Uses of Polystyrene

The plastic package containing smoked chicken in the supermarket, the disposable cup that holds your tea or coffee, the case which stores your favorite music CD, and the shower unit that lets you enjoy a refreshing bath, all are made up of the polymer, polystyrene. Also known as Thermocole, this hydrocarbon is a chain of monomer named styrene which is a product obtained from petroleum or crude oil. Polystyrene has a vast range of applications, and almost every industry is dependent on it in some or the other way.

Various Applications of Polystyrene

Manufacturing

Disposable cutlery has made our life easy and convenient, as we don't need to carry reusable cutlery every time we go for an outing. This has become possible due to polystyrene. Sheet or molded form of this polymer is used enormously for the production of plastic cutlery which are meant for one-time use.
The polymer is fit for manufacturing various household appliances like blenders, air conditioners, refrigerators, ovens, etc., as it can be easily processed and is capable of imparting a clean finish to the appliance.
Other consumer goods like kitchen and bathroom accessories, garden equipment, lawn accessories, etc., are also made by incorporating polystyrene in the manufacturing process.
Owing to its less price as compared to other costly polymers, and ease of processing into different shapes and sizes, polystyrene is also used for making toys.
Another utility is in the manufacturing of smoke detector housing that is used for detecting smoke in case a fire flares up.
Housing for televisions, CD or DVD cases, and several devices used in information technology are all dependent on this polymer.

Packaging

Supermarkets are stocked up with eatables stored in polystyrene packaging material. Perishable food items like meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, salads etc., can be prevented from spoiling if packed in this packaging material. It is a cost-effective way of food preservation.
Electronic goods and appliances are packed in boxes along with support material made up of polystyrene. This material provides insulation and protection from external factors, and cushions the fragile appliance from external shocks.
Goods, specially food items, that are required to be transported to different locations around the world can be safely shipped in polystyrene packaging. Boxes meant for long-distance transport are used for products like meat, fish, oysters, etc., that need to be maintained in an edible condition till the shipment reaches its destination.

What is the Higgs Boson?

Why does matter have mass? In other words, what decides how heavy a particle is? Why are some matter particles heavier than others? These are some of the fundamental questions answered by the concept of a Higgs Field pervading all space and its quantum or mediating particle, the Higgs Boson.

Till date, the idea of such a field was entirely conjecture, but today it is closer to reality with the actual discovery of a Higgs-like particle, which may indeed be the real deal. One of the primary goals behind building the LHC (Large Hadron Collider - The most powerful particle smashing machine ever created) at CERN was the detection of this boson. At the time of writing, the two teams working on ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN have announced the detection of a boson at an energy scale of 125.3 ± 0.6 GeV (Giga electron volt - A measure of energy), which fits the Higgs particle profile, but confirmation can only be provided after further investigation. To explain why this discovery of a new fundamental building block of the universe is as momentous as man's landing on the Moon or the discovery of nuclear fission, let me explain the whole idea in the simplest possible way.

The Party Analogy - A Simple Explanation For the Higgs-Curious Layman

Imagine a party with a lot of invited guests. Now consider the guests to be evenly spread out throughout the party venue. In a similar way, the Higgs field is evenly spread out throughout the great party, which is the entirety of space and time. Now imagine a popular movie star walking into the party venue. Guests throng around him, making it difficult for our star to move around freely. He is slowed down by the 'field' of guests surrounding him.

How Kirlian Photography Works

Living and nonliving beings emit a distinct and unique aura. Aura or field of energy, as they call it, is nothing but radiation of electromagnetic energy from an organism. With Kirlian photography, you can capture the electromagnetic energy/glow radiating from objects, both living and nonliving. Though aura discharge is limited to living objects, introducing a high electric current to nonliving objects also gives it its own aura or glow. Let's learn how this occurs through this article.

Kirlian Photography

Discovered accidentally by Semyon Davidovich Kirlian in 1939, Kirlian photography is essentially contact photography, which involves direct contact of the subject with a charged metal plate. In other words, it is also termed as electrography, electronic photography or corona discharge photography. The object emanates electromagnetic waves that are captured onto the film plate, which, when developed is the Kirlian photograph of the object. It is used to show the variations in the energy flow.

*Click on the images for an enlarged view.

Illustrations of Kirlian Photography

Kirlian Finger Photography Finger Snap Kirlian Leaf Kirlian Finger


Working of this Technique

Living organisms give out electromagnetic impulses, normally called aura, from specific points or paths referred to as meridians. When the living organism is introduced to a high-frequency surface, the coronary discharge or aura is clearly visible as the intensity of the discharge increases. This discharge then passes onto the discharge plate, which is recorded and when developed forms the photogram of the object being photographed.

Best iPhone Apps for Men

Since one can recall, men have constantly developed technology and its tools to ensure that life becomes more comfortable and easy to live. In today's world, the wheels of technology move with lightning speeds and provide tools that can make impossible things possible. One such tool is the cell phone. Earlier this device was just used to receive or make phone calls, but today, it can be used to send mails, receive pictures, navigate through cities and even teach basic interaction skills.

