New drilling method opens vast oil fields in US

New drilling method opens vast oil fields in US

Cool on the technology front, but you can rest assured that the environmentalists are going to get all up in arms and prevent this kind of oil field recovery.

Underground Soccer Stadium

This is what you get with lots of oil money, some good engineering and lots and lots of creativity.

Qatar will have the first, open air, air-conditioned stadium. It is already being built and called "the Laptop" and you can see why.

Whoa! Japanese Space Elevator Planned

This is just too cool!

From cyborg housemaids and waterpowered cars to dog translators and rocket boots, Japanese boffins have racked up plenty of near-misses in the quest to turn science fiction into reality.

Now the finest scientific minds of Japan are devoting themselves to cracking the greatest sci-fi vision of all: the space elevator. Man has so far conquered space by painfully and inefficiently blasting himself out of the atmosphere but the 21st century should bring a more leisurely ride to the final frontier.

For chemists, physicists, material scientists, astronauts and dreamers across the globe, the space elevator represents the most tantalising of concepts: cables stronger and lighter than any fibre yet woven, tethered to the ground and disappearing beyond the atmosphere to a satellite docking station in geosynchronous orbit above Earth.

Up and down the 22,000 mile-long (36,000km) cables — or flat ribbons — will run the elevator carriages, themselves requiring huge breakthroughs in engineering to which the biggest Japanese companies and universities have turned their collective attention.

In the carriages, the scientists behind the idea told The Times, could be any number of cargoes. A space elevator could carry people, huge solar-powered generators or even casks of radioactive waste. The point is that breaking free of Earth's gravity will no longer require so much energy — perhaps 100 times less than launching the space shuttle.

“Just like travelling abroad, anyone will be able to ride the elevator into space,” Shuichi Ono, chairman of the Japan Space Elevator Association, said.

The vision has inspired scientists around the world and government organisations including Nasa. Several competing space elevator projects are gathering pace as various groups vie to build practical carriages, tethers and the hundreds of other parts required to carry out the plan. There are prizes offered by space elevator-related scientific organisations for breakthroughs and competitions for the best and fastest design of carriage.

Here is my basic question, it takes a long time to travel 22,000 miles, how fast will these things accelerate and what will be their speed?

Could Plug In Cars Save GM?

With the revelation of the Chevy Volt, maybe, just maybe.

Right now, my morning and afternoon commute is a combined 22 miles. In theory, I could use the Volt and its 40 mile battery range comfortably. With gas approaching $4 a gallon, this would be great. The only thing I haven't seen is price point on the car.

Update: More on Volt here, including a $35,000-$40,000 price tag and expected first year production of 10,000 or so. I would expect the price to go down as more cars are produced, but that is still a steep price for what is a compact car. GM will sell its first production run without any problem, but for a consumer like me, the premium on price is a little steep.

Victor Davis Hanson On Palin

Go read this.

Another Reason to Hate Comcast

The giant internet/cable provider Comcast is set to put a limit on how much people and upload/download per month.

I know I will never come close to 250 gigabytes of activity, but I already pay a pretty penny for the "right" to high speed internet provided by the chuckleheads. Not real happy with this move either.

Cool: Exoskeleton helps paralyzed man walk again.

Too cool for words.

The device, called ReWalk, is the brainchild of engineer Amit Goffer, founder of Argo Medical Technologies, a small Israeli high-tech company.

Something of a mix between the exoskeleton of a crustacean and the suit worn by comic hero Iron Man, ReWalk helps paraplegics -- people paralyzed below the waist -- to stand, walk and climb stairs.

Goffer himself was paralyzed in an accident in 1997 but he cannot use his own invention because he does not have full function of his arms.

The system, which requires crutches to help with balance, consists of motorized leg supports, body sensors and a back pack containing a computerized control box and rechargeable batteries.

The user picks a setting with a remote control wrist band -- stand, sit, walk, descend or climb -- and then leans forward, activating the body sensors and setting the robotic legs in motion.

