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| Image Source: Diversity Delivers |
Topics: African Americans, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, STEM, Women in Science
I will promote two books; one starting tomorrow that Ms. Elliot recommended on The Karen Hunter Show, Sirius XM Urban View during an interview with the host. I enjoyed them, and found them both astonishing and cathartic. One book is anthropology tackling the origins of certain comfortable myths (for some) and the other prose written in a poetic styling that captivates as it teaches from the author's perspective, quite revolutionary and brave of her at the time of its writing. Both should be taught in the public school systems to combat racism, sexism and xenophobia, but that quaint notion - "public school" and the Common Good - seems to have been bought by the highest bidder, who will apparently protect us all from grizzly bears.
In 1968, in response to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a third grade teacher, Ms. Jane Elliott, in all-white, all-Christian, Riceville, Iowa, involved her students in an exercise in discrimination based on eye color. It was her attempt to help them to understand some of the reasons why Black people were taking to the streets and demanding equitable treatment with whites.
Since then she has conducted the same exercise with people of all ages in cities all over the United States and in several other countries.
Over a dozen films have been made of Ms. Elliott conducting the exercise. In response to requests from diversity trainers, both in the US and abroad, Ms. Elliott has now provided us with a compilation DVD of some compelling moments from those films. Seeing and discussing these clips can help us to recognize some of the issues surrounding the "isms" with which we all live. It may also help us to realize how we as human beings react when we are treated unfairly on the basis of physical characteristics over which we have no control. The use of the material can help to increase our awareness of the effects of racism, sexism, ageism, able-ism, homophobia, ethnocentricity, and bigotry in general.
This DVD contains carefully selected and thought-provoking clips from the Blue-Eyed/Brown-Eyed documentaries. These compelling moments are to be used to help diversity educators to respond to statements most frequently expressed by participants during diversity workshops.
The accompanying study guide contains ten examples of the stereotypical remarks that are made in Diversity Training classes. It lists clips relative to the remarks from several of the films, and provides discussion questions that help to refute some of the erroneous assumptions implied in the remarks. This material is appropriate for diversity training in junior and senior high schools, colleges, corporations, military groups and civic organizations.
Main Site: JaneElliot.com
When haze built up in the atmosphere of Archean Earth, the young planet might have looked like this artist's interpretation - a pale orange dot. A team led by Goddard scientists thinks the haze was self-limiting, cooling the surface by about 36 degrees Fahrenheit (20 Kelvins) – not enough to cause runaway glaciation. The team’s modeling suggests that atmospheric haze might be helpful for identifying earthlike exoplanets that could be habitable.
Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Francis Reddy
Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Exoplanets, NASA
For astronomers trying to understand which distant planets might have habitable conditions, the role of atmospheric haze has been hazy. To help sort it out, a team of researchers has been looking to Earth – specifically Earth during the Archean era, an epic 1-1/2-billion-year period early in our planet’s history.
Earth’s atmosphere seems to have been quite different then, probably with little available oxygen but high levels of methane, ammonia and other organic chemicals. Geological evidence suggests that haze might have come and gone sporadically from the Archean atmosphere – and researchers aren’t quite sure why. The team reasoned that a better understanding of haze formation during the Archean era might help inform studies of hazy earthlike exoplanets.
“We like to say that Archean Earth is the most alien planet we have geochemical data for,” said Giada Arney of NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute’s Virtual Planetary Laboratory based at the University of Washington, Seattle. Arney is the lead author of two related papers published by the team.
In the best case, haze in a planet’s atmosphere could serve up a smorgasbord of carbon-rich, or organic, molecules that could be transformed by chemical reactions into precursor molecules for life. Haze also might screen out much of the harmful UV radiation that can break down DNA.
In the worst case, haze could become so thick that very little light gets through. In this situation, the surface might get so cold it freezes completely. If a very thick haze occurred on Archean Earth, it might have had a profound effect, because when the era began roughly four billion years ago, the sun was fainter, emitting perhaps 80 percent of the light that it does now.
NASA Team Looks to Ancient Earth First to Study Hazy Exoplanets
Topics: African Americans, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, STEM, Women in Science
In the spirit of full disclosure, I was a NACME scholar back-in-the-day.
Our Purpose
Through partnerships with like-minded entities, NACME serves as a catalyst to increase the proportion of African American, American Indian, and Latino young women and men in STEM careers. We inspire and encourage excellence in engineering education and career development toward achieving a diverse and dynamic American workforce.
STEM Education
The academic disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are typically referred to under the acronym STEM. These subjects have become a focal point for educators and policy makers due to the high demand for qualified professionals in these fields. To fill this demand, the pool of students who receive STEM education from K-12 through college must be expanded. NACME works to bring engineering education to underrepresented minorities (URM’s) — African Americans, American Indians, and Latinos — who are expected to comprise 40 percent of the overall population by 2050. The key to U.S. competitiveness in the future global market is engaging these groups to pursue STEM education and careers.
Scholarships for Minorities in Engineering
College students have been forced to absorb increasing amounts of debt due to rising educational costs. This issue, which NACME refers to as The College Affordability Crisis, is particularly problematic for underrepresented minority students, who, on average, accumulate higher student loan debt totals compared to their peers (see NACME’s 2013 College Affordability Research Brief). Once enrolled, many minority students are forced to work in order to support themselves financially, which can often be detrimental to their academic performance. Financial aid and scholarships in particular, can help to alleviate this burden.
For the past 40 years, NACME has awarded engineering scholarships to African American, American Indian, and Latino students seeking a postsecondary degree. NACME distributes these awards, through the NACME Scholars (block grant) Program, to colleges and universities that, in turn, distribute funding to talented underrepresented minority students enrolled in engineering programs as part of their financial aid packages. NACME annually awards more than $4 million in scholarships to underrepresented minority engineering students.
Main Site:
National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering
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| Image Source: LiveWorx link below |
Topics: Computer Science, Diversity in Science, STEM, Women in Science
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| Image Source: Girls Who Code [2] |
A LETTER FROM RESHMA
What started as an experiment has grown into a national movement
Girls Who Code has gone from 20 girls in New York to 10,000 girls in 42 states. That’s the same number of girls who graduate each year with a degree in computer science. That’s progress! I’m proud to say we’re not just aiming to close the gender gap in tech — we’re actually doing it.
When girls learn to code, they become change agents in their communities. Whether it’s a game to illustrate the experience of an undocumented immigrant or a website to provide free college prep, our girls create technology that makes the world a better place. Like us, you believed in girls’ unlimited potential. Thanks to your support and contributions, together we’ve inspired thousands of girls to see a future in tech. [1]
Reshma Saujani is recognized as a global trailblazer in technology, innovation, and design. As founder and CEO of the non-profit, Girls Who Code [2], her mission is to close the gap in STEM education and empower girls worldwide to pursue careers in science and engineering.
1. Girls Who Code: About Us/#The-Problem
2. Girls Who Code
3. LiveWorx: Keynote Address Banner Add
Much can be said for todays young folk, they party with abandonment. The popularity of Hip-Hop culture rivals Don Cornelius and Soul Train. When I looked at the Afrofuture I didn't take off from George Clinton's Mothership. I was on the ship of Sun Ra but I came through Pharaoh Sanders, John and Alice Coltrane, Archie Shepp and Eddie Harris. It was a cusp of light between the worlds of the ancient and tomorrow. I kept wanting to lose it all but discipline and focus to construct what I wanted to see push me beyond the apocalyptic madness and exaggeration of abstract fantasy. A buildable future Syd Mead said, materializing the dream onto this plane. Yes my ultra barn house can float on a bed of alpha waves in a drawing but on a pond in life is a practical truth or suspended by cables. My mind defies gravity at will but floating a house requires homage to the forces at play.
I see an oriental culture like the Japanese but dressed like the Ghanaians and with the music of the Oud, Mbira, Bamboo Flute, echoing through arched halls and open courtyards, the click of sticks, drones, deep drones of bass strings and growns of voices, meditative. The cutting of hoes in the garden turning soil and the chatter of working out thoughts aloud with each stroke. Laughter and tears among the ears of corn and greens, and they wonder why fresh food makes you laugh and cry. Primitive life as it were a romance, a day dream of continual orgasm, splender after splender. War is not the adventure of choice when your flesh is beneath the blade or torn by the bullet or your congested symbionts are atomized into permanent separation. Peace can be boring but so can war. I want to make beautiful things but my hands are clumsy and my art rude. Fitting for instruments of disruption my skills. I strive to refine my art for my own satisfaction. They ask why don't you do this and that and sell these. The lure of pleasing others is strong but it is slavery and bribery. My art is my art and my dream is my dream. You can visit and stay as long as you like but soon you must awaken in your own dreams.