Right now, the market is ruled by smart phones and one of the most prolific ones is the iPhone from Apple. Since its launch in 2007, the iPhone is considered a benchmark in the world of smart phones. In addition to its user-friendly interface and impressive design, there are many applications that make this phone a catch. With so many apps, selecting the most useful ones can get quite confusing. Hence, to solve this problem, Buzzle has listed out the best iPhone apps for men 2012.

Best iPhone Apps

Productivity Apps
Health and Fitness Apps
Entertainment Apps
Other Useful Apps


Productivity Apps

Dropbox
Dropbox allows the user to store all important documents, photos and videos safely. After saving files in this application the user can access them from his computer, iPhone and even the official Dropbox website. This application allows the user to protect all his necessary files even if the phone gets lost.
Price: FREE | Size: 12.1 MB

The Human Fascination With Mars

"Curiosity" - what a perfect name for our new Mars rover. Ever since the famed "seven minutes of terror" as the bot touched down on the red planet, Mars has been a topic of conversation even among groups that normally don’t discuss astronomy. What is our fascination with our neighbor? And a fascination it is - Mars has been the subject of countless books, movies, television shows and even conspiracy theories. Even ancient cultures showed an inordinate amount of interest in our rocky red neighbor - so, why Mars in particular?

Our Closest Neighbor

Well, for one thing, Mars is our closest planetary neighbor. It is very visible in the sky, even with the naked eye. Yes, the moon is closer, and occupies an even larger part of our collective consciousness, but we don’t see it as a planet - Mars is an actual planet, like Earth is a planet - and was thought to harbor life until relatively recently.

The very idea of another planet is fascinating. Think about everything we take for granted about our own - a place to be, firm ground to stick to. That’s Mars, too. Sure, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus are much bigger and more impressive, but they are gas giants - no terra firma. Just vapor through and through. No, we like the rocky planets, like Earth.

Why not Venus, our other neighbor? It’s rocky, sure - but it’s also incredibly violent. Venus has dramatic topography that echoes our grandest canyons and our most regal mountains, but she’s incredibly inhospitable - we have a difficult time imagining her to be anything like our beloved Earth. Mars, on the other hand, seems a quieter, gentler place. We could imagine life there.

Best iPhone Apps for Women

A girl on the move needs to be dressed for the occasion, make work presentations, cook gourmet meals on the spur, run errands all around town, do Pilates and still look fabulous at the end of the day. With her trusted iPhone for company, she's never bound to feel helpless while on duty, as she runs through the day with ease. Technology hardly makes women squirm anymore, so it is unlikely to come across a woman who simply uses an iPhone as just a phone. With so many things to do, and with very little time on hand, the iPhone is nothing short of a lifesaver.

When it came down to looking for apps that make a woman happy, (a mammoth task to begin with) all that I kept coming across dealt with baby-care or pregnancy, styling tips, designer garbs, French cooking, and of course a long list of apps which offered to help me thin down. But the fact that I am a woman made me stop right there before assuming that this is all there is to being a woman, that our world revolves around babies, grooming and cooking. Feminist rantings apart, there are sure to be a lot of things that interest you as a person, and not necessarily as a woman. Which is the reason why I've taken the liberty to add a category of apps that I believe will delight you, because they sure did make me feel nice.

So here is a list of iPhone applications that are sure to come to your aid when you wish to create magic in your kitchen, or if you want to experiment with color blocking, or save money on your workout program, or perhaps, just make you happy.

Apps for Moms

Pregnancy (Sprout) App
To begin with, here's something for the mom-to-be. The Sprout app is the last word in pregnancy tracking. An immensely popular app, Sprout is highly recommended for pregnant women, as it has been designed with inputs from doctors and new mothers. Its two most important features include a due date calendar and 3D ultrasound pictures of the baby at different stages. It also provides vital information regarding the baby's growth, along with name pickers, weight trackers, newborn essentials, and several other useful features.
Cost: $3.99| Size: 59.3 MB
Download from iTunes

Super Mom Workout
This app is perfect for all moms, hands-on or otherwise, who are looking to shed that post-pregnancy weight. The workouts mentioned here target specific problem areas and can be easily incorporated into your daytime chores. The presenter, Brandy, has worked in the field of Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy, and is a supermom herself. Download this app and stop thinking about spending a fortune on gym memberships that you honestly know you wouldn't be using.
Cost: $ 0.99| Size: 357 MB
Download from iTunes

Benefits of Green Computing

Quick Fact!
Vampire power is the term used in reference with consumption of electricity by electronic devices while they are in the stand-by or switched-off mode.

Green computing is the practice of using computers and related technology in an environmentally responsible manner. It aims at radically changing the way we go about computing, using the electronic devices and following strict energy conservation guidelines, so as to minimize the damage caused to the environment by computers. This activity is not just limited to saving electricity, but also takes a holistic approach towards environment-friendly use of computers. Devising innovative and environment-conscious techniques for energy generation is also one of its aspects.

