Pinboard (chrisjj)

A low-carbon electric world

chrisjj — 2012-02-20T23:41:27+00:00

Canada's University of Waterloo hosted a meeting to brainstorm a road map to a low carbon electricity supply by 2030. Their findings have just been published and look promising

X-rays image cellular details

chrisjj — 2012-02-18T09:40:56+00:00

X-ray tomography of frozen cells opens up a range of new opportunities for biologists.

Another expansion for St Neots

chrisjj — 2012-02-18T09:22:13+00:00

The largest single addition to the town so far goes to public consultation next week. The new development east of Love's Farm will include 1000 homes, public amenity and shopping areas, as well as light industrial development

Unlimited cloud storage?

chrisjj — 2012-02-15T00:20:49+00:00

Bitcasa is a new competitor in the cloud drive space. Unlike Dropbox, the Bitcasa offering allows unlimited storage. It's in beta at the time of writing but looks interesting.

Open-source cancer research

chrisjj — 2012-02-10T10:14:09+00:00

Jay Bradner presents a TED talk on drug development based on open sharing of early results. This is in stark contrast with the normal approach of industrial drug companies. The results are quite astonishing - rapid, collaborative advance.

Battery charging at a distance

chrisjj — 2012-02-09T13:12:53+00:00

Witricity plans to market wireless systems for charging phones and other portable devices, even electric vehicles, over distances of a few metres without using any cables. Just putting down a bag on the table would be enough to start charging a phone inside it.

Listening to the Almighty

chrisjj — 2012-02-06T18:57:36+00:00

He is so high, would he stoop so low as to talk to me? Yes he would! Ross Rohde posts some thoughts on listening and hearing.

A New Net

chrisjj — 2012-02-06T10:01:07+00:00

Nicira is a new company aiming to improve internet services by virtualising networking hardware. It sounds interesting. Definitely worth a look if you are involved in building or managing networks or network infrastructure.

Non-toxic weedkiller?

chrisjj — 2012-02-01T18:01:02+00:00

Sounds unlikely, but that is exactly what is being reported! A foam containing steam heats the weeds in order to destroy them. Nice idea and it actually sounds rather promising.

Quran - the Word of God?

chrisjj — 2012-01-28T17:35:38+00:00

A website that carefully examines the claims of the Quran and of the Bible.

Micro groups

chrisjj — 2012-01-27T08:26:55+00:00

Discipleship in groups of two or three. Despite what the article says, this is not a new idea. But it is certainly a very GOOD idea. Compare with Church of Two, Life Transformation Groups etc.

eBook Platform to Rule Them All

chrisjj — 2012-01-23T23:48:07+00:00

Atavist are releasing an authoring package that looks very promising as a system for producing enhanced eBooks. It will make it possible for anyone to publish. Worth a look.

How's Your Church Making Disciples?

chrisjj — 2012-01-20T21:58:08+00:00

A good article by Dave DeVries with results of a survey on disciple making.

Beyond Evangelical

chrisjj — 2012-01-18T16:10:08+00:00

This is an important post by Frank Viola in which he identifies four groups into which today's evangelicals can be sorted. (There are exceptions and sub-groups too.) Systematisers, activists, emoters, beyond evangelicals. I believe that understanding these groups is important for anyone wanting to understand the differences and debates in church life in our day.

English church went up mountain, came down hill

chrisjj — 2012-01-16T09:45:53+00:00

Andrew Jones compares and contrasts church life and values in the USA and the UK. There are some huge differences here and it's important to understand them if we are not to misunderstand one another.

Disciplemaking strategy training

chrisjj — 2012-01-13T21:20:41+00:00

Dave DeVries provides an outline of disciplemaking strategies and the book 'Training for Trainers'.

Practices of a new Jesus movement

chrisjj — 2012-01-10T00:37:19+00:00

A good description of some of the things that make church growth so vigorous in many Asian countries.

