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Monday Morning Memo

_________________________________________________________________________________
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
_________________________________________________________________________________
 
From: Allan
Re: Recent developments
Cc: Management

Hi guys! 
 
I hope you had a great and restful weekend. I saw a few of you in the cafeteria who looked like their weekend was still going on! haha! Lol!

Me, I spent the weekend at my little place up by the lake. I know I say this a lot,  but anytime someone needs a weekend away, my place is always there. Just check with my wife first! Lol! Anyway, it is a good idea to get some quiet time, away from the pressures of this job. It really helps us remember what it is we do here and why.
I would love to just talk about vacations (remember that V-time expires on a quarterly basis, so use or lose!), but we need to discuss this weekend's unpleasantness. The [REDACTED], which your individual section leaders should have briefed you on, was a preventable tragedy. The outcome represented failures on a number of fronts, but I think it boils down to a lack of trust.
Like Jake, when I first started working here, I worked in Level 7 Containment. In those days we didn't have all the Makarov systems and Domain Violation monitors, but we had trust. I pride myself on fostering an open working environment; however Jake must have felt that he couldn't trust us with his concerns.
Yesterday, Jake’s long growing distrust bore fruit in the worst possible way. It wasn't unlike one of those exercises we do on the retreats. The ones where someone falls backwards and their partner catches them. You need to trust that your partner is there and paying attention. I would trust anyone in this organization, from Hugo in physical services, to Jennifer in HR, to catch me.  The only person I wouldn't count on is my wife, she would probably be too busy on Mughub looking up a friend from kindergarten. Haha! I joke, but those exercises are important. They teach you to lean on one another, to operate as a single team. I digress, but the point is that Jake thought there was no one he could rely on to catch him.
Aside from the completely justifiable anger we should all have towards Jake, I do harbor a fair bit of sadness. In my day,  people came together. Not just at work, but as a community. If there was a fire, a flood or something of that sort,  everyone would get together and try to take care of the problem. It didn't matter if you were Black or White or Chinese, people helped. It was great to see that community, people working together, putting aside disagreements. Who oppressed whom; who cheated whom, all momentarily forgotten.  If there were some gay folks in town, hiding in the closet, they probably came out to help too. Lol! This is all a long-winded way of saying that we have to be a better community, we have to look out for one another. Look out for one another like any good Gay or Black neighbor would.
The more I think about The [REDACTED] , about what Jake did and what happened to him, the more I see it as a failure for all of us.
"Hey" , you might be thinking " I work in Dirac modeling or a-causal theory, this was Jake’s problem not mine." You would be wrong in that line of thinking, and that is the wrong attitude to have going forward. Management is very clear on they type of attitude they want us all to have. 
Management would like, and I agree, that we spend a bit more time paying attention to our co-workers. Not spying on them, nobody is asking that, this isn't some Communist political office. Just be mindful of what others say and do.
SecDiv talked to the rest of the Level 7 team, and lot of incidental facts came out during some spirited exchanges. Facts that if put together sooner, might have prevented things from progressing as far as they did. Obviously Jake acted alone, but a lot of unpleasant conversations are going on this morning regarding the knowledge level of his immediate coworkers and if certain people should have spoken up sooner. These inquiries are regrettable but necessary. If there is rot, it should be rooted out, the sooner the better.  
On the bright side, Jake's children, Sally and Jake Jr. , were not home at the time of the initial breach, so they suffered only moderate residual exposure. Unfortunately, Rachel  was home.  I would like to remember Jake’s wife as that vibrant woman whose excellent pecan pie won last years "Firm Outing Baking Challenge". However, and Management thinks this is very important, the pictures attached to this memo show the extent of a massive exposure incident. These pictures are not meant to upset you, but to let you fully comprehend the issues involved.
Management also wants you to know that Jake was responsible for his actions, and that makes us responsible for Jake's family. I want everyone to remember that when they get here. I know that might sound unfair, and maybe it is.
The problem is one of perception. What you and I perceive as a non-threat, say Sally and Jake Jr, Management perceives in a completely different, totally valid, light. You might not see the topological confluence between Jake and his kids, but Management does; that is one of the reasons they are Management. I would like to say that Management thinks they are a level 1 problem. However, because of the scope of Jake's transgression, they will be going to level 6 for processing. That might make you uncomfortable, especially regarding Sally, who is a lot like my own daughter Rebecca, though they are not friends. It is a shame, but I don't make those calls, Management does.
Sure, I am not a fan of what goes on, what will continue to go on, in level 6. But Managements’ concerns encompass ours, but also other, far reaching, issues. Some of them even I am only dimly aware. I was never good at that fractal calculus, lol!  However, I have been assured that a compassionate exemption position on the children will be given a fair hearing at the next board meeting.
The point of this memo is to let you know that everything is O.K.  I don't want anyone dwelling on this unfortunate turn of events. We have a lot of work to do and I don't want anyone worrying about their own families. I have assurances from Management that so long as everyone makes sure to trust each other, every family will be perfectly fine.
If anyone wants to stop by my office to chat, my door is always open, I might even have some of those muffins my wife makes for special occasions. I hope the past few days have been just that.
 