The mind is an open construct but before you can grasp it's understanding something is already in it, something is already in play. This is the secret of awareness, you come to realize you are immersed from the first eye opening. Things are created, carried out and concluded by you, by others. Being awake is an agreement not a control, an acknowledgement. You make the drop, not the ripple, you ride the wave. The shore or undertow requires attention, the call of sirens, the rocks, you must be awake, dream awake, walk on the water. It is an illusion that everyone in a land carries the same dream, else there would be no conspirators, no turn coats, no innovators who go beyond tradition. Tradition like cultural dreams or slavery may need an avatar or a saviour or a warrior to set a new vision before the well practiced minds thus a new future to hold for it's duration. This is why they try to put what is going on in our heads on the big screen, so they can rewrite our future. The book !984, Yeah that was there and we are almost there today. From can you hear me now to time to check in your co-ordinates and activities. Click, aaaah, my mind is my own.
A short story
With the help of his assistant, Jada and the Time Travelers Guild Da’Quan must try and stop a powerful foe from carrying out a plot that will drastically change life in the galaxy forever. Will Da’Quan put the pieces together in time? Will the clever, devious mastermind succeed in getting his revenge and change the lives of millions in the process?
Space Ships from the Escape 2 Earth Series
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| Spot the baryon CERN/LHCb |
Topics: Atomic Physics, Large Hadron Collider, Nuclear Physics, Particle Physics
A hint of matter and antimatter behaving differently to each other has been spotted in a new particle for the first time. If the find bears out, it could help explain the existence of all the matter in the universe, and why it was not snuffed out by antimatter long ago.
Physicists think that the big bang should have produced equal amounts of matter and antimatter. But these contrasting particles annihilate each other in a puff of energy whenever they meet, so they should have destroyed each other long ago.
The fact that there is enough matter in the universe today for us to exist and wonder why, means that some mechanism must have favoured matter over antimatter.
“Today we have this complete imbalance between matter and antimatter. We have no evidence of antimatter in the universe,” says Nicola Neri of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics in Milan, Italy. “This is one of the main questions we’d like to answer.”
New Scientist: LHC sees matter and antimatter misbehaving in alternate particle
Lisa Grossman
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| CREDIT: WBRC |
Topics: African Americans, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, STEM, Women in Science
A 22-year-old college student is leading the new generation of pioneering black women depicted in Hidden Figures. Tiera GuInn is a Rocket and Structural Design and Analysis Engineer working on the space launch system that Boeing is constructing for NASA.
Guinn, who will graduate form MIT with a 5.0 GPA, is designing the “largest and most powerful” rocket in history.
“It’s really humbling,” she told Alabama news station, WBRC . “I design components for the rockets themselves and then I analyze them to make sure they’re structurally sound.”
Guinn was only 6 years old when she began doing math exercises with her mother.
“When we would go to the grocery store she was get me to clip coupons, put it in my coupon organizer, and by the time we’d get to the register I had to calculate the exact total, including tax."
“One day I saw a plane fly by and I just had this realization, ‘I can design planes. I’m going to be an aerospace engineer,’” she continued. “So every middle school class that I chose, it was directed towards that goal. The high school that I chose, that took me an hour to get to everyday, it was because I wanted to be an aerospace engineer.”
Guinn pulls inspiration from Hidden Figures (her favorite movie), and wants to see more diversity her in field.
Vibe: Student Making History As A NASA Engineer, Latifah Muhammad
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| Image Source: Amazon link below |
Topics: African Americans, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, STEM, Women in Science
A book report and cathartic confession on being "invisible."
Last year, I cheered for Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers because... I grew up in North Carolina, and went to school K-12 and post secondary at North Carolina A&T. How could I NOT cheer for the Panthers?
I am now post another Super Bowl, this one I didn't watch. I considered the Patriots winning a foregone conclusion, and the choke by the Falcons was probably disappointing to classmates that now live in the ATL.
This Bowl is post a very divisive election season that gave us a divisive Chief Executive. His friendship with the owner, the coach and the quarterback only politicized it more than necessary. I watched the original Star Trek episodes on BBC America and checked in on Facebook. I'm disappointed, but not as emotional as last year.
