The unborn may control global warming

A 10 year study out of the Queensland University of Technology has linked the proximity of air pollution to the shrinking size of the fetus, in particular, abdominal and head circumference and femur length. The ultra-sound scans of 15000 pregnancies were studied, though why someone got money for this I don't know.

So they are reporting that as air quality declines, so does the size of the fetus. This was done by measuring the distances the pregnant mothers lived from high levels of air pollution. Interesting discovery, but let's look at this another way, just to show how such studies can be flawed.

Let's say a young woman lives near a source of very poor air quality. What might we say about her? Perhaps she has little income or is not so bright because we would hope she would have moved away from there long ago. Perhaps she is unwed and quite poor or the daughter of a steel worker. Would she be of average or better intelligence, have a good health plan or the funds to afford a good doctor, eat well and exercise, have the support of other bright, affluent mothers-to-be... if she lived near such a place? I think not.

Australia spends less on health care than both the US and Canada, and the doctors apparently have no cap on billing, so, assuming this information coincides with the study, it stands to reason that the unfortunate mothers, living in less than favourable, polluted cities, might not be in the best health. Furthermore, the poor, unwed moms may have had more babies in the 10 years studied, skewing the figures even further.

That pollution itself causes the decrease in fetus size may be a convenient coincidence. Rather, I'd like to think that a) nature is finding a way to make more of us fit on this shrinking planet, or b) that a race of smaller infants is causing global warming.

Scan this buddy

There's a great big super store in our town that seems to be in most towns around the country and the world for that matter. All last fall ours was getting a face lift and being expanded. Groceries were being included along with clothing and hardware items. A one stop shop to be sure.

With the renovations underway, my wife and I were hopeful that there would be many more cashes and many more cashiers. Well the cashes did arrive, but not the cashiers. OK, it wasn't Christmas yet. There's got to be more by that time. Instead, the store went 24 hours and encouraged the use of the self checkout units. The cashiers, in greater numbers, never apparently showed.

Now I hate those automated checkouts. They either hide the change return or the receipt printer, or there is always one item that won't register properly. In the latter case, you wait for a young attendant to come over and fix the problem.

In other stores there are bank-like snaking lines for the express shoppers. I find this method works well and is far less frustrating. Here, a cashier checks you out but without the 'picked the wrong line' syndrome!

Overall, I am waiting for the day that RFID scanning (Radio-Frequency IDentification) comes in. In theory, your bank or credit account will be known to your own RFID tag on your person, and all of your purchased items will have a tiny circuit tag attached to each of them. We would simply cart all of our items through large scanners (perhaps inconspicuous) and then cart them to the car. Each item magically scanned will be decremented from inventory and charged to your account.

Of course there will be many other associated innovations regarding evidence of purchase, correct amounts charged et cetera, but in the end, will it be so different then going from a record player to an Ipod?

Ta Ta if it comes here

In today's story from New Delhi, India's TaTa Motors announced a new car that can sell for under $2,500 USD. Now, such vehicles were predicted, and the likelihood of them being imported is slim, but what might happen?

We already have the tiny Smartcars which putt along happily, and are still quite the novelty, but they still compete for the same space on the road. However, what if North American cities were suddenly inundated by herds of ultra small vehicles?

Ideally the small cars will be fuel efficient or, better still, run on alternate fuels, although that information is not forthcoming in the article. Assuming an individual vehicle does not worsen the air we breathe, what of the traffic problems and road safety. In India, their fear is that already congested roads will become even more clogged, and lead to major disruptions and traffic jams. Here I see something different.

In North American cities, as in many around the world, the road system delineates lane width. To date I have not seen a Smartcar driver take undue advantage of his or her diminutive stature. They must be leery of the larger vehicles and occupy their area much as a motorcycle is supposed to. Would we eventually get to multiple lane widths? Would shoulder areas suddenly open up to small traffic? Would smaller cars tend to tail gate more often, leading to more road rage? Would many more young drivers suddenly adopt their own car like a cell phone because it's affordable, and we let them?

Then what of safety? At least in a full size car we have some stronger, more costly, materials and the vehicle's mass can withstand small crashes. If a tiny car is hit by a full size car, or worse, a truck, the driver will have no chance.

The French and Japanese are already looking into cars for under $3,000. The Lada didn't work out here, thankfully, but are worse days yet to come?

If ya can't stand the heat...

Today, the temperature in the greater Toronto area is expected to reach 14 degrees Celsius. That's 57 for those of you who haven't converted to the Metric system. Help... the igloos are melting!

No, we don't live in igloos and believe it or not Toronto is a larger, more advanced city than most in the U.S. In any case, such uncommonly warm weather for us during the winter is a little alarming.

Can this be related to global warming? Most would say no because we should not be swayed by the occasional glitch. However, we have had several glitches this year, and the hurricane season down south is getting worse very quickly.

Global warming is likened to a steady 1 degree rise in mean temperature over the course of a year, which doesn't sound so bad. Does it? It is though, since it affects ocean temperatures which have a devastating effect on our weather.

Ignoring the pundits and promoters, if individuals continue to ignore that fact that minute changes in an eco-system can cause major changes down the road, then environmental technology firms will not receive the backing they desperately need.

Our human species will suffer the same fate as those we terminated in the wild.

Could it get any better?

Today's stories are from Detroit and France. They are both about cars and should be getting lots of good press, but I don't think it's happening.

First, we have the announcement from GM in Detroit that they expect to have cars available within a decade, that will be able to drive by themselves, and perhaps even park. This would be a great achievement, but what would become of all of the baseball cap wearing punks who dash around in hopped up Civics and Golfs. What would the pick-up truck drivers do to elevate their testosterone? And how would the rich show off?

Having the ability for a car to drive by itself does seem amazing but I fear there will be few ways to integrate them into a neighbourhood full of bad drivers who don't follow logic.

The second story is the announcement out of Europe of a car that can drive on air! Truly astounding. And with a top speed of 110klms/hr and a range of 200 klms, this has remarkable potential. This is the first time I have seen an actual opportunity to dramatically affect the rate at which North America, and the world, consumes petroleum products, which are dangerously scarce.

Although this invention was in its infantcy over 10 years ago, it shows that there may be some hope, providing the big U.S. corporations don't stiffle it.