Hearing capabilities: curse or gift?

This article from the NYT tells us that one's hearing abilities decrease with time. Nothing new so far :)
But the thing is that what is decreasing is your ability to hear high frequency sounds.
So as for everything, you can use it for good or for bad...
One usage is as described in the article, namely to have your ringing tone using a high frequency sound so the teacher in the class don't hear when you receive an SMS.
The other (the one I called the revenge of the oldies) is to generate loud high frequency sound in order to chase the youngsters partying in your backyard. A bit like chasing the mosquitos away with this PC program.
Here is the link to the MP3 file you can use to test how good your hearing abilities are :)


Posted in: _Sciences , _Society

Air Travel Pollution

Nice report from The Economist about how much planes and air traffic in general contribute to air pollution and global warming.

Little extact:
"Rolls-Royce says the four Trents on the A380 are as clean and efficient as any jet engine, and produce “as much power as 3,500 family cars”. A simple calculation shows that the equivalent of more than six cars is needed to fly each passenger.
Take the calculation further: flying a fully laden A380 is, in terms of energy, like a 14km (nine-mile) queue of traffic on the road below. And that is just one aircraft. In 20 years, Airbus reckons, 1,500 such planes will be in the air. By then, the total number of airliners is expected to have doubled, to 22,000. The super-jumbos alone would be pumping out carbon dioxide (CO2) at the same rate as 5m cars."


Posted in: _Sciences

QOTD

"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."

- Ronald Reagan

Noam Chomsky on Latin America

Report from DemocracyNow.org about Noam Chomsky's views on Latin America's Move Towards "Independence and Integration".

And according to him, the USA is terrified!
Nice little lesson in Geopolitics...


Posted in: _Geopolitics

How to talk to a Global Warming sceptic?

Nice blog entry about Global warming and how to rebut all the point the nay-sayers could come up with :)


Posted in: _Sciences

QOTD

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; In practice, there is."

- Chuck Reid


"A myth is a religion in which no one any longer believes."

- James Feibleman

USA 2004 Election Stolen?

Rollind Stones magazine has a piece on the 2004 US Presidential election .

"Was the 2004 Election Stolen?
Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House. BY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR."


Basically, that Bush won Ohio is an insult to any statistician or journalist alive!
Very interesting reading if you are interested :)


Posted in: _USA , _Democracy