February 28, 2016

No Shit -- 78

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-america-made-donald-trump-unstoppable-20160224?page=13

February 28, 2016

The Great Regression

February 28, 2016

WTF--205

February 26, 2016

SOLAR CELLS SO THIN THEY COULD BLOW AWAY

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed an exciting proof of concept of the thinnest, lightest solar cell ever made. The key to developing such a thin and light cell, according to MIT is a unique fabrication method.

Solar cells are typically made up of layers of photovoltaic materials and a substrate, such as glass or plastic. Instead of the usual method of fabricating each layer separately, and then depositing the layers onto the substrate, the MIT researchers made all three parts of their solar cell (the cell, the supportive substrate, and the protective coating) at the same time, a method that cuts down on performance-harming contaminants. In the demonstration, the substrate and coating are made from parylene, which is a flexible polymer, and the component that absorbs light was made from dibutyl phthalate (DBP). The researchers note that the solar cell could be made from a number of material combinations, including perovskite, and it could be added to a variety of surfaces such as fabric or paper.

And so, how thin is the thinnest solar cell, really? Well, it's about 1/50th the thickness of a strand of hair. To demonstrate this extreme, the researchers placed the cell on a soap bubble (which you can see in the image above). But, thin and lightweight might not always be the best, as the one of the study authors, Joel Jean, said in an MIT news release, "if you breathe too hard, you might blow it away."

http://www.popsci.com/mit-researchers-demonstrate-thinnest-solar-cells-yet?src=SOC&dom=tw

February 20, 2016

Your paranoia is obfuscating the truth

be careful who you defend

February 20, 2016

Birth Defects in Brazil - Mosquito or MONSANTO

Source: Reality Sandwich

The microcephaly now reportedly affecting thousands of babies in Brazil, which the media have attributed to the mosquito-borne Zika virus, may not be caused by a virus after all. According to reports from a group of Argentinian doctors called Physicians in Crop-Sprayed Towns (PCST), a chemical called pyriproxyfen — which has been introduced to drinking water in mosquito-ridden areas of Brazil to cause deadly mutations in mosquito larvae — may be the real cause of the birth defect.

In 2014, there were 147 cases of microcephaly reported in Brazil. That year, the Brazilian government began putting the larvicide into drinking water in Pernambuco, the state now reporting 35% of Brazil’s 4000 new microcephaly cases.

The PCST doctors say that previous outbreaks of Zika that infected up to 75% of the population in affected countries did not show a spike in microcephaly cases. PCST (and the New York Times) note that in Colombia, none of more than 3000 pregnant women reported to be infected with the virus has given birth to an infant with microcephaly

Read more: http://realitysandwich.com/319585/birth-defects-in-brazil-mosquito-or-monsanto/