, in order to realize we should see it, not only look at the picture of the view.

Ferguson states that the field of engineering is moving in the direction of simplification, where the deciding factor is not the user’s experience, but rather lets the software do much of the work that would otherwise have been done by the engineer. This approach, however, lets the programmer who writes the software make those decisions for the engineer, and like the engineer who does not realize the capabilities of the materials he is working with, he is prone to make decisions that are not the best informed, making assumptions, which in many cases lead to purely arbitrary choices. While convenience is a fact of life in the modern age, simplification and the taking away of user decision-making only limits the possibilities, and forces thinking in a certain direction. In any case, there are many ways to accomplish a single task, while there is no one method that is the best in every aspect. However, there is a solution that is the best for a given situation, and that is up to the judgment of the engineer.

Furthermore, Ferguson also states that the entire process of design is not flexible enough. Sponsors for certain projects must be presented with a preliminary plan, which is often arbitrarily constructed. Ideally, the components required for a certain project would be designed and tested first, and then the big picture adjusted as needed. However, when the finalized framework has been decided before the design process even begins, there are bound to be problems that could not have been foreseen. However, these undertakings are generally sponsored in part or in its entirety by the federal government, who has nearly infinite resources, which it derives from its taxpayers. Since the project is too large to fail, the solution is to throw more funding at an unsound design, which due to a lack of flexibility, contains several fatal flaws that cannot be easily fixed.

Given Ferguson’s perspective, a plausible solution to the problems posed by these gaps in the engineers’ training would be to include at least some machine shop experience in courses taught to engineering students. Having an idea of the limitations of the materials and the machines used to work them into the desired shapes would allow for better judgment in this area, and could mitigate design defects based purely on flawed judgment and assumptions in the place of careful calculation. Having the projects themselves more open to change and the process built in a more flexible manner would allow any problems that do arise to be circumvented. There are many ways to tackle a specific problem, as stated beforehand, and if one particular method does not work as well as expected, these engineers should be prepared to work in a new direction if necessary, rather than doggedly pursuing a directive that may not be achievable at all. Methodically, they should be versed both in design, and physical application of these designs, and they should not be dependent on computer-automated tools that require them to follow a set of built-in limitations, dictated by the boundaries of the software. They should be aware of how to operate the tools and systems they design, so as to allow for better usability, and so they will keep in mind that their final product must be practical. Philosophically, they should be taught to think independently, outside of conventional constraints. Rather than blundering through any errors they encounter, they should be taught to mitigate those issues in advance, or work around them when they arise.

Overall, Ferguson emphasizes that most engineering failure is not from miscalculation, but rather from misjudgment and a lack of calculation. Given a new mindset of not guessing on details, but rather taking the time to check all their numbers and doing the math to make sure that in the real world, they can be as sure as possible that their design will work. While the engineer, somewhat like the artist, puts form to the raw materials, he must also be able to think in the material, physical, practical sense when he creates a design, because unlike the artist, who only puts out his design as the final product, the engineer must make sure that what he designs can perform in the real world. He must also understand and take into consideration how his design will operate, and be able to understand also the individual components so he can modify and change their configuration, or even their very makeup if needed. He must be aware of not only its form, but also its function.

And while many engineers reject art as being something different from their own work, as being more abstract and “soft” than the “hard” practice of engineering, every engineer must also consider the aesthetic side of his work as well. These are arbitrary decisions in most cases, though sometimes a few have been able to apply form as a part of function as well, though this is something of their own genius, rather than something that had been taught to them while they were still taking their courses in graduate school. However, even if aesthetics are not taught to them during their courses, this is something that they must encounter regardless, and to leave this solely to their uninformed, and consequently arbitrary decision would be that otherwise avoidable errors from faulty judgment would appear in the framework of these projects. Artists, in their work on aesthetics typically follow a set of rules, laid down by whichever school of thought they associate themselves with. However, they are only limited by the application of their medium, and aesthetic rules are easily broken in the artistic scheme, whereas the engineer is limited by natural law, by the laws of physics, which cannot be broken as easily, if at all.

However, in terms of amplitude, the range of perception cannot be quite so succinctly stated. As with the other senses, when the values are close to the lower threshold of possible perception, small variations can be picked up quite readily, though at higher levels, the variations that can be picked up become larger by powers of 10; it is possible to detect even small changes in volume when listening to a whisper, but that same change at a high volume would be imperceptible. The scaling of decibels indicates this; every 20 decibels shows an increase by a power of 10 in amplitude of the air pressure fluctuations (Möser 5-6).

