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| T Shirt Guru |
I've long championed what I like to term "conversational physics concepts," as well as diversity on this blog, particularly gender ascendancy in science, technology, engineering and math. Thus, my concentration this month wasn't all physics (though, I'm admittedly partial). For the nation to advance in the future, we need every one of us.
It is my hope one or several posts during the month informed, entertained and inspired. I started these posts with something that struck me as wrong: that due to someone's name and attending a historically black college and university as an undergrad, they would most likely not get a grant from the National Institute of Health. It affected me because I know and have taught one such young man that in his future, this impediment will affect him: he currently attends Howard University in Biology Pre Med, and plans to research in Ear, Nose and Throat ailments. Something that because of my own struggles with Sinusitis, I sincerely HOPE he's successful in getting research dollars!
I post this as a father, with two young men with dreams, hopes and futures in medicine (USARMY) and Civil Engineering. I have watched over Robert and Mildred Goodwin'sgrandsons. As they did for me, I hope and work for a future that they can contribute to positively.
It's a leap year, and my hope is that teachers, professors...and students have found something of themselves in these postings. (Shout out to the students and teachers at Manor High School 
)
For students, your futures lie not just in sports or rap music; a future in science, technology, engineering and math is not only possible: it is "what you can do for your country" (John F. Kennedy)...and for yourselves.
This is the last week of our amazing online Black History Month event. It’s been an enlightening experience. I’d like to take the time to thank everyone who has participated from the other bloggers to the readers, retweeters, and commenters. You all have been wonderful. My winners this week are Chicki Brown and Ellen Barrow. Congratulations! This week we have a special treat. Each participant has created an original short story.We each created a short story that uses a bracelet. The ATL authors shared their stories at the Georgia Tech discussion so after my short, take a look at the reading of the Mathematical Genius. To read the rest of this post, please visit:
University of Illinois
Citation:
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| Cosmic Microwave Background mapping |
Sikivie and colleagues point out that axions can form a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC). Such condensates contain particles that have all fallen into their lowest energy state, and are best known to occur in low-density gases at temperatures close to absolute zero. But since the critical temperature for transition to a BEC depends on density, say the Florida researchers, particles can form BECs at higher temperatures as long as they are dense enough. Even in the primordial heat of the Big Bang, the researchers say, axions would easily be dense enough to form a BEC.
All well for the universe: what about my laptop battery? 
Physics World: Axions could solve lithium problem
Greetings and salutations! I have a new short story available as a free download. It is about Marc, who had lived a wild life full of partying and sex. When he is involved in a car accident, he reunites with a mysterious shaman from his childhood and begins to question if his life was merely a futile search to find love.
The book is for mature (18+) audiences only, as it has images that might be inappropriate for younger readers. It is also not safe for work (NSFW).
You can read & download it on Scribd or download it for various formats (Kindle, ePub, PDF, etc) on Smashwords.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy it.
Words = Life,
A. Jarrell Hayes
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| Optical Fibre with Integrated High-Speed Junction |
Physics World: Optical fibres with integrated semiconductor junctions developed
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| Lydia Thomas, PhD |
"As a young Black girl in high school, no one ever told me that math was hard or that science was for boys," Dr. Thomas says.
She continued her education at Howard University, receiving a B.Sc. in zoology in 1965, and went on to earn an M.Sc. in microbiology from American University in 1971. She returned to Howard in 1973, as a divorced mother of two, to earn a Ph.D. in cell biology, just in time to join the emerging technology revolution.
Dr. Thomas joined MITRE in the 1970s and rose through the ranks through a combination of skill and willingness to soar. She spent the vast majority of her career at The MITRE Corporation and Mitretek Systems, where she shaped programs that were the beacon for the nation in energy, environment, public safety, health, and national security.
Mitretek is now Noblis, Dr. Thomas is President and CEO of the company.
