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Grace Under Pressure...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 20, 2017 at 11:34am
The sample appears as a dark area near the center of this micrograph of the diamond-anvil cell.
Credit: X. Dong et al. Nat. Chem. 2017

Topics: Chemistry, Chemical Physics, Materials Science


Helium doesn’t play well with others. Beyond its noble gas designation on the periodic table, it has the lowest electron affinity—zero—among the elements, and the highest ionization energy. Scientists have managed to mechanically pack He atoms with other elements, but the He has little effect on those compounds’ characteristics.

Now an international team has presented evidence for a compound whose electronic structure and thus its physical properties are influenced by its He components. Researchers led by Artem Oganov ran a crystal structure prediction algorithm to play matchmaker for He and found that the compound Na2He should form at high pressures. The researchers shared their prediction with Alexander Goncharov and colleagues, who loaded He gas and solid sodium into a diamond-anvil cell at the Carnegie Institution for Science. After increasing the pressure to 140 GPa and heating the sample, Goncharov’s team noticed a marked shift in material properties. New peaks appeared in x-ray diffraction patterns, and the sample’s melting point rose to more than 1500 K; pure Na melts at about 550 K.

Scientific American: Helium compound may form under pressure, Andrew Grant

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Godspeed, John Glenn...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 20, 2017 at 11:00am

It would literally be decades before we found out this was a part of African American History, as the book and movie "Hidden Figures" reveals. We have been, and always will be a part of the fabric of this nation's progress forward. Regarding us as lazy, stupid, useless can only lead to the United States regression into third world status. It has the logic of shooting oneself in the foot and expecting "the other" to feel the pain.

I guess for my mother, it was t-minus six months and counting (I was happily gestating in her womb)...


It took chutzpah, moxie for a human being to consciously strap (at that time) himself to a large lit stick of dynamite with no guarantee that the procedure, though thoroughly calculated and considered, would not end in disaster.

So was this Marine Corp pilot, who confidently climbed into a Mercury rocket - Friendship 7, and took the first flight by an American to orbit the Earth.

Mercury - Gemini - Apollo: it would change our world with semiconductor-manufactured spinoff technologies that we now take for granted. It would change our focus, our nerve on what was possible. We would look to the stars and listen for signs of humanity's cousins.

50 years later: Godspeed, John Glenn

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Hidden History 17 February 2017...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 17, 2017 at 8:30am
Members of the Kappa Beta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc perform a step show at the University of Memphis in 1999 Note that the average cane is about knee high (app. 2 feet), image source at site

Topics: African Americans, History, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, Women in Science

Stepping, like the blues, gospel, grits, jazz, be-bop, soul music, rock & roll and hip hop has its origins in traditions passed down from mother to daughter; father to son. It's originated in the 19th century in the form of South African gumboot dancing. The black miners were forbidden drums and traditional garb by the foremen, so they used as a way to break up the monotony, entertainment and communication with the only instruments they had: their rain boots and their bodies. It evolved from call-and-response sermons in black churches: "the rhythm of clap and tambourine, washboard and kettle drum." You can see certain tribes on the Mother Continent today that the only name you can give their rhythmic stomping, their pirouettes, their sheer expression of joy... is stepping.

It is an American art form, found in all of the Divine Nine, taught to undergrads and in some cases graduate initiates to carry on a tradition that on the outside looks almost stereotypical to the cynical, that usually will make snide and racist remarks out of ignorance because they do not understand.

They obviously haven't read "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley, nor understood the conditions under which he wrote his words:

Henley's literary reputation rests almost entirely upon this single poem.[7] In 1875 one of Henley's legs required amputation due to complications arising from tuberculosis. Immediately after the amputation he was told that his other leg would require a similar procedure. He chose instead to enlist the services of the distinguished English surgeon Joseph Lister, who was able to save Henley's remaining leg after multiple surgical interventions on the foot.[8]

While recovering in the infirmary, he was moved to write the verses that became "Invictus". This period of his life, coupled with recollections of an impoverished childhood, were primary inspirations for the poem, and play a major role in its meaning.[9] A memorable evocation of Victorian stoicism—the "stiff upper lip" self-discipline and fortitude in adversity, which popular culture rendered into a British character trait, "Invictus" remains a cultural touchstone.[6] Source: Wikipedia, see second Invictus link.

Invictus is memorized and recited by initiates to the Divine Nine as well as majority organizations, but not without the cultural backdrop of being and living in America as almost an afterthought. It's about pushing ahead through adversity; fighting against mighty streams of resistance to one's goal.

In a conversation I recounted with Dr. Ronald E. McNair (A&T physics graduate and sadly, Challenger astronaut casualty), "5 weeks before his dissertation defense, someone purged his data (also known as sabotage). Without data, he'd essentially have failed to get his PhD. He said he stayed up for 3 weeks and re-accomplished 5 years of research. He slept for a week after that." He was a proud member of Omega Psi Phi, a member of the Divine Nine. He obviously learned, and LIVED Invictus. I'll wager because he was a jazz saxophonist and an accomplished athlete (part of the Fighting Aggie Karate Team, and 5th Degree Black Belt) he STEPPED as an undergrad, too.

Most of the Founders of African American Fraternities and Sororities were men and women of letters, but also (at least for the initial organizations) as undergraduates servants within dominate frat and sorority houses. Due to segregation, they were not allowed to join majority organizations. It was under these and similar circumstances the germ of an idea: organizations of our own was born.

It is why such organizations step, while others do not.

It is an expression of triumph over adversity from a society designed against you to be at times vindictively cruel and punitive.

