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Saturday, 29 June 2013

10 COOL OUTDOOR UMBRELLAS TO BEAT THE HEAT

Beat the Heat With These 10 Cool Outdoor Umbrellas
By Marisa Villarreal, Bobvila, 27 June 2013.

No need to rush off to Kokomo - you'll get there fast and then you'll take it slow with these stylish umbrellas that can create a paradise right in your own backyard.

1. Rimbou Lotus Shade Leaf

Photo: shadescapesamericas.com

The Rimbou Shade Leaf comes in two shapes - triangle and leaf; two fabrics - Texsilk and Sunbrella; and 14 hot colours. Mounted to a rolling base, these umbrellas not only provide individual shade, but they can also swivel as the day - and the sun - moves along. Perfect for those who like to spend their summer mornings, afternoons, evenings -and every hour in between - outdoors.

2. Dacapo Offset Umbrella

Photo: shadescapesamericas.com

The Dacapo Offset Umbrella defends against water and rot, offers high light- and colourfastness, and can stand up to a spectrum of temperatures - and it comes in more than 30 colours. But the real treat? Its solid engineering allows for both overhead shade and a 90-degree tilt to keep you covered at every angle.

3. Beach Umbrella from Scenario Home

Photo: scenariohome.com

95% UV protected and made from 100% cotton, the Sombrilla Canopy comes in a number of bright patterns, including the yellow print seen here. The canopy can be offset (as shown) or tent-like, and it rolls up easily into its bag at the end of a relaxing beach day. Is it time to go home already?!

4. Umbrella Mosquito Net

Photo: plowhearth.com

When it's hot and humid, there are sure to be bugs. Arm yourself against mosquitoes this season with the Umbrella Mosquito Net from Plow & Hearth. Simply toss the cover over any 7- to 9-foot-diameter umbrella for a bug-free retreat all through the night.

5. Design Toscano's Tropical Thatch Umbrella Cover

Photo: wayfair.com

This thatched umbrella cover from Design Toscano makes an entertaining addition to any beach house or poolside. Crafted of real palm fronds, it can be easily placed on top of any umbrella up to 9 feet in diameter and will bring a touch of authenticity to your backyard oasis. Start mixing the piña coladas!

6. Pier 1 Pagoda Umbrella

Photo: pier1.com

This outdoor umbrella features a colourfast, water-repellent canopy topped by a unique finial accent. A pulley allows for easy opening, and the pole is made of sturdy eucalyptus, sure to provide shade for many summers to come.

7. Medium Square Sail Sun Shade

Photo: overstock.com

This stylish accessory boasts neither pole nor base. Instead, nylon ropes connect it to appropriate surfaces, turning any backyard, pool, or porch into a shady haven. The Square Sail Sun Shade comes in a range of colours and can be found on Overstock.com.

8. Sunbrella Rectangular Umbrella

Photo: potterybarn.com

Sunbrella has reworked the typical umbrella to come up with an attractive and understated rectangular model, which is both water-repellent and stain-resistant. Take your pick of an aluminium, eucalyptus, or teak pole - enough variety to suit any style.

9. Mission Hills 10-foot Tucson Wall Umbrella

Photo: wayfair.com

Ideal for those who want the shade of an umbrella without a pole, base, or picnic table, this UV-, rust-, mildew-, water-, and fade-resistant umbrella from Mission Hills mounts to most walls to provide flexible comfort for your outdoor space. A shady spot wherever you need it!

10. Coral Coast 9-foot Sunbrella

Photo: hayneedle.com

Protect your family from the harsh rays of the sun with the classic and beautiful Sunbrella umbrella by Coral Coast. It slips easily into patio tables, and its 9-foot diameter will keep everyone comfortably in the shade. Flexible fiberglass ribs lend extra strength to withstand wind, and its push-and-pin system allows for easy setup.

Top image: Rimbou Lotus Shade Leaf

[Source: Bobvila. Edited. Top image added.]

10 MYSTERIOUS FIRES CAUSED BY GHOSTS

10 Mysterious Fires Caused By Ghosts
By Nene Adams, Listverse, 29 June 2013.

Sometimes, the cause of a fire is obvious: arson, bad wiring, a careless cigarette, a kid playing with matches. But occasionally, a fire’s origin is a mystery - perhaps supernatural, the result of an angry spirit or poltergeist tormenting the living. Hoax or haunting? You be the judge. Here are 10 instances where otherworldly powers took the blame for the burning.

10. The Hitchings Haunting (1954)

In Battersea, London, the Hitchings family were terrorized for four months by an outbreak of fires and other phenomena like tapping and phantom fingers tugging on their clothes. Most disturbingly, the haunting seemed to focus on their 15-year old daughter Shirley. In one instance, Shirley’s bed caught fire. In another, the spirit apparently dropped clothes on an electric cooker and turned it on, even though power to the appliance had been cut off. The poltergeist, named Donald, even followed Shirley to work and frightened her co-workers.

Finally, spiritualist Harry Hanks held a séance in the home and the supernatural activity ceased.

9. Sasha K., the Ukrainian Poltergeist Boy (1987)

The residents of the village of Yenakievo in the Ukraine became frightened of a young boy, identified only as Sasha K. Strange phenomena had begun occurring around him, including several spontaneous fires, exploding light bulbs, and even a refrigerator turning itself upside-down.

When Sasha’s father suffered a nervous breakdown and panicking neighbours called the police, the boy was taken to Moscow and examined by a physicist. Dr. Adriankin had two possible explanations for the events: 1) under possession by a spirit, Sasha K. was emitting an energy that caused spontaneous fires to ignite gasses in the environment. Or 2) a poltergeist was responsible, period. Sasha K.’s ultimate fate remains unknown.

8. Ghost Fires of Tarpon Springs (1952)

Long time residents of Tarpon Springs - believed to be in one of the most haunted places of Florida - claimed every year that when the wind came from the south, fires would start in the same wooded area. Fires, they claimed, set by a ghost.

In 1952, the “ghost fire” destroyed 2,000 acres of woodland between the community and the Gulf of Mexico, and hundreds of citizens joined fire fighting volunteers to prevent the blaze from destroying their homes. Fire investigators preferred to place the blame on an arsonist, though no evidence was found and the fire’s origin remains unproved.

7. The Willow Hotel (1985)

In the Gold Rush days of the mid 19th century, Jamestown, California was known as the “Gateway to the Mother Lode” and the Willow Hotel held pride of place - even though it appears to be haunted. It’s believed that a malevolent poltergeist has set fire to the historic landmark five times. The most notable was in 1985, when a mysterious blaze burned the building and destroyed nearby shops.

Psychic investigators and those who’ve seen the apparition claim the poltergeist is the angry spirit of a miner who died in the collapsed gold mine below the hotel. The culprit may also be one of the people who died in 1896 when a fire broke out in the town and nine occupied buildings were dynamited to save the Willow Hotel.

6. Willey Farm (1948)

The Willey family in Macomb, Illinois, endured hundreds of fires in a two week ordeal which destroyed their home, two barns, and damaged the milk house. The inexplicable fires began as brown spots on the wallpaper which burst into flames. In the following week, they extinguished more than 200 fires in the home - which wasn’t wired for electricity, ruling out faulty wiring as a cause.

The Willeys moved into a makeshift tent just in time - the very next day, their house was destroyed in a blaze. The following day, their first barn burned to the ground. An investigation by the state fire marshal yielded no explanation, although US Air Force officials believed the fires might be caused by radio waves, radioactivity, natural gas, or “atomic energy.”

5. The Fire Spook of Caledonia Mills (1922)

The farm of Alexander McDonald in Caledonia Mills, Nova Scotia, became the setting for a series of unexplained fires and other poltergeist phenomena. The events were centered around the family’s adopted daughter, Mary Ellen - a disabled 16-year old with the mental capacity of a four-year old child.

The incidents investigated by Dr. Walter Prince of the American Psychical Association included livestock found locked in a barn with their tails braided together, a large number of fires of unknown origin in the farmhouse, and an unseen assailant slapping witnesses on their arms. Dr. Prince believed Mary Ellen did these things, but she wasn’t responsible, having been possessed by a “discarnate intelligence.”

4. The Mthembu Fires (2011)

In Hopewell, near Thornville, South Africa, the Mthembu family’s main home and their belongings were destroyed in the culmination of two weeks of terror inflicted by a mysterious entity. Incidents began when the mother, Mashoba, woke with her bed on fire and the mattress partially consumed. More destructive fires occurred in the other four bedrooms. Even a house across the street belonging to her daughter caught fire. A fire-fighter even witnessed a fire starting spontaneously.

None of the investigators could find an official cause. The final fire raged out of control, couldn’t be put out by volunteers, and burned down the main house, but fortunately, the family made it out in time.

3. Alabama Fire Poltergeist (1958)

Calvin Tuck, his wife, and six children suffered an ordeal by fire when their four-room house (not wired for electricity) became the target of an apparent poltergeist. In a short period, 52 fires were set. Some happened in front of eyewitnesses, who said the fires were reddish in colour and smelled like sulphur. One of the strangest incidents was when a loaf of bread on a table spontaneously burst into flames.

When the house was gutted by an uncontrollable fire, the Tucks moved to a new residence, but the fires continued. They left to occupy a third house. Five fires broke out on the first day and more followed. When their fourth house was plagued by fires, authorities coerced a confession from one of the children, though the “confession” was doubted by the many witnesses including police officers, fire-fighters, and reporters.

2. Fire Haunted Malaysian Grandmother (2011)

In the village of Kota Baru, 78-year old Zainab Sulaiman, a grandmother, found herself under attack in her own home by a rash of strange, spontaneous fires. There were over 200 in a short period, which many believed were caused by a poltergeist or “djinn.” The fires targeted cloth items like clothing, prayer mats, and mattresses.

Her problem became so well known in the area, an American couple on a tour visited the house to offer their help in exorcising the spirit (Zainab refused). An Australian writer planned to visit Zainab and document the mysterious phenomena. At last, after efforts by a Thai medium and a group of local ghost-busters failed to get rid of the poltergeist, a spiritualist master visited to chase the entity away, and the fires ceased.

1. The Flatrock Poltergeist (1954)

Mike Parsons and his family’s ordeal began when his wife found a dictionary smouldering in the wood-box - while all the wood around it remained unburnt. Next, a sack of sugar in the kitchen burst into flames, but the fire went out as soon as Mike touched the sack. Subsequent incidents included a doll spontaneously consumed by fire while it sat in the middle of the floor, a box catching fire and burning a groove in a chest of drawers, and fires erupting in the corners of a bedroom without electricity or a fireplace.

An RCMP investigation ruled out deliberate arson, but failed to find a cause. After a priest visited the house and performed a blessing, the fires stopped. The phenomena have never been explained.

Top image via Sott.net’s report on the Mthembu fires.

[Source: Listverse. Edited. Top image added.]

7. Top 10 Unsolved Cases of Spontaneous Human Combustion

SKWID: THE WORLD'S FIRST WIND-CURRENT HYBRID POWER GENERATOR

World's first hybrid wind/current generator could generate double the power
By Derek Markham, Treehugger, 28 June 2013.

Combining a three-bladed Darrieus turbine on top, a Savonius turbine underneath, and a generator in between, the SKWID power generation concept is claimed to be the world's first hybrid system "capable of maximizing the harvesting of ocean energy from wind and current".

Image: © MODEC

The SKWID, from the Japanese company Mitsui Ocean Development & Engineering Company (MODEC), is designed to capitalize on the energy potential available both in the winds above the ocean, and in the currents flowing beneath the waves. The device uses an omnidirectional Darrieus wind turbine sitting 47 meters above the sea on one end of a vertical shaft, with a different type of omnidirectional turbine design, a 15 meter diameter Savonius, spinning at the other end under the surface.

Image: © MODEC

The Darrieus wind turbine efficiently harnesses the ocean wind: The omnidirectional Darrieus turbine rotates regardless of the wind direction. Due to the location of the generator, the system has excellent stability with a low centre of gravity, as well as excellent maintainability with easy access. The Darrieus’ rectangular swept area catches twice as much wind when compared to the circular swept area of typical onshore wind turbines of the same diameter and is therefore capable of delivering twice as much power from a single installation - far more power from the same wind farm area.

The Savonius current turbine harnesses the current: The split-cylinder-shaped buckets of the Savonius current turbine can harness any weak current and will rotate in one direction regardless of current direction. This turbine is insensitive to marine growth on the buckets and is harmless to the marine ecosystem, as it rotates slowly at the speed of the current. - MODEC

The floating unit is said to be stable and self-righting, thanks to a gimbal-like support structure that isolates the generator unit from the motion of the waves, as well as the underwater turbine acting as a ballast or keel. According to CBS News, a prototype SKWID unit will be deployed off the coast of Japan this fall.

HOLLOW FLASHLIGHT: THE TEENAGER-INVENTED FLASHLIGHT POWERED BY THE HEAT OF HUMAN HAND

Tenth grader creates body heat powered flashlight
By Gaurav Friday, Damn Geeky, 28 June 2013.

Gadgets powered with hand-cranked motion are in the heat these days but to come across a flashlight that is functional by the heat of your hand is simply amazing. Created by Ann Makosinski, a 15-year old tenth grade student girl from Victoria who managed to make her way through the pool of thousands of bright kids from more than 100 countries into the 15 finalist grid of Google Science Fair speaks volumes for this project. Ann’s Hollow (Thermoelectric) Flashlight is completely powered by heat of human hand and has been ergonomically designed to work on five degrees of temperature difference to produce 5.4 mW for 5 foot candles of brightness. Apparently the winner of Google Science Fair will win a scholarship of US$50,000 and a trip to the Galapagos Islands.

Ann Makosinski with her Hollow Flashlight (screen-grab from video).

According to Makosinski:

I’m really interested in harvesting surplus energy, energy that surrounds but we never really use. This took quite awhile ’cause I had to do it during the school year as well and I had homework, plays, whatever that I was also doing.

Makosinski had to dig hard in order to figure out the method to harvest heat energy variant into electric energy and finally managed to built a transformer and circuit that would permit such kind of functionality.

Top image: Makosinski puts her hand on top of flashlight; Bottom image: The flashlight

flashing after room light is turned off (screen-grab from video).

She made two different kind of flashlights, one from aluminium tube to transfer cooler temperatures of air to one side of Peltier tiles and another out of PVC tube. According to her the flashlight costs only US$26 and probably the reason why we should expect to see it in our hands in the coming years or so once it is mass produced.

Via: CBC

[Source: Damn Geeky. Edited. Some images added.]

INFOGRAPHIC: WHAT DOES YOUR HANDWRITING SAY ABOUT YOU?

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?
By National Pen, 27 June 2013.

Did you know that how you write can indicate more than 5,000 personality traits? The size of your letters, spacing between words, shapes of letters and more can all signify different characteristics. Handwriting analysis (also known as graphology) can even be used for detecting lies and revealing possible health ailments.

Check out the infographic below to learn what your handwriting says about you. It's also fun analyzing the handwriting of your friends and family members, so be sure to hand it off or pass it along!

What Does Your Handwriting Say About You?

Infographic by National Pen

Top image: Source

[Source: National Pen. Edited. Top image added.]

THE MOST AMAZING SCIENCE IMAGES OF THE WEEK XXXII

A Prison Fit For Supervillains And Other Amazing Images From This Week
By Colin Lecher, Popular Science, 28 June 2013.

Plus a mind-bending house illusion, the world's most uncomfortable sofa, and more.

1. The Rainbow Room

Image: Pierre le Riche via designboom

Designer Pierre le Riche created this yarn-bombed rainbow room (complete with rainbow acrylic-thread curtains), which, with the Defense of Marriage Act stuck down this week, seems appropriate. [More at designboom]

2. House Of Mirrors

Image: Leandro Erlich via Dezeen

Artist Leandro Erlich reconstructed an old house's facade and set a giant mirror above it. Perch down just so on the facade, and you can see yourself reflected on the mirror, as if you were sitting on a windowsill. Maybe a fun gag would be to have another person pretend to panic because someone is sitting on the windowsill like a maniac? [More at Dezeen]

3. Ocean Prison

Image: Margot Krasojevic via eVolo

Designer Margot Krasojevic created this futuristic plan for a floating prison that would be located off the Pacific Canadian coast - sort of an Alcatraz for the Blade Runner universe. Read more about it here.

4. The World's Most Uncomfortable Sofa

Image: Cassina via designboom

Is this the World's Most Uncomfortable Sofa? No idea! The "Zephyr Sofa," designed by starchitect Zaha Hadid and produced by Italian manufacturer Cassini, could be super comfy and just look not-at-all comfy. To be safe, we'll stick to our Barcalounger. [More at designboom]

5. How Many Photos Is This?

Image: Bela Borsodi via Colossal

How many photos is this? Four put together, right? No, dummy, it's just one. (Just kidding! It really looks like four.) Photographer Bela Borsodi carefully put together the scene to make the shot look like more than one image. One way to tell is by looking at the table in the bottom two "photos": it shifts from orange to blue but still runs through both sections. [More at Colossal]

6. Alaska Cabins

Image: Eirik Johnson via Peta Pixel

Photographer Eirik Johnson took photos (the exact same photo, twice) of hunting cabins in Alaska during the peaks of summer and winter for a series called Barrow Cabins. It's as extreme a difference as you'd expect: dry, rocky, and green in the summer, and blanketed by white in the winter. Check out more from the series at Johnson's site.

7. Subway Tunnel

Image: Metropolitan Transit Authority/Patrick Cashin

We've seen some amazing New York subway construction photos popping up recently, and have already written about a few, but they're so consistently amazing, it's worth showing off some more recent work from Metropolitan Transit Authority [MTA] photographer Patrick Cashin. [More at MTA Facebook]

8. Cell Stepping

Image: CLEVER°FRANKE via Co.Design

Living Cell, a project from the designers at CLEVER°FRANKE, lets people play God with a cell, stepping around on it to influence its actions. Check out a video here.

9. The World, By Airports

Image: James Davenport via Gizmodo

This map, created by James Davenport, shows just the world's airports (along with runways and helicopter pads). Looking deeper, though, you can see what it really is: a map of economic disparity. Check out America and Europe versus just about everywhere else. [More at Gizmodo]

10. Texas From Space

Image: NASA

This shot, taken from on board the International Space Station, shows Texas at night, including its four biggest metropolitan areas. At the top is Dallas-Fort Worth; lower right, Houston; to the far right is Beaumont-Port Arthur; and say hello to San Antonio on the left. [More at NASA]

[Source: Popular Science. Edited. Some links added.]

Wi-Vi: THE NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT LETS YOU SEE THROUGH WALLS

Researchers See Through Walls With 'Wi-Vi'
By Rachel Kaufman, Tech News Daily, 28 June 2013.

Want X-ray vision like the man of steel? A technology that lets you see behind walls could soon be built in to your cell phone.

MIT professor Dina Katabi and graduate student Fadel Adib have announced Wi-Vi, a demonstration of a technology that uses Wi-Fi to allow a viewer to "see" a person moving behind a wall. (Wi-Vi stands for "Wi-Fi" and "vision.")

Previous work demonstrated that the subtle reflections of wireless inter signals bouncing off a human could be used to track that person's movements, but those previous experiments either required that a wireless router was already in the room of the person being tracked, or "a whole truck just to carry the radio," said Katabi.

Wi-Vi at work - see video below

The new device uses the same wireless antenna as is found in a cell phone or laptop and could in theory one day be embedded in a phone. [See also "WiSee Detects Your Gestures Using WiFi."]

The trick is cancelling out all interfering signals - Wi-Fi doesn't just bounce off humans, but also walls, floors, and furniture. And those signals are 10,000 to 100,000 times more powerful than the reflections off a human body.

Katabi's Wi-Vi sends out two wireless signals, one of which is the inverse of the other. In what Katabi calls "interference nulling," the two signals cancel each other out unless they hit a moving target - such as a human.

"To silence the noise, we change the structure of the Wi-Fi signal so all the undesired reflections cancel," she said.

The device is meant to be portable so, for example, a person worried that someone was hiding in the bushes could do a quick scan for her personal safety.

Wi-Vi could also serve as a high tech baby monitor or help Superman - or just cops - catch baddies.

See: Research paper by Fadel Adib and Dina Katabi

Video: Wi-Vi: See through Walls with Wi-Fi signals

Top image: Illustration by Christine Daniloff/MIT

[Source: Tech News Daily. Edited. Video and some links/images added.]

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Saturday, 29 June 2013