science

The science of Folding at Home

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I found this interesting article via slashdot that explains the science behind the Folding at Home project.

I folded my first workunit almost two years ago on June 19, 2007. Since then I’ve contributed about 580 additional WUs by running the F@H client on my various PCs and servers at home (you can see some of my stats at the bottom of my sidebar over to the right).

Back in the day I used to contribute my spare CPU cycles to the SETI@Home project, but I switched. Don’t get me wrong I still think finding alien life would be cool, but folding proteins seems like a nobler, more pressing cause for the time being.

Coffee … in … spaaaaaace!

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Now future space travelers won’t have to enjoy their morning coffee through a straw from a bag. Astronaut Dr. Don Pettit invented a zero-G coffee cup during his current stay on the International Space Station.

I heard about this on episode #859 of Buzz Out Loud and from there found the clip above on collectSPACE. Starbucks should license this invention immediately, just in case.

Orion XT6 telescope

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Orion XT6This is technology of a different sort, but still cool. While in Arizona earlier this year on vacation, my wife and I stopped at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. The visit rekindled our childhood interests in astronomy. For our combined birthdays, we bought an Orion XT6 Dobsonian: a Newtonian reflector telescope with a 6″ mirror and 1200mm focal length. So far we’ve had a blast observing the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and nearby stars.