Ralph Ellison does an excellent job of painting a picture of the times through the patronage of public HBCUs by dominant financiers and the political aspects of "The Brotherhood," that I thought was an inference to Red Scare Communism that inspired the government to spy on its own citizens through COINTELPRO. We've obviously recently locked arms with the Kremlin, though such fears still seem extended to brown people.
However, I must go to a "team-building" lunch today, post this game I did not see, for the reason I will publish as having "no dogs in the hunt." It will be true, and hopefully pivot conversations from politics to just work-related issues.
A way of using a superpower of my swagger: invisibility.
Amazon: Invisible Man is a milestone in American literature, a book that has continued to engage readers since its appearance in 1952. A first novel by an unknown writer, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks, won the National Book Award for fiction, and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century. The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood", and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be. The book is a passionate and witty tour de force of style, strongly influenced by T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, Joyce, and Dostoevsky.
Amazon.com Review
We rely, in this world, on the visual aspects of humanity as a means of learning who we are. This, Ralph Ellison argues convincingly, is a dangerous habit. A classic from the moment it first appeared in 1952, Invisible Man chronicles the travels of its narrator, a young, nameless black man, as he moves through the hellish levels of American intolerance and cultural blindness. Searching for a context in which to know himself, he exists in a very peculiar state. "I am an invisible man," he says in his prologue. "When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination--indeed, everything and anything except me." But this is hard-won self-knowledge, earned over the course of many years.
As the book gets started, the narrator is expelled from his Southern Negro college for inadvertently showing a white trustee the reality of black life in the south, including an incestuous farmer and a rural whorehouse. The college director chastises him: "Why, the dumbest black bastard in the cotton patch knows that the only way to please a white man is to tell him a lie! What kind of an education are you getting around here?" Mystified, the narrator moves north to New York City, where the truth, at least as he perceives it, is dealt another blow when he learns that his former headmaster's recommendation letters are, in fact, letters of condemnation.
What ensues is a search for what truth actually is, which proves to be supremely elusive. The narrator becomes a spokesman for a mixed-race band of social activists called "The Brotherhood" and believes he is fighting for equality. Once again, he realizes he's been duped into believing what he thought was the truth, when in fact it is only another variation. Of the Brothers, he eventually discerns: "They were blind, bat blind, moving only by the echoed sounds of their voices. And because they were blind they would destroy themselves.... Here I thought they accepted me because they felt that color made no difference, when in reality it made no difference because they didn't see either color or men."
Invisible Man is certainly a book about race in America, and sadly enough, few of the problems it chronicles have disappeared even now. But Ellison's first novel transcends such a narrow definition. It's also a book about the human race stumbling down the path to identity, challenged and successful to varying degrees. None of us can ever be sure of the truth beyond ourselves, and possibly not even there. The world is a tricky place, and no one knows this better than the invisible man, who leaves us with these chilling, provocative words: "And it is this which frightens me: Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?" --Melanie Rehak
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| Argonne physicist Kawtar Hafidi has been named the next director of the laboratory’s physics division. (Image by Wes Agresta/Argonne National Laboratory.) |
Topics: Experimental Physics, Nuclear Physics, Research, Women in Science
Experimental nuclear physicist Kawtar Hafidi has been named the next director of Physics Division at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory.
Hafidi, who currently serves as the laboratory’s Associate Chief Scientist for Laboratory-Directed Research & Development (LDRD), has 17 years of experience in leading and conducting fundamental research at major accelerator facilities in the United States and Europe. As Associate Chief Scientist, she established transparent processes aimed at supporting Argonne’s most important scientific priorities and assuring the greatest possible return on early scientific investment.
“Kawtar is an accomplished researcher with a great passion for science,” said Harry Weerts, Argonne Associate Laboratory Director for Physical Sciences and Engineering. “She brings to this role a strong vision for the future.”
As a researcher, Hafidi has focused on studying the structure of nucleons and nuclei in terms of their basic constituents, namely quarks and gluons, within the framework of the theory of strong interactions. Her work encompasses measurements of nuclear modification effects; three-dimensional imaging of nucleons and nuclei, the mechanisms of “vacuum” confinement and tests of charge symmetry violations.
Hafidi has also played a leading role in and received numerous awards for advocacy for increased diversity, both at Argonne and within the broader physics community. She is the author of more than 140 publications and has given more than 40 invited talks at international conferences, universities, and laboratories.
