Albener Pessoa

The weight of water limits how much can be brought on a long bike ride. There isn’t always an option to stop and fill up from a clean stream or drinking fountain, but water could be obtained from a different source: the air. Austrian industrial design student Kristof Retezár has created Fontus: a prototype of a water bottle system that condenses humid air into clean, drinkable water. His design made him a finalist for the 2014 James Dyson Award.

The Fontus attaches to the bicycle frame and consists of a condenser unit and a bottle for collection. There is a solar panel on top of the unit that powers the condenser. As the motion of the bike causes air to blow into a channel, the moist air is cooled, causing it to condense. The droplets roll back down the condensing unit, collecting in a water bottle mounted underneath. 

A filter is fixed onto the opening where the air comes through, preventing bugs or dirt from damaging the components or getting into the water. However, the filter isn’t effective at removing pollutants in the air, which could contaminate the water. Until another filter is added to correct this problem, it shouldn’t be used in an urban setting.

Currently, the design is capable of producing a drop of water per minute, in air that is approximately 50% humidity with temperatures at least 20˚C (68˚F). Sadly, this means that it will take a considerable amount of time to produce enough water to drink. Retezár's home city of Vienna is not known for its humidity, so he was forced to conduct his experiments in his bathroom using steam from the shower. He predicts that areas with higher levels of humidity could produce as much as half a liter per hour.

The technology behind the design does not only apply to keeping thirst quenched; it could potentially save lives. Over 780 million people on the planet do not have reliable access to clean water, and the problem is predicted to worsen with the changing climate. Condensing humidity into drinking water could be a way to help curb that increasing demand.

Of course, this is not the first time a device has tried to draw the moisture out of humid air for drinking purposes. Warka Water towers in the Namib desert mimic beetles that drink the fog from the air. Eole Water uses wind turbines in the United Arab Emirates to cool air, condensing it into drinking water. Researchers in Peru have designed a billboard to condense humid air, dispensing the water at the bottom. 

While it isn’t particularly hard to condense humid air into drinking water, developing a system that is practical and cost-efficient on a large scale is the limiting factor. The price of each Fontus device would likely run between $25-40 each, though that number will hopefully go down as the device is developed further. Mass production will also help drive down costs, and Retezár is currently investigating crowdfunding options that would make a larger production order more feasible.

[All images belong to Kristof Retezár, via HuffPo]

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Ele não faz trabalhos domésticos. Não tem gosto nem respeito por trabalhos manuais. Se puder, atrapalha quem pega no pesado. Trata-se de uma tradição lusitana, ibérica, reproduzida aqui na colônia desde os tempos em que os negros carregavam em barris, nos ombros, a toilete dos seus proprietários, e eram chamados de "tigres" - porque os excrementos lhes caíam sobre as costas, formando listras. O Perfeito Idiota Brasileiro, ou PIB, também não ajuda em casa. Influência da mamãe, que nunca deixou que ele participasse das tarefas - nem mesmo pôr ou tirar uma mesa, nem mesmo arrumar a própria cama. Ele atira suas coisas pela casa, no chão, em qualquer lugar, e as deixa lá, pelo caminho. Não é com ele. Ele foi criado irresponsável e inconsequente. É o tipo de cara que pede um copo d'água deitado no sofá. E não faz nenhuma questão de mudar. O PIB é especialista em não fazer, em fazer de conta, em empurrar com a barriga, em se fazer de morto. Ele sabe que alguém fará por ele. Então ele se desenvolveu um sujeito preguiçoso. Folgado. Que se escora nos outros, não reconhece obrigações e adora levar vantagem. Esse é o seu esporte predileto - transformar quem o cerca em seus otários particulares.

O tempo do Perfeito Idiota Brasileiro vale mais que o das demais pessoas. É a mãe que fura a fila de carros no colégio dos filhos. É a moça que estaciona em vaga para deficientes no shopping. É o casal que atrasa uma hora para um jantar com amigos. As regras só valem para os outros. O PIB não aceita restrições. Para ele, só privilégios e prerrogativas. Um direito divino - porque ele é melhor que os outros. É um adepto do vale-tudo social, do cada um por si e do seja o que Deus quiser. Só tem olhos para o próprio umbigo e os únicos interesses válidos são os seus.

