Michael Bradley - Time Traveler

Anniversary of the First U.S. Speeding Ticket in 1899

Michael Bradley — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:59:42 +0000

First U.S. speeder caught on this date in 1899

By Antony Ingram

Published May 20, 2013

Electric Vehicle Company taxis in NYC (NYPL)

Speeding is big business. There’s no money to be made from it as an individual of course, unless you subscribe to the theory “time is money”.

But the U.S. Census Bureau estimates 100,000 Americans are ticketed for speeding every day, at an average cost of $150 per ticket–$5.5 billion a year in revenue.

There’ll only ever be one “first” speeding offense though, and you might be surprised to learn that it was for an electric car.

It was also a taxi driver, which you’ll be less surprised about. And a taxi driver in New York at that. “Get outta here,” you shout at the computer screen, reaching for the Ritalin.

Way back on May 20, 1899, taxi driver Jacob German was caught doing a heady 12 mph down Lexington Street in Manhattan. Caught both figureatively and literally, as a bicycle-mounted police officer clocked Mr German at the illegal speed and set off in pursuit.

Today I Found Out says the limit at the time was a more sedate 8 mph, or 4 mph around corners. Perhaps, as many electric drivers today have discovered, the relative silence of electric running leads to rather higher speeds than you’re expecting.

Reports seem to suggest the reckless Mr German didn’t receive a paper ticket though–that honor going to a Mr Myers of Dayton, Ohio in 1904, according to Ohio History Central–and instead spent some time behind bars.

Mr German drove for the Electric Vehicle Company, which ran taxis throughout New York. In fact, electric taxis were incredibly common back in 1899–Today I Found Out also reveals that 90 percent of NYC taxis were electric back in those days.

The period holds other significance for electric cars, too. Just one year earlier the first land-speed record was set by Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat in an electric car.

We can’t imagine what that police officer would have thought of Gaston’s 39.24 mph speed, though…

KWOD Radio Interview at Phoenix ComicCon 2013

Michael Bradley — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:49:22 +0000

Patti Hulstrand, the host of KWOD radio is broadcasting live from Phoenix ComicCon 2013. She will be interviewing many bright stars among movie actors, TV actors, and great authors. Then…after she interviews those people, she has been gracious enough to add me to the list as well. I have appeared on her radio show once before and she was a gracious and captivating host. I will likely be discussing the new anthology, Twisted Nightmares, just out last week in print form.

Michael Bradley, Author

Remember, you can stop by booth #1629 at Phoenix ComicCon 2013 to say hello and get your autographed copy, right off the presses. Thanks to Patti Hulstrand and all of you who give me your time and support. It is much appreciated.

Could humans be cloned?

Michael Bradley — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:49:11 +0000

Could humans be cloned?

By Rachael Rettner

Published May 19, 2013

LiveScience

Actresses Tricia Helfer (left) and Grace Park (right), who played humanoid Cylons with countless clones on the TV show “Battlestar Galactica.” (Syfy)
The first step during SCNT is enucleation or removal of nuclear genetic material (chromosomal) from a human egg. An egg is positioned with holding pipette (on the left) and egg’s chromosomes are visualized under polarized microscope. A hole is made in the egg’s shell (zone pellucida) using a laser and a smaller pipette (on the right) is inserted through the opening. The chromosomes then sucked in inside the pipette and slowly removed from the egg. (Cell, Tachibana et al.)

The news that researchers have used cloning to make human embryos for the purpose of producing stem cells may have some people wondering if it would ever be possible to clone a person.

Although it would be unethical, experts say it is likely biologically possible to clone a human being. But even putting ethics aside, the sheer amount of resources needed to do it is a significant barrier.

Since the 1950s when researchers cloned a frog, scientists have cloned dozens of animal species, including mice, cats, sheep, pigs and cows.

‘It’s grossly unethical.’

- Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at the biotech company Advanced Cell Technology

In each case, researchers encountered problems that needed to be overcome with trial and error, said Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at the biotech company Advanced Cell Technology, which works on cell therapies for human diseases, and has cloned animals.

With mice, researchers were able to use thousands of eggs, and conduct many experiments, to work out these problems, Lanza said. “Its a numbers game,” he said.

But with primates, eggs are a very precious resource, and it is not easy to acquire them to conduct experiments, Lanza said.

In addition, researchers can’t simply apply what they’ve learned from cloning mice or cows to cloning people.

For instance, cloning an animal requires that researchers first remove the nucleus of an egg cell. When researchers do this, they also remove proteins that are essential to help cells divide, Lanza said. In mice, this isn’t a problem, because the embryo that is ultimately created is able to make these proteins again. But primates aren’t able to do this, and researchers think it may be one reason that attempts to clone monkeys have failed, Lanza said. [See How Stem Cell Cloning Works (Infographic)]

What’s more, cloned animals often have different kinds of genetic abnormalities that can prevent embryo implantation in a uterus, or cause the fetus to spontaneously abort, or the animal to die shortly after birth, Lanza said.

These abnormities are common because cloned embryos have just one parent rather than two, which means that a molecular process known as “imprinting” does not occur properly in cloned embryos, Lanza said. Imprinting takes place during embryo development, and selectively silences certain genes from one parent or the other.

Problems with imprinting can result in extremely large placentas, which ultimately leads to problems with blood flow for the fetus, Lanza said. In one experiment, Lanza and colleagues cloned a species of cattle called banteng, and it was born at twice the size of a normal banteng. It had to be euthanized, Lanza said.

The extremely high rate of death, and the risk of developmental abnormities from cloning makes cloning people unethical, Lanza said.

“It’s like sending your baby up in a rocket knowing there’s a 50-50 chance it’s going to blow up. It’s grossly unethical,” Lanza said.

Dog Shaming for Your Monday Blues

Michael Bradley — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:54:57 +0000

I have posted these before and they seem to be very popular, so here we go again. Pictures of a dog shaming, where people have the culprit with a sign describing their crime. Enjoy!

Flags Made from Country’s Food

Michael Bradley — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:44:10 +0000

You will need to click the flags to see the complete picture.

BRAZIL – Bana leaf, limes, pineapple, passion fruit2

AUSTRALIA – Meat pie, sauce

CHINA – Pittaya/dragon fruit and star fruit

FRANCE – Blue cheese, brie, grapes

GREECE – Kalamata olives and feta cheese

INDIA – Curries, rice, pappadum wafer

INDONESIA – Spicy curries and rice (Sambal)

ITALY – Basil, pasta, tomoatoes

JAPAN – Tuna and rice

LEBANON – Lavash, fattoush, herb spring

SOUTH KOREA – Kimbap and sauces

SPAIN – Chorizo and rice

VIETNAM – Rambutan, lychee, starfuit

SWITZERLAND – Charcuteries and emmental

THAILAND – Sweet chilli sauce, shredded coconut, blue swimmer crab

TURKEY – Turkish Delight (Lokum)

UNITED KINGDOM – Scone, cream, jams

UNITED STATES – Hot dogs, ketchup and mustard

Teenager Finds Viking Coins

Michael Bradley — Sun, 19 May 2013 19:01:32 +0000

Danish teenager makes rare Viking-era find with metal detector

Published May 16, 2013

Associated Press

Coins from Bohemia, Germany, Denmark and England discovered during an archaeological dig last year, some of 365 items from the Viking era. Danish National Museum spokesman Jens Christian Moesgaard says the coins have a distinctive cross motif attributed to Norse King Harald Bluetooth, who is believed to have brought Christianity to Norway and Denmark. (AP Photo/Polfoto/Stokke Brothers)
A pendant necklace in silver of Thor’s Hammer discovered during an archaeological dig last year, one of 365 items from the Viking era, including 60 rare coins. (AP Photo/Polfoto/Stokke Brothers)

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Danish museum officials say that an archaeological dig last year has revealed 365 items from the Viking era, including 60 rare coins.

Danish National Museum spokesman Jens Christian Moesgaard says the coins have a distinctive cross motif attributed to Norse King Harald Bluetooth, who is believed to have brought Christianity to Norway and Denmark.

Sixteen-year-old Michael Stokbro Larsen found the coins and other items with a metal detector in a field in northern Denmark.

Stokbro Larsen, who often explores with his detector, said he is often laughed at because friends find him “a bit nerdy.”

Moesgaard said Thursday that it was the first time since 1939 that so many Viking-era coins have been found, calling them “another important piece in the puzzle” of history.

Writing Realistic Injuries (warning: graphic images)

Michael Bradley — Sun, 19 May 2013 03:34:13 +0000

Don’t you hate seeing people in action movies always hit in the arm or the leg and they just soldier on and kill the bad guys? Who among us can take a slug to the arm and leg and not react? Writing realistic injuries is very important to me. I have a guy hit in the arm in one of my novels. He gets infected and barely survives after an emergency amputation. Real people, no matter how heroic, succumb to blood loss and shattered bones with shock or at least limited ability to function.

The so-called flesh wound is no fun at all. If it hit bone or an organ, you will die right away, or slowly from infection and gangrene. If it just hits flesh, you have a terrible jagged tear, full of bacteria, blood loss and pain. Just think about the last time you had surgery, or even had a tooth filling. Without any pain medicine or treatment would you just laugh that off? I think not. As an author, I have to be true to the scene. Sometimes that means a favorite character loses a limb, an eye, has months to recuperate, or even gets vaporized. It is not fun to realize your story needs carnage to those you have grown to love, but it is worse to have them miraculously survive.

Later I can talk about the .38 snub nose shooting someone off a ten story roof, or the machine gun firing 100 rounds at point blank and missing the hero…

There is a very helpful link below, but first, two pictures, a bit grisly, of real gunshot “flesh wounds” to demonstrate you might want to make them a bit more serious in your stories:

Shoulder Flesh Wound

Forearm Flesh Wound

Here is a great link to very detailed analysis of properly writing realistic injuries:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7RMh43/:16YPDdasi:Tj+VIpVd/www.users.totalise.co.uk/~leiafee/ramblings/realistic_injuries.htm/

Writing Realistic Injuries
By Leia Fee, with additions by Susannah Shepherd

Quick Contents

Introduction
General remarks
What’s normal?
Reactions to injury - including emotional reactions, fainting and shock.
Minor injuries - such as bruises, grazes and sprains
Head injuries - from black eyes to severe concussions
Broken bones
Dislocated joints
Cutting and Piercing - for various locations, including blood loss symptoms and figures.
Blunt trauma - getting hit, internal injuries.
Burns - including electrical burns
Hostile environments - such as extreme cold and heat, oxygen deprivation and exposure to vacuum.
References - useful websites.

1868 Steam Robot

Michael Bradley — Sat, 18 May 2013 20:49:21 +0000

Steampunk was just steam technology in the late 1800′s. Many inventions are somewhat lost to us today. The authors HG Wells and Jules Verne were writing science fiction, which is now steampunk science fiction. The first rebirth of steampunk writing was a serial based on a boy who builds a steam powered man to pull a wagon to the west where they fight Indians and make their fortune, returning home in triumph. These stories were very popular in the 1920′s and 1930′s in America. This shows that as early as 1868, such an invention actually existed. If petroleum was not discovered as an energy source, who knows what cool technology we would have developed with steam and hydraulics?

1868:

Steam Robot

“Zadoc P. Dederick, along with Isaac Grass, was the creator of a steam-powered human-like robot designed to pull a cart.”

Stormtrooper Helmet Art

Michael Bradley — Sat, 18 May 2013 20:23:02 +0000

Star Wars fans are familiar with the standard TK series of plasti-steel white blaster armor with com helmet and HUD vision slits used by the Emperor’s Imperial Stormtroopers. However, you may not have seen the alternative art for these helmets… Enjoy!

Legendary Lost City Possibly Found

Michael Bradley — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:28:59 +0000

Ciudad Blanca, Legendary Lost City, Possibly Found In Honduran Rain Forest

Posted: 05/15/2013 1:51 pm EDT | Updated: 05/16/2013 1:24 pm EDT

By: Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer

Published: 05/15/2013 09:00 AM EDT on LiveScience

New images of a possible lost city hidden by Honduran rain forests show what might be the building foundations and mounds of Ciudad Blanca, a never-confirmed legendary metropolis.

Archaeologists and filmmakers Steven Elkins and Bill Benenson announced last year that they had discovered possible ruins in Honduras’ Mosquitia region using lidar, or light detection and ranging. Essentially, slow-flying planes send constant laser pulses groundward as they pass over the rain forest, imaging the topography below the thick forest canopy.

What the archaeologists found — and what the new images reveal — are features that could be ancient ruins, including canals, roads, building foundations and terraced agricultural land. The University of Houston archaeologists who led the expedition will reveal their new images and discuss them today (May 15) at the American Geophysical Union Meeting of the Americas in Cancun.

Square structures may mark the foundations of ancient buildings in the Honduran rainforest.

Ciudad Blanca, or “The White City,” has been a legend since the days of the conquistadors, who believed the Mosquitia rain forests hid a metropolis full of gold and searched for it in the 1500s. Throughout the 1900s, archaeologists documented mounds and other signs of ancient civilization in the Mosquitias region, but the shining golden city of legend has yet to make an appearance.

Whether or not the lidar-weilding archaeologists have discovered the same city the conquistadors were looking for is up for debate, but the images suggest some signs of an ancient lost civilization.

“We use lidar to pinpoint where human structures are by looking for linear shapes and rectangles,” Colorado State University research Stephen Leisz, who uses lidar in Mexico, said in a statement. “Nature doesn’t work in straight lines.”

The archaeologists plan to get their feet on the ground this year to investigate the mysterious features seen in the new images.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitterand Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article onLiveScience.com.

Michael Bradley - Time Traveler

Anniversary of the First U.S. Speeding Ticket in 1899

First U.S. speeder caught on this date in 1899

KWOD Radio Interview at Phoenix ComicCon 2013

Could humans be cloned?

Could humans be cloned?

Dog Shaming for Your Monday Blues

Flags Made from Country’s Food

Teenager Finds Viking Coins

Danish teenager makes rare Viking-era find with metal detector

Writing Realistic Injuries (warning: graphic images)

Writing Realistic Injuries By Leia Fee, with additions by Susannah Shepherd

Quick Contents

1868 Steam Robot

Stormtrooper Helmet Art

Legendary Lost City Possibly Found

Ciudad Blanca, Legendary Lost City, Possibly Found In Honduran Rain Forest

Writing Realistic Injuries
By Leia Fee, with additions by Susannah Shepherd