2003 Black Engineer of the Year: Lydia Thomas, PhD
Press Release: Mitretek Systems Changes Name to Noblis
http://www.unixmen.com/why-inkscape-is-way-ahead-of-adobe-illustrator/
Well this is most definitely not a troll. But a genuine appreciation of software that gives you the scope to develop top-quality vector graphics that allows designers to explore the limits of software and render graphics to perfection.
Of course, one cannot take away Adobe Illustrator’s great features, but there is only so much you can do with all the ‘power-packed features’. Inkscape, offers you limitless scope that allows you to learn and build as you go and this definitely is what keeps it way ahead of all other similar vector software.
Light on the pocket plus optimized design experience
First point in favor of Inkscape is of course its open source origins. That it does not cause a big hole in your pocket even as it delivers superior quality features, on par with paid Adobe Illustrator, is a worthy point that works in Inkscape’s favor.
Additionally, it is not just children working on school projects who are using Inkscape with ease. Professionals, designers prefer the hands-on experience that Inkscape offers to ensure maximum work scope over-and-above Adobe Illustrators’ power features. Add to its small footprint, typically in small sizes that makes working on Inkscape easier and faster.
Additional features such as RGB color, very sophisticated path effects; and by far, the best open and save function feature for SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics). Now, SVG is the format for rendering 2D graphics and application in XML. This helps in using these graphics on websites as well as print media.
Inkscape is as professional as Adobe Illustrator
Though, Adobe Illustrator has a better text feature pack, Inkscape makes up with some of the best multiple or general illustration features. Whether for coloring, illustrating or building icons, Inkscape is easy to use. Add to it the following features native to Inkscape only – direct editing on SVG source, editing clones on canvas, screen pixels manipulation – move, rotate or scale; shapes can be converted into objects; using handles for editing gradients on the canvas; use of keys to edit nodes’ fill paint bucket with a single click and color wash over objects.
Better User Interface
Another feature of Inkscape is its better and more useful interface. It is not the typical ‘oversimplified’ open source software, but has the perfect user interface for beginners to professionals. Additionally, Inkscape scores well users because it automatically converts Bitmap to Vector format.
Packaged Software does not translate into full support
A key feature for Inkscape users is that, when in need of support one can directly get to chat with developers and ink out doubts, use cases and optimize their scope, which is most definitely not the case with the beautifully packaged Adobe Illustrator software. You can get a host of tutorials, support pages to wade through and after an exhaustive search, get relief only after a paid conversation with the help desk. Your nearest help for Adobe Illustrator will remain support forum.
Over and above any of the above, Inkscape rules over Adobe Illustrator because of the free spirit with which it can be used. No limiting or strict licensing with Inkscape, you and the entire team can work simultaneously without having to run up budget over-runs.
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| Kevin T. Kornegay, PhD |
Faculty Profile, Georgia Tech: Kevin Kornegay, PhD
"We however, feel it is only right to present science fiction with a different face, one that is not filled with the normal negative representation of ethnic characters. We think that it is essential for characters of all colors and creeds to be represented positively and fairly."
I'm grateful for the images in my young mind of Nichelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura), and for my own sons, LeVar Burton (Lieutenant Commander Geordi la Forge), Michael Dorn (Lieutenant Commander Worf) and Avery Brooks (Captain Benjamin Sisko).
The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill for the caged bird
sings of freedom
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" Dr. Maya Angelou
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| Nanoshells - Tiny spheres capture light |
Nanocrystalline silicon could be ideal for making photovoltaic devices because it is an excellent conductor of electricity and can withstand harsh sunlight without suffering any damage. However, there is a problem: silicon does not absorb light very efficiently. Layers of the material have to be built up to increase the amount of light absorbed – a process that is both time-consuming and expensive.
Now, Yi Cui and colleagues at Stanford University have shown that nanoshells made of silicon could offer a quicker and cheaper route to solar-cell fabrication.
