GENEVA (AP) - A Swiss engineering group said Wednesday it has developed a new circuit breaker that will help utilities transfer power over longer distances, making for more efficient and reliable electric supplies.
Zurich-based ABB Group announced it developed the world's first circuit breaker for high-voltage direct current, which will facilitate the long-distance transfer of hydropower, wind and solar power.
'ABB has written a new chapter in the history of electrical engineering,' said Joe Hogan, the company's CEO. 'This historical breakthrough will make it possible to build the grid of the future. Overlay DC grids will be able to interconnect countries and continents, balance loads and reinforce the existing AC transmission networks.'
The Swiss firm said its new switch removes a barrier to developing DC transmission grids - and solves a century-old electrical engineering puzzle - because it can interrupt power flows equivalent to the output of a large power station within five milliseconds, which is '30 times faster than the blink of a human eye.'
ABB has competed against rivals Siemens and Alstom to invent a new circuit breaker than can get it a leg up in a market potentially worth billions of dollars. The HVDC lines could be used by nations such Germany and Switzerland that want to move away from nuclear power toward renewable energies.
Germany decided after Japan's 2011 nuclear disaster to speed up phasing out nuclear power, which then accounted for just under a quarter of the country's electricity production, about the same share as in Japan and the U.S.
The renewable energies' share of German power has since risen from 17 percent to 25 percent, driven by investment incentives that are mostly paid for by a tax on households' electricity bills. By 2050 Germany, Europe's biggest economy, wants to generate 80 percent of its electricity from renewable sources.
Switzerland gets about 40 percent of its power from five nuclear reactors. But since the Fukushima accident the Swiss government has been making plans to phase out nuclear power by 2034.
___
Associated Press writer Juergen Baetz in Berlin contributed to this report.
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Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
'Kite Surfing' Helps Harness Wind Power
Wind power could work almost anywhere if people turned to high-flying kites rather than relying on just wind turbines. The latest startup to run with that idea wants to harness high-altitude winds through the use of 'kite surfing' technology.
Kite surfers typically attach themselves to stunt kites so that they can 'leap' high into the air. Berlin-based startup NTS GmbH wants to use similar kites to drive a generator that can convert the kinetic energy from the kites' motions into electricity - a method that can make even lowland sites that have very little wind at ground level suitable for harnessing wind power.
'The energy yield of a kite far exceeds that of a wind turbine, whose rotor tips turn at a maximum height of 200 meters (656 feet),' said Joachim Montnacher, an engineer at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Germany. 'Doubling the wind speed results in eight times the energy.'
Remote-controlled kites would have an advantage over wind turbines because they can fly at much higher altitudes where wind speeds increase considerably and stay consistently strong. Such kites also cost much less to build than wind turbine towers.
Montnacher and his colleagues envision the kites flying at altitudes of about 1,000 to 1,600 feet (300 to 500 meters) where they can catch strong winds. The swooping kites would have cables almost 2,300 feet (700 m) long that allow them to pull vehicles around a circuit on rails, so that generators could turn the vehicles' kinetic energy into electricity.
The startup and Fraunhofer researchers have already conducted a first test with a kite flying along a straight track 1,300 feet (400 m) long. As a next step, they hope to make the test track into a loop and hand over human remote control of the kites to automatic computer control.
Other companies such as California's Makani Power have experimented with flying wind turbines that resemble a cross between model airplanes and kites. Italy's KiteGen Research has also experimented with kites flying a mile (5,280 feet) above the Earth to generate wind power.
This story was provided by TechNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow TechNewsDaily on Twitter @TechNewsDaily, or on Facebook.
This news article is brought to you by DATING AND RELATIONSHIP ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
Kite surfers typically attach themselves to stunt kites so that they can 'leap' high into the air. Berlin-based startup NTS GmbH wants to use similar kites to drive a generator that can convert the kinetic energy from the kites' motions into electricity - a method that can make even lowland sites that have very little wind at ground level suitable for harnessing wind power.
