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| Source: Planetary Habitable Laboratory |
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It was yesterday. It's perhaps been traveling a million years to this date.
The NASA brief:
NASA: Comets: Siding Spring
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| Source: The Bathtub Theory of Economics and Life |
"My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." Grover Norquist
The bathtub: source of childhood delight in soap bubbles and added flatulence. In Grover-the-Grouch's special case, it is clearly the latter...
My apologies for the unannounced "blog break." Posting twice a day for any celebratory month can be taxing mentally. I'm back, somewhat refreshed and perplexed at the same time...
It can be said I spend a lot of time thinking about Sequestration from the search results that will now include this posting. Likely because I think it is the dumbest idea of self-inflicted immolation on the altar of libertarian, free market austerity I think humans have ever conceived! It requires "magical thinking"; fairies with pixie dust and exacting miracles on drive-through demand to pull off. The pixie dust is someone, somewhere in the "free market" writing a big enough check to cover what would normally be the "collectivist conspiracy" also known as a democratic republic. It should have healed Thomas Eric Duncan and the two nurses affected with the Ebola virus. Cutting $490 million from the CDC; $2.5 billion from NIH and STILL refusing to confirm or appoint a Surgeon General the NRA loves puts a huge dent in Tinker Bell's pixie dust. Nate Silver gives the stats why an Ebola travel ban is pointless. Pixie dust...
Yet, Nate Silver gives a republican takeover of the US Senate a 60% chance at succeeding, but he hedges with reassuring nuance. Meaning: at the worst display of stupidity and cognitive dissonance, brace for more austerity cuts, magical thinking, "shining city on a hill" cliche bull excrement; repeal of The Affordable Care Act putting 10+ million recipients back to square one of waiting for death; further slippage internationally in our technological competitiveness and likely a sham impeachment trial that will make us permanently a mockery in the pages of history. We'll be the Proverb, the Byword of how a government of the people, by the people and for the people perishes from the Earth for the racial disdain of the real-life Huxtables at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (1400 is apparently the annex down the street). The charge has been levied back-and-forth from the last administration to the present, but Eric Fromm's treatise "Escape From Freedom" is instructive in this excerpt:
"The fact that somewhere else he declares that a boy should be taught to suffer injustice without rebelling will no longer strike the reader-or so I hope-as strange. This contradiction is the typical one for the sadomasochistic ambivalence between the craving for power and for submission.
"The wish for power over the masses is what drives the members of the 'elite,' the Nazi leaders. As the quotations above show, this wish for power is sometimes revealed with an almost astonishing frankness. Sometimes it is put in less offensive forms by emphasizing that to be ruled is just what the masses wish...While the 'leaders' are ones to enjoy power in the first place, the masses are by no means deprived of sadistic satisfaction. Racial and political minorities within Germany and eventually other nations which are described as weak or decaying are the objects of sadism upon which the masses are fed. While Hitler and his bureaucracy enjoy the power over the German masses, these masses themselves are taught to enjoy power over other nations and to be driven by the passion for domination of the world."
"Trickle-down = golden flow" as the working class ("middle class" a moribund label now) are taught to spit and stamp on those at the bottom that not for luck or grace they would quickly be, and will to their own self-delusion, not likely leave their current stations and social stratus without the advantage of connections the 1% nonchalantly enjoy.
Or in our case, why the country went insane in 2010 and seems determined to continue it in 2014.
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| Free Thought Nation and Google Books |
Related link: Eric Fromm dedication site
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER ON AMAZON KINDLE!!!
The Everlasting: Da Eb'Bulastin
After another incident of sleepwalking, Aiyana Gamelle wakes up lying under the stars on the Beach of Sa'Fyre Island, an island off the cost of South Carolina with a rich Gullah and Native American history.
Knowing these incidents of sleepwalking have something to do with her long awaited transition into queen of the island, Aiyana shrugs them off as little more than a nuisance to be expected since her lineage leads to a mysterious African goddess.
Aiyana moves forward with plans to host a week long festival that will end with her succession to the island throne, but the murder of an important guest and the passing of her grandmother bring the festivities to a screeching halt and Aiyana learns that the transition involves an unwanted possession and the revelation of a dark family curse.
Go to www.rasheedahprioleau.com to purchase.
ADVANCE COPIES AVAILABLE for Blog Reviewers.
