Crowdfunding hope for human-powered helicopter project

Last September, the Gamera II team from the A. James Clark School of Engineering got so close to claiming the Sikorsky Prize of US$250,000 for human-powered helicopter flight that the American Helicopter Society must surely have been preparing to pull the dust covers off the safe and hand over the cash. Gamera II features a huge cross-shaped frame with enormous rotors at each of its four points, which are powered by sustained hand and foot pumping from a pilot at the center. It's a design that's been used by many of those attempting to nab the elusive prize (including AeroVelo's Atlas), but Georgia's Kenneth Huff has a rather more compact vision for success.

The project began in the spring of 2010, when Huff stumbled across some information about the Sikorsky competition while researching the building of an engine-powered single-seat helicopter that he was hoping to build after graduating from Middle Georgia State College.

"I am not sure how most people react to the question of human-powered helicopters, but I thought that it would be easy after reading about the competition," Huff told Gizmag. "I really didn't know what I was in for and after looking at Da Vinci III and Yuri I, I began to understand the nature of challenge."

A year later, he enlisted the help of two friends/fellow classmates (Neal Fischer, William Edwards) and requested a US$5,000 development grant from the College to work on a prototype and test the feasibility of building a human-powered helicopter that was much smaller than either Da Vinci III or Yuri I. At this point, the team had not come across the efforts of the University of Maryland's Gamera team, and AeroVelo hadn't yet embarked on its Atlas project.

Happily, the research proposal was accepted and work began on the first prototype. The aim was to develop a small coaxial human-powered helicopter that had the potential for reliable and practical recreational use, something that certainly can't be claimed for Gamera or Atlas. Banking on improvements in rotor efficiency allowing for a substantial reduction in the size of both frames and blades needed for lift, an additional grant in the spring of 2012 (along with a personal cash injection from Huff himself) allowed important design modifications to be made, along with the construction and testing of a new set of rotors.

The specs for the current prototype (and the next model) include a frame made of 6061 T6 aluminum, a 1:1 gearing ratio, and stacked rotors sporting a carbon fiber spar and S1223 airfoil with a weight of 15 pounds (6.8 kg) and total length of 12 feet (3.6 m). The total empty weight of the craft is 110 pounds (49.8 kg).

"The basic premise behind this design is that when the speed of an airfoil doubles, the lift quadruples," explained Huff. "We knew that we could reduce the area of the rotors by 75 percent when we doubled the speed. Take Yuri I for example, which had eight rotors all rotating at approximately 20 RPMs. If they had been able to double the RPMs to 40, then they could have eliminated six rotors or 75 percent of their rotor area."

"However, any aerodynamicist will inform you that drag also quadruples when the speed of airfoil doubles so there would be much more drag, which is completely true," he continued. "So we knew that our primary focus had to be to reduce the drag of the rotors (other teams are focused on reducing the power required by increasing the span of the rotor, which allows them to reduce the speed of the rotor needed to lift off of the ground). By using smaller rotors rotating at 60+ RPMs we knew that our rotors had to be as efficient as possible. So our efforts over the past two years have been to design the most efficient rotors that we possibly could without relying on previous designs or foregone conclusions about how a rotor should be designed."

Huff and the team now feel that they have developed one of the most efficient rotors ever designed, but have not been able to fully test it due to a lack of funds. They have another grant request in with the College, but impatience has got the better of them and they've headed to Kickstarter to both generate interest in the project and hopefully provide the cash injection needed to get their human-powered helicopter off the ground.

Though rotor testing has produced positive results, the simple aluminum frame topped by a pair of two-bladed rotors has yet to make it into the air. The maximum lift generated so far is 80 pounds (36 kg), while the minimum lift needed to get the craft to fly has been calculated at 240 pounds (109 kg).

"There is much more uncertainty about the feasibility our rotor design because it runs contrary to the design of all other successful human-powered helicopters," said Huff. "This uncertainty is compounded when coupled with the fact that we have been working on it for two years and have yet to have a successful flight. Furthermore, some aerodynamicists and human-powered helicopter enthusiasts may swear to the impossibility of our design but we believe that there is always room for improvement in any design and truly believe that practical human-powered vertical flight is possible and has the potential to one day be a recreational activity similar to hang-gliding, and we hope to prove it."

The developers are convinced that, with funding, the helicopter will be capable of lifting 300 pounds (136 kg) using 300 watts or less of power ? a fraction of that needed by other Sikorsky contenders. Direction of the current model will be controlled by shifting the weight of pilot, but plans are afoot for a cyclic control system that should offer more precision.

Kickstarter backers can pledge support for the project in return for various rewards (including framed posters, a 48-page book or a brass S1223 airfoil cutout), or can take a giant leap of faith and promise $10,000 or more, which will secure a fully functional, full-scale replica of the finished helicopter.

In the event of another team beating Huff and friends to the elusive Sikorsky Prize ? which requires a craft to stay in the air for 60 seconds, stay within a 10 meter (32.8 ft) square and rise to three meters (9.8 ft) at some point during the strictly human-powered flight ? development on the project will continue.

The Kickstarter pitch video is below.

Source: Kickstarter

Source: http://www.gizmag.com/kenneth-huff-human-powered-helicopter/26778/

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Friday Bliss

Friday Bliss

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/03/friday-bliss-10/

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Study highlights variations in spinal component costs

Public release date: 22-Mar-2013
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Contact: Lauren Pearson Riley
pearson@aaos.org
708-227-1773
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

More transparency and doctor-hospital cooperation in implant component purchases could reduce overall spinal implant costs

CHICAGO In a study, presented today at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), researchers obtained and compared the hospital purchasing records from 45 academic medical centers on the unit costs and volume of spinal products pedicle screws (PS), anterior cervical plates (ACP) and posterior interbody cages purchased from a total of seven vendors.

Among the results:

• PS had a mean cost of $878, with a range of $400 to $1,843 per patient;
• ACP had a mean cost of $1,068, with a range of $540 to $2,388; and,
• cages, $2,975, with a range of $938 to $7,200

For every additional implant component purchased, the unit price was reduced by $.29, $4.33 and $6.86 for PS, ACP and cages, respectively.

A significant relationship exists between a lower unit cost of implants and the purchase of a larger number of components. The authors suggest that greater transparency, as well as a more coordinated implant selection and purchase process, that includes the surgeon, hospital and manufacturer, could reduce the wide variation in component cost, and contribute to overall lower health care expenditures.

###

Learn more: AAOS.org

Follow us on Facebook.com/AAOS1 and Twitter.com/AAOS1.

A Nation in Motion

More than one in four Americans have bone or joint health problems, making them the greatest cause of lost work days in the U.S. When orthopaedic surgeons restore mobility and reduce pain, they help people get back to work and to independent, productive lives. Orthopaedic surgeons provide a great value, in both human and economic terms; and access to high-quality orthopaedic care keeps this "Nation in Motion." To learn more, to read hundreds of patient stories or to submit your own story, visit ANationinMotion.org.

For more information on bone and joint health, visit Orthoinfo.org.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 22-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lauren Pearson Riley
pearson@aaos.org
708-227-1773
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

More transparency and doctor-hospital cooperation in implant component purchases could reduce overall spinal implant costs

CHICAGO In a study, presented today at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), researchers obtained and compared the hospital purchasing records from 45 academic medical centers on the unit costs and volume of spinal products pedicle screws (PS), anterior cervical plates (ACP) and posterior interbody cages purchased from a total of seven vendors.

Among the results:

• PS had a mean cost of $878, with a range of $400 to $1,843 per patient;
• ACP had a mean cost of $1,068, with a range of $540 to $2,388; and,
• cages, $2,975, with a range of $938 to $7,200

For every additional implant component purchased, the unit price was reduced by $.29, $4.33 and $6.86 for PS, ACP and cages, respectively.

A significant relationship exists between a lower unit cost of implants and the purchase of a larger number of components. The authors suggest that greater transparency, as well as a more coordinated implant selection and purchase process, that includes the surgeon, hospital and manufacturer, could reduce the wide variation in component cost, and contribute to overall lower health care expenditures.

###

Learn more: AAOS.org

Follow us on Facebook.com/AAOS1 and Twitter.com/AAOS1.

A Nation in Motion

More than one in four Americans have bone or joint health problems, making them the greatest cause of lost work days in the U.S. When orthopaedic surgeons restore mobility and reduce pain, they help people get back to work and to independent, productive lives. Orthopaedic surgeons provide a great value, in both human and economic terms; and access to high-quality orthopaedic care keeps this "Nation in Motion." To learn more, to read hundreds of patient stories or to submit your own story, visit ANationinMotion.org.

For more information on bone and joint health, visit Orthoinfo.org.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/aaoo-shv031913.php

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Serotonin Receptors Offer Clues to New Antidepressants

Long-sought specificity on the shapes of serotonin binding sites could aid in the discovery of new drugs to combat depression, as well as in the study of consciousness

By Arran Frood and Nature magazine

Two studies have decoded the structure of two of the brain's serotonin receptors. Here shown is a receptor known as 1B with the migraine drug ergotamine (pink) locked into one of its binding pockets. Image: Chong Wang & Huixian Wu

Researchers have deciphered the molecular structures of two of the brain's crucial lock-and-key mechanisms. The two molecules are receptors for the natural neurotransmitter serotonin ? which regulates activities such as sleep, appetite and mood ? and could provide targets for future drugs to combat depression, migraines or obesity.?

?This is huge,? says Bryan Roth, a neuropharmacologist at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Medical School, and a co-author of the two studies published in Science today. ?Before this there was no crystal structure for any serotonin receptor. A lot of what was theoretical is now known with a great degree of certainty,? he says.

Scientists have been trying to decipher serotonin receptors for years. Armed with information on the atomic level, they might now be able to make breakthroughs in drug discovery and in understanding how the physical structures of the brain produce consciousness, says Roth.

Christoph Anacker, a neuropharmacologist at King's College London, agrees that the findings are important for drug discovery. ?These receptors are involved in so many conditions, especially depression, and knowing the molecular structures will help to develop more specific drugs and avoid the expression of undesired side effects.?

Chemical messengers
There are 14 different known serotonin receptors. The molecules lie on the outer membranes of nerve cells; when drugs or neurotransmitters lock into the receptors from outside the cell, they trigger the release of other chemicals inside the cell. Those chemicals ? which can be different depending on what drug or neurotransmitter has triggered them ? activate further hormones and metabolites, producing signaling cascades that are ultimately responsible for many aspects of the way we feel, perceive and behave.

Some drugs bind at more than one receptor, setting off not-fully-understood reactions that can produce unwanted side effects. To avoid this, researchers want to fine-tune drugs so that they activate only the desired signaling pathway.

Roth and his colleagues uncovered the receptor structures using X-ray crystallography, in which X-ray beams are fired at crystals of the compound, and the structure is deduced from how the beams scatter.

The teams focused on two receptors, called 1B and 2B. They found that the molecules had very similar structures in the areas where serotonin docks.

But in one area of the 1B receptor, the binding pocket was wider than in the 2B receptor. Although the difference was a mere 0.3 nanometers, about the width of three helium atoms, the difference is enough to explain why the two receptors bind differently to certain compounds.

This distinction may be relevant to drug safety: some drugs that activate the 2B receptor have been thought to cause heart problems, and have been withdrawn as unsafe. The connection has earned the 2B the nickname of death receptor.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=2235e19a41fb9f375e4a58a5017d5ff1

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Are you a one percenter? Many were surprised to ... - Financial Post

If you reported income of over $201,400 in 2010, you were part of the top 1% of Canadian income earners. This cohort earned 10.6% of Canada?s total reported income that year and paid 21.2% of all personal taxes. The top 10%, whose income was at least $81,200 that year, accounted for 55% of the total personal tax collected in 2010.

These figures surprised many Financial Post readers last week, many who seemed shocked to find that they were in fact one percenters. Readers had numerous questions, and even some answers, as to what?s behind these numbers. Today Jamie Golombek digs deeper to find the answers.

????????

How much tax do the top 1% actually pay?

To enter the top 1% club, your reported 2010 income had to be at least $201,400. At this level of income, ignoring for a moment any tax credits beyond the basic personal amount, you would have paid about $81,000 of combined federal and provincial taxes if you lived in Quebec, $74,000 if you lived in Ontario, $69,000 in B.C. and a mere $65,000 if you were a resident of Alberta. (see Chart) These translate into effective tax rates of 40.1%, 36.7%, 34.3% and 32.4% respectively.

These effective average rates are the result of our graduated, progressive tax system which imposes a progressively higher tax rate on each dollar of taxable income above a certain threshold both federally and in all provinces other than Alberta, which has a 10% flat tax. So while an Ontario resident?s combined federal and provincial marginal tax rate may be 46.41% once income reached $127,000 (in 2010), the graduated brackets leading up to this threshold lower that effective rate to 36.7%.
Of course, even these average effective rates are likely somewhat overstated since they fail to take into account the myriad tax credits available for everything from public transit to charitable donations.

___
Do capital gains, which are earned disproportionately by the wealthiest of Canadians, play a large role in these numbers?

Not really. In fact, the numbers above exclude capital gains in the determination of the income thresholds. If we were to use total income including capital gains to determine the top 1% of tax filers, the threshold would be only slightly higher at $215,800.

_____
Wouldn?t the income reported and the tax payable by the top 1% be even higher if the rich didn?t take advantage of all those tax deductions and credits?

Maybe a little, but not as much as one might think. If we examine detailed 2010 income tax return data from the Canada Revenue Agency, we can zero in on tax filers who made $250,000 and over, which would be the top 0.7% of income earners. These 186,520 individuals reported a collective total income of $104-billion, claimed $12-billion in various tax deductions, including $2.9-billion in RRSP deductions and $1.2-billion in carrying charges and interest expenses, for a total reported taxable income of $92-billion.
The tax payable on this income was $20.7-billion federally, after deducting $1.1-billion in federal non-refundable tax credits, more than half of which were in respect of charitable donations. Add in another $9.2-billion of provincial and territorial tax for a total tax bill of roughly $30-billion.

_____

What about Canadians who just file returns to collect government benefits but pay no tax at all ? doesn?t that skew these numbers?

It does. Of the 25 million returns filed in 2010, the CRA reports that 8.4 million of them were non-taxable. Taking a look at the non-taxable returns, 96% of them were from individuals who reported under $25,000 in income.
The fact that one third of tax returns filed had no tax payable would explain why the top 1% of filers contribute so much to the collected tax.

??????
You only looked at personal income taxes, but what about other taxes, like corporate income taxes, or the GST/HST?

Personal taxes make up nearly 50% of government revenues and as such constitute, by far, the largest source of tax monies. By contrast, corporate income taxes account for 13% of revenues with the GST/HST contributing 11%.

Jamie.Golombek@cibc.com

Jamie Golombek is the managing director, tax & estate planning with CIBC Private Wealth Management in Toronto.

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/03/21/299367/

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Q&A ? The Punch - Nigeria's Most Widely Read Newspaper

Dear Mr. Kunle,

I do enjoy your articles every Friday in The PUNCH providing inciting and in-depth knowledge into Forex. How do you help us who cannot afford or may not be able your training fee with free materials to become a trader

-????? D. Remigius

Dear Remigius,

I have received many mails like yours soliciting for materials. But I doubt from experience if it will help as much. So I have decided to organise, as my own contribution,? a free one-week intensive technical trading course for all I can accommodate come April 22 -27. Check your inbox soon for requirements to participate.

-????? Adeyeri

Dear Mr. Adeyeri,

Could it be true that there are licensed forex brokers operating in Nigeria and accepting our local currency for deposit?

-????? L. Durotade

Dear Durotade,

?Presently I know of five companies and a few others eager to do business in the country. Our country?s population and better internet services are drawing these companies. I will soon do a write up on the companies as time permits. Some to mention a few are InstaForex, FX Primus, FXTM, Admiral and coming soon are FX Pulp, CMS etc.

? Adeyeri

Sir,

I have been reading your articles on forex and for a while now I have been considering that option as another source of income but the truth is I have no idea on what exactly to do and what I would be getting myself into. I would appreciate it if you could help with educating me on how to start trading with a little capital for a start.

-????? F. Uju

? Dear Uju,

Thanks for your mail. You will need to be trained on how to trade forex. It is the first basic step. I have training programmes online and classroom coming up in May. You can as well attend my free one week intensive technical trading course which comes up April 22 ? 26.

Whichever you prefer from above make your interest known to get registered.

Thank you.

- Adeyeri

?Dear Sir,

I want to participate in your training, am delighted in knowing the technicalities(fundamental and technicals) of trading. How can I benefit from your training since I stay in Kwara State?? Kindly let me know your training programs and conditions to enable me know what to do.

Thank you.

- Cornelius

Dear Cornelius

I have training programmes in May (online and classroom) and free for all one in April. But as you reside in Kwara State, the online course will meet your needs. All that is required is your computer system and a good WiFi or MiFi internet connection which you can get around easily now from the GSM operators or communications companies.

Thank you.

?????? Adeyeri

?

?

More Stories in AM Business

Source: http://www.punchng.com/am-business/qa-42/

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Ryan Gosling Needs 'A Break From Myself'

'The Place Beyond the Pines' star opens up about a potential acting hiatus.
By Jocelyn Vena

Ryan Gosling
Photo: Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704082/ryan-gosling-acting-break.jhtml

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