'The energy yield of a kite far exceeds that of a wind turbine, whose rotor tips turn at a maximum height of 200 meters (656 feet),' said Joachim Montnacher, an engineer at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA in Germany. 'Doubling the wind speed results in eight times the energy.'
Remote-controlled kites would have an advantage over wind turbines because they can fly at much higher altitudes where wind speeds increase considerably and stay consistently strong. Such kites also cost much less to build than wind turbine towers.
Montnacher and his colleagues envision the kites flying at altitudes of about 1,000 to 1,600 feet (300 to 500 meters) where they can catch strong winds. The swooping kites would have cables almost 2,300 feet (700 m) long that allow them to pull vehicles around a circuit on rails, so that generators could turn the vehicles' kinetic energy into electricity.
The startup and Fraunhofer researchers have already conducted a first test with a kite flying along a straight track 1,300 feet (400 m) long. As a next step, they hope to make the test track into a loop and hand over human remote control of the kites to automatic computer control.
Other companies such as California's Makani Power have experimented with flying wind turbines that resemble a cross between model airplanes and kites. Italy's KiteGen Research has also experimented with kites flying a mile (5,280 feet) above the Earth to generate wind power.
This story was provided by TechNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow TechNewsDaily on Twitter @TechNewsDaily, or on Facebook.
- Changing Earth: 7 Ideas to Geoengineer Our Planet
- Giant Kites Take Flight in Italian Hill Country
- 5 Wild Weather Control Ideas
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Stop Looking For Oil: Writer-Activist Challenges Geologists
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Addressing hundreds of geoscientists here on Sunday (Nov. 4) at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, writer and environmental activist Bill McKibben admonished them to take action on global warming with this unusual advice:
'If you find any more oil, don't tell anybody where it is,' he said, half-jokingly, to laughter.
'Geologists have done way too good a job finding coal and oil,' McKibben continued. 'You could stop with this part of the program,' he said, to laughter. 'We already have way more than we can safely burn.'
Gutsy things to say to the GSA members, considering McKibben had just been given the President's Medal - the society's foremost honor - by John Geissman, the society's outgoing president. The award honors the activist's good deeds and promotion of science 'in the service of humankind,' Geissman said.
McKibben began by poking fun at the scientists, calling them 'studious and solemn.' But he soon became more serious, tackling his life's avocation: getting people to reduce carbon emissions and halt global warming. [8 Ways Global Warming Is Already Changing the World]
Calling out outlaws
McKibben railed against fossil fuel companies like Exxon Mobil, calling these corporations 'outlaws' for their continued pursuit of petroleum and coal, the combustion of which is destroying the planet, he said. The reason nothing has been done about climate change, he said, is that these corporations spend so much money lobbying governments to prevent change, and dole out even more cash to constantly search for new fuel reserves.
As most of the audience was aware, Exxon Mobil is the meeting's largest sponsor, along with car maker Subaru. That didn't stop McKibben, who also called out Chevron (another meeting sponsor) for recently making the 'the single biggest corporate political donation since the Citizens United decision.'
To say McKibben's message was well received, however, would be an understatement. At the end of his talk, the vast majority of the room gave McKibben a standing ovation.
Before he ended, though, he spoke at length about the efforts of his organization, 350.org, which he described as a worldwide grassroots organization committed to replacing fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy that don't emit carbon dioxide, which traps heat in the atmosphere.
Passion, spirit, creativity
His group cannot possibly compete with oil companies for cash, so it is bringing to bear people's 'passion, spirit and creativity' to move away from fossil fuels, he said.
The name of his organization refers to 350 parts per million, the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide that should not be surpassed if society wants to avoid devastating consequences according to several studies, he said. The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is currently 395 ppm. (Parts per million is a notation used to express concentrations, so for every million molecules in the atmosphere, 395 are carbon dioxide.)