Argonne National Laboratory:
Kawtar Hafidi named director of Physics Division, Jared Sagoff
So, I am a very green SFF writer in a city--Memphis--that is not very nurturing to my genre. This is due to the fact that there is not a significant amount of established writers here.
Here is what I want to know:
1) How crucial are writing groups to local networking? There are no well-known groups here, so I may have to create my own if need be.
2) What should I seek to accomplish in networking with people in the SFF industry?
3) How crucial are Sci Fi-centered conventions to networking and selling books?
Thanks!
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| Higher education administrators, students and industry professionals gathered in Washington, D.C., to speak to Congressional staffers and representatives about the need to attract more African-American men to STEM. COURTESY GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY |
Topics: African Americans, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, STEM, Women in Science
I recall once this observation being made by a new hire (at the time) rotational engineer and fellow Aggie I worked with at Motorola:
Him: "Reg!"
Me: "What?"
Him: "We were the 'only black engineers' in that room," my fellow alumni said.
Me: "And, we were and are the best damn engineers IN that room, or any other!" I shot back. "Do you have a problem with that?"
He gave me a grin and an "Aggie Pride" verbal acknowledgement. I reassured his swagger... his end-of-rotation presentation blew them away. I beamed with pride.
Black men are faulted for swagger, even President Obama received grief for it, although I think it largely pivoted on the southern racial parlance of "being uppity." Urban Dictionary defines swagger as: "How one presents him or her self to the world. Swagger is shown from how the person handles a situation. It can also be shown in the person's walk."
The interaction my younger alumni and I had happened and likely happens quite often. You have to learn the rules of the road rather quickly. Sometimes going to church, or a frat meeting, or a concert, or simply chatting on the phone with a close friend is how you de-stress; unwind.
More often than not, as Paul Lawrence Dunbar eloquently stated (and Dr. Maya Angelou gave her stupendous interpretation) it is a mask. It hides rage and disappointment at ignorant comments made around you, daring you to respond to a shout of "Black Lives Matter," when the discussion - about, you know, work - didn't even CENTER around that (this happened last year, 2016 during the divisive election cycle). When I challenged the individual by simply asking "what did you mean by that?", he slinked away like an Internet troll nervously and quickly changing the subject; suddenly remembering Human Resources exists for a reason. The struggle is no different in complexion or complexity in graduate school, as you are usually "the one," so you better be supremely confident in yourself or convince others you are until you are. Walk with confidence until you're sure you've mastered your situation, putting in the hard work until you do. Don't "fake it till you make it": make it!
Swagger... It covers a multitude of sins that could be committed when you're not in control of your emotions. Thankfully, I have access to a 300 pound heavy bag at my community's gym that takes the abuse instead! At least 37 years of martial arts training and channeled anger keeps me in reasonably good shape.
Swagger... Never let 'em see you sweat unless they see you in the gym!
It's not often that you hear calls for more men to participate in science, technology, engineering and math fields.
Advocates consistently beat the drum to find ways to engage more female and minority students in STEM fields, which are still largely dominated by men. But within that group is perhaps one of the most underrepresented demographics: African-American men.
Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, the number of black men who earn science and engineering doctorates grew by more than 25 percent in 10 years, according to data from the National Science Foundation. While that appears to be a large growth, the absolute numbers barely budged between 2003 and 2013 – inching up from just 631 of 13,921 recipients to 798 of 16,542 recipients – and the representation has stayed essentially flat, between 4.5 percent and 4.8 percent of all science and engineering doctorates. The number of science and engineering bachelor's degrees awarded to black men increased 45 percent, from 12,484 in 2002 to 18,102 in 2012. But similarly, black men as a proportion of all science and engineering bachelor's degree recipients has remained essentially unchanged, at 6.1 percent in 2002 and 6.2 percent in 2012.
Like women and other minority groups, African-American men are also underrepresented in the workforce. Census data show that in 2010, African-American men made up 6.2 percent of the population between 18 and 64 years old. But in the same year, the NSF reported that black men represented just 3 percent of scientists and engineers working in those fields.
US News: African American Men: The Other STEM Minority, Allie Bidwell
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| Image Source: Amazon link |
Topics: Climate Change, Global Warming, Greenhouse Gases
Amazon: For the first time in Earth's history, our planet is experiencing a confluence of rapidly accelerating changes prompted by one species: humans. Climate change is only the most visible of the modifications we've made--up until this point, inadvertently--to the planet. And our current behavior threatens not only our own future but that of countless other creatures. By comparing Earth's story to those of other planets, astrobiologist David Grinspoon shows what a strange and novel development it is for a species to evolve to build machines, and ultimately, global societies with world-shaping influence.
