--- Day changed Fri May 01 2009 00:18 < genehacker> hey do you know how we can get flourescenet labeled bases 00:18 < genehacker> because if we can we can make a DNA sequencer using a microfluidic chip 00:31 < kanzure-> fluorophores.org 00:31 < kanzure-> pyrosequencing, you mean? 00:33 < genehacker> you look at the DNA under a microscope as it passes through the channel 00:33 < kanzure-> based off of the color? 00:33 < genehacker> yeah 00:33 < kanzure-> there's a company that makes tags for different amino acid sequences 00:33 < kanzure-> but the problem is that it is still experimental 00:39 < genehacker> yeah 00:39 < genehacker> did you hear about this one company that has made tags for all 4096 combinations of 6 letter DNA 00:42 < genehacker> also you might want to check out pressure driven microfluidics in the library 00:46 < kanzure-> but how do you establish a pressure without big pumps 00:46 < kanzure-> I guess you can do a twisting screw pressure system 00:46 < kanzure-> but then you need a mechanism to twist/untwist the screw 00:56 < genehacker> there's a book on that in the engineering library 00:56 < genehacker> concerned with the design of micropumps, microvalves, and other microfluidic stuff 01:05 < genehacker> so I'm wondering about thinking about visualizing DNA as images 01:06 < genehacker> each pixel of the image would be one of 4 different colors 01:11 < genehacker> http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/ugrad/387/388s06/film_deposition/Musgraves05.pdf 01:11 < genehacker> :) 01:13 -!- any40932005 is now known as katsmeow 01:18 < genehacker> microscope + projector= maskless litho machine 01:18 < genehacker> and guess what? 01:18 < genehacker> DLP projectors have a uv filter 01:18 < genehacker> you know what that means! 01:21 < kanzure-> didn't fenn suggest using a projector a few weeks ago? 01:27 < genehacker> not only that but projectors use mercury lamps!! 01:28 < genehacker> that's exactly what we need 02:10 < kanzure-> genehacker: did you see the spiderman-suit paper? 03:04 < genehacker> yeah 03:04 < genehacker> why 03:04 < genehacker> still reading it 03:05 < genehacker> what's the holding force per area? 03:05 < genehacker> IE area a of nanotubes supports how much weight? 03:08 < kanzure-> that's something based off of van der Waals adhesion forcesz 03:09 < genehacker> yeah I know 03:10 < genehacker> but what did they get it? 03:10 < genehacker> or what's a typical value for nanotube based adhesion film 03:14 < genehacker> 100 newtons per square centimeter in the shear direction 03:14 < genehacker> not bad 03:16 < genehacker> for a 300 lb person this means an area of 13 cm is required to support them while climbing(not hanging from ceiling) 03:17 < genehacker> cm^2 03:18 < genehacker> so about a 4 cm side square of this stuff could support you 03:18 < genehacker> if you didn't hang from the ceiling 03:20 < genehacker> that's about the area of your hand 03:20 < genehacker> hmmm... 03:21 < kanzure-> in the gecko, the feet pads "peel back" to disconnect, but if you are using your hand, I don't think you could "peel" your hand off like that. your hand doesn't *bend* that way. 03:22 < genehacker> to hang from the ceiling you need 133 square centimeters 03:22 < genehacker> that works out to a square 12 cm squared 03:22 < genehacker> not bad 03:23 < genehacker> so something about the size of a glove could hold you up with one hand 03:24 < genehacker> this is with a low safety factor though 03:24 < genehacker> so increase the area a bit 03:25 < genehacker> wonder what the safety factor of climbing rope is? 03:27 < genehacker> hmmmm... something about the size of a silicon wafer should do 03:29 < genehacker> how do you make hierachially branched nanotubes 03:33 < kanzure-> is that what you need? 03:33 < kanzure-> I thought you just need a CNT forest of some sort 03:34 < kanzure-> hrm. Random file I just found. "How to make a BOM with GNU make.html" 03:34 < genehacker> yeah 03:34 < genehacker> or something like that 03:34 < kanzure-> so you're effectively asking how to make CNTs? :p 03:35 < kanzure-> http://heybryan.org/books/papers/2009-03-21_CNTs.zip 03:35 < genehacker> so if we coat about 4 wafers of some sort of flexible material with these nanotubes 03:35 < genehacker> then we could scale RLM 03:35 < kanzure-> RLM? 03:36 < genehacker> the big building near the engineering buildings 03:36 < kanzure-> oh. the building. 