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| Each universe in a multiverse contains different levels of dark energy, according to the dominant theory. STOLK/GETTY IMAGES |
Topics: Astrophysics, Cosmology, Dark Energy, Multiverses, Theoretical Physics
A hypothetical multiverse seems less likely after modeling by researchers in Australia and the UK threw one of its key assumptions into doubt.
The multiverse concept suggests that our universe is but one of many. It finds support among some of the world’s most accomplished physicists, including Brian Greene, Max Tegmark, Neil deGrasse Tyson and the late Stephen Hawking.
One of the prime attractions of the idea is that it potentially accounts for an anomaly in calculations for dark energy.
The mysterious force is thought to be responsible for the accelerating expansion of our own universe. Current theories, however, predict there should be rather more of it around than there appears to be. This throws up another set of problems: if the amount of dark energy around was as much as equations require – and that is many trillions of times the level that seems to exist – the universe would expand so rapidly that stars and planets would not form – and life, thus, would not be possible.
The multiverse idea to an extent accounts for and accommodates this oddly small – but life-permitting – dark energy quotient. Essentially it permits a curiously self-serving explanation: there are a vast number of universes all with differing amounts of dark energy. We exist in one that has an amount low enough to permit stars and so on to form, and thus life to exist. (And we find ourselves here, runs the logic, because we couldn’t find ourselves anywhere else.)
So far, so anthropic. But now a group of astronomers, including Luke Barnes from the University of Sydney in Australia and Jaime Salcido from Durham University in the UK, has published two papers in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society that show the dark energy and star formation balance isn’t quite as fine as previous estimates have suggested.
Multiverse theory cops a blow after dark energy findings
Andrew Masterson, Cosmos Magazine
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| Mechanisms of induced seismicity Both wastewater injection and gas extraction can cause induced earthquakes. Detailed observations from the Midwestern United States and Groningen, Netherlands, show that in both cases, preexisting conditions in Earth's crust are of central importance |
Topics: Alternative Energy, Earthquake, Geophysics, Green Energy
Since 2009, the Midwestern United States has seen a dramatic rise in earthquakes induced by human activities. Most of these events were caused by massive reinjection of wastewater produced during oil and gas extraction (1, 2). In February 2016, regulators in Oklahoma called for an injection rate reduction after several major events up to moment magnitude 5.8 (Mw 5.8) occurred. On the other side of the Atlantic, an unprecedented number of earthquakes has followed gas extraction from the Groningen field in the Netherlands (3). The Dutch government imposed production cuts after a Mw 3.6 event in August 2012 caused structural damage to houses. Intensive research of these two instances of induced seismicity points to contrasting mechanisms, but in both cases, the natural conditions prior to subsurface activities play a dominant part.
Fifty years ago, Healy et al. determined that fluid injection at depth causes the pore pressure to rise in a preexisting fault, reducing its strength and potentially leading to its failure (4). In contrast, fluid extraction at depth reduces the pore pressure, leading to compaction of the rock mass; the increased rock stress can drive a preexisting fault to failure. In both settings, the two factors that control induced earthquakes are operational parameters, such as the volume that is injected or produced, and natural conditions, such as the presence of preexisting faults and their ambient stress level. Operational parameters are often assumed to dominate, but that notion may reflect limited knowledge of the locations of preexisting faults and their ambient stress level. For regulatory measures to be effective in mitigating induced seismicity, it is crucial to understand the role of the natural conditions that existed before human activities.
Thibault Candela, Brecht Wassing, Jan ter Heege, Loes Buijze
Science
Head to abyssiniamedia.net and check out the REBOOT of my Comic book media company. Learned a few tricks with Word Press to make life better..... Enjoy
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| Mosaddegh shaking hands with Mohammad-Reza Shah in their first meeting after Mossadegh's election as Prime Minister By Unknown - http://www.aryamehr.org/eng/19august/28mordad.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7431651 |
Topics: Commentary, Existentialism, Politics, Star Trek
Star Trek (to me) is a societal metaphor for the perfection we at least see ourselves as a species eventually achieving in civics, equality and technology, an update to Winthrop's "city on a hill." A lot of the scripted claims aren't supported by any known science, the term "technobabble" is now a part of the lexicon. I gave up one night at Motorola trying to explain to a coworker the sound barrier is a lot different than a "light speed barrier" due to the fact we're all composed of matter, which has mass and thus, drag. Some things you just have to let go of.
I do often ask the question in casual Trek conversations: "In the fictional Star Trek universe, what is the most impacting technology?" If you're a Worf-type, it's phasers; if you're a Riker-type, it's warp drive (see my exasperation in the paragraph above).
But no, in this fantastical universe where I'm surprised they haven't yet pulled off a Star Trek/Star Wars crossover, I'd say the technology with the most impact has to be...replicators, those wretched violators of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, right along with transporters that reassemble you just like you started, versus cloning ever-imperfect facsimiles as the physics should work. (See: Jeff Goldblum in The Fly)
The closest thing we have to replicators is 3D printing. Maybe combining that with a phone app would be a facsimile of the classic Picard line: tea, Earl Grey...hot! I know that sounds a lot like Panera Bread...
Wages have been stagnant since the seventies, exacerbating income inequality and leading to not just two Americas, but two societies: one rich, one poor and no middle class bridge in-between. It is a recipe for dystopia. Replicators would be a disturbing disruption to the hierarchical status quo. Suddenly, workers wouldn't have to "work" to feed themselves or their families. Industries would be short of workers that essentially stopped showing up for the Prussian economic model of capitalism. It would scare the piss out of the 1%! They might try to convince everyone of the "dangers" like Edison did AC current by electrocuting an elephant. However, someone's likely to leak the plans to the Internet, then all bets would be off. It would be a middle finger from the Proletariat. It's pure fantasy, but it would essentially eliminate the need for money, economy and thus hierarchies and control of societal "pariahs," which seems - among other things - a consistent critique from the right regarding the Trek franchise.
*****
Mohammad Mosaddegh was the democratically elected leader of Iran. In 1953, oil interests in the United States and United Kingdom orchestrated a coup d'état primarily for the company now known as British Petroleum (BP). The operation was orchestrated by the Central Intelligence Agency (as new CIA Chief Gina Haspel would opine, "the good guys") and its manipulating British counterpart, MI-6. We then installed the Shah of Iran, by all accounts a brutal dictator that assassinated his enemies until the uprising that started my senior year in high school and solidified the rise of Ronald Reagan, who said to his admirers "our best days are behind us," almost in the same breath as announcing his presidential run blocks away from the site where three Civil Rights workers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman were murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi. That eventually had to morph into another slogan born of bigotry, birtherism, jealousy and xenophobia: "make America great again."
From Wikipedia: "An author, administrator, lawyer, and prominent parliamentarian, his administration introduced a range of progressive social and political reforms such as social security and land reforms, including taxation of the rent on land. His government's most notable policy, however, was the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry, which had been under British control since 1913 through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC/AIOC) (later British Petroleum and BP)." The CIA cryptonym was Operation Ajax.
