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(electronics) Mass transport due to momentum exchange between conducting electrons and diffusing metal atoms. Electromigration causes progressive damage to the metal conductors in an integrated circuit. It is characteristic of metals at very high current density and temperatures of 100C or more.The term was coined by Professor Hilbert Huntington in the late 1950s because he didn't like the German use of the word "electrotransport". Mass transoport occurs via the Einstein relation J=DFC/kT where F is the driving force for the transoport. For electromigraiton F is z*epj and z* is an electromigration parameter relating the momentum exchange and z is the charge of the "diffusing" species.
Last updated: 1999-02-25 | <urn:uuid:1e7822fb-5d7a-417f-8730-1bc0aa3b0a72> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://foldoc.org/electromigration | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00007-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905207 | 156 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Colin Hicks / MSNBC.com
|A worker on a crane checks one of the segments of the Compact Muon Solenoid, a
particle detector that will be part of CERN's Large Hadron Collider.
The huge warehouse seems out of place in the French countryside, surrounded by pastures and cornfields. And if the farmers who work those fields were to take a look inside the structure, they might be forgiven if they thought space aliens had dropped a flying-saucer factory in their midst. Sticking up from the warehouse floor are massive disks of metal, lined up in a row and rising more than four stories into the air.
These are pieces of the Compact Muon Solenoid, one of the four major detectors being built for the world's most powerful particle collider. Right now, the rounds look as if they were cut from a giant metallic jelly roll, measuring 50 feet (15 meters) in diameter. But when all those slices are lowered through a hole in the warehouse floor and assembled, sometime in the next few months, the Compact Muon Solenoid will be a 13,750-ton (12,500-metric-ton) cylinder sitting in the guts of CERN's Large Hadron Collider, 330 feet (100 meters) beneath the countryside.
"It is the heaviest scientific experiment ever," said Steven Nahn, a physicist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is a member of the CMS research team.
To call this contraption "compact" seems like a gross misnomer: The CMS is compact only in relation to its rival sibling, the ATLAS detector, which is roughly twice as large but only half as massive. The contrasts in the weights and dimensions hint at the different designs for ATLAS and CMS - two detectors that are designed to probe the same types of subatomic mysteries.
When the collider is turned on next spring, the teams behind ATLAS and CMS will be racing each other to find evidence of long-predicted but still-unseen subatomic particles, such as the Higgs boson (thought to give rise to mass itself) and supersymmetric particles (which may contribute to our universe's mysterious dark matter). If one detector finds a new twist in physics, the other will serve as a reality check.
As we toured the CMS site today, Nahn noted that the competition is a friendly one. Both teams recognize they need each other - particularly when it comes to stalking the Higgs boson. "If one finds it, the other better see it," he told me.
Construction crews check each slice of the detector, lower it down into the collider cavern with a giant crane, then outfit it for the work ahead. Eventually, all the slices will be smooshed together, surrounding a solenoid that Nahn calls "the world's biggest doorbell magnet." Within that high-powered solenoid magnet will be an intricate silicon device, designed to follow the tracks of subatomic particles that are thrown off by the collision of high-energy proton beams.
Data will flow in floods from the CMS detector. "People describe it as an 80-million-pixel camera that takes 40 million frames per second," Nahn said. Computers will have to winnow that raw data down to mere millions of bits per second - separating the wheat from the chaff. That should be something the farmers working above the CMS totally understand.
Colin Hicks / MSNBC.com
|Fermilab's Peter Limon, MSNBC.com's Alan Boyle and MIT's Steven Nahn walk down
the ring tunnel for CERN's Large Hadron Collider, 330 feet below ground.
Before all those bits start flowing, the collider's 17-mile-round (27-kilometer-round) underground ring will have to be ready to handle the accelerated proton beams - and that's the job of people such as Fermilab's Peter Limon, who is working on the U.S.-built segments of the ring's powerful magnets.
As our group headed toward the elevator to descend to the ring tunnel, Limon checked our hardhats and handed us metal containers that looked like industrial-strength lunch boxes with canvas straps attached. He explained that the boxes actually contained emergency breathing equipment, in case something went wrong in the tunnel's ventilation system. It's a safety requirement, but Limon said he's never had occasion to use the equipment.
"My advice is, if anything happens, drop that thing and run to the nearest exit," he told us.
Despite his easy-going manner, Limon knows all too well that bad things can happen underground. In March, his efforts suffered a huge setback when a magnet segment broke during a high-pressure test. The segments look like sections of pipeline on the outside, but on the inside they're stuffed with plumbing, cryogenically cooled vacuum chambers and beamline conduits. It turned out that a particular type of segment was improperly designed to handle the pressurization. When the lines were put to the test, the magnet's innards pushed out in an unexpected direction and buckled with a loud bang.
"It's an embarrassment, it's a pain," Limon told us down in the tunnel.
Now that the problem has been analyzed fully, all the magnets with the design flaw are being fixed. "The important thing is that all the fixes can be done in situ," Limon said. Modifying the magnets in place, rather than pulling them up out of the tunnel, will save a lot of time. Nevertheless, the mishap put a huge dent in the schedule for getting the Large Hadron Collider up and running.
Jos Engelen, CERN's chief scientific officer and deputy director-general, confirmed that the scheduled start of operations is being pushed back from November to next spring, in the May-June time frame. But he also told me the project's coordinators would try to make up for some of the lost time by doing some of the commissioning activities in parallel, and by bringing the collider up to full power more quickly once everything is ready to go.
"Around Christmas of 2008, we should be satisfied, with a good harvest of entirely new data," Engelen said.
Engelen was also pleased to report that CERN's Council approved a plan to provide $193 million (240 million Swiss francs) over four years to upgrade the Large Hadron Collider and "optimize its performance." The money will come from increased contributions by CERN's member nations, he said.
Like good farmers, Engelen and his colleagues are bearing the highs and lows patiently, confident that the scientific seeds they're planting underground will yield a rich bounty.
"You should be here when we switch on," he told me, "and only then will people realize how big a relief and how big a step this is." | <urn:uuid:96a268bc-9b49-4ee6-872e-ae452200dd11> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2007/06/21/4350477-toiling-in-the-fields-of-physics?pc=25&sp=25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397748.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952211 | 1,416 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Underneath the ocean surface, kites would be free to drift with the breeze-like current, just like their airborne brethren do on the wind. Researchers and companies have sought to harness the potential power of ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream, usually with underwater turbines, which look and behave like underwater wind mills. But now some groups are better on a different technology, the underwater kite.
There’s a reason clean energy researchers are so interested in the ocean: “It has been estimated that the potential power from the Florida Current, which flows from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean, is 20 gigawatts—equivalent to about 10 nuclear power plants,” mechanical engineer David Olinger, who just received a grant to build the kites, said in a release. The kites’ ability to move in figure-eight motions–which causes it to zip through the water several time faster than the current itself–will amplify the water’s energy output, Olinger says.
The idea of energy-generating kites has been floated above ground, too. Olinger’s worked on that technology, too, and has already developed algorithms that plot the most energetically efficient position for the kites based on wind (or current), kite location and tether length. He’ll apply those models to the underwater kites, which will have rigid metal wings to catch the current and underwater turbines to harness that energy. Kite construction will begin in January.
Olinger is not the only one working on underwater kites. The Swedish company Minesoto is also exploring designs for such contraptions, with a few key differences. Discovery News explains:
Minesto plans to tether the kites to the ocean floor while Olinger’s group would attach them to a floating system. Each Minesto’s kite also has a wind turbine attached while Olinger will look at potentially removing the turbine and placing the electrical generator on the floating platform instead.
Regardless of which design comes out ahead, if researchers were to figure out how to harness the power of the currents, there is indeed ample energy to be had. Here’s an overview of the world’s currents, from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center*:
*This post had wrongly attributed this video to Minesoto. We apologize for the error.
More from Smithsonian.com: | <urn:uuid:a5c4c79d-1861-49a3-9b6c-45ddfee72a78> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/underwater-kites-can-harness-ocean-currents-to-create-clean-energy-180947694/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00094-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946598 | 490 | 3.625 | 4 |
Yes, it's kosher. Now, the Mishnah states it quite clearly: "That which comes from something which is not kosher is not kosher." So how, since bees are not kosher, is the honey we get from them kosher?
"The mere fact that bee honey is kosher is itself odd," my favorote Rabbi Jason Miller wrote in a recent Huffington Post article while standing amidst a buzzing hive in Michigan's Amish country. "After all, it is a product of the non-kosher bee (no insects except for certain locust species are deemed kosher by the Torah). So, how can a product of a non-kosher animal be kosher? It is believed that honey is kosher since it is produced outside of the body of the bee. But that isn't totally true. In actuality, bees suck nectar from flowers with their proboscis (mouth) and this nectar mixes with saliva and is swallowed into the honey sac, where enzymes from the saliva break down the nectar into honey. The nectar is never digested, but rather transformed into honey by the saliva. The honey is regurgitated when the bee returns to the hive and the water is evaporated, thereby thickening it into honey which is then sealed in the honeycomb. The rabbis of the Talmud explain that bee honey is kosher since it is not an actual secretion of the bee, but rather the bee functions as a carrier and facilitator of the honey-making process."
Who knew? We did. Happy Passover friends.—Zeke | <urn:uuid:36b3a783-689d-435e-8a00-422227870294> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.beerawbuzz.com/Why-Honey-Kosher-Zeke-Freeman-28895826 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00096-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961456 | 315 | 2.84375 | 3 |
|ICUMSA – DETAILED EXPLANATION ON ICUMSA RATING SYSTEM|
ICUMSA (International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis) Ratings are ratings which reflect the grade and quality of sugar. The ratings system is based on the color of sugar, which is regarded as being an effective measure of how refined and free from impurities it is. This article details six of the major types of ICUMSA rated sugar generally traded today. However if you require sugar with an ICUMSA rating not detailed below, get in touch with the specifications you require and we can supply sugar to meet your specific needs. These grades are far from being set in stone, but are useful as general guidelines which may indicate which types of sugar will be suitable for various applications.
Refined Granulated Sugar - ICUMSA 45
The most highly refined form of sugar. This sugar has a sparkling white color, and is the type most often sold direct to consumers in the form of sugar cubes, bags of sugar, and in sugar sachets.
Extra Special Crystal Sugar - ICUMSA 100 – 150
Considered food grade sugar, this sugar is often used in large scale baking, drinks making, or the production of other food stuffs.
Special Crystal Sugar - ICUMSA 200
Food grade sugar suitable for less demanding applications where appearance is not integral to the function of the sugar.
Consumable Raw Sugar (Brown Sugar) - ICUMSA 600-800
This sugar is consumable by humans, and is generally regarded as being very tasty on porridge. Any sugar above ICUMSA 800 is not suitable for humans however, and needs to undergo further refining to remove bacteria and other contaminants.
Raw Sugar-ICUMSA 1600 – 2000
Very Raw Sugar-ICUMSA 4600 MAX
This type of sugar has undergone very little refining, if any. This is generally regarded as being raw sugar which is then sent to refineries to be refined into any of the above grades of sugar.
ICUMSA Ratings Caveat
Whilst ICUMSA ratings are, by their very nature, a fairly reliable means of determining the quality of sugar, it should be noted that the above rating system is based on what is called the Brazilian SGS ICUMSA rating. This system has ICUMSA 45 as being the most pure form of sugar, and as the numbers go higher, the less refined the sugar is. The European system is different however, and in some cases raw sugars can be described as ICUMSA 42. In order to avoid confusion, it is recommended that you verify with any supplier whether or not it is the Brazilian SGS system of ratings that is being used to describe their sugar. All our sugar ratings are quoted according to the Brazilian SGS System, and are tested in strict accordance with ICUMSA guidelines. | <urn:uuid:f078c55c-5e83-47ee-8e6b-d8b145c734ce> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bcjgroupllc.com/sugar-icumsa.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00031-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9562 | 583 | 2.625 | 3 |
A selection of articles related to jewish faith.
Original articles from our library related to the Jewish Faith. See Table of Contents for further available material (downloadable resources) on Jewish Faith.
- King James Bible: Hebrews, Chapter 11
- Chapter 11 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen...
New Testament >> To the Hebrews
- Art during the Age of Faith
- The Age of Faith is the one thousand medieval years from 400 A.D. to 1400 A.D. It must be noted though that faith was not a uniquely medieval phenomenon as medieval pursuits were not purely geared towards faith only.
Saga of Times Past >> History & Anthropology
- Judaism: An Overview
- Judaism, the fundamental religion of the Jews, is the oldest and purely monotheistic religion of the world.
Religions >> Judaism
- King James Bible: Galatians, Chapter 3
- Chapter 3 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law,...
New Testament >> Galatians
- King James Bible: James, Chapter 2
- Chapter 2 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2:2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 2:3 And...
New Testament >> The Epistle of James
- Yom Kippur
- Yom Kippur is the day when God handed to Moses the second set of the Ten Commandments. This occurred after the completion of the second 40 days of guidance from God.
Religions >> Judaism
Jewish Faith is described in multiple online sources, as addition to our editors' articles, see section below for printable documents, Jewish Faith books and related discussion.
Suggested News Resources
- Bernie Sanders is Jewish. Why isn't that convincing Jews to vote for him?
- On Sunday night, Sen. Bernie Sanders said onstage in a Democratic debate, “I am very proud of being Jewish. Being Jewish is so much of what I am.
- Kasich on faith
- In Kasich, you also hear echoes of Hillary Clinton's discussions of her own Methodism, and even Bernie Sanders' affirmation this week that his Jewish faith is “very important” to him, though he hardly wears it on his sleeve (just, you know, in his accent).
- Israel fractures by faith on politics and society
- More than three-quarters (76 percent) of Israeli Jews believe their country can be both Jewish and democratic, a view rejected by majorities of Israeli Muslims and Christians, according to a comprehensive new survey released by the Washington-based Pew ...
- OPINION: Why Ofsted poses a clear danger to our faith schools
- On admissions, there is the continued effort by those overly obsessed with “social cohesion” and “equalities” to compel faith schools to take a quota of pupils from other faiths.
- Sanders shares meaning of his Jewish faith
- March 7, 2016 1:25 AM EST - Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders opened up about the importance of his Jewish faith during CNN's democratic debate on March 6. (CNN). RELATED LINKS.
Great care has been taken to prepare the information on this page. Elements of the content come from factual and lexical knowledge databases, realmagick.com library and third-party sources. We appreciate your suggestions and comments on further improvements of the site.
Jewish Faith Topics
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Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
Biological: Behavioural genetics · Evolutionary psychology · Neuroanatomy · Neurochemistry · Neuroendocrinology · Neuroscience · Psychoneuroimmunology · Physiological Psychology · Psychopharmacology (Index, Outline)
Food security is an issue with regard to food deprivation and nutrition and refers to a household's physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that fulfills the dietary needs and food preferences of that household for living an active and healthy life.
The World Health Organization defines food security as having three facets: food availability, food access, and food use. Food availability is having available sufficient quantities of food on a consistent basis. Food access is having sufficient resources, both economic and physical, to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet. Food use is the appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as well as adequate water and sanitation. The FAO adds a fourth facet: the stability of the first three dimensions of food security over time.
According to the World Resources Institute, global per capita food production has been increasing substantially for the past several decades. In 2006, MSNBC reported that globally, the number of people who are overweight has surpassed the number who are undernourished – the world had more than one billion people who were overweight, and an estimated 800 million who were undernourished. According to a 2004 article from the BBC, China, the world's most populous country, is suffering from an obesity epidemic. In India, the second-most populous country in the world, 30 million people have been added to the ranks of the hungry since the mid-1990s and 46% of children are underweight.
Worldwide around 925 million people are chronically hungry due to extreme poverty, while up to 2 billion people lack food security intermittently due to varying degrees of poverty (source: FAO, 2010). Six million children die of hunger every year – 17,000 every day. As of late 2007, export restrictions and panic buying, US Dollar Depreciation, increased farming for use in biofuels, world oil prices at more than $100 a barrel, global population growth, climate change, loss of agricultural land to residential and industrial development, and growing consumer demand in China and India are claimed to have pushed up the price of grain. However, the role of some of these factors is under debate. Some argue the role of biofuel has been overplayed as grain prices have come down to the levels of 2006. Nonetheless, food riots have recently taken place in many countries across the world.
The ongoing global credit crisis has affected farm credits, despite a boom in commodity prices. Food security is a complex topic, standing at the intersection of many disciplines.
A new peer-reviewed journal of Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food began publishing in 2009. In developing countries, often 70% or more of the population lives in rural areas. In that context, agricultural development among smallholder farmers and landless people provides a livelihood for people allowing them the opportunity to stay in their communities. In many areas of the world, land ownership is not available, thus, people who want or need to farm to make a living have little incentive to improve the land.
In the US, there are approximately 2,000,000 farmers, less than 1% of the population. A direct relationship exists between food consumption levels and poverty. Families with the financial resources to escape extreme poverty rarely suffer from chronic hunger, while poor families not only suffer the most from chronic hunger, but are also the segment of the population most at risk during food shortages and famines.
- Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
- Food security for a household means access by all members at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Food security includes at a minimum (1) the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and (2) an assured ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways (that is, without resorting to emergency food supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other coping strategies). (USDA)
The stages of food insecurity range from food secure situations to full-scale famine. "Famine and hunger are both rooted in food insecurity. Food insecurity can be categorized as either chronic or transitory. Chronic food insecurity translates into a high degree of vulnerability to famine and hunger; ensuring food security presupposes elimination of that vulnerability. [Chronic] hunger is not famine. It is similar to undernourishment and is related to poverty, existing mainly in poor countries."
Stunting and chronic nutritional deficienciesEdit
Many countries experience perpetual food shortages and distribution problems. These result in chronic and often widespread hunger amongst significant numbers of people. Human populations respond to chronic hunger and malnutrition by decreasing body size, known in medical terms as stunting or stunted growth. This process starts in utero if the mother is malnourished and continues through approximately the third year of life. It leads to higher infant and child mortality, but at rates far lower than during famines. Once stunting has occurred, improved nutritional intake later in life cannot reverse the damage. Stunting itself is viewed as a coping mechanism, designed to bring body size into alignment with the calories available during adulthood in the location where the child is born. Limiting body size as a way of adapting to low levels of energy (calories) adversely affects health in three ways:
- Premature failure of vital organs occurs during adulthood. For example, a 50-year-old individual might die of heart failure because his/her heart suffered structural defects during early development;
- Stunted individuals suffer a far higher rate of disease and illness than those who have not undergone stunting;
- Severe malnutrition in early childhood often leads to defects in cognitive development.
"The analysis ... points to the misleading nature of the concept of subsistence as Malthus originally used it and as it is still widely used today. Subsistence in not located at the edge of a nutritional cliff, beyond which lies demographic disaster. Rather than one level of subsistence, there are numerous levels at which a population and a food supply can be in equilibrium in the sense that they can be indefinitely sustained. However, some levels will have smaller people and higher normal mortality than others."
Challenges to achieving food securityEdit"The number of people without enough food to eat on a regular basis remains stubbornly high, at over 800 million, and is not falling significantly. Over 60% of the world's undernourished people live in Asia, and a quarter in Africa. The proportion of people who are hungry, however, is greater in Africa (33%) than Asia (16%). The latest FAO figures indicate that there are 22 countries, 16 of which are in Africa, in which the undernourishment prevalence rate is over 35%."
The agriculture-hunger-poverty nexusEdit
Eradicating hunger and poverty requires an understanding of the ways in which these two injustices interconnect. Hunger, and the malnourishment that accompanies it, prevents poor people from escaping poverty because it diminishes their ability to learn, work, and care for themselves and their family members. Food insecurity exists when people are undernourished as a result of the physical unavailability of food, their lack of social or economic access to adequate food, and/or inadequate food use. Food-insecure people are those whose food intake falls below their minimum calorie (energy) requirements, as well as those who exhibit physical symptoms caused by energy and nutrient deficiencies resulting from an inadequate or unbalanced diet or from the body's inability to use food effectively because of infection or disease. An alternative view would define the concept of food insecurity as referring only to the consequence of inadequate consumption of nutritious food, considering the physiological use of food by the body as being within the domain of nutrition and health. Malnourishment also leads to poor health hence individuals fail to provide for their families. If left unaddressed, hunger sets in motion an array of outcomes that perpetuate malnutrition, reduce the ability of adults to work and to give birth to healthy children, and erode children's ability to learn and lead productive, healthy, and happy lives. This truncation of human development undermines a country's potential for economic development for generations to come.
Improving agricultural productivity to benefit the rural poorEdit
There are strong, direct relationships between agricultural productivity, hunger, and poverty. Three-quarters of the world's poor live in rural areas and make their living from agriculture. Hunger and child malnutrition are greater in these areas than in urban areas. Moreover, the higher the proportion of the rural population that obtains its income solely from subsistence farming (without the benefit of pro-poor technologies and access to markets), the higher the incidence of malnutrition. Therefore, improvements in agricultural productivity aimed at small-scale farmers will benefit the rural poor first. Food and feed crop demand is likely to double in the next 50 years, as the global population approaches nine billion. Growing sufficient food will require people to make changes such as increasing productivity in areas dependent on rainfed agriculture; improving soil fertility management; expanding cropped areas; investing in irrigation; conducting agricultural trade between countries; and reducing gross food demand by influencing diets and reducing post-harvest losses.
According to the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture, a major study led by the International Water Management Institute, managing rainwater and soil moisture more effectively, and using supplemental and small-scale irrigation, hold the key to helping the greatest number of poor people. It has called for a new era of water investments and policies for upgrading rainfed agriculture that would go beyond controlling field-level soil and water to bring new freshwater sources through better local management of rainfall and runoff. Increased agricultural productivity enables farmers to grow more food, which translates into better diets and, under market conditions that offer a level playing field, into higher farm incomes. With more money, farmers are more likely to diversify production and grow higher-value crops, benefiting not only themselves but the economy as a whole."
Researchers suggest forming an alliance between the emergency food program and community-supported agriculture, as some countries' food stamps cannot be used at farmer's markets and places where food is less processed and grown locally.
Global water crisisEdit
Water deficits, which are already spurring heavy grain imports in numerous smaller countries, may soon do the same in larger countries, such as China or India. The water tables are falling in scores of countries (including northern China, the US, and India) due to widespread overpumping using powerful diesel and electric pumps. Other countries affected include Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. This will eventually lead to water scarcity and cutbacks in grain harvest. Even with the overpumping of its aquifers, China is developing a grain deficit. When this happens, it will almost certainly drive grain prices upward. Most of the 3 billion people projected to be born worldwide by mid-century will be born in countries already experiencing water shortages. After China and India, there is a second tier of smaller countries with large water deficits — Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, and Pakistan. Four of these already import a large share of their grain. Only Pakistan remains self-sufficient. But with a population expanding by 4 million a year, it will likely soon turn to the world market for grain.
Multimillion dollar investments beginning in the 1990s by the World Bank have reclaimed desert and turned the Ica Valley in Peru, one of the driest places on earth, into the largest supplier of asparagus in the world. However, the constant irrigation has caused a rapid drop in the water table, in some places as much as eight meters per year, one of the fastest rates of aquifer depletion in the world. The wells of small farmers and local people are beginning to run dry and the water supply for the main city in the valley is under threat. As a cash crop, asparagus has provided jobs for local people, but most of the money goes to the buyers, mainly the British. A 2010 report concluded that the industry is not sustainable and accuses investors, including the World Bank, of failing to take proper responsibility for the impact of their decisions on the water resources of poorer countries. Diverting water from the headwaters of the Ica River to asparagus fields has also led to a water shortage in the mountain region of Huancavelica, where indigenous communities make a marginal living herding.
Intensive farming often leads to a vicious cycle of exhaustion of soil fertility and decline of agricultural yields. Approximately 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. In Africa, if current trends of soil degradation continue, the continent might be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025, according to UNU's Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa.
- See also: Land grabbing
Rich governments and corporations are buying up the rights to millions of hectares of agricultural land in developing countries in an effort to secure their own long-term food supplies. The head of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Jacques Diouf, has warned that the controversial rise in land deals could create a form of "neocolonialism", with poor states producing food for the rich at the expense of their own hungry people. The South Korean firm Daewoo Logistics has secured a large piece of farmland in Madagascar to grow maize and crops for biofuels. Libya has secured 250,000 hectares of Ukrainian farmland, and China has begun to explore land deals in Southeast Asia. Oil-rich Arab investors, including the sovereign wealth funds, are looking into Sudan, Ethiopia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Cambodia and Thailand.
Some countries are using the acquisition of land for agriculture in return for other gains. Egypt is seeking land acquisition in Ukraine in exchange for access to its natural gas. Qatar has plans to lease 40,000 hectares of agricultural land along Kenya's coast to grow fruit and vegetables, in return for building a £2.4 billion port close to the Indian Ocean tourist island of Lamu.
- See also: Climate change and agriculture
Approximately 2.4 billion people live in the drainage basin of the Himalayan rivers. India, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar could experience floods followed by severe droughts in coming decades. In India alone, the Ganges provides water for drinking and farming for more than 500 million people. The west coast of North America, which gets much of its water from glaciers in mountain ranges such as the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, also would be affected. Glaciers aren't the only worry that the developing nations have; sea level is reported to rise as climate change progresses, reducing the amount of land available for agriculture.
In other parts of the world, a big effect will be low yields of grain according to the World Food Trade Model, specifically in the low latitude regions where much of the developing world is located. From this the price of grain will rise, along with the developing nations trying to grow the grain. Due to this, every 2–2.5% price hike will increase the number of hungry people by 1%. Low crop yields are just one of the problem facing farmers in the low latitudes and tropical regions. The timing and length of the growing seasons, when farmers plant their crops, are going to be changing dramatically, per the USDA, due to unknown changes in soil temperature and moisture conditions.
Wheat stem rustEdit
An epidemic of stem rust on wheat caused by race Ug99 which was spreading across Africa and into Asia in 2007 caused major concern. A virulent wheat disease could destroy most of the world’s main wheat crops, leaving millions to starve. The fungus had spread from Africa to Iran and may already be in Pakistan.
The genetic diversity of the crop wild relatives of wheat can be used to improve modern varieties to be more resistant to rust. In their centers of origin wild wheat plants are screened for resistance to rust, then their genetic information is analysed and finally wild plants and modern varieties are crossed through means of modern plant breeding in order to transfer the resistance genes from the wild plants to the modern varieties.
Biotechnology for smallholders in the (sub)tropicsEdit
The area sown to genetically engineered crops in developing countries is rapidly catching up with the area sown in industrial nations. According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), genetically engineered (biotech, GM) crops were grown by approximately 8.5 million farmers in 21 countries in 2005; up from 8.25 million farmers in 17 countries in 2004. The largest increase in biotech crop area in any country in 2005 was in Brazil, provisionally estimated at 44,000 km² (94,000 km² in 2005 compared with 50,000 km² in 2004). India had by far the largest year-on-year proportional increase, with almost a threefold increase from 5,000 km² in 2004 to 13,000 km² in 2005. However, it should be noted that the ISAAA is funded by organisations including prominent agricultural biotechnology corporations, such as Monsanto and Bayer, and there have been several challenges made to the accuracy of ISAAA's global figures.
Current high regulatory costs imposed on varieties created by the more modern methods are a significant hurdle for development of genetically engineered crops well suited to developing country farmers by modern genetic methods. Once a new variety is developed, however, seed provides a good vehicle for distribution of improvements in a package that is familiar to the farmer.
Currently there are some institutes and research groups that have projects in which biotechnology is shared with contact people in less-developed countries on a non-profit basis. These institutes make use of biotechnological methods that do not involve high research and registration costs, such as conservation and multiplication of germplasm and phytosanitation.
Apart from genetic engineering, other forms of biotechnology also hold promise for enhancing food security. For instance, perennial rice is being developed in China, which could dramatically reduce the risk of soil erosion on upland smallholder farms.
Dictatorship and kleptocracyEdit
- See also: Political corruption
Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has observed that "there is no such thing as an apolitical food problem." While drought and other naturally occurring events may trigger famine conditions, it is government action or inaction that determines its severity, and often even whether or not a famine will occur. The 20th century is full of examples of governments undermining the food security of their own nations–sometimes intentionally.
When governments come to power by force or rigged elections, and not by way of fair and open elections, their base of support is often narrow and built upon cronyism and patronage. Under such conditions "The distribution of food within a country is a political issue. Governments in most countries give priority to urban areas, since that is where the most influential and powerful families and enterprises are usually located. The government often neglects subsistence farmers and rural areas in general. The more remote and underdeveloped the area the less likely the government will be to effectively meet its needs. Many agrarian policies, especially the pricing of agricultural commodities, discriminate against rural areas. Governments often keep prices of basic grains at such artificially low levels that subsistence producers cannot accumulate enough capital to make investments to improve their production. Thus, they are effectively prevented from getting out of their precarious situation."
Further dictators and warlords have used food as a political weapon, rewarding their supporters while denying food supplies to areas that oppose their rule. Under such conditions food becomes a currency with which to buy support and famine becomes an effective weapon to be used against the opposition.
Governments with strong tendencies towards kleptocracy can undermine food security even when harvests are good. When government monopolizes trade, farmers may find that they are free to grow cash crops for export, but under penalty of law only able to sell their crops to government buyers at prices far below the world market price. The government then is free to sell their crop on the world market at full price, pocketing the difference. This creates an artificial "poverty trap" from which even the most hard working and motivated farmers may not escape.
When the rule of law is absent, or private property is non-existent, farmers have little incentive to improve their productivity. If a farm becomes noticeably more productive than neighboring farms, it may become the target of individuals well connected to the government. Rather than risk being noticed and possibly losing their land, farmers may be content with the perceived safety of mediocrity.
As pointed out by William Bernstein in his book The Birth of Plenty: "Individuals without property are susceptible to starvation, and it is much easier to bend the fearful and hungry to the will of the state. If a [farmer's] property can be arbitrarily threatened by the state, that power will inevitably be employed to intimidate those with divergent political and religious opinions."
Children and food security Edit
On April 29, 2008, a UNICEF UK report found that the world’s poorest and most vulnerable children are being hit the hardest by the impact of climate change. The report, "Our Climate, Our Children, Our Responsibility: The Implications of Climate Change for the World’s Children," says access to clean water and food supplies will become more difficult, particularly in Africa and Asia.
By way of comparison, in one of the largest food producing countries in the world, the United States, approximately one out of six people are "food insecure", including 17 million children, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A 2012 study in the Journal of Applied Research on Children found that rates of food security varied significantly by race, class and education. In both kindergarten and third grade, 8% of the children were classified as food insecure, but only 5% of white children were food insecure, while 12% and 15% of black and Hispanic children were food insecure, respectively. In third grade, 13% of black and 11% of Hispanic children are food insecure compared to 5% of white children.
Food insecurity is measured in the United States by questions in the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. The questions asked are about anxiety that the household budget is inadequate to buy enough food, inadequacy in the quantity or quality of food eaten by adults and children in the household, and instances of reduced food intake or consequences of reduced food intake for adults and for children. A National Academy of Sciences study commissioned by the USDA criticized this measurement and the relationship of "food security" to hunger, adding "it is not clear whether hunger is appropriately identified as the extreme end of the food security scale." Since 1960s, the US have been implementing a Food Stamp Program (now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) to directly target consumers who lack the income to purchase food. According to Tim Josling, a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, food stamps or other methods of distribution of purchasing power directly to consumers might fit into the range of international programs under consideration to tackle food insecurity.
In its "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2003", FAO states that:
- 'In general the countries that succeeded in reducing hunger were characterised by more rapid economic growth and specifically more rapid growth in their agricultural sectors. They also exhibited slower population growth, lower levels of HIV and higher ranking in the Human Development Index'.
As such, according to FAO, addressing agriculture and population growth is vital to achieving food security. Other organisations and people (e.g., Peter Singer) have come to this same conclusion and advocate improvements in agriculture and population control.
- Boosting agricultural science and technology. Current agricultural yields are insufficient to feed the growing populations. Eventually, the rising agricultural productivity drives economic growth.
- Securing property rights and access to finance.
- Enhancing human capital through education and improved health.
- Conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms and democracy and governance based on principles of accountability and transparency in public institutions and the rule of law are basic to reducing vulnerable members of society.
The UN Millennium Development Goals are one of the initiatives aimed at achieving food security in the world. In its list of goals, the first Millennium Development Goal states that the UN "is to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty", and that "agricultural productivity is likely to play a key role in this if it is to be reached on time".
"Of the eight Millennium Development Goals, eradicating extreme hunger and poverty depends on agriculture the most. (MDG 1 calls for halving hunger and poverty by 2015 in relation to 1990.)
Notably, the gathering of wild food plants appears to be an efficient alternative method of subsistence in tropical countries, which may play a role in poverty alleviation.
Gender and food securityEdit
Gender inequality is a major cause and effect of hunger and poverty. Food security can be a major concern for people who are incapable of or denied access to participating in labor, either formal, informal, or agricultural. In 2009, the U.N. estimated that 60 percent of the world’s chronically hungry people are women and girls, 98% of which live in developing nations. When women have an income, substantial evidence indicates that the income is more likely to be spent on food and children’s needs. Women are generally responsible for food selection and preparation and for the care and feeding of children. Women play many roles in land use, production, processing, distribution, market access, trade, and food availability. They often work as unpaid, contributing family workers, or self-employed producers, on and off-farm employees, entrepreneurs, traders, providers of services, and caretakers of children and the elderly. Women farmers represent more than a quarter of the world’s population, comprising on average, 43 percent of the agricultural workforce in developing countries, ranging from 20 percent in Latin America to 50 percent in Eastern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. However, women have less access than men to agricultural assets, inputs and services. Analysts suggest that if women have the same access to productive resources as men, women could boost yield by 20-30 percent; raising the overall agricultural output in developing countries by two and a half to four percent. This gain in production could lessen the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 percent.
