உலகின் சிறிய சலவை இயந்திரம்

நம் ஆடைகளை சுத்தம் செய்வதை இலகுவாக்குவதற்காக உருவாக்கப்பட்ட சலவை இயந்திரம் தற்போது மிகச்சிறிய அளவில் வடிவமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. மேலும் இது பை வைடிவில் அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. 180 கிராம் நிறையை கொண்டுள்ள இந்த சலவைப்பையானது இடத்திற்கு இடம் எடுத்துச்செல்லமுடியும் என்பது விசேட அம்சமாகும். இதில் ஓரே தடவையில் 2 தொடக்கம் 3 லீட்டர் வரையிலான நீரை பயன்படுத்த முடிவதுடன் சம்போ, சலவை தூள்கள் போன்றனவற்றை பயன்படுத்தி 20-40 செக்கன்களில் சலவை செய்ய முடியும். இவை எதிர்வரும் ஏப்ரல் மாதத்தில் சந்தைப்படுத்தப்படவுள்ளன என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

வேம்பின் மருத்துவ குணங்கள்

வேம்பின் இலை, காய், கனி என அனைத்தும் மருத்துவத்தில் சிறந்து விளங்குகிறது. வேப்பந்தழையின் இலை வீக்கம், கட்டிகளைக் கரைத்தல், மஞ்சள் காமாலை, நீரிழிவு, தோல் வியாதிகள், பூச்சிக் கொல்லியாகவும் பயன்படுகிறது. வேம்பு இலையை அரைத்துக் கட்டி வர ஆறாத ரணம், பழுத்து உடையாத கட்டி, வீக்கம் தீரும். வேம்பின் சாறில் 10 அரிசி, நெய், தேன், வெண்ணெய், பாலில் 2 மண்டலம் கொடுக்க எந்த மருந்தாலும் கட்டுப்படாத நோய்கள், இளைப்பு தீரும். உடம்பு கெட்டிபடும், நரை மாறும். வேம்பு இலையுடன் சிறிது மஞ்சள் சேர்த்துத் தடவி வரப் பித்த வெடிப்பு, கட்டி, பரு, அம்மைக் கொப்புளம் ஆகியவை குணமாகும். வேப்பிலையை அரைத்து முகப்பரு உள்ள இடத்தில் பூசினால் வெகு விரைவில் மறைந்து விடும். வேப்ப மரத்திலிருந்து உதிர்ந்த பூக்களைச் சேகரித்து வைத்துக் கொண்டு ஒரு வருடம் கழித்து இந்தப் பூவைக் கொண்டு ரசம் வைப்பார்கள். இந்த வேப்பம் பூ ரசம் பித்த சம்பத்தப்பட்ட நோய்களைக் குணப்படுத்தும். வேப்பிலைக் கசாயம் கிருமிகளைக் கொன்று காய்ச்சலைக் கட்டுப்படுத்தும் தன்மை கொண்டதாகும். தினமும், காலை வேளையில் பத்து வேப்பிலைக் கொழுந்து எடுத்து ஐந்து மிளகுடன் சேர்த்து மென்று சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால் மலேரியாக் காய்ச்சல் குணமாகும். நீரிழிவு நோயாளிகள் தொடர்ந்து சாப்பிட்டு வர மாத்திரை எதுவும் இன்றிக் குணமாகும். வேப்பிலை, எலுமிச்சம் பழச் சாற்றில் அரைத்துத் தலைக்குத் தேய்க்க, பித்த மயக்கம் குணமாகும். வேப்பிலையுடன் மஞ்சள் சேர்த்து அரைத்துப் பூச பித்த வெடிப்பு, கால் பாத எரிச்சல் குணமாகும்.

Brain's involvement in processing depends on language's graphic symbols

Readers whose mother tongue is Arabic have more challenges reading in Arabic than native Hebrew or English speakers have reading their native languages, because the two halves of the brain divide the labor differently when the brain processes Arabic than when it processes Hebrew or English. That is the result of a new study conducted by two University of Haifa researchers, Dr. Raphiq Ibrahim of the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities and the Learning Disabilities Department, and Prof. Zohar Eviatar of the Department of Psychology.

"It emerges that the contribution of the two halves of the brain to processing written language depends on the graphic and linguistic structure of these languages," noted Dr. Ibrahim.

The two halves of the brain, called hemispheres, govern different types of activities: The right hemisphere specializes more in processing spatial tasks and the holistic (pattern) processing of messages, while the left hemisphere is responsible for processing verbal messages and local processing of messages.

