Northwest Flight 253: How Do We Reconcile the Risk Posed by a Failed Attempt?

January 18th, 2010 by Jacob Rheuban

Northwest Airlines airplane at Reagan National AirportSometime around the end of 2009, in the wake of Abdulmutallab’s failed attempt to bring down Northwest flight 253, I was having a conversation about the incident.  My fellow converser expressed hesitation to declare the incident a security breach.  Her hesitation was rooted in the fact that the attempt was unsuccessful.  To put her hesitation into my own words, how can we conclude that a terrorist attempt that failed nonetheless had a high probability of success?  And without fully understanding Abdulmutallab’s probability of success, how can we declare that a security breach occurred?

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Arguments For and Against Junk Food and Soda Taxes

December 27th, 2009 by Jacob Rheuban

soda2

The debate over junk food taxes is drawing increasing attention from both sides.  Continued debate over of the adverse health impacts of sugary drinks is coupled with heating debate over the propriety of a tax on a dietary pleasure — a pleasure some believe people have an unassailable right to partake in, but others find to be a health hazard.

Here are some recent arguments from vocal advocates on both sides of the debate:

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Make Your Own Watch ID to Carry Emergency Contact and Medical Information

December 10th, 2009 by Jacob Rheuban

watch-idThis is my first do it yourself post and it’s for all the running and hiking nuts out there.    I’ve read in a variety of articles and advertisements that when running, hiking, cycling or participating in other outdoor recreational pursuits, it’s a good idea to carry ID and emergency contact information.  I suppose that in the event that I get injured and am unable to effectively communicate with emergency responders, I would rather be an injured Jacob than an injured John Doe.

A few companies market ID products that cater to the running, hiking, cycling and outdoor enthusiast crowd, such as Road ID.  While Road ID’s marketing campaign has been effective at convincing me that it would be prudent for me to carry ID when participating in outdoor adventures, it has been ineffective at persuading me to fork over the $19.99 for “the Wrist ID Sport” (or $29.99 for “the Wrist ID Sport Elite”)[1] [2]

I’m already wearing something on my wrist:  my trusty old watch.  I figured I could put my vital information on my watch.  My watch can simultaneously tell me the time and serve as a transmitter of identifying information in the event I’m rendered unable to communicate – creating an efficient economy of wrist pieces.

Here’s how to make your own Watch ID:

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The Tension Between Public Healthcare and Personal Health Habits

November 23rd, 2009 by Jacob Rheuban

Does societal responsibility for individual health needs give rise to individual responsibility to maintain health?

The proposed changes in healthcare have consumed a fair portion of media attention over the past few months.  Much of the debate revolves around the provisioning of healthcare to American’s.  But buried deep in the discussions is some talk about preventive care and the role that health maintenance plays in America’s overall healthcare policy.  President Obama’s healthcare policy discussion mentions individual responsibility for preventative care:

“Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that protecting and promoting health and wellness in this nation is a shared responsibility among individuals and families, school systems, employers, the medical and public health workforce, and federal and state and local governments. All parties must do their part, as well as collaborate with one another, to create the conditions and opportunities that will allow and encourage Americans to adopt healthy lifestyles.”[1]

The proposed changes in healthcare represent, to some degree, a movement towards increased public responsibility for the health of individuals.[2] If society shoulders some of the burden of individual healthcare issues, then an individual’s health habits have, in addition to personal health consequences, external repercussions.  This begs the question:  If society takes responsibility for the health of its citizens, do the citizens have a corresponding responsibility to society to maintain their own health?

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The Entropy in Crime and Punishment

May 16th, 2009 by Jacob Rheuban

Punishing Consequences or State of Mind: An Examination of the Driving Force Behind the Criteria Used for Criminal Punishment – PART 2

This post is a hugely delayed continuation of a discussion that I began several months ago here:  Do We Imprison People Randomly? If you have not read that earlier post, this post may lack context.

The Reality Equation

randomcrimeThe intuitive response to the hypothetical presented in Part 1 is that it takes place under circumstances that can only exist in a fictional world. In reality, it is virtually impossible for Driver A and Driver B to have identical states of mind. Perhaps Driver B was driving a smidgen faster than Driver A. Perhaps Driver A had a car that was capable of handling faster speeds safer. Perhaps the wind was blowing against Driver A but with Driver B making it easier for Driver A to halt his car in an emergency. There are countless factors that could bear on the safety of the driver’s conduct. It is the action of the driver under the precise unique circumstances of the moment that give rise to the state of mind of the driver. Thus, there might never be a real situation where two individuals truly have an identical state of mind.