Physicsworld: Nanoshells could boost photovoltaics
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| Shirley M. Malcom, PhD |
AAAS Science Talk: Shirley M. Malcom, PhD
From a previous post on supposed superluminal neutrinos (a response):
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| io9 |
Simple questions, repeated, but each time the question begs a deeper answer. WHO ARE YOU? Who Are You? who are you? Each time the same question probes deeper into time. In my prescribed country of origin, I got on a boat, but unlike most of soon to be Americans who also came here on a boat, I did not look up with wide-eyed wonder and dreams of hope and glory. That simple question echoed and echoed into the back of my mind. I fell asleep for years, a black Rip van Winkle, dreaming in black-n-white.
Things happen for a reason but if you take the incident as truth, you are stuck there, sleep walking. Means to an end, yes, my control, I don't think so. I was rocked in the arms of a Caucasian Jesus and Moshe kept sticking his brown hand into his bosom, turning it white and back to brown, I noticed. Actually, that simple question from the beginning found a space and wedged itself into a waking moment and started pinging like a sonar. Moshe, why are you brown and Jesus white? I went to ones from the school of dream interpretation. "Hey Joe, we got another one who claims to dream in color." They gave me a little packet with blue pills in it. "It's an anomaly, must be a psychotic aneurysm, watch TV, come back in a week. If it's worse we'll get you free Blockbuster and confine you to a video therapy room."
I threw the blue pills into a hole in the wall, they fell out. Seems I've been doing this for years, the space in the wall is filled up to the hole. I am baffled, every time I see a black face in history I loose them in Africa someplace. Even the mythical Noah's kids were..............well I'll be.......!?! But how........., when did......!?! I wondered into the street in a daze, got busted for looking like I was on drugs. They kept asking me why weren't I watching sports on the tube, or playing basketball, holding down a stool at the club or sweet talking with some ladies? Classic amnesia no, amnesia like a socially induced and perpetuated dream-state. All you have to do is school everybody what they need to know and the charade is maintained indefinitely.
They consoled me, comforted me, then jailed and sentenced me. I was numb from thinking. They brought me into a room, looked like a dentist office. "They care about my teeth?" "Just relax, you are going into relapse." They put me in the chair, strapped me down and began giving me blue pills, I passed out. I awoke in my bed, next to the large hole in the wall, all the blue pills were gone. I feel great, went out to catch some rays. "Hey, man what's up? Been down, ain't seen ya for a while?" I just smiled, stuck my brown hand into my bosom, pulled it out, it turned white, did it again, back to brown. Then I laughed. Next week there was an incident on the street. My friend whom I had spoke to was being carted away. He had that dazed look like doing drugs. A new echo now played in the back of my mind, "You are not the only one!" I asked the echo about the blue pills, he fired back "Placebo!"
“Apprentice.”
“Yes, master.”
“It’s time.”
I help him up and walk him into his study. He is paper-thin, light like a bird, a wisp of the force I remember from my youth. I can feel the fire burning through him, my second sight, even shielded cannot block the visions of his power. I help him to his workbench, a central seat of his gift. It was only as we drew close could I sense it.
The bracelet. It shimmered in darkness the way his power glowed brightly. A cool black metal that flickered like glass, lit from within with a sinister madness. This was my last time to say no.
Once he sits, his palsy stops when he picks it up. His eyes harden like flint and his unspoken gaze beckons me to sit across from him. The light from the power within him dims. “Once you put this on, you will enter our Order. There is no release, no resistance, no rest from Ouroboros, her power is complete and unending. Do you understand?”
Of course I did. This was what I trained for this last fifteen years. This decision would mark my journey to true power.
“I know that look, boy. You think, you are getting what you want. Do you think I don’t know what you’re feeling? I sat there once.”
“Master, I am just eager to begin our work.”
“Don’t be in such a rush to go out and subjugate the world.”
“Master…”
“Spare me. Your lust for power was why you were chosen. Ouroboros requires strong passion, better to harness your gift.”
“Harness my gift?”
“Give me your hand, child. This is not a toy, or just a tool. It is a weapon coupled with your intent. Fail to harness your intent and it will kill you.”