Monday October 20th Ronald T. Jones', 'Dark God's Gift: Of Mortals and Gods' debuts! What does a powerful god-like entity do to validate it's existence? Gather like minded Gods and rampage across the universe, that's what. With a cadre of displaced gods and a vast armada at the command, the Trynaught will lead the assault upon Heaven and Hell!
In the aftermath of the EXWEPFAC Testing Chamber accident, rescue crews have abandoned the effort to seek survivors deep underground! Alicechild 88130 and her research team are presumed dead. Yet, strange incidents are occurring throughout the Facility. Strange and brutal deaths, disappearances and sicknesses abound forcing the corporate facility to remain on lockdown. However, the source and perhaps the solution to the situation lies deep underground in the sealed Test Chamber. Did Alicechild and her team unleash a terrible power upon ARES 04? All will be revealed in the exciting conclusion!
Are you a YouTuber? Would you like to be? Now days, YouTube's becoming a hit with some people and in its right, launching careers of many of the YouTubers that have put so much hard work into their channels. I know BSFS has a channel (I've subscribed)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCUFX4mE0SxrfiBww1154Vw (Channel Name: Black Science Fiction Society)
I have one as well:
https://www.youtube.com/user/SoveReignComics (Channel Name: SoveReign Universe)
At the moment I only have about 3 videos that I have done but eventually, I plan to turn this channel into a haven for individuals that want to learn to create comics.
I, like a lot of people, have no clue on how to get a YouTube channel up and running (thriving); pulling in multiple viewers to where the things that I create, or choose to share with others, are being seen on a daily basis. However, YouTube has found a way to help people like me or you; people that want to create there own channels. Not just create mind you, but thrive with their own channels. This, is the reason for the blog really. I've come across a channel that helps those that want to be a YouTuber, or have a thriving channel, by giving advice to you, the newcomer, from some of the veterans of Youtube. I'm sharing this channel with you all here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkRfArvrzheW2E7b6SVT7vQ (Channel Name: YouTube Creator Academy)
If you are interested, I recommend taking a look. There's so much you can do with YouTube...just think, TV...on the internet. You can release trailers to up coming books, animated shorts, movies your working on. You can show your work flow (how you do things from beginning to end), build an audience to support you and late buy the products that you are putting so much time into. The list goes on and on. Yea, it does take time but, time management is a detrimental tool for anyone trying to do anything more, than just work a 9-5,6,7,8 or 9. Time management and drive, that is.
This isn't for everyone, nor is it on everyone's to do list. I understand that. However, I wanted to spread the information that I learned, just in case there's someone that's interested.
Peace to you BSFS Fam,
Tyrone (Tyr1AR) Jackson
The sudden flash of light during the initiation of testing on the device has ended abruptly as it started. Communications with the Control Module, Alicechild and her research team have been cut! What has happened to them? As Director Shasta puts emergency protocols into action, what is going on far below the The Testing Facility? Was the team successful in analyzing the device or did something go terribly wrong?
A tense research team finally receives the Artifact and Project Leader Alicechild must keep all heads level while the transfer of the potentially dangerous EROS Device commences. However, the Project Leader has her own reservations concerning the pending tests. In spite of her trepidations, Alicechild plans to forge ahead. Too many corporate eyes are watching and the fate of her team depends on their success. But, will the EROS Device give up its secrets without endangering the research team?
Sometimes, what happens in the dark, doesn't stay in the dark. Here's a small piece of what's been floating in my head today. The start of something or the end of it. Depends on your point of view. - CAG
When I first woke up, I could hear its panicked breath. It was the kind of breathing you do when you’re having a bad dream and the monster almost gets you but you wake up just in time. I woke up the same way. No light. None. I scuttled backward until my back hit the wall then stood up, ready to fight. But the fight never came. I waited in the silence; sometimes holding my breath so I could listen. I knew it was doing the same. It spoke to me in some language I didn't understand in a voice I didn't recognize. The voice was garbled. I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman or even human. Then something clicked, I don’t know what but suddenly, I understood it.
“Who are you?” he demanded. It was a man. Immediately, I wanted to spit out an angry reply. Old memories flooded back of the last time I was trapped in a dark room with a man. What he had done to me. How he had hurt me. Over and over again. I nearly died. I was never the same since. That was never going to happen again. Never.
I would have answered but then I realized that I didn't know who I was. How was that possible? I couldn't think of my name. My knees almost buckled at the onslaught of that realization. I shook my head and pulled myself back into the moment. I could figure all that other shit out later. I answered his question with one of my own. “Who are you?” The silence was broken by rapid breathing. His and mine.