O PIB é o parâmetro de tudo. Quanto mais alguém for diferente dele, mais errado esse alguém estará. Ele tem preconceito contra pretos, pardos, pobres, nordestinos, baixos, gordos, gente do interior, gente que mora longe. E ele é sexista para caramba. Mesma lógica: quem não é da sua tribo, do seu quintal, é torto. E às vezes até quem é da tribo entra na moenda dos seus pré-julgamentos e da sua maledicência. A discriminação também é um jeito de você se tornar externo, e oposto, a um padrão que reconhece em si, mas de que não gosta. É quando o narigudo se insurge contra narizes grandes. O PIB adora isso.

O PIB anda de metrô. Em Paris. Ou em Manhattan. Até em Buenos Aires ele encara. Aqui, nem a pau. Melhor uma hora de trânsito e R$ 25 de estacionamento do que 15 minutos com a galera do vagão. É que o Perfeito Idiota tem um medo bizarro de parecer pobre. E o modo mais direto de não parecer pobre é evitar ambientes em que ele possa ser confundido com um despossuído qualquer. Daí a fobia do PIB por qualquer forma de transporte coletivo.

Outro modo de nunca parecer pobre é pagar caro. O PIB adora pagar caro. Faz questão. Não apenas porque, para ele, caro é sinônimo de bom. Mas, principalmente, porque caro é sinônimo de "cheguei lá" e "eu posso". O sujeito acha que reclamar dos preços, ou discuti-los, ou pechinchar, ou buscar ofertas, é coisa de pobre. E exibe marcas como penduricalhos numa árvore de natal. É assim que se mostra para os outros. Se pudesse, deixaria as etiquetas presas ao que veste e carrega. O PIB compra para se afirmar. Essa é a sua religião. E ele não se importa em ficar no vermelho - preocupação com ter as contas em dia, afinal, é coisa de pobre.

O PIB também é cleptomaníaco. Sua obsessão por ter, e sua mania de locupletação material, lhe fazem roubar roupão de hotel e garrafinha de bebida do avião e amostra grátis de perfume em loja de departamento. Ele pega qualquer produto que esteja sendo ofertado numa degustação no supermercado. Mesmo que não goste daquilo. O PIB gosta de pagar caro, mas ama uma boca-livre.

E o PIB detesta ler. Então este texto é inútil, já que dificilmente chegará às mãos de um Perfeito Idiota Brasileiro legítimo, certo? Errado. Qualquer um de nós corre o risco de se comportar assim. O Perfeito Idiota é muito mais um software do que um hardware, muito mais um sistema ético do que um determinado grupo de pessoas.

Um sistema ético que, infelizmente, virou a cara do Brasil. Ele está na atitude da magistrada que bloqueou, no bairro do Humaitá, no Rio, um trecho de calçada em frente à sua casa, para poder manobrar o carro. Ele está no uso descarado dos acostamentos nas estradas. E está, principalmente, na luz amarela do semáforo. No Brasil, ela é um sinal para avançar, que ainda dá tempo - enquanto no Japão, por exemplo, é um sinal para parar, que não dá mais tempo. Nada traduz melhor nossa sanha por avançar sobre o outro, sobre o espaço do outro, sobre o tempo do outro. Parar no amarelo significaria oferecer a sua contribuição individual em nome da coletividade. E isso o PIB prefere morrer antes de fazer.

Na verdade, basta um teste simples para identificar outras atitudes que definem o PIB: liste as coisas que você teria que fazer se saísse do Brasil hoje para morar em Berlim ou em Toronto ou em Sidney. Lavar a própria roupa, arrumar a própria casa. Usar o transporte público. Respeitar a faixa de pedestres, tanto a pé quanto atrás de um volante. Esperar a sua vez. Compreender que as leis são feitas para todos, inclusive para você. Aceitar que todos os cidadãos têm os mesmos direitos e os mesmo deveres - não há cidadãos de primeira classe e excluídos. Não oferecer mimos que possam ser confundidos com propina. Não manter um caixa dois que lhe permita burlar o fisco. Entender que a coisa pública é de todos - e não uma terra de ninguém à sua disposição para fincar o garfo. Ser honesto, ser justo, não atrasar mais do que gostaria que atrasassem com você. Se algum desses códigos sociais lhe parecer alienígena em algum momento, cuidado: você pode estar contaminado pelo vírus do PIB. Reaja, porque enquanto não erradicarmos esse mal nunca vamos ser uma sociedade para valer.

