玻璃罩下造鎮 莫斯科大驚奇

編譯陳世欽／報導

英國獨立報廿七日報導，英國建築大師諾曼．福斯特又有大膽構想，準備在莫斯科郊區興建一座巨大的太空時代錐形玻璃罩，把一大塊郊區罩住，讓裡面的巨富級居民及外來訪客完全不受戶外嚴冬酷寒的影響。

莫斯科市長魯茲柯夫已經批准這項都市發展計畫。這是一九三○年代至今，幅度最大的莫斯科都市改造計畫。官員認為，這項計畫足以媲美倫敦市的瑞士再保險總部大樓。此一都發計畫是五十六歲的俄國房地產開發商契吉林斯基委託福斯特設計的，準備投入十八億八千萬美元（台幣六百廿億元）。

玻璃罩將坐落在莫斯科南區一塊鄰近莫斯科河的地皮，頂部是一百五十公尺高的圓錐體，住在裡面的民眾可經由透明的玻璃罩看到外面的景物。

俄國隆冬的最低溫可達攝氏零下卅度，禦寒是玻璃罩的最大功能。一名熟悉這項計畫的人士說：「玻璃罩外面的天氣如何無關緊要。它將使嚴冬變得事不關己。」

設計藍圖暫時保密，不過曾經見過的莫斯科官員反應熱烈。莫斯科市政府首席建築師庫茲明表示，玻璃罩的下部有如一朵朝上的花，十二片巨大的花瓣自中心向外輻射。福斯特以對自己的設計保密到家聞名，經常直到最後一刻才公布建築藍圖。

玻璃罩覆蓋面積將近廿頃，總共分為六層，每一層可設有公寓、店面、小吃店、餐館，其中一公頃的保留區接近頂部，可供住戶與訪客飽覽莫斯科的天際線風光，周圍裁植大量的綠色植物，穹頂下是公共空間，可充當運動場、音樂廳或溜冰場，地下停車場可容納七萬輛汽車。

庫茲明表示：「它將是多功能複合建築物，一座玻璃罩下的城鎮，你可以住在裡面一輩子不需要離開。」

目前不知玻璃罩下會有多少常住居民，但估計每天最多會有一百萬人出入。

【2006/08/28 聯合報】

Moscow's super-rich get Dome of their own

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article1222026.ece

Norman Foster will build an entire suburb under a glass cover where the sub-zero winter will be 'irrelevant'

By Andrew Osborn in Moscow

Published: 27 August 2006

An entire Moscow suburb is to be built within a space-age glass cone conceived by architect Norman Foster to shield its residents from the Russian winter.

Plans for the futuristic development have already been presented to Moscow's city fathers by Lord Foster, who is rapidly taking a leading role in the Russian capital's most radical transformation since the 1930s.

The city's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, has approved the £1.6bn project, and excited officials believe it could emulate the global status of the Foster-designed Swiss Re "Gherkin" tower in the City of London.

The cone will be situated in southern Moscow on a spit of land near the Moscow River and will be topped by an imposing 150m-high spire. Those inside it will be able to see out through its transparent skin.

But by far the best thing about it from a Russian point of view is that people inside will be protected from the elements in a city where the mercury can fall to a bone-tingling minus 30C in the depths of winter.

"It won't matter what the weather is like outside," said someone familiar with the project. "The elements have been made irrelevant."

The exact design of the cone is being kept under wraps by the architect, who is famously protective of his creations until the last moment, and no artist's impressions have yet been released. But Moscow officials have seen it and described it with enthusiasm. According to Aleksander Kuzmin, Moscow's chief architect, the lower part of the cone has been designed to look like an upturned flower with 12 giant petals radiating from its centre.

Inside, the cone itself will be a 20-hectare area split into six different levels, each one with several floors.

Lord Foster has designed a one-hectare observation point close to the cone's apex from where residents and visitors will be able to gaze over the Moscow skyline. The area will be surrounded by large swaths of greenery. The design is grandiose. Beneath its main cupola will be a public space that can be used as a sports stadium, a concert hall, a circus or an ice-rink. The cone's "guts" will look a bit like a see-through wedding cake; different levels will be stacked with apartment developments, shops, bars, restaurants and all the facilities you would expect to find in a small town.

"He [Lord Foster] has precisely worked everything out. It will be a multi-functional complex, a town under glass." Mr Kuzmin told the daily Kommersant newspaper.

"It's going to be quite interesting and will stretch over 2.5 million square metres at a height of 150 metres. It will look a bit like a 20-hectare crystal circus tent. Inside will be a large number of hotels, a recreational zone, apartments, entertainments, a stadium and shops. You'll be able to settle there and never leave the area."

In a city whose streets are increasingly clogged by traffic, Lord Foster has pencilled in underground parking for up to 70,000 cars. Mr Luzhkov has said that a new metro station will be built nearby.

It is not yet clear how many people will live within the cone permanently, but Mr Luzhkov has estimated that the development will be frequented by up to one million people every day.

The cone will be Lord Foster's third major project in Moscow and his fourth in Russia. In each case he has been commissioned by 56-year-old oligarch Shalva Chigirinsky, one of Russia's richest and most powerful property developers. His firm, ST Development, is strongly connected to Moscow's Mayor Luzhkov.

Lord Foster's footprint in Moscow seems to be getting bigger by the day. He has designed a 600m hi-tech skyscraper called Russia. He is also playing a leading role in resurrecting the city's oldest and most central district, a stone's throw from the Kremlin. It was previously the site of the Soviet-era Hotel Rossia.

Lord Foster's work is on show in one of the city's most prestigious art galleries and he is reported to be gearing up to design one of Moscow's most famous squares in front of the Belorussky railway station.

An entire Moscow suburb is to be built within a space-age glass cone conceived by architect Norman Foster to shield its residents from the Russian winter.

Plans for the futuristic development have already been presented to Moscow's city fathers by Lord Foster, who is rapidly taking a leading role in the Russian capital's most radical transformation since the 1930s.

The city's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, has approved the £1.6bn project, and excited officials believe it could emulate the global status of the Foster-designed Swiss Re "Gherkin" tower in the City of London.

The cone will be situated in southern Moscow on a spit of land near the Moscow River and will be topped by an imposing 150m-high spire. Those inside it will be able to see out through its transparent skin.

But by far the best thing about it from a Russian point of view is that people inside will be protected from the elements in a city where the mercury can fall to a bone-tingling minus 30C in the depths of winter.

"It won't matter what the weather is like outside," said someone familiar with the project. "The elements have been made irrelevant."

The exact design of the cone is being kept under wraps by the architect, who is famously protective of his creations until the last moment, and no artist's impressions have yet been released. But Moscow officials have seen it and described it with enthusiasm. According to Aleksander Kuzmin, Moscow's chief architect, the lower part of the cone has been designed to look like an upturned flower with 12 giant petals radiating from its centre.

Inside, the cone itself will be a 20-hectare area split into six different levels, each one with several floors.

Lord Foster has designed a one-hectare observation point close to the cone's apex from where residents and visitors will be able to gaze over the Moscow skyline. The area will be surrounded by large swaths of greenery. The design is grandiose. Beneath its main cupola will be a public space that can be used as a sports stadium, a concert hall, a circus or an ice-rink. The cone's "guts" will look a bit like a see-through wedding cake; different levels will be stacked with apartment developments, shops, bars, restaurants and all the facilities you would expect to find in a small town.

"He [Lord Foster] has precisely worked everything out. It will be a multi-functional complex, a town under glass." Mr Kuzmin told the daily Kommersant newspaper.

"It's going to be quite interesting and will stretch over 2.5 million square metres at a height of 150 metres. It will look a bit like a 20-hectare crystal circus tent. Inside will be a large number of hotels, a recreational zone, apartments, entertainments, a stadium and shops. You'll be able to settle there and never leave the area."

In a city whose streets are increasingly clogged by traffic, Lord Foster has pencilled in underground parking for up to 70,000 cars. Mr Luzhkov has said that a new metro station will be built nearby.

It is not yet clear how many people will live within the cone permanently, but Mr Luzhkov has estimated that the development will be frequented by up to one million people every day.

The cone will be Lord Foster's third major project in Moscow and his fourth in Russia. In each case he has been commissioned by 56-year-old oligarch Shalva Chigirinsky, one of Russia's richest and most powerful property developers. His firm, ST Development, is strongly connected to Moscow's Mayor Luzhkov.

Lord Foster's footprint in Moscow seems to be getting bigger by the day. He has designed a 600m hi-tech skyscraper called Russia. He is also playing a leading role in resurrecting the city's oldest and most central district, a stone's throw from the Kremlin. It was previously the site of the Soviet-era Hotel Rossia.

Lord Foster's work is on show in one of the city's most prestigious art galleries and he is reported to be gearing up to design one of Moscow's most famous squares in front of the Belorussky railway station.

實驗最久金氏紀錄 瀝青80年滴8滴

實驗最久金氏紀錄 瀝青80年滴8滴

編譯夏嘉玲/綜合報導

科學實驗往往曠日費時，澳洲昆士蘭大學有個始於1927年的高黏度瀝青滴漏實驗，起創的物理學家帕奈爾已謝世近一甲子，實驗仍在進行，且依進度推估，至少還要上百年才會結束，已獲金氏世界紀錄認證成為全球持續最久的實驗室實驗。

不過，還有不少科學類活動的壽命更長，如英國牛津大學有個用電池的電鈴1840年以來鈴聲未曾歇止，紐西蘭有座鐘1864年用到現在還在走，英國還有塊農業研究用地1843年栽種作物以來未曾廢耕過。

帕奈爾為了測量高黏度瀝青在室溫下的流動情形，把瀝青裝進封了口的漏斗，讓瀝青往下滴。1930年，瀝青才衝破封口，但第一滴直到1938年12月才滴出來，最近一滴則在2000年11月28日滴下，實驗持續至今總共只滴出八滴瀝青。下一滴據估會在2012年前後滴出來，漏斗中的瀝青可能要再至少一百年才會流光。

帕奈爾在瀝青第二度滴落後不久的1948年即告別人世。他身後監督這項實驗的是昆大退休物理學者孟斯東，兩人憑此實驗同獲2005年「搞笑諾貝爾獎」。孟斯東說這項「亟需耐心進行的實驗」一直與科學中的聚合物、流體相關。

截至目前，還沒有任何人親眼目睹過瀝青滴落。裝了瀝青的漏斗一直鎖在昆大物理系大廳的櫃子裡，偶爾才展示給學生看，不少系友畢業多年後還會攜家帶眷回來關心瀝青實驗的進度。

【2006/08/25 聯合晚報】

The World's Longest-Running Experiments

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,210481,00.html

Friday , August 25, 2006

By Heather Whipps

The best science experiments are conducted carefully and often slowly, some taking years of painstaking work to yield results.

Sometimes, they run well after the scientists who began them are long dead.

When he set up his pitch-drop experiment at Australia's University of Queensland in 1927, physicist Thomas Parnell had to know he would expire long before his test did.

The experiment examines the viscosity of pitch, a tar-like substance, by the speed at which it flows from a funnel into a jar. Only eight drops have fallen in the eight decades since the experiment began.

Parnell died in 1948, just two drops in.

The pitch-drop test did win Parnell a posthumous Ig Nobel Award in 2005, given out for achievements in science that "first make people laugh, and then make them think."

Accepting on his behalf was co-winner John Mainstone, a retired University of Queensland physicist and official custodian of the experiment since Parnell's death.

"It is the sort of experiment that does require patience," Mainstone said.

But Parnell's work falls decades short of the duration records set by other experiments.

In the field

Deciding on what qualifies as the oldest science experiment is not an exact science, however. Experts say that because they vary so much in style and purpose, they can't really be compared.

The pitch-drop test is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running laboratory experiment, but there are plenty of other, even lengthier scientific enterprises still on the go around the world:

— An agricultural research field in the United Kingdom started in 1843.

— A clock in New Zealand that has ticked without being wound since 1864.

— A battery-powered bell at Oxford University that has rung continuously since 1840.

One of the longest-running experiments in the United States, a set of agricultural test-fields at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is currently celebrating its 130th anniversary.

The United States was observing its own centennial when the Morrow Plots were established in 1876.

Fewer than 40 million people — not one still alive today — lived in the United States at the time, more than two-thirds of them on farms.

Wages for those farmers stood at fifteen cents a month, according to information provided by the university.

Despite being designated a National Historical Landmark in 1968, the corn fields are still in active use. The university takes samples from the site on a regular basis, with the rest of the corn going into storage to be sold at market later.

Like the pitch-drop test, the Morrow Plots have also been able to keep with the times, according to the university's online history: "Little has changed since 1903 and over almost 150 years of use, the plots have provided invaluable data on the effects of crop rotation, natural soil nutrient depletion, and effects of various man-made and natural fertilizers on crop yield."

Waiting for the next drop

No one has ever seen a drop fall in Thomas Parnell's pitch experiment, even though the experiment is displayed prominently in a bell jar in the lobby of the university's physics department.

"It's that continuity that is really quite fascinating," Mainstone told LiveScience. "It used to be this thing that we kept locked in a cupboard, trotting it out only for some student demonstrations. But it really became a kind of industry."

He noted that students who graduated years ago still bring their families back to the campus to check on the pitch's progress.

The experiment continues to be relevant to modern science, too. Mainstone chats regularly about viscosity with engineers interested in polymers and liquids with properties similar to the pitch.

Being custodian of an experiment like the pitch drop or Morrow Plots is not for the glory-seeking scientist, Mainstone agreed.

The next drop of his charge is expected to fall through the funnel by about 2012, he said, and the jar should remain undisturbed long after that.

At its current rate, the last of the pitch won't descend for at least another hundred years.

A successor has already been chosen to carry the proverbial pitch-drop torch, Mainstone said.

"He'll have to clear his schedule for media requests," he laughed, admitting that otherwise the job doesn't require much work.

第2代塞格威 開車像滑雪

第2代塞格威 開車像滑雪

編譯彭淮棟/綜合報導

美國的「塞格威速克達」2001年推出以後，被譽為都市個人運輸革命，塞格威公司繼續研發，本月14日宣布推出第二代，用過的人說，開起來行雲流水「像滑雪」，在都市車陣裡穿梭起來更方便過癮。

雙輪並排的機車「塞格威速克達」，正式名稱是「塞格威個人運輸器」，一般直稱「塞格威」。第二代現身，第一代即停產，但公司表示將繼續支援維修第一代，老顧客免驚。

第二代塞格威運用多種最新問世的高科技，大非昔比。車體還是雙輪並排，駕駛人還是直立，握著以一根桿子和基座相連的把手，但第二代的電子設備和線路都從把手移往別處，整體造型帶有未來主義風味，更簡單又帥氣。

第二代塞格威最厲害的是，桿子和基座銜接之處，內建一批感應儀來「解讀你的身體角度」，你想朝哪個方向走，只要身體往那個方向傾斜，感應儀迅速將解讀結果傳給控向軟體。也就是說，身體轉向，車就轉向，隨意而流暢，不再麻煩把手。公司說，最好的介面應該是沒有介面，第二代塞格威「真正成為身體的一部分」，靠直覺操縱，平衡更強，開起來更樂趣洋溢。

其他新穎之處，是遙控啟動，以及配備防盜警報器。這幾項功能由一套稱為「資訊匙」(InfoKey)的無線操控儀負責，是四個按鈕和一個液晶螢幕，如大型數位表，供發動塞格威之用，並具備里程表、車速表和電池狀況顯示等作用。

第二代塞格威主要有兩型，即i2，和崎嶇路面行駛的x2。兩型最高時速都是20公里，電池則一般標準家用插座就能充電，八小時可以充滿。i2充電一次跑38.5公里，x2是19公里。

