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I was using the downtime during this time of year to catch up on some reading. In the Machine Design trade magazine there was an interesting article that caught my eye. Testing of copper as an anti-microbial surface. The comparisons with stainless steel are interesting, because most of the metal surfaces in an operating room are stainless of some sort (304 or 316 stainless).

E. coli, a food-born pathogen, that in the elderly and children can lead to life-threatening hemolytic uremia syndrome, was one of the first bacteria tested. Room-temperature results showed that on pure and 99%-copper substrates extremely high levels of the bacteria dropped two orders of magnitude in only 45 min and were completely gone in 75 min. There was a similar pattern at 4°C (39°F). It took between 75 and 180 min for a drop in bacterial counts from 100 million to total eradication.

It even seems effective against MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus), the bane of hospitals everywhere.

I was aware that copper was toxic to living cells, mostly through design work where biocompatibility was tested, but the mechanism was news to me. Copper’s toxicity to cells comes from the Oligodynamic effect, where some metal ions demonstrate this toxicity. The mechanism is not yet understood, but possibly the cause is the denaturing of the bacteria’s proteins. Silver also demonstrates this effect, and this is why it is used in the treatment of burns via silver nitrate impregnated gauze (something else I can attest to).

I wonder if more of the touch surfaces in hospitals and operating rooms will be designed with at least a minimum amount of copper, with that minimum determined by an effectiveness at killing bacteria. There is also the question of allergic reactions, the effect of oxidation, or the allowable contact time before there is a noticeable effect on healthy tissues.

A projector, a computer and a Wii Remote. If I ever felt the need for a Wii, it was after watching this video.

It doesn’t seem like it would be that hard to do. And just getting the remote would only be about $40.

The guy who did this, Johnny Lee, seems like a good guy to know. PhD Student at CMU and seems to have an interest in photography too.

I trust that everyone had a great Christmas, things are slowly returning to normal around the Ward household.

My wife made sure that I had something I can blame for my lack of progress on the dissertation in 2008. She got me the Lego Star Wars II video game. It has Star Wars! It has Legos! Will the fun ever end?

Here is why I am so excited:

And another one, because I can’t resist.

I am pretty sure you can write me off the productivity list until at least March.

For the last few years, The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has put up a website to track Santa’s progress overnight.

It looks like they teamed up with Google Earth for a few extra goodies this year.

So for your entertainment on Christmas Eve, I give you:

NORAD’s Santa Tracking Website

At this point, spending as little time as possible at the stores is my goal. I am going to hang out at home and enjoy the holidays.

Apparently some people have other ideas.

With 24 hour stores and food and everything all on one store, this really was bound to happen at some point.

Spending 72 hours in a Walmart sounds like one of Dante’s levels of hell.

Over at the Science Creative Quarterly, Paul Clarkson wrote about an investigation into the existence of Santa Claus from when he was a kid.

First up, we have the consultation of authorities (His Parents):

My parents (beneficiaries of a liberal arts education and a liberal dosing of 1960’s psychotropic compounds) reassured their young child by explaining that Santa, like all beliefs, was a social construction and as such was true to all who believed in him. When I asked how I would prove that, Mum told me that all truth was relative and that the concept of proof was no more than a projection of hegemony by the dominant culture. Which I thought was a load of old bollocks.

Next is the literature review:

My little red bookshelf contained several volumes referring to Santa Claus. Most were personal accounts [2], and as such counted as no more than Level V evidence (expert opinion). Other styled themselves as authorities [3,4], but lacked references to definitive investigations.

Without a clear conclustion from previous work, he proceeded into the expermental portion of the investigation:

I decided to adjust my behaviour, the independent variable A, and observe the number of presents, the dependent variable B. If he did exist, then B would vary with A, but if my parents were bringing the loot then A should not cause B to vary, as I was an overindulged and spoilt child.

Sounds pretty good on the surface. However, as Paul points out, there were some problems with the data:

The next morning I awoke with eager anticipation of my results. I got pretty much the same presents as usual. I then realised with horror that I had no reference standard! What if I was going to get more and had been reduced? How would I know? My brother and sister served as case-controls, but this was wholly unsatisfactory. Was a Barbie doll worth one or two toy cars? Had they been naughty or nice, thus confounding the results?

His conclusions and future work:

I am sorry to report that despite having now reached adulthood, I have still been unable to establish a satisfactory experimental design for this problem. The levels of evidence in this field continue to be amongst the poorest in the literature, and anecdotal evidence abounds. However, there will be a bear-trap at the bottom of my chimney again this year. While Popper may maintain that it is impossible to prove that something does not exist, the truth is that I’ve only got to catch the bastard once to get my answer.

I must say, it is about time somebody started using a more systematic method for answering this question. There have been way too many theories presented without evidence! It has gone on long enough, the time to answer the question “Does Santa Claus Exist?” is now. Surely there is a journal somewhere that deals with this realm of research, if not maybe it is time to start one.

Edit: I just remembered, I have recent photographic evidence of Santa’s existence!

Dave: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.
Dave: What’s the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.

So apparently the new Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) that is being developed for our much neglected return to the moon is going to be able to navigate on its own. The premise is to be able to dock with the lunar lander if the crew (who will all be on the lander) are unable to perform the docking maneuvers.

[HAL won't let Dave into the ship]
Dave: All right, HAL; I’ll go in through the emergency airlock.
HAL: Without your space helmet, Dave, you’re going to find that rather difficult.
Dave: HAL, I won’t argue with you anymore! Open the doors!
HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

Last year, they were telling us how they are getting system computers to update crews on the craft’s status.

[on Dave's return to the ship, after HAL has killed the rest of the crew]
HAL: Look Dave, I can see you’re really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.

Are the people writing specs at NASA just sitting around watching Stanley Kubrick movies?

Hat tip to IMDB for the movie line quotes

It looks like the truth-in-advertising regulations caught up with engineering recruiting.

Random thought for the day:

Carl’s Jr. needs to plan for success. A few years ago they came out with a new hamburger, called the Six Dollar Burger. The premise was that this burger was just like the ones you get at the sit-down (non-fast food) type restaurants, where they charged you six dollars for it. So you would get a six dollar burger for a lot less. When they launched it, I think it was around $3 dollars for the sandwich and like $4.50 to $5 for the combo.

Here’s where I don’t think they were thinking ahead. Fast forward a few years. Inflation starts to take an effect, and the prices rise. When I was at Carl’s Jr. a few days ago, I noticed that most of the combos with Six Dollar Burgers (now there are quite a few of them) are upwards of $7. The sandwiches alone are $5. At which point the Six Dollar Burger for $5+ doesnt seem like the most amazing deal ever.

What are they going to do when the Six Dollar Burger costs more than $6? Change the name? Like I said before, I don’t think they were planning for success. Hell, it was this kind of not thinking things through that gave us the Y2K issues.

But hey, it is fast food. And this was the same marketing department that used Hugh Hefner, Paris Hilton (link may be NSFW), and the infamous Flat Buns commercials to sell their product.

The previous post on engineering and autisim was oringinally written for a different blog a year ago when the IEEE article first came out.

What reminded me to post it here was a YouTube video of Steven Wiltshire, an architectural artist from the UK. He was diagnosed with autism at age 3, and has been drawing architechture since age 11, when he recreated the London skyline from memory after a helicopter ride.

In the video, this ability is demonstrated by taking him to Rome, flying him around for 45 minutes, and then giving him three days to recreate the skyline. All without additional reference, based solely on his recollection.

Here is the panorama that he drew over the three days.

There is a lot we have yet to learn about how the brain works.