Monday, January 4

say what?!: "I'll have a double benzodiazepine, on the rocks please..."

Article location:http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ariel-schwartz/sustainability/synthetic-alcohol-sans-consequences-could-eliminate-those-regret-

January 4, 2010

Tags: Innovation, Technology, Ethonomics, alcohol

Synthetic Alcohol Could Eliminate Regret-Filled Nights

By Ariel Schwartz

What if you could drink endlessly and stay buzzed but never get sloppy? And what if you could then pop a pill to let you drive home sober? It sounds fantastical, but scientists are actually working on a synthetic alcohol substitute that brings all the happy feelings of being drunk without all the nasty mood swings, headaches, and addiction issues.

The alcohol substitute, which is being researched by a team at Imperial College London, will be made from Valium-like benzodiazepines. While benzos furnishes drinkers with a feeling of wellbeing, they don't affect parts of the brain that control addiction and mood swings, and they're easy to flush out of the body (no more nasty hangover cures!). Perhaps most intriguingly, the chemicals can be "switched off" with an antidote. Eventually, researchers involved in the project envision a world where alcohol content in beer and wine is replaced with their synthetic substance.

Of course, it will take more than a research experiment to persuade people to give up traditional alcohol. And who's to say that synthetic alcohol will have exactly the same positive effects as a bottle of Jack Daniels? If it doesn't, it will be a hard sell. Thus far, drink companies haven't shown interest in the product--a bad sign for synthetic alcohol's prospects. Still, we're in support of anything that could cut down on the number of drunk drivers and alcohol-related accidents that happen every day.

[Via Popular Science [1]]

Links:
[1] http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-01/synthetic-alcohol-gives-drinkers-pleasant-buzz-without-hangover-addiction

Sunday, January 3

Ellensburg, on the way back from Suncadia

Saturday, January 2

new favorite: glowing walls

FOXNews.com - Will Glowing Walls Kill off the Light Bulb?

Updated December 30, 2009

Will Glowing Walls Kill off the Light Bulb?

London Times

Light-emitting wallpaper may begin to replace light bulbs from 2012, according to a government body that supports low-carbon technology.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/r00s/1438557021/

Light-emitting wallpaper may begin to replace light bulbs from 2012, according to a government body that supports low-carbon technology.

A chemical coating on the walls will illuminate all parts of the room with an even glow, which mimics sunlight and avoids the shadows and glare of conventional bulbs.

Although an electrical current will be used to stimulate the chemicals to produce light, the voltage will be very low and the walls will be safe to touch. Dimmer switches will control brightness, as with traditional lighting.

The Carbon Trust (a British group tasked with accelerating the switch to lower-carbon technologies) has awarded a $720,000 grant to Lomox, a Welsh company that is developing the organic light-emitting diode technology. The trust said it would be two and a half times more efficient than energy saving bulbs and could make a big contribution to meeting Britain's target of cutting carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020. Indoor lighting accounts for a sixth of total electricity use.

The chemical coating, which can be applied in the form of specially treated wallpaper or simply painted straight on to walls, can also be used for flat-screen televisions, computers and mobile phone displays.

As the system uses only between three and five volts, it can be powered by solar panels or batteries. Lomox, which will use the grant to prove the durability of the technology, believes it could be used in the first instance to illuminate road signs or barriers where there is no mains electricity.

For more information, read the full story at The London Times.