03:36 < genehacker> tallest building on campus 03:36 < genehacker> the one with the telescope on top and the petawatt laser in the basement 03:49 < kanzure-> real-time dynamic prediction, visualization and modulation of human brain gene expression via 3D laser-targeted gene silencing 03:49 < genehacker> interesting 03:49 < kanzure-> sorry, doesn't exist yet :) 03:50 < genehacker> ah man 03:50 < genehacker> why do you want to manipulate gene expression in brain cells? 03:50 < kanzure-> brain augmentation 03:50 < genehacker> oh 03:51 < genehacker> have you figured out what you need to augment? 03:51 < kanzure-> I think it might be possible to make it possible to "flip a switch" to change states of mind 03:51 < kanzure-> for instance, if you record the expression of mRNA responsible for "holy shit my most brilliant moment", or something, 03:51 < kanzure-> or "holy shit, I feel great" or "holy shit, this feels piss-terrible" 03:52 < kanzure-> then you could tweak things more to those states 03:52 < kanzure-> there have been studies of gene expression in parts of the human cortex, but not anything about real-time stuff. 03:52 < kanzure-> although there has been some implant studies or something 03:53 < kanzure-> where different mRNA samples are taken at different times 03:53 < kanzure-> it's a microdialysis machine. er, that's not the right name, but it's kinda like that 03:53 < kanzure-> anyway, it's not very portable 03:53 < genehacker> how do you record the RNA responsible 03:54 < kanzure-> tiny micropipette 03:54 < genehacker> hmmmm... there was something in that microfluidics book I read today about microfluidic neural interfacing 03:54 < kanzure-> wow I don't have any papers on this? wtf 03:54 < genehacker> or something like that 03:54 < genehacker> it involved needles 03:55 < kanzure-> right 03:55 < kanzure-> it's like patch-clamp 03:57 < genehacker> http://books.google.com/books?id=WZDOAAAACAAJ&source=gbs_ViewAPI 03:57 < genehacker> argh 03:57 < kanzure-> Following whole-cell patch-clamp recording, mRNA can be harvested from living cells by aspirating the cytoplasm into the patch-clamp pipette. Transcripts expressed in the recorded neuron can then be amplified by RT-PCR. 03:57 < genehacker> that's teh book I read 03:57 < genehacker> damn not available online 03:58 < genehacker> oops wrong book 03:58 < genehacker> i think 03:59 < genehacker> http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3Db0BTNNlzc9QC%26pg%3DRA1-PA207%26lpg%3DRA1-PA207%26dq%3Dmicrofluidic%2Bexternal%2Bflow%2Bcontrol%26source%3Dbl%26ots%3DRvzlk7FR8r%26sig%3DLZMLWjaDsUVlyJJs-yanhFob8bE%26hl%3Den%26ei%3DVHP6SZOwHKKatAPis-jhAQ%26sa%3DX%26oi%3Dbook_result%26ct%3Dresult%26resnum%3D1&ei=VHP6SZOwHKKatAPis-jhAQ&usg=AFQjCNG 03:59 < genehacker> YkonrKl7Sr77mtCtBKpRzlF8fxQ&sig2=y80gA-EnkVyORd04Fav5lw 03:59 < genehacker> woo internet 04:01 < genehacker> they don't have the whole thing? 04:05 < kanzure-> "RNAi-Induced Gene Silencing by Local Electroporation in Targeting Brain Region" 04:05 < kanzure-> sounds like a bad idea 04:05 < kanzure-> they were doing it to V1 04:06 < genehacker> V1? 04:08 < kanzure-> visual area V1 04:09 < genehacker> in humans? 04:12 < kanzure-> rtats 04:12 < kanzure-> rats 04:13 < genehacker> ok 04:23 < fenn_> i really doubt brain gene expression has any effect on how you feel 04:23 -!- fenn_ is now known as fenn 04:30 < kanzure-> er, regulation of neurotransmitter production? 04:32 < kanzure-> they aren't coming from nowhere 04:45 -!