He rubs the bracelet and taps it on his stone workbench. He taps it again. And again. The flat sound echoes across my senses, first a ripple, then a tide. Then a crack appears in the surface of the stone. Ironwood, once was living, now a metallic stone, one of the hardest natural substances, cracks, splinters to dust, with a sound like the world ending.
He grabs my hand and his grip was as strong as it was weak a moment ago. The bracelet had expanded and my hand slipped into it easily. Then all I could feel was the power. All that I thought I knew about power was now erased. My inner energy was as a candle compared to this burning sun. He was right. I had no idea. The things I would do.
The metal burned my flesh as it began to close tightly on my wrist. As mine grew darker, I could suddenly see his. It was always there, you only saw it for a second whenever he would transit a window curtain and the light hit it just right. Now it was alive, visible and its energy flew toward me.
“Yes, you can feel the power of Ouroboros and you think, I can do anything. And you are right. But with light, comes the darkness. Ouroboros is between all things, so I now give unto you the other side of power. Responsibility. The chains that binds this power to your very soul. Each time you partake of her power, you are dying. You will do great things. But whenever you reach beyond what is yours, and ask her for power, your sacrifice will be your time left to live. And you have much to do.”
The black shadow fell on my bracelet and its light was diminished, flecked with shadows, nuances and shades of grey. My vision returned to normal. His grip loosened and he fell back into his chair, boneless and still. I rushed to him over the remnants of his work desk, its power drained into me.
He looked at me, then down to the bracelet. He smiled fiercely. “Chained you again. He’s a strong one. Your scourge will be contained, for a time.” He lifted his head, his eyes rheumy with age. “I’m sorry, Kal.” His whisper barely reached me.
He died slumping forward into my arms.
“He was a bitter, old man. We will do great things, you and I.”
I could feel her coiled around my heart. Squeezing and settling down like a snake. Making my power her own.
All that light. The radiance that dwarfed my own. Those were the lives of mages she'd claimed before me. I am insignificant to her. She thinks to use me up. I am no more than food to her. I may never be able to be free of her, but I certainly don’t have to give her what she wants. She will earn every meal.
“They all said that. All fell before me. Ambition is a hard taskmaster." She paused to let me think on that. Then she continued. "We have time; there is no rush to get back to taking your world for my own. Let us get to know one other.”
We conspired deep into the night.
Ouroboros Rising © Thaddeus Howze 2012, All Rights Reserved
Tadias is an online magazine for the Ethiopian-American community. It means "hi," "what's up," or "how are you?"
This is about a professor at my alma mater. The text and link will speak for itself:
Now a professor at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Dr. Bililignis one of nine individuals whom President Obama this week named recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. The honorees will receive their awards at a White House ceremony later this year. The award recognizes the role that mentoring plays in the academic and personal development of students studying science and engineering. According to the White House, candidates are nominated by colleagues, administrators, and students at their home institutions.
“Through their commitment to education and innovation, these individuals are playing a crucial role in the development of our 21st century workforce,” President Obama said. “Our nation owes them a debt of gratitude for helping ensure that America remains the global leader in science and engineering for years to come.”
Dr. Bililign said that success in science, engineering or math is not as glamorous as success in performing arts or sports in the U.S., but the economic competitiveness of the nation, depends on a solid foundation in the sciences. “Young people need to be encouraged, pushed, persuaded to do it,” he said. “Not for the money or fame but for the love of discovery and innovation. I believe every one has a gift, and a mentor’s role is to identify the gift and nurture it.”
TADIAS: Obama Honors Physicist Solomon Bililign With Presidential Award for Excellence
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| NASA - Gold Record on Voyager spacecraft |
NASA: Voyager Golden Record
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| Percy A. Pierre, PhD Electrical Engineering |
He earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at The Johns Hopkins University. He is recognized as the first African American to earn a doctorate in electrical engineering (http://blacksuccessfoundation.org/first_science_phd's.htm).
List of papers: Mathematicians of the African Diaspora (bottom of page)
