A study just released by Stanford University scientists has found that organic foods – produce, meat and dairy – are no more nutritious than non-organic or conventional foods. The study also reports that they are no less likely to be contaminated. They’re probably right. They examined more than 40 years worth of research on the topic; the study used no outside funding to avoid any “perception of bias”; and, well, they’re scientists.
The problem with their research, as I see it, is that they asked the wrong question. No one has really seriously claimed that organic foods are more nutritious. And earlier studies on this very subject have already stated what the Stanford researchers were “surprised” to discover. To me, they missed the point. Their central question was kind of like asking if LED light bulbs are any quieter than conventional ones, or if fuel-efficient vehicles are any shinier than gas guzzlers.
Because while organic foods may not be more nutritional than conventional foods, they are definitely healthier. First, there are the pesticides applied to conventional produce. The study recognized this, but said that pesticide levels were all within safety guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency. However, an impressive number of studies question whether the EPA’s levels are strict enough.
Organic foods are healthier for the people who grow them, too. Exposure to pesticides is a constant threat to the well-being of farm workers. Animals raised organically for food also generally lead healthier, happier lives. And finally, there’s the planet itself. Chemical run-off, waste production, and depletion of the soil from the monoculture approach of industrial farming all place a huge burden on the environment.
Here’s why this matters so much. In an age in which more and more of our information comes from sound bites, easy-to-digest nuggets like “organic foods are no more nutritious than conventional foods” have more weight than they deserve. I first saw this story in the elevator at my office this week, telling me nothing more than the above with “Stanford scientists report…” attached to it. Armed with one authoritative-sounding little slice of a bigger story, it’s easy to pass up the usually more expensive organic option at the grocery store, figuring it makes no difference. It’s also easy to skip the farmers market, to fail to support legislation aimed at helping local farmers or protecting farm workers.
Even The New York Times story on the study, a reasonably balanced piece that also quoted a senior analyst with the Environmental Working Group, did so under the overreaching headline “Stanford Scientists Cast Doubt on Advantages of Organic Meat and Produce.”
All this said, in our household we don’t buy strictly local or organic either. Our decisions are driven by convenience and cost just like everyone else’s. But we’re buying more organic these days, from local sources when possible. It all starts with asking the right questions.
3D video is making its way out the living room and into the workplace with the introduction of a high-definition 3D video conferencing solution (HDVC) by Panasonic Australia.
The solution was unveiled by Panasonic at Integrate 2012 exhibition held in Sydney, along with several other new addition to its business IT solution portfolio.
This marks the first time a live 3D HDVC system has been released in the Australian market.
“This is a landmark moment for the provision of telehealth in Australia and for Panasonic,” Panasonic business systems group marketing general manager, Marc Amelung, said.
The Australian Dental Association (ADA) NSW Centre for Professional Development has already signed up for trials of the solution, using it to stream live high-definition video for training purposes. “Today’s trial marks the culmination of four years of development and negotiation,” Amelung said.
The ADA centre will use the solution to see and record what is happening in the dental surgery, giving audiences a real time “surgeon’s eye view” of clinical procedures, materials and techniques. The other big announcement was the introduction the world’s first lamp-free projector series.
In this projector, the conventional projector lamp has been replaced with new LED/laser diodes for long lasting high brightness that has been pegged at more than 3000 lumens.
“The new lamp-free lighting technology can drastically reduce need for servicing, which translates into large cost savings,” Panasonic business systems group projectors product marketing manager, Chris Maw, said. “The new lighting technology delivers up to 20,000 hours of virtually maintenance-free operation and as a result, operating costs often associated with periodic labour and service can be drastically reduced."
Maw said thesecapabilities were not possible with conventional lamps.
“This is a benefit that those in educational institutions and professional situations like signage and museum displays can understand and appreciate,” Maw said.
Other notable announcements made by Panasonic at Integrate 2012 included a WXGA resolution compact body projector, the PT-VW431DEA, that has boasts high brightness and 4300 lumen, as well as a new 65-inch Interactive Plasma Display, the TH-65PB1.
The TH-65PB1 uses an electronic pen system that not only facilitates high-speed drawing and writing, four pens can also be used simultaneously thanks to the high-speed light emission from each pixel. “The demand we have seen for high performing direct-view displays with installation flexibility has been rising rapidly,” Maw said.
“The corporate and educational markets are able to really benefit from the wireless capabilities and the electronic pen system.” The PT-VW431DEA and TH-65PB1 will be available through authorised Panasonic resellers from November 2012.
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday gave formal approval to hold inquiry into the LED Streetlights Project case against Capital Development Authority.
The decision to this effect was taken in Executive Board meeting of the National Accountability Bureau held under the chair of Chairman NAB Admiral (Retd) Fasih Bokhari, which authorised inquiry in LED Street Lights Project case against CDA. In the instant case in January 2010, the CDA advertised the project for replacement of conventional streetlights with LED lights without any planning and deliberations through CDA’s internal resources. Earlier on May 29, 2012 under its preventive measures, the NAB had advised CDA for strict compliance of its recommendations to scrap the present LED project.
The NAB proposed CDA to prepare a new proposal in the light of inputs by a consultant of international repute as a host of newer and cheaper techniques are available in the market. NAB also instructs that non-compliance on their part could attract punitive provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999. Now the prevention department of NAB has recommended to the Board to hand-over the case to Operations Division for regular inquiry / investigation as they apprehend that the civic agency is planning to award the contract against the decision of the honourable High Court Islamabad.
In a case against Haji Adam Jokhio Managing Director, Karim Housing Project Karachi and others the Board accepted Voluntary Return (VR) of Rs 442 million and decided to refer the case to Sindh building Control Authority / Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) for further necessary action at their end to redress the grievances of allottees.
In this case the accused persons were alleged for cheating public at large where the society did not handed over the plots to allotees. Even there is no development made at site after lapse of more than 20 years. The society also cancelled plots without intimation to allottees. Since 1990 to date, the accused persons booked plots against heavy amounts from the general public in three housing projects namely M/s Gulshan-e-Elahi, Gulshan-e-Muhammad and Muslim City projects of M/s Karim Housing Project Pvt Ltd.
In another case against Saghir Ahmed Senior Manager HBL, the Board accepted request of HBL for sale/auction of the property of accused person to recover the loss. The Board also directed to deposit surplus auction proceeds with NAB for future settlement with accused persons in case of any claim is submitted.
In this case the accused person embezzled Rs 2.548 million through parallel banking. The accused person as manager HBL, PAF Branch Karachi misappropriated various amounts of customers lying in their accounts and credited the embezzled amount into accounts of his family members and other staff. HBL had requested NAB Sindh that accused person’s property is mortgaged with the bank and property documents are in possession of bank. The value of mortgaged property is approx Rs. 2.5 million, therefore, the bank will recover the loss by sale/auction of the property the proceeds of which will be adjusted in bank books.
At the top of the unit sits a dock cradle for your iPhone or iPod. The iP76 ships with three dock-cradle adapters, for the iPhone 4 and 4S; the second-, third- and fourth-generation iPod touch; and the sixth-generation iPod nano. Also on the top of the unit sits a crowded array of buttons. Five tiny circular buttons directly in front of the dock cradle control the iP76’s lighting features: Slow Color Change, Solid Color, Pulse to Music, Strobe Light, and Dimmable Lamp. Each of those buttons offers multiple modes, which you control by pressing the button repeatedly. With Slow Color Change, for example, the presses affect whether the lights fade in from top to bottom, from bottom to top, outward from the middle, inward from the edges, show solid bars, display rainbow color effects, and so on.
The mode I was most eager to try was Pulse to Music, but I was mostly disappointed with it. The best options with that mode—that is, the ones that seem to best reflect the beat and levels of the music you’re listening to—are limited to a glowing red. The speaker’s light panels are capable of shining in seven different colors, so I don’t understand why the best Pulse modes are limited to a single hue. The one pulsing option that employs the iP76’s full array of colors seems better suited to a rave or an epilepsy-testing facility than your home.
The other buttons on top of the iP76 are power, volume down and up, a toggle to switch lighting on or off, play/pause, iPod mode, and Bluetooth mode. Press and hold the Bluetooth button and the speaker beeps to indicate that it’s in pairing mode. The iP76 paired painlessly with various iOS devices in my home. In my testing, however, the iP76’s Pulse-lighting modes seemed to sync with the music better when playing through the system’s dock cradle than when playing over Bluetooth—during the latter, iP76’s Pulse mode feels kind of random. You switch between listening to a docked iPhone or iPod and listening to Bluetooth audio by pressing the iPod or Bluetooth button, respectively.
On the back of the iP76, at the top, you’ll find a 1/8 inch (3.5mm) auxiliary-input jack for listening to another audio source, along with component-video-out jacks for watching your iPhone or iPod’s video on a TV. Below those sits a small plastic holder for the included remote control. At the bottom of the tower is a connection for the included power cable.
Speaking of the remote, it’s a small, black-plastic, infrared model that sports buttons for mute, power, lamp toggle, volume up and down, previous, next, play/pause, iPod mode, Bluetooth mode, and Light Mode, along with directional buttons to switch between the individual light modes. I suppose there wasn’t enough space on the remote to fit all five lighting-mode buttons, but it is a bit confusing to cycle through the available lighting options using a completely different method on the remote than when using the onboard buttons.
The iP76’s big acoustic challenge is that its narrow design doesn’t lend itself to stereo separation; indeed, I heard none. But that’s my sole real complaint about the iP76’s audio quality. I appreciated its bass presence, its maximum volume, and its balanced, well-defined midrange. There are occasions, at maximum volumes, where both the upper and lower ends start to distort, but backing off just a few ticks eliminates those issues without sacrificing the ability to fill your room with sound.
My other significant complaint about the iP76 is that it feels a bit cheap. The plastic parts feel flimsy; the control panel on top feels too crowded. The lighting element is fun—cool, even—and the sound is plenty good at this price, but the whole package just doesn’t quite feel solid.
Global electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, recognized by design engineers as having the industry's largest selection of electronic components available for immediate shipment, today announced the signing of a global distribution agreement with LED manufacturer Luminus Devices, a leader in the field of solid-state lighting technology.
“We are excited to be joining forces with Digi-Key, whose outstanding global reach and reputation in distribution of electronic components will help us better serve our customers by driving our technology into the marketplace.”
Luminus' revolutionary Big Chip LED technology offers unrivaled brightness with world-class efficiency. The world's most recognized brands have adopted Luminus' LEDs to enable new markets for solid-state lighting. "Demand for Luminus Big Chip LEDs is accelerating rapidly," stated Keith T.S. Ward, President and CEO of Luminus. "We are excited to be joining forces with Digi-Key, whose outstanding global reach and reputation in distribution of electronic components will help us better serve our customers by driving our technology into the marketplace."
"Solid-state lighting is one of the fastest-growing segments in today's fast-paced market," said Mark Zack, Vice President, Global Semiconductor Product, Digi-Key Corporation. "Luminus' products, with their value-added and module-like offerings, support our full solution approach. High-efficiency, reliable LED lighting products have seen exponential expansion in recent years and Luminus Devices is among the leading suppliers of these innovative technologies. We are excited to add the Big Chip line to our expansive product offering."
"Luminus enables engineers and designers to think differently about lighting through its Big Chip LED architecture. High flux-density LEDs allow solid state devices to replace traditional lighting technologies in applications previously not thought possible," said David Rubin, Director of Sales for North America from Luminus Devices. "Digi-Key has created an infrastructure that enables the lighting community to find the products that meet their needs in developing exciting new lighting solutions, and then deliver those products to the market immediately."
These quality products from Luminus Devices are currently available for purchase on Digi-Key's global websites.
As the leading integrated Internet-based distributor of electronic and opto-components, information about and inventory of millions of products is accessible to customers around the globe, with all products shipped from Digi-Key's single, North American location. The company's integrated business model provides product and support information online to help put engineers and procurement professionals in control as they solve tough product development challenges.
The company's online offerings and resources include: PTM product training modules; TechZoneSM technology zones; Another Geek Moment videos; Digi-Key toolbar; PurchasingProSM for electronics buyers; TechXchangeSM; a Mobile and Social Center; the Scheme-it online schematic design tool; Reference Design Library; and the Dynamic Catalog.