“I don’t know.” The reply was a mixture of fear and acceptance. I kept my back to the wall, slowly and quietly, I took a step to my right, walking the perimeter; softly tapping the wall. Searching for a breach, for a way out. A door. A weapon. I wanted a weapon. I didn't need one. I could fight to the death if I had to. But a weapon would give me a nice advantage.
I didn't know who I was trapped in here with or who would be waiting for me once I found my way out of here. I was going to get out of here. My gun was gone and I left my knife embedded in the chest of the man who attacked me in the alley. I could feel him behind me; in the shadows. He was as blind as I was and just as wary of me as I was of him. Good.
*********************
Sometimes, I need to bounce story ideas off of friends to see if it works from a technical stand point or if it reads realistically enough to be what I intended it to be. There are times when I just want to share what’s going on in my head. It may be the start of a story, a scene or two from a story that I’m already working on or just a flash of something going on in my writer’s realm. This morning I was “hit” with this little piece of inspiration and shared it with my good friend Ed Maisonet, who is also my LifeDefense Instructor. He replied with this:
"Be what you need to be in the moment. Head not the tail. Predator not prey."
How true those words are. They brought to mind what Ed teaches in every class and that is, every person should know how to protect themselves, especially women. Some of the female characters I write about start off their literary lives as prey. They don’t always remain that way though. More often than not, they are compelled by circumstances and survival instincts to fight when running to safety is no longer an option and giving up is definitely not the plan. They learn what they have to learn and do what is necessary to become the predator and not the prey. This holds true in the real world as well.
Please understand, I am not man-bashing, the same idea of being prepared to defend yourself applies to men and children as well. Trouble arrives uninvited in many forms and can be delivered to anyone at any time. All one has to do is pick up a newspaper or watch the news to see just how many men, women and children fall prey to violent acts all the time, day or night, while they’re at work or school and even when they’re home. Some of us have already been a victim of violence. Women and children are commonly thought of as “weaker” targets. I wonder how many would be alive today if they had the advantage of knowing how to defend themselves from the bad guys that prowl our streets and break into our homes.
I've been taking Ed’s class for some time now and while I am in no way near to being like the bad-ass protagonists of many of my stories (I’m a work in progress), I no longer feel as though I would be helpless in a dire situation. If I could offer advice specifically to women today, it would be:
- Learn how to protect yourself. There are ways to fend off your attacker. Find a good self-defense class and train. Personally, I recommend Krav Maga but find what works for you. With commitment, you’ll also gain the side benefit of getting into shape and feeling empowered mentally, spiritually as well as physically. I know I have.
- Be cautious of who you let into your life. Take your time to learn more about the person you’re going on a date with, regardless of how good they look. That adage about wolves in sheep’s clothing holds truth.
- Think smart, act smarter and learn how to fight so you can live to fight another day.
Just a few things I’ve learned from a 250 pound man, that makes sense. As Ed would say “See you on the mat.”
-To learn more about Ed Maisonet, Author of "Things I Teach to Every Woman I Know" Written by a 250lb Man", you can follow Ed's blog at http://twocentsfroma250lbman.blogspot.com/ or learn more about his LifeDefense Krav Maga classes by visiting his website at www.lifedefenseinc.com
You can purchase Ed’s book on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Things-Teach-Every-Woman-Know/dp/1448683580/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413304089&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=two+cents+from+a+250lb+man
To learn more about my stories, visit www.darksecrets.net LIKE the Dark Secrets Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Secrets/296476453700082?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
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| SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES |
Scientists are reporting a significant advance in the quest to develop an alternative approach to nuclear fusion. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, using the lab’s Z machine, a colossal electric pulse generator capable of producing currents of tens of millions of amperes, say they have detected significant numbers of neutrons—byproducts of fusion reactions—coming from the experiment. This, they say, demonstrates the viability of their approach and marks progress toward the ultimate goal of producing more energy than the fusion device takes in.