Like AC current and replicators, Luddites oppose every single innovation that advances society and decreases inequality because it removes their places at the apogee of the hierarchy, and interferes with their addiction to every-increasing profits. I don't use that term loosely. Charles Ferguson, Academy Award winning director of "Inside Job" alludes to it in the film.
An addiction is defined as "1 : the quality or state of being addicted addiction to reading; 2 : compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (such as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly : persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful" Merriam-Webster
Addiction: What other definition could be so apropos as a small minority of humanity makes insane amounts of money while harming the environment, exacerbating income inequality, encouraging wars along with arms dealing for-profit within the US (NRA), abroad and skating along the precipice of negative climate outcomes, nuclear annihilation to pump up a portfolio, or a trust fund they may contribute to; purchase of a new yacht on a planet no longer able to sustain life...including theirs?
Replicators and Mosaddegh have several common threads: economies of scarcity or post-scarcity, energy exploitation and distribution; the intervention by moneyed elites in the evolution of societies, scientific research either supported or suppressed into alternatives to fossil fuels and hierarchical, unequal societies bordering on dysfunction...and demise. The most common thread is choice of direction: either one or the other will sustain the species. Replicators are fiction; Mosaddegh, history.
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Tim 6:10
And many feigned any "faith" from the beginning to manipulate a bewildered herd to its avarice bidding. When most rain forests burn to the ground, the higher, greener canopies go crashing down with them. It's physics, not fantasy.
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| A health worker walks at an Ebola quarantine unit on June 13, 2017 in Muma, Congo. Credit: John Wessels Getty Images |
Topics: Biology, Ebola, Existentialism, Politics
The fact that the erstwhile resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, conman, racist, thug and crook has labeled any countries with shades of Melanin darker than his orange hue as "s-hole countries," don't expect any help from the US anytime soon. As a matter-of-fact, I expect we'll look at Puerto Rico as halcyon days of functionality.
The new Ebola outbreak on the western edge of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has ignited serious concern at the World Health Organization, with signs pointing to an epidemic that may have been underway for weeks or months.
Though there are only two confirmed cases at this point, preliminary investigations point to cases in several locations that may date back as far as early this year, Dr. Pierre Formenty, the WHO’s top Ebola expert told STAT. There is also fear that two health care workers may be among the infected, which happens often in Ebola outbreaks and can fuel the disease’s spread.
The country’s ministry of health, which declared the outbreak on Tuesday, said then that there are at least 21 people known to have symptoms consistent with Ebola, and 17 of whom have died.
While the outbreak is in a remote area where road travel is taxing and slow, one of the towns where cases may be occurring, Bikoro, is a port on a lake that connects to the Congo River. That opens up the disturbing specter of infected individuals traveling by boat to DRC’s densely populated capital, Kinshasa, or to Brazzaville, the capital of the neighboring Republic of the Congo.
“If it was only the roads, we know that the roads are very bad and that it’s difficult for people to travel. But if you reach Bikoro and you take a boat … everything could happen,” Formenty said in an interview on Wednesday.
“For us it’s a worrying situation in a bad context in terms of logistics. And we need to go fast.”
WHO Officials Fear Latest Ebola Outbreak in Congo Could Spread to Big Cities Helen Branswell, Scientific American
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| FILE PHOTO: The Mars InSight probe is shown in this artist's rendition operating on the surface of Mars, due to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, U.S. on May 5, 2018 in this image obtained on May 3, 2018. NASA/ Handout via REUTERS/File Photo |
Topics: Mars, NASA, Planetary Science, Space Exploration
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After decades exploring the surface of Mars, NASA is set for the weekend launch of its first robotic lander dedicated to studying the red planet’s deep interior, with instruments to detect planetary seismic rumblings never measured anywhere but Earth.
The Mars InSight probe is due for liftoff on Saturday before dawn from Vandenberg Air Force Base near the central California coast, treating early risers across a wide region to the luminous spectacle of the first interplanetary spacecraft to be launched from the U.S. West Coast.
The lander will be carried aloft for NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) atop a powerful, 19-story Atlas 5 rocket from the fleet of United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co.
InSight will be released about 90 minutes after launch on a 301 million-mile (548 km) flight to Mars, and is due to reach its destination six months later, landing on a flat, smooth plain close to the planet’s equator called the Elysium Planitia.
The 800-pound (360 kg) spacecraft - its name is short for Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport - marks the 21st U.S.-launched Martian exploration, dating back to the Mariner fly-by missions of the 1960s. Nearly two dozen other Mars missions have been launched by other nations.
Spacecraft for detecting 'Marsquakes' set for rare California launch, Steve Gorman, Reuters Science
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| Illustration of the quartz plates used to measure heat transfer. The coloured regions are electrodes used to position the plates. Courtesy: M Ghashami et al/Phys. Rev. Lett.) |
Topics: Electrical Engineering, Experimental Physics, Thermodynamics
New insights into why heat transfer between objects is enhanced at very short separations have been gleaned by Keunhan Park and colleagues at the University of Utah and University of Pittsburgh in the US. The team made exquisitely precise measurements of how heat moves between two quartz plates that are positioned just 200 nm apart. They found that energy transfer is enhanced by about 45 times at tiny separations, which they ascribe to the coupling of surface photon polaritons across the gap between the plates.
Normally, the heat transfer between two objects at different temperatures can be approximated by assuming that the objects are “black bodies”. These are ideal entities that absorb all radiation falling on them and emit thermal radiation according to Planck’s law. Physicists have known for some time that this breaks down when objects get to within a few hundred nanometres of each other, where they exchange heat much faster than predicted by the black-body approximation. Indeed, this “near-field” enhancement has already been used in some technologies including heat extraction and thermophotovoltaic systems.
However, more widespread use of the enhancement has been hampered by a poor understanding of the effect – which is a result of significant experimental difficulties in measuring heat transfer between objects separated by just a few hundred nanometres. These challenges include controlling unwanted heat flow and achieving precise control over the orientation and separation of the two objects.
Surface phonon polaritons boost heat transfer, Hamish Johnston, Physics World
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| a) Schematic shows the band structure of the semiconducting HfS2/HfO2 when under strain, and the consequent charge funnelling. b) The strain is induced in the semiconductor by creating a region of oxide using intense laser light. c) A photocurrent map of the device; the photoresponse drastically increases when a region (dashed circle, bottom) is oxidized, compared with the same device before oxidation (top), a sign of the charge funnelling effect. Figure reproduced with permission from the authors and Nature Communications. |
Topics: Green Energy, Green Tech, Laser, Nanotechnology, Semiconductor Technology, Solar Power
Note: Radiant solar energy = 1.1 x 10^18 kilowatt hours/year; 3.013 x 10^15 kilowatt hours/day. We're literally "leaving money on the table"... for fossil fuel greed.
Source: United Nations World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability
Funnels are efficient tools for channelling liquids into containers with narrow openings. Now, researchers in Exeter have demonstrated the first funnel for electrical charges on a chip. The discovery builds on the ability to oxidize the atomically thin semiconductor, hafnium disulphide (HfS2), with a high-intensity UV laser. The non-uniform strain between oxidized and non-oxidized regions, and the subsequent band-gap modulation, generates electric fields, which effectively funnel the charges in the semiconductor flakes to areas where they can be more easily collected. This concept could enable a new generation of solar cells with 60% efficiency (currently around 21%), thanks to the increased efficiency in collecting photo-excited charges and the potential for hot-carrier extraction.
Intense laser light means oxidation, oxidation means strain
In general, bulk semiconductors can only sustain strains up to 0.4% before breaking. However, a layer of semiconductor that is only a few atoms thick can support strains of up to 25%. This amount of strain changes the band gap in the energy dispersion by up to 1 eV. In this work, Saverio Russo and his group at the University of Exeter, induce the strain in the HfS2 using a 375 nm laser to remove sulphur atoms, which are then replaced by oxygen atoms. According to calculations performed using density functional theory, the hafnium atoms have different separations in HfS2 and HfO2. This produces a 2.7% strain at the boundary between the oxidized and non-oxidized regions. Electrical contacts anchor the material to a substrate, so a strain gradient is present across the whole flake, shifting asymmetrically the conduction and valence bands to higher energies, and opening the band gap by 30 meV.
Funneling charges to boost solar-cell efficiency, Lauren Barr, PhD, network contributor for nanotechweb.org
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| The 100th meridian west (solid line) coincides with the climate divide between the relatively moist eastern U.S. and the more arid West. Climate change may already be pushing the divide eastward (dotted line). Credit: Richard Seager Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory |
Topics: Climate Change, Greenhouse Gases, Weather
I used to live in Central Texas where an average summer temperature is 110 degrees Fahrenheit and a "cold front" is 90 degrees in comparison. I also suffered mightily from "Cedar Fever," a pollen from a popular local genus of tree. I also remember it being particularly lethal for senior and younger citizens as temperatures climbed. My wife has had her bouts with pine in New York and now North Carolina.
So CBS News reported in March that the intensity of allergy seasons may be extended by climate change as well as associated health risks from malaria to kidney stones and waterborne parasites. It makes it personal; denial hard to do when you're on an antibiotic more than you'd like to be.
The unfortunate part is, I think through denial and selfishness, we've waited beyond a window where we could do anything about it.
*****
To travel westward across the U.S. is to experience a striking landscape metamorphosis. Stately hardwood trees give way to squat shrubs, verdant cornfields to brown wheat and lush grasslands to cacti and creosote bush. The air dries out and the land is often parched. This rather abrupt shift from the humid east to arid west occurs along a border that slices neatly through the Canadian province of Manitoba, then the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and into eastern Mexico. The divide is so stark airline passengers can see it—a patchwork quilt of green farms on one side, a vast expanse of brown and gold on the other.
And now this boundary is on the move, creeping east as global temperatures rise, according to new research published last month in Earth Interactions. Given the line’s historical role in shaping U.S. westward expansion, its shift could alter the agriculture that plays a crucial role in the economy of the Great Plains states. [1]
Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas that is roughly 30 times more harmful to the climate than carbon dioxide (CO2). Both gases are produced in thawing permafrost as dead animal and plant remains are decomposed. However, methane is only formed if no oxygen is available. Until now, it was assumed that larger amounts of greenhouse gases are formed when the ground was dry and well aerated—when oxygen was available. Christian Knoblauch and his colleagues have now demonstrated that water-saturated permafrost soils without oxygen can be twice as harmful to the climate as dry soils—which means the role of methane has been greatly underestimated.
Knoblauch has, for the first time, measured and quantified in the laboratory the long-term production of methane in thawing permafrost. The team had to wait for three years before the approximately 40,000 year-old samples from the Siberian Arctic finally produced methane. The team observed the permafrost for a total of seven years, an unprecedented long-term study.
They found that without oxygen, equal amounts of methane and CO2 are produced. But since methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas, it is more significant. Because methane production couldn't be measured, it was assumed that in the absence of oxygen only very small amounts of it can be formed. "It takes an extremely long time until stable methane-producing microorganisms develop in thawing permafrost," explains Knoblauch. "That's why it was so difficult to demonstrate methane production until now." [2]
1. A Nation Divided: Arid/Humid Climate Boundary in U.S. Creeps Eastward, Shannon Hall, Scientific American
2. Thawing permafrost produces more methane than expected, Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, Phys.org
>>>> Please excuse the typos and mistakes. This is still a work in progress, but I wanted to share it here first<<<<<
During the first season of my life my great-grandmother played an intricate role in shaping who I was to become. During our times together after school or on the weekends my mom decided she wanted go have a good time with my dad or her friends, she taught me lessons. Some lessons related to the things a child would experience in the school yard and in their daily comings on a goings. Other lessons, when I look back now, were well beyond my experience, but even as a seven year old somehow I understood her perfectly.
By the time I was born most of the grandfathers in my life had either passed away or were in the process of drinking themselves to death. During that time it wasn't much else for black men in Mississippi to do. You would either be worked to death, drank to death or in most cases both. So the closest I ever got to Mama Fancy's other half was an old black and white picture of him proudly standing in front of our house in Easter day. 1958 was the date on the picture, long before my arrival in 1979.
The evening light poured into the living room window casting a hard shadow of the window's checker board pattern. And although dinner was about forty-five minutes ago, the fried chicken's aroma still permeated the front half of the house.
“Is that skillet still burning on the stove?” My grandmother asked.
I my mother hopped up off the couch running into kitchen.
“Yes!” Mom shouted back.
“Shit, I told you to turn that skillet off! Girl, you don't want no grease fire up in here. Them be the hardest ones to put out. And I ain't got no more flour either. I used the last little bit frying that chicken.”
“Sorry Mama. I forgot.” My mom said opening the back door then fanning the air in the kitchen with a damp dish towel.
“Don't be sorry, be careful.” Grandma said. “Make sure nobody mess with that cake before Brenda and Ogdan gets here.
Aunt Brenda and Uncle Ogdan were my mom's older brother and sister. They both had lived in Jackson and had good jobs. My grandmother was always proud of their accomplishments. My mom was the only child to put having kids before getting a college degree. This caused a lot of animosity between her and her older siblings, especially Aunt Brenda.
“Why are they coming here today?”
“Because, we have to talk about mama and the thing that been going on lately.”
A pained look cross my mother's face at this answer. “Mama, don't say that. It's no where near time for that yet. You know how Mama Fancy just likes to talk out of her head sometimes. We shouldn't even be thinking about this.”
“Yes, we should and we is. I remember how it happen to Big Mama and now mama is doing the same stuff. We got to face it head on and make sure what needs to be done is done. I'm sad about it too, but it's only right.”
Uncle Ogdan's laugh could be heard throughout the house. He scooped up huge chunk of chocolate cake onto his fork stuffing it into his mouth. I wondered if there would be any left for the rest of us. My grandmother sat in the corner sipping her signature searing black coffee. I sneak and tried it once while she had her back turned. It took a whole day to get the taste of coffee beans out of my mouth. I still don't drink coffee in any form to this day. My Aunt Brenda sat beside her proudly talking about her new teaching assignment in the biology department at Jackson State University. My mother on the hand, fixed a nice hefty plate for Mama Fancy who preferred to take her meals in her bedroom lately.
