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You've likely heard of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Perhaps you're even familiar with tales of blood-sucking chupacabras and West Virginia's Mothman. But there are numerous other creepy creatures and mythical monsters throughout the world that cryptozoologists and thrill-seekers are eager to find. Here's a look at 10 lesser-known cryptids right here in the United States.
1. Skunk Ape (Florida)
This large, hairy bipedal mammal is said to inhabit the Southern United States, but it's most often spotted in Florida. It gets its name from its unpleasant odor, which is said to be similar to rotten eggs or methane. Although reports of the creature were most common in the 1960s and 1970s, sightings continue today, but the most famous one took place in 2000.
That year, two photographs of an animal alleged to be the Skunk Ape were mailed to the Sarasota Sheriff's Department in Florida, along with a letter from a woman who said she'd photographed the creature in her backyard. She said that the cryptid had entered her yard for three nights and taken apples from her porch. She was convinced the animal was an escaped orangutan, but the police dispatched to her house several times never saw the animal. The National Park Service says the Skunk Ape is a myth that developed from Native American legends, but according to the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters, the creature might be part of the same species as Bigfoot.
2. Tahoe Tessie (California and Nevada)
Stories of this aquatic creature in Lake Tahoe can be traced back to members of the Washoe and Paiute tribes in the mid-19th century, who said the cryptid lived in an underwater tunnel beneath Cave Rock. Sightings of Tessie — who got her nickname from the famous Nessie of Loch Ness fame — continue today, with witnesses describing the creature as being between 10 and 80 feet long, having a serpentine body and coloration ranging from black to turquoise.
There are several theories surrounding Tessie, the most popular being that the animal is a Plesiosaur, Icthyosaur or Mosasaur because fossils of these creatures have been found in the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains. However, scientists say this is unlikely because the lake formed in the last Ice Age, long after those animals went extinct. Other Tessie theories say she could simply be a large sturgeon or an unidentified species of freshwater eel, but believers point to a quotation from undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau who's alleged to have emerged from a submarine expedition in Lake Tahoe and said, "The world isn't ready for what's down there."
3. Pope Lick Monster (Kentucky)
This legendary human-goat hybrid has a deformed human torso, goat legs and a horned head, and it's said to haunt the railway trestle over Pope Lick Creek in Louisville, Ky. Numerous urban legends exist about the creature's origins. Some stories say the monster is a circus freak who vowed revenge after his mistreatment, while others claim it's a reincarnated farmer who sacrificed goats in exchange for Satanic powers. Stories of how it claims its victims are equally diverse. May believers think it uses voice mimicry to lure trespassers to their deaths before oncoming trains. Some say it slays its victims with an ax, while others say that simply the sight of the Pope Lick Monster is so terrifying that people jump to their deaths. These legends have turned the Pope Lick Train Trestle into a destination for thrill-seekers, and there have been a number of deaths at the location despite the 8-foot fence meant to keep visitors out.
4. Ozark Howler (Ozark Mountains)
Witnesses describe this creature as a large black cat with horns and glowing eyes, and it gets its name from the loud, eerie howl it emits throughout the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Cryptozoologists have suggested that the creature could be an unrecognized big cat, while anthropologists have speculated that the stories of the cryptid were simply inspired by the black dogs of death found in British folklore. However, evolutionists who believe in the Ozark Howler say it could be a mutated mountain lion breed or a hybrid of a mountain lion and another animal.
5. Iliamna Lake Monster (Alaska)
The locals call her Illie, and reports of the cryptid have been around since the indigenous Aleut people lived on the shores of Alaska's Iliamna Lake. However, the lake monster wasn't brought into the public eye until the 1940s when pilots reported seeing a large fish swimming in the waters below. By the 1950s, there were consistent reports of large, aluminum-colored fish in the lake, and in 1979 the Anchorage Daily News offered $100,000 to anyone who could provide conclusive evidence of Illie's existence. So far no evidence has been found, but sightings of the fish continue today, and Illie was even featured on Animal Planet's show "River Monsters." But scientists say there's no monster in Lake Iliamna — many have suggested that what people are seeing are actually sleeper sharks. These fish can exceed 20 feet in length and swim into rivers and lakes to find food, and scientists say that Illie sightings are often consistent with the sharks' shape and colors.
6. Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp (South Carolina)
This reptilian humanoid cryptid is described as being 7 feet tall, bipedal and having scaly lizard skin, and it's said to live in the swamplands in Lee County, S.C. The first reported sighting of the creature was in 1988 when 17-year-old Christopher Davis saw the creature running toward him while he was changing a tire beside Scape Ore Swamp. Davis got in his car to escape, but the Lizard Man jumped onto the roof and clung to it as the teen tried to throw it off. When he returned home, Davis found that his side-view mirror was damaged and there were deep scratch marks across the car's roof.
For the next month, there were further reports of an aggressive lizard-like creature and more reports of unusual scratches and bite marks on cars parked near the swamp. Police were skeptical, but stated that a sufficient number of sightings by reliable people led them to believe that something was being seen — although they thought it was likely a bear. The sheriff's department made plaster casts of what appeared to be large three-toed footprints to send to the FBI, but decided against sending them after the S.C. Marine Resources Department said they were unclassifiable. Reports of the Lizard Man declined over the next few years, but in 2011 a couple reported that their car had been mauled and the former Lee County sheriff said the damage was similar to the 1988 incidents.
7. Altamaha-ha (Georgia)
Although no physical evidence of this aquatic creature exists, stories of a large snake-like animal swimming in the waters of Georgia's Altamaha River date back to the 18th century. The Tama Indian tribe has legends of such a creature, and alleged sightings of Altamaha-ha continue to be reported today, with most reports involving swimmers bumping into the creature. It's been described as looking like a sturgeon, but having the head of a crocodile, and cryptozoologists have speculated that Altamaha-ha may be an ocean cryptid that spawns in the freshwaters at the mouth of the river.
8. Jersey Devil (New Jersey)
Since the 1700s, there have been thousands of reported sightings of this cryptid in the New Jersey Pinelands. Described as a kangaroo-like creature with the head of a dog, bat-like wings, horns and a forked tail, the animal is said to prowl through the marshes of Southern New Jersey and spook people with its hideous appearance. Although there are many stories about the creatures origins, the most commonly accepted is that in 1735 there was a woman called Mother Leeds who had 12 children. She stated that if she gave birth to another child, it would be the Devil, and when her 13th child was born, it transformed into the Jersey Devil, killed its mother and flew screaming into the woods. To this day, residents of cities near the Pinelands have reported hearing the devil's screams late at night. However, skeptics say the creature is nothing more than a story created by English settlers.
