Monday, May 25, 2009

Wolfram Alpha

Orange Science is back from its break.

Wolfram Alpha is the new search engine that was launched earlier this month. It is designed to answer your question, not give you a list of websites that might answer your question.

Wolfram Alpha can answer your question, compare two stocks, and solve calculations and math problems.

This is definitely not the new Google and will not return all your searches.

So try it now at Wolfram Alpha

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Taking A Break

Dear Bloggers,

We are taking a break from blogging at Orange Science. Weekly posts will resume on the last week of May.

- the authors at Orange Science

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Wilkins Ice Bridge Breaks

The Wilkins Ice Bridge finally broke, letting free the ice shelf.

This is a "sign of global warming acceleration in Antarctica" and while it will not immediately rise sea levels, it will lead to the rising.

Learn more at Green Muze.
Picture from MercoPress

Monday, April 6, 2009

Antarctic Ice Shelf Will Collapse

Global warming is about to talke its toll. A giant Antarctic ice shelf which is the size of half of Scotland is very close to collapsing.

The cause is indeed, global warming. Let's hope at least this will open the eyes of many to take action to save the environment before it is too late.

The Wilkins ice shelf will not immediately raise the sea level because ice floats on water.

We will watch over the next few days for any updates on this story.

Learn more at Guardian and Earthfirst
Picture from earthfirst.com

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Earth Hour 2009: Your Vote Counts

Earth Hour began for the first time in Sydney in 2007. On that day 2.2 million homes and business turned their lights of for an hour. In 2008, it had grown to a global sustainibility movement where 50 million people switched off their lights.

Now in 2009, Earth Hour is not only a way to save energy, but it is a vote to help keep our planet alive.

Turning off your light is a vote for saving the earth, and keeping them on is a vote for globing warming. The target for today's Earth Hour is 1 billion votes. This number will be presented to Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. "This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol"

You don't have to be a treehugger or an eco-freak to help, just turn off your lights from 8:30pm to 9:30pm and enjoy looking at the stars in candlelight. Every vote counts in helping to save our one and only home, Planet Earth.

Learn more at Earth Hour.

Greenbird Breaks Record

Greenbird, the windpowered car, designed by Richard Jenkins reached 126.1 mph, breaking the previous record of 116 mph set by Bob Schumacher in 1999.

How it Works?
The Greenbird, like all other wind powered vehicles, works by harnessing the airflow. "It's part aeroplane, part sailboat, and part formula one car." It uses a solid wing instead of a sail, and it's wings work with the same concept as an airplane's wings.

Learn more at Greenbird and at BBC.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Cole Cleaner: The Coke Can Cleaner

Every wonder where your coke has been or what bacteria has been on it? Now there's no need to worry because of the Cole Cleaner.

The Cole Cleaner uses ultraviolet radiation to kill bacteria on the surface of any tin can.

The downside is that it will take 2-5 minutes to clean your soda can.

Learn more about the Cole Cleaner at Yanko Design

Which reminds me there is the Sonicare UV Head Sanitizer which cleans the brush head for your Sonicare toothbrush.

Learn more about the Sonicare UV Head Sanitizer at Philips

SwitchEasy ThumbTacks Microphone for iPods

Here's a small microphone for a small music player. This is the Switcheasy Thumbtack designed for the Apple iPod nano and iPod Touch.

The Thumbtacks have excellent quality and work with third part applications and look like thumbtacks!

This is a great product to record anything even when you're on the go.

They come in three colors: red, white, and black and for only $12.99 at SwitchEasy.

Read more at UberGizmo

Sunday, March 15, 2009

The New iPod Shuffle

If you thought your iPod shuffle was small, wait until you see this: the new iPod Shuffle.

This new shuffles measures only 1.8" high and 0.3" wide. The controls were moved from the Shuffle to the earbud cord, making it drastically smaller.

But the newest - and coolest feature of this new iPod is the VoiceOver feature. It announces when your battery needs charging and also tells you the name and artist at the end of every song.

And of course the price - it's only $79 for such a useful little music player.
You can buy it now in silver or black at the Apple Store.

Read more about the new iPod Shuffle at: NewsOxy.com

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Why Does Hair Turn Gray?

Remember that cute story that explains why hair turns gray?

One day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looked at her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?" Her mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white." The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said, "Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are white?"

Well, scientists have a new reason for the cause of graying. They say that it is caused by a buildup of hydrogen peroxide as it leaves your hair follicle.

Our cells naturally produce small amounts of hydrogen peroxide to kill bacteria. As people age, more hydrogen peroxide builds up, it bleaches the hair follicle.

Now there's good news and bad news. Here's the good news: Getting rid of the hydrogen peroxide will result in a return of your natural hair color.

The bad news? Scientists are nowhere near creating a product that will remove the hydrogen peroxide.

Listen to the Science Friday February 27th, 2009 Podcast to learn more.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Microsoft's Vision of 2019


Microsoft has made a video on what they think the technology of 2019 will look like.

You need to watch the video to really see what it looks like, but after you are done watching, please comment on this post on what you thought about the video.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Possibility of an Invisibility Cloak


Most of you have seen the movie Harry Potter. Remember when he uses an invisibility cloak to find a book in the restricted section?

This could actually become reality. I'm not saying it's here and ready to buy, but it could happen soon in the future.

In nature, light always refracts in one direction. This makes it hard for someone to pick up an object that is underwater while looking at it from above the water.

Researchers have been able to create a metamaterial, one which bends some wavelengths of lights causing them to refract in the opposite direction.

Now, here comes the part of the future. If scientists were able to bend a wide range of wavelengths, then they could control the way the light moves. This material combined with other optical materials could result in a lens with very, very little distortion- and an invisibility cloak that would bend light around the object, so the observer will not be able to see it.

Listen to the Science Friday August 15, 2008 Podcast for more info.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Is the Kindle 2 Illegal?

I think you've all heard of Amazon's new product the Kindle 2. It is an e-book reader with a lot more: free built in wireless capabilities, PC-free operation, "Whispernet" data network, a built in keyboard, and SD card exapansion slot.

But a man named Paul Aiken asked the question is: Is it legal?

Aiken says that the Kindle 2's text to speech feature violates an author's copyright.

You cannot make recordings of yourself reading a book and sell it. But, Kindle 2 synthesizes sounds based on the words in a book.

Amazon announced it would reconfigure the software to allow publishers to disable the text to speech function for their titles, but made it clear that they believed the text to speech feature did not violate that act.

So, is the Kindle 2 Illegal? I'll let you decide. Vote in the poll on the side.

Read more at Engadget

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