The change in Mama Fancy started a month ago. Her conversations grew short and her memory even shorter. She started to obsess over being a burden to all of us. And most troubling, she started talking about the past. First it was the recent past such as fond memories of recently holidays or events. Then it was the distant past, very distant past. She spoke of people and things and places we never heard of or knew existed.
After finally being allowed to have our fill of the delicious chocolate cake, me along with my cousins were sent to my room to play and allow the adults to have their private conversation. However, I was more interested in hearing what they had to say bout Mama Fancy than playing Barbie dream house with my cousin Hannah.
“A choice got to be made soon.” My grandmother said.
“Well, I'm sure everything will work out in it's perfect timing.” Aunt Brenda smiled with confidence. “Don't worry so much mama. This has been done before and it will continue to be done.” She added rubbing grandma's back.
“I know it's been done before” Grandma pulled away from her. “Just this time I don't know if she in her right mind to do it. She barely know where she at half the time. This time, I... I think we gone have to choose it for her.”
“So now you want to take that away from her too?” My mother cut in. “You already treat her like a helpless child! Now, not only do you want to rush the process, you willing to take away her last dignity too.”
“Don't you accuse me of wanting to take nothing.” Grandma hissed. “It got to be done whether she can do it or not.”
“Is all of this really important?” Uncle Ogdan asked. “Can't we just let this end and live like a normal family? You know, try to be normal people who have to deal with normal things. Hell, we might even like it!”
Aunt Brenda nodded in half-hearten agreement. My mother scoffed and rolled her eyes at his absurdity. But Grandma leaned back and sat quietly then said, “You speak like a fool. The more you educated the dumber you get. Don't you get it? What this family got... What she got is more than any college or grad school could ever teach.” She pointed a long, curved shaky finger at my uncle. “If we lose this, we lose everything.”
“Well.” Aunt Brenda looked around at her mother and each of her siblings. “The choice is obvious.” She shrugged.
“Let me guess.” My mother said. “It should be you.”
“Well, yes!” She replied. “I am educated and successful. I can do a lot more with what I already have to offer.”
At this, my mother raised up from the back of her chair. “So you believe education and success and money makes you deserving of it? We was all taught that those things were fleeting. What about the things Mama Fancy taught us, like kindness and character and respect for spiritual things. You barely believe in going to church, Brenda.”
“Stop this.” My grandmother spat. “When the time comes...”
“If!” Mom cut in.
“If and when the time comes, I will do the choosing. We won't mention this no more, for now.”
That night I decided to ask to sleep with Mama Fancy. All the talk about her had me very worried. I needed to be near her. I didn't want to take my eyes off her or leave her side.
“Come on in baby.” Mama Fancy said looking over her should at me. “Close that door all the way so the cool won't get out. The cool night air from the box fan in the window hummed a tune that I knew would soon sing me to sleep. “You can fold that big cover back, baby. The sheet will be all you need tonight. It's been so hot lately, but I feel like Fall is still coming sooner than it did last year.”
“Yes ma'am” I replied. It was a long silence before I said, “They was talking about you tonight.”
“I know.” She replied. “They just worried things won't work out. Yo grandmama always been a worrier, every since she was a child.”
“They said they don't think you can decide.” I snitched. To this she laughed a rough coughing laugh.
“Folks in this family been choosing for a thousand years or more, the choosing ain't about to stop now. If you want the honest truth I don't choose nothing. My job is to assign. God do the choosing.” She said.
“So God gonna choose?” I asked.
“He already did.” She said. “He choose seven years ago.”
Just then the blinding green light illuminated from her eye sockets and nostrils and mouth connecting to mine. Fright poured into me as my body froze in instant suspended animation. And although she didn't physically speak, she spoken to me in thoughts. “Don't be scared, Sadie. This is what's necessary to pass on the knowledge of our family, the things that lay secret in our blood. God showed me it was you. The day you were born I saw the light surround you. We was taken from our home, our land and our people. But it didn't get took from us. We made it we kept it, all of it. We made sure it survive. And now you will too.
A flood of unfamiliar memories spill into my mind. There were memories of my grandmother as a young woman raising a family. Then the memories went back further to when she was just a little girl running around in her father's yard barefoot playing with sticks in the dirt. I even saw the moment that she received the family's legacy. It was her mother who passed it to her.
Then the pictures and sequences further back into time. I saw members of my family on plantations and then sailing to this land chained up in the belly of ships surrounded by blood, bowels, sickness and death. Suddenly we were back in Africa, watching daily tribal life play out when there was peace and freedom and wholeness playing out among the people. There was a shaman who created an elixir to be given to bride who was at least six months pregnant. “This life will not always be. There is trouble ahead and everything you are, know and love you will be stripped away from.” He said. “But with this gift, I can never be stripped away from you.”
The pregnant woman drank the elixir in it's entirety. I saw her thoughts go back deeper than anyone could think humanly possible, all the way back to the beginning of time to the birth of what we consider the universe. And all went black. I fell into a deep comatose sleep among newly birthed stars that were looked upon by my ancient nonhuman ancestors, the ones who were the first and to my recently acquired knowledge, will be the last.
The next morning I awoke to my mother's screams. From that day to my last day I will remember every thing I saw. My mother said at the kitchen table wailing as my held Mama Fancy's body up in a chair to keep it from falling onto the floor. Later, I was told that Mama Fancy awoke early that morning walked into the kitchen (something she hadn't done in over a week), fixed a cup of coffee, happily took several sips and died.
After her funeral members of my immediate and distant family gathered to sort things out. First it was the mundane subjects like money, property and personal belongings. It wasn't long before the subject of the family legacy came up. The collective consensus was that it was lost. Everyone assume Mama Fancy died before she could choose a successor to pass it along to.
Most of family were distraught over the loss. My grandmother's sister Delilah even went so far as to blame her for now caring for Mama Fancy adequately. But there were a few who were relived. I guess they felt that since the great superstition was gone we could now be what society deems as a normal family.
But I knew. I knew it all and felt it and experienced it on a daily basis. Which each new day there was a new lesson for me to learn. I knew download about the history of our people and sometimes the origins of this world. My grandmother passed away the year I turned 23. I last time saw her was that Fall. It was her birthday so I went to visit her in the nursing home.
When my mother and her siblings decided to put her in there, she fell into a state of depression. But with time, she grew accustomed to her new living situation and even started participating in the extra curricular activities. The fishing rodeo was her favorite. However, around the time of her birthday during her second year there her health began to fade.
The strong ointment odor pierced my nostrils before I even stepped into her room. I took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dull white light that spilled itself upon the room. Her frail weak hand grasped the crisp what sheet that draped itself across her lower abdomen and legs. “I told you I don't need another sheet. It's hot as it is!” She complained.