McKibben detailed some of the disastrous consequences tied to high carbon concentrations that have already occurred, including sea level rise, ocean acidification and a melting Arctic. Temperatures in the Arctic have increased dramatically in recent years, studies show. This summer, a record-breaking Arctic sea ice melt stretched across a larger area than any previously measured. Greenland also set records in August with massive melting of its glaciers.
'Inlayman's terms, it's become clear we've broken the Arctic, and we've done it in short order,' McKibben said.
He also said that there is 5 percent more water vapor in the atmosphere than a few decades ago, which helps fuel stronger storms like Hurricane Sandy. The hurricane should be a wakeup call, he added. 'Having water lap onto Wall Street concentrates the imagination,' he said.
He urged the scientists to join the fight against global warming, not only as researchers, but, more important, as human beings.
He praised human ingenuity but lamented our species' lack of morality when it comes to this issue.
'Is that big brain attached to a big enough heart to change?' he asked.
Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.
This article is brought to you by MATCHMAKING.
'If you find any more oil, don't tell anybody where it is,' he said, half-jokingly, to laughter.
'Geologists have done way too good a job finding coal and oil,' McKibben continued. 'You could stop with this part of the program,' he said, to laughter. 'We already have way more than we can safely burn.'
Gutsy things to say to the GSA members, considering McKibben had just been given the President's Medal - the society's foremost honor - by John Geissman, the society's outgoing president. The award honors the activist's good deeds and promotion of science 'in the service of humankind,' Geissman said.
McKibben began by poking fun at the scientists, calling them 'studious and solemn.' But he soon became more serious, tackling his life's avocation: getting people to reduce carbon emissions and halt global warming. [8 Ways Global Warming Is Already Changing the World]
Calling out outlaws
McKibben railed against fossil fuel companies like Exxon Mobil, calling these corporations 'outlaws' for their continued pursuit of petroleum and coal, the combustion of which is destroying the planet, he said. The reason nothing has been done about climate change, he said, is that these corporations spend so much money lobbying governments to prevent change, and dole out even more cash to constantly search for new fuel reserves.
As most of the audience was aware, Exxon Mobil is the meeting's largest sponsor, along with car maker Subaru. That didn't stop McKibben, who also called out Chevron (another meeting sponsor) for recently making the 'the single biggest corporate political donation since the Citizens United decision.'
To say McKibben's message was well received, however, would be an understatement. At the end of his talk, the vast majority of the room gave McKibben a standing ovation.
Before he ended, though, he spoke at length about the efforts of his organization, 350.org, which he described as a worldwide grassroots organization committed to replacing fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy that don't emit carbon dioxide, which traps heat in the atmosphere.
Passion, spirit, creativity
His group cannot possibly compete with oil companies for cash, so it is bringing to bear people's 'passion, spirit and creativity' to move away from fossil fuels, he said.
The name of his organization refers to 350 parts per million, the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide that should not be surpassed if society wants to avoid devastating consequences according to several studies, he said. The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is currently 395 ppm. (Parts per million is a notation used to express concentrations, so for every million molecules in the atmosphere, 395 are carbon dioxide.)
McKibben detailed some of the disastrous consequences tied to high carbon concentrations that have already occurred, including sea level rise, ocean acidification and a melting Arctic. Temperatures in the Arctic have increased dramatically in recent years, studies show. This summer, a record-breaking Arctic sea ice melt stretched across a larger area than any previously measured. Greenland also set records in August with massive melting of its glaciers.
'Inlayman's terms, it's become clear we've broken the Arctic, and we've done it in short order,' McKibben said.
He also said that there is 5 percent more water vapor in the atmosphere than a few decades ago, which helps fuel stronger storms like Hurricane Sandy. The hurricane should be a wakeup call, he added. 'Having water lap onto Wall Street concentrates the imagination,' he said.
