January 25, 2005

Some Of The News That's Fit To Highlight

We found a couple of pieces of mind candy that we thought you might enjoy checking out:

Raser Technologies, Inc. Patents Advanced Electric Motor Technology. The gist of the article is that this company states that, with simple changes to existing electric motors, and less reliance on rare materials (the company states China controls over 90% of one of the exotic materials used in current permanent magnet motors) - which they also claim should reduce manufacturing costs - manufacturers will be able to get significant increases in power, performance, and efficiency from electric motors. Which would be pretty good news for hybrid vehicle technology. It looks kosher from this non-engineer's viewpoint. Maybe some of those who are qualified to evaluate this could check it out a bit and see if these guys are on the level?

Speaking of levels, Lakes Michigan and Huron have permanently lost a foot of water because of erosion in the St. Clair River caused by dredging and other man-made meddling according to an article available in today's Detroit Free Press. All told, the dredging and erosion has accounted for a water loss from the lakes equivalent to 28 Lake St. Clairs, according to the report.

You might consider this sinking to a new low around here. Then again, we seem to have been below the waterline for some time now. We might consider floating out a couple more clever plays on words, but considering the lowered water levels around here, we just might run up on a sandbar if we're not too careful...

Posted by (: Tom :) at January 25, 2005 05:45 PM