Without minimizing the challenges of the next century, Grinspoon suggests that our present moment is not only one of peril, but also great potential, especially when viewed from a 10,000-year perspective. Our species has surmounted the threat of extinction before, thanks to our innate ingenuity and ability to adapt, and there's every reason to believe we can do so again.
Our challenge now is to awaken to our role as a force of planetary change, and to grow into this task. We must become graceful planetary engineers, conscious shapers of our environment and caretakers of Earth's biosphere. This is a perspective that begs us to ask not just what future do we want to avoid, but what do we seek to build? What kind of world do we want? Are humans the worst thing or the best thing to ever happen to our planet? Today we stand at a pivotal juncture, and the answer will depend on the choices we make.
Are you just talking about building a black economy or are you serious about doing it? Tag A Black Business Owner!
When Bryan, Steven, Roger and I started JBN - Jericho Broadcast Networks one of our primary goals was to provide Black Owned Business an affordable way to advertise over a long period of time. If you follow our plan we will show you the ROI! Measurable Results are what we can provide!!! I am tagging ALL of my FRIENDS & FAMILY who have businesses in these particular cities with 3 possible upgrades:
We are targeting 7 major metro areas: #1-Atlanta, GA, #2-Orlando-Tampa, FL #3-DMV, #4-Dallas, TX, #5-Chicago, IL, #6-Los Angeles, CA, #7-Palm Beach-Miami, FL
Here are the short versions of the deals and upgrades:
Get 100 ads per month for a year for only $150! 80 radio, 10-30 sec & 10-15 second video ads per month, also get a 30 minute feature done on your business that will air on our network: Click the link to Pay in Full Now: https://www.paypal.me/JBN150for12/150
Upgrade #1: Double Up! Get 200 ads per month for a year for only $300! 160 radio, 30-30 sec & 10-15 second video ads per month, also get a 30 minute feature done on your business as well as a live broadcast done from your business or an hour during the next year. Click Here to Pay In Full Now: https://www.paypal.me/JBN150for12/300
Upgrade #2: Power Up! Get 250 ads per month for a year for only $450! 200 radio, 30-30 sec & 20-15 second BCSN video ads per month, also get a 60 minute feature done on your business as well as 2 live broadcast done from your business for an hour or 1-2 hour broadcast during the next year. Click Here to Pay In Full Now: https://www.paypal.me/JBN150for12/450
Upgrade #3: 45 Days to pay! Take your choice of plans above and take 45 days to pay. Make a first payment of 1/3 of your package cost and you will be billed for the other two payments 15 and 30 days from your first payment Click Here to Pay Now: https://www.paypal.me/JBN150for12/
What am I up too....besides working at a grocer, filling another sketchbook. Been hooked on combining quonset huts with shipping containers. Living in big boxes will drive ya nuts so I added quonset huts to get an arched ceiling. Also wondering if all steel structures are a good thing. Plywood and foam sandwich panels, wood post and beam and adobe are much better materials organically, psychologically and economically. I also think about having curved walls so that rooms are not square, art that is not square. I can't imagine too much technology in a personal space. Something about interaction on a base level vs time saving devices. They only save time if you are in a hurry to go to work for someone else. Personal elevators, how ever they function, are very cool. How do you build a place for less stress and distractions. One reason we are not more developed than we are is the intrusive media. We get flooded with ideas and speakings of all kinds, good, bad and real ugly. We need a filter and a flow rate control and an off switch. Personal, it is all personal now yet some of our biggest arguments are when we must choose a social distinction, philosophical, religious, historical label, genetic source vs the government legal code designation. The kool thing is that we can design a concept and live it and if you can train your children in this way.........utopia or the nut house is yours.