He urged the scientists to join the fight against global warming, not only as researchers, but, more important, as human beings.
He praised human ingenuity but lamented our species' lack of morality when it comes to this issue.
'Is that big brain attached to a big enough heart to change?' he asked.
Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.
- The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted
- Weather vs. Climate Change: Test Yourself
- Video: Predicting the Future of our Climate
This article is brought to you by MATCHMAKING.
Climate Change Partly to Blame for Hurricane Damage
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Climate change likely made Hurricane Sandy much worse than it otherwise would have been, scientists said here yesterday at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.
For one thing, rising sea levels set the stage for a more damaging storm surge, as Hurricane Sandy broke records with a 13.2-foot (4 meters) storm surge in New York City's Battery Park, said Pennsylvania State University climatologist Michael Mann.
'At least 1 foot of those 13.2 feet was arguably due to sea-level rise,' he said. That's because sea levels are 1 foot (30 centimeters) higher than they were a century ago, he continued.
Sea surface temperatures off the East Coast also contributed to the flooding. Giving rise to above-average levels of water vapor, they helped intensify the storm and produce more rain, he said.
Warmer-than-usual temperatures over Greenland also played a role, said George Stone, a researcher at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
A high-pressure system over the huge island helped to 'block' the North Atlantic, pushing the hurricane toward the East Coast, according to researchers. Typically, scientists say, the jet stream instead carries hurricanes eastward into the Atlantic Ocean.
Temperatures in the Arctic have increased dramatically in recent years, scientists say. This summer, a record-breaking, Arctic sea-ice melt stretched across a larger area than any previously measured. Greenland also set records in August with massive melting of its glaciers.
'If [Sandy's] left turn was indeed due to re-distribution of air masses and position of the jet stream, and that in turn was due to Arctic warming, then we might attribute a large part of Sandy to climate change,' Stone said.
Of course, climate change did not create Hurricane Sandy, Mann said. Hurricanes and tropical storms would occur with or without global warming. But many climate models suggest that such storms will become more intense as the planet warms, he said.
Researchers at a special session on Sandy added that the effects of Hurricane Sandy may be felt for quite some time. Several researchers mentioned that the geography of New York made it more susceptible to storm surges. The long and narrow shape of the Long Island Sound, for example, helped to channel the storm surge and make it bigger. Additionally, areas like Battery Park were built from landfill and thus are low-lying and flat. [On the Ground: Hurricane Sandy in Images]
Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
This article is brought to you by ONLINE DATING.
For one thing, rising sea levels set the stage for a more damaging storm surge, as Hurricane Sandy broke records with a 13.2-foot (4 meters) storm surge in New York City's Battery Park, said Pennsylvania State University climatologist Michael Mann.
'At least 1 foot of those 13.2 feet was arguably due to sea-level rise,' he said. That's because sea levels are 1 foot (30 centimeters) higher than they were a century ago, he continued.
Sea surface temperatures off the East Coast also contributed to the flooding. Giving rise to above-average levels of water vapor, they helped intensify the storm and produce more rain, he said.
Warmer-than-usual temperatures over Greenland also played a role, said George Stone, a researcher at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
A high-pressure system over the huge island helped to 'block' the North Atlantic, pushing the hurricane toward the East Coast, according to researchers. Typically, scientists say, the jet stream instead carries hurricanes eastward into the Atlantic Ocean.
Temperatures in the Arctic have increased dramatically in recent years, scientists say. This summer, a record-breaking, Arctic sea-ice melt stretched across a larger area than any previously measured. Greenland also set records in August with massive melting of its glaciers.
'If [Sandy's] left turn was indeed due to re-distribution of air masses and position of the jet stream, and that in turn was due to Arctic warming, then we might attribute a large part of Sandy to climate change,' Stone said.
Of course, climate change did not create Hurricane Sandy, Mann said. Hurricanes and tropical storms would occur with or without global warming. But many climate models suggest that such storms will become more intense as the planet warms, he said.