年底以前，第二代塞格威計畫推出六種，包括可以掛高爾夫球袋的個人高球車，以及更精細為通勤族、警員、搬貨員量身打造的型號。高球場用的第一代塞格威，轉彎不是很好控制，布希三年前有一回就從車上摔下，虧他手腳快，沒有倒栽蔥。他沒跌怕，去年送了日本首相小泉純一郎一部。

塞格威公認是個人載具奇蹟，不愁停車位，不必加油，尖峰時間不受車陣折磨，第一代問世以來，世人叫好，塞格威公司說已賣「數萬輛」，但似乎一直不如原先預期那麼叫「座」，在美國街頭還不常見，主要障礙是價格，第二代倚重新科技，價格還是下不來，i2從4995美元(約台幣16萬3000元)喊起，x2更要5495美元(約台幣17萬9000元)。

【2006/08/20 聯合晚報】

今年秋季 大學教科書可上網下載

今年秋季 大學教科書可上網下載

美聯社十五日電

大學教科書動輒上百元，但今年秋季，大學生可以從網路上下載免費教科書；與一般教科書不同的是，網路下載的教科書中有廣告。

提供網路下載教科書的公司在明尼蘇達州，是一家新成立的公司。該公司今年秋季會提供一百種教科書，大部分是商學科系用書。任何人或學生只要在網路上接受一個5分鐘問卷調查，就可以下載PDF檔案格式的教科書，學生可以把教科書檔案存在硬碟中或列印在紙張上。

這家位於聖保羅的公司目前有2萬5000名已登記的使用者，下載的教科書有5萬本，這些教科書是密西根大學和一些社區大學用書。這家名為Freeload Press的公司表示，該公司明年會提供25萬種書和幫學生應付考試的輔助學習(study aids)資料。該公司已經與三家規模較小的大學專用教科書出版商簽訂合約，讓該三家公司的教科書也能從網路下載。該公司正與更多家教科書出版商恰談合作計畫。

復敦大學(Fordham University)教授維納(Frank Werner)和史東納(James Stoner)曾經為數家傳統教科書出版商寫過幾本財務學教科書。他們現在轉而與Freeload Press合作。

維納表示：「我很厭惡傳統教科書出版商的商業模式。」他說，他們讓教科書作者浪費許多時間，無謂地修改版本，只為了出版商可出新版本。

他說：「那樣做，不道德。」

這兩位教授去年讓他們的學生從網路下載教科書，大受學生歡迎。維納說，學生中有「許多工人階級的子女，要他們去買一本150元的教科書相當浪費。」

Freeload Press公司網站：www.freeload-press.com

【2006/08/16 世界日報】

Ads Coming to Texbooks

By JUSTIN POPE
The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 15, 2006; 2:28 PM

-- Textbook prices are soaring into the hundreds of dollars, but in some courses this fall, students won't pay a dime. The catch: Their textbooks will have ads for companies including FedEx Kinko's and Pura Vida coffee.

Selling ad space keeps newspapers, magazines, Web sites and television either cheap or free. But so far, the model hasn't spread to college textbooks _ partly for fear that faculty would consider ads undignified. The upshot is that textbooks now cost students, according to various studies, about $900 per year.

Now, a small Minnesota startup is trying to shake up the status quo in the $6 billion college textbook industry. Freeload Press will offer more than 100 titles this fall _ mostly for business courses _ completely free. Students, or anyone else who fills out a five-minute survey, can download a PDF file of the book, which they can store on their hard drive and print.

The model faces big obstacles. Freeload doesn't yet have a stable of well-known textbook authors across a range of subjects, and it lacks the editorial and marketing muscle of the "Big 3" textbook publishers (Thomson, Pearson, and McGraw-Hill). Its textbooks don't come with bells and whistles such as online study guides that bigger publishers have spent millions developing in order to lure professors _ who assign textbooks and are the industry's real customers.

St. Paul-based Freeload's numbers are modest so far: 25,000 users have registered and 50,000 books have been downloaded, for courses at schools ranging from community colleges to the University of Michigan. But the company says it is rapidly adding titles and will have 250,000 textbooks and study aids in circulation by next year. It has also signed agreements with three small, specialty publishers to make their textbooks available the same way, and is in negotiations with others.

What Freeload has going for it is its arrival on the scene at a time when textbook publishers are under immense pressure to moderate prices. A recent government study found prices have risen at twice the rate of inflation since 1986.

A new Connecticut law requires that textbook sellers tell professors what their books will cost students, and other states are considering similar measures. Cost complaints come not just from students and parents but also teachers. A 2005 study by the National Association of College Stores Foundation found 65 percent of students don't buy all the required course materials _ which means many probably aren't learning the material, either.

Students "are saying, 'to heck with it, we'll try to wing it,'" said Jack Ivancevich, a longtime University of Houston professor who helped found Freeload.

Publishers answer criticism by saying textbooks are expensive to produce, and note they are clobbered by the rapidly expanding secondary market for re-sales in bookstores and on the Internet. Publishers get nothing from those sales, so they essentially have to recoup their investment in one year's worth of sales.

The industry also is exploring ways to use technology to cut distribution costs and prices. Thomson, for instance, is making "ichapters" of textbooks available, similar to the iTunes model for music. But so far, publishers have resisted selling ads.

A Canadian subsidiary of McGraw-Hill briefly rolled out an ad-based model, but dropped the plan last year. Susan Badger, CEO of Thomson Higher Education, said her company tested the idea with focus groups, in biology, but the professors were adamantly opposed.

Tom Doran, Freeload's CEO, says McGraw-Hill's experiment failed because it didn't use the ad revenue to reduce prices enough to get students' attention. As for faculty, Doran says he realizes not everyone will go for it.

Current customers "are primarily business instructors, so they understand there's a quid pro quo here," Doran said. "When we walk over to the social sciences and humanities, I expect there will be more push back."

As to objections that textbooks shouldn't have ads, Doran notes ads already appear in academic journals. He says Freeload's ads won't be distracting; they will be placed only at natural breaks in the material, and won't push products like alcohol or tobacco. Schools with other concerns could customize their standards; for instance Brigham Young University, founded by Mormons, could nix ads for caffeine products.

Ultimately, whether Freeload changes the industry or fades away will likely depend on its ability to attract popular textbook authors. Fordham University professors Frank Werner and James Stoner had each written several finance textbooks for traditional publishers, but after their latest was dropped by one company following a merger, they took it to Freeload.

"I was pretty disgusted with the basic textbook model," Werner said. Textbook authors, he says, often waste time making pointless revisions just so publishers can justify putting out new editions.

"That didn't seem like an ethical thing to do and it seemed like a hell of a waste of time," he said, adding there's no need to do that with Freeload.

The professors assigned the Freeload book to their class last year and said it was a hit. The students include "lots of working-class kids trying to get through college," Werner said. "To ask them to go to the bookstore and spend $150 is pretty wasteful."

Shannon Langston, a rising sophomore at Georgia Tech taking classes this summer while also juggling two jobs, said she often won't buy textbooks unless she hears from other students that it's absolutely essential.

But when her accounting professor assigned a Freeload book, she was glad not to have to make that call _ and worry that she wouldn't be able to sell back a new book because the publisher had already rushed out a new edition.

"I definitely don't mind ads," she said, "if it helps with the price."

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On the Net:

http://www.freeloadpress.com

Ron Mueck

Human-Powered Hydrofoil

Days ago, a friend sent me an interesting video clip which was about a watercraft that let its riders to hop on the surface of water. After doing some research by googling, I found this vechicle has been categorized as human-powered hydrofoils.

The following two links give great collections of related information:

http://www.human-powered-hydrofoils.com/
http://snorlax.lampi.org/mike/hpv.html

Women's and men's brains

Natural abililty may make more men maths geniuses, but technology and globalisation are making male skills redundant.

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How Two Russian Journalists Cooked an Egg with their Mobile Phones

Komsomolskaya Pravda Vladimir Lagovski and Andrei Moiseynko from Komsomolskaya Pravda Newspaper in Moscow decided to learn first-hand how harmful cell phones are. There is no magic in cooking with your cell phone. The secret is in the radio waves that the cell phone radiates.

Click here to read this article.