- katsmeow is now known as katsmeow-afk 04:46 < kanzure-> although the point isn't really feeling-modulation 04:46 < kanzure-> but if you can't tell that something is different, what's thep oint? 04:46 < kanzure-> *point 04:52 < fenn> there could be objective differences even if not any subjective differences 07:14 -!- fenn_ is now known as fenn 07:40 < fenn> "Scientists from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands harnessed energy from the wind by flying a 10-sq metre kite tethered to a generator, producing 10 kilowatts of power." 07:40 < fenn> 1kW/square meter of 'stuff' is pretty damn good by any measure 07:41 < fenn> that's better than orbital monocrystalline solar panels 07:46 < faceface> fenn: that sounds awesome 07:46 < faceface> linky? 07:49 < fenn> sorry i closed the window; guardian fluff article 07:49 < fenn> see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laddermill 07:49 < fenn> http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/03/renewableenergy.energy 07:53 < genehacker> yeah 07:54 < genehacker> it is have you seen the ted talk on kite power 07:55 < genehacker> wait a second 100 megawatts? 07:55 < genehacker> how big? 07:55 < genehacker> and how much? 07:56 < genehacker> 480 megawatts is about how much a decent sized powerplant puts out 07:57 < fenn> tu delft webpage on laddermill leaves much to be desired 07:57 < fenn> the movie doesn't even show it working, just a pan/orbit shot around the scene 07:58 < genehacker> well ted talk about kite power shows a video 07:58 < genehacker> worked on a windy california coast though 07:58 < fenn> yes, that's makani 08:00 < fenn> gosh.. they have video from an airplane of their stupid kite 08:02 < genehacker> so what are the specs on the ladder mill? 08:02 < fenn> omg wind tunnel testing of a kite? 08:04 < genehacker> it's true 08:04 < genehacker> they do that 08:04 < genehacker> so don't winds continously blow above some height? 08:05 < fenn> yes, more or less 08:05 < fenn> it's like 95% 08:06 < genehacker> oh yeah the jetstream 08:06 < genehacker> what do you mean 95% 08:07 < faceface> can we make a space ladder? 08:07 < genehacker> yeah sure 08:07 < genehacker> 100 megawatts they say 08:07 < faceface> electricity for 100,000 homes - I heard a physicist who was angry about that term 08:08 < genehacker> hmmm... 08:08 < genehacker> my thermo professor doesn't like that term either 08:08 < faceface> 'homes' - a very misleading unit 08:09 < faceface> so the blades of a regular wind turbine are in the air? or teh electricity is generated by the tug? 08:09 * faceface checks wiki 08:11 < faceface> yeah, that movie was seeming to suggest that you would haul up blades ... my mistake 08:11 < genehacker> they're in the air 08:11 < faceface> kites 08:17 < genehacker> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vestasturbine.jpg 08:17 < genehacker> you see this wind turbine? 08:18 < genehacker> it only puts out 660 kw 08:18 < genehacker> and was very expensive 08:20 < fenn> there is lots of stupidity in the renewable energy field 08:21 < fenn> faceface: the kites just pull on that rope which turns a winch 08:22 < faceface> fenn: right 08:22 < faceface> how much would the rope cost to get to the really fast winds? 08:23 < genehacker> so I wonder what you do about atmospheric turbulence 08:23 < genehacker> what happens when your kites fly into a storm cloud 08:23 < faceface> DON'T CROSS THE BEAMS! 08:23 < faceface> what happens when you hit one in a plane? 08:24 < genehacker> you don't 08:24 < faceface> good idea 08:24 < genehacker> you don't fly planes near it 08:24 < faceface> but I got the impression they would be well above storm clouds 08:24 < genehacker> or you have some weird system that flys the kite away from planes 08:25 < genehacker> no 08:26 < faceface> wut altitude? 08:26 < faceface> wut roap for dat? 08:26 < genehacker> steel cable 08:26 < faceface> how high can you go with that? 08:26 < genehacker> dunno 08:26 < genehacker> use google 08:27 < faceface> think for myself? you you insane? 08:34 < fenn> steel would weigh too much 08:35 < fenn> you want something like dyneema/spectra 08:35 < fenn> high specific tensile strength 08:35 < fenn> of course the idea is to do it reasonably cheaply, so perhaps "normal" materials like kevlar or nylon would be suitable 08:36 < fenn> faceface: there's another version called 'flying windmill' that is basically a tethered electric helicopter driven in reverse 08:37 < fenn> http://www.skywindpower.com/ 08:40 < faceface> does the sun produce much in the way of microwaves? 08:44 < fenn> um, good question 08:44 < fenn> what do you mean 'much'? 08:45 < fenn> as a portion of total power output? 08:49 < fenn> i think the sun only produces microwave as a result of 'churning' in coronal mass ejections 08:49 < fenn> so, that is to say, not very much 08:49 < faceface> no, just enough to focus into some kind of dynamical plama-hydrodynamic structure 08:49 < fenn> less than radio, and far far less than infrared 08:50 < fenn> what are you writing a sci-fi novel now? 08:50 < faceface> ;-) 08:50 < faceface> probably 08:50 < faceface> but plasma absorbs microwaves... I guess you can't get a plasma in a vacuum 08:50 < fenn> i suggested to my mom for one of her novels in which the sun was 'alive' and conscious and communicating to earthlings via maser-induced acoustic hallucinations 08:51 < faceface> cool 08:51 < faceface> azimov wrote something similar 08:51 < fenn> dunno if she ever got around to writing it 08:51 < faceface> ;-) 08:51 < fenn> asimov wrote about everything and butchered half of it 08:51 < faceface> hehe 08:51 < fenn> btw the sun is 99% plasma 08:52 < faceface> fenn: but it has some mass to hold it in once place 08:52 < fenn> if it werent plasma it couldnt emit microwaves or radio 08:52 < faceface> one 08:52 < faceface> I'm thinking of an orbital generator 08:52 < fenn> orbiting what? earth? 08:52 < faceface> yeah, or some remote planet 08:52 < fenn> and capturing microwave radiation? 08:53 < faceface> generating electricity from microwaves 08:53 < fenn> i think you've got it somewhat backwards 08:53 < faceface> ;-) 08:53 < fenn> all the solar power proposals from the 70's were based on capturing visible to ultraviolet light, converting to electricity and then beam via phased array to a huge microwave receiver on earth 08:54 < faceface> right 08:54 < faceface> as asimov wrote 08:54 < fenn> oh shut up about asimov 08:54 < faceface> lol 08:55 < faceface> but I was thinking that plasma-magnetodynamics would be one way to convert light to electrical curent 08:55 < fenn> if i ever build a time machine i'm so going to assassinate reagan 08:55 * faceface makes a mental note - don't support fenn tachion research 08:56 < fenn> no, plasma doesn't have the bandwidth to absorb light energy 08:56 < faceface> I read about tachions first in a book by azi...never mind 08:56 < faceface> fenn: right, it absorbes microwaves 08:56 < fenn> i'd like to make a distinction here between 'light' and 'microwave' so as to retain some clarity of communication 08:57 < fenn> 'light' being something you can see 08:57 < faceface> fenn: isn't it all electro magnetic radiation? /me checks his useless physics 08:57 < fenn> sure but so is everything 08:57 < fenn> e = mc^2 = h*lambda 08:57 < faceface> smarty pants 08:58 < fenn> lies! 08:58 < faceface> I'm talking about a magnetic field entangled with an electric one that propagates though space at top speed 08:59 < fenn> you were talking about a plasma rectenna 08:59 < fenn> or susceptor 08:59 < faceface> erm... not sure really... hence 'probably sci-fi' 09:00 < fenn> hint: metals have much higher conductivity at realistic temperatures and pressures 09:01 < faceface> I think they're doing it wrong 09:01 < fenn> you know, a light sail kite generator would actually be pretty efficient in terms of mass to power ratio 09:01 < faceface> you don't apply the magnetic field, you guide the one that the plasma