A biofuel that outperforms ethanol could be easily made from fructose and, in future, glucose derived from the woody parts of plants, researchers claim.

Ethanol has been the biofuel of choice for many years and can be made from corn and other crops. Enzymes are used to break down the plant material to sugar, which is fermented to a boozy fuel. But ethanol has a number of problems, not least its low energy density, its volatility and its water-absorbing nature.

A potential alternative is 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) with a 40% higher energy density, a boiling point 20 �C higher than ethanol and a dislike for water. But DMF has proven hard to make economically from crops and their sugars.

Until now that is. James Dumesic of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his colleagues have cracked the key step of turning a sugar into the intermediate compound 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and then reacting this further to make DMF.

New Biofuel that is better than Ethanol

I need this.

Now, *that's* a margarita maker... on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Crossing my fingers;
Cloning is very tricky.
Beating head on desk.

car repairs on a graduate student stipend suck.

Is amazing! I saw them in Atlanta tonight, and it was the most amazing show I have ever seen. I highly recommend going to see them live.

Watson has said he will make his entire genome available for researchers to study, with the single exception of his apolipoprotein E gene, the status of which he does not wish to know because it predisposes a person toward Alzheimer's disease.

He emphasized the need for sequencing many more individual genomes to help researchers understand mental diseases like schizophrenia, which has struck a member of his own family, and urged others to let their full genomes and identity be put on record so that their physical and mental qualities could be correlated with their DNA.

This will be an enormous, yet interesting path of work. As DNA sequencing gets cheaper and faster, more people will be able to get their personalized genome. Then, scientists can correlate patterns in gene mutations to different "phenotypes" in humans, which can potentially lead to many therapies. Its very exciting!

Watsons genome decipered

One big worry is what nanotechnologists call the “gray-goo problem.” What’s to stop a particularly virulent SynBio organism from eating everything on earth? My guess is that this could never happen. Every existing plant, animal, fungus and protozoan already aspires to world domination. There’s nothing more ruthless than viruses and bacteria—and they’ve been practicing for a very long time.

Rudy Rucker on synthetic biology

Essay: Our Synthetic Futures by Rudy Rucker

If you are bored with what Hollywood is producing, give this a try (if you haven't already....I am a bit behind the curve). Anyway, I found this movie to be creepy in a way that a cheesy horror flick will never compare. It also includes some physics nerdery, which is always a good thing. It will definitely keep your attention, because you will be working to figure everything out the entire time. Unfortunately, at the end, you will probably still be mind-boggled. But thats the fun part

Primer (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finally, the hunt for the Stanley Cup has been pared to two teams.

With the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks set to go at each other next Monday, there's only one question about the NHL Finals that still needs answering:

Who's going to come out on top?

To cheer myself up about the sale of the predators, I needed to post something happy....like the fact that the Senators are in the finals for Lord Stanleys Cup!!!!!! Word.

Bleacher Report - NHL Finals: Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks Chase the Stanley Cup

FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Craig Leipold has reached an agreement with BlackBerry owner Jim Balsillie to sell the team as soon as paperwork can be completed.

Leipold met with the NHL Board of Governors at 2 p.m. Wednesday in New York, and then told his staff of the developments.

Leipold told the Predators' front office personnel that the team will remain in Nashville for at least the next season, but made no promised for the future."

Well it looks as if the Predators might be on thin ice. I had fun going to games this year. But I bet the "leaf" that will now own the Predators will be looking to make a switch at the end of 2008-9 season if ticket sales go soft.

The Predators have an opt-out clause in their 30-year lease with the City of Nashville (the owners of the teams’ arena) if the team isn’t happy with their attendance. If the Predators exercise their out-clause they would be free to move to another city at the end of the 2008-09 season

The Predators out-clause is directly linked towards total ticket sales, not number of tickets sold based on building capacity. The club's lease works like this:

• If attendance slips below 14,000 a game this season, the Predators can signal an interest in exercising their Gaylord Entertainment Center escape clause two months after this hockey season ends.

• Average attendance would have to fall below 14,000 a game again in the 2007-08 season for the team to actually leave by October 2008.

And here’s the kicker – the clause is based on paid attendance and according to what Leipold told The Tennessean, the Predators actual paid attendance is actually just over 13,000 per game (the team gives away 1,500 tickets per game).

The Nashville Predators have been sold (Predators on thin ice?)