Xeeban’s Musings

Some links today on several sites about thermoacoustic cooling. Seems Ben and Jerry’s is planning to use this technology to cool ice cream in an environmentally friendly way and, along with Unilever, are sponsoring the project. Very neat!

The BBC also have an article about this.

I’ve just uploaded Riemenschneider #73 to the resources area. Enjoy and happy choraling!

The Butlerian Jihad (Dune Series) by Kevin J. Anderson, Brian Herbert

Not a book in the same great company as Frank Herbert’s Dune series, this book by his son and Kevin Anderson still does a good job of entertaining. Since its a prequel book, its dealing with events that are historical (maybe even mythical) in the Dune series. Here we see the Machines who control the majority of mankind and the struggles of those who seek to overthrow their oppressors.

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http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,63203,00.html

Last week, Japanese researchers created a fatherless mouse using only female eggs, and turned the reproduction world on its head. The word on the street was men’s role in baby making might one day be obsolete.

Okay I seriously doubt we’ll vanish into a single sex race (we’re too useful for the non-reproductive parts of the process…), but its pretty cool that they’ve managed to reproduce mice through parthenogenesis.

I just uploaded the MP3s for Riemenschneider #72. Again, only tenor emphasis, tho the second MP3 has all parts. If anyone out there wants the other parts with emphasis, just let me know and I’ll produce it.

I’ve uploaded an intial version of a new song to Soundclick. Its called Clockwork Progression and is a little different from my other stuff. Hope you like it!

I’ve uploaded the MP3 for Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind in the Resources -> Chorales section. Its has only emphasis for the tenor part as I don’t have time to be nice and do all of them.

Army scientists and engineers have developed a liquid body armor.

The key component of liquid armor is a shear thickening fluid. STF is composed of hard particles suspended in a liquid. The liquid, polyethylene glycol, is non-toxic, and can withstand a wide range of temperatures. Hard, nano-particles of silica are the other components of STF. This combination of flowable and hard components results in a material with unusual properties.

“During normal handling, the STF is very deformable and flows like a liquid. However, once a bullet or frag hits the vest, it transitions to a rigid material, which prevents the projectile from penetrating the Soldier’s body,” said Dr. Eric Wetzel, a mechanical engineer from the Weapons and Materials Research Directorate who heads the project team.

Reminds me of when I was a little kid playing with water and corn starch. The paste poured and your finger sank into it if you did it slowly. But fast movement made the stuff pretty rigid. Looks like the same concept here, but much more advanced.

Some links to scientific articles about this:

• Advanced Body Armor Utilizing Shear Thickening Fluids
• The ballistic impact characteristics of Kevlar woven fabrics impregnated with colliodal sheer thickening fluid

Apple’s iPod has reached a cult like status amongst quality-conscious consumers. Something about it just screams quality and must have. But its a delicate device that is easilly scratched. To answer that problem, a bunch of companies have come out with nice cases for this device.

Recently I’ve bought a case from Vaja Cases a merchant in Buenos Aires that makes some sexy iPod cases. So far I am very happy with it. Its very well designed and built. It fits the iPod very snuggly, so it won’t slip out. Even without the iPod inserted, its very rigid and sturdy. And its got a great leather smell. They must be popular. The price went up 20% in the last few days…

Gucci even makes a case… Someone else will have to review this one tho.

No Limits, a german website has a program that simulates rollercoasters. People from all over the world have used this program to simulate almost all of the worlds rollercoasters in every detail. Want to know what the ride in Disney’s California Adventure is like? Load it up and take a ride! Its very cool, and kind of scary how much content people have produced for it.