Ford plans for the Digital Car

chrisjj — 2012-01-09T08:24:46+00:00

Technology Review has a great four-part article on how Ford is planning to open up the burgeoning digital aspects of car design and development. It's even possible this may lead to an open source model where anyone can create add-on 'apps' to manipulate and repurpose data from a car's systems.

Is Naturalism Christian?

chrisjj — 2012-01-07T09:13:39+00:00

A useful reference (Christianity and Science in Historical Perspective, Dr EB Davis) and a discussion about the history and context surrounding the relationship between science and faith.

Freeing energy from the grid

chrisjj — 2012-01-07T00:25:46+00:00

Justin Hall-Tipping in his TED talk demonstrates some interesting new ways of extracting energy from sunlight, storing it, and transmitting it. the potential is considerable to say the least.

The sounds of the stars

chrisjj — 2012-01-04T23:05:32+00:00

NASA's Kepler and the French-led COROT space telescopes are finding many new extrasolar planets. But they are also enabling astronomers to learn much more about the sizes and interior structures of stars.

Deep brain stimulation and depression

chrisjj — 2012-01-04T15:08:24+00:00

Nature reports some interesting results suggesting that deep brain stimulation (DBS) can reduce or eliminate symptoms of depression. The response is slow to develop and reverses if stimulation is stopped.

Zinc-air battery improvements

chrisjj — 2012-01-04T07:48:01+00:00

If these developments from Eos Energy Storage are real and scalable they are a major breakthrough. Zinc-air batteries could be a good choice for both grid balancing (storing off-peak power for times of peak demand) and for electric vehicles. There's still a need for improved energy density, however.

Hierro volcano 70 m from surface

chrisjj — 2012-01-03T16:35:26+00:00

The bubbling fury south of the Canary Island of El Hierro is now only 70 m below the surface and volcanic activity continues unabated. It's quite possible a new island will form soon.

Organic, Simple and Missional?

chrisjj — 2012-01-02T19:22:00+00:00

Katie Driver considers that the Father is organic, the Son keeps thing simple, and the Spirit is powerfully missional. So we can't separate organic, simple and missional in church life any more than we can separate Father, Son and Spirit in their oneness. I agree. This is important stuff. Everyone should read it.

At the Gate of the Year

chrisjj — 2011-12-30T22:42:22+00:00

These are wise words from Anita. She quotes from a little known poem by a barely known author and and ponders.

Taking the pulse of a shrinking glacier

chrisjj — 2011-12-30T13:38:59+00:00

Nature describes how glaciologists in Chile are monitoring the retreat of the ice.

New island in the Red Sea

chrisjj — 2011-12-29T16:54:54+00:00

A new volcanic island has appeared in the last week in the Red Sea.

Being a light in the darkness

chrisjj — 2011-12-28T23:42:46+00:00

Katie posts on the idea of being a light in the darkness.

Galaxy Nexus running ICS

chrisjj — 2011-12-22T10:08:30+00:00

The latest Galaxy Nexus running the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android is getting rave reviews.

2011 in review by Nature

chrisjj — 2011-12-22T09:51:48+00:00

Nature's roundup of the significant developments in science during 2011.

Future of frankincense in doubt

chrisjj — 2011-12-22T09:43:41+00:00

The trees that produce frankcincense are in trouble from grazing, wild fires, and a bark beetle.

Funding for railway footbridge at St Neots

chrisjj — 2011-12-21T13:54:28+00:00

More good news for St Neots. The new footbridge providing access to the station from both east and west will go ahead.

Fears grow over lab-bred flu

chrisjj — 2011-12-20T17:25:39+00:00

There is real anxiety that an engineered form of bird flu could escape from the lab. The strain in question not only kills around a quarter of those who contract it, unlike the wild type it is also transmissible by breathing in virus particles suspended in the air.

