http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8165928.stm Thursday, 23 July 2009 Wireless power system shown off By Jonathan Fildes Technology reporter, BBC News, Oxford Electric tech could make plugs obsolete A system that can deliver power to devices without the need for wires has been shown off at a hi-tech conference. The technique exploits simple physics and can be used to charge a range of electronic devices over many metres. Eric Giler, chief executive of US firm Witricity, showed mobile phones and televisions charging wirelessly at the TED Global conference in Oxford. He said the system could replace the miles of expensive power cables and billions of disposable batteries. "There is something like 40 billion disposable batteries built every year for power that, generally speaking, is used within a few inches or feet of where there is very inexpensive power," he said. Trillions of dollars, he said, had also been invested building an infrastructure of wires "to get power from where it is created to where it is used." "We love this stuff [electricity] so much," he said. Mr Giler showed off a Google G1 phone and an Apple iPhone that could be charged using the system. Witricity, he said, had managed to pack all the necessary components into the body of the G1 phone, but Apple had made that process slightly harder. "They don't make it easy at Apple to get inside their phones so we put a little sleeve on the back," he said. He also showed off a commercially available television using the system. "Imagine you get one of these things and you want to hang it on the wall," he said. "Think about it, you don't want those ugly cords hanging down." Good vibrations The system is based on work by physicist Marin Soljacic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It exploits "resonance", whereby energy transfer is markedly more efficient when a certain frequency is applied. When two objects have the same resonant frequency, they exchange energy strongly without having an effect on other, surrounding objects. For example, it is resonance that can cause a wine glass to explode when a singer hits exactly the right tone. But instead of using acoustic resonance, Witricity's approach exploits the resonance of low frequency electromagnetic waves. The system uses two coils - one plugged into the mains and the other embedded or attached to the gadget. Each coil is carefully engineered with the same resonant frequency. When the main coil is connected to an electricity supply, the magnetic field it produces is resonant with that of with the second coil, allowing "tails" of energy to flow between them. As each "cycle" of energy arrives at the second coil, a voltage begins to build up that can be used to charge the gadget. Mr Giler said the main coil could be embedded in the "ceiling, in the floor, or underneath your desktop". Devices using the system would automatically begin to charge as soon as they were within range, he said. "You'd never have to worry about plugging these things in again." Safety concerns Mr Giler was keen to stress the safety of the equipment during the demonstration. "There's nothing going on - I'm OK," he said walking around a television running on wireless power. The system is able to operate safely because the energy is largely transferred through magnetic fields. "Humans and the vast majority of objects around us are non-magnetic in nature," Professor Soljacic, one of the inventors of the system, told BBC News during a visit to Witricity earlier this year. It is able to do this by exploiting an effect that occurs in a region known as the "far field", the region seen at a distance of more than one wavelength from the device. In this field, a transmitter would emit mixture of magnetic and potentially dangerous electric fields. But, crucially, at a distance of less than one wavelength - the "near field" - it is almost entirely magnetic. Hence, Witricity uses low frequency electromagnetic waves, whose waves are about 30m (100ft) long. Shorter wavelengths would not work. 'Ridiculous technology' Witricity is not the first jump on the concept of wireless electricity. For example, the nineteenth century American inventor Thomas Edison and physicist and engineer Nikola Tesla explored the concept. "In the very early days of electricity before the electric grid was deployed [they] were very interested in developing a scheme to transmit electricity wirelessly over long distances," explained Professor Soljacic. "They couldn't imagine dragging this vast infrastructure of metallic wires across every continent." Tesla even went so far as to build a 29m-high aerial known as Wardenclyffe Tower in New York. "It ran into some financial troubles and that work was never completed," said Professor Soljacic. Today, chip-giant Intel has seized on a similar idea to Witricity's, whilst other companies work on highly directional mechanisms of energy transfer, such as lasers. However, unlike Witricity's work, lasers require an uninterrupted line of sight, and are therefore not good for powering objects around the home. In contrast, Mr Giler said Witricity's approach could be used for a range of applications from laptops and phones to implanted medical devices and electric cars. "Imagine driving in the garage and the car charges itself," he said. He even said he had had interest from a company who proposed to use the system for an "electrically-heated dog bowl". "You go from the sublime to the ridiculous," he said. Ted Global is a conference dedicated to "ideas worth spreading". It runs from the 21 to 24 July in Oxford, UK. HOW WIRELESS POWER WORKS 1. Magnetic coil (Antenna A) is housed in a box and can be set in wall or ceiling. 