It is rising above bigoted circumstances; winning in spite of low expectations and outright, malicious sabotage.

It is, with or without canes, martial arts, break dancing, gymnastics, music and pirouettes the embodiment of Langston Hughes classic poem, I'm Still Here:

been scarred and battered.
My hopes the wind done scattered.
Snow has friz me,
Sun has baked me,

Looks like between 'em they done
Tried to make me

Stop laughin', stop lovin', stop livin'--
But I don't care!
I'm still here!

* * * * *

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Earnest Hensley, last stanza of "Invictus"

Still here, unconquered AND stepping to prove it!

Related Links:

Step Afrika: What is Stepping?
The Art of Stepping: History of the Art of Stepping
University of Florida Multicultural Guide: What is Strolling?
Wikipedia: Gumboot dance
Wikipedia: Stepping (African-American)

Kappas on YouTube (Hey, I'm a member, so I'm GOING to be partial):

Howard Homecoming
Maniac Drew Brown (Cane Master)
Southern Province Step Show
The Art of Twirling
University of Miami, TEDx

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A Real Drag...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 17, 2017 at 7:30am
The Sun as seen by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (Courtesy: Solar Dynamics Observatory/NASA)

Topics: Astrophysics, Heliophysics, NASA, Solar System

And in one post title, I've horribly dated myself again. Happy Friday, everyone!

Sunlight is slowing the rotation of the Sun’s outermost layers by stealing its angular momentum. That is the claim of researchers in the US and Brazil who have studied acoustic waves oscillating through the Sun’s visible surface – the photosphere – to determine how fast the Sun spins at certain depths.

It has been known since the 1980s that the outer 5% of the photosphere rotates more slowly than deeper layers. However, solar physicists do not understand why this slowdown occurs, its total extent and its effect on the Sun’s magnetic dynamo and solar wind.

To solve this puzzle a team led by Ian Cunnyngham and Jeff Kuhn of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii has observed acoustic waves at the limb (edge) of the Sun’s disc using the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which orbits Earth.

Bell ringing

The Sun is ringing like a bell as acoustic waves driven by turbulence crash through the plasma within its interior. The waves themselves, known as p-mode oscillations, have very low frequencies in the region of 3000 µHz and their harmonic patterns form the basis of helioseismology.

Cunnyngham and Kuhn’s team observed the oscillations at the solar limb, where the viewing angle makes it possible to determine how deep in the photosphere each oscillation is, allowing measurements of the rotation velocity at each depth. They found that the greatest amount of braking was occurring in the outer 70 km of the photosphere and that layers closest to the surface were rotating more slowly than deeper layers. This differential rotation could potentially twist localized magnetic field lines, affecting magnetic phenomena such as sunspots, active regions and even the formation of the solar wind.

Physics World: Photons are a drag on the Sun, Keith Cooper

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Legends Parallel 2

Posted by Bill McCormick on February 16, 2017 at 3:46pm

Imagine an Earth where Africa was never colonized and ended up ruling the world. We did. Legends Parallel issue 2 is coming soon. Pre-order yours via the STORE link at www.LegendsParallel.com

Uzziah is a hero on Earth 2. The problem that Earth has with him is he keeps saving people nobody really wants to save. What will happen to his, and their, worldview when they find out the losers he's saving here are leaders elsewhere?

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Hidden History 16 February 2017...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 16, 2017 at 6:34am
Replica of Benjamin Banneker's clock at Brookhaven National Laboratory link below

Topics: African Americans, History, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, Women in Science

Without Benjamin Banneker, our nation's capital would not exist as we know it. After a year of work, the Frenchman hired by George Washington to design the capital, L'Enfant, stormed off the job, taking all the plans. Banneker, placed on the planning committee at Thomas Jefferson's request, saved the project by reproducing from memory, in two days, a complete layout of the streets, parks, and major buildings. Thus Washington, D.C. itself can be considered a monument to the genius of this great man.

Banneker's English grandmother immigrated to the Baltimore area and married one of her slaves, named Bannaky. Later, their daughter did likewise, and gave birth to Benjamin in 1731. Since by law, free/slave status depended on the mother, Banneker, like his mother, was---technically---free.

Banneker attended an elementary school run by Quakers (one of the few "color-blind" communities of that time); in fact, he later adopted many Quaker habits and ideas. As a young man, he was given a pocket-watch by a business associate: this inspired Banneker to create his own clock, made entirely of wood (1753). Famous as the first clock built in the New World, it kept perfect time for forty years.

During the Revolutionary War, wheat grown on a farm designed by Banneker helped save the fledgling U.S. troops from Banneker's clock starving. After the War, Banneker took up astronomy: in 1789, he successfully predicted an eclipse. From 1792 to 1802, Banneker published an annual Farmer's Almanac, for which he did all the calculations himself.

The Almanac won Banneker fame as far away as England and France. He used his reputation to promote social change: namely, to eliminate racism and war. He sent a copy of his first Almanac to Thomas Jefferson, with a letter protesting that the man who declared that "all men are created equal" owned slaves. Jefferson responded with enthusiastic words, but no political reform. Similarly, Banneker's attempts "to inspire a veneration for human life and an horror for war" fell mainly on deaf ears.

But Banneker's reputation was never in doubt. He spent his last years as an internationally known polymath: farmer, engineer, surveyor, city planner, astronomer, mathematician, inventor, author, and social critic. He died on October 25, 1806. Today, Banneker does not have the reputation he should, although the entire world could still learn from his words: "Ah, why will men forget that they are brethren?"