St Neots cinema approved

chrisjj — 2011-12-20T17:08:43+00:00

The cinema scheme has got approval from Hunts District Council. We can look forward to a six screen theatre along with restaurants and additional car parking. Excellent news for the town centre.

Science and Theology - Time

chrisjj — 2011-12-20T16:58:24+00:00

A brief look a the third chapter of Polkingthorne's book, 'Theology in the Context of Science'.

Gospel Based History

chrisjj — 2011-12-20T09:59:23+00:00

Bill Heroman lays out some ground rules for studying the history contained in the gospel accounts.

Reasons young people leave church

chrisjj — 2011-12-19T12:57:34+00:00

George Barna discusses the reasons young people leave church in the USA. These are not random thoughts, they're based on a lot of research and analysis.

Interview with Chris Duffett

chrisjj — 2011-12-17T15:01:52+00:00

Chris answers some questions in a video interview. Just brilliant, this is an encouragement and a challenge to us all.

Practical Advent

chrisjj — 2011-12-17T14:35:34+00:00

Bill Heroman writes about Advent and waiting for Jesus. He also singles out being sent in terms of travelling and reminds us that Jesus not only came to Judaea and Galilee, he also went around visiting every part.

Theology in the Context of Science

chrisjj — 2011-12-15T14:29:23+00:00

Some good material on John Polkinghorne's book 'Theology in the Context of Science'.

God is not a Foreigner

chrisjj — 2011-12-14T22:39:19+00:00

Another excellent blog post, this time from Graham Carter, a New Zealander with much experience of mission in the South Pacific. Working in Tonga he came to understand the need for a very different approach than the usual one.

Google Cloud Print

chrisjj — 2011-12-14T21:56:18+00:00

Works well for me using Chrome on a PC to route the print jobs through to the networked printer at home. I can use Cloud Print from my Android phone while I'm out, when I get home and open the laptop the pages appear on the printer seconds later. Very nice!

Community and Small Groups

chrisjj — 2011-12-14T17:11:55+00:00

Are small groups helpful or unhelpful? Theresa Latini's book studies the mechanics and dynamics of small groups and has mixed finidings. Scot McKnight considers and his readers post. The URL will load the more recent parts at the top, scroll to the bottom to read them chronologically.

Paul Allen launches space project

chrisjj — 2011-12-14T00:19:48+00:00

Paul Allen, one of the world's richest people, is ready to spend $200 million with Scaled Composites and SpaceX to build a new air-launched launcher for cargo and human orbital flight.

Higgs Boson at last? Maybe!

chrisjj — 2011-12-13T23:32:32+00:00

CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has strong evidence of a particle between 124 and 126 GeV. This could well be the long sought Higgs boson. But there are also one or two other peaks nearby that may or may not be just statistical noise in the system. More data is needed but that won't happen until another summer of experiments. Maybe in another 12 months we might have stronger evidence.

Quantum dots for flexible displays

chrisjj — 2011-12-13T11:16:16+00:00

A UK company is helping develop next generation displays using quantum dots. There are several advantages. the displays do not use heavy metals or rare earth elements, it may be possible to produce flexible displays, and power use is lover than back-lit LCD panels.

View the tsunami-affected areas of Japan

chrisjj — 2011-12-13T11:09:16+00:00

Now you can do a virtual driving tour around the parts of Japan damaged by the March 2011 tsunami. Google hopes this will help everyone better understand the scale of the human catastrophe and the plight of those involved.

Isaac Newton's papers

chrisjj — 2011-12-13T11:02:57+00:00

The University of Cambridge hold much of Newton's scientific manuscripts, notebooks and letters. There are being made available in facsimile form, a treasure trove of information for anyone interested in Newton's life and work.

Auto post from Blogger to G+

chrisjj — 2011-12-13T09:23:24+00:00

Google now provide an automatic connection between a new Blogger post and notification on Google+. This will be very handy. The feature can be turned off within Blogger, but for many blog authors it'll be a convenient time saver.