The United States Agency for International Development program, Feed the Future, quotes on their website that "Women’s contributions to agricultural production often go unrecognized. Despite their significant role as agricultural producers, women’s access to land and other key productive resources can be limited, and they rarely have legal control over the land they farm. Reducing gender inequality and recognizing the contribution of women to agriculture is critical to achieving global food security—there is consistent and compelling evidence that when the status of women is improved, agricultural productivity increases, poverty is reduced, and nutrition improves."
Barriers to gendered food securityEdit
While varying by region, women face social and economic barriers to achieving personal and household food security. A comprehension of the gendered dimensions of food insecurity, which includes family size, household obligations, access to wage-labor, and the social constrictions on land use, productivity and intake, render individuals more capable of making educated decisions regarding their own health and that of their household. Improvement in food security strategies by individuals and households allows more time and resources to be directed towards improving economic situations, through investments in better means of production, further education, other quality of life measures, which can improve the status of communities. Macroeconomic factors should also be taken into account, such as the emergence of neo-liberal capitalist policies imposed through the Washington Consensus which include Structural Adjustment Programs, austerity measures, and an emphasis on expanding export-oriented trade at the expense of small-scale producers and rural development. The Center for Women's Global Leadership reported in 2011 that the expectation that this economic shift would increase the global food supply resulted in the strengthening of powerful transnational companies through heavy subsidization, while overall food security faltered as "developing countries withdrew investment in agriculture and rural development, leading to a decline in their long-term productive capacity and transforming them into net food importers."
Land rights and inheritanceEdit
- See also: Land law
Women may have temporary or illegal use of land, but their ability to own or inherit land is restricted in much of the developing world. Even in countries where women are legally permitted to own land, such as Uganda, research from Women’s Land Link Africa shows that cultural customs have excluded them from obtaining land ownership. Globally, women own less than 20% of agricultural land. Typically, land is obtained through social inheritance, through the market, or from the state. In most developing countries, a woman’s use of land is restricted to temporary cultivation rights, allocated to her by her husband, and in exchange, she provides food and other goods for the household. She is not able to pass the land on to her heirs nor will she be entrusted with the land if her husband dies; the land is automatically granted to her husband’s family or any children the couple may have produced. Bina Agarwal, a development economist known for her work on women's property rights, states "the single most important factor affecting women’s situation is the gender gap in command over property."
Increasingly, as land privatization leads to the end of communal lands, women find themselves unable to use any land not bestowed upon them by their families, rendering unmarried women and widows vulnerable. Many women still face legal hurdles when attempting to acquire land through inheritance or the marketplace. In order to reorganize post-colonial societies, SADC states have engaged in land redistribution and resettlement programs, ranging from temporary lease-holding to permanent property rights. Even in cases where no gender bias is present in land redistribution policy, oftentimes social custom permits officials to favor male-headed households and individual men over female-headed households and individual women.
Division of unpaid labor and time constraintsEdit
- See also: Unpaid work
Particularly in rural areas, the use of women’s time in agriculture is often constrained by obligations such as fetching water and wood, preparing meals for their families, cleaning, and tending to children and livestock. For example, in Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia women expend most of their energy on load-carrying activities involving transport of fuel-wood, water, and grain for grinding.
Climate change can present additional challenges to women’s time availability, due to deforestation, pollution, changes in irrigation and rain patters, and the depletion of natural resources. A gender-based assessment of roles and practices in maintaining crop production and household resources such as fuel and water is recommended in order to understand the social and environmental factors surrounding mens' and womens' work.
The gendered division of labor in agriculture has been known to create unequal household power dynamics, responsibilities, and benefits from agriculture.
- See also: Feminization of agriculture
As producers, women are sometimes relegated to the production of subsistence crops on marginal land. In comparison, men tend to produce cash crops on land nearer to the home or marketplace for ease of access. The distance between a woman’s home, crops, and the nearest marketplace can pose logistical problems in transportation, and create another type of time constraint.
The use of cash cropping by men and subsistence agriculture by women tends to increase men’s bargaining power relative to women’s. According to L. Muthoni Wanyeki, the author of Women and Land in Africa: Culture, Religion, and Realizing Women’s Rights, "Control over food crops and poultry or goats (and benefits derived from surpluses of food crops and small farm animals) tend to rest with women. However, control over the type of cash crop and livestock (and benefits derived therefrom) tended to rest with men, even where women had made an exceptional and direct contribution to the labour involved."
Access to credit, technology, education, markets, and government servicesEdit
Women have limited access to rural extension services and technology. Womens’ success in food security in most countries revolves around their access to equal resources as men, including the rights to land ownership, unequal wages, unequal access to credit, technology, education, markets, and government services. The right to food can be hindered by problems such as increased demand, price volatility, climate change characterized by land degradation and water scarcity, competition for land, urbanization, and increased poverty and vulnerability. Individual decisions regarding livelihoods, family planning, migration, agricultural production and political participation can have varying outcomes regarding food security which have repercussions beyond the individual's control.
On a macroeconomic level, cuts in government spending and investment in rural development and agricultural policies, production incentives, price stabilization measures, and subsidies for small-scale producers have directly decreased the viability of women's agricultural projects. The privatization of services like health, water, and sanitation have indirectly hindered rural women and children from escaping poverty traps which constrain their ability to sustainably produce food for themselves and for market. The Center for Women's Global Leadership writes that "trade liberalization policies have increased their work burden and undermined their right to food."
Gender and global food security policyEdit
Speaking on September 19, 2011 at a U.N. General Assembly event highlighting women and agriculture, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said "When we liberate the economic potential of women, we elevate the economic performance of communities, nations, and the world."
A collaborative report by the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development in 2009 concluded that several major policy decisions could be implemented to improve food security from a feminist perspective. These policy suggestions include:
- special safeguard mechanisms, such as reserve grain storage, price regulations, and crop diversification
- food stocks
- commodity exchange regulations
- regulating trade with transnational corporations
- restricting monopolies
- social welfare
- research, concerning climate change, nutritional requirements, and policy deliberation
- innovation in food production and food security strategies
Governments are implementing programs, such as cash transfers, employment guarantees and land titling, that target women.
Many small-scale, women-centered, agricultural cooperatives have emerged in developing countries to fulfill these needs by pooling resources, establishing economies of scale, and creating greater collective bargaining power for resources, land rights, and market access. One such urban agriculture project is Abalimi Bezekhaya, in Cape Town, South Africa, which provides training, manure, set-up and maintenance of an irrigation system, and R150 ($15 USD) to each participant. Most of the participants are women. According to Liziwe Stofile, who trains new farmers, "The reason that women take over most of the community gardens is because they want to take vegetables home to feed their children. The men only want to make money."
Women's empowerment in agriculture indexEdit
To improve the status of women in agriculture, improve nutrition, and decrease poverty, USAID created an index to study women’s empowerment in agriculture in 2012.
The "Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index" (WEAI) is the first measure to directly capture women's empowerment and inclusion levels in the agricultural sector. The index considers five factors to be indicative of women’s overall empowerment in the agricultural sector:
- Decisions over agricultural production
- Power over productive resources such as land and livestock
- Decisions over income
- Leadership in the community
- Time use
Women are considered empowered if they score adequately in at least four of the components. The index functions at the country or regional level, working with individually-based data of men and women in the same households. Gender-sensitive indexes such as WEAI are intended to aid governments, scholars, and organizations to make informed and educated decisions regarding food and gender policy in regionally specific agendas. Gender consciousness in policy-making may lead to decisions to support women’s individual or cooperative agricultural endeavors, reform land laws, reduce market restrictions, allow for greater access to the international market, or provide targeted training and inputs.
There are many economic approaches advocated to improve food security in developing countries. Three typical approaches are listed below. The first is typical of what is advocated by most governments and international agencies. The other two are more common to non-governmental organizations (NGO’s).
Conventional thinking in westernized countries is that maximizing farmers' profits is the surest way of maximizing agricultural production; the higher a farmer’s profit, the greater the effort that will be forthcoming, and the greater the risk the farmer is willing to take.
Place into the hands of farmers the largest number and highest quality tools possible (tools is used here to refer to improved production techniques, improved seeds, secure land tenure, accurate weather forecasts, etc.) However, it is left to the individual farmer to pick and choose which tools to use, and how to use them, as farmers have intimate knowledge of their own land and local conditions.
As with other businesses, a percentage of the profits are normally reinvested into the business in the hopes of increasing production, and hence increase future profits. Normally higher profits translate into higher spending on technologies designed to boost production, such as drip irrigation systems, agriculture education, and greenhouses. An increased profit also increases the farmer’s incentive to engage in double-cropping, soil improvement programs, and expanding usable area.
An alternative view takes a collective approach to achieve food security. It notes that globally enough food is produced to feed the entire world population at a level adequate to ensure that everyone can be free of hunger and fear of starvation. That no one should live without enough food because of economic constraints or social inequalities is the basic goal.
This approach is often referred to as food justice and views food security as a basic human right. It advocates fairer distribution of food, particularly grain crops, as a means of ending chronic hunger and malnutrition. The core of the Food Justice movement is the belief that what is lacking is not food, but the political will to fairly distribute food regardless of the recipient’s ability to pay.
A third approach is known as food sovereignty; though it overlaps with food justice on several points, the two are not identical. It views the business practices of multinational corporations as a form of neocolonialism. It contends that multinational corporations have the financial resources available to buy up the agricultural resources of impoverished nations, particularly in the tropics. They also have the political clout to convert these resources to the exclusive production of cash crops for sale to industrialized nations outside of the tropics, and in the process to squeeze the poor off of the more productive lands. Under this view subsistence farmers are left to cultivate only lands that are so marginal in terms of productivity as to be of no interest to the multinational corporations. Likewise, food sovereignty holds it to be true that communities should be able to define their own means of production and that food is a basic human right. With several multinational corporations now pushing agricultural technologies on developing countries, technologies that include improved seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides, crop production has become an increasingly analyzed and debated issue. Many communities calling for food sovereignty are protesting the imposition of Western technologies on to their indigenous systems and agency.
Those who hold a "food sovereignty" position advocate banning the production of most cash crops in developing nations, thereby leaving the local farmers to concentrate on subsistence agriculture. In addition, they oppose allowing low-cost subsidized food from industrialized nations into developing countries, what is referred to as "import dumping". Import dumping also happens by way of food aid distribution through programs like the USA's "Food for Peace" initiative.
World Summit on Food SecurityEdit
The World Food Summit on Food Security held in Rome in 1996, aimed to renew a global commitment to the fight against hunger. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) called the summit in response to widespread under-nutrition and growing concern about the capacity of agriculture to meet future food needs. The conference produced two key documents, the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action.
The Rome Declaration calls for the members of the United Nations to work to halve the number of chronically undernourished people on the Earth by the year 2015. The Plan of Action sets a number of targets for government and non-governmental organizations for achieving food security, at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels.
Another World Summit on Food Security took place in Rome between November 16 and 18, 2009. The decision to convene the summit was taken by the Council of FAO in June 2009, at the proposal of FAO Director-General Dr Jacques Diouf. Heads of State and Government attended the summit, which took place at the FAO’s headquarters.
Role of the World BankEdit
- Global Food Security Program: Launched in April 2010, six countries alongside the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have pledged $925 mn for food security. Till date the program has helped 8 countries, promoting agriculture, research, trade in agriculture, etc.
- Launched Global Food Crisis Response Program: Given grants to approximately 40 nations for seeds, etc. for improving productivity.
- In process of increasing its yearly spending for agriculture to $6 billion–$8 billion from earlier $4 billion.
- Runs several nutrition program across the world, e.g., vitamin A doses for children, school meals, etc.
Risks to food security Editincludeonly>
Population growth Editincludeonly>
Fossil fuel dependence Editincludeonly>
While agricultural output increased as a result of the Green Revolution, the energy input into the process (that is, the energy that must be expended to produce a crop) has also increased at a greater rate, so that the ratio of crops produced to energy input has decreased over time. Green Revolution techniques also heavily rely on chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, some of which must be developed from fossil fuels, making agriculture increasingly reliant on petroleum products.
Between 1950 and 1984, as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the globe, world grain production increased by 250%. The energy for the Green Revolution was provided by fossil fuels in the form of fertilizers (natural gas), pesticides (oil), and hydrocarbon fueled irrigation.
David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell University, and Mario Giampietro, senior researcher at the National Research Institute on Food and Nutrition (INRAN), place in their study Food, Land, Population and the U.S. Economy the maximum U.S. population for a sustainable economy at 200 million. To achieve a sustainable economy and avert disaster, the United States must reduce its population by at least one-third, and world population will have to be reduced by two-thirds, says the study.
The authors of this study believe that the mentioned agricultural crisis will only begin to impact us after 2020, and will not become critical until 2050. The oncoming peaking of global oil production (and subsequent decline of production), along with the peak of North American natural gas production will very likely precipitate this agricultural crisis much sooner than expected. Geologist Dale Allen Pfeiffer claims that coming decades could see spiraling food prices without relief and massive starvation on a global level such as never experienced before.
Hybridization, genetic engineering and loss of biodiversityEdit
In agriculture and animal husbandry, the Green Revolution popularized the use of conventional hybridization to increase yield by creating "high-yielding varieties". Often the handful of hybridized breeds originated in developed countries and were further hybridized with local varieties in the rest of the developing world to create high yield strains resistant to local climate and diseases. Local governments and industry have been pushing hybridization which has resulted in several of the indigenous breeds becoming extinct or threatened. Disuse because of unprofitability and uncontrolled intentional and unintentional cross-pollination and crossbreeding (genetic pollution), formerly huge gene pools of various wild and indigenous breeds have collapsed causing widespread genetic erosion and genetic pollution. This has resulted in loss of genetic diversity and biodiversity as a whole.
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using the genetic engineering techniques generally known as recombinant DNA technology. Genetically Modified (GM) crops today have become a common source for genetic pollution, not only of wild varieties but also of other domesticated varieties derived from relatively natural hybridization.
Genetic erosion coupled with genetic pollution may be destroying unique genotypes, thereby creating a hidden crisis which could result in a severe threat to our food security. Diverse genetic material could cease to exist which would impact our ability to further hybridize food crops and livestock against more resistant diseases and climatic changes.
Genetic erosion in agricultural and livestock biodiversityEdit
Genetic erosion in agricultural and livestock biodiversity is the loss of genetic diversity, including the loss of individual genes, and the loss of particular combinants of genes (or gene complexes) such as those manifested in locally adapted landraces of domesticated animals or plants adapted to the natural environment in which they originated. The term genetic erosion is sometimes used in a narrow sense, such as for the loss of alleles or genes, as well as more broadly, referring to the loss of varieties or even species. The major driving forces behind genetic erosion in crops are: variety replacement, land clearing, overexploitation of species, population pressure, environmental degradation, overgrazing, policy and changing agricultural systems.
The main factor, however, is the replacement of local varieties of domestic plants and animals by high yielding or exotic varieties or species. A large number of varieties can also often be dramatically reduced when commercial varieties (including GMOs) are introduced into traditional farming systems. Many researchers believe that the main problem related to agro-ecosystem management is the general tendency towards genetic and ecological uniformity imposed by the development of modern agriculture.
Intellectual Property RightsEdit
There is much debate on whether IPRs hurt or harm independent development in terms or agriculture and food production. Hartmut Meyer and Annette von Lossau describe both sides of the issue, while saying "Among scholars, the thesis that the impetus to self-determined development and the protection of intellectual property go hand in hand is disputed – to put it mildly. Many studies have concluded that there is virtually no positive correlation between establishing self-sustained economic growth and ensuring protection of intellectual property rights.
On April 30, 2008 Thailand, one of the world's biggest rice exporter, announces the project of the creation of the Organisation of Rice Exporting Countries with the potential to develop into a price-fixing cartel for rice.It is a project to organize 21 rice exporting countries to create a homonymous organisation to control the price of rice. The group is mainly made up of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The organization attempts so serve the purpose of making a "contribution to ensuring food stability, not just in an individual country but also to address food shortages in the region and the world". However, it is still questionable whether this organization will serve its role as an effective rice price fixing cartel, that is similar to OPEC's mechanism for managing petroleum. Economic analysts and traders said the proposal would go nowhere because of the inability of governments to cooperate with each other and control farmers' output. Moreover, countries that are involved expressed their concern, that this could only worsen the food security.
Treating food the same as other internationally traded commoditiesEdit
On October 23, 2008, Associated Press reported the following:
"Former President Clinton told a U.N. gathering Thursday [Oct 16, 2008] that the global food crisis shows "we all blew it, including me," by treating food crops "like color TVs" instead of as a vital commodity for the world's poor....Clinton criticized decades of policymaking by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and others, encouraged by the U.S., that pressured Africans in particular into dropping government subsidies for fertilizer, improved seed and other farm inputs as a requirement to get aid. Africa's food self-sufficiency declined and food imports rose. Now skyrocketing prices in the international grain trade—on average more than doubling between 2006 and early 2008—have pushed many in poor countries deeper into poverty."
Food is not a commodity like others. We should go back to a policy of maximum food self-sufficiency. It is crazy for us to think we can develop countries around the world without increasing their ability to feed themselves.
See also Edit
- 2020 Vision Initiative
- Afrique verte
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
- Community Food Security Coalition
- Famine Early Warning Systems Network
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
- Food First
- Global Crop Diversity Trust
- Local Food Plus
- International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development
- International Fund for Agricultural Development
- Rockefeller Foundation
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 FAO Agricultural and Development Economics Division (June 2006). Food Security (2).
- ↑ [dead link] Agriculture and Food—Agricultural Production Indices: Food production per capita index, World Resources Institute
- ↑ Nearly 1 in 5 Chinese overweight or obese, MSNBC, August 18, 2006
- ↑ Chinese concern at obesity surge, BBC, October 12, 2004
- ↑ includeonly>"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8309979.stm", BBC News, October 16, 2009. Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ includeonly>"U.N. chief: Hunger kills 17,000 kids daily", CNN, November 17, 2009. Retrieved on May 2, 2010.
- ↑ : The 2007/08 Agricultural Price Spikes, Causes and Policy Implications[dead link]
- ↑ 2008: The year of global food crisis. Sundayherald.com. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ The global grain bubble. Csmonitor.com. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ includeonly>James Randerson, science correspondent. "Food crisis will take hold before climate change, warns chief scientist", The Guardian, March 7, 2008. Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ includeonly>John Vidal, environment editor. "Global food crisis looms as climate change and fuel shortages bite", The Guardian, November 3, 2007. Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Walsoft. Experts: Global Food Shortages Could ‘Continue for Decades'. Marketoracle.co.uk. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Moya K. Mason. Has Urbanization Caused a Loss to Agricultural Land?. Moyak.com. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 includeonly>Walt, Vivienne. "The World's Growing Food-Price Crisis", Time, February 27, 2008. Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ includeonly>"The cost of food: Facts and figures", BBC News, October 16, 2008. Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Food Price Unrest Around the World, September 2007– April 2008. Earth-policy.org. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ : The role of demand for biofuel in the agricultural commodity price spikes of 2007/08[dead link]
- ↑ includeonly>Jonathan Watts in Beijing. "Riots and hunger feared as demand for grain sends food costs soaring", The Guardian, December 5, 2007. Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ . Already we have riots, hoarding, panic: the sign of things to come?
- ↑ includeonly>Julian Borger, diplomatic editor. "Feed the world? We are fighting a losing battle, UN admits", The Guardian, February 26, 2008. Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Amid strong farm economy, some worry about increased debt, Associated Press, April 20, 2008[dead link]
- ↑ Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food. Springer.com. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Chapter 2. Food security: concepts and measurement. Fao.org. URL accessed on 2011-03-16.
- ↑ FAO Practical Guide: Basic Concepts of Food Security. (PDF) URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Food Security in the United States: Measuring Household Food Security. USDA. URL accessed on 2008-02-23.
- ↑ Melaku Ayalew–What is Food Security and Famine and Hunger?
- ↑ Robert Fogel, The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death: 1700–2100, Cambridge University Press, 2004.
- ↑ Food and Agriculture Organization
- ↑ [http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/ffp/ffpop1.pdf Patrick Webb and Beatrice Rogers, Addressing the "In" in Food Insecurity, United States Agency for International Development, Office of Food for Peace, Occasional Paper No. 1, Washington, D.C., 2003.
- ↑ Molden, D. (Ed). Water for food, Water for life: A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture. Earthscan/IWMI, 2007.
- ↑ Agriculture, Food Security, Nutrition and the Millennium Development Goals, 2003–2004 IFPRI Annual Report Essay by Joachim von Braun, M. S. Swaminathan, and Mark W. Rosegrant
- ↑ .
- ↑ Water Scarcity Crossing National Borders. Earth-policy.org. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Jul 21, 2006. Asia Times Online:: South Asia news – India grows a grain crisis. Atimes.com. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Outgrowing the Earth. Globalenvision.org. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ The Food Bubble Economy. I-sis.org.uk. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Global Water Shortages May Lead to Food Shortages-Aquifer Depletion
- ↑ includeonly>Felicity Lawrence. "How Peru's wells are being sucked dry by British love of asparagus | Environment", The Guardian, September 15, 2010. Retrieved on 2011-03-16.
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 includeonly>Lawrence, Felicity. "Big business clear winner in Peru's asparagus industry | Global development | guardian.co.uk", The Guardian, September 15, 2010. Retrieved on 2011-03-16.
- ↑ The Earth Is Shrinking: Advancing Deserts and Rising Seas Squeezing Civilization. Earth-policy.org. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ includeonly>Ian Sample in science correspondent. "Global food crisis looms as climate change and population growth strip fertile land", The Guardian, August 30, 2007. Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Africa may be able to feed only 25% of its population by 2025. News.mongabay.com. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Rich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply, The Guardian, November 22, 2008
- ↑ Arable Land, the new gold rush : African and poor countries cautioned. En.afrik.com. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Futehally, Ilmas, The Geopolitics of Food, Virtue Science. Virtuescience.com. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Big melt threatens millions, says UN[dead link]
- ↑ [email protected]. Glaciers melting at alarming speed. People's Daily. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ includeonly>Singh, Navin. "Himalaya glaciers melt unnoticed", BBC News, November 10, 2004. Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Glaciers Are Melting Faster Than Expected, UN Reports. ScienceDaily. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Issues In Food Security. (PDF) URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Impacts of Climate Change on Food Security[dead link]
- ↑ Issues In Climate Change. (PDF) URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ includeonly>Robin McKie and Xan Rice. "Millions face famine as crop disease rages", The Guardian, April 22, 2007. Retrieved on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ (2007-04-03)Billions at risk from wheat super-blight. New Scientist Magazine (2598): 6–7.
- ↑ IRAN: Killer fungus threatens wheat production in western areas. Alertnet.org. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Hanan Sela, University of Haifa, Israel See DIVERSEEDS short video
- ↑ http://www.isaaa.org/ ISAAA Briefs 34-2005: Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2005
- ↑ ISAAA official website: Donor Support Groups http://www.isaaa.org/inbrief/donors/default.asp
- ↑ GM Watch 2009: New briefing on ISAAA and its global status reports http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-test/10553-new-briefing-on-isaaa-and-its-global-status-reports
- ↑ Fred Cuny–Famine, Conflict, and Response: a Basic Guide; Kumarian Press, 1999.
- ↑ UNICEF UK News:: News item:: The tragic consequences of climate change for the world’s children:: April 29, 2008 00:00[dead link]
- ↑ The Washington Post, 2009 Nov. 17, "America's Economic Pain Brings Hunger Pangs: USDA Report on Access to Food 'Unsettling,' Obama Says," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/16/AR2009111601598.html?hpid=topnews
- ↑ includeonly>"Individual, Family and Neighborhood Characteristics and Children’s Food Insecurity". JournalistsResource.org, retrieved April 13, 2012
- ↑ (2012). Individual, Family and Neighborhood Characteristics and Children’s Food Insecurity. Journal of Applied Research on Children 3.
- ↑ USDA, Food Security Measurement. http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsec/Measurement.htm
- ↑ Measuring Food Insecurity and Hunger: Phase 1 Report. Nap.edu. URL accessed on 2011-03-16.
- ↑ Global Food Stamps: An Idea Worth Considering, August 2011, ICTSD, Issue Paper No.36.
- ↑ The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2003[dead link]
- ↑ Pablo Stafforini. Peter Singer advocating population control. Utilitarian.net. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ USAID – Food Security
- ↑ Claudio O. Delang (2006). The role of wild food plants in poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation in tropical countries. Progress in Development Studies 6 (4): 275–286.
- ↑ , World Food Programme Gender Policy Report. Rome, 2009.
- ↑ , The Hunger Project: Facts about Hunger and Poverty.
- ↑ 74.0 74.1 Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook, World Food Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization, and International Fund for Agricultural Development (2009)
- ↑ 75.0 75.1 75.2 75.3 75.4 Center for Women's Global Leadership: The Right to Food, Gender Equality, and Economic Policy.
- ↑ 76.0 76.1 The Right to Food, Gender Equality and Economic Policy. Center for Women's Global Leadership, page 7-8. September 16–17, 2011
- ↑ Women’s Land Link Africa. (2010). "The Impact of National Land Policy and Land Reform On Women in Uganda". WLLA. 1-8.
- ↑ "Women Farmers: Change and Development Agents". 2011. Prepared by World Rural Forum with Alexandra Spieldoch for World Conference on Family Farming.
- ↑ Agarwal, Bina (1994). A field of one's own: gender and land rights in South Asia. Cambridge University Press. p. 576. ISBN 052141682, 0521429269. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
- ↑ Women Feeding Cities: Mainstreaming Gender in Urban Agriculture and Food Security (2009) Practical Action Publishing, page 26.
- ↑ Women and Land in Africa: Culture, Religion, and Realizing Women's Rights (2003) David Phillip Publishers, page 26.
- ↑ Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook: "Investing in Women as Drivers of Agricultural Growth." 2009. World Bank, FAO, and IFAD.
- ↑ 83.0 83.1 83.2 Land law#Land rights and women Land Rights and Women, Wikipedia.
- ↑ , USAID: Empowering Women to Feed and Lead (November/December, 2001).
- ↑ Groundbreaking Index Launched to Empower Women and Fight Hunger, USAID Press Release, February 27, 2012. http://www.usaid.gov/press/releases/2012/pr120227.html
- ↑ , Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index.
- ↑ World Food Summit: Basic Information. Fas.usda.gov. URL accessed on 2011-03-16.
- ↑ Rome Declaration and Plan of Action. Fao.org. URL accessed on 2011-03-16.
- ↑ Eating Fossil Fuels. EnergyBulletin.net[dead link]
- ↑ Peak Oil: the threat to our food security. Soilassociation.org. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ The Oil Drum: Europe. Meets Peak Oil. Europe.theoildrum.com. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ 92.0 92.1 "Genetic Pollution: The Great Genetic Scandal";
- ↑ includeonly>Pollan, Michael. "The year in ideas: A TO Z.; Genetic Pollution; By Michael Pollan, The New York Times, December 9, 2001", New York Times, 2001-12-09. Retrieved on 2009-06-21.
- ↑ Dangerous Liaisons? When Cultivated Plants Mate with Their Wild Relatives; by Norman C. Ellstrand; The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003; 268 pp. hardcover, $ 65; ISBN 0-8018-7405-X. Book Reviewed in: Hybrids abounding; Nature Biotechnology 22, 29–30 (2004) DOI:[http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nbt0104-29 10.1038/nbt0104-29 ; Reviewed by: Steven H Strauss & Stephen P DiFazio; 1 Steve Strauss is in the Department of Forest Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-5752, USA. steve.strauss(a)oregonstate.edu; 2 Steve DiFazio is at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Bldg. 1059, PO Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6422 USA. difazios(a)ornl.gov]. Nature.com. URL accessed on 2009-06-21.
- ↑ "Genetic pollution: Uncontrolled spread of genetic information (frequently referring to transgenes) into the genomes of organisms in which such genes are not present in nature." Zaid, A. et al. 1999. Glossary of biotechnology and genetic engineering. FAO Research and Technology Paper No. 7. ISBN 92-5-104369-8. Fao.org. URL accessed on 2009-06-21.
- ↑ "Genetic pollution: Uncontrolled escape of genetic information (frequently referring to products of genetic engineering) into the genomes of organisms in the environment where those genes never existed before." Searchable Biotechnology Dictionary. University of Minnesota.,
- ↑ "Genetic pollution: Living organisms can also be defined as pollutants, when a non-indigenous species (plant or animal) enters a habitat and modifies the existing equilibrium among the organisms of the affected ecosystem (sea, lake, river). Non-indigenous, including transgenic species (GMOs), may bring about a particular version of pollution in the vegetable kingdom: so-called genetic pollution. This term refers to the uncontrolled diffusion of genes (or transgenes) into genomes of plants of the same type or even unrelated species where such genes are not present in nature. For example, a grass modified to resist herbicides could pollinate conventional grass many miles away, creating weeds immune to the most widely used weed-killer, with obvious consequences for crops. Genetic pollution is at the basis of the debate on the use of GMOs in agriculture." The many facets of pollution. Last modified Tue, 20 Jul 2005. University of Bologna. URL accessed on 2009-06-21.
- ↑ Dispute over food security. Inwent.org. URL accessed on November 13, 2011.
- ↑ Australia|April 30, 2008|Mekong nations to form rice price-fixing cartel[dead link]
- ↑ Post|May 1, 2008|PM floats idea of five-nation rice cartel[dead link]
- ↑ http://www.orecinternational.org/
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/business/worldbusiness/06iht-baht.4.12621295.html?_r=1
- ↑ 103.0 103.1 includeonly>Charles J. Hanley. "`We blew it' on global food, says Bill Clinton", Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, October 23, 2008. Retrieved on 2010-01-15. [dead link]
- Cox, P. G., S. Mak, G. C. Jahn, and S. Mot. 2001. Impact of technologies on food security and poverty alleviation in Cambodia: designing research processes. pp. 677–684 In S. Peng and B. Hardy [eds.] "Rice Research for Food Security and Poverty Alleviation." Proceeding the International Rice Research Conference, March 31, – April 3, 2000, Los Baños, Philippines: International Rice Research Institute. 692 p.
- Singer, H. W. (1997). A global view of food security. Agriculture + Rural Development, 4: 3–6. Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CTA).
- von Braun, Joachim; Swaminathan, M. S.; Rosegrant, Mark W. 2004. Agriculture, food security, nutrition and the Millennium Development Goals (Annual Report Essay) Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Further reading Edit
- Biotechnology, Agriculture, and Food Security in Southern Africa edited by Steven Were Omamo and Klaus von Grebmer (2005) (Brief and Book available)
- Brown ME, Funk CC (February 2008). Climate. Food security under climate change. Science 319 (5863): 580–1..
- Lobell DB, Burke MB, Tebaldi C, Mastrandrea MD, Falcon WP, Naylor RL (February 2008). Prioritizing climate change adaptation needs for food security in 2030. Science 319 (5863): 607–10.
- Introduction to the Basic Concepts of Food Security EC-FAO Food Security Programme (2008) Practical Guide Series
- The environmental food crisis A study done by the UN on feeding the world population (2009)
- Climate change: Impact on agriculture and costs of adaptation A report by the International Food Policy Research Institute that presents research results that quantify the impacts of climate change, assesses the consequences for food security, and estimates the investments that would offset the negative consequences for human well-being.
- Moseley, W.G. and B.I. Logan. 2005. "Food Security." In: Wisner, B., C. Toulmin and R. Chitiga (eds). Toward a New Map of Africa. London: Earthscan Publications. Pp. 133–152.
- USAID Agrilinks: Achieving agriculture-led food security through knowledge sharing
- FAO Food Security Statistics
- World Summit on Food Security
- The World Food Summit
- The Global Food Security and Nutrition Forum (FSN Forum)
- e-learning about Food Security from FAO
- e-learning about Right to Food
- IFPRI Food Security Outlook in Africa to 2025
- Community Food Security Coalition
- Food Security dgCommunity
- One World UK – Food Security
- Food Security and Ag-Biotech News
- Global Food Security Threatened by Corporate Land Grabs in Poor Countries – video report by Democracy Now!
- Video: Food Security and Its Impact on International Development and HIV Reduction (October 16, 2006) A Woodrow Wilson Center event featuring Jordan Dey, UNFP; William Noble, Africare; and Suneetha Kadiyala, IFPRI
- Biotech Crops Seen Helping to Feed Hungry World
- Hot Commodities, Stuffed Markets, and Empty Bellies What's behind higher food prices? from Dollars & Sense July/August 2008
- Food Crisis Prevention Network website
- Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming Sustainable Food Guidelines
- Food Security: A Review of Literature from Ethiopia to India
- Food Secure Canada
- VCU Project on Societal Distress Food Security Page
- Crisis briefing on food and hunger from Reuters AlertNet
- Indigenous Permaculture
- CSRL, Iowa State's cooperative aid program
- The OneWorld Guide to Food Security
- The Oakland Institute
- Can China Feed Itself? A System for Evaluation of Policy Options.
- Food Security Communications Toolkit from FAO
- Food Security: Center for Global Studies at the University of Illinois
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Beyond the Veil of the Temple. The High Priestly Origin of the Apocalypses.
The veil of the temple was woven from blue, purple, crimson and white thread, and embroidered with cherubim (2 Chron.3.14); the veil in the tabernacle had been similar, (Exod.26.31; 36.35), It was a valuable piece of fabric, and both Antiochus and Titus took a veil when they looted the temple (1 Mac.1.21-2; Josephus War 7.162). In the second temple it was some two hundred square metres of fabric and when it contracted uncleanness and had to be washed, three hundred priests were needed for the job (m.Shekalim 8.4-5). Josephus says it was a Babylonian tapestry (War 5.212), a curtain embroidered with a panorama of the heavens (War 5.213). The veil separated the holy place from the most holy (Exod.26.33), screening from view the ark and the cherubim or, in the temple, the ark and the chariot throne. We are told that only the high priest entered the holy of holies, once a year on the Day of Atonement.
Josephus, who was himself a priest (Life 1), says that the tabernacle was a microcosm of the creation, divided into three parts: the outer parts represented the sea and the land but ...the third part thereof... to which the priests were not admitted, is, as it were, a heaven peculiar to God (Ant.3.181). Thus the veil which screened the holy of holies was also the boundary between earth and heaven. Josephus was writing at the very end of the second temple period, but texts such as Psalm 11 The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven, suggest that the holy of holies was thought to be heaven at a much earlier period, and the LXX of Isaiah 6, which differs from the Hebrew, implies that the hekhal was the earth. The Glory of the LORD filled the house in v.1, and the seraphim sang that the Glory filled the earth , v.3.
The biblical description of the holy of holies in the first temple is that it was overlaid with fine gold (2 Chron.3.8) and that it housed the golden chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant (1 Chron.28.18). Later texts say that Aaron's rod and a pot of manna were kept in the ark, and that the anointing oil was also kept in the holy of holies (Tosefta Kippurim 2.15). That is what the writers of the second temple period chose to remember as there were none of these things in the temple of their own time; they had all been hidden away in the time of Josiah (b.Horayoth 12ab; b.Keritoth 5b).
In the visionary texts, however, the holy of holies is vividly described, suggesting not only that the visionaries knew the holy of holies, but also that they had a particular interest in it. Isaiah saw the throne in the temple with heavenly beings beside it; Enoch entered a second house within the first house, a place of fire where there was a lofty throne surrounded by the hosts of heaven (1 En.14). The undateable Similitudes of Enoch have the same setting: the throne of glory and the hosts of heaven. These images were memories of the cult of the first temple, and it was the visionaries who kept the memory alive: Enoch in the Book of Jubilees is depicted as a priest, burning the incense of the sanctuary (Jub.4.25) and Ezekiel, who saw the chariot, was also a priest (Ezek.1.3)
Those who entered the holy of holies were entering heaven. When Solomon became king, the Chronicler recorded that he sat on the throne of the LORD and all the assembly bowed their heads and worshipped the LORD and the king (1 Chron.29.20-23). Something similar was said of Moses in later texts when much of the old royal ideology was transferred to him: Ezekiel the tragedian described how a heavenly figure on the summit of Sinai stood up from his throne and gave it to Moses (Eusebius Preparation of the Gospel 9.29); Philo said that Moses entered into the darkness where God was and was named god and king of the whole nation (Moses 1.158). For both Ezekiel and Philo, this transformation took place on Sinai, one of the many examples of Moses sharing the royal traditions associated with the holy of holies, but there can be no question of this being Hellenistic syncretism as is usually suggested. Acquiring the titles and status of God and King must be related in some way to the Chroniclers description of Solomons coronation, and to the psalmists description of the procession into the sanctuary, when he saw his God and his King (Ps.68.24).
Other texts imply that a transformation took place in the holy of holies: those who entered heaven became divine. Philo said that when the high priest entered the holy of holies he was not a man. We read Leviticus 16.17 as: there shall be no man in the holy of holies when he (Aaron) enters to make atonement... but Philo translated it: When the high priest enters the Holy of Holies he shall not be a man, showing, he said, that the high priest was more than human (On Dreams 2.189). In 2 Enoch there is an account of how Enoch was taken to stand before the heavenly throne. Michael was told to remove his earthly clothing, anoint him and give him the garments of glory; I looked at myself, and I had become like one of his glorious ones (2 En.22.10). This bears a strong resemblance Zechariah 3, where Joshua the high priest stands before the LORD, is vested with new garments and given the right to stand in the presence of the LORD. As late as the sixth century Cosmas Indicopleustes, an Egyptian Christian, wrote a great deal about the temple and its symbolism, and we shall have cause to consider his evidence at several points. Of Moses he said: the LORD hid him in a cloud on Sinai, took him out of all earthly things and begot him anew like a child in the womb (Cosmas Christian Topography 3.13), clearly the same as Psalm 2; I have set my king on Zion... You are my son. Today I have begotten you but using the imagery of reclothing with heavenly garments, rather than rebirth.
The best known example of such a transformation text is in the Book of Revelation. The vision begins in the hekhal where John sees the heavenly figure and the seven lamps, originally the menorah. Then he is invited to enter the holy of holies; a voice says: Come up hither and I will show you what must take place after this (Rev.4.1). He sees the throne and the Lamb approaching the throne. Once the Lamb has taken the scroll he is worshipped by the elders in the sanctuary and then becomes identified with the One on the throne. Throughout the remainder of the book, the One on the throne and the Lamb are treated as one, with singular verbs. The Lamb has become divine.
The veil was the boundary between earth and heaven. Josephus and Philo agree that the four different colours from which it as woven represented the four elements from which the world was created: earth, air, fire and water. The scarlet thread represented fire, the blue was the air, the purple was the sea, that is, water, and the white linen represented the earth in which the flax had grown (War 5.212-213). In other words, the veil represented matter. The high priest wore a vestment woven from the same four colours and this is why the Book of Wisdom says that Aaron's robe represented the whole world (Wisd.18.24; also Philo Laws 1.84; Flight 110). He took off this robe when he entered the holy of holies because the robe was the visible form of one who entered the holy of holies. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, which explores the theme of Jesus as the high priest, there is the otherwise enigmatic line: his flesh was the veil of the temple (Heb.10.20). In other words, the veil was matter which made visible whatever passed through it from the world beyond the veil. Those who shed the earthly garments, on the other side of the veil, were robed in garments of glory. In other words, they became divine.
The age of these ideas of apotheosis beyond the veil of the temple or on Sinai is a matter of some importance for understanding the religion of Israel and the origin of Christianity. They are unlikely to be simply the result of Hellenistic syncretism because whoever wrote Exodus 34 knew that when Moses came down from Sinai his face was shining. He had become one of the glorious ones, because he had been with God and his face had to be covered by a veil.
When Philo described the apotheosis of Moses on Sinai he said that he entered the darkness where God was; ...the unseen, invisible, incorporeal, and archetypal essence of all existing things and he beheld what is hidden from the sight of mortal nature (Moses 1.158). This is what the Qumran texts describe as the raz nihyeh, (4Q300, 417), what 1 Peter describes as the things into which angels long to look (1 Pet.1.12). Elsewhere Philo explained that this invisible world was made on the first day of the creation
.. a beautiful copy would never be produced apart from a beautiful pattern... so when God willed to create this visible world he first fully formed the intelligible (i.e. invisible) world in order that he might have the use of a pattern wholly God-like and incorporeal in producing the material world as a later creation, the very image of the earlier (Creation 16)
This description of the two creations, the invisible creation which was the pattern for the visible is usually said to be Philo retelling the Genesis account in terms derived from Plato, but this I doubt. Philo was from a priestly family, and it is not impossible that he was giving the traditional explanation of the creation stories which owed nothing to Plato.
When familiar texts and habits of reading are questioned, interesting possibilities present themselves. What, for example, were the forms (surot) of the `elohim and the forms of glory in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (4Q405 19)? M.Idel has suggested that these forms of glory are evidence for reconstructing the oldest Jewish mystical traditions, that these forms in the sanctuary were an part of the priestly world view. Perhaps they occur also in Psalm 85, where Righteousness looks down from heaven, and in Psalm 89 where Righteousness, Justice, Steadfast love and Faithfulness are the LORDs attendants. Is the language of personification any longer appropriate?
There are also the many occasions when the divine title sur might not mean Rock but some word indicating the heavenly form. In Isaiah 44.8 for example, where Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock, is followed immediately by an attack on idols and images. The reference here is more likely to be to the form and its copy, than to a Rock and then an idol. More or less contemporary with this is Deuteronomys emphatic denial that any form of the LORD, temunah, was seen at Horeb: You heard the sound of words but saw no form (Deut.4.12), an indication of how this understanding of form might have been lost. Other examples of sur are: Deut.32.4,15,18,31 where the context is fatherhood, the rock that begot you or comparison with other gods they scoffed at the Rock... and stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; Ps.73.26, where the context is a sanctuary vision of judgement on the wicked and the psalmist expresses confidence in the Rock in heaven; also Pss 28.1; 89.26; 95.1 and Hab.1.12; in none of which is rock represented in the LXX.
There are also the expressions characteristic of the visionary texts: what did Ezekiel mean when he said he had seen the likeness, demut, of the living creatures, the likeness of the throne, the likeness of a man? Or the Chronicler when he wrote of the plan, tabnit, for the temple which was revealed to David (1 Chron.28.19). A plan, tabnit, for the tabernacle was revealed to Moses on Sinai, (Exod.25.9,40). and the LORD comforted Zion by reminding her that the city was engraved on his hands, its walls were ever before him (Isa.49.16).
And what is meant by mashal? It can be understood as a parable or as a proverb. The Parables of Enoch, however, are visions. When he sees the stars and their movements and then asks the angel: What are these? and the angel replies: The LORD has shown you their parable, they are the holy who dwell on the earth(1 En.43.4). He is taught about the correspondence between earth and heaven. Job 38.33 has a similar meaning. Jesus parables give the other side of the picture; he teaches what the Kingdom of heaven is like by using everyday stories and images.
These are all facets of the forms and their copies: the language of the visionaries, the undoubtedly ancient belief in a heavenly archetype of the temple, and the parable/proverb. In another context, for example the writings of Philo, this would be identified with some confidence as the influence of Platos forms and their copies, but the age of the material in the Old Testament excludes that possibility. Since Philo was of a priestly family, perhaps his treatment of the creation stories, the creation of the invisible world beyond the veil of the temple and then the visible world as its copy, is not an example of the Platonising of Hellenistic Judaism but rather a glimpse of the ancient priestly world view even at the end of the second temple period.
The holy of holies was also beyond time. To enter was to enter eternity. Philo says that the veil separated the changeable parts of the world... from the heavenly region which is without transient events and is unchanging (Questions on Exodus 2.91). The best known example of a timeless experience is the vision of Jesus in the wilderness when he was taken to a high place and saw all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time (Luke 4.5). In the Apocalypse of Abraham the patriarch was taken up to heaven where he saw the stars far below him (Ap.Abr.20.3). The Eternal One then said to him: Look now beneath your feet at the firmament and understand the creation that was depicted of old on this expanse... (Ap.Abr.21.1). Abraham sees the firmament as a screen on which the history of his people is revealed to him. The detail which links this experience of the firmament to the holy of holies is to be found in 3 Enoch, an undateable text which describes how R.Ishmael the high priest ascended to heaven. Now Rabbi Ishmael lived after the temple had been destroyed and cannot have been a high priest, and the versions of 3 Enoch which we have were compiled long after that. Nevertheless, the association of ascent, high priesthood and the sanctuary experience persisted, and thus we find here in 3 Enoch the explanation of the vision described in the Apocalypse of Abraham. The firmament on which Abraham saw the history of his people was the veil.
In 3 Enoch, R Ishmael ascended to heaven and met Metatron, the great angel who in his earthly life had been Enoch, and who became his guide:
Metatron said to me: Come, I will show you the veil of the All Present One, which is spread before the Holy One, blessed be He, and on which are printed all the generations of the world and all their deeds, whether done or yet to be done, until the last generation. I went with him and he pointed them out to me with his fingers, like after teaching his son (3 En.45)
The visionary saw history depicted on the veil, on the other side, so to speak, of matter and time. This probably explains the experience of Habakkuk, centuries earlier, who stood on the tower, a common designation for the holy of holies, and saw there a vision of the future, it awaits its time, it hastens to the end, ... it will surely come it, will not delay (Hab.2.2-3). He recorded what he saw on tablets.
Enoch has the fullest account of history seen in the holy of holies. Three angels who had emerged from heaven took Enoch up to a tower raised high above the earth and there he saw all history revealed before him, from the fall of the angels to the last judgement (1 En 87.3). When history was revealed to Moses, however, it was on Sinai, according to the account in Jubilees. He was told: Write down for yourself all the matters which I shall make known to you to on this mountain: what was in the beginning and what will be at the end and what will happen in all the divisions of the days... until I shall descend and dwell with them in all the ages of eternity (Jub.1.26). According to this account, Moses did not see a vision;; the story was dictated to him by the angel of the presence and he learned of history only up to his own time. 2 Baruch, on the other hand, says that Moses on Sinai received a vision rather than instruction and that it included knowledge about the future. He showed him.. the end of time...the beginning of the day of judgement... worlds that have not yet come (2 Bar.59.4-10 c.f. 2 Esdr.14.4). Something similar was said of Jesus by the early Christian writers Ignatius of Antioch, Clement of Alexandria and Origen: that he was the high priest who had passed through the curtain and revealed the secrets of the past, the present and the future.
History seen in the sanctuary, whether this was described as a tower or as Sinai, was history seen outside the limitations of space and time and this explains why histories in the apocalyptic writings are surveys not only of the past but also of the future as everything was depicted on the veil.
Those who passed through the veil also passed into the first day of creation as the building of the tabernacle was said to correspond to the days of creation. Again, the evidence for this belief is relatively late, but given the cultural context of the first temple, it is not unlikely. Solomon's kingdom was surrounded by cultures which linked the story of creation to the erection of temples, and there are canonical texts which could be explained in this way. Various attempts have been made to relate the commands given to Moses and the account of the seven days in Genesis 1. One was that the gathering of the waters on the third day corresponded to making the bronze sea, and making the great lights on the fourth day corresponded to making the menorah. The birds of the fifth day corresponded to the cherubim with their wings and the man on the sixth day was the high priest. It is more satisfactory to keep the traditional order for creating the tabernacle: tent, veil, table, lamp, and link this to the first four days of creation. The earth and seeds of the third day would then be represented by the table where bread was offered and the great lights of the fourth day by the menorah.
There is no disagreement, however, over the correspondence between the first and second days of creation and the first two stages of making the tabernacle. The LORD told Moses to begin erecting the tabernacle on the first day of the first month (Exod.40.2). In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and on the first day Moses set up the outer covering, the basic structure of the tabernacle (Exod.40.17-19). On the second day, God made the firmament and called it heaven and on the second day Moses set up the veil and screened the ark (Exod.40.20-21). This implies that those who passed beyond the veil and entered the sanctuary entered the first day of creation, a curious idea, but one for which there is much evidence, and one that explains how the firmament separating heaven and earth was also the temple veil on which history was depicted in the Apocalypse of Abraham: Look now beneath your feet at the firmament and understand the creation ... and the creatures that are in it and the age prepared after it... (Ap.Abr.21.1-2)
The tabernacle and all its furnishings were also believed to be a copy of what Moses had seen on Sinai: See that you make them after the pattern which is being shown you on the mountain (Exod.25.9,40). The Chronicler said that the temple was built according to a heavenly revelation received by David (1 Chron.28.19), another example of the similarity between Moses traditions and those of the royal cult. The verses in Exodus do not actually say that Moses saw a heavenly tabernacle which was to be the pattern, tabnit, for the tabernacle he had to build, but some later texts do assume this. Solomon in the Book of Wisdom says he was commanded to build a temple, a copy of the holy tent which was prepared from the beginning (Wisdom 9.8), and 2 Baruch lists what Moses saw on Sinai and includes the pattern of Zion and the sanctuary (2 Bar.59.4). Given the importance of the subject matter, there are surprisingly few references to the heavenly sanctuary that Moses saw on Sinai.
The other two aspects of the tradition, that the temple was a microcosm of the creation and that its construction corresponded to the days of creation suggest that what Moses saw on Sinai was not a heavenly tabernacle but rather, a vision of the creation which the tabernacle was to replicate. This would account for Philo's observation that the tabernacle was a copy of the world, the universal temple which existed before the holy temple existed (Questions on Exodus 2.85), and for the curious line in the Letter to the Hebrews, that the temple on earth is a shadow and copy of heavenly things (Heb.8.5). A heavenly temple is not mentioned in this verse even though some translations insert the word temple at this point, e.g. R.S.V.
The idea that Moses on Sinai had a vision of the creation finds its clearest expression in the writings of Cosmas, the sixth century Egyptian Christian. He explained that the earth was rectangular and constructed like a huge tent because Moses had been commanded to build the tabernacle as a copy of the whole creation which he had been shown on Sinai. This is what he wrote:
When Moses had come down from the mountain he was ordered by God to make the tabernacle, which was a representation of what he had seen on the mountain, namely, an impress of the whole world.
The creation Moses had seen was divided into two parts:
Since therefore it had been shown him how God made the heaven and the earth, and how on the second day he made the firmament in the middle between them, and thus made the one place into two places, so Moses, in like manner, in accordance with the pattern which he had seen, made the tabernacle and placed the veil in the middle and by this division made the one tabernacle into two, the inner and the outer (Cosmas 2.35)
The Book of Jubilees has a similar tradition; that Moses on Sinai learned about the creation from the Angel of the Presence. Jubilees does not link Moses vision to the tabernacle and so cannot have been Cosmas only source, even supposing that he knew it at all. The sequence in Jubilees is the same as in Genesis 1, except that Jubilees gives far more detail about Day One, the secrets of the holy of holies. There are seven works on Day One: heaven, earth, the waters, the abyss, darkness and light- all of which can be deduced from Genesis- and then the ministering angels, who are not mentioned in Genesis. These angels of Day One are the spirits of the weather: wind, clouds, snow, hail frost, thunder and lightning, cold and heat; they are the spirits of the seasons and also all of the spirits of his creatures which are in heaven and on earth (Jub.2.2). The angels who witness these works of the first day praise and bless the LORD. A similar account occurs in the Song of the Three Children; before inviting the earth and everything created after the second day to praise the LORD and exalt him for ever, there is a long list of the works of the Day One: the heavens, the angels, the waters above the heavens, the powers, the stars, the rain, dew, winds, fire, heat, summer and winter, ice and cold, frost and snow, lightnings and clouds, the phenomena whose angels praise the LORD on Day One according to Jubilees. The angels of day One were a sensitive issue. Later Jewish tradition gave the seven works of Day One as heaven and earth, darkness and light, waters and the abyss, and then the winds, whereas Jubilees has the angels.
It has long been accepted that Genesis 1 is a reworking of older material and is related to other accounts of creation known in the Ancient Near East. One of the main elements to have been removed is any account of the birth of the gods, even though Genesis 2.1-4 retains traces of the older account: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them... These are the generations of the heavens and the earth. In Job 38.7, however, we still read of the sons of God who shouted for joy on the first day of creation when the foundations of the earth were laid, and sons of God implies that they were begotten, not created. The rest of Job 38 describes the works of Day One: the boundary for the waters, the gates of deep darkness, the storehouses of snow and hail, wind, rain and ice, the pattern of the stars. And the point of all this is to ask Job: Where were you when all this was done? a strange question for the LORD to ask Job unless there was a known tradition of someone who witnessed the work of creation and thus became wise. There is a similar pattern in Job 26: wisdom and knowledge are part of the issue, and Job speaks of God stretching out the north over the void, tohu, binding up the waters, rebuking the pillars of heaven and covering his throne, v.9, usually emended to covering the moon. Covering the throne is not usually associated with the process of creation, unless the reference is to the veil which screened the sanctuary and did in fact cover the throne. Wisdom, as the serpent in Eden had said, made humans divine, exactly what happened to those who entered the sanctuary and, by implication, witnessed the creation.
Enoch, the high priest figure who entered the holy of holies, did know about these things; in 2 Enoch he is taken to stand before the throne in heaven, anointed and transformed into an angel. Then he is shown the great secrets of the creation. The account is confused, but closely related to the account in Genesis even though some of the details seem to be drawn from Egyptian mythology. Enoch is enthroned next to Gabriel and shown how the LORD created the world, beginning with heaven, earth and sea, the movement of the stars, the seasons, the winds and the angels (2 En.23). He sees Day One. Enthronement is an important and recurring feature of these texts and another indication of their origin. It is significant that the sanctuary hymn in Revelation 4.11 is about enthronement and creation:
Worthy art thou our LORD and God
to receive glory and honour and power,
for thou didst create all things
and by thy will they existed and were created.
In the Parables, Enoch stands in the holy of holies before the throne and learns about the hidden things, the secrets of the heavens (1 En.41.1), the works of Day One: the holy ones, the lightning and thunder, the winds clouds and dew, the cloud that hovers over the earth from the beginning of the world, the various stars in their orbits with their names. Josephus says that the Essenes undertook to preserve the books of the sect and the names of the angels (War 2 142).
The fullest account of this material is in 1 Enoch 60 where the angel shows Enoch the hidden things: What is first and last in heaven in the height, and beneath the earth in the depth, and at the ends of the heaven and at the foundation of the heaven. He then sees the winds, the moon and stars, thunders and lightnings, the angels of hail and frost, dew, mist and clouds. Later he sees the great oath which establishes the creation and binds all its elements into their appointed places (1 En.69.16-25). The very earliest Enoch material describes how he sees the works of Day One; on his first heavenly journey, Enoch learns about the stars, thunder and lightning, the place of great darkness, the mouth of the deep, the winds, the cornerstone of the earth and the firmament of heaven, the paths of the angels and the firmament of heaven at the end of the earth (1 En.18). In the Apocalypse of Weeks, another early text embedded in 1 Enoch, there is an expansion after the description of the seventh week. At the end of the seventh week, the chosen righteous ones were to receive sevenfold i.e. heavenly knowledge about all the creation: they would behold the works of heaven, understand the things of heaven, ascend to see the end of the heaven and know the length and breadth of the earth and its measurements, they would know the length and height of heaven, its foundations, the stars and where they rest. (1 En.93.11-14). It is interesting the R.H.Charles in his edition of 1 Enoch says that these verses are completely out of place in their present context..
What Job had not seen, Enoch saw in the holy of holies. There is not just one isolated example of such a vision of creation; it is a recurring theme throughout the entire compendium of texts. And what Enoch saw in the holy of holies, Moses, as we should expect, has seen on Sinai. According to 2 Baruch, Moses saw: the measures of fire, the depths of the abyss, the weight of the winds, the number of the raindrops, ... the height of the air, the greatness of Paradise, ... the mouth of hell... the multitude of angels which cannot be counted... the splendour of lightnings, the power of the thunders, the orders of the archangels and the treasuries of the light... (2 Bar.59.1-12). When Ezra asks about the LORD's future plans for his people, he is assured that the One who planned all things would also see them to their end. Everything had been decided before the winds blew and the thunder sounded and the lightning shone, before the foundations of paradise were laid and the angels were gathered together, before the heights of the air were lifted up and the measures of the firmaments were named, before the present years were reckoned (2 Esdr.6.1-6). Ezra is told that everything was planned in the holy of holies, before time.
The speaker in Proverbs 8 also saw the works of Day One. The speaker was begotten before the mountains, the hills and the earth, and was with the Creator when he established the heavens and the fountains of the deep and when he set limits to the waters and marked out the foundations of the earth. This chapter emphasises that the speaker was witness to the works of Day One. The one who was newly born witnessed the creation, exactly what Cosmas, many centuries later, said of Moses.
Then having taken him up into the mountain, he hid him in a cloud and took him out of all earthly things... and he gave him a new birth as if he were a child in the womb... and revealed to him all that he had done in making the world in six days, showing him in six other days the making of the world, performing in his presence the work of each day.... (Cosmas 3.13)
Later mystics describe a similar experience. Jacob Boehme, for example, a seventeenth century German mystic, described a similar experience of learning everything in an instant, and of being a child:
Thus now I have written, not from the instruction of knowledge received from men, nor from the learning or reading of books, but I have written out of my own book which was opened in me, being the noble similitude of God, the book of the noble and precious image was bestowed on me to read, and therein I have studied as a child in the house of its mother, which beholdeth what the father doth and in his childlike way doth imitate the father.
...the gate was opened to me in that one quarter of an hour. I saw and knew more than if I had been many years together at university... and I knew not how it happened to me... for I saw and knew the Being of all Beings...the descent and original of this world and of all creatures through divine wisdom...
Philo describes the works of Day One as the invisible and incorporeal world. First the maker made an incorporeal heaven and an invisible earth and the essential form of air and void (Creation 29). That was Day One in Genesis. After a lengthy discussion, Philo describes the second day: The incorporeal cosmos was finished... and the world apprehended by the senses was ready to be born after the pattern of the incorporeal. And first of its parts the Creator proceeded to make the heaven which... he called the firmament (Creation 36). In other words, everything made on or after the second day was part of the visible world but the works of Day One were beyond matter, beyond the veil. Elsewhere, Philo confirms this by saying that Moses entered this unseen, invisible, incorporeal and archetypal essence of existing things and saw what was hidden from mortal sight when he entered God's presence to be made God and King (Moses 1.158). On the third day, says Philo, the creator began to put the earth in order (Creation 40)
Beyond the veil of the temple was the holy of holies with the heavenly throne, the invisible world and Day One of creation. The LXX translator of Genesis knew this and so chose to render the enigmatic tohu wabohu (Gen.1.2) by unseen and unsorted, reminiscent of Plato's description of the unseen world of ideas, and this has been suggested as a possible influence on the translators. But Plato's account of creation, especially in the Timaeus, is itself of uncertain origin and the question of who influenced whom must remain open.
Knowledge of these secrets gave power over the creation and this is probably why there are several texts which forbid access to certain matters. There is a line in the Gospel of Philip, now thought to be a first or second generation Christian text: The veil at first concealed how God controlled the creation. In the Aboth de Rabbi Nathan we find (A39): Because of sin it was not given to man to know the likeness (demut) on high; for were it not for this (sin) all the keys would be given to him and he would known how the heavens and the earth were created...
Best known must be the prohibitions in the Mishnah restricting the reading of both the story of creation and Ezekiel's description of the chariot, on the grounds that one should not think about what is above, what is below, what was before time and what will be hereafter (m.Hag. 2.1). What the Creation and the Chariot have in common is that they both belong to the world beyond the veil, the timeless place which also revealed the past and the future. Some centuries earlier than the Mishnah is the warning in Ben Sira: Seek not what is too difficult for you, nor investigate what is beyond your power. Reflect upon what has been assigned to you, for you do not need what is hidden (Ben Sira 3.21-22). We are not told what the hidden things were. Earlier still, and most significant of all, is the prohibition in Deuteronomy: The secret things belong to the LORD our God: but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children (Deut.29.29). Secrets are said to exist. It is interesting that such knowledge is still forbidden; the Pope, addressing a group of cosmologists in Rome in 1981, reminded them that science itself could not answer the question of the origin of the universe.
Proverbs 30 must refer to the world beyond the veil of the temple; it links sonship, ascent to heaven, knowledge of the Holy Ones and the works of Day One:
Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth? (Prov.30.4).
To which Deuteronomy replies: (This commandment) is not in heaven, that you should say: Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? (Deut.30.11). Job's arguments were shown to be words without knowledge (Job 38.2) because he had not witnessed the works of Day One.
Most of the detailed evidence for this tradition of the world beyond the veil has been drawn from relatively late texts, but the warnings against secret knowledge suggest that it was a matter of controversy from the beginning of the second temple period. No one text from the later period gives a complete picture, indicating the fragmentation of an earlier corpus rather than the conglomeration of strands which had formerly been separate and even alien.
Early evidence for what I am proposing is to be found in Isaiah 40. This chapter seems to be a conjunction of all the elements of the hidden tradition which can only be reconstructed otherwise from a variety of later sources. The chapter is set in the holy of holies; the prophet hears the voices calling as did Isaiah . The LORD sits above the circle of the earth and stretches out the heavens like a curtain; there is a glimpse of history as princes and rulers are brought to nothing. The LORD measures the waters and marks off the heavens with a span... the weighing and measuring terms which characterise the creation accounts of the sanctuary tradition about Day One. There is reference to enlightenment, knowledge and understanding: Who taught him knowledge and showed him the way of understanding? There is the challenge: To whom will you liken God? a reference to the belief that temple was a copy of what had been seen, followed by derision of the idol which the workman casts an image that will not move. The prophet is told to look at the host of heaven whom the LORD has created and named, a reference to the sensitive issue of the sons of God on Day One. There is the question: Why do you say: My way is hidden from the LORD? And finally, the prophet is reminded of what he knows because he has been present in the sanctuary to see the works of creation: Have you not known, have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? (Isa.40.21). It is significant that the Targum understands this as a revelation of the process of creation: Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has not the work of the orders of creation been announced to you from the beginning?... (T.Isa.40.21). This is how that passage in Isaiah was understood at the end of the second temple period.
If this reconstruction of the world beyond the veil is correct, it illuminates several issues. First, the mixture of subjects in the apocalyptic texts can be explained: throne visions, lists of the secrets of creation and surveys of history which deal not only with the past but also with the future are the knowledge given to those who passed beyond the veil of the temple, the raz nihyeh of the Qumran texts. Second, it suggests that the material in the apocalypses originated with the high priests since they were the ones who passed through the veil into the holy of holies. It gives a context for understanding the known priestly writings of the Hebrew scriptures with their concern for measurements and dates, and their conception of history as an unfolding plan. Third, it establishes that this tradition was controversial as early as the exile and invites a closer look at what happened to the temple cult in the seventh century, the process so often described as Josiahs reform. It explains, for example, why the description of the temple in 1 Kings mentions neither the chariot throne nor the veil and why the essential features of the world beyond the temple veil - the cherubim, the anointing oil - were later said to have disappeared from the temple not as a result of the Babylonians but in the time of Josiah
If we adopt the widely accepted exilic dating of Isaiah 40, the sanctuary traditions which I have been reconstructing have implications which reach beyond Old Testament study. The early apologists, both Jewish and Christian, maintained that Plato learned from Moses, that he was Moses speaking Attic Greek. The most notable of these was Eusebius of Caesarea, who, in his work The Preparation of the Gospel, argued the case in great detail and listed all those who had held such views before him. Eusebius and the other apologists were probably correct.
My reconstruction suggests that the priests of the first temple knew an invisible, heavenly world on which the tabernacle or temple had been modelled; that they spoke of forms: the form of a man and the form of a throne; that they described the heavens as an embroidered curtain; that they knew the distinction between time, outside the veil, and eternity within it. They knew that time was the moving image of eternity. They knew of angels, the sons of God begotten on Day One, as Job suggests. They concerned themselves with the mathematics of the creation, the weights and the measures. They believed that the creation was bonded together by a great oath or covenant. They believed that the stars were divine beings, angels, and they described a creator whose work was completed not by motion but by Sabbath rest. What I have reconstructed as the secret tradition of the world beyond the temple veil would, in any other context be identified as Plato's Timaeus , written in the middle of the fourth century BCE
It is nearly forty years since Käsemann suggested that Apocalyptic, far from being something on the periphery of New Testament study was in fact the mother of all Christian theology, the legitimate development of ideas in the Old Testament. On the basis of my reconstructions, I suggest that the sanctuary traditions which survive in the apocalypses were not the development of ideas in the canonical OT, but their antecedents. The apocalyptic texts were not the original product of a Hellenising, oppressed minority group late in the second temple period, but the repository of Israels oldest traditions, what I have called The Older Testament.
This paper was my Presidential address to
the Society for Old Testament Study in Cambridge January 1998,
first published in the Scottish Journal of Theology 51.1 1998.
The hanging at the entrance to the holy of holies is paroket (LXX and Philo katapetasma) distinguished from the hanging at the entrance to the tabernacle masak (LXX epispastron, Philo kalumma)
There was a debate after the temple had been destroyed as to whether there had been a veil in the first temple, as m.Yoma describes the high priest walking between the curtains to reach the ark: To what are we referring here? If it be to the first sanctuary, was there then a curtain? Again, if the second, was there then an ark?
LXX Isa.6.1 reads: ...the house was filled with his glory, anticipating the angelic song, v.3, the whole earth is full of his glory. By implication, the house is the earth.
W.A.Meeks Moses as God and King, in Religions in Antiquity. Essays in Memory of E.R.Goodenough. Ed.J.Neusner Leiden 1970 p.371 ...an elaborate cluster of traditions of Moses heavenly enthronement at the time of the Sinai theophany... closely connected with Scripture but at the same time thoroughly syncretistic. See also n.39.
The singular nature of the two is seen clearly at Rev.22.3-4; the MSS at 6.17 are ambiguous, but the singular identity is implicit at 7.9-10; 20.6; 21.22; 22.1.
In later texts, only the Prince of the Divine Presence passes within the veil, b.Yoma 77a, c.f. Clement of Alexandria Excerpts from Theodotus 38: (The fiery place of the throne) has a veil in order that things may not be destroyed by the sight of it. Only the archangel enters in, and to typify this, the high priest every year enters the holy of holies; and 3 En.22B.6: The glorious king covers his face, otherwise the heaven or Arabot would burst open in the middle, because of the glorious brilliance, beautiful brightness, lovely splendour, and radiant praises of the appearance of the Holy One, Blessed by He. The Targum to Job 26.9 is similar.
See also The Measures of Gods Glory in Ancient Midrash in Messiah and Christos. Studies in the Jewish Origins of Christianity presented to David Flussner Ed. I.Gruenwald, S.Shaked, G.Stroumsa Tübingen 1992 pp.53-74 esp.pp.55-60 where he discusses the veil as the cover for the measure of Gods glory which he suggests is a reference to some esoteric knowledge.
According to Jerome On Illustrious Men 11.
Fishbane, see n.7 above, pp 64-66, discussing the work of M.Idel that the surot in 4Q 405 19 are early evidence for mysticism, and his own suggestion that sur and demut referred to the man on the throne.
See also the Ascension of Isaiah 10-11 where Isaiah in heaven sees the whole history of the incarnation; and b.Sanhedrin 38b the Holy One... showed Adam every generation.
1 En.89.73 describes the sanctuary of the second temple as a tower before which impure bread was offered. The Assumption of Moses 2.4 reads: The court of his tabernacle and the tower of his sanctuary... An interpretation of Isa.5 in the early 2nd century CE, attributed to R.Yosi reads; He built a tower in the midst of his vineyard... this is his sanctuary Tosefta Sukkah 3.15. This passed into Christian usage e.g. Hermas Parables 3.2.4; 9.3.1. The Son of God is LORD of the tower Parables 9.7.1.
Ignatius of Antioch, Philippians 9: To Jesus alone as our high priest were the secret things of God committed; Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies 6.7: ...the knowledge of things present, past and future revealed by the son of God; ibid.7.17: ...the true tradition came from the LORD by drawing aside the curtain...; Origen Celsus 3.37: Jesus beheld these weighty secrets and made them known to a few. Also my The Secret Tradition in JHC 2.1 (1995) pp.31-67.
For a summary and bibliography of these traditions in Canaan, Mesopotamia and later Jewish sources, see M.Weinfeld Sabbath, Temple and Enthronement of the LORD. The problem of the Sitz in Leben of Genesis 1.1-23 Mélanges bibliques et orientaux en lhonneur de M. Henri Cazelles, ed. A.Caquot and M.Delcor Neukirchen-Vluyn 1981, pp.501-512; J.D.Levenson Creation and the Persistence of Evil. The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence Harper SanFransisco 1988 pp.78-79; N Wyatt Les Mythes des Dioscures et Ideologie Royale dans les Littératures dOugarit et dIsrael, RB 1996 pp.481-516.
Midrash Tanhuma 11.2. See also J.Blenkinsopp The Structure of P CBQ 38 (1976) pp.275-292. Levenson op.cit. n.13 pp.78-99. P.J. Kearney Creation and Liturgy. The P redaction of Ex.25-40 in ZAW 89 (1977) pp.375-387, who worked out one possible scheme of correspondences between the seven days of creation and the construction of the tabernacle, based on the LORDs speeches to Moses in Exod.25-31. F.H.Gorman Priestly Rituals of Founding: Time Space and Status in History and Interpretation ed. M.P.Graham, Sheffield Academic Press 1993 pp.47-64 recognises that the summary in Exod.40.16-38 is the clearest link between creation and tabernacle, but does not work out how each day corresponds to each part of the tabernacle.
None of the material cited in nn.14,15 makes the link between the traditional order for the construction of the tabernacle and the order of the days of creation.
M.E.Stone Lists of the Revealed Things in the Apocalyptic Literature in Magnalia Dei; the Mighty Acts of God. In Memory of G.E.Wright ed. Cross, Lemke and Miller, New York 1976 pp.414-452: This interest in the measures of Zion seems curiously unstressed in the apocryphal and Rabbinic literatures, p.415. Ezekiel did see the temple in his vision Ezek.40-48.
Blenkinsopp op.cit.n.15 shows how P relates the creation of the world, the construction of the sanctuary and the division of the land, p.278. We should not forget that Gen.1 is attributed to Moses insofar as he was the author of the Pentateuch.
R.Devreesse Essai sur Theodore de Mopsueste, Studi e Testi 141 Vatican City 1948 p.26n. finds similar ideas in Theodores work on Exodus, written early in the fifth century.
R.H.Charles The Book of Jubilees London A&C Black 1902, p.11. The angels were variously said to have been created, not begotten, on the second day or the fifth. On the basis of Ps.104, R.Johannan taught that they were created on the second day because the LORD formed the firmament in v.3 and the angels in v.4. R.Hanina said on the fifth day because they were winged creatures. Gen.R 1.3: Whether we accept the view of either... all agree that none were created on the first day, lest you should say Michael stretched out in the south and Gabriel in the north, while the Holy One, Blessed by he, measured it in the middle [quoting Isa.44.24] Who was associated with me in the creation of the world? Targum Ps.J. Gen.1.26: And the LORD said to the angels who ministered before him, who had been created on the second day of the creation, let us make man. If the secret knowledge of the sanctuary included the birth of the angels i.e. the gods of Day One (and also of the king?), this suggests that the material antedates the reforming monotheism of the Deuteronomists. See my book The Great Angel London SPCK 1992. This is consistent with my proposal for the meaning of sur in the passages connected with divine fatherhood, namely, that they were deliberately obscured and removed.
See also 1QH 6 (formerly 1), 1QH 17 (formerly 13), for similar themes and the raz nihyeh of 4Q 417.
Since H.Gunkel Schöpfung und Chaos in Urzeit und Endzeit Göttingen 1895
Wyatt op.cit.n.13 shows that Ps.8.4 also describes the birth of the sons of God.
B.Lang Eugen Drewermann interprète de la Bible Paris Cerf 1994 p.167, developed in Lady Wisdom. A Polytheistic and Psychological Interpretation of a Biblical Goddess in A Feminist Companion to the Bible ed. A.Brenner and C.Fontaine Sheffield Academic Press 1997 suggests that the wise man was initiated by studying the myth of creation and then being reborn as a divine child in the presence of Wisdom who showed him the creation. Also Wyatt op.cit.n.13 on Job 15.7-8 and Ps.110.
MT and LXX have here face of the throne, but an emendation to face of the moon is usually proposed, by reading keseh rather than kisseh.
Wyatt op.cit.n.13; also Weinfeld op.cit.n.13 p.507.
The names of the angels were a part of the secret knowledge. The names, as recovered from the Aramaic, were for the most part derived from astronomical, meteorological and geographical terms, J.T.Milik The Books of Enoch Aramaic Fragmennts of Qumran Cave 4 Oxford 1976 p.29. In other words, their names reflected their functions as the angels of Day One: Fire of El, Thunder of El, Comet of El, Lightning of El, Rain of El, Cloud of El etc.
R.H.Charles the Book of Enoch Oxford 1912, p.231: The verses are completely out of place in the present context, citing several eminent scholars who had drawn the same conclusion. They had not made the link between the sevenfold knowledge, the resurrected ones and the secrets of creation. For a better understanding see Stone op.cit.n.16 pp.424-425.
There are similar traditions about Adam; The LORD showed him the pattern of Zion before he sinned 2 Bar.4.3. Jer.4.23-28 implies a similar experience.
LXX and Targums have created for Hebrew qnh. Evidence for qnh meaning create rather than acquire see C Westermann Genesis 1-11 A Commentary tr. J.J.Scullion London 1984 p.290. For the contrary view see R.N.Whybray Proverbs London 1994 pp.129-130. More likely than created is begotten, c.f. brought forth Prov.8.24,25. She was established, v.23, c.f. Ps.2.6, where the king is established on the holy hill, but another possibility is that nskty here should be read as I was hidden from skk, see W.McKane Proverbs London 1970. Wisdom brought forth and hidden i.e. behind the veil, is possible in the context.
Deutero-Isaiah changed the older divine title Begetter of Heaven and Earth as in Gen.14.9, and substituted Maker or Creator of Heaven and Earth, see N.Habel Yahweh, Maker of heaven and Earth. A Study in Tradition Criticism JBL 91 (1972) pp.321-337.
In my book The Great Angel London 1992 I suggested that Deutero-Isaiah and the exilic reformers fused the older deities El and Yahweh, thus establishing monotheism, and at the same time they suppressed the older mythology of the sons of God. (Deutero-Isaiah) removed the idea that the Creator God was the Procreator, the Father of gods and men... The idea of a procreator God with sons seems to have fallen out of favour with those who equated Yahweh with El... p.19. This is further evidence that the sons of God of Day One were part of the tradition of the first temple and suggests the reason for their disappearance.
The figure present at the creation became the Torah in later tradition. Thus six things preceded the creation of the (visible) world: the Torah, the throne of Glory, and the plans for the patriarchs, Israel, the temple and the Name of the Messiah Gen.R 1.4.
Letter to an Enquirer in R.Waterfield Jacob Boehme Essential Readings Wellingborough Aquarian Press 1989 pp.65-66.
For recent discussion of possible influences on translators see J.Dines Imaging Creation: the Septuagint Tradition of Genesis 1.2 in Heythrop Journal 36.4 (1995) pp.439-350.
It is frequently observed by commentators that Plato introduces wholly new ideas of creation with a purpose and without the jealous gods of the Prometheus myth, e.g. F.C.Cornford Platos Cosmology London 1937 pp.31-33. For the first time the world is described as the creation of a father, maker or craftsman and the stars are held to be divine, D.Lee Plato, Timaeus and Critias London Penguin 1977 pp.7-8.
Fishbane op.cit.n.6 discusses Sifre Deut. 355 when Israel asked Moses to tell them about the glory on high, requesting esoteric knowledge that had not been revealed to them. Moses said: You may know about the glory on high from the lower heavens and there follows a parable about the great king hidden behind a jewelled curtain.
The mystics instant acquisition of knowledge is well known, see n.30 and text above.
Neusner translates the corresponding passage in Tosefta Hagigah: above, below, within, beyond.
See also 2 Esdr.14.6, 40-48, that there are 24 public books of Scripture, but 70 others only for the wise, which held the secrets of understanding, wisdom and knowledge. Also my article The Secret Tradition op.cit.n.12
Acta Apostolicae Sedis 73 (1981) 669-670
Wyatt op.cit.n.13 shows how this passage was part of the royal wisdom tradition. He reconstructs the impossible vv.2-3 on the basis of the LXX to be: I surpass all men and possess the intelligence of Adam, for God has taught me Wisdom and I know the knowledge of the holy ones. The one who ascends to heaven must be the king who becomes the co-creator, gathering the winds and the waters, and he also becomes divine.
I disagree with Meeks op.cit.n.3.p.369: We must reckon with the possibility, therefore, that the legends [about Moses] are composites of the strands which at some earlier stage served disparate functions. The legends had indeed served another purpose, but had been transferred as a whole from the royal tradition.
Deutero-Isaiah heard voices but, unlike Isaiah, he saw no form as he was influenced by the Deuteronomists c.f.Deut 4.12.
Blenkinsopp op.cit.n.14 esp. pp 275,291: ...beneath (Ps) surface one can still make out the contours of an encompassing mythic pattern. It is also possible to interpret the ritualism of P as embodying a concern for mans concrete existence in relation to the cosmos... his entire existence on the temporal and spatial axis (my emphases).
The passages in Timaeus are: the creation is good, 29; the invisible world, 28; the forms, 29, 38, 52; time and eternity 37; angels created first but the story of their origin is not known, 41; the mathematics of creation 53,69; the bond of creation, 31,378; angels as stars 38; resting as the culmination of creation 30.
Die Anfänge christlicher Theologie ZTK 57 (1960) pp 162-185.
My book The Older Testament. The Survival of Themes from the Ancient Royal Cult in Sectarian Judaism and Early Christianity. London 1987.
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Ruth Benerito, Who Made Cotton Cloth Behave, Dies at 97
07 October 2013
Source: The New York Times
Half a century ago, working quietly in a New Orleans laboratory, Ruth Benerito helped smooth the fabric of modern life. In so doing, she helped liberate people from hours of household drudgery.
A chemist long affiliated with the United States Department of Agriculture, Dr. Benerito helped perfect modern wrinkle-free cotton, colloquially known as permanent press, in work that she and her colleagues began in the late 1950s.
Read more on The New York Times. | <urn:uuid:611492b7-966d-4fab-a9fc-9d0fd876d65d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nrf.gov.sg/media-resources/media/news-reports/ruth-benerito,-who-made-cotton-cloth-behave,-dies-at-97 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00098-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946759 | 129 | 2.609375 | 3 |
May 9, 2014
A confirmed case of mumps has been identified in a Marquette University student. The Marquette University Medical Clinic is working closely with the City of Milwaukee Health Department to initiate the appropriate follow-up investigation with close contacts of the case. Across the state there have been more than 20 cases reported in 2014.
Marquette University Medical Clinic is encouraging all community members to take the following steps to stay healthy and prevent spreading the illness:
- Check your immunization records. Immunization with two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is the safest and most effective way to prevent up to 95 percent of mumps infections. All Marquette students are required to receive the two doses of MMR vaccine before they are allowed to register for classes. If you are unsure of your immunization records and history, contact your health care provider or the Marquette University Medical Clinic to discuss the MMR vaccine. If you have not had two doses of MMR, it is important to get fully immunized as soon as possible. Individuals born before 1957 are likely to have had mumps disease as a child and are not generally considered to need vaccination
- Follow preventive actions. Mumps is spread from an infected person through coughing, sneezing or talking, or through contact with saliva. Wash your hands regularly with soap and water; sneeze and cough into a tissue or your elbow; and avoid sharing drinks, food and utensils.
- Watch for symptoms even if you have been vaccinated. Early symptoms usually begin 16 to 18 days after exposure and are similar to those of the flu: fever, headache, muscle aches and fatigue. Swelling of the cheek and jaw area (salivary glands) usually follows and is a classic symptom of mumps. Sometimes mumps can cause tenderness or swelling of the testicles. In some cases, mumps infection can result in complications that can be severe and result in hospitalization. You should contact your primary care provider or the Marquette University Medical Clinic if you experience symptoms.
- Stay home if you are sick. Anyone suspected of having mumps is expected to stay home from school, work or similar activities for five days. This means don’t attend class or labs, go to work or socialize with others during this five-day period, and don’t use public transportation. Mouth and nose should be covered during any sneezing or coughing and hands should be washed frequently. There is no treatment for mumps, but you can alleviate symptoms by getting plenty of bed rest, taking over-the-counter pain killers, such as Ibuprofen or Tylenol, and drinking plenty of fluids.
Additional information on mumps is available from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information or questions, contact the Marquette Medical Clinic at (414) 288-7184. | <urn:uuid:6c285a70-ca59-4dcf-bcbd-324aef3481d3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.marquette.edu/medical-clinic/campus-health-advisory.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00152-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944012 | 596 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Education in India
Governments, media, academic
institutions and NGOs, have to work in close collaboration to give India
an effective health education
system, write Dr
B P MAHESH CHANDRA GURU, SAPNA
M S and MADHURA VEENA M L
What is India News Service
is everyone's concern.
It is also an important component of human resources development.
Health goes hand in hand with social-economic development.
The Health for All strategy calls for concerted action in all
sectors and demands coordinated efforts to enlist active people’s
participation in the process of health management.
It is the responsibility of the state to ensure health for all. Health
development is indeed a multi-dimensional activity.
education is a fundamental necessity in a welfare state.
People need health education consistently.
Formal programmes in health education did not develop until recent
times in India and other developing nations. The International Union for Health Education has stated its
position on school health education in a policy paper thus: “Any
subject, whether AIDS or tobacco or nutrition is best taught not as a
single stand-alone course, but rather within a more comprehensive school
health education programme that provides planned sequential education
about health at every grade level, that focus on behavioural skills (e.g.
decision-making, communication skills, negotiations skills etc.) and that
consequently establishes a foundation for understanding relationship
between personal behaviour and health” 1.
subject of health is widely discussed throughout the world. Health is not a gift that is bestowed by any supernatural
power. ‘Health’ is an
Anglo-Saxon term which means the condition of being safe and sound or
whole. According to Goetz
Philip, the term ‘health’ comprises the state of complete physical,
mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity 2. Health
is earned by the people through conscious, planned and sustainable efforts
all through the life. Ruslink
Doris emphasizes the role of family in health management thus: “The
family which regards good health as a precious possession takes
precautions to protect it and to avoid those conditions which may
jeopardize it. Such a family
safeguards the health of each member in many ways by providing a
healthful, happy home environment, a well balanced diet, a good balance of
work, rest and recreation, by having periodic health and dental check ups
and by taking immunization measures” 3.
The state has an obligation to ensure
enjoyment of the highest attainable standards of health as one of
the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race,
religion, political belief, economic or social distinction.
OF HEALTH EDUCATION
Health education is a term
commonly used and referred to by health professionals.
Health education is indispensable in achieving individual and
collective health. There is
no single acceptable definition of health education which is normally
perceived as an instrument of changing attitudes and behavioural patterns
of people toward attaining better health status through adoption of health
innovations and practices which are tested and tried.
Health Organization defines it thus: “Health education is the part of health
care that is concerned with promoting healthy behaviour” 4.
Health education is the translation of what is known about health
into desirable individual and community behaviour patterns by means of an
educational process 5. John
M Last defines health communication as "the process by which individuals
and groups of people learn to behave in a manner conducive to the
promotion, maintenance or restoration of health” 6.
Green L W observes: “Any combination of learning opportunities
and teaching activities designed to facilitate voluntary adaptation of
behaviour that are conducive to health” 7.
The definition adapted by the National Conference on Preventive
Medicine in USA reads: “Health education is a process that informs,
motivates and helps people to adopt and maintain healthy practices and
lifestyles, advocates environmental changes as needed to facilitate this
goal and conducts professional training and research to the same end” 8.
Thus, health education encompasses all strategies and activities
which are meant of the attainment of better health status of the people.
OF HEALTH EDUCATION
education is required to increase knowledge and to reinforce desired
attitudinal and behavioural patterns concerning health management of
individuals as well as communities. The
Alma-Ata Declaration (1978) emphasized the need for individual and
community participation in the process of health education.
It has also revolutionized the concepts and aims of health
education. Following the
Alma-Ata Declaration the emphasis has shifted from prevention of disease
to promotion of healthy life styles; the modification of individual
behaviour to modification of ‘social environment’ in which the
individual lives; community participation to community involvement; and
promotion of individual and community ’self-reliance’.
It also provides a useful basis for formulating the aims and
objectives of health education which may be stated as follow:
encourage people to adopt and sustain health promoting life style and
promote the proper use of health services available to them;
arouse interest, provide new knowledge, improve skills and change
attitudes in making rational decisions to solve their own problems;
stimulate individual and community self-reliance and participation to
achieve health development through individual and community
involvement at every step from identifying problems to solving them.
includes the regulatory approach, service
approach, health education approach and primary health care approach.
The regulatory approach involves governmental intervention designed
to alter human behaviour through regulations ranging from prohibition to
imprisonment. This approach
seeks change in health behaviour and improvement in health through a
variety of external controls or legislations.
The service approach involves providing necessary health services
needed by the people as and when required through the spirit of
volunteerism or social obligation. The
health education approach involves changing the behavioural patterns of
the people through planned learning experiences without conflicting with
the masses. The primary
health care approach involves enabling individuals to become self-reliant
in matters of health.
scope of health education covers every aspect of individual health, family
health and community health. Health
communication essentially involves individual approach, group approach and
mass approach which are universally witnessed.
The contents of health education include human biology, nutrition,
hygiene, family health, disease prevention and control, mental health,
prevention of accidents and so on. The principles of health education include: volunteerism,
dedication, determination, drive, comprehension, experimentation,
reinforcement, achievement motivation, participatory approaches,
leadership development, social activism, persuasive efforts and so on.
Health communication planning involves the various stages such as,
1. identifying the health problems and health needs, 2. understanding the
communication resources and requirements in tune with the health project,
3. identification of the priorities, 4. setting communication
goals, 5. assessment of communication resources, 6. mobilization of
communication resources, 7. planning communication activities, 8.
implementation of communication plans, 9. monitoring and
evaluation of communication programmes and 10. reassessment of the
EDUCATION IN INDIA
of Central Government
Government of India is responsible for providing countrywide education to
the people on health care and management.
The Directorate General of Health Services set up Central Health
Education Bureau (CHEB) in 1956 to coordinate health education services
through various divisions in the country.
The goals and objectives of the division include educating the
people about health plans and programmes, training health educators and
workers, supplying health education materials, conducting health
research activities, providing technical assistance to government and
non-government agencies in the field of health education, developing
health education syllabi for different target groups and collaborating
with international agencies in promoting health education.
The School Health Education Division of CHEB provides and monitors
the centrally sponsored school health service scheme since April 1977
meant for primary school students in rural areas.
CHEB also works with UGC, NCERT, Board of Secondary Education and
other agencies in imparting health education by enlisting the
participation of universities, colleges and schools.
of State Governments, Union Territories
and Local-Self Government Bodies:
health services are managed by respective State Governments and Union
Territories. The aim of
school health programme is to provide comprehensive health care to all
school children in both urban and rural areas.
It comprises of medical examination, treatment, preventive
medicine, follow-up action, sanitation, hygiene, safe environment and
other aspects of health management. There
is a provision for health check-up twice in a year undertaken by
government or private agencies under the supervision of a Medical Officer
who is in charge of medical inspection.
Medical fee is collected in schools for the purpose of health care
which is compulsory. This
arrangement is made with a view to bring about awareness among parents and
teachers. The Primary Health Centers of Karnataka State implement the
National School Health Programme. The
local-self government bodies are also involved at the grassroots level
health education activities at district, block and village panchayat
of Educational Institutions
education is indeed an inter-disciplinary
approach which draws contents and initiatives from physical,
biological, medical and behavioural sciences.
Health instruction is not considered a part of the total school
instruction component is missing from primary school to university levels
in India. Formal health
education programmes are not designed and implemented in our country.
Significant health aspects such as health care, nutrition,
sanitation, hygiene, preventive medicine, community health, environment
protection, drug addiction, mental health, prevention of AIDS and so on
are not covered systematically by our schools, colleges and universities.
Healthy habits are not cultivated by the students due to lack of
health education. Systematical
health instruction is not imparted on mandatory and regular basis.
The students do not get the benefit of incidental teaching on
health care resources and methods. Printed
materials, audio-visual programmes, demonstrations, exhibitions, poster
campaigns, group discussions, lecture programmes, field trips, health
clubs and other health instructional opportunities are not made available
to the students at various levels. Very
few health universities and medical colleges are imparting professional
health education and training. Thus,
health education in India is not imparted at various levels formally or
informally to the best of the satisfaction of students, parents, teachers
and other sections of society.
of Mass Media
media like newspapers, magazines, film, radio and television are diffusing
health information throughout the country in their own way. Attainment of health and family welfare needs the presence of
informed, active and alive citizenry.
Mass media can play a complementary role in facilitating health for
all. In reality, mass media
in India have not accorded a place of pride to health education.
print media have played a limited role in promoting health consciousness
among the people. Once in a
while reports, articles, features, profiles and other health-centered
contents appear in the press. Occasionally
some investigative reports about mismanagement of health sector also
appear in the print media. Health
centered advertisements appear in the press regularly because of the
economics of advertising. Some
professional journals carry serious write-ups on health management.
Medium and small newspapers and magazines predominantly contain
health-centered advertisements. They
hardly provide any worthy writings pertaining to health management. Thus, print media have not contributed adequate writings in
the field of health education mainly due to lack of will, commitment and
is a powerful medium of communication.
India produces largest feature films, newsreels and documentaries
in the world. Feature films
which focus on health management are hardly produced in this country. The Films Division produces newsreels and documentaries which
focus the attention of the audience on health, nutrition, family welfare
and environment protection. These
newsreels and documentaries are screened in cinema theatres and
non-theatrical channels which include community halls, educational
institutions, industrial houses, cultural organizations etc.
These newsreels and documentaries are not regularly screened and
discussed in the countryside. Therefore,
newsreels and documentaries mainly cater to the informational needs of the
audiences. They have a
limited impact on society from the point of view of health education.
India Radio is well known in the world as the largest radio network.
Radio is the only mass medium which is accessible to both rural and
urban audiences in plenty. Radio
also provides series of special audiences programmes on variety of
subjects including health management.
In the age of television revolution, radio listening habits have
reduced to a considerable extent. Talks,
plays, quizzes, question and answer programmes are popularly used in
health broadcasting programmes. Women
and children welfare programmes are also broadcast to some extent with a
focus on health care. However,
radio programmes too have increased awareness among the listeners on
health management. The time, duration, coverage and quality of health education
programmes are not appreciated by the people in large number.
has become the massest of all mass media in India and everywhere.
Doordarshan which is managed by the Prasar Bharathi Corporation
provides Information, Education and Communication (IEC) support to Health
and Family Welfare through telecasts during different time slots allover
the country. The regional
centers telecast video spots and quickies on various aspects of health
management. Special programmes are also broadcast on the eve of women’s
day, children’s day, worker’s day, world population day, world health
day, no tobacco day, world AIDS day and so on.
Discussions, interviews, quickies, quizzes, special chunks, spots,
jingles etc., are broadcast by Doordarshan Kendras with a focus on burning
health issues of our times. The
Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) mainly focused on
education, agriculture, health and family welfare, national integration
and so on. Cable TV channels
provide programmes and commercials which have limited focus on health
education. TV has not emerged
over the years as a prominent medium of health education.
of New Communication Technologies
channels, satellite communication channels and computer communication
channels predominantly constitute new communication technologies in the
present times. These
technologies have given rise to telemedicine, video conferencing and other
latest tools of health communication.
Telemedicine application requires information which include images,
voice and digital data created by instruments like electrocardiograph,
electroencephalograph, image scanner etc., about the patient which is
necessary for diagnosis and treatment.
This information is transported to long-distant places through
satellite links, optical fiber links, cables or the Internet.
Doctors can also discuss medical diagnosis and prescriptions with
experts in India and abroad through video conferencing which has become an
important sector in health communication.
These advantages have enriched the process of health communication
in India and elsewhere. However,
these new media have not become true instruments of formal and informal
health education in India due to policy constraints.
are many NGOs operating in urban and rural
areas. They are providing
education, training and guidance to the people on various developmental
themes including health management. They
are also using multi-media for the purpose of health education.
They include: posters, wall writings, tin plates, lectures, group
discussions, seminars, workshops, photo exhibitions, demonstrations and so
on. NGOs are playing an
active role in promoting health education in urban and rural areas even
under certain constraints and limitations.
FUTURE OF HEALTH EDUCATION IN INDIA
education has not been accorded a place of pride in government
organizations, non-government agencies, educational institutions and media
organizations in India. The
dream of ‘Health for All By 2000 AD’ has not been translated into
a reality mainly due to lack of formal and informal health education in
India. Health education is
not managed compulsorily, systematically and meticulously
in India. The vision
‘Health for All By 2000 AD’ may remain empty and the progress toward
that goal tardy if we fail to rejuvenate the health education system
throughout the country both formally and informally.
The future agenda for the Central Government, State
Governments/Union Territories and Panchayati Raj institutions must deal
with the process of people’s participation in health education in which
related processes such as evolving a suitable health education policy,
developing health curriculum, imparting health education, training health
educators, monitoring health education services and achieving the goal of
‘Health for All’ are also addressed at various levels.
a) A national health education policy is necessary to prepare
grounds for nation-wide health education; b) Health education should be
accorded a place of pride and treated as an independent subject on par
with other subjects; c) Separate communication, training and evaluation
division should be created in Health Ministry at National level, state
level and grassroots levels; d) Co-ordination committees should be
established to implement health education programmes at central, state and
grassroots levels; e) There should be region-specific health curricula
which fits into ground realities; f) Health educators should be trained
and recruited from primary to higher education levels; g) A specialized
cadre of health communicators is of utmost importance in mass media
organizations; h) Multi-media campaigns should be envisaged as a holistic
approach to health; i) The government media networks should be
decentralized with a view to provide sustainable health education services
informally; j) Outdoor media
which are more effective channels of health education especially in rural
areas should be utilized adequately for health promotion; k) Newspapers
and television which are accessible to a majority of people should get
government sponsored health advertisement among mass media; l) Health
education messages should be formulated by experts in communication.
Using simple language, authentic facts, local idioms and phrases
and attention compellers can enhance the quality of health messages; m)
Formal evaluation of health education services is required at various to
felicitate better modifications; n) Media institutions could be persuaded
to provide adequate health education services regularly on a priority
basis by increasing time and space; o) NGOs should also actively
participate in health campaigns by providing adequate publicity and
advertising support; p) Policy makers, health administrators, media
professionals and academicians can be involved in directing health
policy makers, health administrators, health educationists, media owners
and professionals and organizers of NGOs have to accord a place of pride
to health education which is a neglected sector.
Health education must
emerge as a critical factor in the process of health development in
particular and national development in general.
Compulsory health education will go a long way in improving the
health status of people.
So long as health education remains
neglected, the dream of ‘Health for All By 2000 AD’ would remain
unfulfilled. As Michael
Traber once observed, people cannot develop or attain their full potential
if they are cut off from communication 9.
The government, media institutions, academic institutions, NGOs,
research and development organizations have to work in close collaboration
toward designing an effective health education
system in the country.
The International Journal of Health Education, 1988.
Goetz (1989); The New World Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., Vol 12, p.
Ruslink (1963); Family Health and Home, Mac Millian Company, New York,
(1988); Education for Health; A Manual on Health Education in Primary
Health Care, p. 9.
A Guide to Communication System in Hospitals, Technical Report 16,
Glossary, p. 33.
J M Dictionary.
L W (1979); International Journal of Health Education, 22 pp. 161 –
Anne R (1977); Preventive Medicine 6(3) 406.
J V (2002), The Media and the Environment, Journal of Communication
Studies, Vol. No. 2 Grishm (Summer) April – June 2002, pp. 91-92.
B P Mahesh Chandra Guru is
Professor & Chairman, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of
M S is
a lecturer and
M L a UGC Junior Research Fellow in the same department | <urn:uuid:5829391a-3564-4d1c-99cb-0e696b433c8a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.whatisindia.com/univpubs/wis20050209_health_education_in_india_chandra_guru_et_al_mysore_varsity.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923769 | 4,372 | 3.21875 | 3 |
The World Health Organization suggests:
"As a global public health recommendation, infants should be
exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life to achieve
optimal growth, development and health. Thereafter, to meet their
evolving nutritional requirements, infants should receive
nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond.['Global strategy on infant and young child feeding']
And goes on to say:
Infants are particularly vulnerable during the transition period when
complementary feeding begins. Ensuring that their nutritional needs
are met thus requires that complementary foods be:
timely – meaning
that they are introduced when the need for energy and nutrients
exceeds what can be provided through exclusive and frequent
adequate – meaning that they provide sufficient
energy, protein and micronutrients to meet a growing child’s
- safe – meaning that they are hygienically stored
and prepared, and fed with clean hands using clean utensils and not
bottles and teats;
- properly fed – meaning that they are given
consistent with a child’s signals of appetite and satiety, and that
meal frequency and feeding method – actively encouraging the child,
even during illness to consume sufficient food using fingers, spoon
or self-feeding – are suitable for age.
Your breastmilk adjusts to the growing nutritional demands of your child but pediatricians recommend solid food introduction by age 1 (if not 6 months) and aren't expect children to be replacing whole meals when they are 6 months - 12 months. I would introduce solids first before the feeding so that she is a little hungry but not starving and demand the breastmilk. She might take the solids better then.
If your child has increased their feeding frequency, the milk might not be adequate anymore so they try to get more to compensate.
Now she must have lots of teeth so I wonder if she will want to chew. Whereas at 6 months, they just learned swallowing without gagging. When my daughter got more teeth, she preferred more texture. I think the period when they are putting everything in their mouth is a natural way to introduce what we actually should put in our mouth like food and that is probably why solids is suggested at 6 months. She is probably ready as well - has a pincer grasp and all that. She just needs a little stronger nudge. | <urn:uuid:83277d8a-458f-47d0-be21-56c079dcf63b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://parenting.stackexchange.com/questions/10889/how-long-is-it-okay-for-a-baby-to-remain-on-just-breastfeed | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00091-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95166 | 503 | 3.21875 | 3 |
What matters most to you in your teaching?
How are you using technology as a tool to achieve your teaching goals?
How have your students responded to your use of technology?
What new goals do you have for using technology in teaching?
Create closer community
Class web site
Providing an Environment Where Students Can Explore
I think it's important that teachers provide an environment where students feel they can explore. I see the classroom as a partnership between teacher and student where we are engaged in inquiry. I think the classroom is a place to discuss, explore, and develop critical thinking skills, to develop new ways of looking at things.
There's a saying that if you see yourself as a hammer then you see everything else as a nail. With this in mind, I try not use one particular technology but try to figure out what types of technology might open up a particular field of exploration. In my Korean folklore class, for example, we've developed an online archive for the students to do their field work. One of my students, for instance, was doing field work at a PC café and was actually uploading his work in almost real time. In this case the web and the archive system gave students a wonderful way to organize and retrieve data to make very rich presentations. Students were able to see what other students collected and could be motivated by their peers. But more importantly, they could feel like they were contributing to something that could be around for many years to come.
In my bigger classes I've used the web and its discussion boards to create a closer community and also to disseminate materials such as handouts in a more manageable way than before. In my smaller classes, I've used everything from DVDs and CDs to discussion boards which fosters an asynchronous communication for students to continuously learn outside of the classroom. And finally in our language classes we use video conferencing to bring together people from different parts of the state on a daily basis who would not otherwise have access to such things as Danish, Swedish, or Finish language. We bring people together from San Diego to Berkeley. It doesn't make any sense that a student's geographical boundaries should limit them to access these resources. By using the various technology, we can bring things together and make resources more accessible.
Some of my students are very sophisticated. They have a background in Flash and have background in video editing, for example. Generally students are very enthusiastic about multimedia projects because it allows them to blend sound, pictures, and movies because this is the environment they've grown up in. Some of the students really embrace this stuff because it gives them a chance to illustrate their ideas. These tools provide them with a greater degree of precision in addressing certain questions presented to them. They're really visually oriented. Graduate students using multimedia technology in their bodies of work will be a great benefit to researchers down the road.
I think the skies the limit with regard to using technology in education--everything from textual analysis tools to research. We just are seeing the tip of the iceberg. As we gain more and more familiarity and as graduate students have these tools in their back pocket as part of their training we will see some very interesting bodies of work in the future--textual, historical, cultural studies, ethnography, etc.
I've found that for some colleagues technology has helped them out of a teaching bind. At this point computers and multimedia software are far easier to use than ever before. You go back to the early 1980s and most people felt using a computer was a considerable undertaking. Now it's simply "plug and play" and "click and drop". For most professors it's a question of the return of investment in time. Is it really going to be worth it? Some find that what they thought would take a long time to learn did not take as long as they thought. Once they learned how to incorporate technology, it become an instrumental part of not only their instruction but also their research.
I don't think there will be any profound change in the future in the way I teach. But I think a lot of these tools will become easier to use. I think we will have much better content management. I think we're going to have students who are much more capable of embedding technology in their work. What I want to stress is that we have to keep focused on the end product and that is critical thinking--analytical approaches to cultural expression--at least in the fields that I work in. Technology is still a tool. The use of various technologies makes sense in different situations. As trained scholars in the humanities, we want to modify or adapt these tools to stimulate our students' learning.
Oral Interview, April 30, 2003 | <urn:uuid:0ddbb10c-1dae-492c-b6fd-e54218edd59e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oid.ucla.edu/edtech/interviews/tangherlini | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00184-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969907 | 949 | 2.828125 | 3 |
The spirit of intolerance had, in the meantime, become more rampant in the government; and in 1670, parliament passed the famous act against conventicles, by which it was attempted to crush nonconformity in England. The Quakers of course were visited with the full severity of the act; and William Penn was one of its first victims. Proceeding one day to the place of meeting, which he attended in Gracechurch Street, he found the door guarded by a party of soldiers, who prevented him from entering. Others of the congregation coming up, gathered round the door, forming, with the chance loiterers, who were attracted by curiosity, a considerable crowd. Penn began to address them; but had hardly begun his discourse when he and another Quaker named William Mead, who was standing near him, were seized by the constables, who were already provided with warrants, for the purpose, signed by the lord mayor, and conveyed to Newgate, whence they were brought to trial at the Old Bailey sessions on the 3d of September, 1670. As this trial was really very important, we shall detail the proceedings at some length. The justices present on the bench on this occasion were Sir Samuel Starling, lord mayor of London; John Howel, recorder; five aldermen and three sheriffs. The jury consisted, as usual, of twelve men, whose names deserve to be held in honor for the noble manner in which they performed their duty. When the prisoners Penn and Mead entered the court they had their hats on, according to the custom of their sect. One of the officers of the court instantly pulled them off. On this the lord mayor became furious, and ordered the man to replace the hats on the heads of the prisoners, which was no sooner done, than the recorder fined them forty marks each for contempt of court in wearing their hats in presence of the bench. The trial then proceeded. Witnesses were called to prove that, on the 15th of August last, the prisoners had addressed a meeting of between three and four hundred persons in Gracechurch Street. Penn admitted that he and his friend were present on the occasion referred to, but contended that they had met to worship God according to their own conscience, and that they had a right to do so. One of the sheriffs here observed that they were there not for worshipping God, but for breaking the law. What law?' asked Penn. The common law,' replied the recorder. Penn insisted on knowing what law that was; but was checked by the bench, who called him a saucy fellow.' The question is,' said the recorder at length, whether you are guilty of this indictment.' The question,' replied Penn, is not whether I am guilty of this indictment, but whether this indictment be , legal. It is too general and imperfect an answer to say it is the common law, unless we know where and what it is; for where there is no law, there is no transgression; and that law which is not in being, is so far from being common that it is no law at all.' Upon which the recorder retorted, You are an impertinent fellow, sir. Will you teach the court what law is? It is lex non scripta; that which many have studied thirty or forty years to know, and would you have me tell you in a moment?' Penn immediately answered, Certainly, if the common law be so hard to be understood, it is far from being very common; but if Lord Coke in his Institutes be of any consideration, he tells us that common law is common right, and that common right is the great charter privileges confirmed.' Sir,' interrupted the recorder, you are a troublesome fellow, and it is not to the honor of the court to suffer you to go on.' I have asked but one question,' said Penn, and you have not answered me, though the rights and privileges of every Englishman are concerned in it.' If,' said the recorder, I should suffer you to ask questions till to-morrow morning, you would be never the wiser.' That,' replied the imperturbable Penn, is according as the answers are.' After some further conversation, or rather altercation, the mayor and recorder became enraged. Take him away, take him away,' they cried to the officers of the court; turn him into the bale dock.' This order was obeyed, Penn protesting as he was removed, that it was contrary to all law for the judge to deliver the charge to the jury in the absence of the prisoners. But now a second contest commenced - a contest between the bench and the jury. The latter, after being sent out of court to agree upon their verdict, unanimously returned the following one - ' Guilty of speaking in Gracechurch Street.' The bench refused to receive this verdict; and after reproaching the jury, sent them back for half an hour to reconsider it. At the end of the half hour the court again met, and the prisoners having been brought in, the jury delivered precisely the same verdict as before, only this time they gave it in writing, with all their names attached. The court upon this became furious; and the recorder addressing the jury, said, Gentlemen, you shall not be dismissed until we have such a verdict as the court will accept; and you shall be locked up without meat, drink, fire, and tobacco. you shall not think thus to abuse the court; we will have a verdict by the help of God, or you shall starve for it!' On this Penn stood up and said: My jury, who are my judges, ought not to be thus menaced; their verdict should be free, and not compelled; the bench ought to wait upon them and not to forestall them. | <urn:uuid:0386c841-5c0b-4876-92c0-7f1c819c6f75> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://encyclopaedic.net/american-encyclopedia-biography/william-penn?page=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986377 | 1,166 | 2.9375 | 3 |
To-day on all sides we hear of the extreme importance of Preventive Medicine and the great future which lies before us in this aspect of our work. If so, it follows that the study of infancy and childhood must rise into corresponding prominence. More and more a considerable part of the Profession must busy itself in nurseries and in schools, seeking to apply there the teachings of Psychology, Physiology, Heredity, and Hygiene. To work of this kind, in some of its aspects, this book may serve as an introduction. It deals with the influences which mould the mentality of the child and shape his conduct. Extreme susceptibility to these influences is the mark of the nervous child. | <urn:uuid:58d766c6-c600-4110-94b1-4f8e80a8362f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://manybooks.net/reviews/index.php?title_ID=cameronh14511451514515-8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00111-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956355 | 138 | 2.90625 | 3 |
THE AGE OF INTELLIGENT MACHINES | A (Kind Of) Turing Test
September 24, 2001
- author |
- Ray Kurzweil
No ideas but in things.
William Carlos Williams
As discussed in several of the contributed articles in this book, the Turing test was devised by Alan Turing as a way of certifying machine intelligence. Turing described a situation in which a human judge communicates with both a computer and a human using a computer terminal. The judge’s task is to determine which is which. The judge cannot see the computer or the human and must make his or her determination by interviewing both. The computer attempts to trick the judge into selecting it as the human.
The essence of the Turing Test is that the computer attempts to act like a human within the context of an interview over terminal lines. A narrower concept of a Turing test is for a computer to successfully imitate a human within a particular domain of human intelligence. We might call these domain-specific Turing tests. One such domain-specific Turing test, based on a computer’s ability to write poetry, is presented here.
The Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet is a computer program (written by the author) and provided with an input file of poems written by a human author or authors. The program analyzes these poems and creates a word-sequence model based on the poems it has just read. It then writes original stanzas of poetry using the model it has created. Some of the following stanzas of poetry were written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet. Some were written by human authors (in fact the same human authors that were read and analyzed by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet). See if you can tell which are which. On a piece of paper, write down the numbers 1 through 28. Then put a C by that number if you believe that the corresponding stanza was written by the computer. Put an H if you believe the stanza was written by a human poet. The answers are in a footnote.1 Following the answers are the results obtained when the test was taken by 16 human (both adult and child) judges.
1. is beauty itself
that they were walking there. All along the new world naked,
cold, familiar wind-
2. Pink confused with white
flowers and flowers reversed
take and spill the shaded flame
darting it back
into the lamp’s horn
3. The winds of the oozy woods which wear
the ocean, with azure moss and flowers
So sweet, the purple even
I sleep in the arrows
Of the dome of death.
4. 0 thou,
Who moved among some fierce Maenad, even among noise
Between the bones sang, scattered and the silent seas.
5. She eyes me with an ingrown eye,
in the rhythm of teacup tapping
thinks of sweeping away crumbs
6. At six I cannot pray:
Pray for lovers,
through narrow streets
And pray to fly
But the Virgin in their dark wintry bed
7. What seas what shores what granite islands toward my timbers
And woodthrush calling through the fog
8. Imagine now a tree in white sails still whirled
About the leaves
will be of silences
Calm and angels
9. -and the sun, dipping into the avenues
streaking the tops of
the irregular red houselets,
the gay shadows dropping and dropping.
10. The morning and already
a perfect if slightly paled
old park turned with young women
seized in amber.
11. “Interesting book?”
dancing by the electric typewriter,
bloodless revolution of meats
strings of use,
Politic, cautious, and the fact
she is the fact
she is calling them all-
The children at his feet
he is always time
To roll it was dark,
damp, jagged, like the voice
Because of love ends.
12. Men with picked voices chant the names
of cities in a huge gallery: promises
that pull through descending stairways
to a deep rumbling.
13. Where were thou, sad Hour, selected from whose race is
Lured by the love of Autumn’s being,
Thou, from heaven is gone, where was lorn Urania
When rocked to fly with thee in her clarion o’er the arms of death.
14. Lady of Autumn’s being,
Thou, from the day, having to care
Teach us now thoroughly small and create,
And then presume?
And this, and me,
And place of the unspoken word, the unread vision in Baiae’s bay,
And the posterity of Michelangelo.
15. I am lonely, lonely.
I slap an answer myself
she hides deep within her
16. 0 my shoulders, flanks, buttocks
storms, sun, fire,
storms, sun, fire,
against flies, against weeds, storm-tides,
neighbors, weasels that waken
The silent seas.
17. the days, locked in each other’s arms,
so that squirrels and colored birds
go about at ease over
the branches and through the air.
18. I am watching ants dig tunnels and bury themselves
they go without water or love
19. Lady is sick,
to the usual reign
20. Rain is sweet, brown hair;
Distraction, music in passageways.
The time. Redeem
The world and waking, wearing
21. Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
The worlds revolve like ancient women
Gathering fuel in vacant lots.
22. I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
23. patches of all
the rigid wheeltracks.
The round sun
She smiles, Yes
you please first
with herself alone
and then dividing and over
and splashed and after you are
listening in her eyes
24. All along the road the reddish
purplish, forked, upstanding, twiggy
stuff of bushes and small trees
with dead, brown leaves under them
25. Pray for those who are branches on forever
26. Like a sod of war;
houses of small
Smell of shimmering
27. By action or by suffering, and whose hour
Was drained to its last sand in weal or woe,
So that the trunk survived both fruit or flower;-
28. is a steady burning
the road the battle’s fury-
clouds and ash and waning
The above 28-question poetic Turing test was administered to 16 human judges with varying degrees of computer and poetry experience and knowledge. The 13 adult judges scored an average of 59 percent correct in identifying the computer poem stanzas, 68 percent correct in identifying the human poem stanzas, and 63 percent correct overall. The three child judges scored an average of 52 percent correct in identifying the computer poem stanzas, 42 percent correct in identifying the human poem stanzas, and 48 percent correct overall.
The charts show the actual scores obtained by the 16 human judges as broken down by adult/child, computer experience, and poetry experience. As can be seen from the charts, there were no trends based on level of computer experience or poetry experience clearly discernible from this limited sample. The adults did score somewhat better than the children. The children scored essentially at chance level (approximately 50 percent) and the adults achieving slightly better than chance.
The next chart shows the number of correct and incorrect answers for each of the 28 poems or stanzas. While the adult judges scored somewhat better than chance (63 percent), their answers were far from perfect. The computer poet was able to trick the human judges much of the time. Some of the computer poems (numbers 15 and 28, for example) were particularly successful in tricking the judges.
We can conclude that this domain-specific Turing test has achieved some level of success in tricking human judges in its poetry-writing ability. A more difficult problem than writing stanzas of poetry is writing complete poems that make thematic, syntactic, and poetic sense across multiple stanzas. A future version of the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet is contemplated that attempts this more difficult task. To be successful, the models created by the Cybernetic Poet will require a richer understanding of the syntactic and poetic function of each word.
Even the originally proposed Turing test involving terminal interviews is notably imprecise in determining when the computer has been successful in imitating a human. How many judges need to be fooled? At what score do we consider the human judges to have been fooled? How sophisticated do the judges need to be? How sophisticated (or unsophisticated) does the human foil need to be? How much time do the judges have to make their determination? These are but a few of the many questions surrounding the Turing test. (The article “A Coffeehouse Conversation on the Turing Test” by Douglas Hofstadter in chapter 2 provides an entertaining discussion of some of these issues). It is clear that the era of computers passing the Turing test will not happen suddenly. Once computers start to arguably pass the Turing test, the validity of the tests and the testing procedures will undoubtedly be debated. The same can be said for the narrower domain-specific Turing tests.
|(13 adults, % correct)||Level of Computer experience|
|Level of poetry experience|
|Little||56||44, 69, 75||63, 75||64|
|Moderate||50, 56, 63||56, 63||75||61|
|(3 children, % correct)|
|Scores||38, 50, 69|
|(13 adults, % correct)||Level of computer experience|
|Little||83||58, 58, 100||50, 67||69|
|Moderate||60, 67, 83||58, 83||92||74|
|(3 children, % correct)|
|Scores||33, 42, 50|
|(13 adults, % correct)||Level of computer experience|
|Level of poetry experience||Little||Moderate||Professional||Average|
|Little||68||50, 64, 86||57, 71||66|
|Moderate||55, 61, 71||61, 68||82||66|
|(3 children, % correct)|
|Scores||39, 43, 61|
|Numbers of right and wrong answers for each poem stanza||Computer or human poem stanza|
|Poem stanza||No. right||No. wrong|
We have not yet reached the point at which computers can even arguably pass the originally proposed terminal-interview type of Turing test. This test requires a computer to master too many high-level cognitive skills in a single system for the computer of today to succeed. As Dan Dennett points out in his article, the unadulterated Turing test is far more difficult for a computer to pass than any more restricted version. We have, however, reached the point where computers can successfully imitate human performance within narrowly focused areas of human expertise. Expert systems, for example, are able to replicate the decision-making ability of human professionals within an expanding set of human disciplines. In at least one controlled trial, human chess experts were unable to distinguish the chess-playing style of more sophisticated computer chess players from that of humans. Indeed, computer chess programs are now able to defeat almost all human players, with the exception of a small and diminishing number of senior chess masters. Music composed by computer is becoming increasingly successful in passing the Turing test of believability. The era of computer success in a wide range of domain-specific Turing tests is arriving.
1. Four human poets were used: three famous poets (Percy Bysshe Shelley, T.S. Eliot, and William Carlos Williams) and one obscure poet (Raymond Kurzweil). In the case of the famous human poets, stanzas were selected from their most famous published work. In all cases, the stanzas selected did not require adjacent stanzas to make thematic or syntactic sense. The computer stanzas were written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after it had read poems written by these same human authors. The answers are as follows:
Poem stanza 1 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 2 written by William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 3 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Poem stanza 4 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by T. S. Eliot and Percy Bysshe Shelly
Poem stanza 5 written by Raymond Kurzweil
Poem stanza 6 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by T. S. Eliot, Raymond Kurzweil, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 7 written by T. S. Eliot
Poem stanza 8 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by Raymond Kurzweil and T. S. Eliot
Poem stanza 9 written by William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 10 written by Raymond Kurzweil
Poem stanza 11 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by Raymond Kurzweil and T. S. Eliot
Poem stanza 12 written by William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 13 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Poem stanza 14 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by T. S. Eliot and Percy Bysshe Shelley
Poem stanza 15 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by Raymond Kurzweil and William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 16 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by T. S. Eliot, Raymond Kurzweil, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 17 written by William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 18 written by Raymond Kurzweil
Poem stanza 19 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by T. S. Eliot, Raymond Kurzweil, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 20 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by Raymond Kurzweil and T. S. Eliot
Poem stanza 21 written by T. S. Eliot
Poem stanza 22 written by T. S. Eliot
Poem stanza 23 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by Raymond Kurzweil and William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 24 written by William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 25 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by T. S. Eliot, Raymond Kurzweil, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 26 written by the Kurzweil Cybernetic Poet after reading poems by Raymond Kurzweil and William Carlos Williams
Poem stanza 27 written by Percy Bysshe Shelley | <urn:uuid:d3369085-1905-485a-b59b-80e7f15804e0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-age-of-intelligent-machines-a-kind-of-turing-test | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910457 | 3,274 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Yes! Oklahoma has two introduced species of trout — rainbows and browns, with rainbow trout being far more abundant. Rainbow trout are native to the cold streams west of the Continental Divide but have been introduced here and elsewhere. The brown, or German brown trout is originally from Europe. Browns are stocked periodically in the Mountain Fork River below Broken Bow Lake and in the Illinois River below Lake Tenkiller. Rainbows are stocked approximately every two weeks at all eight of the state’s trout areas during the designated trout seasons.
Large trout are not yet commonplace in Oklahoma trout areas although "bragging" size fish are occasionally landed. When heading to one of Oklahoma's trout areas be sure to brush up on the regulations.
Use ultra-light tackle, 4-6 lb. line and very small hooks, size 8-14. Live or prepared bait is preferred, but flies and small spinners or jigs also will catch fish (artificial lures and barbless hooks are required in some areas -- check current regulations for details). Fish near large rocks and logs and in deep holes.
Also, keep these tips in mind while trout fishing:
• Trout tend to seek out and congregate in calm waters. So when fishing in swift waters, cast your bait above exposed boulders and let it drift down through the calm water on the downstream side of the outcropping.
• Most of the rainbow trout in Oklahoma are hatchery fish which are fed a pelleted diet that is high in fish oil before they are released. Adding tuna fish, sardine or salmon oil to dough bait can increase your odds for success.
• Trouble keeping that dough bait on your hook? Adding cotton to your mixture will help to keep it in place on the hook longer.
Trout in Oklahoma | <urn:uuid:1bef9719-98c5-41a6-aaec-b736d50b898d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/fishing/fishid/trout.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00200-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942178 | 364 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Forestry and climate change
Woodfuels and climate change
Wood fuels currently account for a greater share of global energy consumption than all other forms of “renewable” energy combined. Biofuels, especially fuelwood and charcoal, currently provide more than 14 percent of the world's total primary energy. Social and economic scenarios indicate a continuous growth in the demand for woodfuels that is expected to continue for several decades.
In developing countries, the dependence on such fuels is much greater; they provide about one-third of the total energy in these countries, and as much as 80 percent of energy is derived from biofuels in some sub-regions of Africa. In developed countries, wood energy (mainly for heat and power generation) is being increasingly used as an environmentally sound source of energy that provides a potential substitute for fossil fuels and has the ability to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Forest and Climate Change Programme has prepared three reports on wood fuels and their role in climate change mitigation.
The publication explores the scope and potential for woodfuels to replace fossil fuels thereby contributing to climate change mitigation. The global and regional potential for and implications of woodfuel development for climate change mitigation and the current woodfuel offset mechanisms in place and their relative emissions reduction potentials is analysed. The publication identifies a number of barriers that preclude the full use of this mitigation potential. Policy reforms to encourage environmental sustainability, increased productivity, improved infrastructure and planning are essential for large-scale implementation.
This publication examines the scope and potential for wood fuels to replace fossil fuels thereby contributing to climate change mitigation in three countries – Brazil, India and Mexico. The potential for and implications of wood fuel development for climate change mitigation is analyzed. The publication also presents the current (woodfuel) offset mechanisms in place and their relative emissions reduction potentials.
This publication assesses the environmental, social and economic issues as well as the legal and institutional frameworks that can ensure the sustainable production of woodfuels from forests, trees outside forests and other sources. The study continues FAO’s long interest in wood energy issues and complements the many other FAO reports on wood energy and sustainable forest management. | <urn:uuid:50a82126-bc12-4507-ae38-f8de7f6de456> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fao.org/forestry/climatechange/64867/en/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935626 | 443 | 3.21875 | 3 |
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Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas)
versão impressa ISSN 0103-166X
BARBOSA, Altemir José Gonçalves; CAMPOS, Renata Araújo e VALENTIM, Tássia Azevedo. Diversity in the classroom and the teacher-student relationship. Estud. psicol. (Campinas) [online]. 2011, vol.28, n.4, pp.453-461. ISSN 0103-166X. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0103-166X2011000400006.
This study aimed to identify teachers' perceptions of the teacher-student relationship, based on the application of an abridged, translated version of the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale, linking their factors to the characteristics of students in respect of the following variables: special educational needs, gender, color / race, grade and age range. Regents teachers (n=21) from six public schools in the city of Juiz de Fora (Brazil) evaluated the relationship they have with all students in their classes, amounting to a total of 495 scales related to students in the 21 rooms targeted, in the first to fifth years of elementary school. It was found that the teacher-student relationship is more confrontational and less positive when it comes to male students and those with special educational needs. There is a more positive relationship with students in the early years of school, which becomes more negative the older the student becomes. Additional research is recommended.
Palavras-chave : Diversity in the classroom; Psychosocial development; Teacher-student interaction. | <urn:uuid:4ff1648b-d5dd-4c6e-a4b8-f7b02d5466ea> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0103-166X2011000400006&lng=pt&nrm=iso&tlng=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.882543 | 371 | 2.546875 | 3 |
It's not about technology for its own sake. It's about being able to implement your ideas.
Here's a little Python function that should be easy to figure out, even if you don't know Python:
def make_filename(path): return path.lower() + ".jpg"
I want to walk through what's going on behind the scenes when this function executes. There is, of course, a whole layer of interpreting opcodes and pushing and popping parameters, but that's just noise.
The first interesting part is that the
lower() method creates an entirely new string. If
path contains a hundred characters, then all hundred of those are copied to a new string in the process of being converted to lowercase.
The second point of note is that the append operation--the plus--is doing another copy. The entire lowercased string is moved to a new location, then the four character extension is tacked on to the end. The original
path has now been copied twice.
Those previous two paragraphs gloss over some key details. Where is the memory for the new strings coming from? It's returned by a call to the Python memory allocator. As with all generic heap management functions, the execution time of the Python memory allocator is difficult to predict. There are various checks and potential fast paths and manipulations of linked lists. In the worst case, the code falls through into C's
malloc and the party continues there. Remember, too, that objects in Python have headers, which include reference counts, so there's more overhead that I've ignored.
Also, the result of
lower gets thrown out after the subsequent concatenation, so I could peek into "release memory" routine and see what's going on down in that neck of the woods, but I'd rather not. Just realize there's a lot of work going on inside the simple
make_filename function, even if the end result still manages to be surprisingly fast.
A popular criticism of functional languages is that a lack of mutable variables means that data is copied around, and of course that just has to be slow, right?
A literal Erlang translation of
make_filename behaves about the same as the Python version. The string still gets copied twice, though in Erlang it's a linked list which uses eight bytes per characters given a 32-bit build of the language. If the string in Python is Unicode (the default in Python 3), then it uses either two or four bytes per character, depending. The big difference is that memory allocation in Erlang is just a pointer increment and bounds check, and not a heavyweight call to a heap manager.
I'm not definitively stating which language is faster for this specific code, nor does it matter to me. I suspect the Erlang version ends up running slightly longer, because the lowercase function is itself written in Erlang, while Python's is in C. But all that "slow" copying of memory isn't even part of the performance discussion.
(If you liked this, you might like Functional Programming Went Mainstream Years Ago.)
permalink September 16, 2010
I'm James Hague, a recovering programmer who has been designing video games since the 1980s. Programming Without Being Obsessed With Programming and Organizational Skills Beat Algorithmic Wizardry are good starting points. For the older stuff, try the 2012 Retrospective.
Where are the comments? | <urn:uuid:290d9473-d041-46fc-8f1c-691e74bdbaa2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://prog21.dadgum.com/79.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934906 | 701 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Few of us are lucky enough to pull a pattern out of the envelope, sew it up, and have the finished garment fit perfectly. Learning how to alter sewing patterns can tremendously improve fit when you're sewing clothing. Here is a short tutorial to help you with the basics of adjusting patterns to fit.
One common alteration many people need to make is to either add or remove length to sleeve or pant patterns. Unless your pattern pieces are perfectly straight, it's not a good idea to make this pattern alteration at the bottom of the pattern piece. The reason is that you want to preserve the hem shape that is often at the bottom of these pattern pieces.
Here's how to lengthen pant legs or shirt sleeves:
If there is a "lengthen or shorten here" line marked on your pattern, use it! If not, go ahead and draw one on your pattern.
Cut the pattern along the lengthen/shorten line and tape tissue paper to one side of the cut pattern only.
Align the marked grainline of the two pattern pieces on a horizontal line on your cutting mat, measure the amount you need to add, and draw a line on the added tissue equal to that amount.
For example, if you need to add 1 inch, draw a line on the new tissue 1 inch from the lengthen/shorten line and tape the remaining cut pattern piece.
Finally, draw a new line along both side seams to form a shape similar to the original pattern. This may require that you add a little tissue under the side seam to accommodate the new line.
How to shorten pants legs or shirt sleeves
Note: Shortening pants or sleeves follows some of the same steps as lengthening.
Use or make a "shorten" line on your pattern piece, and fold the pattern along that line. At this point, I like to place the pattern piece on my cutting mat and align the pattern grainline on one of the grid lines on my mat.
Fold the pattern along the lengthen/shorten line, and fold out half the total amount of length you want to remove.
For example, if you want to shorten your pants by 2 inches, fold over 1 inch on your pattern piece. Be sure to keep the grainline on both sides of the fold straight along the grid line, and then tape down the pattern adjustment.
Lastly, draw a smooth line along the side seam line to form a shape similar to the original pattern. Congratulations! You just shortened a sleeve!
You can learn more garment adjusting techniques in Angela Wolf's class Tailoring Ready-to-Wear. | <urn:uuid:b640e8e9-ace4-47e6-beec-2149610e7ccf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/11/adjusting-patterns-to-fit/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910863 | 534 | 2.546875 | 3 |
The project takes advantage of the Department of Energy lab's proprietary content-based image retrieval technology, which is a method for sorting and finding visually similar images in large databases. Manufacturers of semiconductors have found this technology highly effective for rapidly scanning hundreds of thousands of tiny semiconductors to learn quickly about problems with manufacturing processes.
"We're adapting a proven technology and combining it with new image gathering and analysis tools to help create a database to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of blinding eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration," said project co-leader Ken Tobin of ORNL's Engineering Science & Technology Division.
Diabetic retinopathy alone will affect 239 million people worldwide by 2010, according to Tobin, who noted that this number will have doubled since 1994.
Partnering with ORNL is Edward Chaum, an ophthalmologist and Plough Foundation professor of retinal diseases at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.
Researchers plan to use digital retinal photography and optical coherence tomography -- a technique for examining living tissue non-invasively -- to image and quantify specific disease-based changes in the retina. They will develop an extensive image database of known retinal disease states for clinical validation studies.
Institutional Review Board approval was secured to enable Tobin and ORNL colleagues Tom Karnowski and Priya Govindasamy to assemble a database of thousands of fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography images representing hundreds of diagnosed human patients and retinal diseases. | <urn:uuid:b80a3bf2-7b28-4a78-9416-17ff7046c76b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-3/Combating-blindness-is-vision-of-UT--ORNL-project-13076-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00155-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91752 | 324 | 2.71875 | 3 |
DAVOS, Switzerland – Leaders gathered in the Swiss ski resort of Davos are pushing for nations worldwide to shift to cleaner energy sources as the best way to contain global warming and re-energize the global economy.
U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres, reflecting the top billing that climate change has in Davos this year, said the world economy is at risk unless a binding deal is agreed in Paris in 2015 to lower heat-trapping carbon emissions from coal and oil.
“It is important that we get the treaty because the signal to the markets, the signal to the global economy, needs to be stronger than it is right now,” she said in an Associated Press interview on Wednesday.
Nations emerged from climate talks in Poland in November with a vague road map on how to prepare for a global climate pact to stabilize warming at 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), a level countries hope will avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
Figueres says she sees “momentum growing toward this” as countries like China reduce coal use to clear polluted skies and Indonesia plants more trees to protect water resources, seeing that it’s in their national interest to develop more sustainably.
Scientists say man-made climate change is likely to worsen starvation, poverty, lack of water, flooding, heat waves, droughts and diseases, raising the spectre of more conflict and war, unless drastic action is taken to lower emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of coal, oil and gas from their current trajectories.
The global economy may continue to grow, scientists say, but if the global temperature reaches about 3 degrees F warmer than now, it could lead to worldwide economic losses between 0.2 and 2.0 per cent of income.
A World Economic Forum report says the failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change is one of the top 10 risks facing the world in 2014. The Davos forum this year also emphasizes inequality by income, gender and access to resources.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye said climate change is a problem that will take creativity to overcome.
“Climate change and environmental challenges are global in nature. As such the world must act as one in tackling them,” she said.
Disputes between countries over who should bear the burden of cutting industrial emissions have long been a barrier to action, though many argue the benefits of cleaner energy outweigh the costs of conversion.
Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said he couldn’t say whether his country would sign on to a treaty at this point. Developing economies can’t be asked to shoulder most of the burden, he told reporters in Davos, and the enormous amount of financial support that rich industrialized nations promised in aid for adapting to a warmer world “is simply not forthcoming.”
Al Gore was the headliner at a private session on how leaders can help prevent — and better communicate — catastrophic effects on public health, anti-poverty efforts, clean water and energy supplies from a rise in global temperatures above 4 degrees F.
“The climate conversation has to be won by those who are willing to speak up,” he told them. “It is a race against time, but we are going to win.”
The World Wildlife Fund, known as WWF, is among groups calling on governments to commit to action.
“There’s a rising recognition that we simply have to find a way to break through,” Jim Leape, director general of Geneva-based WWF International, told AP. “The big governments each need to renew their commitment.” | <urn:uuid:eb6ff1f2-6ea3-4446-ac2d-c4321b3f1576> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-news/at-davos-forum-political-and-business-leaders-push-for-cleaner-energy-to-limit-climate-change/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945968 | 760 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Who is an entrepreneur?
By TOM W. GLASER
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 29, 2001
It does not include the manmade or organized resources such as an orchard or a herd of cattle. These are examples of the second factor of production: capital. Even though most people think of money as capital, it's really the least important form of capital. In economic terms, capital is the human creations that produce wealth, such as a car used as a taxi, an oven used to bake food for sale, a furnace used to make steel, as well as the interest that money can earn.
The third factor is labor. This refers to all human endeavors that produce wealth, both physical and mental. Some people believe that it is the sole source of wealth, that labor alone creates value. Others believe that land is the only factor that creates wealth. Still others believe that capital is the key to wealth. But land, labor and capital have always been around, though widely unused or misused. What, then, has made these three factors of production work together to create wealth and improve people's lives?
The answer is the fourth factor of production: entrepreneurship. This is the ability to see what others who came before missed, to make connections between things that others had not, to get all three other factors to work together to create that which had not existed before. It is this insight, this creativity, that makes the other three factors productive.
Now, who is an entrepreneur? One example was a young man who was born in Bavaria in 1829 and emigrated in 1847 with his family to New York City, where his older brother opened a dry goods store (a store selling clothes, cloth, shoes, hats, almost anything but food). In 1853, he became a U.S. citizen and sailed to San Francisco to open a branch of his brother's store and become a supplier to the increasing number of miners following the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill.
He was a good businessman and his store thrived. He was so trustworthy and successful that one of his customers, Jacob Davis of Reno, Nevada, came to him with an idea. Davis was a tailor, and his customers complained that their pants started to come apart in the same places over and over, the pockets and seams. He had developed a way to rivet these stress points and used a strong fabric often used for work clothes, serge. He thought it was a good idea but lacked the $68 it took to file a patent. The San Francisco merchant saw the possibilities and became Davis' partner, and their patent was granted on May 20, 1873.
The merchant had been born Loeb Strauss, but when he became a citizen in 1853, he changed it to Levi. Similarly, the pants he made were originally called "waist overalls," and it was not until about 1960 that they were popularly called jeans. Even though much of the company's early history was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco Fire, May 20 is still celebrated by the company as the birthday of blue jeans.
Often the entrepreneur is not the person or persons who actually create the new good or service. Rather, he or she is the one who has the vision of how that idea can be turned into reality for the benefit of everyone. For example, Oliver Winchester was a successful shirt maker, but he bought the patents for the Henry lever-action repeating rifle. His faith in this invention, along with his efforts in marketing it, made it the most widely known rifle of its day and earned it the nickname of "The Gun That Won the West."
Does this mean that entrepreneurs aren't creative? Not at all! Quite the opposite, but theirs is a different kind of creativity. Often an inventor, an artist, a composer, a writer will know his or her area of interest but not know how to make others aware of their creations.
The entrepreneur's creativity finds ways for the ideas to enter the marketplace and be of benefit to all of society. Incidentally, entrepreneurs also reward those who came up with the new ideas in the first place, which encourages them to make more and better creations. People are much more likely to be creative and productive when they are promised a reward than when they are threatened with punishment if they don't create. This promise of a reward is called incentive, and incentives are possible only when there is profit.
The entrepreneur makes sure this situation happens, because when the others profit, so does the entrepreneur. He or she is no different from other members of society: The entrepreneur wants a comfortable life, and he or she realizes that the best way to do this is to get the cooperation of others. That is achieved by appealing to what motivates others, because people tend to do what's in their best interest. In a free market, no one can be forced to do anything against their interest, so the entrepreneur must motivate and organize for everyone's benefit.
* * *
CLASSROOM ACTIVITY: The Florida Council on Economic Education has loans available for students starting up their own enterprises. Brainstorm what sort of business you'd like to start as a class. Reach a consensus, because students forced to do something they don't like will not be motivated entrepreneurs. As part of the application, a business plan is required. That, along with other steps to being a successful entrepreneur, will be discussed in upcoming installments of this series.
Useful Web sites
www.levistrauss.com -- The Levi Strauss and Company home page.
www.fcee.org -- The Florida Council on Economic Education home page. Contains original lesson plans that have won the Governor's Award for Excellence in Economic Education, applications for that competition and the application for the free-enterprise student bank loan.
www.fte.org -- The Foundation for Teaching Economics home page. Contains many excellent lesson plans and the national economic standards can be found here, along with many free training opportunities.
-- Tom W. Glaser is a teacher at the School for Advanced Studies -- Wolfson in Miami.
About the Florida Council on Economic Education
About Newspaper in Education
The St. Petersburg Times devotes news space to NIE features throughout the year, including this classroom series. The Times' NIE department works with local businesses and individuals to enrich the classroom experience by providing newspapers, supplemental guides and educational services to schools in the Tampa Bay area. To find out how you can become involved in NIE, please call (727) 893-8969 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 8969. For past chapters check out http://www.sptimes.com/nie and click on Money Stuff.
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-893-8111 | <urn:uuid:0ea3838c-8144-46cf-b9ce-041852f10ef6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sptimes.com/News/032901/NIE/Who_is_an_entrepreneu.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00193-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976325 | 1,404 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Mai Kishan Kaur(1860-1959)
Mai Kishan Kaur is known for her tearless role in the Jaito agitation. She was the daughter of Suba Singh and Mai Sobham of the village of Lohgarh in Ludhiana district. The family, goldsmith by profession, later migrated to Daudhar in Moga tahsil of present-day Faridkot district. Kishan Kaur was married to Harnam Singh of Kaolike village, near Jagraon, in Ludhiana district. He was a dafadar or sergeant in cavalry who later resigned from the army and migrated to Barnala, where he died at the young age of 33. Three children, two sons and a daughter, were born to Kishan Kaur, but all of them predeceased their father. Kishan Kaur, now a childless widow, came hack to live at Golike . She took the pahul or rites of the Khalsa in 1907 and decided to devote the rest of her life to the service of the Guru. She took a leaning part, in 1912, in the construction of the historical Gurdwara dedicated to Guru Hargobind
She took active part in the Jaito agitation of 1922-24. The Government of India had forced Maharaja Ripudaman Singh, the ruler of Nabha state known for his independent attitude, to abdicate. The Sikhs of Jaito, which fell within his territory, planned to hold prayers for his well being and restoration. By order of the British-controlled state administration, a posse of armed police entered Gurdwara Gangsar, where an akhand path or non-stop recital of Guru Granth Sahib was in progress, it not only interrupted the service but also brutally imprisoned the entire sangat gathered there denying them exit and permitting no provisions from outside to reach them. Jathedar Dulla Singh and Suchcha siigh of the village of Rode organised a land of volunteers, popularly known as Durli Jatha, who collected thc required rations and managed through feint and force to unload them inside the Gurdwara compound Mai Kishan Kaur was a member of this hand which later arranged rations for the Shahidi Jathas and the huge crowds that accompanied them.
The first Shahidi Jatha, lit band of martyrs, 500 strong and vowed to non-violence, was to reach Jaito on 21 February 1924 in a bid to enter Gurdwara Gangsar at any cost to recommence the akhand path. The state Government was equally determined not to let them do so and had deployed armed police and military contingents with orders to open fire, if necessary. Mai Kishan Kaur and her companion, Bibi Tej Kaur, went to it disguised as ladies of the Hindu trading association, collected intelligence about government's plans and preparations, and joined the jatha to convey the information he jatha accordingly rescheduled their march and instead of going straight to Gurdwara Gangsar, changed course suddenly and headed for Gurdwara Tibbi Sahib, half a kilometre to the north. State troops, however, barred entry even to that shrine and opened fire on the jatha. When Kishan kaur, with her small band of volunteers, at once busied herself attending the wounded. she along with 21 others was arrested and Prosecuted. The trial commenced at Nabha on 17 May 1924 Kishan Kaur was sentenced to four years rigorous imprisonment. Released on June 1928, she was accorded a warm welcome the following day at Amritsar, where a siropa or robe of honour was bestowed on her from the Akal Takht. The Sikhs everywhere acclaimed her courage and sacrifice.
Mai Kishan Kaur continued to serve Gurdwara Gurusar at Kaonke till her last day She died there on 10 August 1959. | <urn:uuid:420462fb-4a63-489f-ae3d-a13a955875d5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sikhee.com/maikishankaurji.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978565 | 829 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Zetetic Astronomy, by 'Parallax' (pseud. Samuel Birley Rowbotham), , at sacred-texts.com
IT is well known that when a light of any kind shines through a dense medium it appears larger, or rather gives a greater "glare," at a given distance than when it is seen through a lighter medium. This is more remarkable when the medium holds aqueous particles or vapour in solution, as in a damp or foggy atmosphere. Anyone may be satisfied of this by standing within a few yards of an ordinary street lamp, and noticing the size of the flame; on going away to many times the distance, the light or "glare" upon the atmosphere will appear considerably larger. This phenomenon may be noticed, to a greater or less degree, at all times; but when the air is moist and vapoury it is more intense. It is evident that at sunrise, and at sunset, the sun's light must shine through a greater length of atmospheric air than at mid-day; besides which, the air near the earth is both more dense, and holds more watery particles in solution, than the higher strata through which the sun shines at noonday; and hence the light must be dilated or magnified, as well as modified in colour. The following diagram, fig. 66, will show also that, as the sun recedes from the meridian, over a plane surface, the light, as it strikes the atmosphere, must give a larger disc.
Let A, B, represent the upper stratum of the atmosphere; C, D, the surface of the earth; and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, the sun, in his morning, forenoon, noon, afternoon, and evening positions. It is evident that when he is in the position 1, the disc of light projected upon the atmosphere at 6, is considerably larger than the disc projected from the forenoon position, 2, upon the atmosphere at 7; and the disc at 7 is larger than that formed at 8, when the sun, at 3, is on the meridian; when at 4, the disc at 9 is again larger; and when at 5, or in the evening, the disc at 10 is again as large as at 6, or the morning position. It is evident that the above results are what must of necessity occur if the sun's path, the line of atmosphere, and the earth's surface, are parallel and horizontal lines. That such results do constantly occur is a matter of everyday observation; and we may logically deduce front it a striking argument against the rotundity of the earth, and in favour of the contrary conclusion, that it is horizontal. The atmosphere surrounding a globe would not permit of anything like the same degree of enlargement of the sun when rising and setting, as we daily see in nature. | <urn:uuid:39b86568-7f79-411a-a218-af3eca285533> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za28.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954834 | 589 | 3.421875 | 3 |
The chivalric Catholic order, The Knights of Malta, is celebrating the 900th anniversary of its recognition by the Vatican by opening soup kitchens and homeless shelters across Europe and Britain in response to the brutal economic crisis that has thrown millions of people out of their homes and jobs.
In February of the year 1113, Pope Paschal II issued a bull (or decree) granting recognition to The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and Malta (the formal name of the group) during a time when Europeans fought to restore Christianity in the Holy Land and Jerusalem, i.e., The Crusades.
The Order originated in the prior century, when a monk established an infirmary in Jerusalem to care for pilgrims in the Holy Land. During the Crusades, the order adopted more of a military countenance, while maintaining its humanitarian mandates.
The papal bull indicated that the Knights would be independent from bishops or any secular authorities – and, in a sense, provided the Order with its own "sovereignty."
In the modern world, the Rome-based Knights – some 98,000-member strong – assist in humanitarian efforts in crisis hotspots around the globe, including Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti and Afghanistan.
Continue Reading Below
On the whole, the religious order operates hospitals, ambulance services and senior citizens’ homes on six continents.
Now, given the immense financial hardships faced by the British and Europeans in the wake of drastic spending reductions and job cuts, the Knights have moved their charitable efforts more toward the continent.
"We are observing with great concern the fact that the economic crisis is leading to greater numbers of unemployed, more homeless and more people falling through the social net," Albrecht Boeselager, a senior member of the Knights, told The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"The number of people who come to our soup kitchens and medical clinics is increasing dramatically. In the 27 nations of Europe, there are now 26 million people out of work. We're establishing a stronger presence in Britain than ever before. Until now our main activity in the UK was to run homes for the elderly."
In Britain, the Knights have already run such facilities in Oxford and Brighton, and will soon introduce new centers in London and Glasgow.
"We're adapting to current necessities, as we have done for a thousand years," said Philippa Leslie, a British spokeswoman for the Knights.
The Knights of Malta have a lengthy and fascinating history.
After failing to secure for Jerusalem for Christianity, the Order relocated to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, then to Rhodes, and finally to Malta (hence, their current name).
Before Napoleon of France evicted the Order from Malta (which they ruled for centuries), they moved to Rome.
Knights themselves are not priests, and they traditionally have come from European nobility.
One of the most unique "stateless sovereign states" in the world, the Knights keep diplomatic relations with more than 100 nations; have their own constitution, courts, legal codes; and issue their own coins, stamps, license plates and even passports. The Order also has observer status at the U.N.
The Telegraph noted that Matthew Festing, a former auctioneer at Sotheby's, now heads the Order. He holds the grandiloquent title of His Most Eminent Highness, The Prince and Grand Master of the Knights of Malta.
"It is, I suppose, a series of contradictions," Festing, an Englishman, told the Associated Press.
"I'm on the inside of [the Order], so it doesn't seem to be contradictory to me, but maybe it is. On the one hand it's a sovereign entity. On the other hand it's a religious order. On the other hand it's a humanitarian organization. It's a complicated mixture of things.”
Pope Benedict XVI, who will honor the Knights in a procession on Saturday, is himself a Professed Knight.
Festing commented on how some may view the Order as an archaic remnant of the Middle Ages.
"It's not exactly out of date, but you can't maintain that in the 21st century," he noted.
"In general terms, in the old countries of Europe, we maintain the nobiliary requirement to an extent. But only to an extent. But in places like Australia, Central America, North America, Southeast Asia, it's all done on a different basis."
The Order has an annual budget of some 200 million euros ($271 million), largely funded by European governments, the U.N. and EU.
Moreover, the Knights have sometimes been criticized for serving as a wealthy elitist gentleman’s club.
"We certainly don't want to be, and in fact we're not a sort of rich man's club," Festing told AP.
"To a sort of an extent you could say, 'Well maybe they are, slightly.' But that's not the basis of it, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten in."
Perhaps the most famous (and controversial) Knight of all was the acclaimed Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, who was inducted as a member by Alof de Wignacourt, Grand Master of the Knights, in the early 17th century. After producing a number of well-received works under the patronage of the Knights, the tempestuous and Caravaggio fell afoul of the Order and was arrested and imprisoned (allegedly for assaulting a fellow Knight during a drunken brawl). He was later expelled from the Order. | <urn:uuid:5aa560b2-51f0-4696-835c-0b898c31b5af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ibtimes.com/knights-malta-remnant-middle-ages-open-shelters-soup-kitchens-across-europe-1065816 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00125-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960886 | 1,144 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Module 1—Introduction to Matter, Energy, and Direct Current
i - ix
, 1-1 to 1-10
1-11 to 1-20
, 1-21 to 1-30
1-41 to 1-50
, 1-51 to 1-60
1-61 to 1-65
, 2-1 to 2-10
2-11 to 2-20
, 2-21 to 2-29
3-1 to 3-10
, 3-11 to 3-20
3-21 to 3-30
, 3-31 to 3-40
3-41 to 3-50
, 3-51 to 3-60,
3-61 to 3-70
, 3-71 to 3-80
3-81 to 3-90
, 3-91 to 3-100
3-101 to 110
, 3-111 to 3-120
3-121 to 3-126
, Appendix I
the current through R2 and R3, refer to the original circuit, figure 3-54(A). You know ER2
and ER3 from previous
To find power used by R2 and R3, using values from previous calculations: Given:
Now that you have solved for the unknown quantities in this circuit, you can apply what you have learned
to any series, parallel, or combination circuit. It is important to remember to first look at the circuit and
from observation make your determination the type circuit, what is known, and what you are looking for. A minute
spent in this manner may save you many unnecessary calculations.
Having computed all the currents and
voltages figure 3-54, a complete description the operation the circuit can be made. The total current 3 amps leaves
the negative terminal the battery and flows through the 8-ohm resistor (R1). In so doing, a voltage drop 24 volts
occurs across resistor R1. At point A, this 3-ampere current divides into two currents. the total current, 1.8
amps flows through the 20-ohm resistor. The remaining current 1.2 amps flows from point A, down through the 30-ohm
resistor to point B. This current produces a voltage drop 36 volts across the 30-ohm resistor. (Notice that the
voltage drops across the 20- and 30-ohm resistors are the same.) The two branch currents 1.8 and 1.2 amps combine
at junction B and the total current 3 amps flows back to the source. The action the circuit has been completely
described with the exception power consumed, which could be described using the values previously computed.
It should be pointed out that the combination circuit is not difficult to solve. The key to its solution
lies in knowing the order in which the steps the solution must be accomplished. Practice Circuit
Figure 3-55 is a typical combination circuit. To make sure you understand the techniques
solving for the unknown quantities, solve for ER1.
Figure 3-55.—Combination practice circuit.
It is not necessary to solve for all the values in the circuit to compute the voltage drop across
resistor R1 (E R1). First look at the circuit and determine that the values given do not provide enough
information to solve for ER1 directly.
If the current through R1 (IR1) is known, then ER1
can be computed by applying the formula:
The following steps will be used to solve the problem.
1. The total resistance (RT) is calculated
by the use equivalent resistance. Given:
Redraw the circuit as shown in figure 3-55(B). Given:
Redraw the circuit as shown in figure 3-55(C). Given:
2. The total current (IT) is now computed. Given:
3. Solve for the voltage dropped across Req2. This represents the voltage dropped across the network R1,
R2, and R3 in the original circuit.
4. Solve for the current through Req1. (Req1 represents the network R1 and R2 in the
original circuit.) Since the voltage across each branch a parallel circuit is equal to the voltage across the
equivalent resistor representing the circuit:
5. Solve for the voltage dropped across R1 (the quantity you were asked to find). Since Reqi represents
the series network R1 and R2 and total current flows through each resistor in a series circuit, IR1
must equal IReq1.
Q42. Refer to figure 3-55(A). If the following resistors were replaced with the values indicated:
R1 = 900, R3 = 1k , what is the total power in the circuit? What is ER2?
REDRAWING CIRCUITS FOR CLARITY
You will notice that the schematic diagrams you have been
working with have shown parallel circuits drawn as neat square figures, with each branch easily identified.
In actual practice the wired circuits and more complex schematics are rarely laid out in this simple form.
For this reason, it is important for you to recognize that circuits can be drawn in a variety ways, and to learn
some the techniques for redrawing them into their simplified form. When a circuit is redrawn for clarity or to
its simplest form, the following steps are used.
i. Trace the current paths in the circuit.
2. Label the junctions in the circuit.
3. Recognize points which are at
the same potential.
4. Visualize a rearrangement, “stretching“ or “shrinking,“ connecting wires.
Redraw the circuit into simpler form (through stages if necessary).
To redraw any circuit, start at the
source, and trace the path current flow through the circuit. At points where the current divides, called JUNCTIONS,
parallel branches begin. These junctions are key points reference in any circuit and should be labeled as you
find them. The wires in circuit schematics are assumed to have NO RESISTANCE and there is NO VOLTAGE drop along
any wire. This means that any unbroken wire is at the same voltage all along its length, until it is interrupted
by a resistor, battery, or some other circuit component. In redrawing a circuit, a wire can be “stretched“ or
“shrunk“ as much as you like without changing any electrical characteristic the circuit.
is a schematic a circuit that is not drawn in the box-like fashion used in previous illustrations. To redraw this
circuit, start at the voltage source and trace the path for current to the junction marked (a). At this junction
the current divides into three paths. If you were to stretch the wire to show
the three current paths, the
circuit would appear as shown in figure 3-56(B).
Figure 3-56.—Redrawing a simple parallel circuit.
While these circuits may appear to be different, the two drawings actually represent the same circuit.
The drawing in figure 3-56(B) is the familiar box-like structure and may be easier to work with. Figure 3-57(A)
is a schematic a circuit shown in a box-like structure, but may be misleading. This circuit in reality is a series-parallel
circuit that may be redrawn as shown in figure 3-57(B). The drawing in part (B) the figure is a simpler representation
the original circuit and could be reduced to just two resistors in parallel.
Figure 3-57.—Redrawing a simple series-parallel circuit.
Redrawing a Complex Circuit
Figure 3-58(A) shows a complex circuit that may
be redrawn for clarification in the following steps.
Figure 3-58.—Redrawing a complex circuit.
NOTE: As you redraw the circuit, draw it in simple box-like form. Each time you reach a junction,
a new branch is created by stretching or shrinking the wires.
Start at the negative terminal the voltage
source. Current flows through R1 to a junction and divides into three paths; label this junction (a). Follow
one the paths current through R2 and R3 to a junction where the current divides into two more paths.
This junction is labeled (b).
The current through one branch this junction goes through R5
and back to the source. (The most direct path.) Now that you have completed a path for current to the source,
return to the last junction, (b). Follow current through the other branch from this junction. Current flows from
junction (b) through R4 to the source. All the paths from junction (b) have been traced. Only one path from
junction (a) has been completed. You must now return to junction (a) to complete the other two paths. From junction
(a) the current flows through R7 back to the source. (There are no additional branches on this path.) Return
to junction (a) to trace the third path from this junction. Current flows through R6 and R8
and comes to a junction. Label this junction (c). From junction (c) one path for current is through R9
to the source. The other path for current from junction (c) is through R10 to the source. All the junctions
in this circuit have
now been labeled. The circuit and the junction can be redrawn as shown in figure 3-58(C). It is much
easier to recognize the series and parallel paths in the redrawn circuit.
Q43. What is the total
resistance the circuit shown in figure 3-59? (Hint: Redraw the circuit to simplify and then use equivalent resistances
to compute for RT.)
Figure 3-59.—Simplification circuit problem.
Q44. What is the total resistance the circuit shown in figure 3-60?
Figure 3-60.—Source resistance in a parallel circuit.
Q45. What effect does the internal resistance have on the rest the circuit shown in figure 3-60?
EFFECTS OPEN AND SHORT CIRCUITS
Earlier in this chapter the terms open and short
circuits were discussed. The following discussion deals with the effects on a circuit when an open or a short
The major difference between an open in a parallel circuit and an open in a series circuit is that
in the parallel circuit the open would not necessarily disable the circuit. If the open condition occurs in a
series portion the circuit, there will be no current because there is no complete path for current flow. If, on
the other hand, the open occurs in a parallel path, some current will still flow in the circuit. The parallel
branch where the open occurs will be effectively disabled, total resistance the circuit will INCREASE, and total
current will DECREASE.
To clarify these points, figure 3-61 illustrates a series parallel circuit. First
the effect an open in the series portion this circuit will be examined. Figure 3-61(A) shows the normal circuit,
RT = 40 ohms and IT = 3 amps. In figure 3-61(B) an open is shown in the series portion the circuit,
there is no complete path for current and the resistance the circuit is considered to be infinite.
Figure 3-61.—Series-parallel circuit with opens.
In figure 3-61(C) an open is shown in the parallel branch R3. There is no path for current
through R3. In the circuit, current flows through R1 and R2 only. Since there is only one path
for current flow, R1 and R2 are effectively in series.
Under these conditions RT = 120
and IT = 1 amp. As you can see, when an open occurs in a parallel branch, total circuit resistance increases
and total circuit current decreases.
A short circuit in a parallel network has an effect similar to a short
in a series circuit. In general, the short will cause an increase in current and the possibility component damage
regardless the type
Introduction to Matter, Energy, and Direct Current,
to Alternating Current and Transformers, Introduction to Circuit Protection,
Control, and Measurement
, Introduction to Electrical Conductors, Wiring Techniques,
and Schematic Reading
, Introduction to Generators and Motors
Introduction to Electronic Emission, Tubes, and Power Supplies,
Introduction to Solid-State Devices and Power Supplies
Introduction to Amplifiers, Introduction to
Wave-Generation and Wave-Shaping Circuits
, Introduction to Wave Propagation, Transmission
Lines, and Antennas
, Microwave Principles,
, Introduction to Number Systems and Logic Circuits, Introduction
to Microelectronics, Principles of Synchros, Servos, and Gyros
Introduction to Test Equipment
, Radar Principles,
The Technician's Handbook,
Master Glossary, Test Methods and Practices,
Introduction to Digital Computers,
Magnetic Recording, Introduction to Fiber Optics | <urn:uuid:8525b5a4-d84e-4122-811a-da8b14a2b3f7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/NEETS-Modules/NEETS-Module-01-3-81-3-90.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890108 | 2,748 | 3.546875 | 4 |
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
|Previous: Brooke-Popham, Henry Robert Moore||Table of Contents||Next: Brooks, John B.|
|9767 tons standard|
|608'4" by 61'8" by 21'6"
185.42m by 18.82m by 6.93m
8 5"/25 AA guns
8 0.50 machine guns
5.625" (15.88mm) belt tapering to 3.7" (83mm) backed by 25lb STS steel
5" (127mm) machnery bulkheads tapering to 2" (51mm)
2" (51mm) internal longitudinal magazine protection
3.7" (93mm) magazine bulkheads
2" (51mm) armor deck
6.5"/2"/1.25" (165mm/51mm/38mm) turret front/roof/sides and rear
6" 152mm) barbettes
5" (127mm) conning tower
||4-shaft Parsons geared turbine
8 Babcock & Wilcox boilers
|1982 tons fuel oil|
|10,000 nautical miles at 15 knots|
||Mark 3 radar
1942: Added 2 3"/50 AA guns
1945: Light antiaircraft armament typically 4x4, 6x2 40mm guns and 10x2 20mm Oerlikon AA guns.
were completed during 1938-1939 and
were the most modern and powerful light cruisers with which the U.S.
began the war. The design arose out of the London Conference of
1930, where the U.S. reluctantly agreed to a freeze on further heavy cruiser construction.
This forced the U.S. Navy to turn to light cruiser construction. Though
design studies began as soon as the London Treaty was ratified, a final
design was not accepted until 1934, due to increased awareness of the
need for antiaircraft protection and the appearance of the Japanese Mogamis
with their (initial) armament of 15 6" guns.
The final design matched the enormous number of guns on the Mogamis and used a protection scheme similar to that of the New Orleans-class heavy cruisers, making them the best-protected modern light cruisers in the world (only the Mogamis came close). However, the Brooklyns proved somewhat structurally weak, and their machinery was not well dispersed. They could carry up to six seaplanes in their large hangers, but the usual complement was four.
Gogin (2010; accessed 2013-2-6)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014 by Kent G. Budge. Index
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The preservation of immovable cultural propertysuch as archaeological sites, wall paintings, and historic architectureposes many complex challenges. The goal of building materials research is to extend the lifespan of these systems by understanding their behavior and by aiding conservators in the development and implementation of appropriate preventive and active interventions.
The GCI investigates material properties and decay mechanisms, and works to optimize treatments. The Science department has specialized in the areas of stone conservation, mortars and grouts, and earthen materials. Institute staff use a wide range of scientific instruments and methods to evaluate the physical properties of these inorganic materials and the interventions used to preserve them. Important research themes include characterization, treatment and retreatment, development of new methods of evaluation, and investigation of the effects of moisture on building materials.
The full scope of the Institute's research in building materials includes study of: 1) the technology of production; 2) the factors affecting the decay of these materials; 3) the mechanisms by which the materials deteriorate; and 4) the design and optimization of methods to mitigate damage and loss. To determine if an intervention is effective, scientists evaluate material behavior before and after the intervention.
This research is disseminated to the conservation community and the general public. GCI scientists contribute original research, as well as review articles and books, to help synthesize and disseminate knowledge in the conservation of building materials.
A recent example of GCI research in building materials is an effort to optimize the properties of grouts used for the reattachment of ancient wall paintings at the site of Herculaneum in Italy. Another is an evaluation of desalination treatments in the humid environment of New Orleans at the oldest home in the French Quarter (Madame John's Legacy). A third example is a project to address the rapid deterioration of magnesian limestone structures in northern England, such as Howden Minster, by determining the important properties of the stone, evaluating the decay mechanisms, and testing new treatments.
Current GCI Science projects in this area:
Last updated: June 2009 | <urn:uuid:b4a0a4fb-8076-4df8-8f89-a18729ff9a25> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.getty.edu/conservation/about/science/building_mr.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923753 | 416 | 3.453125 | 3 |
New Reagent Delivers A Chemical Breakthrough
"Build a better mousetrap," the saying goes, "and the world will beat a path to your door." In the complex field of organic chemistry, that path leads to Florida State University, where a newly developed substance could make the jobs of scientists throughout the world a little easier as they work to develop new drugs and other chemicals that benefit humanity.
Researchers from the Dudley Laboratory at FSU have invented a reagent -- a substance used in a chemical reaction to detect, measure, examine or produce other substances -- that can trap specific regions of complex molecules in such a way that those molecules can be released at a later time. This will allow scientists to perform complex experiments involving chemical synthesis much more easily and precisely.
"It isn't every day that one can put a new product on the market," said Gregory B. Dudley, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at FSU whose research lab bears his name.
"Even more exciting for me is the knowledge that scientific breakthroughs in biomedical research and various other areas of organic chemistry might be made possible as a result of this reagent," Dudley said.
The Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Company has licensed Dudley's patent-pending reagent from FSU and recently began marketing it to chemical research labs worldwide under the name "Bn-OPT" -- short for BeNzylOxyPyridinium Triflate. FSU will receive royalties from Sigma-Aldrich in the amount of 5 percent of net sales of the reagent.
Bn-OPT is designed to be employed as part of what Dudley refers to as "protecting group strategies" in organic synthesis. 2-Benzyloxy-1-methylpyridinium trifluoromethanesulfonate -- the rather unwieldy chemical name for the new reagent - converts vulnerable hydroxy groups, also known as alcohols, into benzyl ethers upon warming. These less-reactive benzyl ethers provide "protection" for alcohols during chemical synthesis. Bn-OPT emerged from his lab's basic research in organic chemistry, and researchers now are studying the reagent in search of new applications.
"Benzyl ethers have always played an important role in organic chemistry, but their use has been limited by difficulties in preparing them," Dudley said. "This reagent solves some of the problems associated with making benzyl ethers."
Professor Joseph Schlenoff, the interim chairman of FSU's department of chemistry and biochemistry, hailed Dudley as a young educator whose work is helping others both in and out of the classroom.
"Greg is one of our rising stars, both in teaching and research in the area of synthetic organic chemistry," Schlenoff said. "His discovery of this important new chemical reagent will bring significant attention to our department and to the cutting-edge research that is being conducted here."
A scientific paper written by Dudley and an FSU postdoctoral associate, Wing C. "Kevin" Poon, was published last year in the Journal of Organic Chemistry. That paper, which describes the process for creating the reagent, can be viewed at http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/article.cgi/joceah/2006/71/i10/html/jo0602773.html.
Florida State University. March 2007.
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Read and Write Graphic Novels! Yes, Graphic Novels Are Literature!
- Grades: PreK–K, 1–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12
I’ve always loved comics. To me they’re literature as well as art. A big part of teaching reading is enticing students to read — connecting them with books, and showing them reading really is fun.
I’ve always loved comics. To me they’re literature as well as art. A big part of teaching reading is enticing students to read — connecting them with books, and showing them reading really is fun. In an increasingly visual, screen-oriented world, and with students who are visual learners, graphic novels are a natural way to engage students in reading. And once students have caught the graphic novel excitement, they’ll want to write their own comics.
READ ON to discover books you and your students will enjoy.
Image from the Tintin series by Georges Remi.
For Younger Readers
The Bone Series by Jeff Smith
You’ll want to explore the Bone section of Scholastic.com to learn all about the adventures of the Bone cousins. Students can play Bone games, create Bone comics, and share what they learn about author Jeff Smith.
Babymouse by Jennifer and Matthew Holm
I know a group of 2nd and 3rd grade girls who are crazy about Babymouse! Most are beginning readers who are thrilled to be able to read an entire book in one sitting. Librarian friends tell me Babymouse books are constantly in circulation.
Old Favorites in New Format
You likely enjoyed reading the adventures of baby-sitters Mary Anne, Claudia, Kristy, and Stacey when you were growing up. The Baby-Sitter’s Club books have been reissued both in novel and graphic novel formats. Online games and activities add to the fun!
The Boxcar Children Series Created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
These adventure/mystery books about a family of four orphaned children, Henry, Jesse, Violet, and Benny Alden, have long been favorites of readers in grades 2–6. Now the Boxcar Children titles are available as graphic novels and are more accessible for students. Check out this activity guide for crossword puzzles, word searches, and more!
For Older Readers
I first discovered Alex Rider books while listening to NPR on my commute, during a radio interview with author Anthony Horowitz. Alex Rider, the series’ hero, is a 14-year-old boy who is thrust into the role of James Bond-like spy when his uncle is mysteriously killed. The graphic novel versions of the books are a great introduction to the characters and plot and may inspire readers to pick up the Alex Rider novels as their reading skills grow.
And there are the Adventures of Tintin books by Belgian writer Georges Remi. These graphic novels with a boy as a main character were originally written in the mid-twentieth century in French. The books are available in English and remain popular today.
Redwall by Brian Jacques, adapted by Stuart Moore
The Redwall series by British author Brian Jacques is a much loved classic. These fantasy-adventure novels have animals as main characters and can be read aloud to 3rd or 4th graders. Nine- and 10-year-olds will be able to read the intense and scary graphic novel themselves. The graphic novel is only 143 pages, while Redwall, the novel, is 352 pages of excitement!
And One Wordless Book
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
The Arrival by Australian author Shaun Tan is a fantasy story about immigration with themes common among immigrant stories, like isolation, confusion, and misunderstanding. This book of sepia drawings is deceptively complex, making it more appropriate for older readers.
Encourage Your Students to Write Comics!
One year I had a student who wrote 36 comics. He had his own book box for his collection. When he finished each comic, he shared it at Morning Meeting. We all looked forward to the next installment in his series.
You and your graphic novelists might explore online comic book resources, such as Comic Creator at readwritethink.org, the site of the IRA and NCTE. At the Comic Book Project, you'll find ideas to inspire an entire class. There you may also purchase materials that will further motivate your students. And free, blank comic book templates from Hoover Web Design will help students get started on their comic creations. | <urn:uuid:0547be1b-982e-470e-b9a1-caee52bad60f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2010/11/read-and-write-graphic-novels-yes-graphic-novels-are-literature | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00139-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964676 | 933 | 3.46875 | 3 |
In Sula, Toni Morrison explores a community’s role in the individual’s search for wholeness. The story begins at the end, after the African American community known as “the Bottom” has been destroyed and replaced with a golf course. The narrator reveals the history of “the Bottom” forty years before it was destroyed, in chapters titled simply by the year of focus, beginning with 1919 and ending with 1965.
The community gained its name from a joke played on a slave by a white farmer. After promising his slave freedom and land upon the completion of some difficult chores, the farmer did not want to part with his choice land. So he told the slave that the hilly land—difficult to plant and plagued by high winds and sliding soil—was the bottom of heaven, the “best land there is.” Consequently, the slave accepted the land, and “the Bottom” is where Sula Peace and Nel Wright are born.
Nel, her mother Helene, and her father live in a home Nel considers to be oppressively neat. Carefully groomed by her mother, who is admired in the community for her beauty and grace, Nel prefers the disorder that she finds in Sula’s home, where “something was always cooking on the stove, . . . the mother, Hannah, never scolded or gave directions” and “all sorts of people dropped in.” During her only trip outside Medallion, ten-year-old Nel meets Helene’s estranged mother and sees her own mother’s usual grace disturbed by Southern remnants of racist oppression. Nel and Helene must sit in the “colored only” car of the train, and because there were no “colored only” restrooms past Birmingham, they urinate in the woods when the train stops. Helene is pleased to return home. After Nel insists, Helene welcomes the young Sula into her home, in spite of Hannah Peace’s reputation for being “sooty.”
Sula and Nel’s development into adults follows some predictable and some unpredictable patterns. Nel becomes a carbon copy of her mother. She marries, has children, and bases her entire identity on the roles of mother and wife, an identity disrupted by her best friend. After attending college and traveling to some major American cities, Sula returns to Medallion, where she continues her mother’s legacy of promiscuity and has her mean-spirited grandmother placed, against her will, in a home for the elderly.
To Nel’s dismay, Sula has sex with Nel’s husband, Jude. Feeling betrayed by her husband and her best friend, Nel says that her life and her “thighs . . . [are] truly empty and dead.” After nearly three years of not speaking to each other, Nel visits Sula after hearing that she is sick. Nel leaves unsatisfied with Sula’s shallow reason for having sex with Jude. Sula dies of an unnamed illness at the age of thirty.
On January 3, 1941, the National Suicide Day after Sula’s death, Shadrack continues his tradition, although with less passion since he misses Sula. This year, many town members participate in his parade. They march gayly to “the white part of town,” distinguished by the tunnel excavation and beginnings of remodeling for the city. Angered by not being permitted to work on the renovations, many citizens of “the Bottom” crowd into the tunnel as an action of self-assertion and protest. Unfortunately, the tunnel collapses, killing an unspecified number of them (approximately twelve to fifteen).
By 1965, the hills of “the Bottom” are largely populated by whites, and the narrator laments the lack of cohesion among the African Americans who have moved to the valley. As the narrator notes, there were not as many spontaneous visits and everyone had his or her own television and telephone. After Nel visits Eva in the home for the elderly, Nel remembers calling the hospital, mortuary, and police after Sula’s body was found—eyes open and mouth open—in Eva’s bed. Only after Nel leaves the cemetery does she discover that all the pain and loneliness that she had been feeling was from missing having Sula in her life, not Jude. | <urn:uuid:d5ff72b0-0885-43c6-8497-5c18e69ee872> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enotes.com/topics/sula/in-depth | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981274 | 931 | 3.203125 | 3 |
BUOYANCY OR WHAT FLOATS YOUR BOAT
Grades 5 - 8
In this lesson, students will learn as Bill Nye the Science
Guy discovers buoyancy. In this episode Bill Nye explores buoyancy through
cars that are boats, real and toy boats, personal flotation devices, SCUBA,
and human powered submarines. Students will observe two teacher demonstrations
of buoyancy and perform two hands-on activities that (1) when objects like
boats are placed in water they displace some of the water, (2) if an object
placed in water weighs the same or less than the amount of water it displaces
it will float, and (3) buoyancy also is responsible for allowing helium
and hot air balloons to float.
Bill Nye the Science Guy: Discovers Buoyancy
Students will be able to:
- determine the volume of water displaced by an object placed in water.
- determine the mass of water displaced by an object placed in water.
- identify that when the mass of water displaced is equal to or greater
than the mass of the object, the object will float.
- describe the rise of a hot air balloon in terms of molecular spacing
- determine the buoyancy of different objects in water.
- design a boat that will carry cargo.
- compare various boat shapes to cargo- carrying capacity.
"Coke Float" (Teacher Demonstration):
- one can Diet Coke
- one can regular Coke
- one two gallon transparent container of water
For each student:
- 1 Telecast Assessment Sheet (provided in Addendum)
"Pen Top Submarines" (Per student group of 2-4):
- one pen top
- one two liter bottle with cap
- marble-size ball of modeling clay
"Hot Air Balloon" (Teacher demonstration):
"What Floats Your Boat" (Per student group of 2-4):
- one plastic dry cleaning bag
- one electric hair dryer
- transparent tape
- 1 Buoyancy Homework Sheet FOR EACH STUDENT
- 1 "What Floats Your Boat" directions sheet (provided in
- 1 set of "What Floats Your Boat" data sheets (provided in
- one stick of modeling clay
- one container at least 500 ml capacity
- small masses such as washers, BB's, pennies, pinto beans, gram cubes
- one balance
The teacher will set up a demonstration that is designed to
pique student curiosity. Use an aquarium, or any transparent container,
that will hold at least two gallons. Fill it two-thirds full with water.
As class begins pass out the Telecast Assessment Sheet and tell students,
"Today I am going to show you an amazing sight. I have here two identically
sized cans of soft drink made by the same company. One is a diet drink and
one is a regular drink. What do you think will happen when I place each
of them in this container of water?" Allow time for students to respond.
Write their hypotheses on the board.
Teacher: "Now, observe carefully as I place each one in the water.
What is happening?" Write their observations on the board beside the
Teacher: "I would like for you to keep these hypotheses and observations
in mind and answer the PRE-VIDEO question on your Telecast Assessment Sheet.
We will return to our "Coke Float" after several days and see
if we can determine what may be responsible for our observations."
Each student will have a Telecast Assessment Sheet (TAS).
The teacher will go over the remaining questions/activities on the Telecast
Assessment Sheet. Begin the TAS review with "Be sure that you have
answered the PRE-VIDEO section of your Telecast Assessment Sheet. As we
watch "Bill Nye, The Science Guy, Buoyancy" we will stop and do
the INTERACTIVE section. After the video we will answer the POST-VIDEO section."
Go over all the question on the TAS.
Day 1: Start the video from the beginning, after the
PAUSE when Bill pours the water back into the boat mold.
Review with students that when an object like the boat is placed in water
it pushes the water out of the way.
PAUSE when Bill puts the water and the boat on the balance. Review
with students that the mass of water displaced balances the mass of the
PAUSE after the segment demonstrating the effect of shape on floating.
Review with students that shape makes a difference in floating and sinking.
PAUSE after the segment demonstrating a personal flotation device
(PFD). Discuss the question on the TAS concerning the buoyant force
stated on a PFD and allow students to arrive at the answer.
PAUSE after the "Try this" segment with the "Pen Top
Submarine." Have students do the "Try this Pen Top Submarine"
and answer the TAS question. End of Day 1. (If time becomes
a problem the "Try this" segment could be done at the beginning
of Day 2.) Collect the TAS.
Day 2: Return the TAS from Day 1. The teacher should
conduct a brief review of the previous day's lesson. If the "Try this
Pen Top Submarine" was not conducted on Day 1 do it now.
RESUME the video.
PAUSE after the segment where a "Hot Air Balloon" is demonstrated.
Do the teacher demonstration of the plastic bag "Hot Air Balloon."
RESUME and play through to the end.
Have students answer the TAS. Hand out the Homework Sheet
for "What Floats Your Boat." The Homework Sheet should
be collected following the "What Floats Your Boat" activity.
Day 3-5. The teacher will introduce the activity by returning
the scored Telecast Assessment Sheet and going over the answers to
the TAS found on the "Answer Key" for the TAS. To
complete this lesson return to the Coke Float hypotheses from the introduction.
Teacher: "Would you revise your hypothesis for the Coke Float based
on the Bill Nye, The Science Guy, Buoyancy episode?" Allow students
to elaborate on their answer to the question. Students may have suggested
a number of reasons for the observation that the diet drink floats while
the regular drink sinks. Among the usual suggestions are:
- one drink contains more caffeine than the other
- one drink contains more carbon dioxide than another
- one drink contains more volume than another
- sugar is heavier than sweetener
If the teacher doesn't wish to prolong the discussion and data collection
she could read the content labels on the cans to the students:
- state that the cans contain the same total volume
- state that artificial sweeteners weigh much less than sugar in equal
volumes and that the amount of sweetener used in diet drinks is much less
in volume than the amount of sugar used in regular drinks.
Therefore diet drinks are less dense, more buoyant, than regular drinks.
If the teacher desires, this activity can be extended for several days.
The drinks could be weighed. The drinks could be opened and the volume determined.
The drinks could be allowed to "go flat" to see if carbonation
was a cause.
Students could mass an equal volume of sweetener and sugar to compare mass
Students could determine the density of each drink.
Follow the Coke Float discussion with the "What Floats Your Boat"
Teacher: "Now, we are going to perform an investigation that examines
the concepts presented in the "Bill Nye, The Science Guy, Buoyancy"
video. Determine the size of student group you will use. This activity will
work well with student teams of four.
Pass out the directions and Data Sheet for the activity.
Teacher: "Let's begin by reading over the directions for the activity."
Read the activity sheet with the students. Assign duties to members of each
team: -primary investigator -materials specialist -data specialist -quality
Indicate the location where students are to pick up and return the materials
needed. Emphasize that students should pat dry the modeling clay with paper
towels and reshape it into a ball before returning it.
Set up a Class Data Table on the board or on an acetate for the overhead
projector. Students conduct "What Floats Your Boat" and report
their results on the Class Data Table and by completing the Activity
Sheet. This activity should take approximately 45-60 minutes to complete.
If it is necessary to break it up into two class periods have students collect
the data one day and analyze it to complete the Data Sheet the next. At
the end of class remind students that the Homework Sheet is to be
returned the following day.
On the following day the teacher will go over the class results from "What
Floats Your Boat." Discuss the designs that were most successful. Be
sure to allow students to provide their reasons for the designs that were
most successful. Be sure to allow students to provide their reasons for
the design's success. Collect the Student Data Sheets for each group.
Teacher: "Students take out your Homework Sheets. Exchange them
with other students on your team. Read over them in your group, then we
will have one member of each team report to the class on what your team
discovered." After team discussion one member of each team should give
a summary report of their results from the Homework Sheet.
An "Examples of Buoyancy" bulletin board could be
maintained in the classroom throughout the remainder of the school year.
A SCUBA diver could be invited to show students her gear and tell how the
concept of buoyancy is used in diving.
- Students could build and fly tissue paper of hot air balloons. Directions
- Students could learn and present the "Bill's Got A Boat"
rap. Text included.
- Students could develop a mini buoyancy lesson to present to students
in a lower grade.
Bill Nye, The Science Guy, Buoyancy "What Floats Your Boat"
Pick up the materials your group will need.
- modeling clay
- clear plastic container (the bottom part of a two liter bottle)
- metric ruler
Put a strip of tape on the outside of the container from top to bottom.
This will be where you mark the changes in water level.
Determine the mass of one of the objects you will use t o add weight to
your boat. Record this mass in the data table.
Fill the container two-thirds full of water. Make a mark on the tape strip
on the outside at the water level.
Make a ball of the modeling clay. Determine the mass of the clay ball. Record
the mass of the clay in the data table.
Drop it into the water. Mark the new water level on the tape. Use the ruler
to measure the change in water level. Record the water level change in the
Remove the clay ball. Brainstorm with your team to design a shape from the
clay that you think will float and hold the most weight. Sketch the shape.
Reshape the clay. Be sure to use the same amount of clay. Put your new clay
boat in the water. Mark the water level. Measure the change and record.
Predict how many pieces of cargo your boat will hold. Record your prediction
in the data table.
Test your prediction by adding cargo pieces to your boat. Each time you
add a piece mark the change in water level on the tape strip. Measure and
record the change in water level. Add cargo pieces until the boat sinks.
Pat dry your clay and weights. Return the materials.
Send one member of your team to record how many pieces of cargo your boat
held on the class data table on the board.
Graph the data you have recorded.
Answer the questions about the activity.
Master Teacher: Mary Alice Fryar
Lesson Plan Database
Thirteen Ed Online | <urn:uuid:c4daea9f-1600-476a-ab94-dac20251ec7a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/nttidb/lessons/jx/buoyjx.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00082-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909289 | 2,546 | 4.28125 | 4 |
The Dolph Briscoe Papers, 1940-1980
Former Governor Dolph Briscoe and his wife Janey Slaughter Briscoe, a former regent of The University of Texas System, have donated their papers to The University's Center for American History.
The Briscoe Papers measure more than 1,000 linear shelf feet in size and are divided into two groups. The first consists of the personal and business records of the Briscoe family, including papers documenting the career of Dolph Briscoe Sr. (1890–1954), a prominent Uvalde rancher and businessman. The second and largest portion of this group consists of correspondence, photographs, news clippings, publications, legal and business records, memorabilia, and other materials relating to the career of Dolph Briscoe (1923– ) prior to his election as Governor of Texas in 1972. These materials include extensive information about Briscoe's activities as a rancher, oilman, banker, civic leader, and member of the Texas House of Representatives (1949–1957). Because Briscoe was a prominent Democratic party activist for more than twenty years prior to his election as governor, his papers for that period contain important correspondence with Lyndon B. Johnson; Governor Price Daniel; Congressmen Jack Brooks, O. C. Fisher, Omar Burleson, and Henry B. Gonzales; Speaker of the House of Representatives Sam Rayburn; Lloyd Bentsen; and other leading Democrats.
Briscoe's personal papers also include much documentation of his unsuccessful first campaign for governor in 1968. Of special research value are materials documenting Briscoe's leadership in the effort to restore grassland in Southwest Texas and to develop water and soil conservation techniques. Other activities documented include his leadership in the campaign to eradicate the screwworm and other parasitic threats to the cattle industry.
The second group of Briscoe Papers consists entirely of Dolph Briscoe's official records as Governor of Texas (1973–1979). Briscoe's gubernatorial records, which are public documents owned by the State of Texas, have been placed on permanent deposit at The University by the Texas State Library. The records of Briscoe's years as governor provide documentation important for research in such issues and events as the energy crisis of 1973, death penalty and penal code reform, public school finance, the Fred Carrasco prison hostage tragedy, state coordination of higher education, teenage runaways, the state constitutional convention of 1974, taxation, and state-federal relations. The collection is also rich in materials documenting Briscoe's appointments to state boards and commissions and his ceremonial duties as Governor.
The Briscoe papers are an invaluable historical resource that will benefit scholarly research in a wide range of subject areas. They take their place among similar collections at the Center for American History such as the papers of governors Oran M. Roberts, James S. Hogg, Oscar Colquitt, and Ross Sterling. Other related collections at the Center include the official archive of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers' Association (of which Dolph Briscoe Sr. and Dolph Briscoe Jr. both served as leaders), the John Nance Garner Collection, the papers of Senators Ralph Yarborough and Lloyd Bentsen, the papers of Congressmen Sam Rayburn and Joe Kilgore, the Jesse H. Jones Papers, the Michael L. Gillette Papers, the Frances "Sissy" Farenthold Papers, the official archive of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, and the Bernard Rapaport Papers. The complete finding aid can be found on the Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO) website. Portions of this collection are stored remotely, so advance notice is required to look at the collection. Request boxes online by visiting the url http://www.cah.utexas.edu/research/off_site.php.
Executive and Administrative Assistants' files
Appointments correspondence arranged alphabetically by Board or Commission
Newspaper clippings arranged by year and by topic
General correspondence arranged by year, name, and topic
Press Office files, including speeches, press releases, and proclamations
Judicial appointments correspondence
Booklets, pamphlets, brochures, and other printed material on various topics
Bills introduced in the Texas House and Senate
Southern Governors' and National Governors' conferences
Letters from children
Miscellaneous files arranged by year
Invitations and birthday greetings
Briscoe for Governor and other campaign records
Governor's Mansion files
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association
Mrs. Janey Briscoe's files
Schedules for Governor and Mrs. Briscoe
Photographs and artifacts | <urn:uuid:3b8c73f2-65af-4ffd-82c7-749ee24c1f83> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cah.utexas.edu/research/subject_guides/subject_guide_briscoe_papers.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00161-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939672 | 975 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Core Shroud Design Characteristics
The core shroud in a BWR is a huge stainless steel cylindrical component within the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) that surrounds the fuel assemblies. The core shroud acts as a separator of feedwater and plays an important role in supporting the fuel assemblies to maintain control rod insertion geometry.
As shown in figure 1s cross-section of BWR reactor design, the core shroud is vertically welded to the RPV in which coolant flows induced downward on the surface of shroud, then upward through the fuel assemblies. The downward flow is the coolant returning back from the turbine. The water fraction is sent to the recirculation pump located outside of the reactor, which helps to feed water back to the RPV where the jet pump riser pipe and the jet pump converts high pressure into high velocity as the fluid goes through them, pushing the water toward the bottom of the vessel. Jet pumps are installed in the annular space between the core shroud and vessel wall where they are attached to the buffer plate.
The cross section of BWR core shroud (see Figure. 1) shows that there are two support ring structures (top guide support ring around H2 and H3 welded portion and core support ring around H6a and H6b welded portion). The fuel assemblies are held by the lower core plate on the lower ring and covered with the top guide on the middle ring. Being held by the upper and lower plates, the horizontal geometry of fuel assemblies are fixed and, therefore, the flow of cooling water is maintained.
|Figure 1. Inside view of reactor pressure vessel in Boiling Water Reactor (BWR); Core shroud weld location and name
What would happen if the core shroud collapsed?
Some of the cracks in the core shroud are depicted in Figure 2. The crack lines are drawn on the welded portion, however they are actually observed on the shroud body near the welded position. The core shroud is assembled to envelop the whole fuel assembly in the RPV. Therefore, in case of shroud collapse, it is reasonably possible to hypothesize the situation in which reactor control is not possible due to the loss or damage to the steam separators and steam dryers located on the shroud head.
|Figure 2. Cracks in core shroud at Fukushima I-2, I-3, and II-3
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) points out in their report that cracks that completely penetrated the shroud affect the flow of water coolant during regular operation, which could lead to a disruption of the coordination of power output and the water flow (NRC, 1996). Also, the NRC warned that significant problems concerning safety could be triggered when the shroud is demolished and separated due to the pipe rupture accident at the main steam pipe or recirculation pipe, which disrupt the function core spray system and control rod drive.
There have never been any safety inspections in Japan that analyze accident simulation assuming cracks in the core shroud. It is not always true that the safety inspection scenario could precisely predict the consequence of an accident resulting from a significant coolant loss accident such as the recirculation pipe rupture in a nuclear power plant with some cracks in its shroud.
According to the NRC report, the fuel rod assemblies in RPV would not be capable of circulating cooling water, because the coolant circulated in the shroud is leaked from cracks in the core shroud, which is also released from the recirculation pipe to the outside of the nuclear reactor. Even if the core shroud is in good condition, being capable of maintaining the circulation of cooling water, cracks in the shroud could ultimately lead to core meltdown, probably the most catastrophic accident that could occur at a nuclear power plant.
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 1996. Status Report: Intergranular Stress Corrosion Cracking of BWR Core Shrouds and Other Internal Components. Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. Washington, DC. NUREG-1544
Many press releases concerning the TEPCO scandal are available in English at the follwoing NISAs homepage:
Return to NIT 92 Contents | <urn:uuid:bca0c26d-5f73-456f-a7ea-b71fd0201746> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cnic.jp/english/newsletter/nit92/nit92articles/nit92shroud.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00026-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942579 | 846 | 3.59375 | 4 |
It is often the case in games, that keyboard input is needed to input text, rather than be used for usual game controls. This poses three basic problems:
- Key identifiers in DirectInput are keyboard scan codes.
- Various international keyboards map scan codes differently, according to their layout.
- The same scan code can be translated to various ASCII codes, depending on the status of the shift key, and other such cases.
To solve this problem, we can use various Win32 API calls to resolve which ASCII code the key should be translated to.
These are the steps we'll use:
- We'll use GetKeyboardLayout() to get the current keyboard layout.
- GetKeyboardState() will be used to retrieve the state of keys like shift, ctrl, alt, etc.
- Then using the current layout and scan code, using MapVirtualKeyEx() will give us a win32 virtual key (UINT type).
- The ToAsciiEx() function will finally convert the virtual key to 0 - 2 extended ASCII characters (unsigned short)
Here's a sample function:
static int scan2ascii(DWORD scancode, ushort* result)
static HKL layout=GetKeyboardLayout(0);
static uchar State;
This returns the number of characters extracted. It will return 0 in the case that there was no conversion, or 1 or 2, depending multibyte character sets, for a valid output.
In most cases, using char(result)
would provide the desired output. | <urn:uuid:a31a0ee0-bc8c-4056-a9e3-fe6a502d43af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gamedev.net/page/resources/_/technical/directx-and-xna/converting-scan-codes-to-ascii-r842 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00158-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.775852 | 326 | 2.671875 | 3 |
|Description||The problem. The basic problem examined in the study was the degree to which selected brain-function concepts had been applied to teaching techniques by Des Moines area secondary social studies teachers who responded to an
opinionnaire. These were three primary questions: (1) How aware were respondent teachers of the selected concepts? (2) Did the respondent teachers believe the concepts were applicable to social studies teaching techniques? and (3) To what extent had teaching techniques compatible with these concepts been implemented by respondent teachers?
Procedure. The study was conducted as a non-experimental research project. The opinionnaire was distributed to all secondary social studies teachers in the Des Moines, West
Des Moines and Urbandale, Iowa, public schools. Nine brain function concepts were selected for the survey after an extensive review of relevant literature and an assumption of appropriateness to social studies teaching techniques. The concepts were: The Triune Brain, Functional Organization,
Brain Growth Spurts, Neuro-chemical Processes, Functional Integration, The Split-Brain, Learning Style Preferences, Visual Thinking and the Proster Model, The opinionnaire asked teachers to respond to questions on a four-part scale which indicated their current state of awareness, acceptance and application of the selected concepts in their classrooms. An arbitrary point value was assigned to each response and the data then analyzed descriptively using several subgroup and total group comparisons.
Findings and Conclusions. The findings are summarized in three statements: (1) The respondent teachers were largely unaware of the selected brain function concepts, (2) teachers who were aware of the concepts tended to believe that these concepts were applicable to social studies teaching strategies, and (3) the concepts had been implemented by few respondent teachers to a very high degree. Much work remains to be done on brain function, but the favorable response of teachers who are aware of brain function concepts indicates that the effort would be well worth while.||en | <urn:uuid:196014c2-98b4-40a9-9b36-5a41443b3d8e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://escholarshare.drake.edu/handle/2092/648?show=full | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00176-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963967 | 392 | 3 | 3 |
Strabismus is a misalignment of one or both eyes. It prevents both eyes from focusing on the same point at the same time. Prompt treatment is needed to avoid vision problems, including blindness.
The names associated with strabismus are based on the type, and direction and appearance of the eye.
Strabismus can be:
Direction of the eye:
Appearance of the eye:
Copyright © Nucleus Medical Media, Inc.
Eye movement is a coordination of muscles and nerves that support the eye. Strabismus is normal in infants (4-6 months old) until the eyes straighten out. It can be present at birth or develop during the course of childhood. Some causes of strabismus include:
In most cases, the cause of strabismus is unknown.
Strabismus is most common in children, but it may occur in adults. Other factors that may increase the chance of strabismus include:
Strabismus may cause:
Many aspects of strabismus are noticed by other people.
The doctor will ask about any symptoms, and medical and family history. A physical exam will be done. In general, misalignments of the eye can be seen. An eye specialist will test the eyesight and look for other abnormalities. A neurological exam can help rule out other causes.
Treatment may include:
Glasses or contact lenses may be prescribed for the eye with weaker vision. The prescription lens improves the ability to focus and helps with poor vision. Better eyesight may help with improving strabismus. For some conditions, special prism lenses can be placed in the glasses. The prism will help to reduce double vision that may occur.
In children, an eye that is not properly aligned may not mature properly. If this is not corrected, permanent vision loss can occur. In some cases, a patch is applied over the unaffected eye. This forces the child to fixate and use the affected eye. This will help the visual development in that eye. The length of time the patch is worn depends on the severity of the condition and the age of the child.
Eye drops or ointment may be put in the good eye to temporarily blur the vision. This also forces the affected eye to fixate properly. These drops may be used as a substitute for patching.
Injections of botulinum toxin may also be used to treat strabismus caused by muscle imbalances. The injections are used to partially paralyze the muscle pulling the eye in the wrong direction.
Surgery may be used to straighten the eyes if nonsurgical means are not successful. The surgery may shorten certain eye muscles of move some of them into a new location. This may improve the ability of the eye muscles to keep the eyeball in its proper place.
There are no current guidelines to prevent strabismus. If you notice that you or your child’s eyes are not properly aligned, visit your eye doctor right away.
American Academy of Ophthalmology
National Eye Institute (NEI)
Canadian Association of Optometrists
Strabismus. American Association of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus website. Available at: http://www.aapos.org/terms/conditions/100. Updated March 28, 2014. Accessed March 21, 2016.
Strabismus. Merck Manual Professional Version website. Available at: Updated December 2012. Accessed March 21, 2016.
Strabismus. Nemours Kids Health website. Available at: http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/strabismus.html. Updated October 2013. Accessed March 21, 2016.
What is strabismus? American Academy of Ophthalmology website. Available at: http://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-strabismus. Updated April 14, 2014. Accessed March 21, 2016.
Last reviewed March 21, 2016 by Michael Woods, MD Last Updated: 3/21/2016 | <urn:uuid:7220bc6b-8035-4ca6-8e1d-6317b0434b2d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://healthlibrary.epnet.com/GetContent.aspx?token=ffe89542-7047-469b-aadd-ceea6d53cb65&chunkiid=11536 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00100-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.896167 | 845 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Methane Reduction from Cattle
Methane is a significant green house gas that can lead to global warming. It is also commonly produced by many animals including humans and cattle. Cow belches, a major source of greenhouse gases, could be decreased by an unusual feed supplement developed by a Penn State dairy scientist.
Belching (also known as burping) involves the release of gas from the digestive tract through the mouth. It is usually accompanied with a typical sound and an odor.
Many other mammals, such as cattle, dogs, and sheep also burp. In the case of ruminants, the gas expelled is actually methane produced as a byproduct of the animal's digestive process. Anaerobic organisms such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) and methanogenic archaea produce this effect. An average cow may emit between 542 liters and 600 liters (if in a field) of methane per day through burping, making commercially farmed cattle a major contributor to the greenhouse effect.
At Penn State in a series of laboratory experiments and a live animal test, an oregano based feed supplement not only decreased methane emissions in dairy cows by 40 percent, but also improved milk production, according to Alexander Hristov, an associate professor of dairy nutrition.
Oregano is an important culinary herb. It is particularly widely used in Turkish, Palestinian, Syrian, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, Latin American, and Italian cuisine. It is the leaves that are used in cooking, and the dried herb is often more flavorful than the fresh.
Oregano is often used in tomato sauces, fried vegetables, and grilled meat. Together with basil, it contributes much to the distinctive character of many Italian dishes.
The natural methane reduction supplement could lead to a cleaner environment and more productive dairy operations.
Experiments revealed another benefit of the gas reducing supplement. It increased daily milk production by nearly three pounds of milk for each cow during the trials. The researcher anticipated the higher milk productivity from the herd.
"Since methane production is an energy loss for the animal, this isn’t really a surprise. If you decrease energy loss, the cows can use that energy for other processes, such as making milk." Hristov said.
Hristov first screened hundreds of essential oils, plants and various compounds in the laboratory before arriving at oregano as a possible solution. During the experiments, oregano consistently reduced methane without demonstrating any negative effects.
Following the laboratory experiments, Hristov conducted an experiment to study the effects of oregano on lactating cows at Penn State's dairy barns. He is currently conducting follow-up animal trials to verify the early findings and to further isolate specific compounds involved in the suppression of methane.
Hristov said that some compounds that are found in oregano, including carvacrol, geraniol and thymol, seem to play a more significant role in methane suppression. Identifying the active compounds is important because pure compounds are easier to produce commercially and more economical for farmers to use.
For further information: http://live.psu.edu/story/48055 | <urn:uuid:c3174dc2-0c0a-4231-b970-1fd7a5c377b6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/41757 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00122-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954206 | 648 | 3.71875 | 4 |
My Groovy Lava Lamp Experiment
Exploratorium Salt Volcano
Guidelines for Science Fair Projects
History of the Lava Lamp
I chose this project to demonstrate two things:
1. How different liquids have different density.
2. How chemicals can get mixed and do weird things.
Water and Oil do not have the same density as each other. They will not mix up but will float on top of each other. Adding another chemical (salt) will make my mixture do some weird things.
OBSERVATIONS AND DATA
1. Pour about 3 inches of water into the jar.
2. Pour about 1/3 cup of vegetable oil into the jar.
3. When everything settles, look at how the water and oil mix.
4. Add one drop of food coloring to the jar.
5. Observe how the color mixes with the oil.
Wow! I didn't know that!
6. Shake salt on top of the oil while you count slowly to five. Observe what happens to the salt.
7. Add more salt to see what happens
Referfences and Links
1. A glass jar or clear drinking glass
2. Vegetable oil
5. Food coloring
Salt is heavier than water, so when you pour salt on the oil, it sinks to the bottom of the mixture, carrying a blob of oil with it. In the water, the salt starts to dissolve. As it dissolves, the salt releases the oil, which floats back up to the top of the water.
I knew that oil and water would not mix, but I was surprised to see what happened when I added salt to the mixture. It was cool to see the oil form into blobs and turn into what looked like a lava lamp. | <urn:uuid:1fcd9b6b-a7c0-4288-b5d2-5b4a49304832> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://cavank.edu.glogster.com/groovy-science-fair-project/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920359 | 367 | 3.328125 | 3 |
In planning nutritional rehabilitation of a patient with protein deficiency, certain findings in studies of protein repletion in animals appear pertinent. It has been shown that the utilization rate for a particular essential amino acid for repletion exceeds the rate for maintenance by a factor of 2 to 5. On this basis, the protein needs of depleted patients would be at least double those of normal subjects (17). The severity of protein depletion can be estimated only grossly with present techniques. The following data, considered together, should prove helpful: the amount of weight lost (actually the loss of muscle and other active metabolizing tissue), the extent of the decrease in total circulating plasma protein, particularly albumin, and in tissue proteins as reflected by this decrease and the daily loss of protein or nitrogen in urine, stools, exudates and effusions. It should be remembered also that “amino acid requirements for repletion of specific tissue proteins vary according to the structure of the protein and the position it holds in the dynamic state of the body” .
> > Protein Needs For Repletion | <urn:uuid:67f6eca1-2fbf-44d5-845b-6211b660fdc7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://health.yodelout.com/protein-needs-for-repletion/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00181-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923158 | 218 | 2.9375 | 3 |
By Abigail Lefkowitz, Data Analyst at MaassMedia, LLC
When describing a set of data, the word "big" doesn't just refer to size. "Big" implies that the data comes from multiple sources and is too complex overall for conventional business intelligence (BI) software to process in a practical amount of time and with sufficient computing memory.
It has been shown that the amount of data in the world is growing at a rate of 50 percent each year and more than doubling every two years. Since data volumes are not getting any smaller, it is imperative that organizations attempting to gain knowledge and insights from their data establish a methodology for storing, analyzing, and interpreting big data.
When you are ready to delve into your data, keep these tips in mind:
1. Start small, think big
Sampling is widely accepted as a preferred standard practice. Sampling takes a random, unbiased selection of individuals from a population to estimate the characteristics of that population. A statistically significant sample should produce results similar to that of the entire population.
First, choose the appropriate sample size to ensure statistical significance. Stated simply, a result is statistically significant if it is unlikely to happen by chance. Using multiple, but independent samples of the same size will increase the statistical significance. Next, randomly select that number of data points from the population and carry out the analysis as planned.
2. Use a unique identifier to connect different sources of data
It is advisable to link multiple data sources using some common denominator in order to create a more complete picture of visitor activity and set the stage for more in-depth, transformative insights. To connect data from various sources, each source must assign a unique ID common to every customer or visitor. Web analytics platforms, such as Google Analytics and Adobe SiteCatalyst allow unique IDs to pass through visitor cookies that are assigned when someone visits a website. These IDs can be linked to any other source of data that captures the same unique ID.
For example, a website utilizing a Web-based survey can assign each survey respondent a unique ID that gets passed from the site into your Web analytics platform. As a result, responses to the survey can be connected to behavioral Web data such as page views, time on site, etc. Without having both the unique survey ID and visitor ID, these types of merges would not be possible.
3. ETL - Extract, transform and load
To obtain your data, you will need to extract it from each source and store it in a place with sufficient space, such as an in-house FTP server or data warehouse. Unstructured data needs to be transformed into a consistent format that allows for data analysis. Removing duplicates, grouping values and concatenating variables are a few examples of possible transformations. When performing these manipulations on millions of rows of data, using structured query language (SQL) can cut down on both processing and overall analysis time.
After extracting and transforming the data, it must be loaded into a storage location or data warehouse. It is recommended that the data be formatted prior to being loaded into the data warehouse for easier access in the future.
4. Select appropriate business intelligence tools
Standard software, like Microsoft Excel, does not have the capacity to manipulate big data and carry out simple calculations in a timely manner because of the data's volume and complex nature, coupled with the fact that it is commonly stored in separate silos with limited accessibility. Microsoft Access is an example of a powerful database that allows you to join and link datasets, especially when connecting unique IDs from different sources.
You will also need two additional analysis tools—one that can perform in-depth analysis and one that can produce visually appealing graphs and charts. It is difficult to find a program that can tackle both effectively. SAS and SPSS/IBM are two examples of statistical analysis programs with excellent data mining capabilities, while Tableau is a tool that produces attractive and dynamic images.
5. Incorporate demographic data
Overlaying demographic information with your dataset is helpful and highly recommended to better understand who your target audience(s) might be. FICO and Experian collect a variety of consumer data scores based on credit card transactions and demographic status. For example, FICO can help you predict whether you will be taking your medication every day based on certain variables such as length of time living in one location and number of years owning a particular car. Again, pending a unique ID, the demographic information can be linked to the existing dataset.
6. Hire a "data scientist"
Making sense of big data can be daunting. Instead of taking it on alone, you might be better off hiring experienced analysts who are comfortable working with massive sets of data. Employing one or more people who can dedicate their time to analysis will allow for smarter and more accurate, meaningful and transformative findings in a shorter amount of time. Look for analysts who are knowledgeable about storage, manipulation, importing and exporting, merging, sub-setting, hypothesis testing and mining for insights.
7. If possible, automate reports
When working with data that is continuously streaming in, automated reporting can save both time and money. Instead of manually reformatting the data each time a new chunk comes in, set up an automatic report with a filter that captures only the necessary variables and manipulates them in such a way that the data is more streamlined to the end goal.
Reports must first be customized to the preference of the end user, and then they can be automatically delivered to one or more recipients at regular intervals. Adobe SiteCatalyst and Google Analytics are two examples of Qeb analytics platforms that can automate daily, weekly and monthly reports.
8. 75 percent investigation, 25 percent discovery
As with any type of analysis, it is a good rule of thumb to spend approximately 75 percent of your time testing pre-developed hypotheses and the other 25 percent poking around in the data with no specific direction in the hopes of uncovering nuggets of knowledge. It is likely that at least one hypothesis you have formulated will lead to additional analytical questions about the scope of the original hypothesis. Therefore, the majority of the time spent testing hypotheses will inevitably lead to hidden findings. Devote a smaller fraction of your time slicing and dicing the data in unexpected segments because many times buried insights can be found when looking at familiar information in an unfamiliar way. | <urn:uuid:806db1b5-e04d-44bb-8434-03e2ba795d90> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.websitemagazine.com/m/Blog/Post/22077?name=eight-tips-for-working-with-big-data&channel=analytics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916491 | 1,295 | 2.5625 | 3 |
CHICAGO (CBS) — There are more than 28,000 iPads being used in Chicago Public Schools, and some of the students who use them each day are as young as three years old.
Is all that screen time good for toddlers, and their little hands? CBS 2’s Chris Martinez went to a Chicago classroom to find out.
About 50,000 kids in the Chicago Public Schools system use iPads in daily lessons.
First grade teacher Kristin Ziemke uses iPads to help teach her 33 students, but doesn’t let using iPads detract from the basics, like reading and writing.
“This is just one piece of our day, and it’s one tool that we have in the tool box,” she said.
Ziemke’s first graders can record videos, even blog, and use Twitter. She’s certain it gives them an edge.
“I think it is appropriate, in some instances, before even kindergarten,” she said.
But is this technology costing kids other critical skills?
“Learning to write with a pencil still counts,” said veteran educator Frances Judd.
She said she supports using iPads in schools, but said children as young as three are becoming better at swiping fingers over touchscreens than holding a pen or other utensils, costing their hands vital muscle memory.
Judd has been developing apps that require kids to use a pincer grip, even on a tablet computer.
“I see children swiping from the time they’re two. It’s muscle memory at this point. I also want pincer to be muscle memory,” she said.
As for how much time your child should spend using any app, that is still up for debate.
“What’s the balance between the real and the virtual, I think has to be thought about very carefully and very intentionally,” said education technology expert Chip Donohue.
Experts have said parents should be the ones to police how much time a child spends with technology like the iPad. If your little one is using it only to play games, they suggest you limit that time, but allow it if they’re using it to read or use educational apps. | <urn:uuid:8547dea3-f877-44c7-b8be-9706b5bd62c3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/11/07/does-using-an-ipad-hinder-kids-other-basic-skills/?hpt=us_bn9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392069.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964431 | 475 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Strangely perhaps, one of the photos depicts Clifford's Tower in York: not exactly Jewish architecture, but surely a place of central importance in narrating the Jewish history of England. This stone tower was built to replace the wooden one in which the Jewish inhabitants of the city were incinerated in 1190. The plaque barely visible by the stairs in the picture attests to that massacre. The plaque reads:
On the night of Friday 16 March 1190 some 150 Jews and Jewesses of York having sought protection in the Royal Castle on this site from a mob incited by Richard Malebisse and others chose to die at each other's hands rather than renounce their faith.
As far as my memory recollects, nothing in the tower museum itself speaks about that event -- though they do sell an excellent pamphlet by R. B. Dobson, Clifford's Tower and the Jews of Medieval York (London: English Heritage, 1995.)
File this under the discussion about universal versus local time streams, featured here and here.
Thanks, JKW, for sending the link. | <urn:uuid:9307d427-124c-410f-a9a0-829e841bc16b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.inthemedievalmiddle.com/2006/11/for-shabbat-jewish-architecture-in.html?showComment=1164130260000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00191-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948725 | 219 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Nexium (generic name: esomeprazole; brand names include: Esomiz / Sompraz / Zoleri / Lucen / Esopral / Axagon / Nexiam) is a type of medicine known as an acid pump inhibitor (also known as a proton pump inhibitor, or PPI) which is used for the treatment of certain conditions caused by too much acid being produced in the stomach.
Since its approval in 2001, Nexium has been prescribed more than 147 million times.
Nexium is prescribed to treat the symptoms of acid reflux disease (GERD), which typically include persistent heartburn on 2 or more days per week, despite treatment and change of diet. By reducing acid production in the stomach, Nexium reduces the amount of acid backing up into the esophagus and causing reflux symptoms. But you still have enough acid to take care of digestion.
Nexium is also indicated for the short-term and maintenance treatment (4 to 8 weeks) of erosive esophagitis. This damage may be caused over time from stomach acid wearing away the lining of the esophagus. With Nexium, most erosions heal in 4 to 8 weeks.
Nexium is also used to decrease the chance of getting an ulcer in people who are taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).
It is also used with other medications to treat and prevent the return of stomach ulcers caused by a certain type of bacteria (H. pylori).
Nexium is also used for long-term treatment of conditions (such as Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome) in which the stomach makes too much acid.
In clinical tests, up to 94% of patients were healed with Nexium.
Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take Nexium exactly as directed.
Take Nexium at around the same time(s) every day.
Nexium is usually taken once a day at least 1 hour before a meal. When Nexium is used to treat some conditions in which the stomach makes too much acid, it is taken twice a day.
Swallow the capsules whole; do not split, chew, or crush them. If you cannot swallow the capsule, put 1 tablespoon of cool, soft applesauce in an empty bowl. Open one Nexium capsule and carefully sprinkle the pellets onto the applesauce. Mix the pellets with the applesauce, and swallow the entire tablespoonful of the applesauce and pellet mixture immediately. Do not chew the pellets in the applesauce. Do not save the pellets and applesauce for later use.
The granules and the contents of the capsules can both be given through a feeding tube.
It may take several weeks or longer for you to feel the full benefit of Nexium. Continue to take Nexium even if you feel well. Do not stop taking Nexium without talking to your doctor.
If you forget to take Nexium, take the missed dose as soon as you remember it. However, if it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and continue your regular dosing schedule. Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed one.
Store this medicine at room temperature and away from excess heat and moisture. Esomeprazole 20 mg.
Tell your doctor before taking Nexium, if:
you have an allergy to Nexium or other medicines;
you take a medicine called atazanavir;
you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding.
Active ingredient: esomeprazole magnesium. | <urn:uuid:dafad5be-8f20-401d-8fe5-4059e8d71e69> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://esomeprazole20mg.ru/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940921 | 765 | 2.515625 | 3 |
- About CSAIL
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Learning From the Fruit Fly
Photo: Patricia Sampson, EECS
Diving deep into the functional elements of the fruit fly to grasp a better understanding of human biology may seem like a long shot, but that’s exactly what CSAIL Principal Investigator Manolis Kellis and his colleagues have done. In a paper released in the December 24 edition of Science, Kellis and members of the model organism ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements Consortium (modENCODE) publish the integrative analysis of the Drosophila (fruitfly) project, which is funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute.
The paper details modENCODE’s research into the inner workings of the fruit fly, providing the basis for years of further study into the functional elements shared by both humans and fruit flies. The findings should provide scientists a better understanding of human biology, gene regulation and how the body reacts to disease, information which can be used in medical studies.
“This is everything a computational biologist would wish for for Christmas, but is too shy to ask. This is the first time this amount of data is available on a single organism across such a diverse range of phenotypes,” explained Kellis. “By probing the cell with dozens of different types of experiments, systematically and uniformly across different conditions, modENCODE has provided computational biologists a treasure trove of information, which is a dream come true for large-scale data mining.”
Kellis’ work could have an impact far beyond the confines of fruit fly research, as the biological lessons and principles learned are likely conserved between the human and fruit fly genomes. Additionally, the methodology used will likely guide researchers undertaking similar studies in other species, including humans. “Through the study of model organisms, such as fruit flies and worms, scientists can reach a better understanding of the human genome because many of the cellular mechanisms that lead to body plan formation, brain development, and even behavior, are deeply conserved across animal species,” said Kellis.
Kellis’ work provides a striking example of how computer science can have a deep impact in other fields, such as understanding the basic principles of biology. Kellis is an associate professor of Computational Science at MIT, and has helped train many students and postdocs in the field of computational biology in his group and through his course, “Computational Biology: Genomes, Networks, Evolution.”
“I could not be happier with the current direction of genomics - we are just scratching the envelope of what is possible. The questions are becoming richer, the data sets denser, the kinds of computational models coming more complex,” said Kellis. “The transformations genomics has gone through in recent years have made it an ideal field of study right now, and they are only accelerating the pace of genomics research.”
Kellis, the recent recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award, is thrilled to be immersed in such a breathtaking field and hopes to encourage other computer scientists to explore the field of computational biology. As for working at CSAIL, Kellis remarked that it is, “wonderful to be surrounded by all these computer science students and postdocs who can take this sort of complex data set to the next level.”
For more information on the modENCODE project, click here.
Abby Abazorius, CSAIL | <urn:uuid:087af466-9626-43ea-a553-226a1ead7bb7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.csail.mit.edu/node/1382 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00189-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934211 | 723 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Arts & Humanities
Teachers say ball chairs engage students brains and help them focus on lessons.
Ask students: What kinds of things can get in the way of your concentration and learning during the school day? Make a list of some of the distractions that occur in the classroom that get in the way of students learning. Then introduce this weeks News story, Some Schools Replace Desk Chairs With Ball Chairs.
Next, introduce these words that appear in the News Word Box on the students printable page: concentrate, balance, posture, business, upright, and activity. Discuss the meanings of any of those words that might be unfamiliar. Then ask students to use one of those words to complete each of these sentences:
If youre looking for an _____ that benefits you and your dog, get up off the couch and take the dog for a walk. (activity)
Suzanne could not _____ on her homework because the TV was making so much noise in the background. (concentrate)
When a T. rex stood _____, it could be as tall as 21 feet. (upright)
Slouching is easy; its more difficult to practice good _____ habits. (posture)
The recession forced one local auto dealer out of _____ . (business)
I have no idea how the high-wire performer keeps her _____ on that thin wire. (balance)
You might share with students this USA Today news video about students who use ball chairs in class:
In addition, you might share these facts with students after they have read this weeks news story.
Katie Messina, who teaches at Central Elementary School in Grandville, Michigan, told the Muskegon Chronicle that ball chairs require students to engage torso and leg muscles in small ways to balance, which drains off energy that might normally cause them to squirm.
Messina first experimented with using balls as chairs six years ago in another school, where her class included seven second-graders with attention deficit disorders. This year, a $350 grant from the Grandville Education Foundation outfitted her whole class with the balls. The district pitched in to buy tables, since the classroom desks had chairs attached.
Reading the News
You might use a variety of approaches to reading the news:
Read aloud the news story to students as they follow along.
Students might first read the news story to themselves; then you might call on individual students to read sections of the news aloud for the class.
Photocopy the news story onto a transparency and project it onto a screen. (Or use your classroom computer's projector to project the story.) Read the story aloud as a class, or ask students to take turns reading it.
Arrange students into small groups. Each student in the group will read a paragraph of the story. As that student reads, others might underline important information or write notes in the margin of the story. After each student finishes reading, others in the group might say something -- a comment, a question, a clarification -- about the text.
Students in Messinas class have the option of substituting a regular chair at anytime. Few do, except during cursive-writing lessons. When you wiggle a lot, you think a lot," 8-year-old Alex Whitman, one of Messinas third graders, told the Chronicle. I'm not sure how it helps you concentrate, but it does."
Zion Lutheran School in Mayer, Minnesota, has introduced ball chairs in some classrooms. I was hesitant at first but I thought, Why not? There's too much sitting around that goes on," Principal Deb Kelzer told the Star-Tribune. The colorful balls help students concentrate, burn off excess energy, and get more physically fit, says Kelzer. She even uses a ball chair in her own office. You can really feel how it works your muscles," she said. It works your core area and makes you have better posture." Kelzer is considering replacing all chairs in her school with ball chairs.
Donna Yehl, a fourth-grade teacher in Elgin, Illinois, searched the Internet for ways to help her restless pupils sit still. She stumbled on a story about exercise balls improving concentration. So she replaced her classroom's chairs with bouncy 21-inch-high balls in colors students chose. They're more focused, theyre sitting upright," Yehl told the Chicago Tribune. Adrienne O'Brien, a fourth-grade teacher in Barrington, Illinois, added, You'd be surprised how many kids really need to move while learning. That would be the majority of them, frankly."
Experts told the Tribune that subconscious mental activity lies at the core of the science behind the balls' success. The tiny movements kids make to stay balanced stimulate their brains and help them focus, says Dr. John Ratey, a Harvard University professor. Children with attention disorders, he says, have a sleepy cortex," and exercise combats that mental disengagement. Just by using their core muscles more, they're flipping [their cortex] on" and increasing their mental activity. The cerebellum part of their brain is really working to adjust, every millisecond," added Ratey.
I found during the winter when it's too cold to go outside the kids were really hyper," Halifax, Nova Scotia, fourth-grade teacher Cyrille Deveau told CTV News. Outfitting his entire class with stability balls cost nearly $1,000, and it appears to be paying off. I think Im getting better grades because of it," said one student, and I listen better."
Use the News: Answer Key Comprehension Check
1. b, 2. b, 3. a, 4. d, 5. c. Main Idea
Ball chairs can help kids pay attention to schoolwork and do better in school. Vocabulary Builder: Idioms
Accept reasoned responses, for example: 1. fidgety, squirmy, wiggly; 2. working, operating smoothly, repaired; 3. enjoys, gets pleasure from, gets excited about; 4. be flexible, make plans as we go, take each day as it comes.
Refer back to the list of classroom distractions that students created before reading the News story. (See the Anticipation Guide above.) Discuss: Would sitting on a stability ball instead of a desk chair add to the potential distractions or eliminate some of them?
Use the Use the News printable activity as an assessment. Or have students work on their own (in their journals) or in their small groups to respond to the Think About the News question on the news story page.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH: Physical Education GRADES K - 12 NPH.K-12.1 Movement Forms NPH.K-12.3 Physical Activity
PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND HEALTH: Health GRADES K - 4 NPH-H.K-4.2 Health Information, Products and Services GRADES 5 - 8 NPH-H.5-8.2 Health Information, Products and Services GRADES 9 - 12 NPH-H.9-12.2 Health Information, Products and Services | <urn:uuid:e171b771-cb48-490a-9e98-f5fa369f6dad> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/newsforyou/newsforyou136.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946793 | 1,478 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Understanding alternating current generators
We take so much for granted. The alarm clock buzzes and we make our way to the bathroom and turn on the light. We reach over and turn the water on and it's there. We flip the switch on the electric razor. We really do take it all for granted. The energy that flows through the wires to the switch that you flip comes from a device called an alternator. Yes, somewhere close to where you live is a power plant where that energy that makes the world go around is created. Alternators come in all kinds of configurations. Your car or truck even has one. That's right. An alternator is needed to charge the battery and provide electric power for your vehicle. If you have a recreational vehicle (my wife's idea of really roughing it) you probably use a generator to power that air conditioner that would be tough to live without these days. This device is handy for watching TV, too. Simply stated, an alternator is a converter: It converts mechanical energy into alternating electrical current. It's a generator: It generates (creates) alternating electrical current out of mechanical energy. How's it doing that? It's magic! Nah, not at all. I'll show you. | <urn:uuid:7594b24f-156c-4622-a253-38c078b94a4d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.easa.com/node/1316 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00080-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956793 | 253 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Mark Wilson June 4th, 2013
CATANIA, SICILY, ITALY–These are Dr. Meagen Pollock’s favorite kind of rocks: pillow basalts. Above we have a spectacular example of pillow basalts exposed in cross section below a castle ruin in Aci Castello a few kilometers north of Catania. The pillows (more are shown below) are in the middle of this natural outcrop carved by the sea.
Pillow basalts are formed when basaltic lava is erupted underwater. The surface of the flow quickly cools and begins to solidify as the interior fills with lava. The result is a flattened spheroid of basalt with chilled margins. The castle, by the way, was built in 1076 by conquering Normans.
The light was not great for this shot, but you should be able to make out in the lower right a large body of basalt with columnar joints radiating from the center. This is, I was told, a “megapillow’ of basalt from a large flow.
This is a view of the wave-eroded platform below the castle showing the pillows form the top. I left the roasting Europeans in the frame for scale. Note that while these pillows appear with almost circular outlines in cross-section, they are actually serpentine in shape.
These pillow lavas were formed with the beginning of volcanic activity roughly 600,000 years ago that led to the present Mount Etna complex. They show the submarine phase of eruption before the eruptive center was uplifted above sea level. They are the most spectacular pillows I’ve ever seen. | <urn:uuid:fedb770d-14b6-41c4-a255-f0117c2aeded> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2013/06/04/pillow-basalts-for-dr-pollock/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00164-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957248 | 347 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Hearing aids are fairly simple devices, consisting of four basic parts:
- A microphone picks up sound from the environment and converts it into an electrical signal, which it sends to the amplifier.
- An amplifier increases the volume of the sound and sends it to the receiver.
- A receiver/speaker changes the electrical signal back into sound and sends it into the ear. Then those impulses are sent to the brain.
- A battery provides power to the hearing aid.
Hearing aids aren't effective for everyone. Hair cells in the inner ear must pick up the vibrations that the hearing aid sends and convert those vibrations into nerve signals. So, you need to have at least some hair cells in the inner ear for it to work. And, even if some hair cells remain, a hearing aid won't completely restore normal hearing. | <urn:uuid:c74d3a48-910b-478e-b301-0a8993800554> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/modern-technology/hearing-aid1.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00070-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941061 | 170 | 3.890625 | 4 |
1. The Arduino code has three main sections: declaration, initialization and then an inifinite loop.
2. In the declaration section, set up global constant variables such as start and end bits for recieved signals and color declarations.
3. In the initialization section do following: set up contact by sending a start signal over the serial lines and set all the GPIO pins to be used to be in Digital Out mode so that they can drive the LEDS.
4. In the loop create two states: waiting for input and writing to the LEDS.
5. On the wait step, use delay(100) to make the Arduino board pause for 100 miliseconds
6. In the write phase, make the Arduino do the following:
a) Get the start flag, end flag, city(integer corresponding to a base pin) and color from the serial line and assert that the flags are correctly set.
b) Write a color to a specific city by first turning that city off and then using the color to turn on a combination of pins which correlate to an RGB color scheme from the base pin.
Our code for this step can be found at https://github.com/ianisborn/TTT/tree/master/sandbox | <urn:uuid:3cf39fde-641d-4805-b3ab-a6836b73e13d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.instructables.com/id/TwitMap-Topographical-Colorado-Twitter-Map/step4/Arduino-Code/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00159-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.824085 | 257 | 3.109375 | 3 |
(Dr. Monika Hauser)
born May 24, 1959 in Thal (Switzerland)
German doctor, founder of medica mondiale
How does a person find the issue that will occupy her for her entire life? For Monika Hauser, born in Switzerland in 1959 to South Tyrolean parents, it was through conversations and books: conversations about abuse and violence experienced by girls and women and about World War II, and books about National Socialism and the Shoah. Empathy with the persecuted and outrage at injustice become the motor that would propel Hauser.
After completing Gymnasium, or college preparatory high school, she studied medicine in Innsbruck, earned her doctorate in 1984 and worked for half a year as an intern in gynecology and general surgery in Schlanders, South Tyrol, where she advocated for more sensitive treatment of the female patients. At the end of 1985 she passed the state qualification examination at the University of Bologna; five months later she gained her license to practice medicine in Germany and moved to Cologne. Beginning in 1988 she held an internship in the women’s division of a clinic, where she worked for five years. During this time the extent to which women’s illnesses reflect their life experiences became clear to her. Her experiences at the clinic caused her such distress that she interrupted her training in 1992 and gave up her position.
On 26 November 1992 an article appeared in Stern magazine about the mass rapes that were perpetrated during the war in Bosnia. Monika Hauser was horrified and furious that the victims should be abused a second time through photographs and drastic language. She educated herself about the situation and traveled to Zagreb, where among other things she visited the Zagreb women’s lobby, just then in the process of starting a “Center for Female Victims of War.” For an entire week Hauser spoke with refugee women in Zagreb.
She decided to coordinate gynecological and psychological assistance and create a protected space for women and their children, regardless of their nationality. She chose Zenica in central Bosnia – at that time some 120,000 refugees from the Serbian-occupied regions of Bosnia had gathered there. 70 per cent of them were women, many of whom had been raped.
At Christmastime, 1992, Hauser applied for funds in Germany to support the planned therapy center. Back in Zenica, she developed contacts, rented buildings, informed the media. Ambulatory treatment space, an operating room and residence space for 20 women were set up. A team – female doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, a secretary, a house manager – was put together. In the meantime, the conflict’s front was drawing ever closer.
In Cologne friends were working on logistics. To get money and material together Hauser traveled to Germany. Tasks were delegated there, and 25 tons of goods (foodstuffs, sanitary articles, equipment for surgery and for the laboratory, furniture, computer technology) were obtained and transported to Bosnia. On 4 April 1993 Medica Zenica was officially opened. Many women were given medical and psychological care in the course of time.
The war was approaching; many fled to Zenica following massacres, and the town was fired upon. Medica Zenica was registered as a Bosnian association and via a Green Card of the UNHCR became a partner organization of the United Nations.
In May 1993 Hauser went to Germany. She returned to Zenica with a jeep and a satellite telephone system paid for by the German Foreign Office. Medica colleagues went on dangerous missions to bring rape survivors (this time vicitms of the Croatians!) to the Medica center. From June 1993 on the roads leading into the city were blocked; food and water grew scarce, there was no electricity and infectious diseases began to spread.
In Cologne the organization Medica e.V. (an officially registered association) was founded and later renamed medica mondiale. The goal of future work would be to support women’s projects in war-torn and crisis regions the world over.
Medica Zenica grew: medica 2, a supervised residential project, operated from July 1993 on; Medica 3 was planned. Supervision, continuing education and psychological training were provided to co-workers.
Monika Hauser, constantly on the go despite being pregnant, lost her baby in December 1993, the same day that she was named “Woman of the Year” by the ARD newscast “Tagesthemen.” On 30 December she gave an ARD interview in Vitez that resulted in 750,000 DM in donations. After that she returned to Germany; from then on she would no longer work primarily in Bosnia.
She continued her medical specialization training in a Cologne hospital. During the winter of 1995/96 overwork and inadequate self-reflection took their toll: Monika Hauser collapsed. For three months she worked on processing her experiences in therapy, learned relaxation techniques, took time off. After this crisis she became pregnant again, and on 26 August 1996 her son Luca was born. She continued her work for medica mondiale during her time as a parent. In 1997 Medica Zenica was officially separated from medica mondiale and became independent following a drawn-out trial, during which the responsibility was gradually transferred to Bosnia.
Monika Hauser completed her medical training as a specialist in gynecology and obstetrics and gave her notice in the hospital. Because of the outbreak of war she traveled in April 1999 to Kosovo and Albania, and the project medica mondiale Kosova began. In 2000 she took on the political management of medica mondiale. She was responsible for public relations, gave lectures and concerned herself with the training of Medica co-workers. In 2008 she was honored for her dedicated service with the Alternative Nobel Prize (Right Livelihood Award).
trans. Joey Horsley
For additional information please consult the German version.
Author: Almut Nitzsche
If you hold the rights to one or more of the images on this page and object to its/their appearance here, please contact Fembio. | <urn:uuid:0a62e161-3a2a-49b8-988f-4f6dbed44840> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/biography/monika-hauser/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00066-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981807 | 1,281 | 2.5625 | 3 |
AND ITS APPLICATIONS
Some Counter-intuitive Experiments in Vibration
Mechanical vibration is often taught as if it were a simple science. The mass-on-a-spring, uni-axial vibration of a rod, viscous damping, modal analysis - all these are the bread and butter of vibration science. But real vibrating systems just don't behave like this. There are pitfalls in even the simplest cases and some will be demonstrated: a tuning fork; a bottle of cola; a glass of champagne; a bending beam; a turbocharger wheel. All of these systems behave counter-intuitively.
No charge is made to attend meetings, non-IMA members are welcome
event is coordinated by East Midlands Branch Secretary, Dr Stephen Hibberd,
Details of East Midlands Branch activities: http://www.ima.org.uk/EMidBranch/ima.html | <urn:uuid:3d24c55a-6d48-4c23-b5b7-d58cf6415182> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~hemh/talks/ima49.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00020-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914958 | 188 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Text by Candace Kanes and Stephanie Heatley
Images from Maine Historical Society
Until the United States entered the three-year old European conflict in 1917, the country had followed an isolationist policy for more than a century. In addition, there was strong anti-war sentiment among many Americans, including many progressive, reform-minded women.
To fight the war, therefore, the U.S. needed not only soldiers in uniform, but the support of the general public. A government education campaign about the war set out to encourage volunteers for support roles at home and abroad and to convince the American public to sacrifice and to make donations to the war effort.
Women and the homefront were important in a number of ways. The few examples presented here demonstrate both the government's strategy in garnering the help of women and the responses of several Maine women. | <urn:uuid:553ed2e9-a65b-43ef-8f48-e7ac1b12681b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/233/page/492/display | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00127-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961844 | 173 | 3.71875 | 4 |
It is sunny right now in Los Angeles. Which, of course, makes geeky guys like me think about solar energy. It's also something the state and the local government are thinking a lot about lately, weighing increases in California utility rates to subsidize solar panels on residential homes. Great idea. Super simple. But not quite geeky enough.
To really make that solar energy more efficient, we need to revisit that great debate. No, not the Stones vs. the Kinks, not Flock of Seagulls vs. Haircut 100. I am talking about AC vs. DC.
If you are worried that this is about to slip into obtuse electronics speak, rest assured I am about as capable an engineer as my cat. But once you wrap your head around these things, they get pretty simple.
AC currents are what your average dirty coal power plants or damn hydroelectric plants produce, they travel well over very long distances and then come into your home where many of your electronics appliances convert the AC to DC (look at the brick on your computer's electrical cord. That's your converter box.)
Solar panels, on the other hand, make DC power. Right there on your roof. They make exactly what those electronics all run on. But -- and here is the part where it gets all absurd -- before it even enters your home, the solar power's DC current has to convert to AC. That's the way the grid works these days. Only once it is in your home and running into the computer does it gets transformed back into DC power.
That is what we like to call inefficient. So, Hells Bells, what are we gonna do about that?
Well, we got where we are for all sorts of good reasons, all of which go back one hundred years. It is a fascinating and savage tale involving Thomas Alva Edison, George Westinghouse, Tesla (the man, not the band) and the public electrocution of elephants and inmates. In the century since then we have figured out how to put a man on the moon and make waffles in a toaster but, perhaps because our collective unconscious still can't get over the thought of that electrocuted elephant (no more of that, thank you!) we have not revisited how to make our energy systems fundamentally more efficient.
Well now is the time. Because every time that solar panel's energy is converted, from DC to AC and back to DC, you lose energy. You lose double digits of efficiency.
It gets even more interesting when people start talking about plug-in hybrid cars. Because guess what current hybrids run on? DC.
The explosion of semiconductors in our lives and the surging interest in photovoltaics, the need for smarter grids and the new alternatives to the internal combustion engine are all converging to bring a certain urgency to this subject. New technologies always invite new standards. And despite what the seething tea-baggers might tell you, this is the sort of thing the government does quite well. It has set up effective standards for fuel efficiency in cars and the popular EnergyStar program uses clear and informative standards to tell you what a smart washing machine looks like. By the same logic, the government can and should adopt DC building standards to inform people of how they can build smarter, more efficient homes.
So that those solar panels your taxes are paying for can do even more good.
That's all I'm asking for. No legislation, no pork barrel stimulation (though, frankly, I could use some of that.) All I'm asking is that the government adopt and promote standards for DC power.
Promoting standards is probably the most cost-effective governmental move around. All it involves is writing them down in a big book and making everyone aware of them. The good news is, a lot of it's already been written down and is very easily accessible. The Emerge Alliance, a coalition of companies that include Johnson Controls, Philips Electronics, Armstrong World Industries, Nextek Power Systems, and Southern California Edison, has already been working to promote smart and efficient new DC standards. It's all there, just waiting for someone to put the pieces together and spread the word.
So, yeah, it's more than a little geeky and it's kinda hard to imagine anyone making money on this sort of thing. But that's probably what they said about the internet, right? | <urn:uuid:655c0668-f57e-4d77-a114-f748ce5775af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/toby-barlow/lets-talk-acdc-the-curren_b_508405.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00179-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95401 | 903 | 2.515625 | 3 |
How could it happen? We still wonder today how 6 million Jews could have been exterminated by Hitler’s Germany. We also wonder how Stalin could have murdered even more of his own people. And we wonder, too, how Mao could have topped them all in his record-breaking long, barbaric march.
The answer, if you think about it, is quite simple. These cataclysmic atrocities were perpetrated by totalitarian governments that kept their evil deeds secret — sometimes with the active complicity of sympathetic, ideologically driven foreign journalists who knowingly covered them up.
We never seem to learn from our mistakes. Because, what appears to be the greatest holocaust in human history is taking place right now. Once again, the world is in the dark.
What am I talking about? The systematic annihilation of young Chinese girls — both pre-birth and post-birth. The documentation of this unspeakable “gender-cide” first leaked out of a United Nations World Health Organization report in late September. Picked up only in a brief news article by the Associated Press in Sydney, Australia, the story was quickly spiked for international distribution.
It took nearly two months for WHO to respond to my repeated requests for a copy of the report, cryptically titled, “Women’s Health in a Social Context in the Western Pacific Region.” Yet, it was everything I expected based on the earlier, abbreviated news dispatch.
Indeed, it found as many as 50 million women are “missing” in China — “victims of female feticide, selective malnourishment of girls, lack of investment in women’s health and various forms of violence.”
“Son preference affects all aspects of a woman’s life, including child care, health, education and employment, because she is discriminated against the moment she is born and sometimes even before if sex-selection procedures are available,” says the 62-page report.
“China has one of the ‘world’s most skewed birth rates,’ with 117 boys born for every 100 girls in 1994,” it says. “Although baby girls usually have a better survival rate than baby boys (which evens up the imbalance at birth), in China, Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea and Vietnam, that natural process is being reversed by female infanticide, neglect, maltreatment and malnutrition of female infants.”
In other words, China’s one-child-per-family, population-control policy, exacerbated by traditional, cultural preferences for boys, has systematically snuffed out an entire generation of girls — some 50 million. It has happened quietly because we can’t hear the screams of dying little girls here in the West, thanks to that familiar combination of brutal totalitarianism and a compliant press establishment.
Even scarier, in this New World Order, is the way such findings can be obscured by the global health partisans of social engineering and strict, command-and-control population planning. Never once in the report is China’s one-child limit condemned or overtly blamed for this holocaust. Instead, economic factors and Asia’s old-fashioned, “sexist” traditions are denounced.
Economic factors? China, we’re told, is the economy of the future — experiencing unprecedented growth. If systematic victimization of girls occurs in the best of times, imagine what the worst will hold. And “harmful traditional practices”? Whatever happened to the U.N.’s nostrum of “multiculturalism”?
This report raises other questions, too — questions about where we in the West are headed on population-control issues, questions about abortion and infanticide and questions about yielding national sovereignty to global authorities. But those questions aren’t being asked because this report and the horrific facts it details have not seen the light of day.
When I raised first questions about this report with WHO officials, I sensed an immediate reticence to be forthcoming. The alarming statistics were downplayed. They tried to convince me I didn’t really want to see it. I got the feeling they weren’t sure if I could be trusted with this information. Certainly the general public couldn’t be. I was assured repeatedly that the report, which alleged in no uncertain terms that 50 million Chinese females had been obliterated from the face of the earth, was not intended as an indictment of Beijing.
Imagine if the Nazi war criminals had such a propaganda machine at their disposal? Imagine if they had a “respectable” international body making excuses for their butchery? After all, could there have been a Dachau without the existence of some “harmful traditional anti-Semitic practices”?
If the despots in China can’t be held accountable for what they have wrought on the public, then we’ll have to forgive Hitler, Stalin and Mao, too. | <urn:uuid:1a69d814-d8e0-4740-a8da-ffa04463f518> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wnd.com/1997/12/1010/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00155-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958146 | 1,030 | 2.609375 | 3 |
In a move that brings emergency services into the 21st century, you'll soon be able to text 911 for urgent assistance.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a ruling that requires all cellular service providers to make texting 911 a possibility for its customers. The requirement will not only help save lives — especially in situations where a voice call might not be possible — it will also give those who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities a better way to get immediate assistance.
The rules apply to wireless carries (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon) as well as "interconnected" text messaging providers that allow users to send texts to and from U.S. phone numbers. However, it doesn't apply to messaging apps that only support "communications among users of games or social media."
The FCC said text-to-911 should not replace calling 911, and serve only as a complement to the existing service.
"Today’s action will make text-to-911 more uniformly available and keeps pace with how Americans communicate," the FCC said in a statement. "More than one hundred 911 call centers serving portions of 16 states and two entire states (Vermont and Maine) are now accepting emergency texts, and there are already reports of lives saved."
The organization didn't say if location-based data will be used to trace text messages, and didn't address if the inability to ask immediate follow-up questions (which, depending on the situation, might be done more quickly on the phone) could complicate matters.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. | <urn:uuid:146b1e54-9d67-47ce-baa3-6170cdd3e295> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mashable.com/2014/08/08/text-911-for-help/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00028-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94747 | 333 | 2.5625 | 3 |
My first encounter with the California poppy fields consisted of a poster that a friend in college had. The caption said, "Antelope Valley, California". It sounded like some distant and remote place that only a few hardy souls would see. It certainly was no place that an ordinary person like myself would ever see. I was wrong. Although California is very distant from Pennsylvania, I ended up moving to California and found that the Antelope Valley and the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve were just a day trip away.
The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is a state park located near Lancaster California. California was once covered by countless acres of poppies and other wildflowers but as the human population grew, the wildflower population shrank. Concerned residents wanted to preserve a sample of the vast fields of the state flower while there still some left. Studies were done and it was found that the most consistant displays were found on a series of hills in the far western end of the Mojave Desert and 1800 acres of land were acquired for the reserve.
California poppies (Eschscholtzia california) are not the only flowers found on the reserve. There are also extensive stands of goldfields (Lasthenia californica) and smaller groups of other beauties such as lupines (Lupinus species), phacelia (Phacelia species), owl's clover (Castilleja exserta), and cream cups (Platystemom californicus). However, the star of the show is the California poppy. It is the most numerous flower and the blankets of orange can be seen from at least 15 miles away. The displays are all natural. The park does not plant seeds or provide supplemental water.
The "antelope" (pronghorn) of the Antelope Valley have been gone for almost 100 years, but smaller mammals still live here. You might see a coyote, bobcat, jackrabbits or ground squirrels. It is also possible to see the burrowing owl, red tailed hawk, roadrunner, western meadowlark, and horned lark. Since this is the desert, snakes and lizards are present, including the Mojave rattlesnake. You are almost guaranteed to see numerous painted lady butterflies during wildflower season.
Wildflowers are usually blooming from mid February to mid May, with the peak being in April. Not all years are equally good. Precipitation in the desert is highly variable and undependable. In years with little rain, there will be few flowers. Even years with more abundant rain may not be all that good for flowers. The timing of the rain is important. If the rain comes at the wrong time, it favors the growth of grass instead of flowers. At close to 3000 ft elevation, the reserve will get snow during some winters. My unscientific observation has been that years with snow tend to produce better flower displays. Before planning a trip to the reserve, it is of utmost importance to check the web page for the status of the flowers.
Far from being some exotic, remote locale, the reserve is easily accessible. It is on a paved road 15 miles west of highway 14. The main rules are that the visitors stay on the trails and don't pick the flowers. The entrance fee during peak wildflower season is - at the time of this writing - $5 per vehicle or $4 per vehicle if at least one passenger is 62 years old or older. Peak wildflower season runs from March 15 until when someone decides it is over in May. Check the web site for the most up-to-date-information. The rest of the year entrance is free.
During peak wildflower season, the visitor center, the Jane S. Pinhiero Interpretive Center, is open. Ms Pinhiero was one of the people who worked very hard to get the reserve established. The center is built partly underground to minimize visual impact. It is readily seen from the parking lot but not from the poppy fields. The center contains interpretive displays and also sells souvenirs and memorablia like books, tee shirts, postcards, and magnets. