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Really, Really BIG...

The coloured background indicates the peaks and troughs in the occurrence of quasars at the distance of the LQC. Darker colours indicate more quasars, lighter colours indicate fewer quasars.

An international team of astronomers, led by academics from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), has found the largest known structure in the universe. The large quasar group (LQG) is so large that it would take a vehicle travelling at the speed of light some 4 billion years to cross it. The team publish their results in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.



Quasars are the nuclei of galaxies from the early days of the universe that undergo brief periods of extremely high brightness that make them visible across huge distances. These periods are 'brief' in astrophysics terms but actually last 10-100 million years.



Since 1982 it has been known that quasars tend to group together in clumps or 'structures' of surprisingly large sizes, forming large quasar groups or LQGs.



The team, led by Dr Roger Clowes from UCLan's Jeremiah Horrocks Institute, has identified the LQG which is so significant in size it also challenges the Cosmological Principle: the assumption that the universe, when viewed at a sufficiently large scale, looks the same no matter where you are observing it from.



The modern theory of cosmology is based on the work of Albert Einstein, and depends on the assumption of the Cosmological Principle. The Principle is assumed but has never been demonstrated observationally 'beyond reasonable doubt'.

Royal Astronomical Society: Astronomers discover the largest structure in the universe

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But omgosh, guys, see this is what we women deal with all the time, in so many aspects of our lives.

Makes me think of my Lettering and Layout instructor, back in the day, who told us that women weren't good at lettering, we don't have the delicacy of line like men do. (HUH?)

Anyway, here's what this reader had to say:

This was a great book. Have to say I'm surprised, I thought the

This was a great book. Have to say I'm surprised, I thought the author was a man, but when I went back I found out it's a chick. I'm also glad I didn't read the bio, I wouldn't have been interested reading a book by a mom of three, which sounds bad I know but really how many domestic housewives do you know that can write a fantasy that a 32 year old man would be interested in? I'm pretty impressed I tend to not enjoy chick writers (no offense). I prefer stuff like Robert Jordan, or R.A. Salvatore or Jim Butcher but this wasn't your typical chick book. It's pretty dark and she gets the male character's pretty well, also has a good sense of humor. The book jumps from several characters (which I usually dislike) but all of them are so different and again I was surprised that the author was able to write such convincing male characters (which I find women authors are not very good at, again no offense). The main character is pretty intense and you tend not to like her but she grows on you. For $4 it was a damn good read and I look forward to the next book.

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Social Entropy...


1. A measure of the unavailable energy in a closed thermodynamic system that is also usually considered to be a measure of the system's disorder, that is a property of the system's state, and that varies directly with any reversible change in heat in the system and inversely with the temperature of the system; broadly : the degree of disorder or uncertainty in a system

2. a : the degradation of the matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity; b : a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder



3. chaos, disorganization, randomness, see Meridian-Webster

Further examples of entropy: aging, obesity; methods to counter: vitamins, exercise, diet.

No measure, despite how noble the intentions, will 100% protect us from our fellow humans, and comparisons to dangers from knives, cars and baseball bats obfuscates the issue at hand: the warping of the constitution to justify building personal arsenals (with no apparent responsibility to secure them), and the wealth of weapons manufacturers. Mr. LaPierre is a lobbyist, and like so many "chicken hawk patriots" conveniently missed his generations' opportunity to be a "good guy with a gun" and represent his country in Vietnam.


In Chicago, in New Orleans, in East Winston-Salem, East/South Side ____________, random acts of violence are seen by the same media as a personal failing in "that area of town" versus a structural failing. That structure is society as a whole and a failure to apply not the Second Amendment, but the Second Law of Thermodynamics - Entropy - to systems decaying due to the market-driven and void meaning now of "education," avarice, career politicians pimping constituencies with the flimsiest fidelity to principles or promises, propped up by corrupt money interests whose only ambition is not "the common good," but to maximize profits, avoiding taxes and bequeathing large truckloads of treasure to their heirs.

In physics, entropy is why there can be no such thing in nature as 100% efficiency or perpetual motion machines. Thus, no one political party, culture/race has, or should have a complete lock on the Oval Office and the Presidential Mansion (as it was once called).


We are given sound bites and sloganeering: speeches on "shining cities on a hill," whereas we have the stench of a dung heap ripe with methane for the lighting. Lit by ignorance, goaded by pundits with zero education, zero sophistication, zero appreciation for nuance that some of our fellow mortals cannot digest; that some of their worst pronouncements might as well be from clouds and smoke on Mount Sinai.

And by some stretch of sanity, what would be gained if such inane, insane actors were actually successful in what could nakedly be called revolution and armed insurrection? The Pyrrhic ashes of anarchic victories are a poor foundation to rebuild a republic from.


As I watch the news, I'm not sure if this is an enactment of Animal Farm, or a slow train wreck. Some common sense suggestions:

"Common sense is not so common." Voltaire

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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Fund-a-ment-all Ebon-X. (the plot)

"Imagination is the shadow of creation. Ain't none if you miss one of both.
No copyright needed. I already stole this plot from the universe."

[José Justino Bronze]
------------------------------
Ebon-X plot

Participant 'party'

 

- Human
Earth 2011. Reality.
* ~ Terra-ist terrorist
* Hueman ~ Original creation
* Human kind ~ Creation by Hueman
African Diaspora ended up in Babelonian confusion (of tongues). They seek their salvation in younger peers i.e. "human kind".