generates spontainiously 09:02 < faceface> thats why I wonder about the cost of rope 09:02 < fenn> well, what is 'cost' anywya 09:02 < fenn> i mean, anything in orbit costs more than its weight in gold 09:03 * faceface prices himself in raw material terms 09:03 < fenn> so does it make sense to drop that platinum asteroid into the outback or not? 09:03 * faceface goes off to sell a kidney 09:03 < fenn> well, you'd weigh less :P 09:03 < faceface> you can grow multiple kidneys 09:03 < faceface> some people 09:03 < faceface> I mean like 4 09:04 < faceface> anyway, nice talking to you 09:04 < fenn> hrmph 09:05 < faceface> boosh! 09:33 < genehacker> faceface read this: 09:33 < genehacker> http://www.prometheus2.net/ 09:33 < faceface> ty 09:33 < genehacker> if you are into plasma 09:33 < genehacker> or any alexander bolonkin paper on arxiv 09:34 < faceface> tyty 09:34 < faceface> I'd like to run some plasmamagnitodynmics simulations 09:42 < faceface> "compound plasma configuration" - sounds cool 09:44 < faceface> genehacker: awesome 09:44 < genehacker> plasma that supposedly can support aneutronic fusion 09:45 < faceface> wutsz that? 09:45 < genehacker> fusion without the nasty neutrons 09:45 < faceface> I'm really bad a parsing words like that 09:46 < genehacker> you also extract energy from the plasma by bouncing it through a coil of wire at 60 hz 09:46 < faceface> aneu-tronic 09:46 < faceface> right 09:46 < genehacker> passing it through a coil removes some of the internal energy of the plasma 09:46 < faceface> just the kind of thing I was thinking 09:46 < faceface> (only naturally I didn't have any details in mind) 09:47 < fenn> gene are there places on campus to fly kites? 09:47 < faceface> up? 09:47 < fenn> up and around 09:55 < fenn> up, up and away, in my beautiful, beautiful balloon 10:04 < fenn> (for future reference) lyrics brought to you care of the prodigy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvmGbkYDWz4 10:08 < genehacker> no not really 10:09 < genehacker> unless you go to the top of some buildings 10:10 < genehacker> 2.3382 × 1013 joules 10:10 < genehacker> 2.3382 × 10^13 joules per meter 10:10 < genehacker> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_air_energy_storage 10:11 < genehacker> putting compressed air into bags at 1970 ft below water 10:12 < fenn> per meter what 10:14 < fenn> 1m^3*gravity*1g/cc*1970ft = 5.88MJ 10:17 < genehacker> per meter cubed 10:17 < fenn> sry u r wrong 10:17 < genehacker> your displacing water so you have to take that into account 10:18 < fenn> dude, that's 10 terajoules 10:18 < fenn> that's like a supernova or something 10:18 < fenn> 23 terajoules 10:19 < fenn> heh supernova = 10^46 J 10:20 < genehacker> terajoules what now? 10:20 < fenn> 2.3382 × 10^13 joules = 23.382TJ 10:20 < genehacker> whoa 10:21 < fenn> UNITS 10:21 < genehacker> 6950 megawatt hours per cubic meters is what they said 10:23 < genehacker> 6945 excuseme 10:23 < fenn> again cubic meters of what.. air changes volume as it is compressed 10:23 < genehacker> air 10:23 < fenn> god dammit read what i said 10:23 < genehacker> exactly 10:23 < fenn> is it compressed volume or expanded volume? 10:23 < fenn> not like it fucking matters since the numbers are so totally wrong anyway 10:24 < genehacker> air at 866 psi 10:25 < fenn> whatever dude. do the math yourself if it really matters 10:25 < genehacker> calculate energy it takes to life a column of water 1970ft deep 1 meter in diameter 1 meter 10:26 < fenn> 1 meter in diameter by 1 meter cylinder is not 1 cubic meter 10:27 < fenn> it's 0.785... m^3 10:29 < genehacker> column is 600 meters high* 1 meter sq diameter*1027 kg/m3 saltwater(of course you're gonna have weird salinity depth changes but I'm not taking that into account) *9.8*1 10:30 < fenn> gravity*1m*pi*(0.5m)^2*1970ft*1g/cc = 4.62MJ 10:30 < genehacker> =6038760 joules 10:30 < genehacker> huh 10:30 < fenn> you keep changing the numbers around, stop it 10:30 < genehacker> maybe they are? 10:32 < fenn> square diameter.. that's a new one :) 10:32 < genehacker> doesn't matter 10:32 < genehacker> it's in meters squared 10:33 < fenn> why are you suddenly interested in compressed air storage anyway? 10:34 < genehacker> kites might have trouble in storms 10:34 < fenn> certainly 10:34 < genehacker> 23 TJ per cubic meter would be cool 10:34 < fenn> yes but unfortunately those numbers are wrong, remember? 10:34 < genehacker> I guess 10:35 < genehacker> maybe there is some factor I'm not taking into account 10:35 < fenn> you just calculated it yourself and got 6MJ/m^3 10:36 < genehacker> the bags are cone shaped 10:36 < fenn> "the Mariana Trench is 11033 meters" -> 0.111TJ/m^3 10:37 < fenn> so it aint gonna happen on earth 10:37 < fenn> and anyway, its not like you can release all that energy instantly 10:37 < fenn> you have to let it rise to the surface in order to expand 10:37 < fenn> or else have some super crush resistant shell 10:39 < fenn> one problem you might not be aware of is that air heats up as it is compressed 10:39 < fenn> so you have to thermally insulate your air tank or else you lose all that energy 10:39 < genehacker> http://en.wordpress.com/tag/seamus-garvey/ 10:39 < genehacker> here's his blog 10:40 < fenn> aw man a professor 10:40 < fenn> ok point me to the numbers 10:41 < genehacker> bags are cone shaped 10:41 < genehacker> 50 meters wide min 10:41 < genehacker> 80 meters wide max 10:42 < genehacker> cone has top cut off 10:42 < fenn> why does robert kyriades have seamus garvey's picture? 10:42 < fenn> +kakaka 10:43 * fenn grumbles about stupid blogs and lazy engineers and goes to read a nice science fiction book 10:49 < faceface> A single-molecule method for sequencing DNA that does not require fluorescent labelling could reduce costs and increase sequencing speeds. An exonuclease enzyme might be used to cleave individual nucleotide molecules from the DNA, and when coupled to an appropriate detection system, these nucleotides could be identified in the correct... 10:49 < faceface> http://seqanswers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1281 11:04 < genehacker> yup 11:04 < genehacker> wikipedia is wrong 11:05 < genehacker> At a depth of around 600 meters, Professor Garvey calculates that the bags would be able to store 25 megajoules of energy for every meter cubed 11:06 < genehacker> close to the energy density of gasoline 11:06 < genehacker> per liter 11:07 < fenn> there, fixed. 11:07 < fenn> garvey is still off by a factor of 5 11:08 < genehacker> factor of 5? 11:08 < fenn> factor of 4.25 11:08 < fenn> 25/5.88 11:08 < fenn> where do you see that quote 11:09 < genehacker> oh 11:09 < genehacker> I see what they did 11:09 < genehacker> damn those brits 11:10 < fenn> were they using 'british meters'? 11:10 < genehacker> http://www.sustdev.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2479&Itemid=35 11:11 < genehacker> no 6,450 Megawatt hours british 11:11 < genehacker> is really 6.450 megawatt hours american 11:11 < genehacker> comma is decimal in europe 11:11 < genehacker> meme rot 11:11 < fenn> it's still totally bogus 11:12 < genehacker> so what can store energy in terajoules 11:12 < genehacker> per m3 11:12 < fenn> um, gasoline apparently 11:13 < fenn> 1.3 × 108 J/gallon = 0.03TJ/m^3 11:13 < fenn> ok not quite 11:15 < genehacker> (1 terajoule) per (cubic meter) = 1 000 000 000 000 pascals 11:15 < genehacker> ??? 11:17 < genehacker> young's modulus of carbon nanotubes 1 terapascal 11:18 < fenn> antimatter, unrealistic superconductors, black hole energy storage, relativistic thingamabobs 11:18 < fenn> fusion, fission, and other non-chemical energy conversion 11:19 < fenn> of course you dont say what shape your 1m^3 volume has to be 11:19 < genehacker> what do you mean by unrealistic superconductors? 11:19 < fenn> i mean realistic superconductors break down after a certain amount of current 11:20 < fenn> metallic hydrogen might do it 11:20 < genehacker> oh really? 