My Dream

by eohcnrk on Wednesday, December 02, 2009 comments (3)

In my dream I had a great idea. Since in my physical chemistry class we were studying thermodynamics, I had dreamt of taking an endothermic reaction that would proceed spontaneously and creating a instant cold pack. So I was hired by some chemical company to find out which reactions were endothermic while proceeding spontaneously.

When I woke up, I immediately started to think of any such reactions, but only to my disappointment, I realized they already have instant cold packs...

Gone is the parking ticket and enforcement officer

by epfanne on Thursday, September 03, 2009 comments (11)

I'm so tired of getting parking tickets. And those ticket enforcement guys...Let's get rid of them!


Okay, so came up with this idea that not only helps us the sufferers, but also the parking system; it can potentially reduce the cost to operate & maintain significantly.

Remember those restaurant pagers? They kinda dissappeared because restaurants are no longer flooded with people. Anyway, using similar concepts and technology, we can develop parking pagers with appropriate additional features.

- portable and rechargeable (at the meter)
- displays time left on the meter
- beeps when time is running out
- allows additional credit for more time

I don't see engineering as a problem, but is it feasible and profitable?

Alternative idea: i-park (i-pass for parking)

It's been a while. Here's a short story.

by Martias on Monday, August 10, 2009 comments (0)

A long time ago, when the oceans still teemed with fish and the sky was more blue than it is now, there lived a man on an island.

He was a happy man. In the mornings he watched the sun rise above the glittering waves. During the day he explored the island and picked fruits to eat. Before the onset of evening he would wander back to the shore and cast himself on the soft sands. And then, watching the stars spin above him, he would fall asleep.

In this way many years passed. And though he traversed the forests and the caves and the shallow shoals, never did he find the trace of another human being.

After a time this began to disturb the man. Surely, he thought, surely I must have heard the cries of a baby among the cacophony of the native birds. But search his memory as he might, he could not recall a baby's cry among the sounds of the island. Surely, he thought, surely I must have glimpsed the footprints of a man amoung the light prints of the rabbits. But in truth he cound not remember a single instance in which he had seen such a print.

And casting his mind back even further, to his first memories of the beautiful island, he realized that he could not remember how he himself had come to reside there.

Iif I am alone on this beautiful island through some act of disaster, he thought, should I not at least remember my mother and father? But he could not. If I have no parents, he thought, how then did I come to be?

This question so bewildered the man that he spent the night examining his every memory, as if it could show him the secret of his existence.

At last, the man came to the conclusion that he could not exist.

And who's to say that he is incorrect?

Most important advancement in engineering in the next 25 years

by Cartier on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 comments (5)

So for this scholarship I'm applying for there is an essay question asking that we discuss what we feel will be the most important advancement in engineering in the next 25 years. The essay will be judged on whether they agree, your insight into the subject, and the understanding of the widespread application of ideas.

So, thus far I have compiled a few ideas as to what I think may happen in the next 25 years:
Near room-temperature superconductors
Memristors
Devices making clean water available worldwide
Fusion Reactors
Genetically modified retroviruses as treatment for all sorts of diseases
Ditto for Bacteria
Something making MRIs cheaper (not sure what it would be)

This would be a good topic to start discussing. If any of the other Eng. Students would like to know about the scholarship just speak up and I'll post the link.

A New Look on English

by sophlightning305 on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 comments (2)

I don't know about anybody else, but I always thought English was just showing you could make complex sentences with "appropriate" words. Essentially, you write about nothing (at most answer a simple question) and make it like a piece of art as much (as a high-schooler is able to do). I always got good grades in high-school english, but coming to college, I saw my grades tank to "average" (which is actually below the inflated B-average we see now in most classes). Why? The truth was revealed to me by an amazing English prof that I have this quarter. Turns out you need to say something in your paper!

According to him, it's like making a case...but something that is non-trivial. So, you state something that is debatable and make as strong a case (using stuff i dunno like structure...) as possible. Apparently, he says that high-schools and colleges stress different things. One is deep-reading of a novel and the other would be simply churning out a paper that sounds ok. Who knew...I now feel more confident about my paper haha...

New Invention

by eohcnrk on Thursday, April 09, 2009 comments (3)

Hey Girls,

I have this awesome idea. I figured it wouldn't really appeal to guys very much because we don't care much for our hair - though this might have been applicable to Wei back in the day.

So basically I've thought of a brush that you use for your hair, but in the handle you can pour Shampoo or Conditioner!!! Then you can dispense either or by pressing a button. The shampoo gel will dispense through pores at the tip of each bristle to ensure a deep scrubbing! At the same time you can ensure your hair gets adequate amount of shampoo!!!!

Who's willing to help market this ingenious idea? I got a catchy name too!

PooBrush

Islam off the google discussion....

by seagull5000 on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 comments (2)

It was mentioned in the google discussion that the "islam is" was possibly removed to avoid angering people. Even if that is not the case, we've seen often in current events moments of self censorship on the topic of Islam (for example, the book the Jewel of Medina or the Dutch Muhammod cartoons). What is the significance of this?