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Turboexpanders: Harnessing the Hidden Potential of Our Natural Gas Distribution System

March 9th, 2009 by Jacob Rheuban

turbineabstractMany of the innovations in green energy involve the recapture of otherwise wasted energy.  Regenerative breaking systems on hybrid automobiles recapture the kinetic energy inherent in the motion of the vehicle.  In a conventional automobile, as the brakes are applied, friction in the braking system converts this kinetic energy to waste heat.  But in a hybrid, a portion of this energy is converted to electricity and stored in batteries for future use.  Since this energy would otherwise be wasted, this is essentially free energy.[1] Similarly waste heat recovery systems recover energy that would otherwise be wasted from power generation facilities.  Most conventional power generation facilities covert approximately half of the energy in the fuel into electricity.  The remainder is lost as waste thermal heat.  Waste heat recovery systems recapture this heat so it can be put to good use, increasing the efficiency of power generation facility.  These are but two examples of innovative methods of recapturing otherwise wasted energy.  There is another unharnessed form of energy rushing through our cities and countryside every day: our natural gas distribution pipelines.

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JetLev-Flyer: The Flying Personal Watercraft

February 6th, 2009 by Jacob Rheuban

jpMS Watersports Gmbh out of Germany is now selling the JetLev-Flyer, a water propelled jet pack.  The design looks both novel and simple.  Based on a video from the company’s website, it appears the JetLev-Flyer works as follows:

  • The rider/pilot straps on a jet pack.
  • The jet pack is connected to a hose that runs to a float about the size of a personal watercraft that sits in the water.
  • The float follows the rider around. The float has a four stroke engine that pumps water up the hose to the jet pack and is shot out of the jet nozzles in the pack. The force of the water shooting out of the jet pack lifts the rider up. The rider can maneuver by controlling the direction and force of the jet.

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“The Capacitor Challenge” Wins XPRIZE Video Contest, Exemplifies Growing Interest in Energy Storage Technology

February 5th, 2009 by Jacob Rheuban

xprizewinnerToday XPRIZE Foundation announced that “The Capacitor Challenge”, a video calling for innovation in ultracapacitor technology, is the winner of their “What’s Your Crazy Green Idea” video contest [see my previous post about the contest].  The $25,000 prize was awarded to the video creators Kyle Good and Bryan Le of Irvine, California for receiving the most votes for their video entry in the contest.  The “What’s Your Crazy Green Idea” video contest was a call by the XPRIZE Foundation for ideas in the realm of green innovation that may serve as the basis of a goal for a future XPRIZE award.

The XPRIZE Foundation has not made an announcement about an official ultracapacitor XPRIZE yet, but the XPRIZE Foundation has a track record of offering very large prizes to encourage rapid innovation.  Several years ago they awarded a $10 million prize to Scaled Composites for launching the first reusable privately constructed vehicle into space.

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The Junk Food Tax: Good for Our Health or Bad for Our Wealth?

February 3rd, 2009 by Jacob Rheuban

obtax1Last month New York Governor David Paterson proposed an obesity tax to be levied on fattening foods.  He characterizes America’s problem with obesity as a crisis.  Drawing a comparison to cigarettes, he suggests that just as cigarette taxes reduced the number of American’s consumption of cigarettes, a tax on certain junk foods should reduce the consumption of unhealthy fare.

Paterson remarked:

“Just as the cigarette tax has helped reduce the number of smokers and smoking-related deaths, a tax on highly caloric, non-nutritional beverages can help reduce the prevalence of obesity”[1]

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Video Calling for Ultracapacitor Innovation Makes Final Cut for X PRIZE Green Video Contest

January 29th, 2009 by Jacob Rheuban

imagesA video calling for innovation in ultracapacitor technology has made the final cut for the X PRIZE Foundation’s “Crazy Green Idea” video challenge.  The X PRIZE Foundation offers large awards for the achievement of one of their defined goals, typically involving scientific and engineering innovation.  They select goals with potential benefit to humanity.  In October of 2004 the X PRIZE Foundation awarded $10 million to Scaled Composites for the being the first private team to build and launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks.  The historical flight of the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne spaceplane attracted international attention.

The “Green Video Idea” is a call by the X PRIZE Foundation for submission of videos containing ideas for future X PRIZE goals.  “The Capacitor Challenge” was submitted by Kyle Good from Irvine, California, calling for innovations in capacitor technology.

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