“It's me grandma, Sadie.” I said
“Oh hey baby.” She smiled. “I thought you were that new girl. My god, she thinks everyone in here is about to freeze to death.”
“I'm sure she's just trying to do her job.” I said moving across the room to sit in the chair next to her bed.
“Yeah, I reckon so. It's been weeks since anybody came to visit. Your mother and aunt called. But, I have a feeling your Uncle Ogdan will make an appearance since it's my birthday. Yeah, his witch of a wife will allow it, I reckon. She barely wants him to keep up the money I need to stay in this place.” She said turning to face me. “With all his smarts and wit, how did he manage to marry such a woman?” She asked herself more so than me.
“I don't know, grandma. I guess he just... He just fell in love.”
She grinned. “I guess so. That's the only way anybody can explain it I assume.”
I smiled and took her hand in mine. “Is that for me?” She asked finally noticing the small round chocolate cake sitting on the table.
“Yes ma'am.” I replied. “Happy birthday grandma.”
She softly stroked my hand and a serious look appeared on her face. “I always knew it was you.” She said. I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could speak she spoke again. “That morning... The morning she died I was so worried that it was lost.”
“Then you came out of her room. Standing there in your little white gown, I saw the spirit all around. It was in your eyes and I knew that all was not lost and that everything would be alright. She knew too, that's why she didn't worry, because she always knew it was you.”
A week later she made the transition. And although her, along with Mama Fancy and so many others are gone now, I still feel them all around me. I feel their hopes, their fears, dreams and aspirations. Not only can I feel their past, but also their wants for their descendents today. I do not know who will come after me, but whoever it may be, I must remember that all will never be lost.
- END -
Here's what's up BSFS!
For the past few years, I have been putting together a comic book story that I would like to share with 50 other people. The trouble is getting them to be invested in the story. Why can't this be done here? If you would review the comic pages for the others, then it would it would be like an investment of your time and effort which will be rewarded (unpaid co-ownership). Thank you for considering this opportunity to build my brand! Leave a comment if this sounds like something you can do and I will send you a pdf.
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| Image source: 1984 - Part 2, Chapter 9 by Luca |
Topics: Commentary, Climate Change, Existentialism, Politics
Scientists are worried that EPA’s new plan to increase transparency will undermine it instead.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt yesterday unveiled a long-awaited plan to require that EPA studies used in future regulations must have open and transparent data. Pruitt said the proposed rule is part of his larger effort to dramatically reform the way science is used at the agency, which also included the removal of Science Advisory Board members who received EPA grants and were replaced with industry-friendly researchers.
“The science we use is going to be transparent, it’s going to be reproducible, it’s going to be able to be analyzed by those in the marketplace, and those that watch what we do can make informed decisions about whether we’ve drawn the proper conclusions or not,” Pruitt said yesterday at EPA headquarters.
But some of the biggest critics of Pruitt’s plans are scientists who say they’ve already been working to boost transparency for years.
Researchers have long grappled with how to make the peer-review process more accessible, how to make more research replicable and how to better share data, said Gretchen Goldman, research director for the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Scientists are always discussing ways to make their work more transparent, accessible and instructive for the community at large, Goldman added. The proposed EPA rule establishes a set of political hoops for researchers that will take more of their time, she said. And many won’t be able or willing to devote more effort to the additional red tape put up by Pruitt.
Blogger Marc Morano presented his book, “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Climate Change,” to Pruitt yesterday. Morano/Twitter
“This is not about all of the details that scientists need to scrutinize each other’s work. That information is already widely available, and scientists spend a tremendous amount of time disclosing all of their data and methods to get their work published,” she said. “This is adding additional burdens; it’s not the information that is required for appropriate peer review and reproducibility of studies. This is clearly just a political move.” [1]
*****
The prevailing mental condition is controlled insanity.
The rules of the Inner Party are held together by adherence to a common doctrine. In a Party member not even the smallest deviation of opinion on the most unimportant subject can be tolerated. But it is also necessary to remember that events happened in the desired manner. And if it is necessary to rearrange one's memories or to tamper with written records, then it is necessary to forget that one has done so. The trick of doing this can be learned like any other mental technique. It is learned by the majority of Party members, and certainly by all who are intelligent as well as orthodox. In Oldspeak it is called, quite frankly, "reality control." In Newspeak, it is called doublethink, though doublethink comprises much else as well.
Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. The Party intellectual knows in which direction his memories must be altered; he therefore knows that he is playing tricks with reality; but by the exercise of doublethink he also satisfies himself that reality is not violated. The process has to be conscious, or it would not be carried out with sufficient precision, but it also has to be unconscious, or it would bring with it a feeling of falsity and hence of guilt.
Doublethink lies at the very heart of Ingsoc, since the essential act of the Party is to use conscious deception while retaining the firmness of purpose that goes with complete honesty. To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing them and to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies - all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth. Ultimately it is by means of doublethink that the Party has been able - and may, for all we know, continue to be able for thousands of years - to arrest the course of history... [2]
1. Scientists Favor Transparency, but Say EPA Plan Will Limit It
Directive to exclude certain research will harm public health and environment, critics say, Scott Waldman, Scientific American
2. Orwell Today dot com: Doublethink
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| Map of unusual cold temperatures in Europe during the summer of 1816 Credit: Creative Commons, authored by Giorgiogp2 |
Topics: Climate Change, Existentialism, Global Warming
The summer of 1816 was not like any summer people could remember. Snow fell in New England. Gloomy, cold rains fell throughout Europe. It was cold and stormy and dark - not at all like typical summer weather. Consequently, 1816 became known in Europe and North America as "The Year Without a Summer."
Why was the summer of 1816 so different? Why was there so little warmth and sunshine in Europe and North America? The answer could be found on the other side of the planet - at Indonesia’s Mount Tambora.
On April 5, 1815, Mount Tambora, a volcano, started to rumble with activity. Over the following four months the volcano exploded - the largest volcanic explosion in recorded history. Many people close to the volcano lost their lives in the event. Mount Tambora ejected so much ash and aerosols into the atmosphere that the sky darkened and the Sun was blocked from view. The large particles spewed by the volcano fell to the ground nearby, covering towns with enough ash to collapse homes. There are reports that several feet of ash was floating on the ocean surface in the region. Ships had to plow through it to get from place to place.
Fun facts: this was the year Mary Shelley wrote the first science fiction (and admittedly dystopian novel) Frankenstein; poet Lord Byron wrote "Darkness," inspired by all the gloominess. Mary's husband Percy was apparently a poet too. When writers get cooped up by dismal weather, they tend to go stir crazy!
This was and is climate change.
The less-sexy, mouthful term is anthropogenic climate disruption. You can't soundbite it and make it into a riff, either for or against. I guess technically, this was "volcanic climate disruption." Global weirding - then, and now - is probably more apropos:
I prefer the term 'global weirding,' coined by Hunter Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, because the rise in average global temperature is going to lead to all sorts of crazy things — from hotter heat spells and droughts in some places, to colder cold spells and more violent storms, more intense flooding, forest fires and species loss in other places. Source: Wiktionary
One wonders...instead of prose or poetry, what would have been inspired if Twitter had existed?