Advantages of Green Computing

There are many innovative technologies and tools which make green computing a viable option for judicious energy usage and environmental conservation. The advantages offered by such technologies are discussed in these points.

Cloud Computing
Touted as a technology that could save substantial amount of energy, cloud computing involves replacing regular servers with the virtual ones. The different areas where cloud computing finds application include data storage, networking, operating systems, software applications. As per studies conducted by the WSP Environment & Energy, it is possible to save as much as 90% of the energy spent in a company of 100 employees. The AT&T-supported Carbon Disclosure Project reported that big US corporations can save as much as $12.3 billion (by the year 2020) if they resort to the use of cloud computing; server utilization too can be increased up to 80%.

The Wonder of Nikola Tesla

If you don’t know Nikola Tesla, you absolutely should. This scientific genius, holder of about 300 patents, pioneered technology we take for granted (and frequently attribute to other people) today, and was a man out of time. Not only a genius, but an insatiable searcher - his biggest legacy is his tendency to "fix things that aren’t broken", opening up entire fields of research and experimentation in the process.

Personally, he would have been described as eccentric - OCD, a proponent of eugenics, and a lifelong celibate who avoided romance because it would interfere with his work. Very tall and extremely thin, he was a distinguished sort of handsome - many women fell in love with him over the years, but if he noticed, he didn’t care - although he was a proponent of women’s rights, believing that women will become the dominant gender in the future. He memorized entire books - once he read one work by an author, he then had to read that author’s entire library. He claimed to never have slept more than two hours at a time, spending all of his time isolated in his lab - with the exception of a nightly dinner at Delmonico’s, from exactly 8pm to exactly 10pm.

A complete history of his work would take volumes. The man was a machine - in his early school years, a headmaster wrote to Tesla’s father claiming that if Nikola were allowed to remain in school, he would work himself literally to death. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, because where would we be without...

Electricity


But Edison invented electricity! No, he didn’t. He figured out how to make the lightbulb a commodity. It was Tesla and his early work with electrical currents that brought about electricity as we know and use it today. Tesla actually worked for Edison, hired to solve the lingering problems remaining on various projects, including direct-current electricity. He solved those problems and developed alternating current electrical power - using Edison’s DC power, we would need power stations every square mile. Tesla’s AC power was better able to travel distances and could be more easily regulated, and he even figured out how to transmit electrical power wirelessly.

So how did Edison thank him for his hard work? By refusing him the large bonus (rumored to be anywhere from $50,000 to 1 million dollars) he promised before the work commenced, and instead giving him an $8/week raise. Gee whiz.

X-Rays


Nikola Tesla was the first person to capture an X-ray image, albeit accidentally. He was playing around trying to photograph Mark Twain (of all people) using a particular type of gas discharge tube, but the only thing that showed up on the film was the camera’s metal screw.

Microsoft Surface RT Tablet Goes On Sale

Quite similar to the pricing of Apple's Wi-Fi only models, the Surface RT tablet by Microsoft will be available for pre-order from today. The first lot of deliveries in the United States will be made on October 26, just a day after an event is being scheduled for the media by the company.

Manufacturing of the Surface RT began at the beginning of October, and Microsoft has a targeted production of around 5 million units by the year end, to have some sort of competition with its rivals, who have also been ramping up their production volumes as of late.

Pricing details of the Surface RT have been revealed too, with the 32GB version (without Black Touch Cover) costing $499, the same version with the cover costing $599, and the 64GB version with the cover costing $699. For now, add-ons available include the Surface Touch Cover for $119.99, and the Surface Type Cover for $129.99. This 10.6" Wi-Fi Only tablet runs on the Surface RT operating system, and includes features such as an NVIDIA T30 processor, 2GB RAM, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi with two antennas and MIMO, two 720p cameras, a compass, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, dual microphones, stereo speakers, an HD-out port, a full-sized USB 2.0 port, a micro SD-slot, and Microsoft Office Home. It has a titanium shell and Vapor Magnesium (VaporMG) skeleton.

Samsung Galaxy S III is World's Best-selling Smartphone

The sales figures for the quarter July to September 2012 are out, and according to them, Samsung has toppled Apple as the number one smartphone seller in the world. For months, or even years, people have been wondering if any company could ever manage to make the so-called 'iPhone Killer'! Looks like Samsung has done it after all, with its Galaxy S III model.

18 million units of the Galaxy S III were shipped in the mentioned quarter, which beats the 16.2 million iPhones that were shipped out to customers in the same period. The S III boasts of a superior battery, bigger touchscreen, and a better camera, as compared to the iPhone. Although this is the first time the iPhone has slipped into second position in sales, its dethroning might be short-lived. Reason being, the iPhone 5 was released on September 21, which meant that most probably the sales of Apple's iPhone 4S dropped in the quarter as people wanted to wait a while to get their hands on the iPhone 5 instead. Also, in the first weekend of its release, the iPhone 5 managed to sell 5 million units, and its sales are expected to soar even further during the holiday season.