Researchers at a special session on Sandy added that the effects of Hurricane Sandy may be felt for quite some time. Several researchers mentioned that the geography of New York made it more susceptible to storm surges. The long and narrow shape of the Long Island Sound, for example, helped to channel the storm surge and make it bigger. Additionally, areas like Battery Park were built from landfill and thus are low-lying and flat. [On the Ground: Hurricane Sandy in Images]
Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
- Hurricane Sandy: Photos of a Frankenstorm
- The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted
- 8 Ways Global Warming Is Already Changing the World
This article is brought to you by ONLINE DATING.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Microsoft pulls out the stops for Halo 4
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - 'Master Chief' springs back into action on Tuesday with the release of Microsoft Corp's Halo 4, the latest installment of the Xbox blockbuster that will compete with Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty franchise for holiday-season bragging rights.
Microsoft hopes the return of the laconic green-armored super-soldier protagonist of Halo, which has generated $3 billion of revenue since its 2001 launch, after a five-year hiatus will bring out gamers in droves when the title begins selling in more than 40 countries starting midnight.
The Halo series, made by Microsoft Game Studios, spearheaded the company's foray into gaming that began with the 2001 launch of the first Xbox. It has sold more than 46 million copies to date and helped the console lead the market ahead of Sony's Playstation and Nintendo's Wii.
It remains to be seen if the well-reviewed game can revive flagging videogame sales or surpass 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 2', which goes on sale next week and will vie for the title of 2012's top-selling game. The first-person shooter series is now the biggest title on the Xbox.
Nintendo is also selling its new Wii U console, featuring a companion tablet controller, over the holidays. Microsoft's rival Activision Blizzard is set to release a dedicated Wii U version for its 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 2' title when the new console hits stores on November 18.
'Because there hasn't been a game to star 'Master Chief' for five years, there's a bit of a pent-up demand,' said Ryan McCaffrey, Xbox Executive editor at videogame website IGN.com.
'Call of Duty has taken over as the most popular game on the Xbox, so I think it will be very close,' he added.
In Halo 4, 'Master Chief' deals out death and destruction to evil aliens while embarking on a quest to save his longtime friend and artificial-intelligence construct Cortana.
Microsoft, which has high hopes for the latest Halo, is pulling out the stops. Halo: Reach, the fourth game in the series sans Master Chief, was launched in September 2010 and raked in $200 million in global sales on launch-day.
The company is hosting marquee events in cities from Seattle and Berlin to London - where the company will stage an as-yet-undisclosed stunt on the Thames river.
Microsoft also held a massive launch event last week in the small country of Liechtenstein in Europe. Some historic landmarks and the countryside of the 62-square mile nation was transformed into a futuristic Halo-like universe and reporters were allowed to test the game.
GameStop Corp, the largest U.S. chain, is also planning midnight events.
With less than 12 hours before the title's launch, GameStop spokeswoman Wendy Dominguez said fans had begun lining up outside a handful of stores, including at their Flower Mound, Texas outlet. Some dressed in Halo costumes.
'They've either pre-ordered Halo or they're waiting to get their hands on a copy and they're pretty excited about it,' Dominguez said.
(Reporting By Malathi Nayak; Editing by Bernard Orr)
Microsoft hopes the return of the laconic green-armored super-soldier protagonist of Halo, which has generated $3 billion of revenue since its 2001 launch, after a five-year hiatus will bring out gamers in droves when the title begins selling in more than 40 countries starting midnight.
The Halo series, made by Microsoft Game Studios, spearheaded the company's foray into gaming that began with the 2001 launch of the first Xbox. It has sold more than 46 million copies to date and helped the console lead the market ahead of Sony's Playstation and Nintendo's Wii.
It remains to be seen if the well-reviewed game can revive flagging videogame sales or surpass 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 2', which goes on sale next week and will vie for the title of 2012's top-selling game. The first-person shooter series is now the biggest title on the Xbox.