Human ingenuity at its best.

Does Congress REALLY Back 21st Century Learning?

so asks Bill Ferriter at The Tempered Radical. The short answer is no, they don't. What Congress supports is Congress getting re-elected and in that motivation you see why they are willing to spend $50 million, such a paltry sum, to back a research center to reinvent American Education for the 21st Century. All this proposal is can be summed up by two words, "Electoral Politics." This Congress, like all Congresses, is very poor at pro-active work and proposals. Congressional leaders look at the need to be re-elected every couple of years so they need a "program" aimed at "education" with 21st Century in the title. This way they look like they are doing something, but really aren't. So they do what Congress does best, Public Relations and spending money.


"Reinvent American Education for the 21st Century," what ever that means, is a poorly defined goal. As Bill pointed out, no one, including Congress, can define what 21st Century Learning is and what it entails.

What it does not entail is fancy technology in the classroom. As I just recently said, adding technology to the classroom does not improve education unless you have a solid foundation outside of technology. Technology is, in military terms, a force multiplier. If you don't have the force in the first place, what you end up with, is a picture that looks like this:

21st Century Education= Educational force x Technology.

If Educational Force= 0 (a poor curriculum or poor teachers for example), then your have

21st Century Education= 0 x Technology.

Any math teacher will tell you, if you multiply anything by 0, your result is 0. It won't matter how much you spend on technology if you don't have the foundation of solid pedagogy, strong texts and deep understanding of both learning and subject matter. If you have those, technology can provide a bonus, but it is not a substitute.

Ferriter cited this study by the NEA of teacher attitudes toward technology. Citing some interesting results in which teachers expressed satisfaction with the availability and training on software, Bill asks:

How can we possibly see change when the practitioners closest to the problem seem blind to the need for reform and unready to embrace student-centered learning experiences facilitated by new digital tools?

What many teachers fail to recognize is that 21st Century learning is about far more than cash and computers.

It's about learning, unlearning and relearning. It's about finding connections between diverse subjects. It's about communicating and collaborating---and managing the massive amounts of information generated in a world where publishing is possible for everyone. It's about setting one's own pace and pursuing one's own passions.

Indeed, but don't expect to see any real changes in teh next few years, and you will not be able to attribute any to this new Congressional initiative, assuming it is enacted into law.

When will you see changes, you might ask? When the older generations of teachers are replaced by teachers who understand technology and connections in their own lives, who are facile with the management of information, who can see the link between say soccer and georgraphy. In short, I don't think that you can sit here, at the relative dawn of the 21st Century and say what 21st Century education will be. Such hubris is sure to be properly rewarded.

My fear for this Congressional intiative is that it will be a $50 million boondoggle, incapable of actually finding something new, of pushing the envelope and worst of all, become a source of grants and funding for every person out there who thinks they have the silver bullet for education.

If there is one trait I want to see in 21st Century Education it is this: I want our policy leaders to be open. Open to change, open to new ideas, open to the concept that they don't know everything or most of anything, open to the idea that just because it was always done one way, doesn't mean it is the best way or the only way, open to the idea that you don't have to have a Ph.D or Ed.D. to come up with a quality way of educating kids.

Openness, networking and networked solutions (not computer networks) is going to change education, not from the top down, but from the ground up.

GodBlogCon Returns to Vegas

Something is just odd about a Christian blog conference being held in "Sin City."

But still, I think this is good.

Is Technology Going to Finally Change Education?

Steve Lohr in teh New York Times thinks so. But I have to disagree.

As I have said time and again, technology is no substitute for a solid program of anything. Education is not exception. Sure, technology is cheaper, it is more prevalent in schools, opportunities for students to use the technology are growing, but that doesn't mean that technology is going to change education.

Lohr writes:

Yet as a new school year begins, the time may have come to reconsider how large a role technology can play in changing education. There are promising examples, both in the United States and abroad, and they share some characteristics. The ratio of computers to pupils is one to one. Technology isn’t off in a computer lab. Computing is an integral tool in all disciplines, always at the ready.

Web-based education software has matured in the last few years, so that students, teachers and families can be linked through networks. Until recently, computing in the classroom amounted to students doing Internet searches, sending e-mail and mastering word processing, presentation programs and spreadsheets. That’s useful stuff, to be sure, but not something that alters how schools work.

The new Web education networks can open the door to broader changes. Parents become more engaged because they can monitor their children’s attendance, punctuality, homework and performance, and can get tips for helping them at home. Teachers can share methods, lesson plans and online curriculum materials.

In the classroom, the emphasis can shift to project-based learning, a real break with the textbook-and-lecture model of education. In a high school class, a project might begin with a hypothetical letter from the White House that says oil prices are spiking, the economy is faltering and the president’s poll numbers are falling. The assignment would be to devise a new energy policy in two weeks. The shared Web space for the project, for example, would include the White House letter, the sources the students must consult, their work plan and timetable, assignments for each student, the assessment criteria for their grades and, eventually, the paper the team delivers. Oral presentations would be required.

The project-based approach, some educators say, encourages active learning and produces better performance in class and on standardized tests.

Let's break this passage down a little since it has a lot of different moving parts.

Let's talk teachers. Yes, technology has made it easier for teacher to communicate with parents, administrators and other teachers. They can share information, ideas, tips, lesson plans or gripes online. But the questions are simple (1) Do they use these tools and (2) how does this help education? Most importantly, how does this technology "transform" education. All I am seeing is easy in communications.

Let's talk parents. I know that online tools to monitor children are all the rage. But are the use of these tools widespread or just in certainly localities. Also, useage depends on access of the parents to a computer, which they may or may not have at work or home. Finally, back to the main question, how is this "transforming" education?

Project based assignments sound great and sound neat. But is this really transformative? I had projects in school and I certainly didn't have access to the same technology available today. I did it the old fashioned way, the library and books. In this scenario the only difference today is that through the Internet the "library" is bigger and the "books" smaller. So how as technology "transformed education."

The problem of course with the idea of ready and easy access to technology is the belief that the availability and use of such technology is really transformative. Of course it isn't. Lohr's article does not discuss how the technology is transforming education, it only talks about project-based curricula that is now made "easier."

Really, the story is not about technology but about project-based education. I have no doubt that students may be more motivated by projects. But the creation of projects, their assessment and management are not easy to manage for teachers and thus, it is unlikely to be adopted in wholesale fashion, not when teachers have an ever expanding role into areas that arguably should not be theirs, like referrals for social services, preparation for testing (yeah, remember those still have to be taken even in project based learning), as well as the normal, day to day teaching things like maintaining order and using that wonderful technology to communicate with an ever expanding group of "stake-holders."

Yet, at the same time, project based learning, with or without technology, is not for all students. I don't want my first grader to be doing "projects" rather than improving her basic skills in reading, writing and math, learning science or history, engaging art or music or just plain playing outside burning of that six-year-old energy level.

So technology makes project based learning easier, maybe even better. But that is still a very long cry from "transforming" education.

Of course, I love the last sentence of the passage I quoted: "The project-based approach, some educators say, encourages active learning and produces better performance in class and on standardized tests." Love the old standby, "some educators." Which ones and while we are at it show me the data?

Gizmo High

Over the weekend, I saw this in the washington Post talking about the technolust of some school administrators. Teachers at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, VA have taken to calling their school "Gizmo High" for all the technology that is given to them.

Last September, we moved into a new $98 million building in Alexandria, one of the most expensive high schools ever built. Natural light floods the classrooms, and each one is equipped with a ceiling-mounted LCD projector, which transfers anything I can put on my laptop computer -- from poetry readings at the Library of Congress to YouTube interviews with Toni Morrison and other writers -- onto a large screen at the front of the room. Students' behavior seems much improved: A cafeteria that looks like something out of an upscale mall has had a curiously pacifying effect on them, as has the presence of 126 security cameras.

So you'd think T.C. teachers would be ecstatic. But it's just the opposite -- faculty morale is the lowest and cynicism the highest I've seen in years. The problem? What a former Alexandria school superintendent calls "technolust" -- a disorder affecting publicity-obsessed school administrators nationwide that manifests itself in an insatiable need to acquire the latest, fastest, most exotic computer gadgets, whether teachers and students need them or want them. Technolust is in its advanced stages at T.C., where our administrators have made such a fetish of technology that some of my colleagues are referring to us as "Gizmo High."

The problem of course is that some teachers, and not just the older teachers who are as author Patrick Welsh put it "immigrants to the internet world," don't like all the technology. The measure of teacher quality is now how "paperless" their classroom is.

While incorporating technology and technological concepts into classroom teaching should be encouraged, and some teachers are moving in that direction to the extent they can, the conundrum is this: unless the teacher learns how to use the technology to its maximum potential, it can easily become a distraction, or even worse, a drag on teaching.

Some teachers are objecting that the use of computers is hindering the ability to develop relationships with their students and colleagues, even their principal:

Apparently administrators really do believe that computers are the key to building relationships. The human voice and face-to-face contact have been replaced by e-mail and Blackboard, a computer program that allows teachers and students to communicate via the Internet. I've always thought that in some ways schools should be like families, but as one experienced teacher puts it, "We're becoming like a correspondence school where all communication is faceless."

You can walk around T.C. and peer into offices and classrooms and see administrators, guidance counselors and teachers staring at their computers instead of interacting with students. To some, T.C.'s principal of two years seems more comfortable in cyberspace than in face-to-face interaction. His preferred method of communicating with teachers seems to be via e-mail, and some say they think he doesn't know who they are or what they teach.

If the latter sentence is true, then you have a management problem and not a technology problem.

But as for "We're becoming like a correspondence school where all communication is faceless," I think I will have to side with the technologists here. As Bill Ferriter wrote not too long ago:

Many teachers that I meet seem resistant to digital dialogue simply because electronic relationships "don't feel real" to them---and I can't say that I blame them. After all, most of today's teachers have grown up in an era where technology just didn't play a very significant role in one's day to day life---and anytime email constitutes the extent of your digital interactions with others, you're bound to be skeptical about the value of a relationship built online!

But is it possible that those teachers are making judgments about what kinds of relationships are "real" by looking through their own (somewhat tarnished) digital lenses?

Think about it----our students have spent their lives connected. They've sent thousands of instant messages and texts. They have personal web pages and blogs. They play online versions of video games with "partners" thousands of miles away. They spend hours behind a computer screen, plugged into an iPod or talking to someone on their cell phones, don't they? They've got webcams and they're not afraid to use them!

So the fact is that while relationships may not be face to face doesn't make the relationship any less meaningful and the students themselves don't really distinguish between a face to face relationship and a "virtual" relationship.

But we are still left with the question of whether the technolust will actually improve learning? T.C. Williams may or may not provide an answer. But as I have said it in many contexts, technology is no substitute for substance. I have said it when it comes to politics and when it comes to education. Technology is a tool, it is not an end unto itself. If a teacher can be just as effective with a whiteboard and dry erase marker, why should they have to use the latest and greatest technological tool?

German Physicists Claim to have Broken Speed of Light

If true, this could change the way physics is understood.

However, Dr Gunter Nimtz and Dr Alfons Stahlhofen, of the University of Koblenz, say they may have breached a key tenet of that theory.

The pair say they have conducted an experiment in which microwave photons - energetic packets of light - travelled "instantaneously" between a pair of prisms that had been moved up to 3ft apart.

Being able to travel faster than the speed of light would lead to a wide variety of bizarre consequences.