*Adriano Silva, jornalista e publicitário, foi diretor de redação da SUPER entre 2000 e 2005.

Depression is an astonishingly common mental disorder; it affects as many as 1 in 4 people during their lifetime, and between 5 and 10% of the population are suffering from the illness to some extent at any one time.

Despite extensive research into this area, the underlying causes of depression are not well understood, although many believe it could stem from changes in brain chemistry. In particular, two chemicals have taken center stage: dopamine and serotonin, which are often found in lower levels in patients with depression. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that this could be a symptom rather than a cause.  

Another molecule that has recently piqued the interest of scientists is a protein called beta-catenin. β-catenin is known to play a variety of roles in the central nervous system, and its malfunction has been implicated in numerous mental illnesses, including depression. Supporting these links, a newly published study has suggested that our brain’s ability to cope with stress and resist depression is determined, at least in part, by the activity of this protein. These findings challenge current ideas about the etiology of depression and could eventually lead to novel and potentially more effective ways to treat the disorder.

As described in Nature, scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine started off by exposing mice to chronic social stress, which caused some animals to exhibit depression-like symptoms. They then examined their brains to see if any notable differences could be identified, and found a disparity in the levels of active β-catenin between mice that were resistant or susceptible to stress.

More specifically, they found the mice that showed resilience to stress possessed more active β-catenin in the brain’s reward and motivation center, the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Conversely, those that succumbed to stress and developed signs of depression were found to have inactive β-catenin in the NAc.

In support of this, the researchers also found suppression of this protein in the brain tissue of deceased patients that had suffered from depression, regardless of whether they had been taking antidepressants at the time of death.

Further examination revealed that the pro-resilient effects observed in the mice were mediated through interactions between β-catenin and a type of dopamine receptor called a D2 receptor. Taking this forward, the researchers blocked β-catenin from being able to interact with D2 receptors in mice that had previously shown resilience to depression, which rendered them susceptible to stress. Similarly, activating β-catenin in susceptible mice made them more resilient to depression after exposure to stress.

Lastly, by snipping out β-catenin from NAc neurons and examining the resulting gene expression patterns, the researchers were able to identify a network activated by β-catenin that is associated with resilience. Specifically, they found that β-catenin targets a gene called Dicer1 which produces a protein that plays key roles in regulating the expression of other genes. How these genes affect depression, however, remains unknown at the moment.

Although more work needs to be done, these initial findings suggest that targeting β-catenin could lead to a novel way to treat depression. Rather than undoing the negative impacts of stress, scientists may be able to activate natural resilience mechanisms.

[Via Nature and Mount Sinai Hospital]

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An excellent and entertaining resource on Lovecraft’s stories is the HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast hosted by Chris Lackey and Chad Fifer.  Over the years they have reviewed and analyzed all of HPL’s stories and currently are doing the same for stories that HPL has cited in his essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature.”  I highly recommend the Podcast.

What is interesting about going through the Podcast episodes of HPL’s stories, particularly since the stories are presented in chronological order, is you can see themes or trends appear throughout his writings.  One of the ideas that periodically comes up and has been noted by Chris and Chad is that in some respects select entities of HPL’s seem to be easily defeated or relatively weak beings.  In this article I will be discussing this idea and presenting a hypothesis to explain it

First, it should be noted that some Lovecraftian entities seem to be very hardy if not downright immortal.  The Elder Ones (or Elder Things) were described a number of times as being extremely tough yet flexible.  These beings are known to have the capacity to travel interstellar space, live in the deep waters of the ocean or on dry land, which can include the steaming jungles near the equator or the Arctic / Antarctic regions of the poles.  Additionally, they can be put into some type of stasis or coma and can be revived millions of years later.  The Elder Ones are obviously well adapted to surviving a wide variety of environments and are well known to be residents of our universe.  The same can be said of their creations the shoggoths; well adapted and hearty organisms.

Elder Ones by bioytic-9000 (www.deviantart.org)

However, in contrast to the Elder Things and shoggoths, other Lovecraftian entities do not appear to be as well adapted to our universe, let alone a Terran environment.  For example, in “The Whisperer in Darkness” the Mi-Go were described by Henry Akeley as being “clumsy in getting about” and having wings that “are not much use for short flights on earth.”  The Mi-Go are not of this Earth or of our universe, which is why they appear as clumsy in our atmosphere and gravity.

