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| Source: Facebook |
Poem by Robert Gibbons (with permission)
a short thought for the black inventor of baby buggy
(for WH Richardson)
I guess you remember him
if you ever had to carry a baby
a bundle of joy
wrapped in swallowing clothes
but he gave you a choice
to either carry or buggy
to hold or tug them along
through the whining streets
little feet lifted in air
like a prayer
if you have one
call his name
racing through the streets
with wheels and then
peel back the layers
of history, remember
his name
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics and family gatherings. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future. Its growing popularity signifies a level of maturity and dignity in America long over due. In cities across the country, people of all races, nationalities and religions are joining hands to truthfully acknowledge a period in our history that shaped and continues to influence our society today. Sensitized to the conditions and experiences of others, only then can we make significant and lasting improvements in our society.
The baby buggy is an invention, an application of Newtonian mechanics for the greater common good. Since xenophobic, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals tend to sadly procreate, this information should cause some consternation and epic episodes of Cognitive Dissonance. Que trolls: 3...2...1...
It's also the birthdays of my favorite Civil Rights hero Mamie Goodwin-Douglas (sister), who put her life on the line many times for the world we take for granted, and my father Robert Harrison Goodwin (June 19, 1925 - August 26, 1999), a man who knew service (USN); boxing and hardship, facing indignities with dignity. One the fourth occasion his employer deemed him worthy of going to supervisory school only to (again) train his next Caucasian manager, he quietly retorted: "I expect I'll retire now." Since Pop had the time, they couldn't argue. He spent the remainder of his days before the lung cancer in reasonably good health working in his vegetable garden - doing exactly what he wanted to do. He is still missed.
Official site: Juneteenth.com
I will be attending Texas Comicon on June 21-22. You can find me in Artist Alley at Table A39 Limited Edition Sketchbooks, Prints, and Commissions. I still have copies of my limited edition sketchbooks available. Stop by my table to get your copy. $10 sketchbook, signed
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| Using the "magnetocaloric effect" to build a low-temperature magnetic refrigeration device. (Courtesy: Shutterstock/Spectral-Design) |
A large, rotational magnetocaloric effect – which could be used as the basis for a low-temperature magnetic refrigeration device – has been observed in crystals of the compound HoMn2O5, according to research carried out by scientists in Canada and Bulgaria. This finding expands our knowledge of magnetocaloric materials, adding to our progress towards a practical and environmentally friendly magnetic cooler that might be usable in a domestic setting.
In recent times, the potential of magnetic refrigeration techniques as an alternative to traditional, vapour-compression solutions has been attracting considerable attention. This is mainly thanks to the lower energy demands of the technique, and the fact that it is not reliant on hazardous fluids. Such devices take advantage of the magnetocaloric effect – a phenomenon in which certain materials change temperature in response to an externally applied magnetic field. Such fields cause the magnetic dipoles of the atoms within magnetocaloric compounds to align. To balance out this decrease in entropy – and thereby satisfy the second law of thermodynamics – the motion of the atoms also becomes more disordered, and the material heats up. In contrast, when the applied field is removed, the process reverses and the material cools. In magnetic refrigerators, these temperature changes can be harnessed, using a fluid or gas, to drive a heat pump.
This relates to the ozone layer and how we could use technology to reduce the size of the hole over the Antarctic. UV radiation is filtered by it to make our existence possible. Kind of an important thing, since Monday's post on warp drive technology - though inspiring - is still in the theory stage. The only spaceship we currently have is under our feet.
Physics World: Using magnetic cooling for 'green' refrigeration
#P4TC: "An Extremely Bold Op-Ed," November 19, 2010
The sun emits light waves with a range of frequencies. Some of these frequencies fall within the visible light spectrum and thus are detectable by the human eye. Since sunlight consists of light with the range of visible light frequencies, it appears white. This white light is incident towards Earth and illuminates both our outdoor world and the atmosphere that surrounds our planet.