Muse for post title:
Mount Tambora and the Year Without a Summer, Center for Science Education
Related book:
The Madhouse Effect, by Michael Mann, Climate Scientist and Tom Toles, Pulitzer Prize political cartoonist
#P4TC links:
Terraforming Earth...April 8, 2015
On Stupid...June 2, 2017
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| Collision course: two atoms held in optical tweezers before forming a molecule (Courtesy: Lee Liu and Yu Liu) |
Topics: Chemistry, Laser, Optical Physics, Optical Tweezers, Particle Physics
A single molecule has been created by combining individual atoms of sodium and caesium, using optical tweezers to guide them into place. The technique, devised by Lee Liu and colleagues at Harvard University and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology, could help chemists to study chemical reactions far more precisely by giving them control over the individual atomic and molecular collisions. The team hopes that their method will be used in a variety of fields to create diverse, complex molecules, allowing for discoveries of previously unforeseen molecular properties.
Conventional studies of chemical reactions involve observing the macroscopic results of large numbers of collisions of atoms and molecules – rather than studying individual collisions. Currently, chemists need to compare experimental reaction rates with theoretical models to calculate the probabilities of individual collisions taking place – a process that is fundamental to the understanding of chemistry. An alternative, and more precise, technique is to study interactions between individual atoms and molecules – something that requires great experimental dexterity.
To begin their interaction process, Liu and colleagues use magneto-optical traps to prepare reservoirs of stationary atoms of sodium and caesium at just a few hundred microkelvin. “Cooling and controlling atoms and molecules to temperatures where they are standing still allows for easier manipulations of their properties, interactions and reactions,” explains team leader Kang-Kuen Ni.
Optical tweezers create a single molecule from two atoms, Sam Jarman, Physics World
No, I wasn't starving for food. I was starving or opportunity, direction, human interaction and friendship, but mostly I was starving for innovation and success. You see, around this time last year I found myself in a rut. I was doing hair, writing stories, making dolls etc etc. It felt like being on a hamster wheel to nowhere. And top on of everything else, our family was in a financial bind. Yes, I our ends didn't meet and we have more month at the end of our money.
One day while trying to complete a doll and at the same time worried if our gas would be cut off, something just told me to stop. I was trying to put out so much, but was taking nothing back in in return. Yes, I had burned out and what's worse our family was broke. So, I suggested to my husband that me and the baby move back to Mississippi with my family for a while he stayed back and searched for a better job and a more affordable home for our family.
When I moved back home I decided to get in a place of receiving and a place of rest. Instead of doing hair I decided to research hair. I spent hours and hours on Pintrest looking at hair styles and techniques. What I discovered was that I prefer to work with locs over m
ost other styles. They are low maintenance, yet versatile. While researching dolls, I discov
ered that if I made my dolls into mermaids it would save me a lot of time. Instead of writing I read. Nnedi Okorafor became my new best friend. I consider her God's apology for taking Octavia so ea
rly.
My mind went on many journeys in African-based culture, places and spirituality.
From Who Fears Death to Akata Witch and Akata Warrior and my latest read Kabu Kabu. I learned so many about what interests me as a reader and writer. I realized that as creatives it is our passion to give, but it should also be our priority to rest and take-in from time to time. I pray that I've taken in enough to start again and be better than I've been in the past. We shall see. Be blessed. Be favored.
Jackie
Effortlessly I pulled the tan stocking above my knee, sliding it across the thickness of my thigh before securing it to the garter. My hand now moved to my large, plump lips, where I dotted a speck of moisturizer before rubbing them together to get a perfect, even distribution. They now taste and smelled of cherry spice. Now for some color, I thought, opening the pallet of endless lip stains to see which would suit my attire for the evening.
This one! I decided as my finger tapped near the burnt orange circle titled Pale Sunbeam. The laser brush slid across airbrushing my top lip, then the lower. Blotting my lips, I smiled in the light-framed mirror, satisfied with my choice of color. The spotlights illuminated my sequin bra top, creating dazzling sparkles of purple and gold.
The multicolor bra top and matching boy shorts fit my medium sized five feet, four inch frame perfectly. I strategically paired burnt gold and lavender with a hit of black to enclose the eyeshadow on my slightly large mud brown eyes. The colors were exaggerated against my deep brown skin. My freshly ironed coal black hair fell down to one side over my breast. Yes! My smile widen, revealing my perfectly straight pearly whites. This girl was glowing and she knew it!
“How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from my dressing station?” Zienna fussed, her milky white tone reflected in the mirror behind me.
I jumped in surprise, dropped the laser brush almost breaking it.
Zienna was of slim build and a couple inches taller than me. Her green eyes bucked as she nod her head, a motion for me to get out of her way. As soon as I was she knelt down peering in the mirror, fluffing her yellow blonde curls that loosely fell on her shoulders.
“Oh...ah...sorry Zienna.” I blushed almost tripping over her shoes.
“Watch it!” Zienna shouted. “Just stay away, alright! And stop using my makeup.”
I slumped my shoulders in a playful motion and moved closer to her.
“But you have the best collection! All the new, top quality shit.” I pouted.
Zienna smiled and shook her head before sitting down to change her hair and makeup for the next set.
“It's a mad house out there tonight. Mistress Bea wants us to dance four sets each tonight. I swear I won't be able to move tomorrow.” She rubbed a wet cloth across her face. “Pass me the costume for my next set.” She demanded pointing to the yellow dress tagged Zienna #2 hanging amidst the costumes and feathered frocks on the clothing rack.
I ran to grab it. The dressing room was a medium, tight space with wooden floors. The walls were lined with makeup stations. Each station had a mirror completely surrounded with circular solar lights. In the back of the room was an endless array of cocktail dresses, evening gowns and themed costumes. Any idea the dancers had for their routine, Mistress Bea had a dress or costume for it.
“Oh, I forgot to mention it.” Zienna said, applying a new shade of lip stain.
“What?” My eyes widen with curiosity.
Zienna grinned at my nosiness. “Koto is looking for you. He's pissed. He said you were suppose to be up there an hour ago and he's threatening to go to the Mistress.”
“Ah fuck!”
I forgot he was the bartender tonight. Most of the others just let me get away with my bullshit, but not Koto. He stays on my ass like sun rays on the colony's solar panels. Last time I worked with him was a month ago when I earned myself a full one week of work suspension, with no pay of course. He took a full two weeks sick leave over the gash I left over his left eye.
He was frustrated because I got a few drink orders wrong and was behind on busting a couple tables. He called me a lazy bitch and one thing lead to another. Damn near got me kicked off the colony and sent back to Earth. I guessed we would be back to bullshit tonight as well.
Koto's slanted black eyes stayed on me as I made my way to the bar. The scar above his left eye stood out on his green skin. He was the one alien that made me have a distaste for all grays. I guess you can say I was prejudice since most grays who visited the cabaret were quiet and seemed not to have any type of personality at all. Which was always strange to me because they left the largest tips. One night a gray tip me five hundred (500cc) cosmic credits.
It had been two hundred years since most of Earth's nations fell and were forced to join the United Cosmic Federation. Each inhabited planet in the federation built colonies to revolve around it's space, but different colonies served various purposes. My colony, Lovejoy, was for vacations, relaxation and entertainment for interstellar visitors, diplomats, space travelers, astronauts and business people.
The downside is the colonies have limited population capacities. In order to remain on Lovejoy, us workers had to maintain employment to keep our work visas. Once a worker loses their job, it's back down to surface we go. And back to a shit job in some factory, department store, farm or mine. Fuck that shit!
“Good evening, Koto.” I smiled.
“It would be even better if you did your damn job.” He grumbled, never looking up from the drink he was mixing.
I sighed then leaned against the bar being careful not to get my uniform wet.
“Koto, I'm sorry about last time. Lets not go through it again tonight.” I pleaded.
Koto stopped and turned around facing me. I almost grinned. He donned a blue plastic jacket with extremely oversized shoulder pads. It cover his gaudy vest which was overrun with lavender and lime rhinestones.
“Then get your ass out there and wet those whistles.” He said handing me a tray with four drinks. “And go backstage as well. I know the dancers will be thirsty by now.”
I happily took the tray. It was a relief that it wasn't going to be another evening of Koto acting like a bitch to me. Maybe we will finally get along... NOT!
The afternoon sun rays beamed through the wall-size windows. I shifted anxiously outside Mistress Bea's office. Her assistant, Drissel had a smirk on her face. Her salt and pepper hair was up in two buns on opposite sides of her head.
As always she had one signature coil that dropped in her face. It was a style I've never understood. The chair squeaked under her heavy set frame. At the cabaret the secret nickname we all had for her was Roly Poly. However, no one has yet to call her that to her face.
She smirked as she informed me the Mistress was ready to see me.
“Go on in.” Drissel smiled, motioning with her hand for me to enter.
I rolled my eyes at her and brushed my hands down my sides to straighten my knee-length black cotton dress. I chose a periwinkle and silver print scarf and ankle-high black boots to match.
“Girly, get in here!” Mistress Bea commanded.
Mistress Bea's hair was up in a top knot centered on her head. She had dyed it a deep purple to cover the gray. Unfortunately she didn't get it all. Looking at the lines on her face, one would say she was a woman in her late fifties. However, her tall, lean frame was the clear sign of a woman who has taken good care of herself over the years and she was probably a former dancer herself.
She examined me with her eyes as I entered the office. It wasn't five steps before I reached the guest or victim chair. Behind her was a plethora of books and sculptures. Some were of Earth origin and others from various parts of the universe.
This was only my second time in her office, but by the look on her face two times were already too many. She took a puff from her vapor pipe still peering at me through her eye glasses. I always wondered why she still wore them since laser surgery was so cheap now, even I could afford it. Maybe it was to make her look dignified.
“Little girly, I believe you and me got us a problem.” She said, blowing smoke from her pipe.
“What type of problem?” I shifted nervously.
She tilted her head to the side and looked at me curiously.
“You tell me.” She said. “You're the one late for you shifts, running behind on your orders, assaulting your co-worker and messing up my money.”
“I... I'm...” I got out before she raised her hand to silence me.
Mistress Bea leaned back in her chair still watching me.
“Do you know why you're here?” She asked.
“I'm here to work, Mistress.” I quickly answered.
“No my dear, I mean, do you know why you're here on this colony and not back on Earth working in a dusty factory somewhere?” She asked.
I opened my mouth, but I was at a loss for an answer.
“Oh, you don't know, do you? Well, let me help you. You're here because I needed you here.” She said.
Her black talon-like nails softly scratched across the desk in front of her.
“You're here because I got rid of the lazy ass before you. But even after she was gone, I still needed another underachiever to serve patrons and bust tables.” Her smile stretched across her face stopping at her eyes. “So you see, you have only two purposes on this colony.” Mistress Bea said holding up two long slender fingers.
“Only two things are keeping you from rotting away in a factory on the surface and that's serving patrons and busting tables. And if you fail to do that, then it's bye bye colony and any chance of having a future that doesn't include working yourself to death doing hard labor. Do you understand that little girly?”
“Yes Mistress.” I said rubbing my sweaty palms together.
“Are you sure?” She asked
“Yes ma'am.” I squeaked.
“Good.” She smiled. “And remember, only two things.”
My roommate, Peyten, was sprawled across the sofa when I entered our small apartment. Her green tipped black hair was in a braid down her back. She donned my brand new scarf around her neck. Freshly steamed salmon hit my nose as soon as I closed the door.
“Fish again?” I frowned.
Peyton rolled her blue eyes and jumped off the couch headed toward the kitchen.
“It's a delicacy!” She said opening the pantry door. “Besides, I have something else for you too.”
She pulled out a paper bag which only meant one thing. Peyton had made a trip to the fresh market and without me! She dumped the bag on the table.
“Pomegranate!” I smile. “How did you get it?”
“Well, as you know it's been a while since anyone has been able to get any up here from the surface. But one of my clients had a crate shipped up here just for me.” She gushed.
“Well, thank him for us.” I said grabbing one off the table.
Peyton pursed her lips, moved her hips seductively and pulled down one shoulder of her oversized tee.
“I already did.” She smiled.
“Ugh, you're such a little floozy.” I shook my head and broke the fruit open.
I flopped on back onto the couch then unbutton the first three buttons of my blouse. I was so excited about our new shipment of pomegranate I almost forgot how tired I was.
“How did the meeting go with Mistress?” She asked.
“Horrible.” I replied spitting out a seed into my towelette.
Peyton frowned and sat a cup of searing green tea and lemon in front of me.
“Hopefully this will make you feel better. Koto must have gave you a lot of shit last night too.” She said.
“Not really...” I said thoughtfully. “Other than being pissed about me being late, he was actually okay last night..”
Peyton furrowed her brow while pouring her own cup of tea.
“Wow that's so not like him. Maybe you knocked some sense into him.” She laughed. “Anyway, I'm on tonight. Mistress got me down for four sets.”
“FOUR?” I took a sip savoring the tart lemon combined with honey.
“Yep, I've been putting costumes together all morning. The patrons are going to get bored seeing the same old girls on stage.” Peyton shook her head. “We need to get some new girls.”
“And fast!” I added.
She paused and her eyebrows crinkled the way that always do when she gets an idea.
“Hey!” She said. “Why don't you dance.”
“For the hundredth time, NO!” I protested.
“Oh come on, Sierra! You're a great dancer. I know you're trying to save to pay the fees to join the African Cosmic Dance Company. And if you become a performer, you can save more money faster.”
“First of all Mistress Bea hates me. Secondly, dancing is not all you have to do to serve the patrons. Third, Pey, it's just not my thing.” I shook my head and took another sip of the tea.
“It can be your thing! And the other stuff is not so bad once you get used to it. That's how we make most of our money. And don't mind Mistress Bea, she hates everybody, unless you're getting her money.”
She stood up as if she was about to make a great point.