2. Antenna A, powered by mains, resonates at a specific frequency. 3. Electromagnetic waves transmitted through the air. 4. Second magnetic coil (Antenna B) fitted in laptop/TV etc resonates at same frequency as first coil and absorbs energy. 5. Energy charges the device. *** http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/youre-appointing-who-plea_b_243810.html Jeffrey Smith July 23, 2009 You're Appointing Who? Please Obama, Say It's Not So! The person who may be responsible for more food-related illness and death than anyone in history has just been made the US food safety czar. This is no joke. Here's the back story. When FDA scientists were asked to weigh in on what was to become the most radical and potentially dangerous change in our food supply -- the introduction of genetically modified (GM) foods -- secret documents now reveal that the experts were very concerned. Memo after memo described toxins, new diseases, nutritional deficiencies, and hard-to-detect allergens. They were adamant that the technology carried "serious health hazards," and required careful, long-term research, including human studies, before any genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could be safely released into the food supply. But the biotech industry had rigged the game so that neither science nor scientists would stand in their way. They had placed their own man in charge of FDA policy and he wasn't going to be swayed by feeble arguments related to food safety. No, he was going to do what corporations had done for decades to get past these types of pesky concerns. He was going to lie. Dangerous Food Safety Lies When the FDA was constructing their GMO policy in 1991-2, their scientists were clear that gene-sliced foods were significantly different and could lead to "different risks" than conventional foods. But official policy declared the opposite, claiming that the FDA knew nothing of significant differences, and declared GMOs substantially equivalent. This fiction became the rationale for allowing GM foods on the market without any required safety studies whatsoever! The determination of whether GM foods were safe to eat was placed entirely in the hands of the companies that made them -- companies like Monsanto, which told us that the PCBs, DDT, and Agent Orange were safe. GMOs were rushed onto our plates in 1996. Over the next nine years, multiple chronic illnesses in the US nearly doubled -- from 7% to 13%. Allergy-related emergency room visits doubled between 1997 and 2002 while food allergies, especially among children, skyrocketed. We also witnessed a dramatic rise in asthma, autism, obesity, diabetes, digestive disorders, and certain cancers. In January of this year, Dr. P. M. Bhargava, one of the world's top biologists, told me that after reviewing 600 scientific journals, he concluded that the GM foods in the US are largely responsible for the increase in many serious diseases. In May, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine concluded that animal studies have demonstrated a causal relationship between GM foods and infertility, accelerated aging, dysfunctional insulin regulation, changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system, and immune problems such as asthma, allergies, and inflammation In July, a report by eight international experts determined that the flimsy and superficial evaluations of GMOs by both regulators and GM companies "systematically overlook the side effects" and significantly underestimate "the initial signs of diseases like cancer and diseases of the hormonal, immune, nervous and reproductive systems, among others." The Fox Guarding the Chickens If GMOs are indeed responsible for massive sickness and death, then the individual who oversaw the FDA policy that facilitated their introduction holds a uniquely infamous role in human history. That person is Michael Taylor. He had been Monsanto's attorney before becoming policy chief at the FDA. Soon after, he became Monsanto's vice president and chief lobbyist. This month Michael Taylor became the senior advisor to the commissioner of the FDA. He is now America's food safety czar. What have we done? The Milk Man Cometh While Taylor was at the FDA in the early 90's, he also oversaw the policy regarding Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH/rbST) -- injected into cows to increase milk supply. The milk from injected cows has more pus, more antibiotics, more bovine growth hormone, and most importantly, more insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 