www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_zYD3aekbk

This is possibly the most awesome thing I have ever seen!!!

So, it seems that a farm in northern Ireland has decided to put their cows to work to produce energy. At first glance this seems like a pretty awesome way of reducing the carbon footprint of the farm.  Essentially the cows are put onto a treadmill and act as a “Livestock Power Mill.” According to the calculations of the inventor, if the world’s 1.3 billion cattle were to work out on the treadmills for 8 hours a day, they could produce 6% of the world’s power.

Here’s where the ethics get sketchy.  The device works by putting the cows on a non-powered, inclined belt where, to avoiding slipping down, they have to walk.  This results in the belt turning and the powering of a generator. Apparently one cow = 2 kilowatts. While the logic is somewhat specious, this is not considered cruel because cows normally spend 8 hours a day walking around grazing.  My response that is simply to put it into human context.  Sure, we humans spend 8 hours a day working, but it sure seems cruel and unusual when we do it in a cubicle.

I would like to finish with a simple logic puzzle.  If happy, fat, relaxed cows who get massages and are fed the very best grass produce some of the best beef (e.g., Kobe beef), can I then generalize this to mean that cows who live lives of luxury taste better?  If so, what do grunt labor cows taste like?  Think it over.

Via Popular Science

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS9FgSVKeN4

… and I used to think volcanoes were awesome.

Google is currently developing “cloud printing” for Chrome.  With this in place, you will be able to print to any printer  from any device on the network.  The idea is to take the driver aspect out of printing and make the browser responsible for printing.  It gets more awesome, but you all can read the post.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNoJrIOREeo

So, for some reason, this story evokes memories of the X-Men mutant/cyborg who had tank treads for legs… Marathon Robotics, an Australian firm, has taken Segways and created “human-shaped autonomous robots capable of moving around streets and buildings just like people in a crowd.”  These robots are apparently intended to be used as practice dummies for soldiers on counter-insurgency missions.  I think you all will be particularly amused when the robots run away because another was shot. When all is said and done I am really left with just one question, what’s with the hoods? Do the hoods imply these are terrorist robots? They just look like hipsters on wheels to me.

Sources:

http://singularityhub.com/2010/04/12/video-of-newest-sniper-targets-robots-on-segways/

http://marathonrobotics.com/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXVCf5VTHrw

I suspect a lot of you may disagree with me on this one, but I find this truly spectacular.  This video is half an hour of Natalie Merchant performing songs from her new album, all of which are old poems adapted to song.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABuQot1E51s

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y84XbpDUVxc

I’m not really sure what to say about this other than to say that this is incredibly disturbing and, as it was invented by an academic, says a lot about University life and culture.  Enjoy.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA-tOsM6F4Y