Home-Built Car Averages 113 Miles a Gallon

“We thought we were going to be rich and famous,” said Craig Henderson, co-creator of the Avion, a streamlined coupe that averaged 103.7 miles a gallon — in 1986.

“Oh, we were famous,” Mr. Henderson added, with a chuckle. “For about two weeks!”

More than two decades later, Mr. Henderson and the Avion have been granted another shot at fame and fortune. On Oct. 11, he drove an updated version of the Avion through Washington state — a total of 263 miles and he said the car averaged 113.1 miles a gallon.

See more Here.

150 year sleeping volcano erupts after earthquakes hit region

The Anabro (Nabro) volcano in the Northern Red Sea Region of Eritrea has erupted sending an ash plume more than 13.5 kilometres into the sky and threatening to disrupt air traffic across eastern Africa and as far away as the Middle East.

Part of the Afar Triangle, the stratovolcano is one of many volcanic caldera complexes in the north easternmost part of the East African Rift valley region. Nabro is located in the Danakil Depression, close to Eritrea’s border with Ethiopia and north of Djibouti, and has not erupted in at least 150 years. It is the most prominent of 3 large volcanoes (Nabro, Dubbi, Mallahle) in the region, each containing a large summit caldera. See link for more.

Full Face Transplant Patient Appears In Public For The First Time

America’s first full face transplant patient, Dallas Wiens, appeared in public for the first time after his 15-hour operation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, alongside the medical team that carried out the procedure. When asked how his face feels, he answered that it “feels natural”

Wiens’ face was literally burnt off in a power line accident while he was painting a church in November 2008 – the accident also left him blind. Unfortunately, it was not possible to restore his eyesight. See link for more info.

Upcoming total lunar eclipse will be an unusually long one; not visible in US

The year’s first total eclipse of the moon will last an unusually long time, a rare celestial treat for a wide swath of the globe.

Except if you’re in the United States and Canada. North America will be left out of Wednesday’s lunar spectacle, which will be visible from start to finish from eastern Africa, central Asia, the Middle East and western Australia — weather permitting.

The period when Earth’s shadow completely blocks the moon — known as totality — will last a whopping 1 hour and 40 minutes. The last time the moon was covered for this long was in July 2000, when it lasted 7 minutes longer than that.

The full moon normally glows from reflected sunlight. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon glides through the long shadow cast by the Earth and is blocked from the sunlight that illuminates it.

As the moon plunges deeper into the Earth’s shadow, the disk will appear to gradually change colour, turning from silver to orange or red. This is because some indirect sunlight still reaches the moon after passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, which scatters blue light. Only red light strikes the moon, giving it an eerie crimson hue.

It’s difficult to predict the exact shade the moon will take, which will depend on how much dust and clouds are in the atmosphere during the eclipse.

Since the moon will pass close to the centre of the Earth’s shadow, the total eclipse phase will be longer than usual, said NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

The entire eclipse will last a little over 5 1/2 hours. Observers in Europe will miss the first part of the show because it will occur before the moon rises. Eastern Asia and eastern Australia won’t catch the final stages, which will happen after the moon sets. Portions of South America will be able see the moon entirely shrouded.

Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the naked eye.

Keith Gleason, who runs the Sommers-Bausch Observatory in Boulder, Colo., is disappointed that he will not have a ringside seat to the upcoming eclipse. The last total lunar eclipse visible from the U.S. occurred on Dec. 21, 2010, which coincided with winter solstice and was widely observed. Some 1,400 people showed up for a viewing party at the observatory.

“We had an absolutely glorious time,” he said.

The next total lunar eclipse will fall on Dec. 10 with best viewing from Asia and Australia. The moon will be completely blotted out for 51 minutes. Only parts of the U.S. including Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest will catch a glimpse.

The rest of the continental U.S. will have to wait until April 15, 2014 to witness a total lunar eclipse.

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Online:

Information from: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/sci_tech/upcoming-total-lunar-eclipse-will-be-an-unusually-long-one-not-visible-in-us.htmlEclipse information: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html

IMF hit by ‘very major’ cyber security attack

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it has been targeted by a sophisticated cyber attack.

Officials at the fund gave few details but said the attack earlier this year had been “a very major breach” of its systems, the New York Times reports.Cyber security officials said the hack was designed to install software to create a “digital insider presence”. See more at link.

Starlite, the nuclear blast-defying plastic that could change the world

The gentleman feels for something in his jacket pocket. It’s a nice suit, and it is accompanied by a suitably gentlemanly bow-tie. The effect is sartorially unusual but not too much. What will come out of the pocket, though, is more than unusual. It is unparalleled and almost unbelievable. ‘Here,’ says Maurice Ward, handing over a creamy small square. ‘That’s Starlite.’ It’s a piece of plastic that bends in all directions, with a charred mark the size of a coin on one side. ‘That’s from the nuclear blast,’ says Ward. ‘Don’t worry, there’s no nuclear stuff on it. I wouldn’t have given it to you otherwise.’  See full Story.

First man ‘functionally cured’ of HIV

Since HIV was discovered 30 years ago this week, 30 million people have died from the disease, and it continues to spread at the rate of 7,000 people per day globally, the UN says.

There’s not much good news when it comes to this devastating virus. But that is perhaps why the story of the man scientists call the “Berlin patient” is so remarkable and has generated so much excitement among the HIV advocacy community. See Story

Electric Vehicle Battery Runs on Goo

Alternative vehicles are still “alternative” in part because fuel cell and battery technologies still have many hills to climb — cost, efficiency, weight to name a few. A group of MIT researchers thinks they can pave the way. They recently combined the strongest aspects of traditional batteries and fuel cells to create a whole new kind of battery….See More.