Amazon's Kindle 2

This past Saturday, Apple started selling their WiFi version of the iPad, describe by others as being akin to a large iPhone minus the phone. Along with it came an astounding degree of vitriol, messages pronouncing an upcoming period of doom and gloom, all intermixed with declarations promoting Steve Jobs to sainthood. Then came the inevitable comparisons between it and Amazon’s Kindle, the pros, the cons, why you should buy one and not the other, and  why you’re foolish if you don’t follow what they say.

Let me be blunt. Don’t listen to any of them.

But, come on, you want to know. Is the iPad going to change the world? The simple answer? Nobody knows, and don’t believe those who say they do. Because the only certainty involved with predicting the future is this: Eventually, you’re going to be wrong.

So which, if any, should you buy? If you have money to burn, the answer is easy: Both!

While there is overlap in functionality, such as the ability to read e-books from Amazon.com, each has strengths that simply aren’t met by the other.  For example, the Kindle excels when it comes to reading in broad daylight, at the park, or outdoor seating at a coffee shop. There’s absolutely no glare from any angle, and unlike the iPad, reading improves with more ambient light. Not to mention, the Kindle also works well in dim lighting, but because it does not emit any light of it’s own, it will not operate in the dark.

The Kindle also comes with free 3G wireless access.  Get that? FREE. Granted the browser it comes with is severely limited, but in a crunch, it can call up information from nearly anywhere on the planet, for free.  To get wireless access in the iPad, you’ll either need a WiFi connection, or a paid 3G subscription.

And when it comes to reading, the Kindle does this job very well. It’s very light, as opposed to the 1.5 pound iPad, and it can be easily held with one hand for extended periods of time. Which makes it great for reading on the beach, lying down, you know, relaxing.  And, it helps that the Kindle has access to more premium ebooks than any other ebook store on the planet. Which is important if you want to maximize your chances of getting the latest book from your favorite author.

Apple's iPad

For those who are traveling, these days it helps to pack light. The Kindle wins in this department – with the ability keep it’s charge for two weeks or longer with 3G turned off, one could read several novels over a vacation without worrying about bringing along the USB charging cable.  Yes, the iPad’s 10 hour battery life is impressive, but most good reads take substantially longer!

Having said all that, the iPad is an extraordinary and beautiful machine. To deny that is to deny the obvious. It’s speedy and responsive, well featured, it has an excellent battery, there are many applications and games ready for it, and it’s a cinch to use. So much so it makes one wonder why computers in general aren’t as simple to utilize.  The screen is gorgeous and the interface is very intuitive, it plays HD movies with a breeze, it makes full-page web browsing portable, and you can watch streaming Netflix movies from just about anywhere.  Seriously – what’s not to like?

Oh, and have you checked out the games on the iPad? One word: WOW (and by that, I don’ t mean, World of Warcraft). Just do a search for “iPad games” on YouTube if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

Yes, the iPad does also work as an ebook reader, but that’s not it’s strength.  Instead, it’s strength is in practically everything else.  While it can double as an ebook reader, I wouldn’t use it as a primary one, just as I wouldn’t use my laptop or desktop computer as one. It’s simply not as light and easy to read in daylight. But that’s where the Kindle shines. It’s an awesome ebook reader, perhaps the best around today. But it doesn’t do much else.

Does this mean you should get one vs. the other? Well, I hope it’s obvious from this article that a comparison between the two is like comparing mangos to kiwis – the attempt makes no sense. You’ll have to figure how what your priorities are, how much extra money you have lying around, and spend appropriately. What I wouldn’t do is listen to those who openly mock one device or the other with arguments that don’t relate at all to what these devices can do for you, as only you know that answer to that.

After all, that’s what’s important, right?

USS Mullinnix as it's getting sunk as part of naval tests in August 1992. Photo by USSMullinnix.org.

The path to science discovery and application does not always follow a straight line.  This is one such example.

For years the U.S. Navy has conducted tests of the explosive variety in an effort to make ships stronger and bombs more potent.  I can only assume they’re succeeding in doing a very good job at both.

But since these tests tend to take place over open water, there’s collateral damage of the marine variety.  In particular, dolphins and turtles.

Currently, the U.S. Navy takes measures to ensure that high-valued creatures such as these are a safe distance away from test sites before the bombs go off.  But the nagging question has always been – how far is far enough?

In order to answer that question, the U.S. Navy joined forces with scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.  Together they collected carcasses of turtles and dolphins which died of natural causes, embedded pressure sensors within them, and subjected them to underwater explosions from varying distances.

They found that while pressures of 300 pounds per square inch turned the insides of dolphins to mush, the same could not be said of turtles which recorded some but not significant internal damage.

They suspect the shell’s composition, shape, or some combination thereof helps protects turtles from these otherwise insane pressures.  Maybe it’s how the shell is basically an extension of the turtle’s ribcage.  To answer that question, further research is needed.  And if they find an answer, the hope would be to better improve the effectiveness of body armor and helmets.

You know, just in case you happen to be too close to an exploding ship.

Source: Woods Whole Oceanographic Institution

Technically, this is strictly an engineering story. But since engineering is nothing other than the application of science, in this case, at least physics, aerodynamics, chemistry, and electrodynamics, we thought you wouldn’t complain.

I mean, take a look, it’s beautiful.

In case you haven’t heard, this is a Tesla, a 100% battery operated car. A fast one at that. And if you had the wherewithal to reserve a Tesla and set aside slightly over $100k to burn and eventually own one, at least you wouldn’t also have to worry about burning anything else, that is, in the name of global warming.

Word on the street is, the Tesla is ready for sale. Today. In Los Angeles.