Mi-Go by Michael Bukowski (www.yog-blogsoth.blogspot.com)

In “The Dunwich Horror,” which is a story I have yet to cover on this blog site, Wilbur Whateley was easily killed by a guard dog while he was attempting to steal a copy of the Necronomicon housed at the library at Miskatonic University.  Additionally, after he was killed Wilbur’s body rapidly decomposed so that by the time the medical examiner came to inspect the body nothing was left except a “sticky whitish mass.”  Two things come to mind on this.  First, while powerful from an inter-dimensional perspective, Wilbur was relatively weak in our reality; he was essentially killed by a dog (he obviously was right to be fearful over dogs).  Second, once dead, Wilbur’s hybridized inter-dimensional biomatter quickly dissolved.  This indicates that a considerable amount of energy was required to keep Wilbur’s body stable and intact while he was alive.

Similar to Wilbur, his twin was defeated by Dr. Armitage through an incantation.  According to Armitage, “The thing has gone forever.”  Thus, this large, invisible, inter-dimensional being was simply obliterated by some phrases from the Necronomicon.

Wilbur Whateley by Michael Bukowski (www.yog-blogsoth.blogspot.com)

Finally, Cthulhu was presented as a god-like being who could influence people over the world through their own dreams.  In spite of Cthulhu’s god-like status compared to us puny humans, he appeared to be easily defeated.  Johansen drove the vessel the Alert head long onto Cthulhu.  The result of this was Cthulhu popped like an “exploding bladder” in an “acrid and blinding green cloud.”  However, while Cthulhu was defeated, it was not destroyed.  Johansen could see Cthulhu recombining in the water.  Thus, Cthulhu still lies deep in R’lyeh in a deep sleep.

Cthulhu Rising by Spenzer777 (www.deviant.org)

In each of these examples, these apparently powerful, inter-dimensional entities appear to be have difficulty in our reality or can be easily destroyed or defeated.  How can this be?  Essentially I hypothesize that since their beings originate from other dimensions or are inter-dimensional hybrids, their powers are limited in our dimension or reality.  Thus, the inter-dimensional entities in our reality can be thought of as astronauts or deep sea divers.

Astronaut and deep sea diving suits allow humans to explore non-habitable environments such as space and the ocean.  However, the trade-off to exploring these unforgiving, inhospitable environments is limitations in movement and speed due to their specialized suits.  Additionally, we are entirely dependent on an artificial means of breathing.  Thus, we need to expend a high amount of energy to explorer these environments over short periods of time.  From the perspective of a shark or whale humans in the ocean may appear to be powerful beings, yet at the same time we are weak in that we are slow moving and dependent on exteneral forces / energies to keep up alive.  I believe the same can be said about the inter-dimensional Old Ones.

An astronaut’s suit keeps them alive but limits mobility, and vision; the suit is both power and a limitation for humans (astronaut.com)

In each case, the Mi-Go, Wilbur Whateley and Cthulhu, are inter-dimensional, or semi-inter-dimensional entities probing or exploring our universe and reality.  For the Mi-Go, they may be a stable form of inter-dimensional life that can do quite well in our universe, however, they obviously are not adapted to many of our physical constants such as gravity.  Additionally, as HPL cites in “The Whisperer in Darkness” the Mi-Go are “composed of a form of matter totally alien to our part of space – with electrons having a wholly different vibration-rate.”  Thus, while possibly not residents of our universe, they appear to be moderately comfortable here.  Maybe they can be thought of as explorers (or miners?) with equipment and gear; although in their case their equipment are their biological modifications.

In contrast, Wilbur Whateley and Cthulhu are entities that appear to require an enormous amount of energy to maintain their status in this universe.  Upsetting this stream of energy killed Wilbur and temporarily defeated Cthulhu.  Thus, their respective forms in our reality may be their astronaut or diving suits – Cthulhu may look very different in its own residential universe.  Also, using the astronaut or diving suit analogy, this would explain the apparent weakness of these entities.  If Wilbur and Cthulhu were successful in opening the way from their universe to ours these circumstances would certainly change.

Next time the discussion will focus on Nyarlathotep.  Thank you – Fred.

Cthulhu 1790 by Fiend Upon My Back (www.deivantart.org)