Banneker's life is inspirational. Despite the popular prejudices of his times, the man was quite unwilling to let his race or his age hinder in any way his thirst for intellectual development.

Benjamin Banneker, known as the first African-American man of science, was born in 1731 in Ellicott's Mills, Md. His maternal grandmother was a white Englishwoman who came to this country, bought two slaves and then liberated and married one of them; their daughter, who also married a slave, was Banneker's mother.

From the beginning, Banneker, who was taught reading and religion by his grandmother and who attended one of the first integrated schools, showed a great propensity for mathematics and an astounding mechanical ability. Later, when he was forced to leave school to work the family farm, he continued to be an avid reader.

Although he had no previous training, when he was only 22 he invented a wooden clock that kept accurate time throughout his life. According to "Gay & Lesbian Biography," Banneker "applied his natural mechanical and mathematical abilities to diagrams of wheels and gears, and converted these into three-dimensional wooden clock-parts he carved with a knife." People from all over came to see the clock.

Brookhaven National Laboratory: Benjamin Banneker
Banneker Store: About Benjamin Banneker

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Neutron Stars and Quantum Physics...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 16, 2017 at 6:30am
An electromagnetic wave traveling from left to right (positive x direction).
Image Credit: Supermanu (CC BY-SA 3.0)


Topics: Astrophysics, Electromagnetic Wave, Neutron Stars, Quantum Electrodynamics


Recently, scientists made some impressive measurements of light emitted by an isolated neutron star. The results support an 80-year-old prediction, made during the early days of quantum electrodynamics (QED), of a phenomenon known as vacuum birefringence.

Radio signals, microwaves, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays are all types of electromagnetic waves. All electromagnetic waves travel through empty space at the same speed, the speed of light (~300,000,000 m/s). More energetic electromagnetic waves have higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths.

In the diagram below above, the electric field is shown in blue. It points along the z axis, moving back and forth in the z direction as the wave travels to the right. Similarly, the magnetic field oscillates in the y direction. The changing electric field gives rise to the magnetic field, and the changing magnetic field gives rise to the electric field, so the two travel together.

When scientists say that light is polarized, they are referring to the direction of the electric field, depicted in the above diagram by the blue arrows. In the diagram, the electromagnetic wave is polarized in the z direction. That is to say: all of the electric field vectors are aligned (whether up or down) with the z axis.

When scientists make measurements on electromagnetic waves, they measure many waves. Most light is randomly polarized, so if you try to collect some light headed in the x direction, you’ll find just as many electromagnetic waves on the z axis as on the y axis, and at all angles in between. This type of light would be called unpolarized.

Most typical low- and medium-mass stars (anywhere from 0.1 to 3 times the mass of our Sun) use up their fuel in nuclear fusion then quietly cool off, usually forming a white dwarf. More massive stars have a lot more gravitational pull, so they burn up their fuel faster, resulting in a shorter life span and an explosive finale called a supernova. A supernova spews much of the material of the star outward, but what is left (which again depends on the initial mass of the star) becomes either a neutron star (if the initial mass was between 8 and 24 times the mass of our Sun) or a black hole (initial mass 25 or more times the mass of our Sun).

Although neutrons are neutrally charged, they are composed of charged particles that cause the neutron to have a magnetic dipole—that is, neutrons act like little magnets. Collectively, the number of neutrons that make up a 12- to 20-mile-diameter ball put out an incredible magnetic field. As a neutron star rotates, its rotating magnetic field creates radio waves that are emitted like beacons from the magnetic poles of the star. To our observatories, these signals appear to pulsate. As a result, neutron stars are sometimes called pulsars. Neutron stars don’t emit very much visible light, but they emit some.



 Physics Central: Neutron Stars: Cosmic Laboratories for Quantum Physics, H.M. Doss

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Hidden History 15 February 2017...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 15, 2017 at 9:56am
Tim Wise, whom scholar and philosopher Cornel West calls, “A vanilla brother in the tradition of (abolitionist) John Brown," more in the bio below.


Topics: African Americans, History, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, Women in Science


"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thankfully, this one is not, though unless you caught him on an interview, you may never have heard of him.

In the ongoing catharsis of combating "alternative facts" (lies) with actual knowledge, know that stereotypes go both ways.

Since the 2016 elections, I've been guilty of stereotyping white Americans. Right after the election, I was silent in grocery or department stores; only speaking when spoken to, not conversational; not friendly. The fact that ~ 80% of evangelicals voted for a man that is anathema to their stated beliefs was stunning and hurtful. It was easy out of anger to lump a large portion of the electorate and humanity into an admittedly bigoted, judgmental box.

As I've freely shared, I looked at my coworkers through a different lens as well, one focused on privileges I yet have full access to. I also had to remind myself that just like black culture, white America is not monolithic. I reminded myself of some of my college professors at a Historically Black College and University were also white; how some of them were the friendliest, approachable people I still know. That I'm friends with a Jewish physics professor and his lovely wife at the University of Texas. I am encouraged at the awakening from the young and old of all colors across the nation. I am encouraged that Tim Wise is not an anomaly among humanity.

It is stalwarts like Tim Wise that give me hope: hope that humans will discard this insane stratification by Melanin; that we will survive our own stupidity and hubris; that we won't let a few use divisiveness, jingoism and rhetorical flourish (as much as an eight-year-old can tweet) to divide us.

From his bio on his web site:

Tim Wise, whom scholar and philosopher Cornel West calls, “A vanilla brother in the tradition of (abolitionist) John Brown,” is among the nation’s most prominent antiracist essayists and educators. He has spent the past 25 years speaking to audiences in all 50 states, on over 1000 college and high school campuses, at hundreds of professional and academic conferences, and to community groups across the nation. He has also lectured internationally in Canada and Bermuda, and has trained corporate, government, law enforcement and medical industry professionals on methods for dismantling racism in their institutions.

Wise’s antiracism work traces back to his days as a college activist in the 1980s, fighting for divestment from (and economic sanctions against) apartheid South Africa. After graduation, he threw himself into social justice efforts full-time, as a Youth Coordinator and Associate Director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism: the largest of the many groups organized in the early 1990s to defeat the political candidacies of white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. From there, he became a community organizer in New Orleans’ public housing, and a policy analyst for a children’s advocacy group focused on combatting poverty and economic inequity. He has served as an adjunct professor at the Smith College School of Social Work, in Northampton, MA., and from 1999-2003 was an advisor to the Fisk University Race Relations Institute in Nashville, TN.

Wise is the author of seven books, including his highly-acclaimed memoir, White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, as well as Dear White America: Letter to a New Minority, and his latest, Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America. He has contributed chapters or essays to over 25 additional books and his writings are taught in colleges and universities across the nation. His essays have appeared on Alternet, Salon, Huffington Post, Counterpunch, Black Commentator, BK Nation, Z Magazine and The Root, which recently named Wise one of the “8 Wokest White People We Know.”

Wise has been featured in several documentaries, including “White Like Me: Race, Racism and White Privilege in America” (from the Media Education Foundation), which has been called “A phenomenal educational tool in the struggle against racism,” and “One of the best films made on the unfinished quest for racial justice,” by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva of Duke University, and Robert Jensen of the University of Texas, respectively. He also appeared alongside legendary scholar and activist, Angela Davis, in the 2011 documentary, “Vocabulary of Change.” In this public dialogue between the two activists, Davis and Wise discussed the connections between issues of race, class, gender, sexuality and militarism, as well as inter-generational movement building and the prospects for social change. He is also one of five persons—including president Obama—interviewed for a video exhibition on race relations in America, featured at the newly opened National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC. Additionally, his media presence includes dozens of appearances on CNN, MSNBC and NPR, feature interviews on ABC’s 20/20 and CBS’s 48 Hours, as well as videos posted on YouTube, Facebook and other social media platforms that have received over 20 million views.

Wise graduated from Tulane University in 1990 and received antiracism training from the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, in New Orleans.

And just Tim being Tim (there's a longer version on YouTube if you're interested):
Read more…

Crib Notes...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 15, 2017 at 9:51am

Topics: Einstein, General Relativity, Special Relativity


Sometimes I get questions clear out of the blue that are a joy to answer, as curiosity should be rewarded with a sincere response.

A friend emailed me (I left their name out to protect their privacy) and said: "I'm interested in many different things - I love How The Universe Works and Secrets of the Universe type programs. Of course there are things I don't understand but I get the basics. Anyway, I am watching one entitled 'Was Einstein Wrong?' and they talk about his General Theory of Relativity AND his Special Theory of Relativity. My question is are they the same theory and are names the interchangeable? When I search online for General it refers to E=mc2. When I search for Special, E=mc2 is the only equation that's displayed."

My friend also asked about this:


The program periodically shows this...but doesn't say what it is and no, I have no idea what it means, but is this the Special theory?

I have to admit, it's a refreshing thing not being trolled and actually asked questions about science.

I purposely didn't go into the math (but I left reference links below for the stout-of-heart), this was my reply:

Dear (friend's name omitted),

1905: The Special Theory of Relativity – think speed. Prior to Einstein, everything was in a slower, Newtonian universe, and Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion applied to things like inertia, acceleration and recoil.

However, as we started discovering things like the speed of light (186,232 miles per second, 300,000,000 meters per second), measured in the Michelson-Morley Experiment. “C” is just shorthand. It’s kind of lazy, but everyone knows what you mean when they see it or say it.

Alpha particles, electrons and measuring their speeds at some fraction of c, the Newtonian rules didn’t apply anymore. Special Relativity deals with objects or observers (or, frames of reference) that are moving with uniform velocities relative to each other, hence “relativity.”

Albert Einstein determined that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers, and that the speed of light in a vacuum was independent of the motion of all observers. This was the theory of special relativity. It introduced a new framework for all of physics and proposed new concepts of space and time, coining a new term for the public lexicon: space-time.

This was also called Einstein’s annus mirabilis, or “Miracle Year.” He published four papers: The Photoelectric Effect, Brownian Motion, Special Relativity and Mass-Energy Equivalence (E = mc-squared). A video: https://youtu.be/91XI7M9l3no

1915: Einstein then spent ten years trying to include acceleration in the theory and published his theory of general relativity in 1915. In it, he determined that massive objects cause a distortion in space-time, which is felt as gravity. Think of a bowling ball on a trampoline, in this case, space-time is the trampoline, the stars, planets, brown dwarfs, white dwarfs, black holes the bowling balls. One of the applications of General Relativity is Global Positioning Systems (GPS). This theory was confirmed in 1919 during a solar eclipse where Gravitational Lensing (bending of starlight) was observed.

Nerd Trivia: 3/14/2015 was Einstein’s birthday, and such was used as National Pi Day (3.14159 – get it?), and 100 years on November 25th of his paper on General Relativity, but you can’t get Pi out of 11/25/15, o_9.