For instance, an astronaut moving faster than it would theoretically arrive at a destination before leaving.

The scientists were investigating a phenomenon called quantum tunnelling, which allows sub-atomic particles to break apparently unbreakable laws.

Wow!

Now comes the effort to replicate the experiment and verify their findings.

College Freshmen Aided and Hamptered by Technology

Is there era of intense connections between college roommates coming to an end? While communications technologies like text messages, Facebook, and the prevelance of cellphones will make communication easier for freshmen and their new roommates, some worry warts fear that those same technologies will provide a connection to past friends from high school, a sort of high tech crutch that will erect even more barriers to "fitting in at college."

"The transition to college is naturally uncomfortable," says Harlan Cohen, author of "The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College." "Because of technology, you can stay in touch with the people who love you the most, and it has become so easy to use that as a crutch. It's really easy to get caught behind the fifth wall of technology, which isolates students."

For the incoming crop of college students, who can't recall life before the Internet and cellphones, that's a particular trap. Through social networking sites, instant messaging and other forms of e-communication, they'll figure out which roommate is bringing the microwave and whether or not to steer clear of politics. And when times get tough, they'll rest assured that they can call an old friend, text a quick question or even set up a webcam for a date with their hometown honey.

But that, psychologists and college life experts say, may leave them less emotionally available to confront new challenges, test their beliefs or engage in serious introspection -- what college was once thought to be about.

"Too often," Cohen says, "students are physically in one place but emotionally in another."

I will bet that worry warts said the same thing when telephones became prevelant in dorm rooms.

College life is tough, but the "experts" often forget that teenagers are highly adaptive creatures. Today's freshmen will adapt and will make due. They will form life long friendships and they will retain their friendships from high school--isn't that a good thing?

The only things I fear about freshmen in college are the "Freshman Fifteen" weight gain because of poor diet, binge drinking, and poor academic quality and rigor in their studies--pretty much the same thing parents worried about 50 years ago.

Robot Medic: How Cool is This?

DARPA announced that a robot medic will be ready to deploy in 2009. Science fiction come to life!!!

One of the first announcements at this year's three-day DARPATech conference is going to be hard to top: the first portable, self-contained surgical robot will be deployed in the next two years. Brett Giroir, director of the research agency's Defense Sciences Office also announced that the system, called Trauma Pod, has successfully "treated" a mannequin during a test, with no complications.

A single human will operate the robot remotely during surgery, but Trauma Pod will be able to perform a number of functions, such as fluid administration and surgical assistance, autonomously. The goal is to stabilize injured soldiers as quickly as possible, and previous Trauma Pod designs have included related systems that evacuate the patient. Giroir said that a prototype will be delivered to troops within two years.

In the immortal words of Keanu Reeves as Neo: "Whoooaa!"

Via Instapundit.

Althouse on Dexterity

Ann Althouse: on modern electronics (specifically the iPhone) "Isn't it funny that "all thumbs" is now an indication of dexterity?"

House Goes Low-Tech Voting

Computers rule the world--and the House as a computer malfunction today threw the House of Representatives into a frenzy when the voting computer stopped working. On the heels of last nights debacle, the glitch was not welcome:

The House's electronic voting system malfunctioned at approximately 2pm as lawmakers began a vote on a procedural motion sponsored by Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.). Projectors that usually display how each member voted and show a tally of votes were not working, although votes were still being recorded on computers at various locations in the House chamber.

The mishap came during the final two days of legislative activity before a month-long recess, a time when tensions run high as lawmakers grind out last-minute agreements on a bevy of bills. Many lawmakers were already agitated from a rancorous episode last night when Rep. Michael R. McNulty (D-N.Y.) gaveled closed a vote before the tally was clear. McNulty apologized to his colleagues this morning.

The broken computers prompted protracted squabbles among lawmakers Friday afternoon. Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) questioned how they could vote if they were unable to see the usual tally. Lawmakers are accustomed to seeing how their colleagues are voting while they mull their own decision.