At least the dealership is open, but the waiting list is still at over 400 people. Which means putting your name on the list today guarantees you a car in about a year or two. But with a Lotus Elise frame, carbon fiber paneling, 6000+ lithium ion batteries, a range of over 200 miles and only a couple of ticks above 4 seconds in the 0-60, it sounds like it’s worth the wait.

Sure, you wouldn’t want to go cross country in the Tesla since unlike hybrids it does not have a gasoline engine to recharge the battery. Instead, it’s a plug-in electric, estimated to cost about 2 cents per mile, or $6 to travel 300 miles. Which means if you did want to do some long distance traveling, it may take more than a few well-planned stops. While carrying around a few extension cords.

And as you may imagine, a car so exotic, rare, and green would attract considerable attention. Which is what made watching Jay Leno’s review quite enjoyable (link provided below). For a more detailed and analytical approach, there also Autoblog (again, link below).

Once the Tesla guys invite me for a test drive, I’ll be sure to post my experience here too!

Sources: Jay Leno, Autoblog, Tesla
Photo: Autoblog

Oh, say it ain’t so.

At TinySci, we pride ourselves in our deep skepticism of practically everything. Some say this leads only to apathy while others wonder how we can then be passionate about anything. Well if you’ve had a chance to read a few of our posts, you’ll realize that neither is the case. Rather, the skepticism helps bring about a solid case of objectivity.

Which is what I’m thinking is lacking for those NASA administrators who believe they can create a viable, let alone interesting, massively multiplayer online (MMO) game targeted to the teens of tomorrow.

It’s true. Today NASA released a request for proposal (warning: PDF) detailing what they’d like to see in a NASA-based MMO. These virtual worlds would help youngsters, “repair expensive equipment” or even, “tinker with chemical reactions in living cells”. Because, as we all know, the computer is a much better substitute for a pair of pliers, a microscope, and a petri dish.

There’s no word yet on how much NASA’s willing to shell out to make this happen.

In reality (not virtual), I hope this succeeds. More so, that it’s a NASA home run. Or, even better, NASA will actually generate income from charging monthly subscription fees. Because I have a feeling it’ll be a long while before NASA comes up with the several billion required to send one us to Mars, but at $9.95 per month, it may happen sooner than you think.

Or not.

Photo Mash Up: World of Warcraft, NASA

If you listen to NPR, it’s likely you know of Tom and Ray, the automotive geniuses on Car Talk. They’re staring in a new episode of NOVA this Tuesday appropriately titled, “Car of the Future”.  If you don’t listen to Car Talk, you probably aren’t in TinySci’s demographic, so no worries.

They’re reason #1 to watch TV on Tuesday.

Reason #2 is a bit more subdued, but should be stunning nonetheless.  NASA will be broadcasting images of Earth in HD from the International Space Station.  Just tune in to your NASA channel any time from 6am to 8pm and you’ll be treated to what they say are some fantastic views.  As for the commentary…well…

Subtle Hint: You could mute the TV and instead pipe in some music of your choice.  A mellow jazz or blues album would go nicely.

Sources: NOVA, NASA

One of the major changes is a subtle one for you, but was a major undertaking for us. It involved reconstructing the “interesting pics” page to conform to the content management system in place, rather than be an ordinary static page. You’ll never notice the difference, but it’ll make updating and rotating those pictures a breeze for us.

Also, we’ve added links to the most popular and recent posts. You can dig and find these on your own, but hey, now it’s easier, right?

Finally, to mark the start of a revised look, I dug around for a construction picture in Google. What came up first is what you see. As serendipity would have it, it’s a picture taken during construction of one of the world’s largest synchrotrons.

Don’t worry, I didn’t know what a synchrotron was either.

Turns out a synchrotron is a machine that accelerates electrons at near light-speed, and once there, magnets bend the electrons, producing photons. Or more specifically, ultra-high energy x-rays. In other words, don’t get in the way. Work on this one in the UK, called Diamond was completed last year and a series of interesting scientific discoveries have poured forth.

It seems they have their hand in a variety of science fields, to include virology, biochemistry, engineering, and determining answers to critical unknowns. Like, was Beethoven poisoned?

Hm. Sounds like an interesting topic for a future post.

Source: Diamond

I can’t give you a picture of “Hubble” because this one’s a computer program. But I can give you one of the “black holes” it looks for, because these pertain to the dead spots you probably come across at times while trying to access another computer on the web, say, like TinySci.com.

Hubble in this case is the brainchild of folks at the University of Washington’s Computer Science and Engineering department. It’s been around for just over a year and a half, and has the unenviable job of scouring the Internet for dead spots, sections where the link between any two computers should be active, but for some reason, is not.

The above picture is one from 9:20 PM PST on April 9, 2008. Each marker is a “black hole” where Internet inactivity is mapped and displayed.

How’s this useful? It should help network operators spot areas requiring a fix, or plan for redundant connections for problematic sections. In other words, let’s hope that eventually Hubble puts itself out of a job.

Source: University of Washington 1, 2

It’s previous record was set in 2006 where it walked just over 1/2 a mile, peanuts by comparison. In fact, extrapolated out, in less than a decade Ranger will be giving C3PO a run for his money.

Source: Cornell

In the grand scheme of aviation firsts, I’d rank this as a so-so accomplishment. After all, human-powered aircraft hit the scene almost 30 years ago with the Gossamer Albatross which was ultimately flown over the English Channel. No doubt, requiring nothing more than a couple gallons of water and the 1970′s equivalent of Power Bars. Here are some pics of it in flight.

Still, it would be wrong to detract from the direction Boeing’s taking with this. After all, I doubt the Wright Brothers could have conceived of the 747 during their maiden flight.

Source, Photo: Aviation