On the symbolic equation above:

This is Tensor Calculus, or Differential Geometry. Einstein learned it from Grossmann (a mathematician) to describe space-time curvature in General Relativity. The Mu (μ) and Nu (ν) are Tensor coordinates; G in the numerator next to 8π is Newton's gravitational constant (“c” in the denominator you know). Believe it or not, Einstein struggled a little bit as Grossmann taught him; Einstein in turn taught him physics. His related quote:

“Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics. I can assure you that mine are greater.”

One of my favorite quotes from Einstein. Albert Einstein was a contemporary of Paul Robeson, and due to the way Jews were treated (and exterminated) in Germany by the Nazis, he was a champion of Civil Rights:

From "Ideas and Opinions," by Albert Einstein:

"It seems to be a universal fact that minorities--especially when the individuals composing them can be recognized by physical characteristics--are treated by the majorities among whom they live as an inferior order of beings. The tragedy of such a fate lies not merely in the unfair treatment to which these minorities are automatically subjected in social and economic matters, but also in the fact that under the suggestive influence of the majority most of the victims themselves succumb to the same prejudice and regard their kind as inferior beings. This second and greater part of the evil can be overcome by closer association and by deliberate education of the minority, whose spiritual liberation can thus be accomplished.

"The resolute efforts of the American Negroes in this direction deserve approval and assistance."

Mein Weltbild (my conception of the world), Amsterdam: Querido Verlog, 1934, pp 117-118.

Einstein’s advice to a little girl that wanted to be a scientist: Dear Professor Einstein

As you can tell, I'm a BIG fan. :-)

Blessings,



Reggie

The long answer on “c”: http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/c.html


Helpful math reference links:

Wikipedia: Einstein Field Equations (EFE), not to be confused with "BFE," of course.

Wolfram Physics

Special Relativity
General Relativity


"Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world." Malala Yousafzai

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." Albert Einstein
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Hidden History 14 February 2017...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 14, 2017 at 8:30am
Image Source: Link below
Topics: African Americans, History, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, Women in Science
Although this post mentions Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Hayden Planetarium Director in New York City, this is not an African American/Black History Month post about him per se. It is apparently, the 25th time I've posted his name on this blog.
It is about something he advocates for - science literacy - and where he said it, Greensboro, North Carolina. (Probably more times than I've posted about him, I've mentioned my "old stomping grounds.")
The inaugural post for this month concerned the latest Orwellian phrase forced into the Zeitgeist: "alternative facts," which permeates history, mathematics under extreme duress (see link at "inaugural post") and sadly, science - both physical and social.
Pretty much the photo above is a summation of his comments to a sold-out crowd. In North Carolina...
- Home of the HB2 Bill the previous governor rode down to his eventual electoral defeat and lost revenue for the state (and it's apparently still in effect);
- Home of the "pizza parlor" shooter, motivated by an erroneous story he believed to be true, enough to take a gun to Washington, D.C.;
- Home to the "Greensboro Massacre," which happened my senior year in high school before I matriculated to A&T.
Each bullet (ironic phrasing in the last two examples) are stances and actions birthed from ignorance.
A continuation of Dr. Tyson's remarks:
"Americans overall are bad at science. Scared of math. Poor at physics and engineering. Resistant to evolution. This science illiteracy is a threat to the nation.
"The consequence of that is that you breed a generation of people who do not know what science is nor how and why it works. You have mortgaged the future financial security of your nation. Innovations in science and technology are the (basis) of tomorrow’s economy."
He goes on to point out that Algebra originated in a more enlightened time in the Near East, specifically Muhammad al-Khwarizmi, al-jabr translating to "the act of completion." That was pooh-poohed as unimportant by a cleric ten centuries ago with no appreciation of the future, or the impact of prolonged myopia. Science has missed the mark quite often (which is why peer review is relentless), the most recent reference to the Doomsday Clock is due to an artifact that physics in particular created with the Manhattan Project, occupying silos, kept at bay hopefully by diplomacy and sanity. Tyson could be the "voice of one calling in the [willfully ignorant] wilderness," or like Cassandra - Paris' sister in Helen of Troy - foretelling the doom of civilization for the folly of selective, "alternative facts," and neglected real ones.
It could happen so easily. It could happen so quickly. Like a mudslide, we could be under the weight of an avalanche; buried under a warm mound smothering us.
It's not just Dr. Tyson or African American cultural history: it's a fealty or phobia with reality; the inherent ability to discern fact from fiction.
One can be evidence-based, course-correcting, resource conserving; limiting only unplanned births and progressing knowledge within the species. Or, one can be self-blindfolded, deaf to new information; deluded, soothed, comfortable: and deadly.
Soothing and deadly: That is the consistency and characteristics of hog slop.

“Frederick Douglass taught that literacy is the path from slavery to freedom. There are many kinds of slavery and many kinds of freedom, but reading is still the path.”
― Carl Sagan
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California...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 14, 2017 at 8:00am
An animation of satellite images taken about a year apart shows a huge difference in the amount of water flowing through waterways in California’s Sacramento River Delta. (Images: NASA Worldview. Animation: Tom Yulsman)

Topics: Civil Engineering, Politics, Weather

Look at California (Look at California)
Look at California (Look at California)

The rollin' hills seem to do something for you
It seems there meant to be looked on by you
And when the sunshine is doing it's thing
Then you know that all you see is true
Every day every night the same old groovy feelin
People that live a lot love a lot
And everything there is so good

Look at California
Look at California

All the flowers are bloomin' all about
Every kind you and I could think of
And if you see anything that's missin'
Then they make it up to you with love
Whether up or whether down
It don't even mean a thing
Look at the things around
The peace you've found
And all that you feel is so real

Look at California
Look at California
Look at California
Look at California

Maze, Featuring Frankie Beverly

Civil Engineering is often derided as "baby engineering" (by some engineering types) because they don't take many math courses past Ordinary Differential Equations and advanced science classes.