Nintendo is also selling its new Wii U console, featuring a companion tablet controller, over the holidays. Microsoft's rival Activision Blizzard is set to release a dedicated Wii U version for its 'Call of Duty: Black Ops 2' title when the new console hits stores on November 18.
'Because there hasn't been a game to star 'Master Chief' for five years, there's a bit of a pent-up demand,' said Ryan McCaffrey, Xbox Executive editor at videogame website IGN.com.
'Call of Duty has taken over as the most popular game on the Xbox, so I think it will be very close,' he added.
In Halo 4, 'Master Chief' deals out death and destruction to evil aliens while embarking on a quest to save his longtime friend and artificial-intelligence construct Cortana.
Microsoft, which has high hopes for the latest Halo, is pulling out the stops. Halo: Reach, the fourth game in the series sans Master Chief, was launched in September 2010 and raked in $200 million in global sales on launch-day.
The company is hosting marquee events in cities from Seattle and Berlin to London - where the company will stage an as-yet-undisclosed stunt on the Thames river.
Microsoft also held a massive launch event last week in the small country of Liechtenstein in Europe. Some historic landmarks and the countryside of the 62-square mile nation was transformed into a futuristic Halo-like universe and reporters were allowed to test the game.
GameStop Corp, the largest U.S. chain, is also planning midnight events.
With less than 12 hours before the title's launch, GameStop spokeswoman Wendy Dominguez said fans had begun lining up outside a handful of stores, including at their Flower Mound, Texas outlet. Some dressed in Halo costumes.
'They've either pre-ordered Halo or they're waiting to get their hands on a copy and they're pretty excited about it,' Dominguez said.
(Reporting By Malathi Nayak; Editing by Bernard Orr)
Sunday, November 4, 2012
5 Reasons Your Vote Will Be Irrational
Climate change, defense spending, the economy: People may claim they base their political opinions solely on issues like these, but social scientists would beg to differ. Our voting habits are surprisingly irrational, and seemingly irrelevant factors can influence how, and whether, we vote.
From Facebook to winning sports teams, here are five weird things that shape voters' choices.
Genes
While it's not surprising that family environment could shape your politics, it turns out that your voting preferences may be partly coded in your DNA. In a 2008 study in the journal American Political Science Review, researchers looked at identical and fraternal twins' voting patterns to see how much genetics shaped the siblings' votes. (Identical twins have the same DNA, while fraternal twins share just half of their DNA, so scientists can determine the role of genetics in a behavior by comparing it in identical versus fraternal twins) Researchers found that genes determined 53 percent of the twins' voting patterns.
Social Networks
Just like the flu, voting is contagious. If your Facebook friends 'like' voting, chances are you will, too, according to a September study in the journal Nature. In that report, a single Facebook post urging people to vote reached 61 million people and mobilized 340,000 people to vote who otherwise wouldn't have. There was a catch, however: Get-out-the-vote reminders only motivated people to vote if they were posted along with photos of Facebook friends who had clicked an 'I voted' button included in the reminder. The findings show how important social pressures are in affecting voting patterns, the researchers noted.
Jumpiness
Those who are easily spooked are more likely to support conservative policies. In a 2008 study, researchers showed 46 volunteers images of maggot-infested wounds or bloody faces interspersed with photos of bunnies and smiling babies. Those who were more startled by the creepy images tended to support the Iraq War, warrantless wiretapping and the death penalty - policies generally considered more conservative. While it's not clear exactly why conservative politics and jumpiness go hand-in-hand, it could be that people who are more easily frightened gravitate toward policies they think will protect them.
