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| The humble soap bubble – a whole new field of physics. Photograph: Alexander Boden/flickr |
Topics: Materials Science, Soft Matter Physics, Theoretical Physics
Respectfully, in memory of Sir Sam Edwards...
Many of the objects in the everyday world around us are squidgy when squashed, flow easily, or are very sensitive to changes in temperature. These sorts of materials – ranging from paint to frogspawn, from yogurt to snot – fall into the category of ‘soft matter’: materials whose dynamics are governed by timescales of seconds rather than hugely longer or shorter times.
The study of these systems, which are often complex and heterogeneous, grew out of the more traditional field of condensed matter physics. Whereas condensed matter physicists of the early-mid twentieth century traditionally studied in minute detail the properties of simple, one-phase materials such as copper or silicon, as soft matter grew as a discipline the range of material types studied expanded enormously.
There are two towering figures, both theoretical physicists, who are usually identified with the birth of this new field: Pierre Gilles de Gennes and Sir Sam Edwards. Both were trained as conventional theorists, both saw the richness of the newer materials and how the mathematical tools they were familiar with could be taken over to the study of this new class of materials.
It was the Frenchman de Gennes who won the 1991 Nobel Prize for this work with a citation that read “for discovering that methods developed for studying order phenomena in simple systems can be generalized to more complex forms of matter, in particular to liquid crystals and polymers”. But his friend and friendly rival the Welshman Sir Sam Edwards, who died last week at the age of 87, was equally active and influential; many felt he was unlucky not to share the prize.
The Guardian: The birth of soft matter physics, the physics of the everyday,
Athene Donald
The Antennae galaxies, shown in visible light in a Hubble image (upper image), were studied with ALMA, revealing extensive clouds of molecular gas (center right image). One cloud (bottom image) is incredibly dense and massive, yet apparently star free, suggesting it is the first example of a prenatal globular cluster ever identified.
NASA/ESA Hubble, B. Whitmore (STScI); K. Johnson, U.Va.; ALMA (NRAO/ESO/NAOJ); B. Saxton (NRAO/AUI/NSF)
Topics: ALMA, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Molecular Gases, Proto Stars, Radio Astronomy
Globular clusters — dazzling agglomerations of up to a million ancient stars — are among the oldest objects in the universe. Though plentiful in and around many galaxies, newborn examples are vanishingly rare and the conditions necessary to create new ones have never been detected until now.
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered what may be the first known example of a globular cluster about to be born: an incredibly massive, extremely dense, yet star-free cloud of molecular gas.
“We may be witnessing one of the most ancient and extreme modes of star formation in the universe,” said Kelsey Johnson from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. “This remarkable object looks like it was plucked straight out of the very early universe. To discover something that has all the characteristics of a globular cluster, yet has not begun making stars, is like finding a dinosaur egg that’s about to hatch.”
This object, which the astronomers playfully refer to as the “Firecracker,” is located approximately 50 million light-years away from Earth nestled inside a famous pair of interacting galaxies — NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 — which are collectively known as the Antennae galaxies. The tidal forces generated by their ongoing merger are triggering star formation on a colossal scale, much of it occurring inside dense clusters.
Astronomy Magazine: ALMA discovers proto super star cluster,
NRAO, Charlottesville, VA
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| Scanning electron mictographs of a uniform array of conical Polysilicon nanoneedles, with a < 100nm tip diameter, 600nm base diameter, 5 micron length and 2 micron pitch (Courtesy ACS Nano). |
Topics: Biology, Nanotechnology, Photolithography, Quantum Dots
Biocompatible silicon nanoneedles, which can efficiently deliver nucleic acids and nanoparticles into biological cells without damaging them, have been developed by an international team of researchers. The porous needles are capable of delivering these drugs into live cells that are normally difficult to penetrate, and the technique could help damaged organs and nerves to repair themselves, and could also act as intracellular pH sensors.
The researchers, based at Imperial College London and the Houston Methodist Research Institute in Texas, made their nanoneedles using photolithography techniques. The structures can be patterned onto standard silicon chips in different ways, and the length and width of the needles can also be adjusted. Because they are porous, they can be made to take up a significantly greater amount of nucleic acid, nanoparticles and other therapeutics. Importantly, the porous silicon from which they are made is biocompatible – unlike ordinary silicon – and it clears the body in about two days, without leaving behind any toxic residue.