9. Loveland Frog (Ohio)
This humanoid creature with the face of a frog was first spotted in Loveland, Ohio, in 1955. A businessman said he saw several creatures with green skin, webbed hands and wide mouths squatting under a bridge, and one of the creatures reportedly held up a bar-like device that emitted sparks, leaving a strong odor of alfalfa and almonds behind. There were no further sightings of the Loveland Frog until 1972 when police, including Officer Mark Matthews, said they saw a frog-faced man jump over a rail and into the Little Miami River. Weeks later, a farmer reported seeing the creature riding a bicycle, and then officer Mark Matthews saw the Loveland Frog for a second time. This time it was lying in the road, and Matthews shot at it but it escaped. However, in 2001, Matthews retracted his story, saying it wasn't a monster and was probably just a pet lizard that got too large for its aquarium.
10. Chessie (Maryland and Virginia)
Chessie is another sea monster named in the style of legendary Nessie, but this cryptid reportedly lives in the waters of Chesapeake Bay. There have been numerous sightings of the creature, which witnesses describe as 25 to 40 feet long, serpent-like and finned. There were a rash of Chessie sightings in the 1970s and 1980s, but an alleged photograph of the creature turned out to be a manatee. A 1982 videotape of the creature shows a brownish object moving from side to side like a snake, but the video hasn't been substantiated. The last notable sighting of Chessie was in 1997.
Photos: (Skunk Ape) Wikimedia Commons, (Pope Lick Train Trestle) Wikimedia Commons, (Lizard Man): Linda Bucklin/iStockphoto, (Jersey Devil): Wikimedia Commons


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Hello out there! For those of you who are still keeping an eye out on this blog for new posts, if there are any of you out there, I want to apologize for my unexpectedly long hiatus. I owe all of my colleagues and friends out there who have nurtured me professionally and personally (and blog-ally) a proper closing and final blog post.
When I left you in Februrary, I had all sorts of good intentions (as I always do). I figured with my new job that is fairly well confined to business hours I would have all kinds of time to blog and keep up with my emails. Well...it didn't quite work out as I planned.
Between February and June, I was adjusting to a new job in a new environment while planning for a wedding, which took and increasingly large amount of my time and energy as the date got closer. Both of these changes were good things, but demanded a heck of a lot more of my time than I imagined. I had a hard time with the idea of being on the computer all day and then coming home to respond to emails, Facebook requests, and all of that, especially as I got further and further behind. I needed a break. So I took one. And I'm glad I did. But I'm not glad the one of the results of that was that some of you didn't get responses from me and that the blog was left hanging. I owe you all out there a lot and am immensely grateful to each of you I met in creating this blog, little by little, everyday.
While on my little 'break,' I realized that I couldn't devote the kind of time I need to make this blog good while also giving my best effort to my home and work lives. In the quest for work-life balance, this blog and some related projects had to give. Ultimately, I think this blog served the purpose I had in mind for it. I was able to share some of the things I learned about marketing so that it might help others make their libraries a bit better. The content that is here is still useful, I think. And I will get back in touch with all of you who may have sent me an unanswered note as soon as I can.
I think I'll close this blog with an observation: Now that I'm doing library work in a new environment and meeting a new group of colleagues, I feel even more confident that the value we bring to our workplaces, our communities, and our world is greatly needed. So too is the need to prove that fact to our patrons everyday. That's what library marketing allows us to do. Directly, strategically, and passionately. Marketing helps us tell everyone else what we already know - that we information professionals can empower our communities to be better places. Marketing also challenges us to be better professionals by asking us to be accountable to patrons' needs. I hope this blog gave you a few extra tools to accomplish this. For me, I know each of you continually reaffirmed why I love this profession, and I sincerely thank you for the privilege and opportunity to share my thoughts with you.
Please be in touch, and be patient with me as I get reemerge from my time off. I wish you the best in all your endeavors!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
I am still alive! (Final blog post)
Hello out there! For those of you who are still keeping an eye out on this blog for new posts, if there are any of you out there, I want to apologize for my unexpectedly long hiatus. I owe all of my colleagues and friends out there who have nurtured me professionally and personally (and blog-ally) a proper closing and final blog post.
Posted by Jill at 4:38 PM 0 comments
Labels: final_post
Friday, February 01, 2008
In case you haven't heard, PLCMC won
Congrats to the PLCMC for winning the 2008 Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant. PLCMC will partner with the New York Public library in utilizing the "Join the circle of knowledge @ your library" theme. You can read the full winning application here (Word doc). Their proposal includes a lot of community partnerships, a rock concert, and a joint blog with NYPL.
Some of the things that I like is that the campaign will help support some important local partners, including the animal shelter. Also, community members get to share the knowledge of their community via "knowledge boards" placed throughout the town. PLCMC: Do you have plans for how to preserve or share these insights? Perhaps you could stream quotes on your Web site?...Just a thought.
This news brings to mind an article I just read in Adweek about a study that found marketing events can raise purchase intent by as much as 52%. Here's an excerpt from the article:
"The special value of events, sponsorships and trade shows has to be considered," said Raymond Pettit, co-author and svp at MarketShare Partners in Los Angeles. "There are many connection points you can build at an event, whether it is emotional, aspirational or awareness building. It goes beyond just counting audience attendance."So, research would suggest that sponsoring fun activities like those proposed by PLCMC might not just be good PR moves; they could also have a significant positive impact on the numbers of library users. If your marketing plan doesn't incorporate some form of outreach, you may want to give it a try.
Posted by Jill at 7:10 PM 1 comments
Labels: articles, market_research, promotion
Flightless in Toronto
Well, in a past life I must have accumulated some bad airline karma. My flight was canceled due to one of the worst winter storms of the season here in Ontario. On the plus side, I have some unexpected blogging time.
So now that I have a moment, I'd like to share an announcement with you. I'm going to be leaving my position at VCU Libraries effective this Tuesday, February 5th. As you can imagine, I have a lot of mixed emotions about the job change. I'm both excited about my new job and also sad to leave all of the wonderful people I've met at VCU. Many of my colleagues are also my close personal friends, who truly care about me and want the best. (Thanks, guys.) My advisory group (CLUAC) has always been an inspiration and I know all my students will go far. I can't imagine a better place to have begun my career and I want to thank VCU Libraries and those I've worked with in the VCU community for how supportive they've been to me throughout, both personally and professionally.
The good news is that I'll still be in Richmond and I'll be able to keep in touch with everyone. What will I be doing? I'll be working for a company doing research and analysis on, guess what? Marketing info! My new employers have been extremely welcoming and I know the work is going to be incredibly exciting and fast-paced! I'm looking forward to jumping into this challenging new role with a group of really bright people, and getting a taste of another side of the information profession that I love.
Now, on to what you might care more about: What about the blog? I plan on keeping it up as long as I have something worthwhile to write. So, there's no change there. I anticipate my writing might become more of a weekend event, but I think my new role will give me a great perspective to bring to the news and marketing strategies that apply to libraries. I'll also continue writing for Designing Better Libraries (in fact, I hope I'll have more time to do so!).
Thanks for letting me share a bit of this personal stuff. Now, on to our regularly scheduled blog content...
Posted by Jill at 6:30 PM 0 comments
Labels: random
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Greetings from Toronto!