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| Image Source: US Chamber Foundation, link below |
The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields are boom town for jobs in today and tomorrow’s economy. According to Change the Equation, from 2014 to 2024, jobs in computing are slated to increase 19%, in advanced manufacturing 16%, and in engineering 12%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2012-2022, there is going to be a 37% increase in information security analysts (no surprise there!), a 27% increase in operations research analysts, a 27% increase in statisticians, and a 27% increase in biomedical engineers. This is doubly impressive, because the median salary in 2013 for all of these jobs was over $79,000 per year. *
Confession of a STEM survivor
Summarizing previous posts on this subject:
Women and minorities are not only underrepresented in the sciences, they are openly discouraged from pursuing STEM careers at the university level and at early life stages. I was personally insulted by my middle school science teacher - "No, you big dummy!" - after asking a question about calculating the coefficient of linear expansion on a metal wire. I had stifled the immediate urgent need at that moment to deck him, confident of the outcome with the authorities if I had. My parents were not amused, and scheduled a visit with the principal. That was followed by a sweaty, self-preserving "apology" from the science teacher. I passed his class with a descent grade, and moved on from the twerp. The fact both groups are so low means discouragement is remarkably efficient to maintain the status quo of the "usual suspects" in the sciences, and a concentration of wealth and opportunities along gender and cultural lines. Suffice to say, to resist the "haters": you have to want it!
Albert Einstein was so fond of answering the fan mail of children interested in science, author Alice Calaprice wrote a book on it. In an exchange with a young science fan from South Africa named Tiffany:
September 19, 1946: "I forgot to tell you, in my last letter, that I was a girl. I mean I am a girl. I have always regretted this a great deal, but by now I have become more or less resigned to the fact. Anyway, I hate dresses and dances and all the kind of rot girls usually like. I much prefer horses and riding. Long ago, before I wanted to become a scientist, I wanted to b e a jockey and ride horses in races. But that was ages ago, now. I hope you will not think any the less of me for being a girl!"
To which, Einstein's reply was classic, and classy (circa October 1946):
"I do not mind that you are a girl, but the main thing is that you yourself do not mind. There is no reason for it."
The face above is cherub and innocent. The discouragement from "powers-that-be" will be formidable, but not insurmountable. I tutor and volunteer as much as time allows outside of my work hours to help, encourage and most importantly: be SEEN.
I am a member of Kappa Alpha Phi Fraternity, Inc. a part of a list of African American Sororities and Fraternities collectively known as The Divine Nine. Part of our mandate within our respective organizations and communities is just what I've described as well as fundraising for scholarships to help such students as the one pictured above.
You don't have to be a member of any Greek Letter organization, as some cannot due to not attending or finishing a four-year college. My father's motivation on my first day of college was a simple statement: "Before I die, I want you to be able to take care of yourself." My father formally had a sixth-grade education. After serving in the US Navy during World War II, he took and passed a college entrance exam, but chose not to attend. My mother had an Associates in Practical Nursing. Her encouragement was always: "You can do ANYTHING you want to do, if you put your MIND to it and believe you can do it!" Mildred and Robert are both deceased. Their son (me) completed a degree in Engineering Physics at North Carolina A&T State University; a Graduate Certificate in Microelectronics and Photonics at Stevens Institute of Technology and has applied to the School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering. Their grandsons attended college (my oldest in Real Estate); my youngest will receive his degree in Civil Engineering May 2017. Sometimes, all you need to be is a teacher, friend, sister, brother, cousin, aunt, uncle or parent with an encouraging word or two.
What's important in the long run is not being hidden, but encouraging and available. The return can literally be generational.
* US Chamber Foundation: African American Students and the STEM ChallengeMichael McShane
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| Illustration of how a synapse based on skyrmions would work. The skyrmions are shown as red dots on the presynaptic (left) side of the device. The postsynaptic side is the right half of the device. The skyrmions move from left to right across the device. (Courtesy: Nanotechnology) |
Topics: Electronics, Neuromorphic Devices, Particle Physics, Spintronics
Simulations suggest that magnetic skyrmions could form the basis of ultra-low-power-consumption devices that mimic the memory and learning functions of neural synapses.
Despite advances in computer power, there are still tasks that are best done by biological brains. Efforts to emulate the way the brain is wired have led to work on "artificial synapses" as connections for use in "neuromorphic" computers that try to emulate the functionality of a biological brain. Researchers in China have now demonstrated that the skyrmion – a type of magnetic quasiparticle – could be used to create energy-efficient synaptic devices.
New challenges are not always best met with old tools, and as challenges go, emulating synaptic connections in a scalable system – the human brain contains hundreds of trillions of synapses – is no mean feat. Synapses do more than connect neurons, they weigh how well neurons are connected through signal spiking and modulation processes that are thought to be the basis of human learning and cognition. While some progress in the development of synaptic devices has been made using phase-change memories, Ag-Si memories and resistive memories, studies of magnetic skyrmions suggest they may be a promising alternative.
