January 18, 2009

Half-baked recipe advice from the supermarket

Filed under: Food & Drink,Science by Orangemaster @ 4:52 pm
Aluminium

Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn, which publishes those free, glossy repice magazines you can pick up at their stores, has warned consumers about a major mistake in a recent edition of their magazine, AllerHande.

Some meat and potatoes recipe says that the potatoes should be wrapped in aluminium foil and then put in the microwave. For anyone who does not know, too much aluminium foil in a microwave causes sparks. And if the sparks find something to burn in the microwave, you’ll have a not so cosy fire on your hands. So, yeah, you could risk it, but is it really worth the risk for a few potatoes? Nope.

Another problem with the recipe apparently, is that if you do ‘jackass’ the potatoes, they won’t be cooked since aluminium foil reflects microwaves. It’s stupid advice, no matter how you slice it.

I used to write recipes for a television show in a pre-Google era, and believe you me, the recipes were tested by a professional and changed if necessary. I remember trying to explain to people that cooking yoghurt is not disgusting and that one billion Indians eating fantastic curries, let alone neighbouring countries, can’t be wrong.

Find out more about aluminium foil, as I did.

(Link: vleesmagazine.nl)

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January 2, 2009

2009 International Year of Astronomy

Filed under: Science by Eric @ 2:13 pm

IYA2009 official logo

Yesterday, the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) started. Launched by UNESCO and IAU, 135 countries are participating in this initiative to bring the universe and astronomy closer to the people, using the slogan the Universe: Yours to discover. The official opening event will take place in Paris, on 15-16 January. The Dutch opening ceremony is scheduled for 21 January. Throughout the year, you can expect symposiums, exhibitions and other cultural events related to astronomy taking place in a universe near you! More information on what will take place when and where can be found on the Dutch IYA2009 site.

Hang on, you’re waiting for the Dutch angle on this international news? To be honest, there is none in particular, apart from my hope that the Dutch will again do some remarkable astronomical discoveries this year, like Hanny’s Voorwerp or the giant exo-planet (Dutch).

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December 30, 2008

Top 10 scientific blunders of 2008

Filed under: Science by Branko Collin @ 9:34 am

Volkskrant science reporter Hans van Maanen came up with a list of the 10 biggest blunders of 2008 in both science and reporting or talking about science (Dutch).

#5, on the news that drinking coffee is not bad for you:

Of the healthy men who drank more than five cups a day, 20% less died than of the healthy men who never drank coffee.

Twenty percent! But healthy men—the phrase gives it away—rarely die, and 20% of nothing is still nothing.

Link:Eamelje.net (Dutch). Photo by Madeleine Price Ball, some rights reserved.

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November 15, 2008

Electro-magnetic suspension makes cars zoom

Filed under: Automobiles,Science by Eric @ 2:43 pm

If it’s up to doctoral student Laurenţiu Encică, cars of the future will zoom by on electro-magnetic suspension. This system shall replace the combination of shock absorbers and springs used in today’s cars, which is cheap, but not optimal.

Encică’s reseach focused on using a combination of permanent magnets and electro-magnetic coils. The permanent magnets provide passive suspension, much like the good old mechanical suspension system. The electro-magnetic coils add an active component to the mix, allowing the system to respond to changing road conditions much faster than current systems.

Don’t expect Encică’s electro-magnetic suspension to be under your car any time soon, though. Measuring about 20 by 80 centimeters, the prototype he built is still a bit too bulky to fit under an average car and further research will be neccessary to make the design smaller and less energy consuming. Encică expects it will take another five to ten years for his system to hit the road.

(Link: TUE, Photo: Quasimondo)

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October 28, 2008

University cracks Internet security of the future

Filed under: IT,Science by Orangemaster @ 9:50 am
Binary code

Researchers of the Eindhoven University of Technology have managed to crack the McEliece cryptosystem. This system is a candidate for securing Internet traffic in the ‘Post-Quantum Computing’ era, when the superfast computers of the future will be in use. The scientists presented the crack as well as a new encryption key.

Last weekend’s successful attack was done using a large number of computers linked together throughout the world, explained Eindhoven University of Technology professor Tanja Lange. Together with her student Christiane Peters they presented a new encryption key with which the McEliece code will be immune to quantum computers.

Banks currently use the RSA code from 1977 to secure electronic transactions. A quantum computer would have little problems cracking this code, something that takes an ordinary computer three weeks. This is why researchers are looking for something better now before the introduction of quantum computers, which according to Lange is another 10 years away.