The interaction of sunlight with matter can result in one of three wave behaviors: absorption, transmission, and reflection. The atmosphere is a gaseous sea that contains a variety of types of particles; the two most common types of matter present in the atmosphere are gaseous nitrogen and oxygen. These particles are most effective in scattering the higher frequency and shorter wavelength portions of the visible light spectrum. This scattering process involves the absorption of a light wave by an atom followed by reemission of a light wave in a variety of directions. The amount of multidirectional scattering that occurs is dependent upon the frequency of the light.
-ROYGBIV (huh?)
-Why are the skies blue?
-Why are sunsets red?
You could also just enjoy them (but, understanding them is such a conversation starter):
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| Photograph of Maui sunset by Becky Henderson |
Thrill your dates/science/physics teacher (and I pray those sets are "mutually exclusive"
) in the fall with the answers at:
Physics Classroom:
Blue Skies and Red Sunsets - The Electromagnetic and Visible Spectra
...whether or not we achieve it, it is fascinating that we're giving science discussions on it! Besides, this KILLS any previous designs of starships (without being too far off as well).
Instead of nacelles, it looks like we'd have two hoops enclosing the vessel. No "pivoting at Warp 2" recommended...see the video presentation below.
The dilemma can be summed in this humorous meme (not meant to insult anyone, but if you do a Google search, it's likely to come up):
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| Source: Motenes |
The science behind the humor: it took about as much fuel as the shuttle weighed to get it into orbit. Fuel would then be spent (emptied), and Newtonian mechanics - momentum and gravitational pull of planets mostly - would be the predominate force moving a craft forward.
The only interstellar vehicle that's left our solar system is Voyager 1 on August 25, 2012, launched in 1977 when I was decidedly (blessedly) in high school. With abs...and hair on my head...
35 years is a long time for a one-way trip. NASA is attempting to reduce such journeys to a human lifetime, and maybe make it a round trip. Even 1/10 c (the speed of light) would be a civilization-changing accomplishment.
Look at the picture above. Nope, it’s not a snapshot of a Star Wars scene, or any other sci-fi movie. It’s what you get if you combine a NASA physicist working on achieving faster-than-light travel with a 3D artist, and the result is freaking AWESOME. And yes, you heard correctly, there are scientists working on faster-than-light travel, and this is what the ship could look like in the future.
Read more at http://www.iflscience.com/space/nasa-reveals-latest-warp-drive-ship-designs#EPvMa3eRlv4Ekmb1.99
#P4TC links:
"As Dreams Are Made On," September 21, 2012
"Alcubierre Drive," October 28, 2012
"Warp Fields and Research Efficacy," July 26, 2013
According to Pew Research, we as an American Public are far more partisan/polarized than we've ever been. It affects who we live next to; where we shop and worship (or not); where our kids go to school; who we befriend/follow on social media. I think it affects how we take in knowledge, how we measure knowledge and what we count as knowledge.
Seen in some platforms as a link:
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| The Global Dispatch |
Dimensional barrier...unknown energies...antimatter...dark energy...x element (?)...I applaud their near Star Trek level techno-babble.
Though it mixes comic companies, he reminds me of Toby Maguire in the original Spiderman movies. Similar to Peter Parker's epic lunchroom fight with Flash Thompson, everyone moving in slow-mo; the look of sheer terror and befuddlement is entertaining when Barry Allen realizes he's not quite human anymore (or, as they allude, he's a meta-human).
Anyway, this post is reminiscent is when I encountered comic book characters, other than reading them in the comics. It would be on Saturday mornings, rising early at 6 AM, glued to the set until 3 PM ending with the Lone Ranger and Tonto. It's how I know the Apollo moon landing happened (when Jonny Quest reruns gets interrupted for Neil Armstrong, as a 6-year-old, you can get a little excited). I, of course, wasn't disappointed.
I hope you enjoy it in the fall. Along with Arrow, Gotham, Agents of Shield, the fall line up - minus "reality" television - should be fun (again).
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| Location-based social networks are allowing scientists to study the way human patterns of behaviour change in time and space, a technique that should eventually lead to deeper insights into the nature of society. |
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: The increasing availability of big data from mobile phones and location-based apps has triggered a revolution in the understanding of human mobility patterns. This data shows the ebb and flow of the daily commute in and out of cities, the pattern of travel around the world and even how disease can spread through cities via their transport systems.
So there is considerable interest in looking more closely at human mobility patterns to see just how well it can be predicted and how these predictions might be used in everything from disease control and city planning to traffic forecasting and location-based advertising.
Today we get an insight into the kind of detailed that is possible thanks to the work of Zimo Yang at Microsoft research in Beijing and a few pals. These guys start with the hypothesis that people who live in a city have a pattern of mobility that is significantly different from those who are merely visiting. By dividing travelers into locals and non-locals, their ability to predict where people are likely to visit dramatically improves.
Zimo and co begin with data from a Chinese location-based social network called Jiepang.com. This is similar to Foursquare in the US. It allows users to record the places they visit and to connect with friends at these locations and to find others with similar interests.
Physics arXiv: Indigenization of Urban Mobility
Zimo Yang, Nicholas Jing Yuan, Xing Xie, Defu Lian, Yong Rui, Tao Zhou
The novel starts off with an great premise—a killer drives a Mercedes into a crowd, kills 8 and maims several others, and mysteriously gets away. The retired detective who had been assigned to the case gets a letter from the killer, taunting him, trying to goad him into the suicide the former cop has already been considering. But he only draws the former lawman out of his depression and sends him in pursuit.
The Good
The writing is great. Vivid characters and a nice amount of foreshadowing. I found myself realizing certain things were going to happen and dreading when they eventually came. The banter between the detectives was refreshing. I even liked Hodges and his teenaged neighbor (his name escapes me at the moment). The whole thing had a moment-by-moment, Law & Order feel.
The Bad
The bad guy. I understand the necessity to have clear delineation between good and bad, but the bad guy was over-the-top bad. I’m not objecting to the use of the ‘n-word’, but there was a ton of it when he referred to anyone black. It makes me feel like a fuddy-duddy to write it, but for me, that was too much. I would have gotten some just to make it clear this killer was a racist too, but sheesh.
Also, this story was very reminiscent of 11/22/63. It just had a feel of pursuing the killer who always seemed just out of reach. I did like the story, actually, a lot, but it never seemed to become its own entire story. Maybe because that book is just so fresh on my mind, but I find myself wanting to go back and listen to that again (I’ve already listened twice), but it would feel pointless to listen to this book a second time.
And How Did I Feel About That…
I liked this story, despite the bad. King’s writing alone and incredible ability to set a scene and a mood really carries this beyond just being rehash of another, superior novel. If you read it, you’ll like it, but you’ll appreciate it more if you read it before 11/22/63.
Until Revival comes out later this year, why not download a copy of Where the Monsters Are? Only $0.99. And hop onto the Facebook page for Axe to the Face.
Take a look at the results of an analysis of your Facebook Posts:
Please follow, and share with us!
Dark Matters Project at Wordpress.com
Also, find us at:
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| Credit: JPL/NASA |
They're doing the testing at high altitudes to simulate thin atmospheric conditions on Mars. In a twist, the flying saucer isn't coming from the Red Planet...we're sending our own.
NASA did not conduct the flight test of the agency's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range in Kauai, Hawaii, during its designated launch period. The project's reserved time at the range will expire Saturday without NASA being able to fly the test because of continuing unfavorable weather conditions.
NASA will hold a media teleconference at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) on Thursday, June 12 to discuss what this delay in the LDSD testing means and possible next steps for the project.
Speakers will be:
--Mark Adler, LDSD Project Manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California
--Ian Clark, LDSD Principal Investigator at JPL
The teleconference will be streamed live on NASA's website at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio
Coming Soon in the fall of this year is an artbook that I think most of bsfs members will enjoy.
From my own personal archives of Blakelyworks Studio I have picked what I think is the best
of my work, with new features and chapters included. Take special note that Jarvis Sheffield,
creator of this very same site you are chatting on and networking to get your most creative
projects done, did the introduction to Aura, The Art of Winston Blakely. And a profound
tip of the hat to William Hayashi for the suggestion of this idea which is about to be
available soon.