 

- Anunaki
Left Earth 3600 solar years ago.
* A nu-nao-aki ~ we are not here
* A nu-nao-a-ki ~ we have no ki / we have no key
Came back for the first time in anticipation of the moment. They believe to live in the state "messy-us" and wait / are looking for the Mesyah (to arive) here on earth.
They left in attempts to keep [the] word pure. Pure from Babylonian confiusion (of tongues). "Affairs/traids" of humanity serving "bookkeeping" led to the question if word represent reality. Nebucatnezar / Babylon was about to develop itself to a center of "the world". "Affairs/traids" and "war" become one and the same (the military industrial complex was born).

 

- Elohim

Left Earth 10,500 years ago.

* El-o-HIM = He or Him
Also coming back.
Last time they came back undercover to help Anunaki restore [the] word again which turned out to be corrupted. They ran the risk of becoming infected by corrupted word but believed to have to take action. After returning "Terra" / earth was more back-words than expected.
10,500 years ago, Elohim made (a) man "in his image". Human kind was made in the image of Hueman. They turned against Hueman after being included in "the family". In order to keep the bloodline pure, one part left. At the last visit (to those who were later called Anunaki) they kept their bloodline clean, but underestimate what at that time was going on with [the] word. Unnoticed, their language also was corrupted / infected. They are not yet aware of it.

 

- Jin
Bio-Chemical robots.
Programmed to attack Earth and destroy everything that resemble hueman and then restore Earth to original state, but without Hueman. "Set" yielded them, "set" (programmed) them before beginning his ultimate attempts to get hueman on his side by means of infecting bloodlines with his seed to set "destiny" to his hand.
He also built in "modules" which make it possible for hueman and even human-kind to call upon them, to call for help regardless of the purpose and without judgment.

 

Figures from 'scriptures':

 

- Seraphs
Celestial beings that surround G*ds throne.

 

- Cherubs
Guardians of Eden (Pangea, Africa, Earth)

 

- Lucifer
* Set / Program(mer) or institution.
* Lucifer / illuminator.
* Is-not-clue's / St. Nicholas.
In his last attempt to corrupt G*ds seed he is merged into huemanity. 10,400 years ago, he attacked "Phy-sick" / physically with his seed. 3600 years ago. 3500 years ago he attacked [the] word itself which turned out to be "faith-all" to him.

 

- Michael
Not distinguishable from hueman or G*d.

 

- Gabriel
Not distinguishable from hueman or G*d.

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The One That Got Away...

Grateful to my friend from Austin, Texas Deone Wilhite for this posting...

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, age 9 (see link below)

At age nine, after a trip to the Hayden Planetarium—the same planetarium he would direct 25 years later—Tyson decided on a career in astrophysics. “I felt called by the universe to do this,” he says, “and that has never changed.”

In junior high, Tyson took to using his telescope on the roof of his apartment building. At the sight of a teenager fumbling with a mysterious object in the night, neighbors often thought they saw a thief and called the police, whom he would placate by offering a look through the lens.

In high school, Tyson won summer scholarships to study astrophysics in Africa, Utah, and Scotland. He rubbed elbows with astronaut Neil Armstrong and biochemist and sci-fi writer Isaac Asmiov. At 15 he was invited to give his first lecture, to an extension class at the City University of New York.

“It was as natural as breathing,” Tyson recalls. “I was just talking about what I knew, the way other boys talked about baseball cards.”

Frank Bash, professor emeritus of astronomy and former director of UT’s McDonald Observatory, supervised Tyson as a teaching assistant for Intro to Astronomy. “Neil had a natural gift for teaching,” Bash says. “After he taught, the students would beg for him back. He did crazy stuff—moonwalking in class.”

Doing the moonwalk for his students wasn’t a gag, Tyson says—it was a strategy. “If you’re only using words to communicate as a teacher, why show up?” he says. “Why not just type your notes? Teaching is a full-body performance. The moonwalk was all the rage in 1983, and the students loved it. It made the material work for them.”

Back in the lab, though, things weren’t going as well. Tyson wasn’t making progress on his dissertation, and professors encouraged him to consider alternate careers. He took the criticism hard, and he also faced racial discrimination on campus.

“I was stopped and questioned seven times by University police on my way into the physics building,” he says. “Seven times. Zero times was I stopped going into the gym—and I went to the gym a lot. That says all you need to know about how welcome I felt at Texas.”

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger."

Friedrich Nietzsche

Alcalde - Texas Exes: Star Power
#P4TC: Diaspora 10 February 2012

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Vela Pulsar...


NASA: The star of this movie is the Vela pulsar, a neutron star that was formed when a massive star collapsed. The Vela pulsar is about 1,000 light years from Earth, spansis about 12 miles in diameter, and makes over 11 complete rotations every second, faster than a helicopter rotor. As the pulsar whips around, it spews out a jet of charged particles that race out along the pulsar’s rotation axis at about 70% of the speed of light. In this still image from the movie, the location of the pulsar and the 0.7-light-year-long jet are labeled. 





