Ian Ward, a physics research professor at the University of Leeds in the U.K. has come up with a new polymer gel — in other words, a jelly — that could be used to create a new kind of lithium battery that would be cheaper, lighter and more efficient.

“The polymer gel looks like a solid film, but it actually contains about 70 percent liquid electrolyte,” Ward said in a prepared release. “It’s made using the same principles as making a jelly: you add lots of hot water to ‘gelatin’ — in this case there is a polymer and electrolyte mix — and as it cools it sets to form a solid but flexible mass.”

According to a news release, the new polymer gel can be formed into a thin, flexible film through a low-cost process. This film, which would lie between a battery’s electrodes, would eliminate one need of traditional lithium batteries — to have multiple cells kept apart by a porous polymer film separator.

In addition to reducing weight and size, these new batteries could be made at about 10 percent of the cost of creating current batteries, Ward told IT Pro magazine.

The innovation could improve the safety of lithium-ion batteries, which have a tendency to overheat and possibly burst into flames

A representative from Jones’ church, Dove World Outreach Center, called Benson Hyundai recently to see whether the offer was still good, Canton said.

It was. Jones is getting a 2011 Hyundai Accent, valued at around $13,600.

“He stood up to his end of the bargain and we’re standing up to ours,” Canton said.

A woman who answered the phone Saturday at Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, said Jones would donate the car to a Muslim charity.

Ain’t Got You- Or A Different Sort of Muse
The Almost Warrior
Lightning Strikes Twice
These Pictures of You
Timing
The Lost Soul Mate
The Lonely Road
A Love Song That Needs To Be Written
Instant Messenger
Johnny Was A Hero
I Never Stop Thinking About You

Over The Hills & Far Away

Still Climbing

Timing

In Honor of the Olympics- The Agony of Defeat

As if people weren’t worrying enough about advanced prostheses making amputees stronger than normal humans, now we have to worry if they are going to make them sexier, too. The prosthetics industry is growing rapidly, and, according to Hugh Herr, the director of MIT Media Lab’s Biomechatronics Group, advanced prostheses will soon become envied in the same way the newest electronic gadget or the hottest car is today.

This story does make you wonder.

The battles have been fierce and have taken a severe toll upon him. At times he has noticed that the light that shines in his eyes has been dimmer. A grim expression is a daily companion and a bad attitude has been made worse.

Every day he wades into the fray and wonders if that day will be the day that he finally falls in battle. Every day he comes home covered in blood and wonders if it is worth it. He doesn’t know how he has made it as far or as long as he has. He just knows that he has.

It is no way to live. It is a grind and a punishment. And just when he thinks that he cannot take it any more he gets angry.  The anger sustains him. He feeds upon the energy that his rage and frustration generate. There are moments where he allows the rage to control him and to take him where it may.

It feels good to let go. It is freeing, refreshing and he exults in it. The demon takes over and he savors the carnage around him. But deep inside the barbarian silently laments the need because every time he sets the demon free he loses a small part of himself.

And he cannot help but wonder if one day he will no longer be able to contain the demon. The demon is not mindless. He is canny, clever, conniving and vicious.

The demon never sleeps. He whispers in your barbarian’s ears and seeks to lull him into submission. The whispers are relentless and are always based upon your barbarian’s weak spots. The demon knows them intimately and preys upon them, seeking to shear the shackles.

With a loud sigh and a shrug your barbarian ends his musing. Life is a series of compromises. Without the demon he most certainly would have succumbed to any number of things. For now he feels as if he has no choice other than to let the demon feed.

If he can hold on a little bit longer he thinks he will see daylight and he will send the demon back to the tiny cell he normally occupies.  Until that time he’ll accept that every time he sees his reflection he can see the demon staring back at him.

Plunder and pillage requires a lot of time and has yielded scant moments of freedom.

Unfortunately that rarely has been somewhere with an Internet connection. We’re working on changing that.