The idea of a "heat diode", or--as they're called here, "Maxwell gates"--is pretty interesting to me. While it's going to take energy to operate one of these things, the article postulates some intriguing ideas.
A material which only allows heat to move in one direction could revolutionize a number of technologies. It really depends on how the technology scales, of course; if you can make a pane of glass with those properties, there are about a billion other things you could make with those properties. (Actually, the glass would have a coating on it. Think "LCD display", only something that moves heat instead of photons.)
This material isn't a heat pump--it won't move heat from a cooler place to a warmer one, the way a Peltier junction will--but it can keep heat from moving from a warmer place to a cooler one, selectively...which makes all the difference.
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Econazis up in arms over mostly-empty flight. I wish I'd had that kind of room on my trip to the Philippines. Man. Five passengers in a 777--and what the eco-nuts don't understand is that things like this happen whenever an airline needs a plane in a certain place and doesn't have one available. They're up in arms over this, treating it as if this one flight is singlehandedly going to kill a herd of seals, but it's more common than this article would lead you to believe.
It's called a "ferry flight" when an empty aircraft is flown somewhere it needs to be taken. American Airlines needed a plane in London; it just took the five people it couldn't accommodate on other flights along for the ride.
I love how upset "Friends of the Earth" are over this. I just love it.
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Another bit about the stupid "Earth Hour" crap scheduled for this month. When I'm going to turn on all the lights in the house and maybe plug in a few more just to make the point.
Yes, why don' they advocate it being a "week" or a "month" instead of a measly hour? I mean, after all, if you're really committed to the idea of saving the planet and preventing "climate change", going without electricity for a week will really raise awareness!
...the answer? These people don't want to put up with the inconveniences they'll encounter if they try not to use electricity for more than a day, much less a week or month. This is a bunch of nonsense designed to let people show "how much they care" without actually having to do or sacrifice anything.
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Statewide average price for a gallon of gas in California: $3.50 per gallon. But in Gorda, CA, it's $5.19.
Someone alert the authorities! There's profiteering going on! That's price-gouging! Arrest them all!
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Littering, maybe? American National Socialist Workers Party commander Bill White challenged Tigard, Oregon, police to charge the "ANSWP" with a crime after they floated several Nazi flags on balloons.
The article also posts, without comment, a picture of some leaflets--presumably Nazi propaganda--scattered on the ground. Considering that the balloons were allowed to fly free, and the papers that were dropped, I'd say "littering" is probably about the height of the pile for "crimes" committed here.
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Damn funny fun with hippies. Though that's not how he says it--NSFW language in this one, big text too.
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Finally, a woman's perspective on the common and farcical feminist trope of if women were in charge there'd be no war. Yeah. Spider Robinson said it best: "If you are ever captured, do not let them give you to the women. Not alive."