However, in defense of my youngest son's major, I prefer to call it "Civilization Engineering," as the all-important need supplied by a STEM field is not longer battery life, laptops or smart phones and their associated apps.

Infrastructure (noun) is defined as "the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, and power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise."

That's not necessarily "tree-hugging." But I'm pretty sure you need one most importantly before you can fire up your smart phone.

"Basic physical and organizational structures and facilities" have to have representatives vote on appropriating funds to repair, replace and upgrade them. No amount of market forces and magical thinking "trickle-down" economics will repair a pothole or a sinkhole. It's "Civilization Engineering," and we'd better stress that to our representatives if we want one to continue.

After five years of drought, could California really have so much rain and snow there’s no room to store all the water?

The answer – as the state’s water picture careens from bust to boom – is yes.

The Oroville Dam north of Sacramento actually overflowed today, with water topping the emergency spillway.

Nonetheless, this is pretty dramatic:

UPDATE Feb. 12: Less than a day after the DWR said there was no risk to the emergency spillway and everything was under control, everything has, in fact, changed. Today, Sunday, the earthen spillway suffered extreme erosion and became at risk of total failure. This prompted the evacuation of 130,000 people downstream to protect them from the potential for catastrophic flooding.

Discovery Magazine:
California rivers are so swollen from runoff that the impact is easily seen in these before and after satellite images
Tom Yulsman

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Hidden History 13 February 2017...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 13, 2017 at 7:59am
Paperback book cover, see links below

Topics: African Americans, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, STEM, Women in Science

The second recommended book by the inimitable Jane Elliot, though she is indomitable and unique, should at least be imitated.

The semiconductor industry is viewed as rational and logical as it appears to be from the outside: Dr. William Shockley was the co-inventor of the transistor and shared the Nobel Prize for its discovery; we study his diode equation in electronics engineering. He was also a rabid eugenicist (pseudoscience), which goes to show merely an advanced degree nor a Nobel Prize inoculates from racial prejudice. He is mentioned in great detail on pages 235-239; 244, 255 and 276. He has the ignoble distinction of having pages at Biography, Nobel Prize, PBS, the Southern Poverty Law Center and Wikipedia. These are the cracks in the foundation. Nothing, not even science is perfect.

As I have said, the two books were cathartic during a season that made me question my coworkers. I concluded after this pedagogic catharsis, they are the byproduct of forces that shaped them; credible others that impacted and framed them. They have never had "the talk" or had to give it to their children beyond "be respectful," nor do they likely look at their speedometer, registration and inspection at the sight of a police vehicle; they do not wonder if their insurance is current or expired; their hearts do not skip a beat; the rehearsal script of the talk does not form in their minds nor does a long sigh escape their lips when the representative of "law and order" thankfully passes them by.

In my initial read of this important book, this statement stood out on the page (for me). Forgive me that it is from pages 1 - 2 in the Introduction, but as a "hook," it pulled me through the rest of the book:

"Yet as recently as 2010, highly acclaimed journalist Guy Harrison (2010) wrote:

"One day in the 1980s, I sat in the front row in my first undergraduate anthropology class, eager to learn more about this bizarre and fascinating species I was born into. But I got more than I expected that day as I heard for the first time that biological races are not real. After hearing several perfectly sensible reasons why vast biological categories don't work very well, I started to feel betrayed by my society. 'Why am I just hearing about this now? ... Why didn't someone tell me about this in elementary school?' ... I never should have made it through twelve years of schooling before entering a university, without ever hearing the important news that most anthropologist reject the notion of biological races. (27, 30)"

I was an undergraduate at North Carolina A&T in the 1980s. I never had to take a class in anthropology as a physics major, but I think after reading this treatise, I likely would have enjoyed it.

"I never should have made it through twelve years of schooling before entering a university, without ever hearing the important news that most anthropologist reject the notion of biological races."

Anthropologists, biologists, geneticists (and most) physicists I know, yes: political figures manipulating fears and conditioned-from-the-crib society, no.

Biological races do not exist—and never have. This view is shared by all scientists who study variation in human populations. Yet racial prejudice and intolerance based on the myth of race remain deeply ingrained in Western society. In his powerful examination of a persistent, false, and poisonous idea, Robert Sussman explores how race emerged as a social construct from early biblical justifications to the pseudoscientific studies of today.

The Myth of Race traces the origins of modern racist ideology to the Spanish Inquisition, revealing how sixteenth-century theories of racial degeneration became a crucial justification for Western imperialism and slavery. In the nineteenth century, these theories fused with Darwinism to produce the highly influential and pernicious eugenics movement. Believing that traits from cranial shape to raw intelligence were immutable, eugenicists developed hierarchies that classified certain races, especially fair-skinned “Aryans,” as superior to others. These ideologues proposed programs of intelligence testing, selective breeding, and human sterilization—policies that fed straight into Nazi genocide. Sussman examines how opponents of eugenics, guided by the German-American anthropologist Franz Boas’s new, scientifically supported concept of culture, exposed fallacies in racist thinking.

Although eugenics is now widely discredited, some groups and individuals today claim a new scientific basis for old racist assumptions. Pondering the continuing influence of racist research and thought, despite all evidence to the contrary, Sussman explains why—when it comes to race—too many people still mistake bigotry for science.

Most of the martial arts I've studied have oriental origins: Japanese Goju Ryu, Korean Tukong Moosul and Tang Soo Do, Jeet Kune Do (by way of Wing Chun and Bruce Lee proteges), Muay Thai, Silat; Filipino Kali. I discovered Capoeria and African Arts much later.