The plasma membrane and "endo-lysosomal compartment" of a cell are major biological barriers that limit the therapeutic efficiency of many drug-delivery vehicles by preventing nanostructures from entering the cells. According to team member Ennio Tasciotti from the Department of Nanomedicine at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, the new nanoeedles can "successfully deliver nucleic acids into cells, bypassing their plasma membrane and endo-lysosomal compartments without damaging the cell".
Physics World: Silicon 'nanoneedles' deliver nanodots and nucleic acids, Belle Dumé
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| NIST Director Willie E. May Credit: NIST |
Topics: Chemistry, Diversity in Science, Optics, National Institute of Science and Technology, Photonics
Washington, D.C. – On May 4, 2015, the U.S. Senate confirmed Willie E. May as the second Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and the 15th director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). May has been serving as acting director since June 2014. He has worked at NIST since 1971, leading research activities in chemical and biological measurement science activities prior to serving as associate director for laboratory programs and principal deputy to the NIST director.
“Willie has been a partner and champion in our efforts to strengthen America’s manufacturing sector and promote innovation, key drivers to spurring economic growth, and core pillars of the Department’s ‘Open for Business Agenda.’ In addition to serving as a world-class research institute, NIST has taken the lead on several major Department of Commerce and Obama Administration priorities, including implementing a national network of manufacturing institutes and working with industry and other stakeholders to develop the NIST Cybersecurity Framework,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker.
Among many other awards and honors, May was elected a Fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2011. He has been recognized with the Department of Commerce's Bronze (1981), Silver (1985) and Gold (1992) medals. The National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) has recognized him with both the Percy Julian Award for outstanding research in organic analytical chemistry and the Henry Hill Award for exemplary work and leadership in the field of chemistry. May received the 2007 Alumnus of the Year Award from the College of Chemical and Life Sciences at the University of Maryland, and in 2010 he was among the first class of inductees into the Knoxville College Alumni Hall of Fame. He was the keynote speaker for the 2002 winter commencement ceremonies for the University of Maryland's College of Life Sciences, and for Wake Forest University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences commencement exercises in 2012. [1]
* * * * *
The science and technology of light are essential to a multitude of applications that have transformed our society, and there is much promise that optics and photonics will remain at the forefront of the world’s innovations well into this century.
Moreover, the general excitement in and impact of optics and photonics is growing dramatically. This presentation will highlight: (a) past breakthroughs, present advances and potential future growth in the science and technology of light, (b) the convergence of the International Year of Light, the Nobel Prizes based on light and the various U.S. government initiatives in photonics, and (c) the critical nature of metrology to harnessing the exquisite capabilities of high-frequency, coherent light for different industries. This talk is part of an afternoon NIST program celebrating World Metrology Day. [2]
1. Senate Confirms May as 15th NIST Director, Jennifer Huergo
2. Optics and Photonics: Essential for Our World, May 20, 2015
Friday May 15, 2015 at 6:00pm - 9:00pm in EDT |
The African American Museum in Philadelphia
701 Arch St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106
Free Admission for Reception only
We will honor comic book excellence by presenting the Glyph Comics Awards, which recognizes the best in comics made either by, for, or about African-descended people. While the recipients of these awards are not exclusively authors and artists of African descent, the Glyph Comics Awards does its best to honor and recognize those creators making great contributions to the African image in graphic novels, comic strips, and comic books. By doing so, we hope to encourage more diverse and high-quality work across the board and to inspire new creators to add their voices to the field.
We will honor comic book excellence by presenting the Glyph Comics Awards, which recognizes the best in comics made either by, for, or about African-descended people. While the recipients of these awards are not exclusively authors and artists of African descent, the Glyph Comics Awards does its best to honor and recognize those creators making great contributions to the African image in graphic novels, comic strips, and comic books. By doing so, we hope to encourage more diverse and high-quality work across the board and to inspire new creators to add their voices to the field.
Last year was my first year attending and I won the GLYPH Award for the "BEST COMIC STRIP or WEB COMIC" for my franchise THE ADIGUN OGUNSANWO™. I was in shock but enjoyed the accolades towards my work and the fact that it was given by an organization dedicated to promoting the hard work and creativity of Sci Fi and Fantasy creatives of the African diasporia.
ENJOY BSFS Peeps
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| Image Source: Rob's capibara.com techblog |
Topics: Accelerators, Particle Physics, Physics Humor, Semiconductor Technology, STEM
It's interesting most don't know how particle accelerators were "born" and how they affect our everyday lives. I happen to work in a semiconductor manufacturing facility - AKA a wafer "fab" (short for fabrication) facility. The accelerators I see often are called Ion implanters, which in device physics is how an impurity is introduced into a semiconductor's energy band gap - usually rather wide as it would appear in nature (Silicon, Germanium) otherwise, you wouldn't have your laptop or smartphone; your microwave, essentially everything electronic around us we normally take for granted.
Particle accelerators even have a fun history of their beginnings, or as you've probably experienced in a high school physics class - a Van de Graaff Generator. It's more fun if you (ahem, unlike me) have hair...
American Institute of Physics: History of Accelerators
Great to see some of my favorite hangout spots in LA turned into a virtual Battleground.
Enjoy
Promotional Shot of Michael B. Jordan as Johnnie Storm in the new reboot of FANTASTIC FOUR. out in August. I am amped-up to see this yo! The fact that Susan is adaoped, Johnnie's father is old man Storm that is the director of the program that creates these heroes, and Ben Grim is not a product of Yancy Street in Brooklyn are all factors that peeks my intrest. I am not one to like european characters in blackface and still have my researve opinions about the STORM mega mix. But I still want to give my old fav Marvel characters a chance to burn out our OLD preconceived perceptions of this elemental group. Your opinions are welcomed. chat it up BSFS peeps.
TV Director and creator of the Legend of the Mantamaji graphic novel series launched a 12 episode web series this week as a lead up to the Legend of the Mantamaji Live Action Short release.
The 12 episode series follows TV Director Eric Dean Seaton and his production team during three days of filming, as he creates a live action short based on the critically-acclaimed graphic novel series, “Legend of the Mantamaji.”
According to BlackGirlNerds.com's exclusive story on the release: “I wanted a fun and different way for people to see what the Mantamaji can do and what the story is about,” Seaton said. “The behind the scenes offers more information on the series, the passion behind the idea and what it takes to bring a graphic novel to life.”
The 1st episode is 4 minutes long, the other episodes are 2 minutes long and are published weekly leading up to the release of the Live Action Short.
From Alex Widen of Examiner.com: "The short aims to translate the beginning of the first volume of "Legend of the Mantamaji" to life, and it is here where having a creator with a vast knowledge of TV direction and production is key. The comic itself often doubled as an incredibly detailed storyboard in terms of action sequences, and the costume designs of both the heroes and villains work as both a two dimensional comic as well as practically created suits for a live action production.
"Legend of the Mantamaji" is the result of six years worth of effort from creator/writer Eric Dean Seaton, artist Brandon Palas, colorist Andrew Dalhouse, and letterer Deron Bennett. Across three graphic novels, it chronicles the story of arrogant New York district attorney Elijah Alexander who discovers he's the last of an ancient race of mystical warriors while also stumbling into the centuries long scheme of an ageless sorcerer who's manipulated both the public and organized crime. The graphic novels were released from October 2014 - February 2015 and can be easily purchased from the main website as well as other venues such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The series was nominated for a Glyph Award last month. The release of this short in the summer should increase the profile of this incredible work."
Watch the first episode of "Legend of the Mantamaji: Behind the Scenes" here:
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| The European Space Agency has been looking at what it takes to construct a moon outpost. Credit: ESA/ Foster + Partners |
Topics: European Space Agency, Humor, ISS, Moon Colony, Space Exploration
Living on our closest neighbor has some advantages. I've seen articles about how long-term radiation would alter our astronauts' brains on a trip to Mars, for example. There's a low probability of getting "super powers," e,g. the fictional "Fantastic Four," but an extreme likelihood of dying prematurely - a rather unpleasant outcome for the astronauts and their families. The International Space Station does have shielding, but its exposure to radiation is by far not as harsh as would be encountered by a crew on an interplanetary flight. We'll have to come up with some knew design configurations/materials for shielding, and being a mere 238,900 miles (384,400 km) from Earth is probably a good place to start. Although I must admit: the representative photo looks like a graphic from a "Doctor Who" episode (explain to your non-nerd friends if that completely went over their heads).
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — The incoming leader of the European Space Agency is keen on establishing an international base on the moon as a next-step outpost beyond the International Space Station (ISS).
Johann-Dietrich Wörner expressed his enthusiasm for a moon colony at the Space Foundation’s National Space Symposium, a gathering of global, commercial, civil, military and "new space" experts that was held here from April 13 to April 16.
"It seems to be appropriate to propose a permanent moon station as the successor of ISS," Wörner said. This station should be international, "meaning that the different actors can contribute with their respective competencies and interests." [Living on the Moon: What It Would Be Like (Infographic)]
Space.com:
Europe's Next Space Chief Wants a Moon Colony on the Lunar Far Side,
Leonard David
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| Image Source: Wienberg College of Arts and Sciences |
Topics: Chemistry, Laser, Nanotechnology, Semiconductor Technology
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University scientists have developed the first liquid nanoscale laser. And it’s tunable in real time, meaning you can quickly and simply produce different colors, a unique and useful feature. The laser technology could lead to practical applications, such as a new form of a “lab on a chip” for medical diagnostics.
To understand the concept, imagine a laser pointer whose color can be changed simply by changing the liquid inside it, instead of needing a different laser pointer for every desired color.
In addition to changing color in real time, the liquid nanolaser has additional advantages over other nanolasers: it is simple to make, inexpensive to produce and operates at room temperature.
Nanoscopic lasers -- first demonstrated in 2009 -- are only found in research labs today. They are, however, of great interest for advances in technology and for military applications.
“Our study allows us to think about new laser designs and what could be possible if they could actually be made,” said Teri W. Odom, who led the research. “My lab likes to go after new materials, new structures and new ways of putting them together to achieve things not yet imagined. We believe this work represents a conceptual and practical engineering advance for on-demand, reversible control of light from nanoscopic sources.”
Northwestern University: Northwest Scientists Develop First Liquid Nanolaser, Megan Fellman
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| Image Source: Berkley Lab |
Topics: Cosmic Rays, Neutrinos, Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole is a large array of photodetectors buried in ice. In 2013, the instrument reported signals from the highest energy neutrinos ever observed. Now, two teams of researchers have independently estimated the type, or flavor, of these neutrinos. As opposed to an earlier analysis, these new results are consistent with the neutrinos coming from cosmically large distances. Further work may begin to probe the physics going on at the neutrino sources.
APS: Synopsis: IceCube Neutrinos Pass Flavor Test, Michael Schirber
Site: IceCube Neutrino Observatory
The Belle II detector and the upgraded accelerator SuperKEKB make up Japan’s new B factory for studying flavor physics and CP violation. Following some delays, the accelerator is set to start up next January, and full data-taking will begin in 2018.
KEK
Citation: Phys. Today 68, 4, 18 (2015); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.2743
Topics: Fukushima Daiichi, Economy, Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Power, Research, Quantum Mechanics
Unfortunately, scientific advances costs money, along with the political will and cultivated, collective public vision to pursue it. This relates to something we're all subject to, lab and person alike: the cost of energy consumption. The National Ignition Facility or Lockheed's Skunk Works, if either or both are successful, could alleviate some concerns about power consumption of laboratories in general, and all of us in particular. If electrical power - used for heating and cooling homes and laboratories; directly related to the cost at the grocery store (the cost of the fuel truck is transferred to us by increasing prices), and the reason for "wars and rumors of wars": fossil fuels, could be generated by other means, then the human costs of commercial consumption of products and service; post-conflict warrior attrition - via death, PTSD and traumatic brain injury - would greatly decrease. We can only hope it's not opposed as vigorously as solar and renewable energy has been so far.
Getting the green light to restart accelerators and other large scientific facilities in Japan took up to three years following the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown in eastern Japan on 11 March 2011. (See Physics Today, November 2011, page 20, and November 2013, page 20.) Now tight budgets, bloated electricity prices, and a sprinkling of mishaps threaten to cripple science at the country’s world-class facilities.
Before the triple disaster, about 30% of Japan’s power came from 54 nuclear plants. Since then, as plants have come up for routine maintenance, they’ve been turned off, and none has been turned back on, although a few have been approved to do so. For a while the country had a shortage of electricity. Now, other sources, mainly fossil fuels, have been arranged, but the costs have skyrocketed: Officials at KEK, Japan’s accelerator research institute, and at RIKEN and other science facilities report that the price of electricity has gone up by 30% or more. Electricity is a big chunk of their total operating costs, so they have been forced to reduce running times.
Masanori Yamauchi, the new KEK director, notes that SuperKEKB, the B factory set to start up this year, will consume twice as much power as its predecessor. And the price per kilowatt-hour has nearly doubled. “It has a serious impact to the running schedule of the new accelerator,” he says. Studying quantum mechanical phenomena requires collecting large statistics, he adds. “The power bill problem in Japan is very unfortunate for our physics program.”
Under Japanese law certain programs are largely shielded from the rising electricity costs. Those spared are SPring-8, the synchrotron light source; materials and life sciences neutron studies at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC); and petascale computing in Kobe. Industry makes heavy use of them—about 20% in the case of SPring-8, for instance—whereas the affected facilities are used mainly by academic researchers.
Physics Today: Scientific facilities in Japan struggle on bare-bones schedules, Toni Feder
SMARTWATCH
EmoPulse Smile, Best Smartwatch So Far
By | June 14, 2013
EmoPulse Smile, the best smartwatch we have seen so far, hits Indiegogo in search of crowd funding. Showcasing the capabilities of its incredible (if true) Artificial Intelligence algorithm, the EmoPulse Smile could very well be the first truly “Smart” watch.
A SMARTWATCH WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
“Best Smartwatch So Far” … That is a pretty big claim so early in the development of this latest wearable computing device to appear on the popular crowdfunding springboard Indiegogo. However, if this smartwatch actually gets built with the specifications and features boasted of in its online venture capital grab, then it is a moniker earned. Although the wearable computing/smart device industry is in its infancy, most shipping products have achieved the the ability to “compute” but have fallen far short of being considered “smart”. The EmoPulse Smile intends to change that. Incorporating an impressive battery of predictive Artificial Intelligence features, the Smile smartwatch intends to cater to the needs of its users before being asked to do so, obviating the need for a complicated user interface.
EmoPulse claims that the Smile smartwatch will learn your likes and dislikes and offer suggestions based upon your personal tastes. It will also gather user data via emo-sensors to enhance the self-learning process, making it an invaluable virtual assistant that never leaves your wrist. And, by integrating a sophisticated speech recognition and generation system, the EmoPulse Smile accomplishes voice commanded tasks without the need for traditional physical user input … generally, a cumbersome task on diminutive wearable computing devices. We would very much like to see a demonstration video of the AI in action to get a true feel for its personality and predictive capabilities.
EmoPulse Smile Smartwatch
EMOPULSE SMILE SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
The EmoPulse Smile will be available in either black or white, and in various sizes to accomodate men, women, and extremely well taken care of children. Sporting the latest OMAP 5 processor, the watch will allow for desktop quality gaming and up to three simultaneous streams of HD video … wow. With an integrated 128 GB or 256 GB of storage, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ports will be provided for high-speed data transfers, a welcome first for any wearable computing device.
Power is claimed to last 7 days on a full charge, an impressive feat considering the need for constant charging has typically been the achilles heel of processor rich smartwatches to this point. However, the girth of this device should provide ample room within which to stuff enough battery to satisfy that claim. An integrated 4G communications radio will allow the Smile to function as an extension of the user’s smartphone or as an independent stand-alone watch phone … a nice feature for when inconvenience precludes packing your cell. Another nice feature, especially for audiophiles, is the ability to stream uncompressed CD quality sound over bluetooth via PurePath technology, a boon for those of us that find typical compressed mp3s shrill, dry, and irritating.
Here is where it gets spicy: the entry price for all of this ultra-cool technology … $480. While not a lot considering what the EmoPulse Smile delivers, it is absolutely the most expensive smartwatch to date. It will be interesting to see how consumers respond as that price-point has yet to be tested. Nonetheless, if the watch can do all that it claims, we would gladly drop 5 bills to capture such cutting edge tech.
EmoPulse Smile Smartwatch
CROWDFUNDING ON INDIEGOGO
Problems with the campaign … the price for 128 GB version is listed as $480 in the title, and $380 in the article body. Obviously, one of these is wrong and, unfortunately, it is likely the latter. In addition, storage capacity is listed in Gb (gigabits) on Indiegogo and not the standard GB (gigbytes). We assume this is simply a transcription error. However, if it isn’t, divide the 128 or 256 by 8 to determine the true capacity. Hopefully, these listing issues will be realized and resolved by the time you read this article.
If this watch achieves its funding goals (which we hope it does) and comes to fruition, it could very well be the first truly revolutionary product to emerge from the fledgling wearable computing developer community. A smartwatch that is actually “smart” and not simply capable of data input and retrieval is exactly what consumers are waiting for and expect from the next generation of wearable technology. Can EmoPulse fullfill those expectations? We hope so. However, the company, while based in the United States, is a complete unknown and has yet to create and ship a product. Accordingly, they have no past upon which to base an experiential opinion. So, all we can say at this point is good luck on your project … we’ll be watching!
http://consciouslifenews.com/amazing-video-shows-control-arm-somebodys-elses-arm/1184616/
Source: TED; Conscious Life News
Very few of us know much about the brain and how it works, because up through high school, our schools don’t teach neuroscience. It’s because the equipment is too complex and too costly. This means you have to go to University for to study neuroscience. Greg Gage thinks that’s a shame, because one out of five of us will have a neurological disorder in our lifetime, and there currently are no cures for these diseases.
So Greg and his university lab mate, Tim Marzulu, created a company called Backyard Brains that specialized in making DIY neuroscience equipment and allows more people to do brain experimentation.
In this fun, kind of creepy demo, the neuroscientist and TED Senior Fellow uses a simple, inexpensive DIY kit to take away the free will of an audience member. It’s not a parlor trick; it actually works. You have to see it to believe it!
http://consciouslifenews.com/scientists-turn-salt-water-drinking-water-solar-power/1184500/
By inexpensively turning salt water into drinking water using sustainable solar power, a team from MIT in the US has not only come up with a portable desalination system for use anywhere in the world that needs it, but it’s just won the 2015 Desal Prize – a competition run by USAID to encourage better solutions to water shortages in developing countries.
In order to win the $140,000 prize, entries had to demonstrate how their invention not only works well, but is cost-effective, environmentally sustainable, and energy efficient. And the MIT researchers teamed up with US-based manufacturing company, Jain Irrigation Systems, to do just that.
The team’s invention works by using solar panels to charge a cache of batteries that power an electrodialysis machine that removes salt from the water and makes it perfectly drinkable.David L. Chandler explains for MIT News:
“Electrodialysis works by passing a stream of water between two electrodes with opposite charges. Because the salt dissolved in water consists of positive and negative ions, the electrodes pull the ions out of the water, Winter says, leaving fresher water at the center of the flow. A series of membranes separate the freshwater stream from increasingly salty ones.”
Solar-powered desalination plants are nothing new, and officials are investigating potential in water-poor areas such as Chile and California right now, but the technology has so far been extremely expensive to both piece together and run. And this obviously makes it difficult for developing countries to adopt. The key to the MIT plant is the electrodialysis process, says Chandler.
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| Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. |
Topics: #BlackLivesMatter, Baltimore, Civil Rights, Commentary
I really get the anger. I've penned it on the anniversary of the surrender of the South in the Civil War, and the needless death of Walter Scott. Dr. King once said: "a riot is the language of the unheard." That I think assumes you've tried - through legitimate means - to have your voice heard.
You seem to have a rich history of rioting: 1812; 1868. If you must get angry: why didn't you ask why the city of Baltimore hasn't fully recovered economically from the riots of 1968 when Dr. King was assassinated? I was five, but I remember that day well: Confederate flags, honking horns riding past my kindergarten, shouting very clearly "I'm glad that n-----r's gone!" Some memories don't leave you. They stay with you and shape your worldview. I remember well the anger from older teenagers that took to the streets in North Carolina, but specifically of note in Baltimore, Maryland. Why haven't you gotten angry with the jobs that have been shipped out of this country to save money on the highest expense of any company: salaries? Why haven't you gotten angry at the substitution of science courses with pseudoscience, that puts this country at a disadvantage globally in the competition for employment and high-paying jobs? Why haven't you gotten angry about the socially-engineered achievement gap that ensures a De Facto apartheid in this country? Why haven't you gotten angry for an increase in the minimum wage, or that some would rather there be NONE? And lastly, why if you're 18, not in at least a two-year college and registered to vote?
How many of you ACTUALLY knew Freddie Gray? Actually went to school with him, or his twin sister? Lived next to him? Attended his funeral? An 80% severed spine is an outrage, and in a sane world, should result in indictments. But the Baltimore Police Department Bill of Rights gives them 10 days before they have to speak to anyone. Hint: that's 10 days to get their story straight; they are suspended with pay. We're 50 years from the 1965 Voting Rights Act, for which the movie Selma dramatized. It's voting the 21st Century Poll Tax cum voter ID laws are trying to inhibit. It's voting, or lack thereof, that determines civilian oversight, and local laws: the Police and/or the Police Association can't come up with that kind of "right" whole cloth. The current law that will soon exist in Maryland is martial...your anger, though genuine, has no more power of resurrection anymore than the anarchy of terrorists will magically form mythical caliphates.
I was angry after Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, Jordan Davis, Eric Garner, Rodney King, Travon Martin, Renisha McBride...trust me, I have decades of anger, high blood pressure, feelings of helplessness and sleepless nights over any and all of you. I have children I worry about as well; my lifespan shortens with every report - of yet another senseless death - that always goes national. You now have the Maryland National Guard deployed in your city to restore order. A CVS pharmacy and other businesses burned to the ground. Your grandmothers who had their prescriptions filled there have nowhere to go now. I don't know if indictments will immediately come down (or not), and neither do you. If it does go before a Grand Jury, it is secret by law, the jury of your "peers" will be active, registered voters who've followed this recent news, and possibly not look like you. The social media, political and propaganda machine has already labeled you "thugs." If you had a point, you may have already blown it away like chaff in the wind, and falling into negative stereotypes hasn't proved a good strategy in the long view.
I applaud the peaceful demonstrations; that doesn't mean you can't be angry, paste a placid grin on your faces while singing "we shall overcome." I'm sure Dr. King and a lot of young people who were your age back then bitten, beaten, hosed and jailed, and a lot of them killed had a few instances of being angry. The cameras caught the brutality of authorities against us, and soon turned world opinion against the violence perpetrated on innocent, law-abiding citizens. The cameras are catching your activities as well, it makes for a lot of views on YouTube and negative, stereotypical memes.
Yesterday was the first day of the first African American woman appointed Attorney General, Loretta Lynch (after a woefully sophomoric delay); yesterday was the birthday of Civil Rights activist Coretta Scott King. I'm sure her husband, Dr. King, my older sister who was one of those young people bitten, beaten, hosed and jailed, and a lot of them killed for Civil Rights, Voting Rights were angry - are angry, so you can do property damage, loot for your own benefit; express breathtaking episodes of pyromania and call it "protest."
Sorry for the post-Sunday rant. I'll do physics Wednesday.
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| Shiva. Image Source: Hiroshima Poetry, related to the embed below |
Topics: Existentialism, Manhattan Project, Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Power
Having lived through the "duck-and-cover" drills of the sixties and seventies (for me at least), the fact we don't do them anymore doesn't reduce the existential danger. We have the unique position in species of intelligence on this Earth, a way - as Carl Sagan would have said - for the Cosmos to "know itself." We're also the only species that could take the other sentient ones on our globe into oblivion by myriad, maddening means. The drama isn't too accurate, and some of the characterizations aren't spot-on or accurate (like Oppenheimer as "jerk" - he wasn't in what I've read), but it should spark some interest in the project in general, and nuclear physics in particular.
Physics Buzz: This fall (2014), a new primetime drama appeared on the television network WGN America, featuring scientists at Los Alamos working tirelessly--desperately, even--to develop nuclear weapons during World War II, all while maintaining utmost secrecy. Manhattan draws on the rich underlying history of its namesake, the Manhattan Project, but steers clear of documentary tendencies. Whereas the premise of the show and several key figures are largely based on their real-life counterparts, the main cast is populated by fictional characters, whose personal and scientific struggles acquaint us with the broader themes of privacy, government surveillance, and trust. Today on the podcast, we discuss how Manhattan brings nuclear physics to primetime TV, and what’s gained or lost along the way.
It was a great scientific triumph, and we won the war. It had many spin-offs in peaceful space program (even as that was essentially the Cold War above our heads) and nuclear physics applications - fission initially, then hopefully fusion eventually - as well as the analysis of what is now known as Black Holes. I suspect however, it was also Dr. Oppenheimer's greatest regret:
