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POPSDiminishing Returns! An astronomical example of how scale can change encouraging environments to discouraging ones... (what does this have to do with governance or economics?)
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POPSHerschel scans hidden Milky Way Herschel intends to study large regions of the Milky Way in its combined Spire-Pacs scanning mode. The instruments will, of course, also work independently. The mission is due to go into routine operations in the next few weeks. However, its third instrument is currently down after experiencing a fault. Engineers can switch to a back-up system to reactivate the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HiFi), but they do not intend to do that until they have satisfied themselves the cause the anomaly is properly understood. The Dutch-led HiFi is a spectrometer that will identify elements and molecules in the clouds of gas and dust which give rise to stars. Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk Bookmark with: * Delicious * Digg * reddit * Facebook * StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version Print Sponsor SEE ALSO Planck telescope's first glimpse 17 Sep 09 | Science & Environment Herschel shows breadth
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POPSNASA discovers ice may be extensive on Mars A little over six months later, more images of the same crater showed the ice was gone, leaving only brown dirt where the frozen water had been. That, too, was exactly what the scientists believed would happen: the ice had "sublimated," turning to invisible vapor in the thin, cold Martian atmosphere. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/25/MN6U19SMRH.DTL#ixzz0SGDy61RG
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POPSThe DNA Mystery: Scientists Stumped By "Telepathic" Abilities Even so, research published in ACS’ Journal of Physical Chemistry B, shows very clearly that homology recognition between sequences of several hundred nucleotides occurs without physical contact or presence of proteins. Double helixes of DNA can recognize matching molecules from a distance and then gather together, all seemingly without help from any other molecules or chemical signals. This recognition effect may help increase the accuracy and efficiency of the homologous recombination of genes, which is a process responsible for DNA repair, evolution, and genetic diversity. The new findings may also shed light on ways to avoid recombination errors, which are factors in cancer, aging, and other health issues.
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POPSActive Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 WTC Catastrophe We have discovered distinctive red/gray chips in all the samples we have studied of the dust produced by the destruction of the World Trade Center. The properties of these chips were analyzed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The red material contains grains approximately 100 nm across which are largely iron oxide, while aluminum is contained in tiny plate-like structures. Numerous iron-rich spheres are clearly observed in the residue following the ignition of these peculiar red/gray chips. The red portion of these chips is found to be an unreacted thermitic material and highly energetic.
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POPSOne person's bully is another one's friend Somewhat long, but worth reading. More: This learning experience was one of the most memorable ones in my fifteen year career. I learnt that some situations require spontaneity and a flexible approach. It also reinforced my belief that a good mentor knows her students. The successful resolution of this situation came about because the students cared for and respected me. I always endeavour to understand my pupils, and I work with them to forge good relationships and respect. I pay attention to detail and I care passionately about the welfare and well-being of my students and through my work I impart values of decency and trust, and the value of human relationships. I never underestimate the importance of the learning environment and the impact classroom dynamics have on students’ ability to learn. Providing the students with outstanding curriculum material presented and taught in an accomplished way is sometimes not enough.
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POPSCreationists are Morons I'm tired of sugar-coating it any longer. The clip title says it all. These people are fools. Not only that but they're willfully ignorant, which is worse. I have serious doubts if any amount of education can help these people. They're so mired in their myths that if the truth bit them in the ass they'd claim it was Satan nipping at their bottoms. Keep in mind, this is the same pool that spawns Deathers, Birthers, and Ten-ers. The whole lot should be ridiculed, marginalized, and shown to be the knuckle draggers that they are. Phew!
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POPSCulture of Terror: the Collapse of America ~ I
This great betrayal has taken our “progressive” culture, with “the giant” of applied science lurking over everyone’s sense of the possible and turned it to fatalism. These betrayals have led to “multiculturalism” and the balkanization both of nations, and families, the better to centralize power and to scramble all states into a World “Commonwealth” where power, control and resources are monopolized by an oligarchy; those closer to the labyrinth’s center having greater amounts of all material and social perks and greater immunity from “law.” The dogma of “relativism,” gussied up as “situational ethics” means in effect that the law is the will of those with most power and that reason is an instrument of will and thus of appetites; that the rationales of this new State are thus insane, acts of wanton atrocity, to quote Melville in the epigraph. This deification of the will is a radical subversion of the principles of law, justice and righteousness, as well as charity rooted in Scri
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POPSNew form of carbon created. This is a very nice one. And high speed transistors from MEG? This would provide many changes in all the electronic equipment we use daily.
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POPSDiscovered particles from the most massive explosions in the Milky Way. Rest of the article: This star died and exploded in the Milky Way. When a star of this mass dies, most of its material is ejected and ploughs a pathway through a massive, stellar wind. This wind has been created earlier in the death process, when the star lost part of its original mass. The wind blows away from the star, and the final definitive explosion of the star then drives new material through the previously established wind. A shock-wave in space Electrons and positrons are accelerated during the process and create a shock-wave, similar to that formed when an aeroplane breaks the sound barrier. Julia Becker and her colleagues show that it is just such a shock-wave that has created the observed particle flux that has astounded scientists. Wow...
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POPSThe chemical morse code "For now, a firecracker-scale infofuse can be detected at distances of up to one-third of a mile. But as researchers refine the technology, infofuses “could open up new opportunities in information technology,” wrote John Rogers, a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign material scientist, in a separate PNAS article." And I'm counting on it! But very probably the military is taking care of it already. Let's see when and how it's going to get to the information technology.
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POPS10 Reasons to Meet Your Shadow Self Carl Jung, the famous Swiss Psychoanalyst, introduced the concept of the "shadow" side of our personalities. This darker aspect of our selves are the parts we do not like and reject, hide or deny. Others can often see them but we either cannot or choose not to. When we do this, according to Jung, we become imbalanced and suffer. To quote wikipedia: "Jung emphasized the importance of balance and harmony. He cautioned that modern people rely too heavily on science and logic and would benefit from integrating spirituality and appreciation of unconscious realms. He considered the process of individuation necessary for a person to become whole. This is a psychological process of integrating the conscious with the unconscious while still maintaining conscious autonomy. Individuation was the central concept of analytical psychology. " Read the 10 reasons to meet your shadow self, from the blog "GoodBlogging", and find your balance in life and relationships:
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POPSCharter Cities A brilliant idea that bears in mind the ecology as well as the possibility of changing the rules so that more people can share the best working ideas. A video of a TED presentation can be watched here: http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_romer.html
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POPSMars Climate-Change Cycles in 3-D The camera, called HiRISE for short, took pairs of images of each site from slightly different angles in orbit, providing the stereo information necessary for determining each layer's thickness.
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POPSBlack Hole created in US lab more: Professor Zhang and colleagues are experts in metamaterials and their latest creation is the most impressive yet: modeling black holes by taking "analogy" out of writing and into actual hard science. By designing a metamaterial whose reaction to light looks the same as another phenomena, you can effectively examine that phenomena. This is because "looks like" isn't based on color, or shape, but on having exactly the same equations defining its motion - so that it no longer matters if it's because of metamaterials reaction to light or general relativity's to matter. By setting up this "optical-mechanical analogy" you can study an all-consuming gravitational crusher in a simple chip of material.
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POPSAerogel Cool science, with a large amount of applications.
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POPSToltec: Don Miguel Ruiz 'Fortunately, the esoteric Toltec knowledge was embodied and passed on through generations by different lineages of Naguals. Though it remained veiled in secrecy for hundreds of years, ancient prophecies foretold the coming of an age when it would be necessary to return the wisdom to the people. Now, don Miguel has been guided to share with us the powerful teachings of the Toltec."
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POPS10 ancient Greek writers you should know Archimedes was a mathematician, engineer, inventor, physicist and astronomer. He is known for the invention of The Archimedes’ Screw, a mechanism for moving water that is still in use today. He also calculated the value of pi very precisely. Archimedes discovered how to define the volume of irregular objects by submerging them in water. According to legend, this discovery made him run out on the street naked (he was so excited that he forgot to get dressed) and cry “Eureka!” – I have found it.