Day: February 17, 2013
Musical genius
Nobuyuki Tsujii was born blind but was gifted with a talent for music. At the age of two, he began to play “Do Re Mi” on a toy piano after his mother had been humming the tune. He began his formal study of piano at the age of four. In 1995, at the age of seven, Tsujii won the first prize at the All Japan … Continue reading Musical genius
Books on Smart Thinking
Waterstones has a section on Smart Thinking. It says “Think smart with our selection of fantastic eBooks for expanding your mind, inspiring awe and improving your life”. I recently purchased some for the school library and for myself. ****** Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking More on Susan Cain Wikipedia TED talk 2012 *** The Information: A History, a … Continue reading Books on Smart Thinking
Night soil as fertilizer
In North and Central Vietnam it is common among farmers to use excreta from the family double vault composting latrine (DVC) as fertilizer in the fields. The official Vietnamese health guidelines stipulate a six-month period of composting before applying excreta to two of their three annual crops. However, farmers in this region cannot afford to follow these guidelines and this paper presents the reasons why.In their efforts to ensure … Continue reading Night soil as fertilizer
The water footprint of humanity
Water footprints are estimated per nation from both a production and consumptionperspective. International virtual water flows are estimated based on trade in agricultural and industrial commodities. The global annual average WF in the period 1996–2005 was 9,087 Gm3/y (74% green, 11% blue, 15% gray). Agricultural production contributes 92%. About one-fifth of the global WF relates to production for export. The total volume of international virtual water flows … Continue reading The water footprint of humanity
How to make better decisions
Source: Stanford Business; More on Baba Shiv Continue reading How to make better decisions
Insect Cyborg
In 2006 the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) asked America’s scientists to submit “innovative proposals to develop technology to create insect-cyborgs” It was not your everyday government request, but it was an utterly serious one. For years, the US military has been hoping to develop “micro air vehicles” – ultra-small flying robots capable of performing surveillance in dangerous territory. Building these machines is not easy. … Continue reading Insect Cyborg
Data visualisation – an equine problem
The European trade in horsemeat mapped – interactive More than 60,000 tonnes of horsemeat was traded by European countries in 2012. This data, from the Eurostat internal trade database shows exports of Equidae over the year – that is, ‘horse-like’ animals, such as horses, donkeys, mules and asses. Roll over the buttons on the left for details of where each country received its equidae from. Please click on … Continue reading Data visualisation – an equine problem