(Link: tue.nl)

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October 27, 2008

Healthy purple tomatoes may fight cancer

Filed under: Food & Drink,Science by Orangemaster @ 7:00 am
Purple tomato

British and Dutch scientists have developed a new, purple-coloured tomato. Research shows that this tomato is very healthy and protects people against the onset of some types of cancer.

According to the research institute Plant Research International of the Wageningen University, two genes of the snapdragon flower (antirrhinum) have been added to the tomato through genetic modification. These genes are needed to produce anthocyanins, purple-coloured antioxidants, which can also be found in blackberries, strawberries and cranberries.

Not only do anthocyanins protect against certain types of cancers, but also against heart and vascular diseases. Moreover, anthocyanins are said to be anti-inflammatory. The new tomatoes worked well on mice that are very prone to getting cancer.

(Link and photo: gelderlander.nl)

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October 24, 2008

Amsterdam 200 years older than previously believed

Filed under: History,Science by Branko Collin @ 7:55 am

Amsterdam is 200 years older than is commonly assumed, says historical geographer Chris de Bont. The settlement was originally started in 1000 AC instead of 1200 AC, which is still pretty young. De Bont bases his conclusion on the patterns formed by old brooks. “I found the same patterns elsewhere in the region where farmers lived around the time,” De Bont told print daily Metro, “so it’s logical to assume that farmers also created the patterns in Amsterdam.”

According to Volkskrant, De Bont also claims that parts of the rivers Amstel and Zaan were dug, and that the IJ used to be a big swamp instead of a waterway. De Bont’s assertions are part of his PhD thesis which he gets to defend next Tuesday at Wageningen University.

Illustration: one of the earliest city maps of Amsterdam (1544) by Cornelis Anthonisz. after one of his own paintings. Check the larger version at Wikimedia Commons, it’s pretty detailed and a great demonstration of how little the inner city has changed in 500 years (they built a McDonald’s in the Kalverstraat and that new-fangled ‘palace’ on Dam Square, and that’s about it).

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September 3, 2008

Creating false food memories to lose weight

Filed under: Food & Drink,Science by Orangemaster @ 9:09 am
Poutine

Convincing someone of a false memory could change their long-term eating patterns. It could even be a way to fight obesity and help people who are overweight. Researchers from the Universiteit Maastricht have discovered that making simple suggestions to someone can change their eating patterns. For example, telling someone that they got sick as a child eating a certain type of food would put them off that food months later.

This picture features good old greasy poutine, typical French Canadian junk food I used to actually serve at one of my first jobs.

(Link: hbvl.be)

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August 16, 2008

Supercomputer wins game of Go

Filed under: Gaming,Science,Technology by Branko Collin @ 12:53 pm

Engadget writes:

You know how Go nerds are always going on about how magical they are since supercomputer AI hasn’t yet cracked the ancient board game, and rarely beats even an average Go player? […] Well, those folks can wipe the smug grins off their faces as they’re faced with the sobering reality of defeat: Dutch supercomputer “Huygens” has defeated a human Go professional in an official match at the 24th Annual Congress of the game Go in Portland [USA].

The newly-minted supercomputer was aided by the recently-developed Monte-Carlo Tree Search algorithm, a whopping 60 teraflops of processing power and a considerable 9 stone handicap. Poor Kim MyungWan — who managed to beat the computer in three “blitz” games leading up to the actual match, and probably won’t be hanging up his Go hat just yet — didn’t stand a chance.

Huygens is the brand-new national supercomputer, named after Christiaan Huygens (mathematician, astronomer and physicist) and his father Constantijn (poet). I imagine it takes the tiniest of quantum computers to make this type of story a thing from the past. (A bit hard to explain, but quantum computers can calculate all the possible solutions to a problem at once.)

Link.

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August 11, 2008

Air-purifying concrete for town of Hengelo

Filed under: Dutch first,Science,Sustainability by Orangemaster @ 9:34 am
Air purifier for concrete

Hengelo, Overijssel looks to be taking a rather unique approach to cleaning the air, with it now testing out a new type of “air-purifying concrete” developed by the University of Twente that promises to soak up the nitrogen oxide particles emitted by car exhausts. This is done with the aid of a titanium dioxide-based additive which, with the help of some sunlight, binds with the nitrogen oxide particles and turns them into harmless nitrates, which can apparently just wash away with the next rain shower. Hengelo is not fully sold on the idea just yet, with it only paving half of a road now under construction with these “green bricks”, while the other half is getting paved with plain old concrete. They will then take some air measurements from each section early next year and decide whether to continue paving the town green or not.

(Link: engadget.com)

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