Conspiracy theorists will not doubt link the two events, and I must admit, something does smell fishy in the House.

Fortunately, the Clerk's office has a month to make sure the thing is working after the House recesses for the next month in its traditional summer break.

Automotive X-Prize announces 31 competitors for 100mpg challenge - Autoblog

In the same vein as the Space X-Prize spurred the development of a private market for space travel (admittedly in its gestational stages, the X-Prize Foundation is holding a competition with a bit more realistic goal, the development of a commercially viable 100 mile per gallon car. The Automotive X-Prize competition has garnered 31 competitors

The Automotive X-Prize is designed to get engineers thinking outside the box in terms of fuel economy. The goal is to develop a "commercially viable" vehicle that will get at least 100 mpg. How it's done is up to the individual teams, but they have to keep production in mind to be eligible. They even have to show a business plan proving that they can sell at least 10,000 units a year. The competition starts with peer reviews next year, and then the actual vehicle competitions in 2009.

Cool.

Boeing 787 Unveiled

While it is only a roll-out, the plane looks good and I like the idea of composite materials. Here is a video of the plane which will undergo test flights later this year.

The Pitfalls of a Technology Campaign

A piece by Kathleen Parker has been making the round of the top websites, mostly without comment or without lots of comment regarding what Parker doesn't say.

What Parker does say is that we may not really want a President who is so in tune with pop culture that he or she forgets about the rest of the non-plugged in country. Parker also suggests that technology, particuarly the web, will play an important part in the campaign, but not the most important part.

What Parker doesn't say, but certainly implies, is that candidates, all agog with the latest internet craze, cannot forget about good old fashioned, retail politics. Making the connection with voters has probably never been more important, but that connection cannot be over a broadband internet service for most Americans. They still want to see their candidates in teh flesh and they want their candidates to deal with real, flesh and blood issues.

At the end of the week, the Presidential candidates will close out their second quarter fundraising and FEC reports will be due on July 15. One of the things that can be extrapolated from these reports is not about money, but about people and appeal. Sure fundraising is important that the total cash brought in will still remain the horse race of choice amoung the press. But dig a little deeper and you can see something a little more important, how broad the base of support is.

Take for example, the leading two Democrats, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. In their first quarter fundraising, leaving out the $10 million Clinton transferred from her Seante campaign, the two candidates were remarkably close in fundraising. But if you look at some other data, you find that Obama's appeal is a bit more broad based. First, Obama had itemized contributions from individuals totaling 20,399 records, some of which were duplicate people. That is some 25 percent larger than Clinton's 16,190 records.

While I don't know if Obama is a better grassroots campaigner, his organziation seems to be much more grassroots that Clinton's. That, above all other reasons, is why Obama is such a challenge. Even granting that contributors are not necessarily a representative sample of voters, the fact taht Obama is raising smaller amounts of money from fewer people means that his campaign is casting a wider net. Remember, that people who contribute money to a candidate are far more likely to vote for that candidate--they have not only a political interest but now a financial interest in the candidate's success.

The key take away from Parker and from analysis of the FEC reports is that you can't just use technology to win a campaign--politics is still, after all is said and done, about people.

Apple IPhone--Too Much Capability in One Place

The Apple IPhone is set to go on sale soon and lot of people will no doubt buy one. I have seen ads boasting all the cool features of the phone except one very basic feature--its reliability as a phone.

While I can appreciate the handiness of having multiple services and contraptions in one place, I want my cell phone to be reliabble, clear and not drop calls. That is the first and foremost criteria in my phone. Call me a near luddite, but my cell phone does not take pictures, play music, surf the web or any other fucntions we have come to expect in cell phones. Part of it is that I don't need or want to pay for those features. The other is that my cell phone is pretty reliable in terms of calls, so there is no need for fancy new technology.

In related news, oddsmakers have some odds calculations going on.