is a huge risk factor for common cancers and its high levels in this drugged milk is why so many medical organizations and hospitals have taken stands against rbGH. A former Monsanto scientist told me that when three of his Monsanto colleagues evaluated rbGH safety and discovered the elevated IGF-1 levels, even they refused to drink any more milk -- unless it was organic and therefore untreated. Government scientists from Canada evaluated the FDA's approval of rbGH and concluded that it was a dangerous facade. The drug was banned in Canada, as well as Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. But it was approved in the US while Michael Taylor was in charge. His drugged milk might have caused a significant rise in US cancer rates. Additional published evidence also implicates rbGH in the high rate of fraternal twins in the US. Taylor also determined that milk from injected cows did not require any special labeling. And as a gift to his future employer Monsanto, he wrote a white paper suggesting that if companies ever had the audacity to label their products as not using rbGH, they should also include a disclaimer stating that according to the FDA, there is no difference between milk from treated and untreated cows. Taylor's disclaimer was also a lie. Monsanto's own studies and FDA scientists officially acknowledged differences in the drugged milk. No matter. Monsanto used Taylor's white paper as the basis to successfully sue dairies that labeled their products as rbGH-free. Will Monsanto's Wolff Also Guard the Chickens? As consumers learned that rbGH was dangerous, they refused to buy the milk. To keep their customers, a tidal wave of companies has publicly committed to not use the drug and to label their products as such. Monsanto tried unsuccessfully to convince the FDA and FTC to make it illegal for dairies to make rbGH-free claims, so they went to their special friend in Pennsylvania -- Dennis Wolff. As state secretary of agriculture, Wolff unilaterally declared that labeling products rbGH-free was illegal, and that all such labels must be removed from shelves statewide. This would, of course, eliminate the label from all national brands, as they couldn't afford to create separate packaging for just one state. Fortunately, consumer demand forced Pennsylvania's Governor Ed Rendell to step in and stop Wolff's madness. But Rendell allowed Wolff to take a compromised position that now requires rbGH-free claims to also be accompanied by Taylor's FDA disclaimer on the package. President Obama is considering Dennis Wolff for the top food safety post at the USDA. Yikes! Rumor has it that the reason why Pennsylvania's governor is supporting Wolff's appointment is to get him out of the state -- after he "screwed up so badly" with the rbGH decision. Oh great, governor. Thanks. Ohio Governor Gets Taylor-itus Ohio not only followed Pennsylvania's lead by requiring Taylor's FDA disclaimer on packaging, they went a step further. They declared that dairies must place that disclaimer on the same panel where rbGH-free claims are made, and even dictated the font size. This would force national brands to re-design their labels and may ultimately dissuade them from making rbGH-free claims at all. The Organic Trade Association and the International Dairy Foods Association filed a lawsuit against Ohio. Although they lost the first court battle, upon appeal, the judge ordered a mediation session that takes place today. Thousands of Ohio citizens have flooded Governor Strickland's office with urgent requests to withdraw the states anti-consumer labeling requirements. Perhaps the governor has an ulterior motive for pushing his new rules. If he goes ahead with his labeling plans, he might end up with a top appointment in the Obama administration. To hear what America is saying about GMOs and to add your voice, go to our new non-GMO Facebook Group. Jeffrey M. Smith is the author of Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating and Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods from Chelsea Green Publishing. Smith worked at a GMO detection laboratory, founded the Institute for Responsible Technology, and currently lives in Iowa—surrounded by genetically modified corn and soybeans. For more information, visit Chelsea Green. Follow Jeffrey Smith on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JeffreyMSmith *** http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-23-eco-innovations/ This Week in Placemaking The greenest grocery store, biggest “living wall,” and more eco-innovation 23 Jul 2009 by Katharine Wroth The green-building news is coming so fast and furious it can be hard to delve deeply into each story. So here’s a survey of a few of the shiniest, brand-spankin’-newiest, innovativest projects taking shape: Hannaford Supermarket, Augusta, Maine. This grocery store in the Pine Tree State’s unassuming, working-class capital has earned top honors from the U.S. Green Building Council: LEED Platinum certification. It’s the first supermarket in the country to do so, and the regional chain—which made