The Chandra data shown in the movie, containing eight images obtained between June and September 2010, suggest that the pulsar may be slowly wobbling, or precessing, as it spins. The shape and the motion of the Vela jet look strikingly like a rotating helix, a shape that is naturally explained by precession, as shown in this animation [link to mathematica animation from Oleg K]. If the evidence for precession of the Vela pulsar is confirmed, it would be the first time that a jet from a neutron star has been found to be wobbling, or precessing, in this way.

NASA: Chandra page

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Edward's VISION

 

RETRO-KM by EDWARD UZZLE

Set in what used to be the Americas; now a dystopic and balkanized litter of Nation-States. A surreal glimpse into the spiritual growth of a warrior-soldier from an emerging Black nation. It is a startling vision of ethnic conflict, voudon technologies, and soul bending revelations. Retro-KM is novel that embodies a brand new genre of speculative fiction; cifer-RA (High-Science-Entertainment), brought to you by Daathrekh Publishing.

“This is the worst time for a reconnaissance action. Aten (the sun) won’t be up for an hour and I’ve been ‘tracking’ all night. This place was once a thriving Metropolis. Now it’s a wasted city…”

Worlds will collide. Prepare to have your mind blown. Edward Uzzle has created a stunning vision of the not too distant future, a universe peopled with techno-warriors, mystic supermen and more. Pro-black and action packed RETRO-KM: Lord of the Landlords is a hard SF tour de force, a journey of epic proportions and a definite must read. ~Valjeanne Jeffers, author of The Immortal series and The Switch II: Clockwork

Pick up your copy of RETRO-KM at Amazon

 

Barnes and Noble

 

And Check out Daathrekh Publishing

 

 

 

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Carried Away

Across my side it stretched...down to my hip. The bandage wasn't large enough.. So, I covered it with paper towels and tape.

Pink oozed from the sides but No time to worry.. I threw on my tank top and black sweat shirt. Zipped and pulled the hood to cover my hair and shadow my face...
flung open the bathroom door.. and on the sofa I returned.

"I wanted to tell you.. but I didn't know how.. I know your angry and should be, I promise it won't happen again.."

I listened too intently that my side ached extensively.. My hard lips burned. My elbows itched. My pants grew uncomfortable and hurt between my legs.

"I'm sorry.. It just happened. You know I love you.. I guess I drank too much. I just got carried away." He said.

"Umph" I grimaced, while biting my lower lip. Uneasy and anxious, I rocked, holding my side. It ached so bad.. I could feel the dampness enter my sweatshirt.

The pain began to grow unbearable. I clutched my wound to hold it together..discreetly so he wouldn't notice.

He continued on and on.

His voice stuttered, mumbled, and fumbled over what soon sounded liked gibberish.

I searched desperately for answers and comfort within his words...but found none.

My thoughts became unclear and disoriented.

My body became weak and faint.

Feeling my drift.. I leaned further back onto the couch...

I ached all-over and I felt nauseous. I licked my lips and quietly asked "So, your telling me...that you slept with her? Right?"

He looked confused and dazed. "Umm. Yeah. Babe, that's what we've been talking about for over an hour."

He reached for me..and solemnly asked "Are you okay?"

Shaken.. I dodged his gesture.. My skin grew hot.. but my insides icy.

With rocky, trembling fingers I unzipped my hoodie and revealed my leaky top. The soiled bandages fell to the floor..

Gently over my head, I pulled the bloody shirt..revealing a silver curve that rose from my chest.

I reached my arm around my shoulder and neck, grabbed the handle, and snugly pulled. With one swift flip, the blade boomeranged from my back and straight into his Mother-fucking forehead..

In front of me, on the coffee table, he sat..still wide-legged and doe eyed with a meat cutter sticking out of his head.

Instantly.. I was healed! I leaped from the sofa and peered on him.. In my pretty, pink, Converse Chuck's, I kicked him in his chest and watched him topple to the floor.

Mumbling..in my own "gibberish".. and tugging him along.. "Now.. NOW.. you get carried away." I got your "Carried Away".. Carried away so you fuck her? No sir (while vigorously shaking my head).. NOW, you get carried away..

You idiot.

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The Secrets of Fuzzy Funk

Fuzzy Funk was one of the original Zonons that came together to form a defense against the ViPrey and the Power That Is Not within the Anii networml to protect the cyphron and zonon populace. Most cyphrons were defenseless against the ViPrey skinks because they knew not how to fight them. There seemed to be two types of ViPrey…. The regular ViPrey that had no enhanced powers (and they were the ones who are mostly helpful to cyphrons); and those that looked like monster skinks and different variations as well. The monster skinks had enhanced powers that would allow them to have outer body experiences, whereas they could transmit a shadowy likeness of themselves out into a geonetric location within a networml and steal cyphron souls. Their actual physical presence would create a stench of hydrogen sulfide gas when they gathered in mass…. A monster skink would also have the strength of a dimming star making it impossible for anyone to defeat them. All, but one…. Fuzzy Funk! The special power of a dimming star would be that of gravitational pull.

Fuzzy was the only Zonon who could fight hand to hand combat with any ViPrey beast and defeat them. He was the only one that they feared in addition to Diamond Blade. Diamond Blade is a teacher within the CyPhron Academy. She also moonlights as a renegade mercenary for CiPher Fire – the legendary stealth cypheron – led by Black Angus. Black Angus is also a Zonon and he is a material science engineer with specialization in dark matter and dark energy. He is secretly known to be a dark matter “blacksmith” for the Nano-Tera. His weaponry and defense gear are known for their tremendous success against the monster ViPrey beasts and the Power That is Not.

In addition to the core of CiPher Fire, there is Rahman. He is their primary networml navigator and secondary code runner. His aircraft of choice is the Veloraptor…. It may not be the fastest Realm class aircraft, but it is the swiftest, most powerful, maneuverable, and stealthy aircraft in existence within the Realm. Rahman has the moves that will make a monster skink pause and think…… if there is such a thing…

Fuzzy Funk had a long successful history with the Anii networml before he moved to the Reality. When he was removed from his position as lead defense minister within the Reality networml of CyPhron Defense, he placed himself into self-exile and created a new cypheron called Virtual-X. He has not been seen since, but Virtual-X is associated with him and this reconnaissance cypheron represents his thinking. The members of this cypheron are on the run, but are very popular within the Reality. They represent that which is good and great and pose a threat to the current players who are wreaking havoc within the Reality.

Fuzzy’s engineering genius and ability to be both mystical and practical was very important in the development of the Ghost Code…… The Ghost Code is central to powering the networml portals… Networml portals are the gateways to and from the infinite networmls of the Realm. Fuzzy is the ultimate leader – he will not lead where he has not followed, and he will always sacrifice himself before he risks the lives of others….. Most important of all, he will find a way to succeed!!!!! His war cry is widely known!!!!

E-e-e-Y-a-a-a-h! E-e-e-Y-a-a-a-h! E-e-e-Y-a-a-a-h! &n bsp; Encoda Moda!

Fuzzy is closely associated also with Betelhem, the current ranking CyPhron CyPher Guardian. There can only be one CiPher Guardian to reign at a time….. Betelhem is the only cyphron who can summon the Remnant… Betelhem is a former code runner who developed the Nano Tera code. It is the code that is protecting the Remnant along with CiPher Fire. No one has broken or come near to deciphering the Nano Tera. It is the hope of the Hordes of BoLoob and the Power That Is Not to capture Betelhem in order to steal the Remnant. Currently the Remnant location is not known to anyone for it became lost during the Zonon Lockdown.

One last thing…. There are two Fuzzy Funk characters….. When Fuzzy Funk became self-exiled, he became the Legend of Fuzzy Funk. Black Angus and then he then mentored a younger CyPhron to succeed him. That apprentice is now known as Fuzzy Funk. The saga continues……

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Flexible Graphene...

Credit: Article schematic

A team led by Silvija Gradecak [MIT] has succeeded in growing ZnO nanowire arrays on graphene by modifying the surface of the carbon material with conducting polymer interlayers. The researchers synthesized ZnO seed layers on the interfacial polymer layers, which results in well ordered ZnO nanowire growth via a low-temperature hydrothermal process. "The polymer coating process, the ZnO seed layer deposition and hydrothermal ZnO nanowire growth are all possible in solution and under ambient conditions," explained Gradecak. "What is more, the interfacial conductive polymer coating allows for efficient charge transfer between the ZnO nanowires and graphene, so preserving the latter's unique electronic properties."

 

Nanotech web: Graphene optoelectronics goes flexible

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A Steamfunk Novel concept

I was thinking last night about Steamfunk and California and a bunch of other stuff.
Then I thought about the first Black governor of California (yes, we've already had one -- under Mexico), Pio Pico and how cool it would be to write an alternate history California steamfunk novel with Pio Pico, perhaps as the hero, perhaps as the governor of La Nación Independiente de California (The Independent Nation of California) and its conflicts with Mexico, the French South and the First Nation of the Northeast (cuz they banded together and drove the British into the ocean.)

http://www.aztecclub.com/campo/campo2.htm

THE MEXICAN WAR IN CALIFORNIA
www.aztecclub.com
Pio Pico
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Below Zero...

Hot minus temperatures: At a negative absolute temperature the energy distribution of particles inverts in comparison to a positive temperature.

What is normal to most people in winter has so far been impossible in physics: a minus temperature. On the Celsius scale minus temperatures are only surprising in summer. On the absolute temperature scale, which is used by physicists and is also called the Kelvin scale, it is not possible to go below zero—at least not in the sense of getting colder than zero kelvin. According to the physical meaning of temperature, the temperature of a gas is determined by the chaotic movement of its particles—the colder the gas, the slower the particles. At zero kelvin (-273 C) the particles stop moving and all disorder disappears. Thus, nothing can be colder than absolute zero on the Kelvin scale.




Physicists at the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich and the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching have now created an atomic gas in the laboratory that nonetheless has negative Kelvin values. These negative absolute temperatures have several apparently absurd consequences: Although the atoms in the gas attract each other and give rise to a negative pressure, the gas does not collapse—a behavior that is also postulated for dark energy in cosmology. Supposedly impossible heat engines such as a combustion engine with a thermodynamic efficiency of over 100% can also be realized with the help of negative absolute temperatures.

 

R and D mag: A temperature below absolute zero

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Check out my Review of Nowhere Men.

(RRR) NoWhere Men issues 1 & 2

Writer: Eric Stephenson

Art: Nate Bellegarde & Jordie Bellaire

Publisher: Image Comics

"Science is the new rock and roll." Or what would happen if three of the four Beatles and Jim Hendrix decided to reshape the world with science instead of music. That is the impression I got from NoWhere men originally and with high hopes I picked up a copy of issue 1. Here we're introduced to the main characters Emerson Strange, Dade Ellis, Simon Grimshaw and Thomas Walker who got together and formed World Corps, which propelled them to rock star status on the world stage. I love the way Stephenson uses little articles in the back of the story to create the notion that these men could just as easily be on the cover of rolling stone as they could popular science. What I don't particularly like is the fact that I really am not sure where the story's going and maybe that is by design but it feels like there are things that we should know and don't. A perfect example of this is a scene in, which the group is talking about the morals and ethics of their scientific ventures and then we are introduced to a whole new group of characters almost out of nowhere. Which brings me to my next issue with the story, we are introduced to the characters in the space station we aren't given any real reason to care about. Sure there is a possible romance blooming somewhere in there, but other than that if these people died I couldn't see why that would matter and that is a key element of storytelling in my eyes. Maybe I have to keep reading to gain that sense of connection with the characters but I don't know if I'll be around long enough to get there. On the plus side I'm a sucker for superscience and I like Stephensons notion to turn into pop culture. The Art by the Bellegrade and Bellaire does a really good job at setting the feel for the comic, everything is clean and and the use of colors do a good job at maintaining a Sci-fi pop culture look. This is Comic gets 3 R's out of 5.

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Of Mice and Men...

...sadly, the effects of cosmic rays are not superpowers and spandex tights:

Comic Book Movie dot com


For the future of manned spaceflight, we have yet another problem to solve...


Senior author of the study, Professor Kerry O'Banion from the University of Rochester Medical Centre (URMC) Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy said: 'Galactic cosmic radiation poses a significant threat to future astronauts.

'The possibility that radiation exposure in space may give rise to health problems such as cancer has long been recognised.



'However, this study shows for the first time that exposure to radiation levels equivalent to a mission to Mars could produce cognitive problems and speed up changes in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer's disease.'



Tests on mice with models of Alzheimer's showed that after they were exposed to various doses of radiation, including levels comparable to what astronauts would be experience during a mission to Mars, they were far more likely to fail these tasks - suggesting neurological impairment - earlier than these symptoms would typically appear.


The brains of the mice also showed signs of vascular alterations and a greater than normal accumulation the protein 'plaque' that accumulates in the brain and is one of the hallmarks of the disease.



'These findings clearly suggest that exposure to radiation in space has the potential to accelerate the development of Alzheimer's disease,' said Professor O'Banion.

 

Daily Mail:
Space travel under threat as scientists find cosmic radiation could cause Alzheimer's in astronauts

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Perhaps Now...

Global Poverty Project dot com

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: Amid the crises and battles, both predictable and unforeseeable, that you will face over the next four years, one problem will stand out both for the economic and social dangers it poses and for the difficulty and cost of solving it. Whether you can develop a practical and sustainable strategy to address climate change—specifically, to begin lowering carbon dioxide emissions—will define the success of your new term as president. We do not make such a declaration lightly; we are keenly aware of the many other challenges you face. But the potential for global warming over the next decades threatens consequences so dire that they could overwhelm any progress you make toward other long-term economic, social, and political goals.

 

Altering the course of climate change is a task that will take decades. It will require innovative new technologies and overhauls of the world’s energy, agricultural, and transportation infrastructure. We don’t suggest that you can reverse the warming trend over the next four years, or even that you will be able to significantly decrease carbon dioxide emissions. But with the help of the world’s best economic, technical, and scientific minds, you can formulate a policy that will show the nation—and the world—how we can begin to make the changes necessary to ensure that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stabilizes at a safe level. Indeed, it is critical that you do so.

 

Telegraph

 

MIT Technology Review: Dear Mr. President: Time to Deal with Climate Change

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FRINGE SPACE

So, for some years I wrote STAR TREK fiction for POCKET BOOKS.

It was great fun and I learned, really, how to be a novelist in that time working with and getting advice from some of the best writers and editors in the business.

For various reasons I stopped writing STAR TREK stuff (though I don't rule out a return; there are lots of stories to tell in that universe) and, in fact, science fiction altogether.

I got into Urban Fantasy and Crime writing and, really, never looked back.

But, recently, I've been feeling the scifi bug biting me again. More and more of the stories that have come to me have been science fiction or, even better, some sort of mash-up of scifi and fantasy.

In looking over my work I realized I'd written a couple of stories for anthologies that were set in the same universe- the one where humanity is at war with brutal alien race we call the Mercanti.

This was my stab at so-called "SPACE OPERA", the genre that includes STAR TREK, ROBOTECH, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, STAR BLAZERS and lots more. One of the only drawbacks of writing tie-in fiction (and there aren't many) is that you ave to stick closely to what has been established by the original creators of whatever universe you're working in.

If you LOVE that universe, this is minor because, as a fan, you know it inside and out. But, SOMETIMES, there are stories you just can't tell.

FRINGE SPACE isn't exactly my version of STAR TREK. There is no Federation; there are no alien species (no intelligent ones anyway) except the Mercanti and they are trying to kill us.

But, if you like my STAR TREK work, you will find yourself very much at home in FRINGE SPACE.

The first two FRINGE SPACE stories are available in these anthologies for now if you can't wait (and want to read some other REALLY good stories).

SPACE GRUNTS - Truth Metric (Fringe Space #1)

WORDS TO MUSIC - Thanks to Captain Go (Fringe Space #2)

But I will be releasing them as individual yarns over the next few weeks.

You can read #3, FINA SILENTO, now with no problem because the stories do not connect directly.

Seller Text

Fringe Space is Geoffrey Thorne's galaxy-spanning tale of humanity's first contact with a REAL alien species, the MERCANTI, and the often brutal and bloody events that follow.

The Mercanti are truly alien and seem to have one goal: expand and kill anything that in any way blocks that expansion. Humanity's far-spanning civilization is in their way and we're not stepping aside for the Mercanti.

Told from various points of view, FRINGE SPACE is a space opera of galactic proportions that also manages to be personal and very very human.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 

FINA SILENTO (FRINGE SPACE #3)

It's the long dark night of the soul for APEX's newly minted First Engineer. Can Cimarron Bell's genetically enhanced mind take the pressure or will the Construct crack?

SMASHWORDS edition    AMAZON

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Subject82-42BN

Subject 82-42

By: Ronald T. Jones 
Price: $4.99 
Genres: SfSuspense
Subject 82-42
Annan, a war hardened Ashanti commander, is a captive onboard a slave ship. In the midst of a horrific journey, he leads a revolt that’s interrupted by a descending alien vessel. Annan and his fellow Africans find themselves confined on another ship, far from Earth, sharing a common captivity with the European sailors who formerly held sway over them. The ship is commanded by a ruthless warlord who uses the captive humans as unwilling soldiers in a savage war against the inhabitants of a distant world. Annan is as intolerant of servitude to nonhumans as he was to humans. Neither his captors’ unearthly origins nor their deadly high technology will prevent Annan from attempting to seize his freedom. But if his rebellion is to succeed he must first unlock a secret that may very well give him and the other humans a fighting chance.
Same revolt, different skies. Blood will flow!

http://mochamemoirspress.com/subject-82-42/

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Before the formation of the word c-l-o-n-e, there was...

Afro-Futuristic Vision #31

Before the formation of the word clone by the attaching separate sounds together to form its utterance there were some beings of an unknown spirit and mankind. In a few societies, we have beings who make statements about forming man for the benefit of working the land. There are even some instances of Bio-Spheres (as they are called today) set up for experiments to test the behavioral programming. Then there is a field experiments later leading to a flushing of children who have gone astray from the dynamic souls that lay inside them. Of course, a few were saved…for later experiments…

There were many cultures which have recorded information of what is called ‘Creation Myths’, yet these ‘myths’ seem to echo in many areas of modern science today. It is very similar to how Science Fiction has become the living blueprint (because the trials are act out by actors or documented in Novels) for the growth of Actual Science.

Great Hymn (it wasn’t really called a Hymn; that was an attached meaning) of Khnum which from what is called the Pyramid and Coffin Text – From the Kemet Culture reproduced in the Ptolemic Era

Another hymn to Khnum-Ra,
God of the potter's wheel,
Who settled the land by his handiwork;
Who joins in secret,
Who builds soundly,
Who nourishes the nestlings by the breath of his mouth;
Who drenches this land with Nun,
While round sea and great ocean surround him.

He has fashioned gods and men,
He has formed flocks and herds;
He made birds as well as fishes,
He created bulls, and engendered cows.

He knotted the flow of blood to the bones,
Formed in his workshop as his handiwork,
So the breath of life is within everything,
Blood bound with semen in the bones,
To knit the bones from the start.

He makes women give birth when the womb is ready,
So as to open as he wishes;
He soothes suffering by his will,
Relieves throats, lets everyone breathe,
To give life to the young in the womb.

He made hair sprout and tresses grow,
Fastened the skin over the limbs;
He built the skull, formed the cheeks,
To furnish shape to the image.
He opened the eyes, hollowed the ears,
He made the body inhale air;
He formed the mouth for eating,
Made the gorge for swallowing.

He also formed the tongue to speak,
the jaws to open, the gullet to drink,
The throat to swallow and spit.
The spine to give support,
The testicles to move.
The arm to act with vigor,
The rear to perform its task.

The gullet to devor,
Hands and their fingers to do their work,
The head to lead.
The loins to support the phallus,
In the act of begetting.
The frontal organs to consume things,
The rear to aerate the entrails,
Likewise to sit at ease,
And sustain the entrails at night.
The made member to begat,
The womb to conceive,
And increase generations in Egypt.
The bladder to made water,
The virile member to eject,
When it swells between the thighs.
The shins to step,
The legs to tread,
Their bones doing their task,
By the will of his heart.

 

Sumerian Myth

The gods were dredging the rivers,
were piling up their silt
on projecting bends--
and the gods lugging the clay
began complaining  (Jacobsen, Harps 154)

Nammu, who is either the sea or the goddess of the riverbed, goes to her son Enki, who is asleep in the deep (the Apsu) and entreats him to rise from his bed and "fashion servants of the gods" (Kramer, History Begins 109).  Enki, who after all is the god of wisdom, thinks of the germinating powers of the clay and water of the abyss, and he tells Nammu to have some womb-goddesses pinch off this clay and have some "princely fashioners" thicken it, so she can mold it or give birth to it:

 Mix the heart of the clay that is over the abyss,
The good and princely fashioners will thicken the clay,
You, [Nammu] do you bring the limbs into existence;
Ninmah [earth-mother or birth goddess] will work above you,
The goddesses [of birth] .  . . will stand by you at your fashioning;
O my mother, decree its [the newborn's] fate,
Ninmah will bind upon it the image (?) of the gods,
It is man . . . .    (Kramer, History Begins 109)

 

 

Enuma Elish – Sixth Tablet – reproduced from the Sumerian Culture and Texts

 

When Marduk beard the word of the gods,

His heart prompted him and he devised a cunning plan.

He opened his mouth and unto Ea he spake

That which he had conceived in his heart he imparted unto him:

"My blood will I take and bone will I fashion

I will make man, that man may

I will create man who shall inhabit the earth,

That the service of the gods may be established,

and that their shrines may be built.

But I will alter the ways of the gods, and I will change their paths;

Together shall they be oppressed and unto evil shall they....

And Ea answered him and spake the word:

"... the ... of the gods I have changed

... and one...

... shall be destroyed and men will I...

... and the gods .

... and they..."

 

Genesis 1:26

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may ruleover the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Genesis 2:7 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh.

 

Qur’an

he god Allah created man from clay by shaping clay into human form and breathing a spirit into him: [5]
“I am going to create a human being out of clay. When I have formed him and breathed My Spirit into him, fall down in prostration to him! Then inquire of them: Is it they who are stronger in structure or other things We have created? We created them from sticky clay.” 

 

Between the recordings in Kemet and Sumeria, there is ample documented material to trace back areas written in the  Bible that point to the manipulation of what we call genes in this day and age. During the time period of 3300 – 1000 BCE, we find recordings of the creation of man that involve gene splicing with the elements of the planet and assortment of beings including those who were considered on our direct bloodline. Of course, these recordings are of instances that may have taken place thousands of years before they were written.

These stories gave birth to the creation stories both in the Bible and Quran.

In some cases, these experiments involved what some would suggest was cloning by the standards of today. Results from a search:

clone (n.) 

1903, in botany, from Gk. klon "a twig, spray," related to klados "sprout, young branch, offshoot of a plant," possibly from PIE root *kel- "to strike, cut" (see holt).

clone (v.) 

1959, from clone (n.). Related: Clonedcloning. Extension to genetic duplication of human beings is from 1970.

Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such asbacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments (molecular cloning), cells (cell cloning), or organisms. The term also refers to the production of multiple copies of a product such as digital media or software.

In the United States, the human consumption of meat and other products from cloned animals was approved by the FDA on December 28, 2006, with no special labeling required. Such practice has met strong resistance in other regions, such as Europe, particularly over the labeling issue.

 The first cloned animals were created by Hans Dreisch in the late 1800's.  Dreich's original goal was not to create identical animals, but to prove that genetic material is not lost during cell division.  Dreich's experiments involved sea urchins, which he picked because they have large embryo cells, and grow independently of their mothers.  Dreich took a 2 celled embryo of a sea urchin and shook it in a beaker full of sea water until the two cells separated.  Each grew independently, and formed a separate, whole sea urchin.
In 1902, another scientist, embryologist Hans Spemman, used a hair from his infant son as a knife to separate a 2-celled embryo of a salamander, which also grow externally.  He later separated a single cell from a 16-celled embryo.  In these experiments, both the large and the small embryos developed into identical adult salamanders.  Spemman went on to propose what he called a "fantastical experiment" -- to remove the genetic material from an adult cell, and use it to grow another adult.  In this way, he theorized, he would be able to prove that no genetic material was lost as cells grew and divided.

Herbert J. Webber coined the word “clone” in 1903 and was the first to use it to describe a colony of organisms derived asexually from a single progenitor. Webber’s contribution to “a more exact expression to our thoughts” found quick acceptance among scientists.

By the 1950s, the word "clone" had picked up a slightly different meaning. "Clone" now meant to replicate some sort of living creature, while keeping the DNA the same from one generation to the next.  In these early days, the word "clone" mainly referred to cells.  In 1958, the Australian Nobel Prize-winning immunologist, Sir Frank McFarlane Burnet used this word in the title of his famous book, The Clonal Selection Theory of Acquired Immunity.

It seems that mankind decides to step into the field of creation within the laboratory as well and introducing the age of cloning…however, it was all done before. Yet man is not to concern with charging their creation with spiritual energy.

Khnum is a depicted as a ram to reflect the potency of fertility. Khnum was originally a water cosmic principle of nature thought to rule over all water, including rivers and lakes of the underworld (which may have some connection to the underworld of Sumer and Nergal & Ariskhkergal who may have a part in man's creation as well)

Khnum fashions man from clay  and some say this is a result of 'being associated with the source of the Nile, the inundation deposited enough precious black silt onto the river banks to make them fertile. The silt also formed the clay, the raw material required to make pottery.' Another way to view the association of clay and man, is the mixture of the elements from other beings that were already on earth who have the elements of clay within their system (Andalusite (Al2SiO5), Sillimanite (Al2SiO5), and Kyanite (Al2SiO5) and the Annunak(q)I or Netcheru themselves. The molding of clay can be seen as the working of the genetic material.

Khnum used a potter’s wheel to fashion man.

Potter’s Wheel –

Results of a search:

The technique of throwing pots on pottery wheels soon spread throughout the known world. Pictures of stone and wood pottery wheels have been found on Egyptian tombs dating back to 3000 B.C. The earliest pottery wheels were simple pedestals with a revolving wheel at the top that served as the worktable, and was propelled by the potter pushing the wheel around by hand as she worked. Second generation pottery wheels included a stationary working surface at the top of a pedestal, with a wheel at the base driving the working surface by kicking the wheel with the foot.

As the wheel turns, the potter uses her hands and the centrifugal force of the circling wheel to shape, extend and thin the block of clay into any manner of shapes such as plates, vases, or bowls. Once the item is finished, it is glazed, decorated, and fired in a kiln.

In some depictions you will see Het-Heru touching an Ankh to the formed man on Khnum’s Pottery Wheel. Now at first hand we will say this is nothing but analogy and abstract representation of creation. However, using a bit of Afro-Futuristic Vision we may see that the Pottery Wheel may have been an instrument to discern information in genetic material. So rather than simple molding of clay, we have molding of genes into a form of man. Khnum although there is heavy mention of a physical molding there is also a mention of fashioning their Ka (which the closest thing that can match it is Spirit). The Ka represents the Energy Duplicate of the Body and the symbol of two hand up-stretched can also be seen at the space between poles of energy (what we term as negative and positive) and the space between neurons. Or if you clapped your hands quickly and brought them apart a ‘Ka’ sound would be made. So beyond the fashioning of genetic material we have the impulse or spark that brings it to be like the ‘Gods’ (I rarely use this word…but hey I know a few people heard a trumpet or two in their head). The charging of that material is equally important.

Let’s fast forward to our current life cycle and to cloning. There are many processes of cloning nowadays but all seem to silently reflect descriptions of the creation of man from ‘Ancient’ Tablets.

CLONING – Results from a search –

The most common cloning method, known as "somatic cell nuclear transfer" or simply "nuclear transfer," requires two kinds of cell.  One is a somatic cell, which is collected from the animal that is to be cloned (known as the "genetic donor").  A somatic cell is any cell other than a sperm cell or egg cell, and contains the complete DNA, or genetic blueprint, of the animal it came from.  For cloning purposes, somatic cells are typically obtained by a routine skin biopsy performed by a veterinarian.

The other kind of cell required for cloning is an egg cell, which is collected from a female of the same species (known as the "egg donor").  In the lab, a scientist extracts and discards the nucleus of the egg cell, which is the part of the cell that contains the egg donor's genes.  The scientist then inserts the somatic cell from the genetic donor into the egg and "fuses" the two with electricity. The resulting fused egg contains the genetic donor's DNA.

The scientist stimulates the fused egg, which "activates" the egg and causes it to divide just as an egg would if it had been fertilized by a sperm cell in conventional reproduction.  The activated egg is then placed in a culture medium.  As cellular division continues over the course of several days, a blastocyst (early-stage embryo) forms.  After about a week, an embryo transfer specialist transfers the blastocyst to a recipient female (sometimes referred to as "surrogate mother") where it continues to develop.  After a full-term pregnancy, the recipient gives birth to an animal that is essentially the identical twin of the genetic donor.

Next, the DNA is separated from the solution by being spun in a centrifuge, which allows the DNA to collect in the bottom of the tube. After this cycle in the centrifuge the solution is poured off and the DNA is resuspended in a second solution that makes the DNA easy to work with in the future.

This results in a concentrated DNA sample that contains thousands of copies of each gene. For large scale projects such as sequencing the human genome, all this work is done by robots.

In the process of cloning it is important to implement the usage of a centrifuge machine. A centrifuge machine uses the forces of centrifugal force (Centrifugal force (from Latin centrum, meaning "center", and fugere, meaning "to flee") is the apparent outward force that draws a rotating body away from the center of rotation) to separate genetic material. Centrifugal and Centripetal forces play a part in the movement of celestial bodies and molecular bodies.

Now what stood out to me is that the Potter's Wheel   and the Centrifuge  are similar in operation and both seem to play a role in the fashioning of material. And both seem similar in structure. Could it be that Khnum and others from various text of older cycles used a device like the Centrifuge to fashion man? Is it possible that depiction of the actual process was not available or privy to man? And that the actual Potter's Wheel was a reflection of the actual device?

More to come…

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Rise in Excellence,

DjaDja N Medjay

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A Short Review of Lightweightz

I like this. The art is very cool, well drawn and evocative of each character. The teens are all facing personal crisis and angst. The introductory sketch of each teen gives us just enough to know that they're going through it, but there's more going on than it appears to the outside world. There's a message of Faith, but the author doesn't beat you over the head with it, it's a natural part of their lives. I'm eager to see what happens in the next volumes.

I highly recommend this series, especially for teens and adults of Faith. Unlike most comics (even the ones I like), there are no inappropriate or disrespectful images or concepts. (RDJ)

FYI: I don't do spoiler reviews. You get what I think and what I like about it and if I would've liked to see more of something, I say so. But no giving away the entire story!

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