Please, stay tune for further announcements about this deluxe coffee table artbook.
Thank You
Winston Blakely
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| (a) Top view of the crystal structure of monolayer phosphorene, and side views of the occupied orbitals, corresponding to (b) bonding orbitals and (c) lone pairs. Courtesy: Phys. Rev. B |
Single electrons hopping between individual atomic layers are responsible for opening up a bandgap in multilayer black phosphorus (or phosphorene) – a new technologically important 2D material. This unexpected finding, from researchers at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, is very different to what happens in other 2D materials like graphene and the transition-metal dichalcogenides.
Like other 2D materials, such as graphene and the transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), black phosphorus has dramatically different electronic and mechanical properties from its bulk, 3D, parent and so may find use in a host of novel device applications. And just like graphene (which is a sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice), black phosphorus is a layered material containing individual phosphorus atoms that are arranged hexagonally. Each atomic layer is held together by weak van der Waals forces. However, in phosphorene, the surface is puckered, and this seems to make all the difference when it comes to bandgap behaviour.
Bulk phosphorene is a semiconductor with a moderate bandgap of between 0.31 and 0.35 eV, but the monolayer material is predicted to be an insulator with a much larger bandgap that varies with the number of phosphorus layers. Although such predictions have already been confirmed in laboratory experiments, researchers are still unsure as to where this considerable bandgap broadening comes from as the material is scaled down to monolayers.
Nano Tech Web: Hopping to open up a bandgap in phosphorene, Belle Dumé
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| The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli. . |
Sound arguments for a more inclusive universe of fiction are legion. There exits, beyond the compelling arguments about diversity of subject, arguments to be made about diversity of authorship.
Obviously, a talented writer of any background, can tell a gripping story about a culture different for her own. However, is something lost in experiential translation when the rich and comfortable tells stories of the poor and oppressed? Should we assume that the meritocracy of talent operates with an invisible hand and just hope that the privileged operate in a world without blinders?
We could debate this topic for years and never get to a satisfactory resolution. Instead, the issue raises an interesting thought experiment about the usefulness of criticism. Specifically, what obligation does a critical consumer of fiction have as its creator? Do consumers of media featuring or authored by POCs have an obligation to view the work with a less critical eye, least they discourage the telling these stories? (This isn't necessarily a question grammar, structure and pacing, but one of reason, weight and intent.)
Or should those tales featuring the least represented carry the dual weight of being entertaining and profound? If they don't, have they failed in some respect. Is it not enough to tell a good, fun story? Does it need to shatter preconceptions, subvert tropes, and open minds? Can POC fiction ever exist outside of itself, telling tales of pulpy mages and wisecracking aliens, without the necessity to parse the hidden meaning, the social commentary of a people's agenda.
It is often true that POC are judged twice as harsh (illumination here) when it comes to critical analysis of their work, is this the same standard that must be applied to works that feature their likenesses?
Do reviewers have to look at a work and demand it be something that it isn't? Of course, the one argument is that there are so very few works that feature POCs, anyone who undertakes the effort should be given the benefit of the doubt. We shouldn't demand that works be complete realizations of social commentary mixed in with compelling narratives. Sometimes, it is okay to not require sub-text with our text. On the other, literary gatekeepers can and do demand certain shibboleths to be tackled when POCs feature heavily in the plot synopsis or author page. Recognition, even when bounded by expectations, can solve problems of access. Should a reviewer stand in the stead of the literary community and demand that every self-published vampire vs robot novel also speak to the eternal existential struggle for justice and equality?
Our thoughts are mixed. The role of criticism to should be to lift all boats; each review challenging the author to rise and make his colleagues rise. But criticism also should function as an iceberg to the hull of ego. Shouting that you are tackling hard issues does not give you a waiver to actually tackle them. Voices need to be heard, and be heard well.
Moorsgate Media
Do reviewers have to look at a work and demand it be something that it isn't? Of course, the one argument is that there are so very few works that feature POCs, anyone who undertakes the effort should be given the benefit of the doubt. We shouldn't demand that works be complete realizations of social commentary mixed in with compelling narratives. Sometimes, it is okay to not require sub-text with our text. On the other, literary gatekeepers can and do demand certain shibboleths to be tackled when POCs feature heavily in the plot synopsis or author page. Recognition, even when bounded by expectations, can solve problems of access. Should a reviewer stand in the stead of the literary community and demand that every self-published vampire vs robot novel also speak to the eternal existential struggle for justice and equality?
Our thoughts are mixed. The role of criticism to should be to lift all boats; each review challenging the author to rise and make his colleagues rise. But criticism also should function as an iceberg to the hull of ego. Shouting that you are tackling hard issues does not give you a waiver to actually tackle them. Voices need to be heard, and be heard well.
Moorsgate Media
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| Credit: The Telegraph - UK |
A ''super computer'' has duped humans into thinking it is a 13-year-old boy, becoming the first machine to pass the ''iconic'' Turing Test, experts say
Hannah Furness, and agencies
A ''super computer'' has duped humans into thinking it is a 13-year-old boy to become the first machine to pass the ''iconic'' Turing Test, experts have said.
Five machines were tested at the Royal Society in central London to see if they could fool people into thinking they were humans during text-based conversations.
The test was devised in 1950 by computer science pioneer and Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing, who said that if a machine was indistinguishable from a human, then it was ''thinking''.
No computer had ever previously passed the Turing Test, which requires 30 per cent of human interrogators to be duped during a series of five-minute keyboard conversations, organisers from the University of Reading said.
But ''Eugene Goostman'', a computer programme developed to simulate a 13-year-old boy, managed to convince 33 per cent of the judges that it was human, the university said. 1
A chatterbot named Eugene Goostman has become the first to pass the Turing Test.
“Eugene” and four other contenders participated in the Turing Test 2014 Competition at the Royal Society in London. Each chatterbox was required to engage in a series of five-minute text-based conversations with a panel of judges. A computer passes the test if it is mistaken for a human more than 30% of the time. Eugene convinced 33% of the judges it was human– the only machine in history to do so.
The competition was held on the 60th anniversary of the death of Alan Turing, the great British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst , computer scientist and philosopher.
During World War II, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Britain’s code breaking center. He led Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, and improved the pre-war Polish bombe method, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine.
The great Alan Turing was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalization of the concepts of “algorithm” and “computation”. Turing is widely considered the “father” of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence.
The shameful British government prosecuted Turing for being gay, showing no respect for a man whose contributions to Britain and the world were enormous. He accepted treatment with estrogen injections (chemical castration) as an alternative to prison, and later committed suicide. 2
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| Credit: ApplySci blog |
"Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty - a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture." Bertrand Russell
1. The Telegraph: Computer passes 'Turing Test' for the first time after convincing users it is human, Hannah Furness, and agencies
2. ApplySci Blog: CHATBOT PASSES TURING TEST, Lisa Weiner
Peace, everybody this is my first self published children's book which I will be promoting majorly over the next 28 days through kickstarter. Please check it out and pass it along when you get a chance.
You can keep up with the campaign here at http://bit.ly/FurqansFirst and here at http://Robdontstop.com for updates as well.
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| Source: Technology Review |
TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: Here’s how mathematicians might define the sport of wrestling. A system composed of two mechanical agents coupled via mechanical actions such as contact and collision. The aim of the contest is for one agent to floor the other while maintaining its own balance. The rest is just show business.
That’s more or less exactly how Katsutoshi Yoshida and pals at Utsunomiya University in Japan describe the sport in developing a mathematical model of wrestling which they go on to test in a numerical simulation.
The end result is a pair of autonomous mechanical wrestlers that compete to topple each other.
Physics arXiv:
Artificial Wrestling: A Dynamical Formulation of Autonomous Agents Fighting in a Coupled Inverted Pendula Framework
Katsutoshi Yoshida, Shigeki Matsumoto, Yoichi Matsue