green headlines in the past for being certified as an organic retailer—hopes it won’t be the last. The Augusta store, which opens Saturday, will serve as a “learning laboratory” for Hannaford’s 168 other Northeast stores. The company expects that its features, including geothermal heating and cooling, natural lighting, and solar panels, will mean it uses half as much energy as a typical store. Coolest feature: Motion-activated refrigerator case lights. Don’t ponder your choice of ice cream too long. ARTIC, Anaheim, Calif. Despite its carefully-considered-but-still-dubious acronym, the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center is a promising development. A high-speed hub for Amtrak, regional trains, buses, taxis, and even connections to Disney’s monorail, the $180 million station will begin construction next year. “We’re getting the critical infrastructure in place where you can actually envison a day in the future where you can reliably get around without a car,” says Todd Osborne, vice president at HOK, the ARTIC-tects (sorry). “I don’t think we’re talking about replacing the automobile, but maybe it’s not every trip.” Coolest feature: The roof’s steel spans will be skinned with a membrane that contracts and expands to control the natural light. PNC Headquarters, Pittsburgh, Penn. You’ve heard of green roofs, but green walls? PNC Financial Services is planning to deck out its headquarters with a bit of vertical green—a 2,380-square-foot “living wall” that will reportedly not only look purty, but cool the building, absorb sound, and provide shade. And be the country’s biggest! The company, which will source the plants for the wall within 500 miles of increasingly green Pittsburgh, is a leader in LEED-certified projects. Coolest feature: Plants! Growing sideways! USGBC Headquarters, Washington, D.C. And finally, as we reported earlier in the week (OK, we didn’t so much report it as stick it in our “Things That Are Funny” section): The U.S. Green Building Council has announced that it awarded itself a platinum rating for its new headquarters. It’s the first platinum to be handed out since the recent LEED revisions were adapted. Coolest feature: Gumwood salvaged from the bottom of the Tennessee River. Also, being able to certify your own building. Comments Katharine Wroth is a senior editor at Grist. *** http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/169107/report_apple_to_save_the_album.html Report: Apple to Save the Album Jonathan Seff, Macworld.com Monday, July 27, 2009 With the iTunes Store, Apple has done perhaps more than about any other company to help propel the proliferation of (legal) music downloads. And in doing so, Apple has also helped hammer the nail in the coffin of traditional CD sales thanks to Apple's simple distribution method and way for users to quickly find and download just the songs they are interested in. Which makes a story in the The Financial Times, reporting that Apple is joining forces with the major record labels to restore the album format, all the more interesting. According to the article, Apple and the four major labels are working to stimulate album download sales "by bundling a new interactive booklet, sleeve notes and other interactive features with music downloads," including photos, lyrics, and video clips. The project--which the Financial Times story attributes to "four people familiar with the situation"--is supposedly called 'Cocktail.' (Perhaps that's what the story's authors plied their sources with to get the information.) The story suggests a September 2009 launch for the project (and, somewhat randomly, maybe alongside the oft-rumored tablet device that AppleInsider was predicting only a few days earlier for an early 2010 launch). Of course, this information comes from the same people who reported that Apple was planning a subscription-based music service, which has yet to see the light of day, so take it with as much salt as you can stomach. The real question is, would this gimmick actually work? Apple already restricts some song sales to album-only purchases (usually based on the songs' lengths) and offers digital liner notes with certain albums as well as album-only exclusive content. That obviously hasn't made people jump back on the album bandwagon. Are people not buying complete albums because they don't have enough incentive to do so, or because much of what makes up an 'album' these days is mostly filler to pad the few good songs a band is able to come up with meet its contractual obligations to the same labels that are purportedly working with Apple? Sure, it would be nice to have lyrics for songs embedded with each track (great for winning bar bets over mondegreens such as "the girl with colitis goes by"), but part of the joy of buying CDs--and records or even cassettes before them--is the tactile delight of thumbing through liner notes after sliding them out of a jewel case. I'm not sure that adding more stuff to a download will really make a huge difference. I'd even go so far as to say that the only real way to spur album downloads is to charge less for them...