In order to examine the interaction between the two hemispheres while reading Hebrew, English and Arabic, two experiments were conducted with subjects divided into three groups: those with Arabic as their mother tongue, those with English as their mother tongue and those with Hebrew as their mother tongue. Each group was tested in their native language.

In the first experiment, words and pseudowords (strings of letters that have no literal meaning) were presented on a screen, and the subjects were asked to figure out whether the stimulus was a real word; their response time, accuracy, and sensitivity were measured with every key pressed.

In the second experiment, the subjects were presented with various words on the right or the left side of the screen, which directs the information to be processed by the opposite hemisphere (i.e., when the proper or nonsense word is screened on the right side of the screen, it will be processed by the left side of the brain, and vice versa, a stage called "unilateral"). The various words were then shown on both sides of the screen, while under the target word there was a symbol that indicated that this was the word that they should treat, while the other stimulus appeared on the other side of the screen in order to distract the brain processing (this stage is called "bilateral").

A comparison of both experiments establishes the degree of interaction between the two hemispheres during the brain's processing of the language being checked.

The results show that for readers of Hebrew and English, both hemispheres of the brain are independently involved in the task of reading, such that neither side is dependent on the other. By contrast, for the Arabic readers, it emerged that the right hemisphere was not able to function independently in the reading assignments without using the resources of the left hemisphere.

According to Dr. Ibrahim, the significance of the findings is that despite the similarities between Arabic and Hebrew, when reading the former the right brain can't function independently and the cognitive burden becomes especially heavy, making it more difficult to read the language, even for those whose mother tongue is Arabic.

"This proves that the Arabic language doesn't behave like other languages when it comes to anything connected with decoding its graphic symbols," said Dr. Ibrahim.

"The study's results show once again that on the word reading level the structural shape of Arabic orthography, that is, the graphic contours of the written language, activates the cognitive system differently. Thus, the question is again raised as to whether in the modern world those who speak certain languages have an advantage over those who speak other languages; and the role of pedagogy in improving reading skills among regular readers and those having difficulty is brought once again to the fore."

More information: http://www.behavio … 1/3/abstract

Provided by University of Haifa

"Brain's involvement in processing depends on language's graphic symbols." March 21st, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-brain-involvement-language-graphic.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Unexpected discovery reveals a new mechanism for how the cerebellum extracts signal from noise

Research at the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) has demonstrated the novel expression of an ion channel in Purkinje cells – specialized neurons in the cerebellum, the area of the brain responsible for movement. Ray W. Turner, PhD, Professor in the Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy and PhD student Jordan Engbers and colleagues published this finding in the January edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

This research identifies for the first time that an ion channel called KCa3.1 that was not previously believed to be expressed in the brain is actually present in Purkinje cells. In addition, these researchers demonstrate the mechanism by which this ion channel allows Purkinje cells to filter sensory input in order to coordinate the body's movements.

The discovery was unexpected, as Engbers explains, "we didn't specifically go looking for this channel. A lot of time was spent trying to identify the source for an electrical current that we were observing and we finally found ourselves asking 'what evidence is there that KCa3.1 isn't in the brain?' So we ran some tests and all the pieces really fell into place."

In the cerebellum, sensory input activates neurons called Purkinje cells that have to filter the information and respond only to relevant inputs to produce an appropriate movement response. Although this function of Purkinje cells has been well documented, Engbers and Turner take our understanding a step further by demonstrating that the KCa3.1 ion channel plays a key part in this process - acting as a gatekeeper to filter the enormous amount of incoming information.

As Turner explains, "these cells receive hundreds of thousands of signals every second from the body's sensory systems. KCa3.1 then allows the cells to filter out the background noise and respond to only the three or four inputs that are particularly relevant".

Engbers further describes the mechanism by which KCa3.1 filters out the unwanted information, "these channels are activated by an influx of calcium, which generates an inhibitory influence until the correct input is detected. Once the appropriate input is detected, the Purkinje cell responds with a burst of nerve impulses, which in turn initiates the proper motor response."

This research fills a substantial gap in understanding how neurons in the cerebellum process information. Engbers and Turner expect that continued research will identify KCa3.1 in other areas of the brain and that it will be responsible for several still unexplained phenomena observed in neuronal recordings.

"What we have found will help us understand how the cerebellum functions normally. Now that we have shown the scientific community this new information, we expect that it will become clear that KCa3.1 plays a much wider role in brain function," says Engbers.

