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Magnetic Levitation Detects Proteins, Could Diagnose Disease
LilaG writes "Not just a way to transport trains at high speed, magnetic levitation could find use in diagnosing disease. Researchers at Harvard have shown that they can detect proteins in blood using MagLev. The researchers, led by George Whitesides, use levitation to detect a change in the density of porous gel beads that occurs when a protein binds to ligands inside the beads. The lower the bead levitates, the more protein it holds. The method (abstract of paywalled article) could work for detecting disease proteins in people's blood samples in the developing world: The magnets cost only about $5 each, and the device requires no electricity or batteries. Because the beads are visible to the naked eye, researchers can make measurements with a simple ruler with a millimeter scale."
2.0 version will allow you to share the measurement on facebook
insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
Metric IS the standard, asshole!
Yeah, because gallons per furlong is a useful measurement.
What you call 'standard' measurement, the rest of us see as mostly a random collection of measures based on fairly arbitrary things. Hogsheads, firkins, furlongs, leagues, cubits, gills, rods, and other random old school things really make no sense to most of us. The dick-length of the 3rd Earl of Canterbury is kind of a stupid measure (ok, it's not a real one, but it's not that far off the mark).
Granted, I grew up during the transition to metric ... so my height and weight is feet and pounds, but pretty much everything is metric.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Granted, I grew up during the transition to metric ... so my height and weight is feet and pounds, but pretty much everything is metric.
Are you a 70s baby early 80s child?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsW0FuDMiH4
Yeah, because gallons per furlong is a useful measurement.
What you call 'standard' measurement, the rest of us see as mostly a random collection of measures based on fairly arbitrary things. Hogsheads, firkins, furlongs, leagues, cubits, gills, rods, and other random old school things really make no sense to most of us. The dick-length of the 3rd Earl of Canterbury is kind of a stupid measure (ok, it's not a real one, but it's not that far off the mark).
Granted, I grew up during the transition to metric ... so my height and weight is feet and pounds, but pretty much everything is metric.
The old rubber ruler trick.
Well, according to this, 1 football field is 0.4545445 furlongs, or 1 furlong is 2.2000044 football fields.
Happy? :-P
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I want it measured in beardseconds.
If only Magneto had used his powers for good instead of evil he could be a rich doctor right now....or even better, do it for free and screw the messed up private insurer mess that we have now.....
Hey, you think your house is cool?
uhhhh.... whoosh? can i get an xkcd for this guy?
http://xkcd.com/526/
amen!
insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
Not far at all. The cubit is the length of an ancient Egyptian man's forearm:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubit
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
understanding, of course, that metric is "mostly a random collection of measures based on fairly arbitrary things" just because these things are one ten millionth the distance from Peoria to Timbuktu (equator to north pole through Paris? whatever, exactly as arbitrary) doesn't make them any less arbitrary.
like 0 degrees to 100 degrees for water from freezing to boiling, at a certain temperature and pressure... they're no less arbitrary than the definition of degree ferenheit
The only thing going for it is the decimal nature of the system, but that's also no big deal because you can always use a decimal point in the US standard system too, or haven't you ever purchased 3.21 gallons of gas?
Well, according to this, 1 football field is 0.4545445 furlongs, or 1 furlong is 2.2000044 football fields.
Happy? :-P
How am i supposed to remember such an arbitrary number, you shoud use standard units like the rest of the world.
:)
1 furlong [international] = 2 football field [Canada]
Yeah, because gallons per furlong is a useful measurement.
What you call 'standard' measurement, the rest of us see as mostly a random collection of measures based on fairly arbitrary things. Hogsheads, firkins, furlongs, leagues, cubits, gills, rods, and other random old school things really make no sense to most of us. The dick-length of the 3rd Earl of Canterbury is kind of a stupid measure (ok, it's not a real one, but it's not that far off the mark).
Granted, I grew up during the transition to metric ... so my height and weight is feet and pounds, but pretty much everything is metric.
The meter is supposed to be 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the equator to the north pole but the measurement was later determined to be off. 1 Kg is almost the mass of 1 liter of water at STP so again the SI measurement is based on an error. The mol was determined by the number of atoms in 12g of carbon 12, that is completely arbitrary. Arguing that using 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the equator to the north pole is some how better then dick-length of the 3rd Earl of Canterbury is nonsense as they are both just as arbitrary. The thing Si units have going for it is the use of prefixes and deriving other units from the base units 1J=1Nm ...
Knowledge = Power
P= W/t
t=Money
Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
that's also no big deal because you can always use a decimal point in the US standard system too
But... but... WHY??? I mean, what's so remarkable about 528 feet or 1.2 inches?
Tell me, quickly, how much is a millionth of a mile? No, don't use a computer, tell it from your gut feeling, how big is a millionth of a mile?
You know what? The quickest way to get a feeling for an order of magnitude like that is converting to metric. One mile is 1609 meters, therefore a millionth of that is 1.6 millimeter, which translates roughly to about 1/16".
Now do that calculation through the usual miles -> feet -> inches -> fraction of inch process. Let's see, a mile is 5260 feet, one millionth of that is 0.00526 feet, multiply by 12 to get inches...
BTW, exactly how many meters in a kilometer? Not 980, not 1020, but exactly 1000. Now tell me, can you see something wrong in the preceding paragraph? Ask a thousand kids in the US how many feet in a mile, ask a thousand kids anywhere else how many meters in a kilometer, which is easier to remember?
The mole is the number of atoms contained in the mass in grams of the average atomic mass of any substance. Hardly arbitrary.
Uh, "if it looks roughly mouse-shaped according to my infra-red sensitive pit, eat it"? --Chris Burke 09-08-10
that's also no big deal because you can always use a decimal point in the US standard system too
"Understanding" indeed. Here's the difference:
1000cm = 1m
1000" = 83.333'
1 litre water = 1Kg
1 gal water = 8.35lb
Metric is consistent and easy to work with, imperial is the exact opposite.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds -- Albert Einstein
Except the gram is an arbitrary value, based on the weight of an arbitrary substance, at an arbitrary temperature, and an arbitrary pressure, that happens to be incorrect.
Knowledge = Power
P= W/t
t=Money
Money = Work/Knowledge so the less you know the more you make
this entire discussion has been offtopic, spinning off my patent joke. it looks like i whooshed the entire slashdot population. the joke was about patents, not measurement units. i never declared nor implied standard to be "standard" or in any way superior (or inferior for that matter) to metric. apart from this comment i'm making now, not a single person has commented anything outside of the joke's thread. if you want proof that you are all morons, my first joke was modded a Troll and my instant comment to myself was modded Funny.
at no point in any of your rambling, incoherent responses were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. everyone on this site is now dumber for having read them. i award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.
i had no idea there was a zealous metric religion out there. you should all catch the next comet out of here, seriously.
insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT