I have struggled my whole life to get a livable wage, secure the american dream and a decent retirement. Things have "went south" as they say. Was thinking of my dependency on all the systems and materials promoted my whole life long to make retirement as comfortable as when I had a good job. Then I started talking to ones a tad bit ahead of me and ones retired for a while, I am no longer optimistic about retirement. I am actually thinking about home scale garden plots, solar energy, wind energy, greenhouses, micro-farming, urban villages, all the ways to use technology to sustain life without sharecropping on the "grid". Supermarkets sell engineered and prepared foods to our bad health so that the healthcare industry is booming. The media is so mind-bending and mind-blending today, an indigenous culture is become an odd throwback. Jobs today require so much education only the poor can afford to ignore it. Don't worry, in the future we will have figured it all out so that every person can push the button. Er, ah, what's does this button do?
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| "Nanozyme": IEEE Spectrum |
Researchers at the University of Florida (UF) have developed a nanoparticle that has shown 100 percent effectiveness in eradicating the hepatitis C virus in laboratory testing.
That sounds good, right? I do admit, I kind of bristle at claims of 100% efficiency, since in nature...that's supposed to be unachievable.
Of course, this is a long way from becoming a treatment anytime soon. A major caveat is that the use of nanotreatments for the targeting and destroying of abnormal cells like cancer cells is always problematic since those cells are “still us”...meaning we've got to have an "off" button for these critters! They might be a little too efficient.
So too, ignorance is not only bliss, it's easier than sifting through research that we're only mildly interested in. A "Google search" is about the BTUs we're willing to expend to understand (I'm not claiming expertise either, just healthy curiousity).
The author would like to retire the phrase "nanobot," as pointed out some of humankind will imagine Matrix Armageddon and a future of gray goo!
IEEE Spectrum: Nanoparticle Completely Eradicates Hepatitis C Virus
The United Protectorate is under attack by the reptilian race known as the Brelac. The Brelac’s bloodthirsty onslaught brings forth the creation of the genetically engineered Humanoid weapons known as Reploids. These Reploids are the perfect weapon. They are the identical copies of real Humans that have been captured, killed, cloned, embedded with powerful psionic based abilities, and programmed to kill for the Brelac. They are untraceable as they blend into Human society.
Colin McKenzie is a second generation Reploid planted in the Protectorate military. When he turns on his commanding officer in an attempt to protect a shipwrecked band of Brelac soldiers, he is captured and reprogrammed along with two other arrested Reploids to serve the government that they were created to destroy.
A dark alliance between the Brelac and the separatist organization Vendetta looms over the Protectorate. The balance is upset when the traitorous Doctor Howard Fenlow, the scientist who is the very creator of the Reploids, manages to produce a weapon powerful enough to bring the Protectorate to it’s knees.
And there are only three that can stop it.
Order from Amazon.com books. And Barnes and Noble.com. Or click on the link below to order from the publisher.
Paperback version, $10,99. E-Book Version. $2,99.
https://www.createspace.com/3667787
...planning to get it. Enjoyed his "Stones of Significance."
...gives a whole new twist to what 2050 might mean! 
Good evening fam :) If anyone would like to purchase print copies of Immortal and Immortal II: The Time of Legend, I'm having a sale: Immortal & Immortal II for $20. Individually: Immortal will be selling for $10 and Immortal II: The Time of Legend for $12.
So hit me up here or at sister24moon@gmail.com. And you can always visit my site.
UPDATE: Creative Loafing Atlanta story on this post: http://clatl.com/edlovesbacon/archives/2012/07/20/georgias-own-superhero-speaks-up-about-recent-colorado-tragedy
Our beloved comic book culture, as fans and for some. superhero theme activists, was used as a back drop to commit mass murder inside an Aurora Colorado movie premier of ” the Dark Knight Rises. “
Americans and world citizens who love this medium should look deeply into unfolding events and resolve to use one of its core values, individual vigilance to enhance public safety, to help people better secure what’s always been society’s soft under belly: theaters; malls; stores, eateries, etc.
Members of what media calls ” the real life superhero ( RLSH ) ” now have a golden opportunity to put aside petty squabbles in the face of a masked assault embodying the worst villainy of fact and fiction. Their use of superhero imagery can assume new seriousness in wake of this tragedy.
The Free World is being tested these days. From domestic crime to foreign terrorism free people are being battered by angry dissidents and worse. Those who enjoy comic books unbridled freedom and the few who even take this to the streets should unite to pump new life into tired appeals about being vigilant in public.
Whether this shooter is a loner or part of a plot our beloved comic book culture nonetheless has preached awareness against sudden evil from its inception. We ( meaning fans and activists ) shouldn’t go spastic and stage embarrassing fan boy pr exercises or misguided vigilantism as clumsy attempts to calm a frightened populace.
Using our beloved comic book culture as fans and activists to creatively high light the need for real life vigilance will be more than enough.
Our fictional heroes and heroines once again have shown us the way.
Whether we use their example to make horrible facts like this movie massacre history remains to be seen.
My thoughts and prayers are with the victims; their families and nations wondering if anywhere is safe anymore?
NADRA ENZI AKA CAP BLACK promotes creative crime prevention. (504) 214-3082. nadracaptblack@gmail is where Pay Pal donations can be sent to assist my citizen patrol efforts which support civic duty and due process.
” EITHER YOU’RE A GOOD BLACK MAN- OR A MEMBER OF THE CHOCOLATE KLAN! “
http://moveonup.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chocolate-klansmen-alert-sp…
CHOCOLATE KLANSMEN ALERT! Speaking Tour
It was all the rage after a year of sweating it out with jobs and kids. Taking a vacation was a right of spring, especially after the ultra cold winter and blistering summer. Seems a waste to dwell on all this now. The sky is permanently etched by clouds and gray, greenery has receded like the hairline of a young man whose genes betrayed his good looks. People have left the cities for the endless shanty towns that connect them. A simpler life we all thought. What we got was chaos and disrepair.
They were all over the city, quonset huts on stilts, no windows, no apparent door. Mega-tek used to be an on-line video retailer. People still wanted theater experience but with mistrust and terrorism we avoid the old dark palaces and crowds. Mega-tek devised these self sustained video huts, you rent the key and help yourself to an eye-full and a mind-full. Mega-tek is a huge, self sustained complex in the city. They have access to every video footage on the planet. At least that's what I heard. No one goes to the city anymore, who's running the show? I don't know.
I found a key while rummaging for coupons, that's todays currency. The key is a coin shaped disc about the size of a quarter and twice as thick. Has the logo and instructions in texting script. Walk under the unit, stand on the spot. The place is on the edge of town, somewhat desolate. I stand on the spot beneath it's stoic form, a small light greets me. I watch an overhead trapdoor slide away and the earth at my feet raises to meet it. Needless to say I am scared. I come up into a ring of lounges surrounded by a ring of screens.
I sit and the screens burst into life, cartoon like instruction, commercials, offerings of syn-food refreshments. I just cried out, 'what happened to us?' All went dead at first as if putting all kidding aside. Then one by one each screen took it's turn retailing history. I don't know how long I was in there. I was OK but out side things were worse, it seems. Maybe it was because of all I saw. Some virtual vacation I said. I took out the coin looked at it again, it read, 'toss it for someone else to find.' I can't go back, I've been changed...................This story clip inspired by this equipment storage unit construction picture off the net.
Old sketch from old 'knowtbook' of a livingroom suite that could apply to this story.
I was looking at pictures of Africa they don't show you in the media. There are some mighty fine cities and large. I have only seen on TV the degradation and despair and military and why is every African leader who isn't pushing democracy a dictator? Anyway, when I see the big cities I want to go there and bask in the place.
I look at the enticing real estate offerings and realize it is kind of sick. With all the shambles and poverty for rural Africans, why does the escape from that equal the ostentatious display of wealth as if they read an ad, "now you too can have your own plantation, servants and live a little higher on the hog"....? I mean here is few limits you can do anything you wish. Of course I had a little nation building drummed into me in college, the utopian novel, black power and umoja ngoma (not by the school, of course).
I fell into the idea of using cargo containers as dwelling spaces. They resemble the corrugated shanty you see all over Africa. The modern container users seem not to prefer to alter them much. So when I see a single container home in contrast to surrounding homes they look quaint and ultra modern. In mass they look like a shanty town. I thought how can I change them so that an endless variety of configurations could be realized. Join them together with quonset huts and grain silos was the answer.
My first thought was not to mimic the western idea of housing as a standard. Since the glut of people live in less than that standard dwelling. Also something about how African cultures do things differently. So I strayed away from large personal spaces that compromised the communal space. If you have a big bedroom it takes away from the living room space. I ask why does every person need a personal apartment (bed, bath, kitchenette) in the house. I'm not saying every person gets a cubby hole and a mattress (a cell). My realization is that Africans respect the communal living more than of western folk.
I think about functional parts, bathroom, kitchen, lighting, utilities and open reconfigurable space. The cargo container becomes a basic unit, easy to set up, remove, and to alter with quonset arches and silo curves spanning spaces, breaking up straight walls, etc. Perhaps it is a little more compact than we would like. These parts are pre-manufactured and require less altering to surround space. I live in a house with nice rooms made small with overstuffed furniture. It is comfortable to the behind but looks cramped and small to the eyes. A lot of space is unused to be filled with junk.
Instead of down grading the typical western idea of a house, I am looking at upgrading the sheet steel shanty (hut), into a high tech dwelling unit or at least a more flexible way to enclose space. So, if you peruse my photos and see the dwelling unit concepts you have some idea where I am going with this line of thought.
Col. Gregory D. Gadson stole the show in "Battleship". Gadson played Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales a double amputee in physical therapy when the film opens. We meet him because he is a plot device for the love interest in the film showing that she is a three dimensional character rather than just a pretty face. However, he is necessary for her part in the battle to be plausible. His acting was strong, powerful, riveting, and left me wanting more. I researched Gadson on IMDB.com to find he is an active duty military officer and 'wounded warrior'. He was featured in the documentary "Wounded Warriors' Resilience" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2097945/. I'm sure he is busy with his military duties but it would be great to see him in more films.
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| Department of Energy |
A new approach to an established fuel will be the focus of research, development and maybe production with the help of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The company, based in Britain, has formulated a way to store hydrogen safely in tiny pellets that still allow the fuel to be burned in an engine. [NASA] Kennedy, which handles huge amounts of the explosive gas regularly as part of its rocket work, is being enlisted to help the company overcome a couple technological hurdles.
If the work pays off, engines all over the world could run on hydrogen, which burns clean, producing no greenhouse gases.
As many of you know, my Darkside Universe of novels, seven total planned, is centered around the premise that black folks have been secretly living on the backside of the moon since before Neil Armstrong set foot there.
What I'm in the process of doing now is writing a story in that universe from the perspective of a black man, living in American, observing the country's response to the "Discovery."
Where I think you all may help is if you wanted to take the time to write a short piece detailing how your "character" would have responded to the discovery.
So, what I'm looking to do is create a story, written by a group of contributors and submit it as a tale written by various personalities here on BSFS.
If nothing else, I would love to hear your opinions and ideas, everything is on the table.
Here's the beginning of the story's intro:
Scott was born in 1955. The average house cost $10,950. The cost of a new car was $2,000. Disneyland opens in California. Ray Kroc began the McDonalds restaurant chain. Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, setting off the American Civil Rights Movement. And, fourteen year-old Emmett Till is murdered in Money, Mississippi for allegedly disrespecting a white woman. It was quite a year.
He was a middle-aged black man of 46 when the country discovered that African Americans had been living on the moon since a handful of years after his birth, years before Neil Armstrong set foot on the surface.
He lived through an unpopular war in Southeast Asia that ended in ignominy, the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., John’s brother Bobby. Malcolm X, and a host of others, for no better reason than what they said and did angered someone enough to kill.
He watched as blacks were battered and bruised by fire hose and baton, set upon by vicious dogs, and killed for no other reason than the color of their skin giving license to others for such deadly, and inhumane, treatment.
And, throughout his entire life, he observed how an entire industry persecuted, distorted and lied about the humanity of an entire race of people because whites needed a foil in their desperate need to cling to sociological, political and financial power over all persons colored. There was no love in his soul for the fictional tellings of a moneyed, corporate media.
But all that changed when a CIA spy satellite saw unmistakable signs of life on the moon’s surface. At first the US government tried to hide the fact, but too many people at NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratories, and the Pentagon had seen the real-time download of images from the satellite for them to remain secret for long. In fact, it wasn’t more than an hour before the country was informed that the satellite had recorded signs of habitation on the moon.
In a belated effort to forestall panic and further rampant speculation, the President of the United States was forced to make an statement in an effort to calm the citizenry, to try to convey that this new circumstance was one that wasn’t a threat to the nation, and that whatever the challenge, the United States of America would meet it head on, and persevere.
Right. How does that old joke go: “Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans!”
Thank you for your consideration.
WmH
WIKIPEDIA: Satyendra Nath Bose FRS[1] (Bengali: সত্যেন্দ্র নাথ বসু Shottendronath Boshū, IPA: [ʃot̪ːend̪ronat̪ʰ boʃu]; 1 January 1894 – 4 February 1974) was an Indian physicist specializing in mathematical physics. He was born in Kolkata, then spelt Calcutta. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, providing the foundation for Bose–Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate. A Fellow of the Royal Society, he was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan in 1954 by the Government of India.
The class of particles that obey Bose-Einstein statistics, bosons, was named after him by Paul Dirac.
A self-taught scholar and a polyglot (mastery of multiple languages), he had a wide range of interests in varied fields including physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, mineralogy, philosophy, arts, literature and music. He served on many research and development committees in independent India.
A "mistake" leading to Bose-Einstein Statistics:
The reason Bose's "mistake" produced accurate results was that since photons are indistinguishable from each other, one cannot treat any two photons having equal energy as being two distinct identifiable photons. By analogy, if in an alternate universe coins were to behave like photons and other bosons, the probability of producing two heads would indeed be one-third (tail-head = head-tail). Bose's "error" is now called Bose–Einstein statistics. This result derived by Bose laid the foundation of quantum statistics, as acknowledged by Einstein and Dirac.
Velocity-distribution data of a gas of rubidium atoms, confirming the discovery of a new phase of matter, the Bose–Einstein condensate... Einstein adopted the idea and extended it to atoms. This led to the prediction of the existence of phenomena which became known as Bose-Einstein condensate, a dense collection of bosons (which are particles with integer spin, named after Bose), which was demonstrated to exist by experiment in 1995.
Heroes should be recognized, and acknowledged.
Wikipedia: Satyendra Nath Bose
University of Colorado: Bose-Einstein Condensate Homepage (links below)
Chem4kids: Bose-Einstein Condensate
Enjoying rereading "The God Particle" by Leon Lederman. Had it since '93.
Sadly, it was in it the Superconducting Supercollider in Waxahatchie, Texas (there is such a place), where Lederman suggested as "the mother of all colliders" where we were supposed to discover the Higgs...oh, well! 
R.I.P. Andy Griffith...
Homer Hickam's Amazon page
“Bypasses are devices that allow some people to dash from point A to point B very fast while other people dash from point B to point A very fast. People living at point C, being a point directly in between, are often given to wonder what's so great about point A that so many people from point B are so keen to get there, and what's so great about point B that so many people from point A are so keen to get there. They often wish that people would just once and for all work out where the hell they wanted to be.”
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
“Man is an artifact designed for space travel. He is not designed to remain in his present biologic state any more than a tadpole is designed to remain a tadpole.”
“Science fiction is the most important literature in the history of the world, because it's the history of ideas, the history of our civilization birthing itself. ...Science fiction is central to everything we've ever done, and people who make fun of science fiction writers don't know what they're talking about.”
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| Higgs Announcement at CERN |
We have found it – now we have to work out exactly what "it" is. That neatly sums up the thoughts of many physicists at CERN yesterday as they began to absorb the announcement that the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) had discovered a Higgs boson – or at least something like a Higgs. CERN's director general Rolf-Dieter Heuer was very careful to describe the new particle, which has a mass of about 125 GeV/c2, as a "fundamental scalar boson". However, even the scalar part of that description – which indicates that the particle has zero spin – has not been completely nailed down.
The Scientific Method is a thought process, an accepted means of constantly questions itself in discoveries and published findings. It can be somewhat off-putting to the general public, used to definitive statements and cock-sureness (at least advertised by their political leaders). Although, I don't know if it's the scientists' fault (as Physics Today opines) more than we've become something our brains weren't designed for nor evolution intended: an entertainment culture addicted to instant gratification. What doesn't come easy to understand in seconds is quickly discarded instead of effort made to master. The Matrix was our undoing...
Physics World: It's a boson, but what sort?
Hmm...dead space from 2:43 - 3:31, then silent slide show. As a baby boomer, I'm seeing talent exit the stage all too often, and a modern reference to a sensationalized culture what that actually means...
In all fairness: Peter Higgs is a theoretical physicist from England.
R&D: Media covering the story gave lots of credit to British physicist Peter Higgs for theorizing the elusive subatomic "God particle," but little was said about Satyendranath Bose, the Indian after whom the boson is named.
"He is a forgotten hero," the government lamented in a lengthy statement, noting that Bose was never awarded a Nobel Prize though "at least 10 scientists have been awarded the Nobel" in the same field.
The gentleman you see removing his glasses (expressing a lot of emotion for a theoretical physicist), is none other than Peter Higgs himself (~0:51 into the announcement). A primer on the Higgs Boson (the Boson we have Satyendranath Bose to thank for) will post tomorrow...
...I did not come up with the title.
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| Credit: Rice University |
Imagine spray painting the side of your house and it not only produces power from the sun, but can store the energy for later as well. A novel approach to battery design from Rice University researchers could enable that and other types of spray-on batteries.
The research, published last week in Nature, seeks a new approach to battery fabrication by using materials that can be spray-painted onto various surfaces. Combined with flexible printed circuits and research in spray-on solar cells, the technique offers the prospect of turning common objects into smart devices with computing power and storage. Another possibility is consumer electronics, such as cell phones or cameras, with a battery coating.
Technology Review: Spray-On Batteries Could Reshape Energy Storage
Phoenix Jones is a young Black man and self-proclaimed crime fighter in a socially progressive city ( Seattle ). He famously has a two-fisted approach to stopping urban crime.
To his credit he’s living proof that all young Black men aren’t what I call “chocolate klanmen” thugging their way through life.
As an older Black man who’s also in what the media calls the ” real life superhero ( RLSH ) ” community I’ve marveled at Jones’ color blind acceptance from the press, liberal and conservative. This argues well for where America is since its most famous costumed crusader is also part of the late Trayvon Martin’s generation.
I’d assume ( thank God ) Phoenix didn’t grow up under Jim Crow-lite like I did. His biography shows challenges in his upbringing which are indicative of our era.
My acute concern as a RLSH while Black is that Phoenix needs to be very, very careful during his interventions. Already arrested once ( case dropped ) local police are not exactly thrilled with his activities. While no racial angle has emerged it’s worth noting nonetheless.
He’s still a Black man using force and detaining White people- even in the liberal Pacific Northwest that’s risky. The same caveat applies to Black suspects he encounters. One biased cop; upset complainants plus one biased prosecutor equals life changing potential trouble for this young man.
My analysis might be a little too Old School for Phoenix reality but is offered anyway. As a Southern RLSH activist who began in progress-challenged Savannah, GA., being Black while wearing a mask ( “superhero” or not ) would have created more problems than it would have solved- like being mistaken for a criminal and shot by police! ( LOL ).
Phoenix Jones is the flip side of the Trayvon Martin tragedy: instead of a victim or too often for young brothers; a suspect, Jones is a self-appointed crime fighter or vigilante depending upon opinion. Should scores of other Black men follow his example will society be so accommadating?
Black while wearing a mask Jones isn’t a ” Black “activist vocally focused upon racial issues. He’s no cowled Al Sharpton and thus accepted much more readily. His brand is simple: red-blooded American male decides to do something about crime beyond fuming or dialing 911.
All I’m saying is, ” Be careful brother. ”
People have mostly accepted you for what you say you are but beware those who can’t accept America’s number one “real life superhero” being Black. Look at the grief President Obama gets in some quarters and learn.
My duty as a fellow anti crime activist while Black and male is to pass this unsolicited advice along to Phoenix Jones.
Phoenix Jones; race and being a real life superhero has yet to become a viral debate topic. Perhaps it never will.
But, you never know what direction this stuff can take- esepcially if people begin plotting against you for whatever reason.
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK promotes creative crime prevention and homeless outreach. (504) 214-3082
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK
ANTI-CRIME ACTIVIST
CHOCOLATE KLANSMEN ALERT! SPEAKER
http://moveonup.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chocolate-klansmen-alert-speaking-tour