Provided by University of Calgary

"Unexpected discovery reveals a new mechanism for how the cerebellum extracts signal from noise." March 21st, 2012.http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-unexpected-discovery-reveals-mechanism-cerebellum.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

How the smell of food affects how much you eat

Bite size depends on the familiarly and texture of food. Smaller bite sizes are taken for foods which need more chewing and smaller bite sizes are often linked to a sensation of feeling fuller sooner. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Flavour, launched today, shows that strong aromas lead to smaller bite sizes and suggests that aroma may be used as a means to control portion size.

The aroma experience of food is linked to its constituents and texture, but also to bite size. Smaller bites sizes are linked towards a lower flavour release which may explain why we take smaller bites of unfamiliar or disliked foods. In order to separate the effect of aroma on bite size from other food-related sensations researchers from the Netherlands developed a system where a custard-like dessert was eaten while different scents were simultaneously presented directly to the participants nose.

The results showed that the stronger the smell the smaller the bite. Dr Rene A de Wijk, who led the study, explained, "Our human test subjects were able to control how much dessert was fed to them by pushing a button. Bite size was associated with the aroma presented for that bite and also for subsequent bites (especially for the second to last bite). Perhaps, in keeping with the idea that smaller bites are associated with lower flavour sensations from the food and that, there is an unconscious feedback loop using bite size to regulate the amount of flavour experienced."

This study suggests that manipulating the odour of food could result in a 5-10% decrease in intake per bite. Combining aroma control with portion control could fool the body into thinking it was full with a smaller amount of food and aid weight loss.

BioMed Central's open access journal Flavour, launched today is a peer-reviewed, open access, online journal that publishes interdisciplinary articles on flavour, its generation, perception, and influence on behaviour and nutrition. Flavour aims to understand the psychophysical, psychological and chemical aspects of flavour, which include not only taste and aroma, but also chemesthesis, texture, and all the senses.

More information: Food aroma affects bite size, Rene A de Wijk, Ilse A Polet, Wilbert Boek, Saskia Conraad and Johannes HF Bult, Flavour (in press)

Provided by BioMed Central

"How the smell of food affects how much you eat." March 20th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-food-affects.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Middle school teacher support lowers risk for early alcohol use

Anxiety, depression, stress and social support can predict early alcohol and illicit drug use in youth, according to a study from Carolyn McCarty, PhD, of Seattle Children's Research Institute, and researchers from the University of Washington and Seattle University. Middle school students from the sixth to the eighth grade who felt more emotional support from teachers reported a delay in alcohol and other illicit substance initiation. Those who reported higher levels of separation anxiety from their parents were also at decreased risk for early alcohol use. The study, "Emotional Health Predictors of Substance Use Initiation During Middle School," was published in advance online in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Relatively few studies have examined support for youth from nonfamily members of the adolescent's social support network, including teachers. "Our results were surprising," said Dr. McCarty, who is also a University of Washington research associate professor. "We have known that middle school teachers are important in the lives of young people, but this is the first data-driven study which shows that teacher support is associated with lower levels of early alcohol use." Middle school students defined teacher support as feeling close to a teacher or being able to talk with a teacher about problems they are experiencing.

Youth that are close to or even cling to parents can have separation anxiety and may be less susceptible to negative influences from peers, including experimentation with risky behaviors like alcohol use. "Teens in general seek new sensations or experiences and they take more risks when they are with peers," said Dr. McCarty. "Youth with separation anxiety symptoms may be protected by virtue of their intense connection to their parents, making them less likely to be in settings where substance use initiation is possible," she said.

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The study also found that youth who initiated alcohol and other illicit drug use prior to sixth grade had significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms. This suggests that depression may be a consequence of very early use or a risk factor for initiation of use prior to the middle school years. Depression was defined by asking youth about their mood and feelings, and asking them if statements such as "I felt awful or unhappy" and "I felt grumpy or upset with my parents" were true, false or sometimes true during a two-week timeframe.

"Based on the study and our findings, substance use prevention needs to be addressed on a multidimensional level," said Dr. McCarty. "We need to be aware of and monitor early adolescent stress levels, and parents, teachers and adults need to tune into kids' mental health. We know that youth who initiate substance abuse before age 14 are at a high risk of long-term substance abuse problems and myriad health complications."