Robert Wagner (not the actor) was stationed at a base in Japan where he studied Goju Ryu karate. After getting out of the military and going to North Carolina A&T on the GI Bill, he established a Dojo (training hall) well before I matriculated. There were stories of his treatment in Japan not being any different than his treatment in the United States as a black man. His initial students were Attorney, Judge and Sensei McSwain (82nd Airborne Division), Challenger Astronaut Dr. Ronald E. McNair and Dr. Gilbert and Mrs. Patricia Casterlow and Mr. Samuel Casterlow, my karate instructors when I was an undergrad. Dr. Casterlow told us about "rules" like unnecessary redness of the skin resulting in immediate disqualification. It was usually applied to disqualify the predominant African American team members of The Fighting Aggies. Point fighting has always been a subjective pursuit. It's really up to a majority of judges that "saw" your kick or punch score. In many cases it may depend on your studio, not so much your paint job as in the past.

"'Why am I just hearing about this now? ... Why didn't someone tell me about this in elementary school?' ... I never should have made it through twelve years of schooling before entering a university, without ever hearing the important news that most anthropologist reject the notion of biological races."

What indeed would have been the result of a society and a planetary species if such lessons had been learned earlier, and like its dark antithesis, disseminated globally?

"The Myth of Race: The Troubling Persistence of an Unscientific Idea," Robert Wald Sussman

Amazon
Barnes and Noble

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More Bang For Your Bit...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 13, 2017 at 7:55am
Image credits:
Composite image by Yuen Yiu, Staff Writer and Abigail Malate, Staff Illustrator. Fiber-Optic photo by Matthew.nq/Wikimedia , (CC by 4.0)

Topics: Computer Science, Internet, Quantum Computer, Quantum Mechanics

Scientists break the record for data transfer efficiency by using photons and quantum communication techniques.

Scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have broken the efficiency record for data transfer. Using a quantum communication process known as superdense coding, they squeezed through an average 1.67 bits of data per qubit. Qubits, which is short for "quantum bits," are units of data that utilize quantum properties to store information.

The result beats the previous record of 1.63 bits per qubit. Even more importantly, the experiment used only simple, off-the-shelf technology, taking quantum communication closer to practical applications in the future. The work will appear in Physical Review Letters.

More bang for your bit

Computers send information in units called bits, which represent either a one or a zero. These bits can be understood as gumballs that one party (Alice) sends to another party (Bob). In a classical system, Bob would register a one if he receives a gumball and a zero for a space between gumballs. However, these gumballs also contain other properties that are not communicated in the classical system, such as color or flavor. The properties are analogous to quantum properties such as polarization or angular momentum, which can be found in the photons and electrons we use to transfer data today.

"We're basically trying to see what quantum abilities there are, and try to see what can we use them for," said Brian Williams, a quantum physicist from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is the lead author of the paper.

Inside Science: Same Spark, More Bytes, Yuen Yiu

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IMPROVE Your Writing Presentation, Progression, And Accessibility.

Posted by Wayne Kelly on February 11, 2017 at 7:16pm
     Now, Before I Begin, Purchase Scrivener. Why? What Is Scrivener?
Peep This Article ("8 Reasons To Use Scrivener To Write And Produce Your Books") >>>> http://www.magnoliamedianetwork.com/8-reasons-to-use-scrivener/

[If You Still Want To Know More About This Program, Type In "Scrivener" Into The Youtube's Search Bar.] 
Back To My Story....
     I Purchase My Own Program For My MAC Desktop, A Few Years Back. Helpful? Yes, But I Still Felt Constricted. Just This Week, I Was Searching For A Better Way To Make My Movements, More Universal. After Typing In The Right Question, I Was Led to An Article, Which Mention A Particular Blogger. I Contacted Her, Via Facebook Messenger. Here Is Our Conversation:
ME: About Three Years Ago My Father Gave Me His MAC Desktop, and I Downloaded A Scrivener. (Excellent Writer's Program, By The Way). This January, I Purchased An iPhone, And I Plan On Purchasing An iPad, In The Near Future. 

 

My Question To You, Is This:

"Is Scrivener In The Technical Position To Be Controlled, From Multiple Apple Devices; Particularly With My MAC Desktop and iPad? And If So, Can You Provide Me A Link, Explaining How?"

 

Thank You, In Advance.

 

 

Rebeca Schiller: The only way to control it is through dropbox. If j

 

ME: I'll look into drop 'Dropbox.' Thank You. What do mean "If j" ?

 

Rebeca Schiller: if you go to simplyscrivener.com, I have tutorial about setting it up on the iPad. Once it's setup you can access your projects from anywhere.

I keep hitting send too soon and didn't finish the sentence. That was the if j

 

Me: Understood. I sent you a link earlier this morning, as well. Please disregard that. I'll check in on the link after work. Once again, thank you for your time.

Sent an email, earlier this morning.

Auto correct changed the word email to Link.

 

Rebeca Schiller My pleasure!

     I'll Post The Link Below, (Man, i am Saying That Word Too Much), Where Rebeca Schiller Goes Into Detail, With Pictures, How This Feat Is Accomplish. 

But Just For A Second, Imagine..

"Wherever You Want, Whenever You Like, You Can Access Your Files, To Make Adjustments Or Progress In Your Work. This Opprotunity, Alone, Will GREATLY Increase Your Productivity; From MAC Destop, To MAC Book, To iPads, and Through iphones (Yes, There Is An Dropbox app For The Last Two)."
So, To Reiterate
1) Purchase Ios 
[If You Just Want The Program, Scrivener Is Available For PC And Apple]
3) Download Dropbox For Each Device ==> https://www.dropbox.com/?landing=cntl
4) And Write To Your Heart's Content!!! :)
As Promised, Here Is The Article Rebeca Had Referred Me To (“How to Set Up No-Hassle Dropbox Sync in Scrivener”) >>>> http://www.agdaws.com/2016/08/how-to-set-up-no-hassle-dropbox-sync-in-scrivener/   
Enjoy!!!!
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Hidden History 10 February 2017...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 10, 2017 at 11:57am
An early book cover at Open Library

Topics: African Americans, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, STEM, Women in Science

Good reads has the following summary:

Published to wide controversy, it became the source (acknowledged or unacknowledged) of much of our thinking about race relations and was for many a catalyst for the civil rights movement. It remains the most courageous, insightful, and eloquent critique of the pre-1960s South.

"I began to see racism and its rituals of segregation as a symptom of a grave illness," Smith wrote. "When people think more of their skin color than of their souls, something has happened to them." Today, readers are rediscovering in Smith's writings a forceful analysis of the dynamics of racism, as well as her prophetic understanding of the connections between racial and sexual oppression.

What is now controversial would be considered genre in the 21st Century. We've come so far, and yet have so far to go.

Lillian Smith was herself an enigma: she wrote Killers of the Dream in 1949, six years before Emmett Till would take his faithful trip south ending in his brutal death that would spark more activism and less philosophy in the Civil Rights movement.
Photo of Lillian Smith at the Blog: "stuff white people do" (ahem: by a white guy, on hiatus since 2010)

Lillian was herself a closeted lesbian, during an era where the closet was less for protection from embarrassment or shunning by one's family: being in the south, a noose was likely connected to punishment from a "righteous mob."

An excerpt below I found powerful and poignant. I encourage you at no benefit to myself, to give yourself the treat of this book. This one, along with the other I'll share Monday, was extremely cathartic during a divisive election cycle where I questioned the motivations of my coworkers not from what they did, but what they had the audacity to say in my presence.



From part II, chapter III: Three Ghost Stories, page 123 (paperback):

"Historically, the first Ku Klux Klan originated in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866, formed by six ex-Confederate soldiers, half as a lark but used quickly afterward as an impromptu way of meeting an emergency situation in which the South was left without law enforcement agencies. Had it actually been impromptu and accidental, the idea would have been discarded and forgotten when order was restored in the South. But instead, it lived on and spread like an epidemic. Now today, more than eighty years later, the Klan rides in New Jersey as well as in Georgia and Alabama. It no longer limits itself to the revenging of 'raping' and the 'protecting' of womanhood nor is it turned solely against the Negro race. It is used against unions, against middle-class 'deviationists,' against people who 'drink,' against anyone who does or says anything the Klan disapproves of. It is becoming more undisguised and more undifferentiated in its sadism and intolerance, until now it is in the main a ceremonial acting out of men's deeply repressed fantasies and deeply repressed needs for revenge and penance. It gathers under its hood the mentally ill, the haters who have forgotten what it is they hate or who dare not harm their real hate object, and also the bored and confused and ignorant. The Klan is made up of ghosts on the search for ghosts who have haunted the southern soul too long."

"Killers of the Dream," by Lillian Smith

Amazon
Barnes and Noble


"If you are south of the Canadian border, you are IN the south!" Malcolm X
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What Happens Next...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on February 10, 2017 at 11:43am
The Dodo: The Future of Polar Bears, in One Photograph

Topics: Climate Change, Existentialism, Global Warming, Greenhouse Gases, Politics

(Sigh) True-to-form, any climate post is trolled (on Google +).

Troll: Fake news

Me: Valium or Xanax. Take your pick.

S/He obviously didn't look at the source link below.

Since we don't have any spare starships lying in orbital dry dock or actually on Mars at Utopia Planitia, we don't have the luxury of firmly planting our heads in the sand like ostriches. That in and of itself is a myth, since like most birds ostrich don't bury their heads: they eat sand and rock to aid in their digestive process.

What happens next we'll all find out soon enough. The Climate Leadership Council is bringing back the carbon tax, that would at least be something. I just hope the result isn't only a killer tweet.

As the Arctic slipped into the half-darkness of autumn last year, it seemed to enter the Twilight Zone. In the span of a few months, all manner of strange things happened.

The cap of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean started to shrink when it should have been growing. Temperatures at the North Pole soared more than 20 °C above normal at times. And polar bears prowling the shorelines of Hudson Bay had a record number of run-ins with people while waiting for the water to freeze over.

It was a stark illustration of just how quickly climate change is reshaping the far north. And if last autumn was bizarre, it's the summers that have really got scientists worried. As early as 2030, researchers say, the Arctic Ocean could lose essentially all of its ice during the warmest months of the year—a radical transformation that would upend Arctic ecosystems and disrupt many northern communities.

Change will spill beyond the region, too. An increasingly blue Arctic Ocean could amplify warming trends and even scramble weather patterns around the globe. “It’s not just that we’re talking about polar bears or seals,” says Julienne Stroeve, a sea-ice researcher at University College London. “We all are ice-dependent species.”

With the prospect of ice-free Arctic summers on the horizon, scientists are striving to understand how residents of the north will fare, which animals face the biggest risks and whether nations could save them by protecting small icy refuges.

Scientific American: Arctic 2.0: What Happens after All the Ice Goes? Julia Rosen

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