In terms of volume, the range perceptible by the human ear goes from 0 dB to approximately 140 dB. At the very lowest threshold of volume, vibrations of less than the diameter of a molecule in the eardrum are still picked up by the brain, but at the upper threshold, it is not a matter of the sensitivity of the ears, but rather a matter of damage to the nerves in the inner ear, as well as the tympanic membrane. While the ear can be exposed to volumes of over 120 decibels for short periods of time, long term exposure to sounds of volumes of over 80 decibels can cause permanent hearing loss and hearing disabilities. The hair cells inside the cochlea can be killed off, and when their numbers are decreased, the sensitivity of the ears to sound is lessened (Smith 351-355). Aside to physical damage to the middle and inner ear, excessive sound, even below the threshold of 80 dB also has a psychological effect on people. Sleep and relaxation is disrupted, and conversation and telecommunication is made difficult, causing irritability and stress, and stress related diseases (Burke 87-96). Therefore, reducing noise is something that must be considered.
For the most part, passive noise control systems, or systems that just reduce the volume of sound overall are in use in the present day. One example of such a system is mufflers, which slow the speed of explosive exhaust coming from the engine, thus reducing the volume of the sound created when the hot gases are released into the environment. Soft paneling on walls is often used to absorb sound as well, and an example of passive noise control that is limited to a single person is earplugs, which dampen pressure fluctuations. While such systems can be quite effective, and are for the most part easy to produce, one major disadvantage is that they cannot selectively filter noise. When such systems are in play, all sound is dampened, not just unwanted noise. In 1934, a patent for an active noise control system was granted to Paul Lueg. It described a method for cancelling sound by using a loudspeaker to emit a sound that was exactly out of phase with an existing sound in the environment so that any bystanders nearby would not perceive that sound (Lueg 1-2). Such a system would be useful for cancelling out predictable, constant frequency noise, but when random bursts of noise are introduced, this simple method of active noise cancellation cannot cope.

In the present market there exist several personal active noise cancelling devices, the most widely known are the noise cancelling headphones produced by the Bose corporation. While these are generally able to reduce low frequency, common background noise by around 20 decibels, and consist mostly of a microphone attached to the headphones that sends a signal to a computer that compares the input sent from the microphone to the desired output, for example, an audio file that is being played by the device, then emits the difference between the two in such a way as to cancel out the undesired noise. Its first practical application came from a need for hearing protection in the field of aviation, where in the 1980s, plans were being made for the first non-stop aerial circumnavigation of the world. In the cockpits of the planes, noise levels peaked at over 110 dB, and while earplugs and other passive noise reduction systems were effective in blocking out chatter, they were less efficient at canceling out the low drone of aircraft engines. (“Escape the Noise”).

A similar concept is popping up in architecture and other design in the form of active vibration control. When such structures are swayed by the wind, or some other force, accelerometers measure movement in each of the three degrees of freedom, causing weighted pendulums come into play in order to cancel out the vibration caused by that force. In this case, the problem faced is slightly easier, as wind and other stresses are often constant. However, noise control can add to this application, as reduction of noise leads to the dampening of vibration. As sound that would normally pass through a structure is removed from the environment, those air waves no longer cause that structural to shake. This method is used to allow submarines to operate more quietly, and to prevent material wear caused by the vibrations (“Active Noise Control”).

However, the effectiveness of such systems is limited by the computers and algorithms that essentially predict incoming noise, and emit an inverted signal in time to cause interference in the sound wave. Since sound as a whole is the sum of many sine waves, existing systems for predicting incoming noise utilize the Fast Fourier transform, an algorithm that computes a Discrete Fourier transform, which generalizes a series of sine functions with a common period using discrete values (“Fast Fourier transform”). Using this method, the computer is able to identify a certain tone coming in, as well as its overtones, and collectively cancel out that entire sound, but the user is still left exposed to random noises that cannot be summed up as periodic. Non-continuous sound, such as the clicking of keys when typing on a keyboard, or unwanted conversation is still let through. While more efficient algorithms are being developed to make the current approach of filtering out constant, periodic, repetitive noise faster, but in order to gain more application, a system of detecting incoming noise in real-time before it reaches the listener, then emitting the correct inverted signal is necessary to achieve this desired noise control in all situations. However, given that the microphones used in active noise control systems are inches (in active noise cancelling headphones) to feet (airplane cabin systems) away from the listeners, there can only be a delay of milliseconds between intercepting the sound, processing, and delivering the proper inverted signal. This may be possible in non-mobile systems first, as space for computing electronics is less limited, and the delay allowed is slightly larger, but as computing technologies improve and shrink, real-time detection and cancellation may prove possible in personal headphones everywhere.

Works Cited:

Möser, Michael. Engineering Acoustics. Berlin: Springer, 2004.

Smith, Steven W. The Scientist and Engineer’s Guide to Digital Signal Processing. San Diego: California Technical Publishing, 1997.

Burke,Richard E. “A Model of Community Noise Pollution.” Simulation, 27.3 (1976): 87-96.

Lueg, Paul. “Process of Silencing Sound Oscillations.” US Patent 2,043,416. 9 June 1936.

“Escape the Noise.” Bose Learning Center. 30 July 2009 http://www.bose.com/controller?event=VIEW_STATIC_PAGE_EVENT&url=/learning/escape_the_noise.jsp

“Fast Fourier transform.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 Jul 2009, 21:59 UTC. 29 Jul 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fast_Fourier_transform&oldid=304963063.

“Active noise control.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 15 Jul 2009, 12:28 UTC. 15 Jul 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Active_noise_control&oldid=302214828.