ASIMO Serves First FCX Clarity Customers
Watch multiple ASIMOs serving the very first FCX Clarity customers at Honda’s Head Office in Aoyama, Tokyo.
American Honda Motor Co., Inc., recently announced five of the first customers for its advanced new FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle and also provided details of the world’s first fuel cell vehicle dealership network in the United States. The announcements were made during a ceremony for the start of FCX Clarity production at the world’s first dedicated fuel cell vehicle manufacturing facility in Japan on June 16, 2008.
Film producer Ron Yerxa will take delivery of the first FCX Clarity in July. The remaining four early adopters for Honda’s next-generation fuel cell vehicle are author and actress Jamie Lee Curtis and her filmmaker husband Christopher Guest; business owner and car enthusiast Jim Salomon; actress Laura Harris; and Jon Spallino, already the world’s first retail fuel cell vehicle customer, who has been leasing the current generation FCX since 2005. Yerxa, Harris and Spallino attended the event in Japan.
More about ASIMO at: http://www.asimo.honda.com
Review: X10 Home Automation with Arduino
In this example, I control 1 device (on X10 circuit A, device 1). I initally turn the device off. When the RFID tag I am looking for is read, I turn the lights on. Next time that tag is read, I turn the lights off. I acknowledge various changes by providing feedback to the user via blinking LEDs and serial comms to the PC. I use the free SSH/telnet client PuTTY, found here.
Now, for the code…
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#include x10.h
#include x10constants.h
// RFID reader variables
#define TAG_LEN 12
char tag[12] = {‘0′, ‘F’, ‘0′, ‘3′, ‘0′, ‘3′, ‘7′, ‘1′, ‘8′, ‘5′};
char code[12];
int bytesread = 0;
int ledPin = 13; // Connect LED to pin 13
int rfidPin = 2; // RFID enable pin connected to digital pin 2
int val=0;
// X10 Control unit variables
int zcPin = 9;
int dataPin = 8;
int repeat = 1;
boolean LightsOn = false;
// Declare and instance of an X10 control module
x10 myHouse = x10(zcPin, dataPin); // 9 is 0xing pin; 8 is data pin
void setup()
{
// Begin serial comms with the PC
Serial.begin(2400); // RFID reader SOUT pin connected to Serial RX pin at 2400bps
// X10 Module
myHouse.write(A, ALL_UNITS_OFF, repeat);
pinMode(zcPin,INPUT);
pinMode(dataPin,OUTPUT);
// RFID
pinMode(rfidPin,OUTPUT); // Set digital pin 2 as OUTPUT to connect it to the RFID /ENABLE pin
pinMode(ledPin,OUTPUT); // Set ledPin to output
digitalWrite(rfidPin, LOW); // Activate the RFID reader
blink(); // All variables are set, notify user ready to operate
Serial.println(“Setup complete, all lights OFF.”);
}
void loop()
{
if(Serial.available() > 0)
{ // if data available from reader
if((val = Serial.read()) == 10)
{ // check for header
bytesread = 0;
while(bytesread<10)
{ // read 10 digit code
if( Serial.available() > 0)
{
val = Serial.read();
if((val == 10)||(val == 13))
{ // if header or stop bytes before the 10 digit reading
break; // stop reading
}
code[bytesread] = val; // add the digit
bytesread++; // ready to read next digit
}
}
if(bytesread >= 10)
{ // if 10 digit read is complete
Serial.flush(); // clear “ghost” readings of the same RFID
if(strcmp(code, tag) == 0) // Does the tag read match the one we are looking for
{
Serial.print(“Tag matches: “); // Yes
Serial.println(code);
if (LightsOn == false) // If lights are off, turn them on.
{
blink();
myHouse.write(A, UNIT_1, repeat);
myHouse.write(A, ON, repeat);
LightsOn = true;
Serial.println(“Lights ON.”);
}
else // Lights are on, so turn them off
{
blink();
myHouse.write(A, UNIT_1, repeat);
myHouse.write(A, OFF, repeat);
LightsOn = false;
Serial.println(“Lights OFF.”);
}
digitalWrite(rfidPin, HIGH); // Pause the reader after a read cycle to reduce multiple
delay(3000); // readings from the same tag.
Serial.flush();
digitalWrite(rfidPin, LOW);
}
else // Tag read is not the one we’re looking for.
{
Serial.print(code);
Serial.println(” does not match”);
digitalWrite(rfidPin, HIGH); // Flush accidental multiple readings
delay(3000);
Serial.flush();
digitalWrite(rfidPin, LOW);
}
}
bytesread = 0; // clear system and prepare for next cycle
delay(500); // wait for a second
}
}
}
/***************************
* Function: blink
* Blink the LED to ack actions
****************************/
void blink()
{
digitalWrite(13,HIGH);
delay(1000);
digitalWrite(13,LOW);
}
The Closest Habitable Solar System: Gliese 581

Gliese 581 is a red dwarf star with spectral type M3V, located 20.3 light years away from Earth. Its mass is estimated to be approximately a third of that of the Sun, and it is the 87th closest known star system to the Sun. Observations suggest that the star has at least four planets: Gliese 581 b, c, d, e.[9]
The star system gained attention after Gliese 581 c, the first low mass extrasolar planet found to be near its star’shabitable zone, was discovered in April 2007. It has since been shown that under known terrestrial planet climate models, Gliese 581 c is likely to have a runaway greenhouse effect, and hence is probably not habitable. However, the subsequently discovered outermost planet Gliese 581 d is firmly within the habitable zone. In April 2009, the discovery of exoplanet Gliese 581 e, [9] at that time the closest-known in mass to Earth, was announced.
First neutrino observation
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The Rod of Asclepius and The Caduceus
The Rod of Asclepius has traditionally been the symbol for healing and medicine. However, over time the Caduceus has been confused with the Rod of Asclepius and mistakenly used to represent medicine.
“A 1992 survey of American health organizations found that 62% of professional associations used the rod of Asclepius, whereas in commercial organizations, 76% used the caduceus.”Graphically, the Caduceus makes is a more elaborate symbol and would be more fun to use in a logo, however, it’s origins are not related to medicine or healing.
The caduceus is sometimes used as a symbol for medicine or physicians (instead of the rod of Asclepius) even though the symbol has no connection with Hippocrates and any association with healing arts is something of a stretch. Its singularly inappropriate connotations of theft, commerce, deception and death have provided fodder for academic humor.
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The rod of Asclepius (sometimes also spelled Asklepios or Aesculapius), also known as the asklepian,[1] is an ancient symbol associated with astrology, the Greek god Asclepius and with healing. It consists of a serpent entwined around a staff. The name of the symbol derives from its early and widespread association with Asclepius, the son of Apollo, who was a practitioner of medicine in ancient Greek mythology. His attributes, the snake and the staff, sometimes depicted separately in antiquity, are combined in this symbol.[2] The Rod of Asclepius also represents the constellation Ophiuchus (or Ophiuchus Serpentarius), the thirteenth sign of the sidereal zodiac.
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The caduceus is typically depicted as a short herald’s staff entwined by two serpents in the form of a double helix, and sometimes is surmounted by wings. This staff first was borne by Iris, the messenger of Hera. It also was called the wand of Hermes when he superseded Iris in much later myths.
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Examples

Guess which one our National Government is using?
“Everyone’s searching for Barack Obama’s health care logo online right now after Rush Limbaugh mentioned how a right-wing blog thinks it looks like something from Nazi Germany.” - From buzzfeed.com via jameskurtz

Schrödinger’s cat
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High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas: The Race to Save the Cougar Ace
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Uncanny valley
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