I'm so grateful to be here in Toronto to speak tomorrow at the Ontario Library Association's Super Conference (best conference name ever, by the way!). My session is called "Unleash Your Inner Marketer." I'm hoping it sparks some imaginative ways to approach marketing, rather than just dwelling on promotional tactics. I'll let you know how it goes and reflect a bit on our discussion. If you're in the area, please drop by and say hello!
Posted by Jill at 6:58 PM 0 comments
Labels: presentations
Friday, January 25, 2008
What a bunch of cards! Guest post from Rebecca Metzger
While at ALA Midwinter, I was lucky to meet Rebecca Metzger, Reference and Instruction Librarian at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. She took part in my committee's discussion group where she shared her library's fun approach to promoting their individual research consultation service. Rebecca graciously agreed to write up the initiative for LM, which I'm copying here in its entirety (with permission, as always):
Thanks for sharing your library's efforts, Rebecca! There are a couple of elements here I'm especially fond of:
A Service and its Public FacePop Culture Appeal
For the past seven years, the Lafayette College Libraries have been creating and mailing humorous collectible postcards to students as a way of publicizing PRA (Personalized Research Assistance) sessions, which are essentially individual research consultations with reference librarians. PRA cards get the faces of reference librarians out to students in a comedic format that shakes up the stereotype of librarians as stodgy and serious, hopefully making us more approachable. The service and its publicity strategy developed hand-in-hand. Before Spring 2001, private student appointments with librarians were rare, but welcome. In a meeting, the reference staff agreed that we should make appointments a more explicit service. It took one brainstorming meeting to create the PRA name, which is similar to that of the WA (Writing Associate) peer tutoring service offered through our
. The first PRA postcard came about informally. As a joke, one of the librarians mocked up a spoof of the film Conan the Barbarian and the tagline, "Make an appointment with a reference barbarian today!" It was basic humor, it was typical of the library staff at Writing Center , and it just kind of stuck. Lafayette
The postcards, which are mailed to all students a few weeks into each semester, feature the faces of reference librarians superimposed on movie or TV stills, thus appealing to the visual and pop culture interests of most youth. On the back of each card is a URL directing students to an online sign-up form and witty text advertising the service that plays on slogans from the movie or TV show. For example, the recent "Mary PRAppins" card reads: "We may not be able to get the chim-chiminey back in your chim-chim-charoo, but a Personalized Research Assistance session with a reference librarian can help you find the books, journals, and online resources you need for a well-researched project that will make your professor say: SupercaliPRAgilisticexpilalidocious!"
Student Input
After that initial postcard, student workers were brought on board to execute the Photoshop manipulation and layout of the card, as well as to coordinate the printing and mailing with campus Reprographic services. It's time-consuming work for them but more fun than shelving books, and it helps bridge the generational gap. Thus, us "old" librarians don't make too many mistakes with movie and TV references that 18-22 year olds don't know. The reference staff still collaborates as a group to generate the ideas and content for each card, and I'm in charge of executing those ideas and overseeing the student worker. We're lucky here to have the budget and support that allows us to move forward relatively quickly on ideas without having to go through committees.
Building Traffic
For the first few years, a surge in appointments immediately after the mailing date was a clear indicator of the cards' impact. Being a small liberal arts campus helps, since our students are a relatively homogeneous group of approximately 2400 undergraduates who talk amongst themselves. When the PRA cards hit their mailboxes, which are all located in one setting, there is a mass visual impact even if the majority of the cards end up in the recycling bin. As the branded service has become more integrated on campus, there's less of an obvious peak in appointments immediately after the mailing. Traffic to the online PRA sign-up form is steady now throughout the semester, and generated not just from the cards but from outreach during instruction sessions, reference desk interactions, articles in parent newsletters, targeted correspondence with honors students, word-of-mouth, and the library website. While it remains an ongoing challenge to reach those students who have never heard of PRAs, students have been known to put the postcards up in their dorm rooms or diverge from a campus tour script to tell visitors about them. Some favorites among students are: Harry PRAtter and the Prisoner of Research and the SoPRAnos.
A gallery of the cards can be viewed online at http://www.lafayette.edu/~library/pra/gallery.html.
1. Student involvement helps to make sure the promotion makes sense to the intended audience. 2. No committees! Sometimes, committees are necessary I guess, but promotions need to be timely so staff flexibility is key.
Got a marketing initiative you want to share? E-mail me!
Posted by Jill at 11:58 AM 0 comments
Labels: guest_posts, promotion
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Promotion. It's not just for stuff.
Contrary to popular perception, promotional activities (advertising, public relations, etc.), are not always about convincing people to buy the latest and greatest [fill in the blank]. Often, promotion objectives include changing attitudes and behaviors. Such is the case with the "Use Only What you Need" campaign launched by Denver Water this past summer. Though summer is a distant memory for Northern Hemisphere-dwellers like myself, the campaign is nevertheless a timely reminder for librarians that marketing has the power to change minds.
Denver Water acquired the services of Sukle Advertising to get customers to do something a bit unusual. Namely, use less of their product by conserving water. An article in the Denver Business Journal describes the campaign, which uses humor to make its point,
"About 50 customer comments have come in so far, McGuire-Collier [community and media relations manager] said, and despite the irreverent tone of the ads, "We've had some real positive responses. ... [Some say] it's not the sort of campaign you'd expect from a, quote-unquote, bureaucratic organization. We're able to have fun and still deliver an important message."The promotions truly are pretty funny. Check out this YouTube video, "Drunk Flowers," and this one, "Running Toilets Waste Water." You can see other promotional elements at the utility's Web site.
Denver's campaign is a good example of the promotional aspects of social marketing, which is basically a type of marketing that attempts to change people's attitudes and behaviors for the benefit of individuals or society. Sound familiar, librarians? For Denver, striking at the funny bone seems to have worked, as residents cut their water usage by 21%, just 1% shy of their goal.
Here are some of the things I took away from this campaign:
- Advertisements need to reach people on an emotional level. Sukle did this by doing something unexpected from a government organization (being funny).
- Sukle's ads communicated volumes of information visually. The "using only what you need" theme was reinforced visually by partially used billboards, for example.
- Social marketers aim to change behaviors by changing attitudes. To do so, it's important to understand existing attitudes and behaviors that would indicate success (lower water consumption, etc.). These goals should be included in promotion strategies.
- All aspects of a promotion campaign should be integrated and reinforce one another to have the most impact.
[For more info: Wikipedia has a pretty good entry on Social Marketing]
Posted by Jill at 1:56 PM 2 comments
Labels: attitudes, inspirations, promotion
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Getting to the point with MarketingProfs
If you haven't explored them yet, MarketingProfs now offers a plethora of tidbit-sized chunks of information in its free (registration required) Get to the Po!nt newsletters. The thematic newsletters are really neat, covering topics such as:
- Customer Behavior (must-read for sure!)
- E-mail Marketing
- Marketing Inspiration (love this!)
- Small Business
- B2B Marketing
- Marketing Optimization
- New Media (social networks, mobile devices, video, audio, etc.)
Bonus tip: Why not start your own mini newsletter for your colleagues? An e-mail once a week that briefly covers THE most important trend/news item/report/... you think people need to know would help keep staff up-to-date, and may even deliver the jolt of inspiration needed to come up with great ideas.
Posted by Jill at 11:39 AM 1 comments
Labels: articles, inspirations, resources
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
I blog, therefore, I am
It's funny (and nice) that I took a break from blogging for a while and a number of people thought that some tragedy befell me. Not to worry, loyal readers! I blog, therefore, I am. Everything's fine with me, but I have a whole lot of personal and professional stuff going on (some of which I'll be sharing on LM in the near future), and I thought the holidays would be a good time to relax, take a good chunk of time off, and come back to the blog refreshed.
That said, I have content up to my eyeballs to share with you, so I'm going to start with an initiative from the Metropolitan Museum of Art as described by trendcentral.com. The initiative sprang up from a new trend: blog bars. Blog bars are computer terminals set up on-site so that attendees can respond to what's going on in real time and receive responses right away.
The Met offers a blog bar for its show blog.mode: addressing fashion. The blog seems to be doing its job in that there's a flurry of comment and conversation. The idea of a blog bar, however, adds an extra layer of immediacy and relevancy for participants, and could be a great way to enhance library programs too! Trendcentral also points out,
"Additionally, expect physical spaces to increasingly include virtual components, creating a mash-up hybrid environment."This trend reminds me of the importance of thinking about patron experiences, rather than focusing on distinct technologies and tools. It's the marriage of technology, great services, and community engagement that will continue to shape library services.
Bonus tip: Every librarian needs to pay attention to what museums are doing and how they're applying technology. They're doing fascinating stuff!
Thank you readers for your understanding while a took a break! I'm glad to be back in the blogosphere.
Posted by Jill at 1:43 PM 2 comments
Labels: inspirations, library-as-place, technology, tips, trends

subset: commoncrawl


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About Hakomi & the Institute
A pioneer in mindfulness and somatics and in experiential psychotherapy for over 30 years...
Workshops & Trainings
Click here for info on Hakomi trainings and workshops in the U.S. and internationally.
Directory of Practitioners
Looking for a Hakomi therapist or practitioner in your area? Search our directory.


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Discovery is coming to Nintendo Switch™ consoleMay 22nd, 2018
Hey all!
After another 6 months of hard work we're proud to announce that Discovery will be released for the Nintendo Switch™ console in North America and Japan on May, the 24th. Europe and Australia are following on May, the 31th.
It will be available as a Nintendo eShop title for $7.99/€7.99/800Yen.
The internal game's version number is jumping to 2.5. This version adds support for material shaders that enable to create modern looking materials like reflecting glass, metals, etc. Also it adds support for bump-mapping and other techniques that are known from today's games.
As the Nintendo Switch is known to be a family console, we also implemented a splitscreen-multiplayer. Up to 4 players can play the game in tabletop or docked mode. Currently you can't play with only one Joy-Con™ per player, but we're trying to find a way to make that possible.
So get your family and friends together and have fun building crazy things!
If you have questions or feedback please get in contact with me over twitter!
P.S. In case you are a Reviewer/Blogger/Streamer and you want a DL-Code, please get in contact over twitter!
Discovery and Block Builder DX are released... what's next?November 23rd, 2017
Hi all,
Discovery and Block Builder DX (that's how it is called in Japan) are released now. We're quite satisfied with the release and are already working on the first update that focuses on improving the VR experience by adding a lot of settings to adapt to your personal VR skills. E.g. we're adding additional rotation modes, configurable move speed and a VR vignette to avoid motion sickness. Furthermore there are some materials and a new "Quick Pick" action, that let's you pick a material straight from the world instead of selecting it in the material belt or the material browser. It's a small change that greatly improves the general gameplay (meaning also non-VR). You can see some of the stuff in the following video. Please make sure to follow me on Twitter for more up-to-date news.
Discovery is coming to PlayStation®4 and Playstation®VR.November 2nd, 2017
We're proud to announce that Discovery will be released on PS4 in the US on November, the 7th.
It will be available as a PlayStation Store title for $11.99.
One of the key differences of the PS4 release is that we have implemented full support for PS VR.
Jump into Virtual Reality and experience your block world as if you were there with incredible 360 degrees immersion.
Apart from that we have also implemented Online Multiplayer to the game with up to 4 players.
We're also going to release in european countries as well as in Japan (over our publisher Rainy Frog LLC).
Release dates will be published later this month.
As always, we're already working on the first update for the game that is planned to contain the following features:
- PlayStation Move support.
- Additional 3rd person view for PS VR.
- Local cooperative mode (One player at PS VR the other one on TV, split-screen).
- New materials to build with.
So get creative! We're eager to see what you will build, alone or with your friends!
To stay up-to-date with the progress on the game and the 1st update, be sure to follow us on twitter!
There you can also give us feedback on the game and especially on the PS VR experience.
P.S. In case you are a Reviewer/Blogger/Streamer and you want a DL-Code, please get in contact over twitter!
Block Builder (aka. Discovery) Wii U releasing in Japan todayAugust 31st, 2016
We're proud to announce that Block Builder (Discovery) is released in Japan for Wii U by our publisher Rainy Frog, today. It has been a long intensive time of work to bring that version out. We hope you enjoy creating new worlds with that release!
Discovery for Wii U releasing today in Europe, Australia and ...February 11th, 2016
all other Nintendo of Europe concerning countries! It will be available in the eShop in the coming hours.
More reviews!January 23rd, 2016
Sean Foster from Inside Gaming Online has written a nice review about Discovery.
John Rairdin from 8-Worlds News
And last but not least WiiWareWave
Thanks to all reviewers for taking their time!
Another Discovery Wii U reviewJanuary 10th, 2016
Check it out
Thanks to Familiy Friendly Gaming for taking the time!
First review on nintendolife.comJanuary 7th, 2016
The first real review of Discovery for Wii U is online
Check it out at nintendolife.com
Objective and well written! Many thanks to Mitch Vogel and the whole Nintendo Life team!
Facebook pageJanuary 6th, 2016
We have created a Facebook page in order to announce news and get feedback in a more convenient way. Feel free to leave a like!
Discovery will be released for Nintendo Wii UJanuary 5th, 2016
We're so amazed to report, that ...
Discovery will be released for Nintendo Wii U on January, the 7th in the NA eShop for 6,99$.
This is by far amount the biggest leap in development of the game. We have reworked the whole engine in order to smooth out problematic scenes and to use the latest render techniques to give the game a modern look though leaving the old school style. Furthermore we have added electric circuits to give more depth to the designing part and added a local cooperative multiplayer mode, where Player 1 can play completely on the Wii U GamePad and Player 2 can use TV and Wii U Pro Controller or Classic Controller (Pro) from the Wii.
The EU region will get the game later since we decided to fix minor issues and (re-)add multi language support. We'll announce as soon as the game has passed certification and we have a concrete release date.
Currently we're already working on an update to further increase the performance and add more features.
More news to follow soon!
One more important note: Since our marketing capabilities are limited, we cannot reach for all Nintendo sites/magazines/vlogger to ask if they like to write a news/review or make a video about Discovery. If you want to give informations about Discovery to your readers/viewers, please contact us for a Download Code!
New PlatformNovember 11th, 2015
New ServerJuni 26th, 2015
Moving to new server, to split up services.
Discovery 2.0 on PS Vita!Juni 17th, 2015
Discovery 2.0 on OUYAJuni 4th, 2015
I'm very proud to report that Discovery 2.0 passed review on the new platform OUYA!
Get it here!
More news soon!
New platformsMai 31st, 2015
I have submitted Discovery to a new Platform and it hopefully gets accepted.
For this platform I had to completly rewrite the whole engine. So Discovery's version jumped to 2.0.
This means:
- More smooth gameplay through multi-thread usage
- a lot of bug fixes
- support for shaders
- support for advanced lighting
- better stability -> less data corruption
- more comfortable menus
- more flexible input by unifying all controls (touch, gamepad, keyboard, mouse)
- faster updates with new content/features
That's why there weren't a lot of updates here in the last year, because it took so long to get this beast up.
Currently worlds from version 1.7 and below are not working. So I first have to write a conversion function for them, before I can release it to existing platforms. I guess it will take some 1-2 months more.
Long long time ago...März 2nd, 2015
Discovery on sale!Mai 12th, 2014
Discovery 184.108.40.206 - iOSMai 6th, 2014
The iOS version has just been submitted to Apple for review.
Disappearing worlds after updateMai 6th, 2014
Hi, as many of you may have noticed, your worlds are missing after updateing from 1.6. to 1.7. There's a small bug in there. The worlds should reappear after restart of the app.
Discovery 184.108.40.206 - Android and AmazonApril 29th, 2014
126.96.36.199 has been submitted for Amazon and Android.
Should be available instantly for Google Play users and in a few days for Amazon Kindle users.


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The 'greatest' class
EDWARDS — It's official: The Vail Christian High School class of 2013 is the greatest class in the school's history.
That's what teacher Patrick Beaudine declared at the school's commencement ceremony Saturday morning, and he backed it up with quite a bit of evidence.
The graduating class of just 22 students has accomplished greatness in both athletics and academics during their high school years. The class of 2013's Advanced Placement scores exceeded the classes before them, as did their cumulative grade point averages and their scores on ACT and SAT exams.
"Is there anything you guys can't do?" Beaudine asked, adding that the students have proved their "mental toughness" through all of their successes.
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A Faith Based Experience
A big part of the Vail Christian High School ceremony centered around faith — something that has made big impacts on the lives of these students as they not only focused on their school work over the last four years, but also scripture.
Valedictorian Gracen McGuckin referenced that faith and attributed much of the greatness found in her class to Vail Christian High School.
"Vail Christian helped you become who you are," she said.
The class' love for their teachers and the special bonds formed over the years meant for some heavy hearts at the ceremony. McGuckin thanked the teachers for being their mentors and friends.
"You will not find a better group of leaders than the ones here," she said. "We won't know what to do with ourselves without them."
There were few handshakes on the stage as the graduates accepted their diplomas: Hugs were the preferred congratulatory form of expression between the class and their teachers. There were also many tears.
The Class of 2013 has a collective $2.4 million in college scholarships. It's proof that they've made their mark on Vail Christian, but also proof that these students are going somewhere, Beaudine said.
"Universities wanted members of this class," he said.
Onwards and upwards
The 22 graduates are heading to Duke University, Baylor University, University of Southern California and Santa Clara University, to name a few.
Salutatorian Kyra Webb told her class not to be afraid of what's to come in the next four years.
"It is my hope that you will find your passion over the next four years and that you will hold onto it very tightly," Webb said. "Let this be a time to become a better you."
There was more advice from teacher Doug Bruce, including some important words about remaining humble.
"Be strong enough to say 'I don't know' when you don't know or understand something," Bruce said. "If you don't have the answer, say so."
Bruce went on to quote many sports greats like Michael Jordan and Yogi Berra, as well as successful CEOs and entrepreneurs.
"Let yourself dream," Bruce said. "If you can dream it, you can do it."
The ceremony marked a major milestone for these students, one their parents may not have wanted to happen yet.
Head of School Jeremy Lowe told parents that times change whether they like it or not.
He remembered back to 1995, the year most of the graduates were born. The average price of a house was $113,000 and gas was $1.09 a gallon, he said. It was the year of the Oklahoma City bombing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average cracked the 5,000 mark for the first time, and something called a DVD was new to the electronics scene.
While so much has changed in the last 18 or so years, one thing remains for at least this next year: The Vail Christian class of 2013 is the greatest class in school history. The class of 2014 has some big shoes to fill.
Assistant Managing Editor Lauren Glendenning can be reached at email@example.com or 970-748-2983.


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Breast Cancer Support Group
Name: Breast Cancer Support Group
Date: September 20, 2023
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
Event Description:
Women Supporting Women is a local non-profit organization helping all those affected by breast cancer on Delmarva. Our Worcester Support Group meets at AGH every 3rd Wednesday of the month. Please RSVP by emailing email@example.com or calling 410-548-7880.


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iPhone 5 preorder delivery pushed back 3 to 4 weeks
After selling 2 million iPhones in the first 24 hours, Apple has apparently continued to be overwhelmed by demand for the smartphone.
Demand for the iPhone 5 has been so great in the past week that Apple is apparently having trouble keeping up, as shipping estimates for preorders have now been increased to three to four weeks.
Apple was apparently caught off-guard last week by the crush of initial preorders, with the first batch of iPhone 5 models selling out within an hour. The company even reportedly stopped taking orders for a brief time on Saturday. Now Apple's online store indicates that phones purchased today might not be delivered for four weeks.
The new shipping estimates come after Apple announced yesterday that the iPhone 5 logged more than 2 million preorders in its first 24 hours, more than doubling the tally of the iPhone 4S last year. Apple's next-generation smartphone is benefiting from pent-up demand among consumers seeking a new design, bigger display, and a 4G LTE connection.
While a majority of the orders are expected to be fulfilled on September 21, both Apple and its partner carriers had previously pushed back the shipment dates by a couple of weeks.
The iPhone 5 is also proving to be a hit among reviewers, including CNET's Scott Stein, who praised the addition of 4G LTE and the larger screen. "The iPhone 5 has them, plus a new processor, plus a new design, plus iOS 6, plus a lot more. It's the best iPhone that's been made," Stein wrote.


text: OVERVIEW The nose serves three primary functions: to warm, humidify and filter air as it passes into the body. Breathing problems may impact one or multiple of these functions. Breathing problems can be temporary or chronic, mild or severe, but they usually increase with age. Breathing problems are assessedRead more


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Justice and Security Bill: The Government is not for turning – Angela Patrick
29 May 2012
Publishing the Justice and Security Bill this morning, the Secretary of State for Justice said "I have used the last few months to listen to the concerns of … civil liberties campaigners with whom I usually agree."
There are many people who today would sorely like to agree that Ken has listened and has taken their concerns on board. Unfortunately, the Government's analysis remains fundamentally flawed. The Green Paper was clearly a "big ask". There have undoubtedly been significant changes made from the proposals in the Green Paper. However, the secret justice proposals in the Justice and Security Bill remain fundamentally unfair, unnecessary and unjustified.
In Al-Rawi, the Supreme Court held it did not have a general power to use closed material procedures as an alternative to public interest immunity. The introduction of closed material procedures – where one party and his representatives could be excluded from any or all parts of a case, including the hearing and the judgment – would be such a fundamental shift away from the principles of open and adversarial justice that the Court would not take that step without direction from Parliament. Lord Dyson explained:
The common law principles…are extremely important and should not be eroded unless there is a compelling case for doing so. It this is to be done at all, it is better done by Parliament after full consideration and proper consideration of the sensitive issues involved (Al-Rawi, [48]).
The Bill asks Parliament to make precisely the same kind of fundamental shift that the Supreme Court would not countenance. Clause 6 introduces a general duty on the Court to impose closed material procedures in any case where any person – either a Government body or any third party – could be required to disclose material which "would be damaging to the interests of national security".
It is now for Parliament to consider whether the Government has produced a compelling case for wide-ranging reform of the kind proposed in the Bill as introduced.
The Bill will apply to all "relevant civil proceedings", defined as proceedings in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Court of Session (Clause 6(1)).
The Government has decided not to include inquests in the scope of the Bill. This decision is unsurprising: two previous proposals to introduce similar secret inquest provisions having been defeated in Parliament or withdrawn in the face of opposition in the past five years. However, if adequate steps can be taken to protect the interests of national security in the context of an inquest, it makes it more difficult for the Government to argue that the existing measures for the protection of national security are inadequate in civil proceedings.
However, the issue of inquests is not definitively settled. The Bill proposes a power for the Secretary of State to extend the scope of the Bill by secondary legislation (Clause 11(2)). This opens the door to the further expansion of secret justice in the future, without the benefit of full parliamentary scrutiny. Secret inquests may yet rise again.
The judge decides
The Secretary of State has conceded that the original proposal that a Minister should trigger closed material procedures at his or her discretion was "too broad". The "final say" will now be with a judge. The Bill provides that the Court must make a declaration that closed material proceedings may be introduced in any case where a party will be required to disclose material which "would be damaging to the interests of national security". Applications may then be made to the Court for certain material – or types of material – to be subject to closed material proceedings. When that application is considered, the Court may only order disclosure of any material – or any summary – if it is not damaging to national security.
That the final decision is made by a judge is indisputable. Unfortunately, in substance the shift from the proposals in the Green Paper is not as significant as it first might seem. The Green Paper talked about public interest, but Ministers were always firm that they only intended these proposals to apply to a limited number of cases concerning national security. Although the Bill is not limited to national security cases, "national security" remains undefined.
In the original Green Paper proposals, it was clear that the Minister's discretion would be subject to judicial review, albeit on ordinary grounds. The broad degree of deference afforded by the Courts to the Executive on the assessment of national security risk is well-documented. The application to introduce closed material procedures will take place ex-parte and it is likely the judge will hear only from the Secretary of State and the party seeking the closed material proceedings, if different. In practice, these changes are unlikely to provide for a significant degree of scrutiny.
The role of the judge changes significantly under the proposals in the Bill. Under the existing public interest immunity procedure the judge will balance the competing public interests: the interest in open, adversarial justice and any immediate national security interests. It will be for the judge to determine where the public interest lies.
Under the proposals in the Bill, no balance is drawn. The so-called Wiley balance is abandoned. The judge must introduce closed material procedures where there will be damage to the interests of national security. There is no discretion to consider alternatives, such as anonymity orders or confidentiality rings. The Court is instructed to ignore the possibility that public interest immunity might be applied and the material excluded altogether (Clause 6(3)(a)). Although the Secretary of State must consider whether to make a claim for public interest immunity, he is not required to do so. He may seek closed material proceedings as an alternative to public interest immunity, not a supplement (Clause 6(5)).
There are many other features of the Bill which will be dissected in far greater detail in the coming months. For example, the Bill does not deal directly with enhanced disclosure, as required by AF (No3) to secure the right to a fair hearing. Instead, it empowers the Court to make any disclosure or summary available it sees fit, provided it would not damage national security (Clauses 7(1)(d) – (e)). There is no corresponding duty on the Court to proactively order such disclosure as is necessary to secure a fair hearing.
However, the Bill provides a rider to supplement the requirement that the Court would read the provisions compatibly with the Convention rights guaranteed by the HRA 1998 (s3). Clause 11(5) provides that nothing in the Bill will require the Court to act inconsistently with Article 6 ECHR. It is unclear what the Court will be required to do in circumstances where under AF (No3) enhanced disclosure would have been necessary to secure a fair hearing compatible with Article 6 ECHR, but the Secretary of State argues that disclosure would be damaging to national security.
A case for reform?
In introducing the Bill, the Government has failed in its first task: to produce a compelling case for reform.
Ken Clarke rightly points out that no-one wants intelligence personnel to be endangered by giving evidence in open court. However, this never been a realistic prospect. There is no suggestion that the operation of public interest immunity – and other protections such as screening, anonymity or confidentiality rings – have endangered lives or national security. If a judge is satisfied that the public interest is in favour of non-disclosure, the relevant material is excluded.
The Secretary of State argues that the current system is failing because the Government can't rely on information excluded subject to immunity. If it could, it would be able to resist claims it would otherwise settle. Instead, the Government would prefer to put all the information before a judge. However, the simplicity of that argument was wholly rejected by the Supreme Court. As Lord Kerr explained, evidence unchallenged can positively mislead. Requiring the Court to determine these claims after hearing only one side of the case – often the Government's unchallenged evidence – could skew the proceedings in favour of the Government and against the excluded party. The Special Advocates have themselves stressed that their involvement cannot redress the inherent unfairness in this type of closed proceeding.
The Government has produced no new evidence that the current system is failing. The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights stressed in their influential report that this justification must precede any detailed proposals for reform. The JCHR considered the Government claim that it had been forced to settle cases it could have resisted but for the operation of public interest immunity. It rejected the Government's claims. Importantly, the cases in Al-Rawi were settled before public interest immunity had been explored. The material accompanying the Bill makes no new case for change, nor does it appear to produce any further evidence.
The Justice and Security Bill can be firmly removed from the list of recent Government "U-turns". The changes proposed by the Government represent little more than a bump in a road which appears to be charging steam-roller like to a predetermined destination: the introduction of closed material procedures as a standard tool in the civil justice tool-box. That, we believe, would cause irreparable damage to public confidence in our civil justice system and could potentially undermine the credibility of our judiciary.
Parliamentarians must ask: where is the compelling case for change? That the Government continues to make the same arguments which were rejected by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights must be cause for concern.
Angela Patrick is Director of Human Rights Policy at JUSTICE
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text:
Seamless ballerina shoe liner with fine cotton. Invisible also in ballerina-shoes.MADE IN EU
36-38 39-41
black nature white
60% cotton, 40% polyamide
Elastic cotton: perfect fit all the day
"Confidence in textiles" – this product has been successfully tested for harmful substances according to OEKO-TEX® Standard 100.
The OEKO-TEX® criteria catalogue provides a uniform benchmark on a scientific basis for the evaluation of potentially harmful substances in textiles.OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 is an independent test and certification system for all types of textiles.
Alber AG / SpA. Industriezone 2 Zona Industriale 39011, Lana
Tel: +39 0473 498800 Fax: +39 0473 49 88 49 Email: email@example.com
VAT ID: IT00120010210Tax number: 00120010210Corporate capital: € 468.000,00
Responsible for the content: Alber AG / SpA.Realisation, Hosting, Concept, Webdesign:
Our website contains a certain number of links to other sites on the World Wide Web for whose contents Alber AG / SpA. does not accept any responsibility whatsoever.
Unless otherwise indicated for the purpose of protecting the entitlements of third parties, upon which the rights of authorship enter into force, the documentation, images, brand names and anything else published and reproduced on this web site are the exclusive property of Alber AG / SpA..
It is prohibited to copy, modify, sell, rent, loan, transmit and diffuse the content of this site or parts thereof without the written permission of Alber AG / SpA.
Pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 196 of June 30, 2003 ("Code relating to the protection of personal data"), we would like to inform all users that the data they provide when making inquiries may be used for processing, advertising, and/or other activities of us or our partners.
The data are processed in written form and/or on magnetic media, electronic media and in compliance with all security measures guaranteeing their security and confidentiality. Alber AG / SpA. is the responsible for data processing. Affected parties can check, correct, supplement, or delete their data at any time by writing to Alber AG / SpA., 39011, Lana, Industriezone 2 Zona Industriale.
This website uses cookies, i.e. small information files that are stored by the website server, either temporarily or permanently, on your computer or other device via your browser. They allow the use of the website to be simplified, enhanced or customised.
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Google may also transmit this information to third parties where authorised by law or if third parties will process this data on behalf of Google. Google will never associate your IP address with other data held by Google.
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Microsoft and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation have taken aim at a botnet network based on malware called Citadel that is held responsible for stealing people's online banking information and personal identities.
The company, however, warned that because of Citadel's size and complexity, it does not expect to fully take out "all of the botnets in the world using the Citadel malware."
Botnets are networks of computers infected by malware, which can be controlled by cybercriminals to send automated spam email, spread viruses, attack computers and servers, and commit other kinds of crime and fraud, without the knowledge of the owner of the computer.
In an action, code-named Operation b54, more than 1,400 Citadel botnets, which are said to be responsible for over half a billion U.S. dollars in losses to people and businesses worldwide, were disrupted, according to a blog post late Wednesday by Richard Domingues Boscovich, assistant general counsel of Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit.
The malware has affected more than five million people, with some of the highest number of infections in the U.S., Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, and Australia, Microsoft said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Microsoft and U.S law enforcement seized data and evidence from the botnets, including servers from two data hosting facilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Microsoft had earlier received authorization from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina to simultaneously cut off communication between the 1,462 botnets and the infected computers under their control.
During investigations started in early 2012, Microsoft and partners found that computers infected by the Citadel malware were keylogging, or monitoring and recording keystrokes, to gain access to a victim's bank account or any other online account in order to withdraw money or steal personal identities, according to a statement by Microsoft.
Microsoft got assistance from the Financial Services – Information Sharing and Analysis Center, NACHA, and the American Bankers Association in its efforts to disrupt Citadel. NACHA manages the ACH Network, a backbone for the electronic movement of money and data. Tech companies Agari, A10 Networks, and Nominum also helped. The collaborative action is Microsoft's seventh operation against botnets.
In the course of investigations, it was found that Citadel also blocked victims' access to many legitimate anti-virus and anti-malware sites, to prevent them from removing the threat from their computer. It was also found that cybercriminals are using fraudulently obtained product keys created by key generators for outdated Windows XP software to develop their malware. Microsoft cited it as evidence of "another link between software piracy and global cybersecurity threats." Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 have measures in place to help protect against this type of misuse of product keys, Boscovich wrote.


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If you are counting the days until the December 14, 2012 release date of The Hobbit (Part I) chances are you do not have a girlfriend and therefore need to find ways to pass the time. (I kid the geeks… I kid. Some of them do not have boyfriends.)
Not to worry. Since its original publication in 1937, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy that followed (between 1938 and 1949) Tolkein's world of Hobbits, Ringwraiths, elves, and wizards has enthralled generations, inspiring countless songs, studies, puzzles, tributes, and cosplays. Here are just a few ways you can count down the next 35 days… or however they measure time in Middle Earth.
1. Listen to Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On" on Auto-repeat
(Sing along now!)
Mine's a tale that can't be told, my freedom I hold dear.
How years ago in days of old, when magic filled the air.
T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair.
But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her….yeah.
2. Trace Middle Earth's Family Tree
Ever wonder how, exactly, Fingoflin is related to Maeglin? Well, you can be prepared for that next panel discussion at the 2013 Comicon by memorizing all 817 characters and their relationships to one another. There's even an app for that! And you can keep up with all the other people interested in the complex genealogy of the works by staying in touch on Facebook.
3. Start Getting Prepared Now for Comic-Con
Every summer the San Diego Convention Center is host to the world's largest gathering of fantasy….enthusiasts… many who dress up in elaborate costumes as homage to their favorite characters. Once only a venue for comic books, Comic-Con now caters to multiple genres including horror, anime, toys, and more. So extend No-Shave November through July and you've likely grown yourself some fine Hobbit feet!
4. Whip up Second Breakfasts and Elevenses
Nothing passes the time quite like eating so why not try to make your own delicious Seedcakes, courtesy of The Lord of the Rings Cookbook. Whether you need some comfort food for breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, tea, dinner and/or supper, Ms. Kittle has you covered.
5. How About a Hobbit Jigsaw Puzzle?
Get a pizza, the LOTR trilogy on DVD, shove the cat(s) off the table and get busy with this vintage two-sided puzzle. Done? Great! Only 4 and a half more weeks to go!


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Nanocrystal-coated fibers might reduce wasted energy
(Phys.org) -- Researchers are developing a technique that uses nanotechnology to harvest energy from hot pipes or engine components to potentially recover energy wasted in factories, power plants and cars.
"The ugly truth is that 58 percent of the energy generated in the United States is wasted as heat," said Yue Wu, a Purdue University assistant professor of chemical engineering. "If we could get just 10 percent back that would allow us to reduce energy consumption and power plant emissions considerably."
Researchers have coated glass fibers with a new "thermoelectric" material they developed. When thermoelectric materials are heated on one side electrons flow to the cooler side, generating an electrical current.
Coated fibers also could be used to create a solid-state cooling technology that does not require compressors and chemical refrigerants. The fibers might be woven into a fabric to make cooling garments.
The glass fibers are dipped in a solution containing nanocrystals of lead telluride and then exposed to heat in a process called annealing to fuse the crystals together.
Such fibers could be wrapped around industrial pipes in factories and power plants, as well as on car engines and automotive exhaust systems, to recapture much of the wasted energy. The "energy harvesting" technology might dramatically reduce how much heat is lost, Wu said.
Findings were detailed in a research paper appearing last month in the journal Nano Letters. The paper was written by Daxin Liang, a former Purdue exchange student from Jilin University in China; Purdue graduate students Scott Finefrock and Haoran Yang; and Wu.
Today's high-performance thermoelectric materials are brittle, and the devices are formed from large discs or blocks.
"This sort of manufacturing method requires using a lot of material," Wu said.
The new flexible devices would conform to the irregular shapes of engines and exhaust pipes while using a small fraction of the material required for conventional thermoelectric devices.
"This approach yields the same level of performance as conventional thermoelectric materials but it requires the use of much less material, which leads to lower cost and is practical for mass production," Wu said.
The new approach promises a method that can be scaled up to industrial processes, making mass production feasible.
"We've demonstrated a material composed mostly of glass with only a 300-nanometer-thick coating of lead telluride," Finefrock said. "So while today's thermoelectric devices require large amounts of the expensive element tellurium, our material contains only 5 percent tellurium. We envision mass production manufacturing for coating the fibers quickly in a reel-to-reel process."
In addition to generating electricity when exposed to heat, the materials also can be operated in a reverse manner: Applying an electrical current causes it to absorb heat, representing a possible solid-state air-conditioning method. Such fibers might one day be woven into cooling garments or used in other cooling technologies.
The researchers have shown that the material has a promising thermoelectric efficiency, which is gauged using a formula to determine a measurement unit called ZT. A key part of the formula is the "Seebeck coefficient," named for 19th century German physicist Thomas Seebeck, who discovered the thermoelectric effect.
ZT is defined by the Seebeck coefficient, along with the electrical and thermal conductivity of the material and other factors. Having a low thermal conductivity, a high Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity results in a high ZT number.
"It's hard to optimize all of these three parameters simultaneously because if you increase electrical conductivity, and thermal conductivity goes up, the Seebeck coefficient drops," Wu said.
Most thermoelectric materials in commercial use have a ZT of 1 or below. However, nanostructured materials might be used to reduce thermal conductivity and increase the ZT number.
The Purdue researchers have used the ZT number to calculate the maximum efficiency that is theoretically possible with a material.
"We analyze the material abundance, the cost, toxicity and performance, and we established a single parameter called the efficiency ratio," Wu said.
Although high-performance thermoelectric materials have been developed, the materials are not practical for widespread industrial applications.
"Today's higher performance ones have a complicated composition, making them expensive and hard to manufacture," Wu said. "Also, they contain toxic materials, like antimony, which restricts thermoelectric research."
The nanocrystals are a critical ingredient, in part because the interfaces between the tiny crystals serve to suppress the vibration of the crystal lattice structure, reducing thermal conductivity. The materials could be exhibiting "quantum confinement," in which the structures are so tiny they behave nearly like individual atoms.
"This means that, as electrons carry heat through the structures, the average voltage of those heat-carrying electrons is higher than it would be in larger structures," Finefrock said. "Since you have higher-voltage electrons, you can generate more power."
This confinement can raise the ZT number.
A U.S. patent application has been filed for the fiber-coating concept.
Future work could focus on higher temperature annealing to improve efficiency, and the researchers also are exploring a different method to eliminate annealing altogether, which might make it possible to coat polymer fibers instead of glass.
"Polymers could be weaved into a wearable device that could be a cooling garment," Wu said.
The researchers also may work toward coating the glass fibers with a polymer to improve the resilience of the thermoelectric material, which tends to develop small cracks when the fibers are bent at sharp angles.
Researchers demonstrated the concept with an experiment using a system containing tubes of differing diameters nested inside a larger tube. Warm water flows through a central tube and cooler water flows through an outer tube, with a layer of thermoelectric material between the two.
The Purdue researchers also are exploring other materials instead of lead and tellurium, which are toxic, and preliminary findings suggest these new materials are capable of a high ZT value.
"Of course, the fact that our process uses such a small quantity of material a layer only 300 nanometers thick minimizes the toxicity issue," Wu said. "However, we also are concentrating on materials that are non-toxic and abundant."
More information: Flexible Nanocrystal-Coated Glass Fibers for High-Performance Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting, Nano Letters (2012)
Recent efforts on the development of nanostructured thermoelectric materials from nanowires (Boukai,A. I.; et al. Nature 2008, 451, (7175), 168−171; Hochbaum, A. I.; et al. Nature 2008, 451, (7175), 163−167) and nanocrystals (Kim, W.; et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2006, 96, (4), 045901; Poudel, B.; et al. Science 2008, 320, (5876), 634-638; Scheele, M.; et al. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2009, 19, (21), 3476−3483; Wang, R. Y.; etal. Nano Lett. 2008, 8, (8), 2283−2288) show the comparable or superior performance to the bulk crystals possessing the same chemical compositions because of the dramatically reduced thermal conductivity due to phonon scattering at nanoscale surface and interface. Up to date, the majority of the thermoelectric devices made from these inorganic nanostructures are fabricated into rigid configuration. The explorations of truly flexible composite-based flexible thermoelectric devices (See, K. C.; et al. Nano Lett. 2010, 10, (11), 4664−4667) have thus far achieved much less progress, which in principle could significantly benefit the conversion of waste heat into electricity or the solid-state cooling by applying the devices to any kind of objects with any kind of shapes. Here we report an example using a scalable solution-phase deposition method to coat thermoelectric nanocrystals onto the surface of flexible glass fibers. Our investigation of the thermoelectric properties yields high performance comparable to the state of the art from the bulk crystals and proof-of-concept demonstration also suggests the potential of wrapping the thermoelectric fibers on the industrial pipes to improve the energy efficiency.
Journal information: Nano Letters
Provided by Purdue University


text:
Police take person into custody in shooting investigation
Spokane police served a search warrant Monday afternoon in the 1600 block of N. Stone as part of their investigation into a Friday evening shooting that left one person wounded.
One person was taken into custody after officers served that search warrant.
The shooting happened at a residence located at 1607 E. Pacific around 10:30 p.m. Police report that a group of men knocked on the back door of the home and then fired approximately six rounds through the door.
One man inside the home was hit in the chest and was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Earlier in the day, police were at the same residence investigating a body. Spokane Police Sergeant David Staben said Friday night that the person appeared to have died from a drug overdose.


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