Skyrmions are particle-like regions within a field where all of the field vectors point either towards or away from a single point in space. They were originally proposed in the 1950s by British physicist Tony Skyrme to explain aspects of particle physics. Researchers have since discovered that some collective excitations of electron spins in solids behave much like skyrmions, and the first observation of a magnetic skyrmion lattice was reported in 2009. These solid-state skyrmions could be potentially useful in next-generation electronics and spintronics.
Physics World: Magnetic skyrmions could help make low-energy artificial 'brains'
Anna Demming is editor of nanotechweb.org
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| Image Source: Emily's Quotes |
Topics: African Americans, History, Diaspora, Diversity in Science, Women in Science
Okay, I lied.
I lied when I said I wasn't going to talk anymore about Hidden Figures. I obviously featured it on #P4TC and that AFTER I bought the book the movie was based on. Congrats to the cast for the Screen Actor's Guild Award for best cast (Denzel Washington and Viola Davis won Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively).
I also lied that I wouldn't do special months again. It's usually a double post of science papers that I've read and a post for the respective history month: I've done posts for African American History Month; Women's History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month. It's enjoyable, but exhausting as a lot of thought goes into the posts so as to not repeat themes/stories/history.
However, lies ("alternative facts") are fast becoming truth and verifiable, factual truth lies. A Federal Republic: "is a type of government made up of smaller areas such as states or provinces where the central government cedes certain powers to the individual areas for self-government purposes. The citizens of the federal republic elect their own representatives to lead them," [1] and only functions well when reality can be judged and fairly reported on by its leadership to the governed.
Even before "alternative facts" recently entered our lexicon, some disturbing tendencies have already been documented:
The Civil War "wasn't about slavery, but about state's rights," a canard continually debunked, but apparently taught in public schools still.
- In Texas, slaves were referred to as "workers," hinting at volition instead of what can properly be termed as a kidnapping. A concerned mother pointed that out in 2015.
- The aforementioned Hidden Figures.
- When you think African American, Black, Negro, what's the first thing that comes to mind: scientists, engineers, or athletes and thugs? Transmitted images, shape narrative and matter in how we interact with one another individually and as a republic.
Truth, and our own thoughts are going to be precious things in days to come. They always have been, and why power tends to spend inordinate money and time to shape narratives of cultures in particular and civilization in general. It is why Dr. Woodson created Negro History Week (as it was originally know) which has evolved into African American History Month. It is not just the Negro mis-educated, but a sizable number within the American electorate that still believe social myths of innate superiority; a faux hierarchy that can only be attributed to racism, pseudoscience and magical thinking. [2]
Our society has always been herded by the powerful through the control of information, from print media to radio; radio to television and now Net Neutrality threatens to alter the Internet commons into a "Ministry of Truth," [3, 4] accessible only on a tiered payment system, bringing back the "information superhighway debates" of the nineties.
Affirming our humanity, truth: precious, manipulable and fleeting is the last real commodity we all have. What will be presented this February roaring like a lion, will be our collective Hidden History; it will be the TRUTH.
1. Reference.com: What is a federal republic?
2. "If you can control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one."
Dr. Carter G. Woodson, The Mis-Education of the Negro
3. “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.” George Orwell, 1984
4. Star Trek, The Next Generation: "There...Are...Four...Lights!"
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| STSci |
Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology
It's only five years away...
In 2022, there will be a spectacular sky show. Two stars will merge into one, pushing out excess gas into an explosion known as a red nova. At magnitude 2, it will be as bright as Polaris in the sky, and just behind Sirius and Vega in brightness. The collision in the constellation of Cygnus will be visible for up to six months.
That’s pretty impressive. What’s more impressive: we’ve never been able to predict a nova before. But Lawrence Molnar, a professor of astronomy and physics at Calvin College, was able to find a pair of oddly behaving stars giving an indication of what might happen.
The objects, termed KIC 9832227, are currently contact binaries. Contact binary refers to two objects that are so close they are currently touching. The object was discovered by Kepler. The expected outcome is a merger between the two stars that will put on quite a show. Because both are low mass stars, the expected temperature is low, with Molnar terming it a “red nova.”
Astronomy: Two stars will merge in 2022 and explode into red fury, John Wenz