Google's Take on Different Religions

by Kevin, NeuEve Team on Monday, February 09, 2009 comments (11)

"If you want people to behave as Christians advocate, you should tell them that God does not exist."

by Kevin, NeuEve Team on Monday, January 19, 2009 comments (6)


Legend

A = Australia
C = Canada
D = Denmark
E = Great Britain
F = France
G = Germany
H = Holland
I = Ireland
J = Japan
L = Switzerland
N = Norway
P = Portugal
R = Austria
S = Spain
T = Italy
U = United States
W = Sweden
Z = New Zealand


Hey guys check out this interesting article: http://humaniststudies.org/enews/index.html?id=219&article=7

The gist of the article is that secular (non-religious) societies have much lower rates of violent crimes and teen pregnancy than religious ones.

Top of the class, in both atheism and good behavior, come the Japanese. Over eighty percent accept evolution and fewer than ten percent are certain that God exists. Despite its size – over a hundred million people – Japan is one of the least crime-prone countries in the world. It also has the lowest rates of teenage pregnancy of any developed nation.

(Teenage pregnancy has less tragic consequences than violence but it is usually unwanted, and it is frequently associated with deprivation among both mothers and children. In general, it is a Bad Thing.)

Next in line are the Norwegians, British, Germans and Dutch. At least sixty percent accept evolution as a fact and fewer than one in three are convinced that there is a deity. There is little teenage pregnancy , although the Brits, with over 40 pregnancies per 1,000 girls a year, do twice as badly as the others. Homicide rates are also low -- around 1-2 victims per 100,000 people a year.

At the other end of the scale comes America. Over 50 percent of Americans believe in God, and only 40 percent accept some form of evolution (many believe it had a helping hand from the Deity). The U.S. has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy and homicide rates are at least five times greater than in Europe and ten times higher than in Japan.

All this information points to a strong correlation between faith and antisocial behavior -- a correlation so strong that there is good reason to suppose that religious belief does more harm than good.


So that's the data. The rest of the article goes on to interpret what this data "means." The article's interpretation is intelligent and well reasoned, but I'd like to offer my own commentary:

Of course, I need to point out that correlation is not causation. It's definitely possible that crime and teenage pregnancy (both of which cause poverty and are caused by poverty) and religious belief are all the result of poverty.

This is certainly true in 3rd world countries which are some of the most religious people. However, I doubt this applies in America's case, the richest country in the world.

Here's my explanation: each of the former British colonies has its "birth defects" that they're sorta "stuck with." Canada has the French. Australia has the prisoners. The US had two things: slavery and religious nuts (in the form of Puritans, Quakers, Shakers, Mormons, Amish et al). That's why, in my opinion, America has been so stubborn in it's faith in religion and creationism while the rest of the developed world has "grown up."

New Invention- Snow Tunnel

by sophlightning305 on Saturday, January 17, 2009 comments (4)

Brrrr...it's cold in the winter time. And woooo it's windy...sucks living in chicago sometimes, especially if you're a college student walking around in this antarctic weather. What also is no fun is slave labor, shoveling your driveway just because you're the offspring of the owners of the house. Don't worry though, I have come up with an invention that will make walking in wintertime like walking in candyland and no more shoveling!

Imagine light half tubes that are opaque. Now these are tubes that have a radius of about 10 ft. or so and a length of about 10 feet as well. You place these opaque tubes on the sidewalks linking the doors of one class room to another. They will have some sort of clamp or mechanism that attaches one segment to the next. Each segment will either be straight, a left turn, right turn, or a joiner (something that joins multiple straight sections (such as in an intersection). These will be weighted or fastened onto existing sidewalks, allowing people to walk in the middle, wind and snow-free. They will not cross roads however...as someone cleverly pointed out, it would block traffic, but they will provide a nice way to get from one classroom to another without wind or ice. It takes away the need of lots of salt, snowshovels and facility who run it. Once spring comes, just unfasten each segment from each other and from the ground, find a place to store it and take it out next year. For driveways, just make one with a bigger radius and possibly some sort of "door" at the end of it for easy access by cars, but keeps the snow out.

*heating of the tubes not included.

Readings of Interest

by a.kim on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 comments (3)

Well it seems like everyone disappeared during break. I don't blame you ... i totally went super lazy, too. Well getting back into the whole school scene with classes and etc., I was never an avid reader. Heck... I pretty much don't read books unless the school assigns it. Because I'm not too fond of reading, I have never been to great at reading comprehension and things of the sort. In light of this, I want to improve my reading and also it never hurts to read (prolly help me be a more imaginative thinker). So I'm asking everyone for some suggestions. I would be interested in reading journals or articles or other above average reading that will keep my interest. Anything that you think is very interesting or like thought provoking ... etc. Boredom is a killer of my non-existent reading habit. SO PUH LEZZZJUH HELP.

Ps - I'm a chemistry major so maybe that will influence your suggestions... I don't know. Plus I'm trying to prepare for the MCATs...

ANY GREAT IDEAS WILL BE REWARDED BY MIKE CHOE AND HIS RICHNESS THAT SURROUNDS HIM!