Hands-on God
Staying home on Election Day may be a matter of faith. People who believe God intervenes in everyday affairs are less likely to vote, according to a 2008 study in the journal Social Science Quarterly. In the study, Jews and white, mainline Protestants, who tend to believe in a more hands-off God, were more likely to vote than evangelicals, who tend to believe that God actively intervenes in world affairs. While faith in an active God reduces voting, people who pray over world concerns are 5 percent likelier to vote than their non-praying counterparts.
Feeling like a winner
Feeling like a winner may also spur you to vote. A 2010 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggested that people who backed winning college basketball teams were more likely to vote for the incumbent in Senate, gubernatorial or presidential elections. Backing a winner may not only get people to the polls, it may also make them friskier: Google searches for pornography surged in states that backed the winning presidential candidate in 2004 and 2008. Seeing your candidate lose, however, could be a libido-killer: Men who voted for challenger John McCain in the 2008 election saw their testosterone levels dip when he lost, according to a study detailed in 2010 in the journal PLoS One.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
This news article is brought to you by INTERNET NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
From Facebook to winning sports teams, here are five weird things that shape voters' choices.
Genes
While it's not surprising that family environment could shape your politics, it turns out that your voting preferences may be partly coded in your DNA. In a 2008 study in the journal American Political Science Review, researchers looked at identical and fraternal twins' voting patterns to see how much genetics shaped the siblings' votes. (Identical twins have the same DNA, while fraternal twins share just half of their DNA, so scientists can determine the role of genetics in a behavior by comparing it in identical versus fraternal twins) Researchers found that genes determined 53 percent of the twins' voting patterns.
Social Networks
Just like the flu, voting is contagious. If your Facebook friends 'like' voting, chances are you will, too, according to a September study in the journal Nature. In that report, a single Facebook post urging people to vote reached 61 million people and mobilized 340,000 people to vote who otherwise wouldn't have. There was a catch, however: Get-out-the-vote reminders only motivated people to vote if they were posted along with photos of Facebook friends who had clicked an 'I voted' button included in the reminder. The findings show how important social pressures are in affecting voting patterns, the researchers noted.
Jumpiness
Those who are easily spooked are more likely to support conservative policies. In a 2008 study, researchers showed 46 volunteers images of maggot-infested wounds or bloody faces interspersed with photos of bunnies and smiling babies. Those who were more startled by the creepy images tended to support the Iraq War, warrantless wiretapping and the death penalty - policies generally considered more conservative. While it's not clear exactly why conservative politics and jumpiness go hand-in-hand, it could be that people who are more easily frightened gravitate toward policies they think will protect them.
Hands-on God
Staying home on Election Day may be a matter of faith. People who believe God intervenes in everyday affairs are less likely to vote, according to a 2008 study in the journal Social Science Quarterly. In the study, Jews and white, mainline Protestants, who tend to believe in a more hands-off God, were more likely to vote than evangelicals, who tend to believe that God actively intervenes in world affairs. While faith in an active God reduces voting, people who pray over world concerns are 5 percent likelier to vote than their non-praying counterparts.
Feeling like a winner
Feeling like a winner may also spur you to vote. A 2010 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggested that people who backed winning college basketball teams were more likely to vote for the incumbent in Senate, gubernatorial or presidential elections. Backing a winner may not only get people to the polls, it may also make them friskier: Google searches for pornography surged in states that backed the winning presidential candidate in 2004 and 2008. Seeing your candidate lose, however, could be a libido-killer: Men who voted for challenger John McCain in the 2008 election saw their testosterone levels dip when he lost, according to a study detailed in 2010 in the journal PLoS One.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
- Quiz: Bizarre US Presidential Elections
- 6 Politicians Who Got the Science Wrong
- Top 10 Ailing Presidents
This news article is brought to you by INTERNET NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Grow a Plant With Batteries, Software and Sunshine [PICS]
Lacking a 'green thumb?' Click and Grow is for the beginner gardener. You water it once and forget about it.