Dr. McCarty Offers Tips for Parents to Help Reduce Early Alcohol Use

• Know where your child is, and check in with your child on a regular basis
• Get to know your child's friends, and who your child spends time with
• Teach stress management skills
• Help your child feel connected with adults at school

Dr. McCarty and the research team analyzed data from the Developmental Pathways Project, a longitudinal study of 521 youth sampled from the Seattle Public Schools. Researchers analyzed the effects of depression, anxiety, stress and support on initiation of substance use, which was measured at five different time points between sixth and eighth grade.

Seattle Children's Research Institute, in collaboration with the University of Washington and Seattle University, will continue to study this topic, next looking at the timing between youth substance use and depression, as well as how intervention programs for depression impact substance use.

More information: "Emotional Health Predictors of Substance Use Initiation During Middle School," study in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors:http://psycnet.apa … 11-22905-001

Provided by Seattle Children's

"Middle school teacher support lowers risk for early alcohol use." March 21st, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-middle-school-teacher-lowers-early.html

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Robert Karl Stonjek

A new take on the games people play in their relationships

Human nature has deep evolutionary roots and is manifested in relationships with family members, friends, romantic and business partners, competitors, and strangers more than in any other aspects of behavior or intellectual activity, contends a University of Chicago behavioral biologist.

"Social behavior is, in part, genetically controlled and evolves by natural selection," said Dario Maestripieri, Professor of Comparative Human Development and Evolutionary Biology.

In some cases, natural selection has come up with the same solutions to similar social problems in organisms as evolutionarily distant as people and fish. In other cases, humans use the social strategies they genetically inherited from the ancestors shared with other primates. As a result of this shared inheritance, some of the "games" people play in their social relationships are also played by monkeys and apes.

In his new book, Games Primates Play: An Undercover Investigation of the Evolution and Economics of Human Relationships, Maestripieri shows that human social behavior can be explained by using the theories that economists and evolutionary biologists developed, and by looking at the behavior of monkeys and apes.

Game theory models used by economists, for instance, explain under what circumstances people and monkeys choose to cooperate or cheat with their partners, and when they choose to pick a fight with a bully or to retreat.

"The same cost-benefit analyses that explain different strategies used by male macaques to become the alpha male in a group they have just joined can also explain different strategies new employees can use to climb the power ladder in their company," he said.

"The same laws of supply and demand that determine how people pair up in the marriage market or the online dating market also regulate the social markets in which monkeys trade grooming for sex or other services with one another," he added.

Maestripieri has studied primate social behavior for 25 years and said he wrote the book because he has been fascinated by the behavior of people around him all his life. Looking at human relationships through the lens of primate behavior provides insights into a variety of everyday experiences, Maestripieri points out.

When strangers ride in an elevator, for instance, they act like two unfamiliar monkeys that have been placed together in a cage. In both cases, the two individuals avoid eye contact at all costs to reduce risk of aggression, or they exchange grooming (or its human equivalent, small talk) to alleviate the tension of the situation.

Maestripieri suggests that when people exchange emails with someone they know, certain unspoken rules about dominance explain how quickly they reply to messages, how long the replies are, and whether they are likely to terminate the email conversation — the same rules regulate the exchange of grooming behavior between dominant and subordinate individuals in rhesus macaques or chimpanzees.

"Show me your emails, and I will tell you whether you are on the fast track to become a leader of your company, or whether it's unlikely that you will have secretaries answering your email anytime soon," Maestripieri writes.

Both people and monkeys, Maestripieri argues, sometimes use intrusive, annoying, stressful or risky behaviors to test the strength of their social bonds with their partners. Exchanging intimacies such as passionate kisses, for instance, allows two lovers to test each other's willingness to tolerate impositions, and therefore their commitment to the relationship. It is similar to how a capuchin monkey tests the strength of its bond with another monkey by sticking a finger up the other's nose and waiting for a reaction.

Cooperative relationships — whether marital relationships, business partnerships or political alliances — play a major role in survival and success in human societies. "Natural selection has favored emotional processes that motivate and enhance an individual's ability to engage in, and profit from, cooperative enterprises," Maestripieri writes. Finding a good partner for cooperation, maintaining a reciprocal exchange of favors and avoiding being cheated are examples of the social problems with which humans cope.

Since many social problems are ancient, humans use ancient solutions to solve them. "When we confront everyday social problems, we resort to the ancient emotional, cognitive and behavioral algorithms that crowd our minds, and often let this automatic pilot help us navigate through the difficult and dangerous, but always fascinating, waters of human social affairs," Maestripieri concludes in his book which is published by Basic Books.

Provided by University of Chicago

"A new take on the games people play in their relationships." March 21st, 2012. http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-games-people-relationships.html

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

  

Nothing is permanent in this world, not even our troubles. Fallen flowers can't grow back on the tree, but if the root is strong new flowers certainly can... Life is not about what you could not do so far, it is what you still can. Never hate people who are jealous of you, Instead love them because they're the ones, who think you are better than them. Silent lips may avoid many problems, But smiling lips may solve many problems, So always have a smile on your face in the beautiful journey called "LIFE".                                      o

Trees may electrify the air

QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

The researchers found twice as many positive and negative ions in heavily wooded areas compared to open grassy areas. Image: borchee/iStockphoto Plants have long been known as the lungs of the Earth, but a new finding has found they may also play a role in electrifying the atmosphere. Scientists have long suspected an association between trees and electricity but researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) think they may have finally discovered the link. Dr Rohan Jayaratne and Dr Xuan Ling from QUT's International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (ILAQH), led by Professor Lidia Morawska, ran experiments in six locations around Brisbane, including the Brisbane Forest Park, Daisy Hill and Mt Coot-tha. They found the positive and negative ion concentrations in the air were twice as high in heavily wooded areas than in open grassy areas, such as parks. Dr Jayaratne, who is also a member of QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), said that natural ions in the air were mainly created by ionisation due to two processes - radiation from the trace gas radon in air and cosmic radiation from space. Radon is a by-product of the radioactive decay of radium which is present in minute quantities in rocks and is continually exhaled by the ground. "Because radium is found in rocks and radon is soluble in water, ground water is particularly rich in radon," he said. "Trees act as radon pumps, bringing the gas to the surface and releasing it to the atmosphere through transpiration - a process where water absorbed by the root system is evaporated into the atmosphere from leaves. This is especially prevalent for trees with deep root systems, such as eucalypts." The QUT scientists estimated that, in a eucalyptus forest, trees may account for up to 37 per cent of the radon in the air when transpiration rates were highest. Dr Jayaratne said though there was still a lot more research which needed to be done in relation to the role of ions, the findings, which were published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, have potentially important implications for the atmosphere, climate and human health. "Although there is an established link between airborne particles and human health, the role of ions is largely unknown," he said. "However, we do know that approximately one-half of the particles that we inhale during normal breathing are retained in our respiratory system and it has been shown that charged particles were more likely to be deposited in the lungs than uncharged particles. "We do not believe that ions are dangerous - the danger comes from the pollutants. If there are no dangerous particles in the air to attach to the ions there is no risk of ill health." Editor's Note: Original news release can be found here.

AARTI SAI BABA

LIFE...........

INTERNET PREDICTED TO BE THE WORLD’S FIFTH LARGEST ECONOMY

We all know which country’s have the world’s largest economies and which countries are predicted to have the largest economies in the future, but did you ever count the internet? According to this study the internet will have the 5th largest economy in the world by 2016! Get the details here!

Boston Consulting Group reports…

BOSTON, March 19, 2012— In the G-20 nations, the Internet economy will grow more than 10 percent a year through 2016, according to a new report published by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as part of its Connected World series.

In the developed markets of the G-20, the Internet economy will grow approximately 8 percent annually; in the developing markets, it will grow more than twice as fast—at an average annual rate of 18 percent. Argentina and India will grow the fastest, at 24 percent and 23 percent a year, respectively. The leading developed markets—Italy and the U.K.—will grow about 12 percent and 11 percent a year, respectively.

BCG projects that the Internet economy will contribute a total of $4.2 trillion to the G-20’s total GDP in 2016. “If it were a national economy, it would rank in the world’s top five, behind only the U.S., China, India, and Japan, and ahead of Germany,” said David Dean, BCG senior partner and a coauthor of the report.

In 2010, the Internet economy in the U.K. accounted for the highest percentage of national GDP, followed by South Korea (7.3 percent) and China (5.5 percent). In each of these three countries, the Internet economy would rank among the top six industry sectors. At 4.7 percent, the 2010 share of U.S. GDP contributed by the Internet was about the same as the share contributed by the federal government—and ranked slightly ahead of the developed markets’ average share of 4.3 percent.

Although it is home to some of the world’s leading Internet nations—such as the U.K., the Nordic countries, and the Netherlands—the EU-27 as a whole trailed the average of developed markets at 3.8 percent and only slightly exceeded the emerging markets average of 3.6 percent.

BCG projects significant shifts, however. By 2016 the Internet economy in the EU-27 and India will leapfrog into fourth and fifth place, respectively. Japan and the U.S. will grow more slowly and drop to sixth and seventh, respectively.

“The Internet economy offers one of the world’s few unfettered growth stories,” said Dean. “Policymakers often cite GDP growth rates of around 10 percent per year in the developing markets, but they look past similar, or even higher, rates close to home.”

Get more information from the Boston Consulting Group!

THE KEY TO ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS

To Be a Better Entrepreneur, Look to the Past

Sure, all entrepreneurs look to the future – but I’ve learned that the best ones don’t overlook the past.

As entrepreneurs, we are obsessed with the future. We question established objects, processes, and products. Then we think about how we can reinvent them. We push boundaries, disrupt industries, and build the future. This entrepreneurial obsession drives us forward, but to be better designers of the future.

But we cannot forget to look to the past. In fact, sometimes we get so involved in changing things, that we fail to stand on the shoulders of the giants that came before us.

Think about print media, for example. While it may seem today to be a dying medium, it took hundreds of years to evolve news and information into something that could be easily accessed and immediately understood. Once the Web exploded, online media companies jumped at the opportunity to push the limits of design. But look at what’s happening today. Many news sites are returning to the fundamentals, looking more and more like their physical predecessors. Flipboard, for example, became hugely successful—and it simply mimicks the layout and feel of a print magazine.

Think about medicine. Cutting edge tools and technologies are constantly being invented to help improve health care, but in the process we’re leaving behind effective medical practices that have nothing to do with technology at all. In Abraham Verghese’s TED talk, he argues that the most important innovation for medicine in the next 10 years will be human touch. New technologies are increasing the gap between people, and this can be detrimental to human health.

Think about Apple products. They look different and futuristic, but their design is deeply rooted in Dieter Rams’s more than 20-year-old 10 principles of design, which assert that “good design is as little design as possible.” Apple creates products that look totally new, but every detail is based off of something that’s familiar, from folders, to thoughtful typography, to the “desktop.”

Continue reading this article at INC.com after the break!

Catalyst Helps Store Hydrogen In Liquid Form for Simple, Safe Future Fuel Use

By Rebecca Boyle

Hydrogen Storage System This diagram shows the new catalyst in its protonated and deprotonated states. It converts hydrogen and CO2 gas to and from liquid formate or formic acid at ambient temperature and pressure. The gases can thereby be stored and transported as a liquid, and used later as a carbon-neutral energy source, simply by adjusting the pH. Brookhaven National Laboratory

A future powered by hydrogen fuel, whose only byproduct is water, has long been an eco-friendly dream too difficult to realize. Storing and transporting hydrogen can be difficult and dangerous, and hydrogen production methods can also produce unwanted carbon dioxide. A new catalyst promises to solve these problems, using CO₂ and hydrogen to store energy in liquid form. The only thing you need to worry about is pH.

It’s the first catalyst to combine hydrogen and CO₂ at room temperature and pressure, using water as the liquefying solution. As such, it could use existing fuel infrastructure built for the liquid hydrocarbons we have been using since the dawn of the combustion engine.

In basic (as in alkaline) conditions, the catalyst converts hydrogen and CO₂ into formic acid, a promising hydrogen-storage fluid that is safer to handle and transport than cryogenically stored dihydrogen. If you flip the pH switch to acidic, the resulting redox reaction frees the hydrogen from its carbon bonds, allowing you to grab and use the hydrogen for use in a fuel cell.

Scientists from Brookhaven National Laboratoryand the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan worked with iridium-based catalysts with specific types of ligands, which are clusters of atoms surrounding the central metal atom. These ligands improve the catalyst’s ability to release protons. The researchers say they drew inspiration from nature’s catalysts — enzymes — and the way they move protons and electrons around inside biological molecules.

Under the right conditions, the iridium catalyst helps hydrogen react with CO₂. The research team figured out the atomic structure of the catalyst to see exactly how it promotes this reaction. It worked extremely well, they say — they converted a 1:1 mixture of dihydrogen (the form you would want to use in a hydrogen fuel cell) and CO₂ to formate, a form of formic acid, at room temperature. Then they increased the pH of the solution, and were able to regenerate the H2 at high pressure. There were no unwanted byproducts like carbon monoxide, the researchers say.

The paper was published online Sunday in Nature Chemistry.