P.S. per Management, we will not be having memorial services for Jake and Rachel.  
(C) Moorsgate Media 2014
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The big day has arrived and now Research Team Leader Alicechild readies to helm the research into the strange artifact of such great interest to the Corporation. However, disturbing information arises as she is being briefed concerning previous tests conducted by other research teams. Will new knowledge concerning the EROS Device cause Alicechild to waiver in her commitment to career advancement?

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Inventor Emilio Sacristan...

Source

Hometown: Santa Ursula Xitla, Mexico



Link to patents: here


7 of 17:

Universal pneumatic ventricular assist device
Patent number: 7217236
Abstract: A pneumatic ventricular assist device (VAD) is disclosed for use in any circulatory support application including RVAD, LAVD, or BIVAD, trans-operative, short-term or long-term, tethered implantable or extracorporeal. In the preferred embodiment, the VAD consists of a soft contoured pump shell and a disposable pumping unit, which includes: a pump sac; an inlet and an outlet (a.k.a. discharge) with one-way valves; and tubing connectors. The valves comprise a cantilevered pair of closely adjacent thin ledges, nicknamed “valve leaflets,” that resemble needle-nose pliers. The valve leaflets permit a one-way flow of blood between them, as an opposite flow pinches the distal ends of leaflets together, thereby closing off the channel between them. This design is specially designed to allow continuous and fluid movement of blood (in one direction) while limiting blood-contacting surfaces.
Type: Grant
Filed: May 25, 2004
Issued: May 15, 2007
Assignee: Innovamedica S.A. de C.V.
Inventors: Moises Calderon, Emilio Sacristan

Embed for some platforms (patent 7 of 17 for both mediums):

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Black Hole Analogue...

Victor De Schwanberg/SPL

Scientists have come closer than ever before to creating a laboratory-scale imitation of a black hole that emits Hawking radiation, the particles predicted to escape black holes due to quantum mechanical effects.



The black hole analogue, reported in Nature Physics1, was created by trapping sound waves using an ultra cold fluid. Such objects could one day help resolve the so-called black hole ‘information paradox’ - the question of whether information that falls into a black hole disappears forever.



The physicist Stephen Hawking stunned cosmologists 40 years ago when he announced that black holes are not totally black, calculating that a tiny amount of radiation would be able to escape the pull of a black hole2. This raised the tantalising question of whether information might escape too, encoded within the radiation.



Hawking radiation relies on a basic tenet of quantum theory — large fluctuations in energy can occur for brief moments of time. That means the vacuum of space is not empty but seethes with particles and their antimatter equivalents. Particle-antiparticle pairs continually pop into existence only to then annihilate each other. But something special occurs when pairs of particles emerge near the event horizon — the boundary between a black hole, whose gravity is so strong that it warps space-time, and the rest of the Universe. The particle-antiparticle pair separates, and the member of the pair closest to the event horizon falls into the black hole while the other one escapes.



Hawking radiation, the result of attempts to combine quantum theory with general relativity, comprises these escaping particles, but physicists have yet to detect it being emitted from an astrophysical black hole. Another way to test Hawking’s theory would be to simulate an event horizon in the laboratory.



Nature: Hawking radiation mimicked in the lab, Ron Cowen

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R Naught and Austerity...

Source: NPR

As I noted in my post on Sequestration, we are truly reaping what we've sown to the wind of libertarian philosophy and austerity.



"Tightening one's belt" is painful in actual practice, but makes for a good soundbite for politicians that get free healthcare and a six-figure salary for working less than one-third of everyone else's very busy year.



A nurse has been infected; that affects me as I have relatives - a young son in college in particular - in the Dallas area. Yet, as I've discussed basic precautions with him, I'm not as concerned as the news has whipped us up to be.



1st point: the corporate news is driven by Nielsen ratings, i.e. they need you to LOOK at them constantly to justify their diminishing existence.



2nd point: Business Insider details the last 10 pandemics that almost wiped out mankind - when mankind was in the smaller enough numbers to actually wipe out.



3rd point: the infrastructure of Liberia is third world, but don't worry! Third-term, "Oops heard 'round-the-world" Governor "Good-Hair" turning down billions of Medicaid and Medicare expansion dollars in the most obvious political stunt of the 21st century probably had nothing to do with their lack of preparation - nothing at all!



4th point: R0 or R naught is the reproduction number of a virus. Please note: Ebola has an R naught of ~ 1.5 to 2, meaning the Dallas nurse is likely not going to be the only one infected. Measles has an R0 = 18. Yes, there's a vaccine for measles and a possible one for Ebola of simian origins, which leads to my next and final point:



We don't need an Ebola health czar: a confirmed Surgeon General would do. The CDC nor the NIH can perform "magic" nor miracles with a budget slashed by 490 million and 2.5 billion (see Sequestration link above). What we need is our collective national heads either out of the clouds or out of our rears where methane flatulence dwells! We need desperately to stop electing slackers that start their campaign slogans with "government is the problem," when in a democratic republic - in order for it to function properly - it is "We The People" who give our consent to representative government to look out for our best interests...not a well-heeled, moneyed few who's psychological balance I think we all need to question.
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Hidden within the recesses of a Dark Matter Cloud lies the ARES Armament Corporation's Weapons Development and Testing Facility. It is on this cold and dark world Weapons Engineer Alicechild 88130 finds herself under a 25-year contract. Seemingly incapable of successful social interaction, Alicechild is passed over for promotion and she faces many years ahead in what looks to be a dead-end job. That is until a strange artifact is found in the planetary mantle of ice! Brought to her department for examination, could this be the chance she's been looking for to advance her flagging career?

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Juan Manuel Lozano...

Image Source

At Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana ( TAM ) we transform dreams into reality.



TAM is the world leader in hydrogen peroxide rocket engines for helicopters and related technologies.



Juan Manuel Lozano has been working with hydrogen peroxide propulsion systems since 1975, inventor of the penta-metallic catalyst pack to be used with organic hydrogen peroxide, and inventor of the most popular machine in the world to produce your own hydrogen peroxide to be used as a rocket fuel.

Tecnologia Aeroespacial Mexicana: Juan Manuel Lozano, inventor

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ET and Prayer Cloths...

Source

In his new book "Religions and Extraterrestrial Life" (Springer 2014), David Weintraub, an astronomer at Vanderbilt University, takes a close look at how different faiths would handle the revelation that we're not alone. Some of his findings might surprise you.



Public polls have shown that a large share of the population believes aliens are out there. In one survey released last year by the company Survata, 37 percent of the 5,886 Americans who were polled said they believed in the existence of extraterrestrial life, while 21 percent said they didn't believe and 42 percent were unsure. Responses varied by religion: 55 percent of atheists said they believed in extraterrestrials, as did 44 percent of Muslims, 37 percent of Jews, 36 percent of Hindus and 32 percent of Christians.



In light of it being Columbus Day, it's kind of a fun speculation, but a somber one as well.



There is move afoot to dumb down AP History for not teaching enough "patriotism, respect for law and order" and to avoid/obfuscate and/or present a less harsh view of American History like - colonization and its impact on Native Americans; slavery and Jim Crow and its impact on African Americans.



Seriously, the article at Space.com and I assume the book as well posits a good question: if we were to discover extraterrestrial life, how would we as a society deal with it? Currently, we're having many difficulties between science and the many faiths that insist any science conforms to what its holy writ said before telescopes...or radiometric dating...or quantum mechanics.



It's also interesting that fairly modern faiths like Mormonism, Seventh-day Adventism, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Baha'i Faith (from the article) all accept the possibility of extraterrestrial life coinciding with the telescope coming into popular usage by astronomers at the time.



Would we, or could we develop a "Prime Directive"? Note the origins of it in vintage faux Star Trek history:

The creation of the Prime Directive is generally credited to original-series producer Gene L. Coon, although there is some contention as to whether science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon, who wrote of the Prime Directive in an unused script for the original series, actually came up with it first. The Prime Directive closely mirrors the zoo hypothesis explanation for the Fermi paradox.

The directive reflected a contemporary political view of critics of the United States' foreign policy. In particular, the US' involvement in the Vietnam War was commonly criticized as an example of a global superpower interfering in the natural development of southeast Asian society, and the assertion of the Prime Directive was perceived as a repudiation of that involvement.

In an interview published in a 1991 edition of The Humanist magazine, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry implied that it also had its roots in his belief that Christian missionaries were interfering with other cultures. Wikipedia

It would be interesting (and I think, a very good idea) if we could get some practice with one another in a Prime Directive primer before encountering and trying to convert say...the Klingons.



Space.com: Would Finding Alien Life Change Religious Philosophies?

Megan Gannon, News Editor

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Cover art and design by Quinton Veal.

“You cold?” the young woman shook her head. “Are you finished eating?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Annabelle pushed her chair back from the table, rose and walked back out into the hallway, Sonya followed. They stood before the door. “Don’t ever try to open this door or any of the doors in this by yourself. Understand?”

Sonya nodded impatiently, now in a hurry to be off. “Cle-Menti, she’s ready,” called Annabelle.

The words were barely out of her mouth, before he blurred alongside her. “You wish to go out princess?”

“Uh-huh,” Sonya stammered. Boy, I sound brain dead. But he is so fine!

He took her hand and they faced the door. “We wish to go to the beach,” he commanded. It swung open, to reveal golden sands and foaming turquoise waters; under an unbelievably bright orange-blue sky.

They strolled around the corner of the mansion, to find the two centaurs now racing each other up and down the sand; one Bronze, with green eyes, reddish-brown hair that curled about her shoulders, and a dark red mare’s hindquarters. The other was Amber with slanted, almond eyes, and black hair that flowed to her waist—a waist that ended in black horse’s body. Each wore silver brassieres covering their torsos.

“Can I get a closer look?”

Cle-Menti smiled indulgently, “Of course!” He shouted in a booming voice that echoed along the beach: “This is Sonya and she’d like to play with you; but behave yourselves! None of your
tricks—you hear?”

Sonya approached the centaurs slowly, twisting her hands in front of her like a child. “Hi…” she said softly.

They regarded her with open curiosity. “I’m Lui and this is Juliana,” the Amber centaur lisped. “Would you like a ride?”

“Oh yes!” Sonya breathed.

“Well, climb on my back then! We’re going to race!”

“And I’m going to win!” Juliana pronounced.

“Hold on tight!” Lui warned. She galloped down the beach—with Sonya holding on for dear life— then back again. The Indigo girl glanced over her shoulder, and glimpsed mermen and women looking on with great interest.

A crowd of aquatic folk had gathered near the ocean’s edge, and were bobbing up and down in the waves, smiling and pointing: waiting for their chance to play with this newcomer.

As Sonya slid off Lui’s back, she whispered: “You would make a lovely centaur! Wouldn’t you like to be one of us?”

Sonya frowned “Oh no!”

“And why not?” Juliana chipped in petulantly. “Are we not beautiful?” Beside her Lui pouted.

Sonya’s face split in a wide grin, flattered beyond measure that these magical equines wanted her to join their family. “You’re the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen!” Mollified they smiled back.

“Well?” said Lui expectantly.

“I have a family,” Sonya explained. “If I stayed with you, they’d miss me.”

For a moment Juliana and Lui seemed to seriously consider. “We could be your family,” Juliana offered, smiling openly as if this solved everything.

Sonya looked distressed. I don’t want to make them mad! “But I’d miss them too!” she stammered, “I love them!”

“What is… love?” asked Lui, looking confused.

Sonya’s jaw dropped. “You miss a person when they’re gone,” she groped for words, “you don’t ever want to be without them; and when they hurt, you hurt too.”

They listened intently. “Oh. . .!” said Juliana nodding; beside her Lui bobbed her head in agreement.

But it was obvious they still didn’t understand. Another small almost imperceptible shiver of fear coursed through Sonya. “Could we ride to the water?” she asked.

“Oh yes!” Lui smiled brightly, “We can do whatever we want!”

“Ride me this time!” chirped Juliana.

At the ocean’s edge Sonya scrambled off the centaur’s back—thankful to be rid of them—and into the warm water. She swam into the mere folks’ midst, marveling at their lustrous emerald, golden, brown, ebony, purple, sepia and pinks skins; and joined them in a game of tag.

Sonya began diving under the waves with them. A purple mermaid, with long ropy hair to match her skin, laughed at how playful the girl was;  and pulled Sonya under the water, swimming alongside her. At this, they took turns dragging her down with them. Sonya couldn’t remember when she’d had so much fun.

She paddled into the depths marveling at the sea blooms and geometric coral; and at how long she was holding her breath. A slender, pink-skinned merman with golden hair, sea green eyes, and a matching tail, bobbed alongside her grinning. Without warning, he reached out and pulled her into his arms; his body even warmer than the sea.

How do they do it?  thought Sonya, Like us?

The merman bubbled laughter in her ear, as if he could hear her thoughts, and pressed himself even more tightly against her. She could feel the maleness hidden beneath his scales.

They swam deeper and deeper still entering cobalt blue waters, bedded by stalks of coral growing from an unseen ocean floor. He paused with Sonya still in his arms and kissed her, pushing his strange bumpy tongue into her mouth. And she wondered how it would feel to have him take her right there, beneath the oceans depths.

“ENOUGH!” Cle-Menti’s booming voice echoed beneath the waves. “BRING HER BACK DEMETRI!”

Demetri lifted his mouth from hers. Frowning, he stared up; then swam to the surface, holding her in his arms. They burst above the foam, and for an instant she couldn’t breathe.

I’ve been breathing water –!

It passed. Her lungs accepted the air, and Demetri was moving to the shallows to release her. Sonya stood in thigh length water… and felt a curious longing. He held her eyes, his lips curving upward in a smile as if they shared a secret. With a flip of his tail he was gone.

Cle-Menti was sitting on the beach waiting for her. “Time to go princess.”

Sonya pouted. “Why’d you make me come back? I was having fun!”

He rose, his full lips spreading into a smile. “Not so innocent after all,” he said, almost to himself, and Sonya blushed. He put an arm about her shoulder guiding her to the door. “You couldn’t breathe when you first came out of the water,” the Indigo man said. “Don’t you wonder why?” Sonya nodded.

“Demetri changed you because he wanted you.” There was no trace of humor in Cle-Menti’s voice now. “If you’d made love to him, you would have become a creature of the sea. And you would have to stay here. Forever.”

He dipped his head toward the beach. “Many of them were human once,” he continued, “but once transformed, they forgot all about their past lives.” Now his gaze was direct, penetrating. Looking into those eyes, Sonya felt nauseous with fear. “They wouldn’t make suitable playmates, you see, if they missed their families.”

The door swung open and she rushed past him, back to the safety of the castle.

Copyright 2010, 2014 Valjeanne Jeffers

Available at www.vjeffersandqveal.com

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Felipe Vadillo-Ortega, M.D., PhD...

Source: Biology of Reproduction

Research Interests & Projects



Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Birth Outcomes in Mexico City. We will investigate how air pollution and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) component of particles can influence the outcome of pregnancy, and whether certain periods of gestation represent critical time windows and opportunities for preventive intervention.



Air Pollution, Inflammation and Preterm Birth: A Mechanistic Study in Mexico City. We will advance understanding of prematurity by investigating how air pollution and inflammation may act together to influence the outcome of pregnancy, and whether certain periods of gestation represent critical time windows and opportunities for preventive interventions, both clinical and environmental.



Professional Affiliations



Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM)



School of Public Health
University of Michigan: Felipe Vadillo-Ortega, M.D., PhD

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Other-ing...

Source: LA Times Opinion

The epic conflagration between Ben Affleck, Bill Maher and Sam Harris in some links has well over a million hits. The "emperor has no clothes" when Bill is getting props from that other-Bill-named-O'Reilly for Islam-o-phobia as a "proper" mental state.



To note:



Isaac Asimov - secular humanist, scientist and science fiction writer - gave a succinct explanation regarding critical thinking, fundamentalism, science and religion. He pointed out in his interview with Bill Moyers, Robert Millikan - of the famous oil drop experiment (I met his grand nephew at Manor HS); Michelson - of the Michelson-Morley experiment measuring the speed of light - were both Nobel Laureates and devout Christians.



Steven Weinberg (born May 3, 1933) is an American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his contributions with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow to the unification of the weak force and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles. Dr. Salam was known as a devout Muslim and was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community who saw his religion as fundamental part of his scientific work. (Wikipedia)





...his vote was interpreted by Jefferson to mean that Virginia's representatives wanted the law "to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahomedan, the Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination." Mahomedan would have been how Islam was referenced. Might have also been the origin of that pesky Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment everyone seems to gloss over.



When blanket statements are made of one group - in this case, Muslims - it broad brushes those that practice their religion peacefully, it atomizes them into a prejudicial, bigoted category. One could say: "if/because the Ku Klux Klan has been known to burn crosses, then all Christians must burn crosses." In logic, that is Post Hoc Fallacy.



The debate - if you can call it that - ignored pretty much the impact of our foreign policy that can be summed up in three words since Mossadegh was deposed from democratically elected power in Iran in 1953 and the Shah installed by the US: get-the-oil! Never mind like oil rich and mineral rich countries - i.e. aluminum, diamond, lithium - the people living over the mineral wealth get NOTHING. We'll just "pray" for them as we enrich ourselves - cell phones, jewelry, laptops, etc. Being poor and hungry probably doesn't radicalize them: they just "hate us for our freedoms" (to loot).



Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Michael Shermer - all supposed paragons of critical thinking, rationality and reason - have lately been called out for their sexism and boorish statements. I notice however, they are all authors with public platforms on social media not unlike Bill Maher who has his show, and controversy quite frankly sells a lot of books.



It is true many scientists - a vast majority - do not believe in a personal deity. Lack of belief or otherwise does not make one a good scientist. As I've pointed out to many numerous times, science requires adherence to its tenants: following The Scientific Method and submitting your results to rigorous, brutal inquiry. It is then you've got something that can be called a Law or Theory, both of which are horribly misunderstood.



There is a prevailing modern myth regarding theism and science, a large part owed to the pseudoscience of creationism/intelligent design; its plainly politicized motivations and lack of usefulness - what has intelligent design "designed"? The insistence of passing it off as science - as the rest of the global economy carries no such delusions - in the public classroom has set up animosity between the two camps of reality vs. fantasy. Global warming denial, despite the evidence and 97% of climatologist agreeing on it, is just another example of the crackpot mainstreamed via marketing.



Science may/may not lead one to become either Atheist or Agnostic. That like theism is a personal choice. The solution is not politically injected authoritarian pseudoscience or willful ignorance. Atheism nor theism will make you more rational, reasoned or thoughtful in your approach to problem-solving, science or interactions with your fellow humans.



I could however, go for a few less narcissistic, xenophobic assholes.
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Monday October 13th, H. Wolfgang Porter's 'Dark God's Gift: The E.R.O.S. Device' debuts! Travel 65,000 years into humanity's future to a Corporate Weapons Development and Testing Facility hidden within a Dark Matter Cloud. An incredibly ancient artifact has been found and it could be a weapon of devastating power! A team of researchers is assigned to examine the find, but will it be the financial breakthrough believed or just another old piece of junk?

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Dr. María González...



“500 million people worldwide suffer from invasive amebiasis, the disease kills 110,000 people per year.”

Born on Sept. 10, 1955 in San Buenaventura, Coahuila, Mexico. Dr. González won the MEXWII 2006 award for her work on diagnostic methods for invasive amebiasis. María González patented the processes to diagnose invasive amebiasis, a parasitic disease that kills over 100,000 people each year.




Her parents are Maria del Socorro Garcia Gonzalez and Humberto Flores Flores. She is the first of 5 siblings from her family and is now married to Federico Castaneda and has a daughter Ana Cecilia and son Juan Jorge. Dr. González grew up in a home where everyone was treated equally and her parents always instilled the importance of a good education. She was raised to help people study and get ahead. Dr. Gonzalez’s parents had a very open relationship with their children and always had open dialoge during dinner. Dr. Gonzalez’s Grandmother was a very strong willed woman that inspired Dr. Gonzalez to excel.



She studied her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry as a drug biologist at the Faculty of Chemical Sciences at the Autonomous University of Coahuila (1976). Master’s and doctorate of Science specializing in immunology (1986) at the National School of Biological Sciences of the National Polytechnic Institute (1982). Conducted a post-doctoral in the Unité d, Immunohematopatologie. Institute in Paris Paris (1985). Dr. Gonzalez is the author of 21 articles published in national and international journals and 17 popular articles.



Amazing Mexicans: Dr. María del Socorro Flores González

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Dark Matter's Bright Future...

The cryostat for the XENON1T experiment.
Image credit: The XENON1T Collaboration.

The US Department of Energy Office of High Energy Physics and the National Science Foundation Physics Division have announced their joint programme for second-generation dark-matter experiments, aiming at direct detection of the elusive dark-matter particles in Earth-based detectors. It will include ADMX-Gen2 – a microwave cavity searching for axions – and the LUX-Zeplin (LZ) and SuperCDMS-SNOLAB experiments targeted at weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). These selections were partially in response to recommendations of the P5 subpanel of the US High-Energy Physics Advisory Panel for a broad second-generation dark-matter direct-detection programme at a funding level significantly above that originally planned.



CERN Courier: A bright future for dark-matter searches

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The Soma

I had it again last night, went to bed around 12:30, awoke at 3:00, tired and dislocated. Then came the restful sleep. Thought about a new hotel, The SOMA. A huge cube of sleeping rooms, no beds, no amenities. a closet, a big chair in a dim room, a bathroom. I went in, sat, pressing my backside and ribcage into the plush. The street sounds were replaced by ones of my choice interspersed with the sweet voice of the SOMA's concierge attendant. When I responded, I moved thru a dream space. I couldn't tell if it was real or what. I met with people, did business, smooth talked and jived, chilled out and closed a deal. 

I awoke, the taste of rum on my lips, the scents of the evenings, a few selfie photos, a stack of business cards, a thank you note on a napkin with a cell number. Drove home, wife kissed me, asked how was my night, had breakfast, sent the kids out to play. We had our time together, a sweet time, seems the days never end. Hey hon, time to go to work. Yeah I know. Working nights, who came up with that idea? I pulled into The SOMA tired from the day as usual, the big comfy chair welcoming and the calming voice saying message this time. The chair hummed and stroked. Drifting off I responded, received a margarita, chatted with my clan of business colleagues.....

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With a former Korean War Era Soldier as guide, Dr. Sybil Perth venture's forth towards the strange tower relic of the Atomic Age! Will the source of the sicknesses and disappearances of the townsfolk be found within the foreboding radioactive structure? Can even she, a Nuclear Physicist unravel and undo the mysterious force holding the town in thrall? If the good Dr. Perth's efforts fall short, is she prepared for the eternal consequences of her failure? All shall be revealed in the exciting conclusion!

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Dr. José Hernández-Rebollar...



José Hernandez-Rebollar -- Electrical Engineer



Inventor of the AcceleGlove, a glove-like device that translates sign language into written words for deaf individuals.



Born in the state of Puebla, Mexico, Jose Hernandez-Rebollar is a young scientist whose made a reputation for himself as a young innovator with big ideas. Long before this electrical engineer moved to the U.S. from Mexico on a Fulbright scholarship to complete work for his Ph.D at Georgetown University, he had dreamed of the possibility of creating a way for deaf people to translate sign language into text and sound by electronic means. Through persistence and the power of engineering, he has achieved that goal.



In His Own Words: Commenting on future applications of his invention, he says: “The idea is not to fix deafness. The idea is to provide an instrument that can translate ASL [American Sign Language] to other languages.”



USA Science Festival: José Hernandez-Rebollar, PhD

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A Majorana Glimpse...

Scanning-tunnelling-microscope image showing a chain of iron atoms. The inset shows the probability that Majorana quasiparticles reside in that portion of the chain. The dark red blob at the tip indicates high probability at the tip. (Courtesy: Yazdani Lab, Princeton University)

The strongest evidence yet that Majorana quasiparticles (MQPs) can be found lurking in some solids has been unveiled by physicists in the US. The team used a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) to locate MQPs at the ends of atomic chains of magnetic iron lying on the surface of a lead superconductor. MQPs have special properties that could make them ideal for use in quantum computers, and this latest breakthrough could lead to practical devices that make use of the quasiparticles.

First predicted by the Italian physicist Ettore Majorana in 1937, the Majorana fermion has zero charge and is its own antiparticle. Unlike conventional fermions such as the electron – which obey Fermi–Dirac statistics – the Majorana fermion obeys "non-Abelian" statistics. This means that quantum information encoded in the particles would be highly resistant to decoherence. Decoherence is the bane of physicists who are trying to develop practical quantum computers, and therefore devices based on Majorana fermions could be used in future quantum-information systems.


Physics World: Majorana quasiparticles glimpsed in magnetic chains
Hamish Johnston, editor of physicsworld.com

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Dr. Sybil Perth's frantic escape attempt has failed! But, answers surrounding the strange community hidden in the Nevada desert are being revealed. The problem with answers is; they create more questions and the mystery deepens. Yet, time is running out for Dr. Perth because a deadly secret lies at the bottom of this mystery and if she doesn't solve it soon, she may regret it...for eternity!

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