[More from Mashable: Meet the First Plant That Requires Facebook Fans to Survive]
The Click and Grow flower pot and plant cartridge work like a printer and toner. The pot contains electronics, sensors, batteries, a pump and a water reservoir; the cartridge contains seeds, nutrients and software (in a microchip) for growing the plant. There are currently 13 varieties of flowers and plants, and the selection is continuously growing. Right now the available selection includes painted nettle, lamb's ear, marigolds and more. You can also grow edible things such as basil, thyme, sage, tomatoes and chili peppers.
Founder Mattias Lepp tells Mashable all you have to do is add water and batteries (not in the same place) -- everything else is done by the sensors and software. You'll also have to find a sunny place for your plant to sit, or at least somewhere it can absorb the sun's rays, sunshine or not.
[More from Mashable: Facebook Doubles its Money on Monkeys and Martinis]
SEE ALSO: 5 Free iPhone Gardening Apps for Your Green Thumb
The idea for Click and Grow began three years ago, Lepp says, while reading an article about a NASA mission in which plants were taken into space. He began fusing technology with gardening in his own backyard in Estonia to see if he could grow plants with little or no care in a harsh climate. He made several iterations of the planter and one very cold winter, he says, the device he created was able to grow tomatoes 'very quickly.' The company grew from there and officially launched one year ago.
Lepp said Click and Grow should also cut down on the waste that comes from single plants being purchased in plastic containers that then get thrown away. The potting container is reusable; though the cartridges need to be replaced for each new plant.
'It's just a cool device to have on your office table,' he added.
The plant container costs $59 and the cartridges (with plant seeds) cost $19.99. You can buy them on the company's website or at Brookstone or Amazon.com.
There are a number of other desktop gardening pots, some that combine USB technology to make indoor gardening easier by remind you to water the plant. But Click and Grow seems to be the front-runner in terms of making gardening simple for those who forget, or don't have time, to water plants.
Check out these photos of some of the plants that can sprout from Click and Grow and tell us, is this product on your wish list?
Click here to view this gallery. This story originally published on Mashable here.
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The Click and Grow flower pot and plant cartridge work like a printer and toner. The pot contains electronics, sensors, batteries, a pump and a water reservoir; the cartridge contains seeds, nutrients and software (in a microchip) for growing the plant. There are currently 13 varieties of flowers and plants, and the selection is continuously growing. Right now the available selection includes painted nettle, lamb's ear, marigolds and more. You can also grow edible things such as basil, thyme, sage, tomatoes and chili peppers.
Founder Mattias Lepp tells Mashable all you have to do is add water and batteries (not in the same place) -- everything else is done by the sensors and software. You'll also have to find a sunny place for your plant to sit, or at least somewhere it can absorb the sun's rays, sunshine or not.
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The idea for Click and Grow began three years ago, Lepp says, while reading an article about a NASA mission in which plants were taken into space. He began fusing technology with gardening in his own backyard in Estonia to see if he could grow plants with little or no care in a harsh climate. He made several iterations of the planter and one very cold winter, he says, the device he created was able to grow tomatoes 'very quickly.' The company grew from there and officially launched one year ago.
Lepp said Click and Grow should also cut down on the waste that comes from single plants being purchased in plastic containers that then get thrown away. The potting container is reusable; though the cartridges need to be replaced for each new plant.
'It's just a cool device to have on your office table,' he added.
The plant container costs $59 and the cartridges (with plant seeds) cost $19.99. You can buy them on the company's website or at Brookstone or Amazon.com.
There are a number of other desktop gardening pots, some that combine USB technology to make indoor gardening easier by remind you to water the plant. But Click and Grow seems to be the front-runner in terms of making gardening simple for those who forget, or don't have time, to water plants.
Check out these photos of some of the plants that can sprout from Click and Grow and tell us, is this product on your wish list?
Click and Grow
This is the Click and Grow pot before the plant sprouts.Click here to view this gallery. This story originally published on Mashable here.
This news article is brought to you by RELATIONSHIPS ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.
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