“You're always giving me and the other girls tips on our movements, steps and timing. And I swear your makeup and costumes ideas far supersede any other girl there. Sierre, just think about it.” She pleaded.
“Okay! Alright!”
I threw my hands up to surrender.
“I'll think about it.
“Yay!”
Peyton threw her arms up and fell back into my lap.
“You're such a dramatic hoochie I grinned playfully.
Tonight was busier than usual. A massive star fleet arrive to the colony this morning and this ships were full of extraterrestrials and human soldiers and astronauts coming from their ten year tenure in Sirius. The cabaret was full of patrons telling tales of travel and adventures.
There was also a group of aliens I've never seen before. They were humanoid with nearly black skin and slightly larger heads. They features were similar to that of a West African, which they were definitely not. Koto said they were called Yawiens. They were a race of extraterrestrials from Sirius. As strange as they were, they were also very beautiful.
Most of the lower ranking soldiers were only on the colony for the weekend but the higher officials had longer stays due to endless debriefings and conferences. I was willing to bet my next pay day that every conference room on the colony was booked solid for the next month.
Koto was moving like a whirlwind mixing drinks and taking orders at the bar. My tray stayed packed with drinks and food. I walked so much my feet were starting to ache. And the musky scent from our new visitors wasn't making my night any easier.
“Service lady!” One of them called. “Can I get an apple water with vinegar.” He asked.
It was a relief to know they were fluent in English. I guess a decade was enough time to learn.
“Of course, Sir.” I typed it in on hologram projector on my wrist.
I looked over at Koto shaking his head behind the bar. He hated the smell of vinegar, but there were quite a few lifeforms who loved it. The hardest part of our job was learning who from where liked what. We had the greys down packed. They mostly sat quietly and just drank water. The reptilians on the other hand favored swamp water tonic. It wasn't actually swamp water, just a flavor the Mistress created some years back when there was a demand for the taste.
“Why you're not up there dancing?” One of the human astronauts asked.
The question caught me off guard. I almost spilled the apple vinegar on the Yawien.
“Oh no Sir, I'm better off right here wetting everybody's whistle.” I blushed.
“Bullshit.” He spat. “You should be on stage with the others. “I've seen the same girl three times. We need some new blood up there! Right fellas?” He asked.
Nearly the entire room shouted in agreement and they all started chanting, “Dance! Dance! Dance!”.
And then it happened.
“Hey Bea!” Another astronaut shouted. “How much would we have to pay to get the pretty little barmaid
on that stage?” He asked.
“Oh no! She's no dancer.” Mistress Bea shook her head in protest.
“She is tonight!” He shouted. “Alright, come on men, put up or shut up.” He continued.
They snatched an empty wine box off the bar and started to fill it with money. By the time the box got to Mistress Bea it was completely full almost overflowing.
“Is that enough?” The same astronaut asked.
“Well see what we can do.” She smiled then shot me a look. She motioned her head which told me to head to the back to the dressing room.
My mind was moving a thousand miles per hour.
 |
Image from Science ABC dot com "The Feynman Technique: How-to Learn Anything New in Four Easy Steps" |
Topics: Quantum Computer, Richard Feynman, Nanotechnology, Nobel Prize, Quantum Mechanics
The theme of this year’s April Meeting of the American Physical Society is the “Feynman Century” because the iconoclastic, Nobel-prize-winning physicist was born in 1918. This morning at a special session devoted to Feynman, quantum computing expert Christopher Monroe of the University of Maryland spoke about early contributions to quantum computing that were made by Feynman before his untimely death in 1988.
That theme continued in an afternoon session at the conference where nuclear and particle physicists discussed how quantum computers could be applied to their work. A huge challenge to those studying the physics of quarks (quantum chromodynamics or QCD) is that it takes vast amounts of computing power just to calculate the properties of relatively simple systems.
Low barrier to entry
Quantum computers, which (at least in principle), can solve certain problems much more efficiently than conventional computers could offer a way forward. Earlier this year we reported what is probably the first-ever nuclear physics calculation done using quantum computers – the binding energy of the deuteron. Thomas Papenbrock of the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Lab explained how commercial cloud quantum-computing services from IBM and Rigetti had made this calculation possible, pointing out that the barrier to entry to quantum computing is very low thanks to these services.
Quantum computing could revolutionize nuclear and particle physics, Hamish Johnston, Physics World
Whether you base your information on my real name or my Bill McSciFi nom-de-plum, I've been a busy little writer this year. I've got two releases out on Nerdanatix, two more in development, and another release, for a different company, running through the inking phase. Legends Parallel - the series for those of you who think quantum physics isn't violent or sexy enough - continues to earn rave reviews, Svarožič - the story of a woman trapped inside a man and a god trapped inside a human - debuted on Nerdanatix' top 5 most requested releases and continues to impress. You can click her name to read the 8 page character introduction for free.
Pestilent - the dystopian futurescape wherein humans harvest the essence of dead aliens to increase their life spans - and Bob: Sins of the Son - the son of Death wants to be a superhero, what could possibly go wrong?- are both in the hands of artists.
Hybrid Zero: Jungle Grrl - the story of the galaxy's oddest amusement park built on a simulacrum of Earth - is an extension of the Hybrid Zero universe created by Cyril Brown. Cyril's, mostly NSFW, work has been featured in numerous publications and he's now set to pop on an international scale.
Plus, of course there's more, my trilogy, The Brittle Riders, has been released as three individual print releases and a complete trilogy digitally. Think of it this way, if David Brin came off a three day tequila bender and dropped acid, he would have written The Brittle Riders. Essentially, after the death of every man, woman, and child on the planet things get a little weird. Apocalypses are funny that way.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled internet.
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| Illustration shows the nanoresonator coating, consisting of thousands of tiny glass beads, deposited on solar cells. The coating enhances both the absorption of sunlight and the amount of current produced by the solar cells.Credit: K. Dill, D. Ha, G. Holland/NIST |
Topics: Alternative Energy, Green Energy, Green Tech, Nanotechnology, NIST, Solar Power
Trapping light with an optical version of a whispering gallery, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a nanoscale coating for solar cells that enables them to absorb about 20 percent more sunlight than uncoated devices. The coating, applied with a technique that could be incorporated into manufacturing, opens a new path for developing low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells with abundant, renewable and environmentally friendly materials.
The coating consists of thousands of tiny glass beads, only about one-hundredth the width of a human hair. When sunlight hits the coating, the light waves are steered around the nanoscale bead, similar to the way sound waves travel around a curved wall such as the dome in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. At such curved structures, known as acoustic whispering galleries, a person standing near one part of the wall easily hears a faint sound originating at any other part of the wall.
Whispering galleries for light were developed about a decade ago, but researchers have only recently explored their use in solar-cell coatings. In the experimental set up devised by a team including Dongheon Ha of NIST and the University of Maryland’s NanoCenter, the light captured by the nanoresonator coating eventually leaks out and is absorbed by an underlying solar cell made of gallium arsenide.
Psst! A Whispering Gallery for Light Boosts Solar Cells, Ben P. Stein, NIST