Fusion is a nuclear reaction that releases energy not by splitting heavy atomic nuclei apart—as happens in today’s nuclear power stations—but by fusing light nuclei together. The approach is appealing as an energy source because the fuel (hydrogen) is plentiful and cheap, and it doesn’t generate any pollution or long-lived nuclear waste. The problem is that atomic nuclei are positively charged and thus repel each other, so it is hard to get them close enough together to fuse. For enough reactions to take place, the hydrogen nuclei must collide at velocities of up to 1000 kilometers per second (km/s), and that requires heating them to more than 50 million degrees Celsius. At such temperatures, gas becomes plasma—nuclei and electrons knocking around separately—and containing it becomes a problem, because if it touches the side of its container it will instantly melt it.
"Holding my nose, and diving deep": the first paragraph sounded like cold fusion, but Science published it, so I'll wish them well, and print the results - successes or failures, as this proceeds.
AAAS: Z machine makes progress toward nuclear fusion, Daniel Clery
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| Source: LinkedIn |
Hometown: Chihuahua, Mexico
Link to patents: here
System and method for preforming cable for promoting adhesion to overmolded sensor body
Patent number: 7077022
Abstract: The end portion of the insulation sheath of a cable is formed into a grommet to promote better mechanical bonding with a vehicle sensor housing that is overmolded onto the cable.
Type: Grant
Filed: March 3, 2004
Issued: July 18, 2006
Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc.
Inventor: Benjamin Valles
Embed for some platforms (patent 1 of 5 in both mediums):
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| Alder Koten Institute |
From the beginning of the month, I quote the post Mes de la Herencia Hispana:
"The irony: in a country of immigrants, we're becoming "tribal"; somehow E pluribus unum: out of many, one - has lost its original Latin origins and just become a slogan printed on our money - if we ever bother to look at it.
"'Self-deportation' and repatriation as some have suggested would be a logistical and political nightmare that the global economy would immediately reject us as incompetent and unstable. Diversity has to be our strength, we have no other choice for continued existence as a nation state. If not, other countries that had neither a 'remember the Alamo' nor Civil War will make us look like a byword, an anachronism...a joke on the pages of history.
"That devolution does not have to take long..."
If you've reached this point, I hope you've learned something that you didn't already know about Hispanic History; Hispanic and Latino diaspora.
Diaspora: a group of people who live outside the area in which they had lived for a long time or in which their ancestors lived (Merriam-Webster). The term is typically used for certain groups - African Americans, Jews, etc., but it should apply to everyone - EVERYONE in America is from somewhere else, voluntarily or not, than where their ancestors lived.
Hispanic and Latino culture originated in Europe/Spain, spread through colonization to the Central and South Americas; the Philippines. It is a story that is not often told, as diversity studies are under assault by myopic, authoritarian forces that attack education - important for an informed citizenry as well as the 1st Amendment right of civil disobedience; voting rights and thus the underpinnings of democracy itself.
I am neither Hispanic/Latino nor an expert in your history. I am a science enthusiast and an advocate of the democratization of knowledge - real knowledge, based on observation, empirical study and peer review - bringing to its participants freedom and empowerment.
You are the generation that since 1982 have never known life without a search engine. It's on your cell phones. Use it to fill in the gaps your schools for various reasons cannot. If the Internet is a playground, let it be for your own enrichment, knowledge and thus your power. You are also the generation that has not thought deeply about your rights, how tentative they are and the forces aligned* to block you from them, delude them and ultimately eliminate them.
"Remember, remember the 4th of November." The fourth - if you're 18 and above - is important for you to register and participate in. I will be, off line: volunteering, calling, campaigning and voting. It's homage to my sister - a youthful soldier in the Civil Rights Movement, so that her sacrifices and temps of fate - nearly losing her several frightening times - won't have been in vain. Democracy is not for armchair athletes; solutions are by the "consent of the governed," as shown in participation in the democratic republic procedure of elections, and that cannot be downloaded at optical speeds. Participation is vital to its existence; lacking it the opposite becomes undesirable, and darkly obvious.
Seeing where you've been as a culture hopefully will give you pride and confidence in where you are all eventually going - inevitably, to the future and the majority. That is a matter-of-fact; not destiny. Be an informed citizenry - and be involved in your country. Now is a good time to practice.
"We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely."
Edward Osborne Wilson, entomologist and biologist known for his work on ecology, evolution, and sociobiology.
* “The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite."
Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, scientist, statesman and 2nd President of the United States.
Quantum Computers A Step Closer to Reality
Researchers at the University of New South Wales have pushed quantum computers a step closer to reality, which one former NSA technical director says calls for a rethink in how the whole security of the internet is managed.
_________________________________________________________________________________
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
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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| 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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| 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
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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| 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
