Month: September 2008

OSM relicensing

The ideal situation would be that the ODC licences are suitable, and that not just the Foundation, but everyone involved in OSM agrees. If that’s the case, then we can publish the new terms without significant loss of existing data. If there are major objections, of course, we will either withdraw the proposal entirely, or weigh up the dangers of retaining the existing licence against the potential withdrawal of data. We are hopeful that the ODC licences are sufficiently in tune with the “spirit of OpenStreetMap” that this will not arise, but need to be alert to the possibility.

if they did not have such an inept license, many things would be possible. good luck with the relicensing dudes

Stiffness Gradients

The squid’s beak is one of the hardest organic substances in existence — such that the sharp point can slice through a fish or whale like a Ginsu knife. Yet the beak is attached to squid flesh that itself is the texture of jello. How precisely does a gelatinous animal safely wield such a razor-sharp weapon? Why doesn’t it just sort of, y’know, rip off? The beak contains a huge gradation of stiffness: The tip of the beak is 100 times more rigid than the base of the beak — so the base can blend easily with the surrounding flesh. Water is the key to the proper functioning of this gradient: If the beak is dried out, the soft base calcifies until it’s nearly as dense and rigid as the peak. If we could reproduce the property gradients that we find in squid beak, it would open new possibilities for joining materials

Water cooled Solar

By cooling such devices with liquids can concentrate 2300x as much sunlight on a cell as nature normally provides, while maintaining that cell at 85°C. Without the cooling system, its temperature would rapidly exceed 1500°C, causing it to melt. With cooling, the cells can manage an output of 70 watts / cm2—a record.

Samaritan Genography

recent archaeological findings, coupled with deeper examination of religious texts, have led researchers to propose that the Samaritans were Jews themselves. During the Babylonian Captivity, not all Jews were rounded up by the Assyrians. Some stayed behind, possibly marrying other Assyrian exiles who themselves had been relocated. This would make sense given that, even though Samaritans are not considered Jews, they share many of the same ancient Hebrew rituals. While these rituals have evolved for 100s of years among most Jewish sects, they remain unchanged among the isolated Samaritans, even to this day. This also fits well with the historical animosity of Jews toward Samaritans because of their association with non-Jews.

they need to do more of that to defuse the nonsense and irrational beliefs about “heritage” in the near east