11:20 < genehacker> I was thinking the same 11:20 < genehacker> exists at terapascal pressures 11:21 < genehacker> could one even build a container for it? 11:21 < fenn> meta-helium 11:21 < genehacker> hmmm 11:22 < fenn> what about your bolonkin tubes 11:24 < fenn> a cubic meter of tungsten in orbit around earth would have 0.95TJ kinetic energy 11:24 < genehacker> nuclear isomers 11:24 < genehacker> yeah that 11:24 < genehacker> electrons have to be moving fast in order for super conductance to occur 11:25 < fenn> o rly 11:35 < fenn> the idea of metastable helium is this: 11:35 < fenn> Three helium atoms are aligned in a metastable state. 11:35 < fenn> When it reverts to normal state it releases 0.48 giga joules per kilogram. 11:35 < fenn> only problem is that it tends to decay spontaneously, with a lifetime of a mere 2.3 hours. 11:37 < fenn> N20... not nitrous oxide, but Nitrogen-twenty. Basically a buckeyball composed not of carbon but of nitrogen. The story was that the stuff would hold together, and could contain within the buckeysphere other metastable propellents, but if you taunt the Happy Fun Buckeyball, it would explode and provide all kinds of impulse. 14:41 -!- any07342458 is now known as katsmeow-afk 15:07 < faceface> you guys scan plos one for interest? 15:13 -!- duzt|sleep is now known as duzt 15:17 < wrldpc_> off to the venter lecture 15:17 < wrldpc_> i'll report back 15:17 < wrldpc_> http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/events/2009/crossroads/SCHEDULE_.html 15:58 < kanzure> faceface: http://heybryan.org/books/papers/Rapid%20sequencing%20of%20individual%20DNA%20molecules%20in%20graphene%20nanogaps.pdf 15:59 < kanzure> http://heybryan.org/books/papers/fenn_nanopore_sequencing.png 15:59 < kanzure> http://heybryan.org/books/papers/Cheap%20third-generation%20sequencing%20-%20nanopores%20-%20cyclodextrin%20-%20hemolysin%20-%202009.pdf 15:59 < kanzure> http://heybryan.org/books/papers/Reverse%20DNA%20translocation%20through%20a%20solid-state%20nanopore%20by%20magnetic%20tweezers.pdf 15:59 < faceface> yeah, I knew you had projects or material on this, but that particular paper passed me by 16:14 < fenn> man i never know how to fill out job applications 16:44 < fenn> maybe i should go to goodwill and find some of these mythical LCD monitors to repair 16:54 < kanzure> fenn: what job application are you filling out? 17:00 < fenn> sun harvest, it's a little hippie grocery store close by 17:02 < kanzure> I live right behind sun harvest. 17:02 < kanzure> or, I will be living right behind sun harvest 17:02 < wrldpc> nice 17:03 < kanzure> across the street is harbor freight. don't know how much money I'm going to be wasting there. 17:04 < fenn> i'd recommend not buying anything from harbor freight except perhaps solid lumps of metal 17:04 < fenn> their hammers are great :) 17:05 < fenn> every once in a while you'll get a good tool, but overall it's a net loss 17:27 < wrldpc> lol 17:27 < wrldpc> is it the quality of the tools is lacking? 17:27 < wrldpc> i don't know how you could really buy a bad screwdriver 17:30 < fenn> obviously he's never bought a bad screwdriver before 17:34 < fenn> kanzure: do you want to share a room at the shop? 17:34 < fenn> the fabratory 17:38 < kanzure> probably 17:41 < kanzure> yes, on the condition that we get an internet connection there. 18:17 -!- any93479388 is now known as katsmeow-afk 21:28 -!- duzt|sleep is now known as duzt 21:30 < kanzure-> go back to sleep 22:04 < kanzure> uh 22:04 < kanzure> does anyone have "Biology Complete" ? 22:29 < xp_prg> http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8718 22:33 < kanzure-> http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16124-solarpowered-sea-slug-harnesses-stolen-plant-genes-.html 22:33 < kanzure-> Solar-powered sea slug harnesses stolen plant genes 22:40 < xp_prg> that is cool! 22:46 < kanzure-> heh, "Targeting gene expression in the wool follicle in transgenic sheep"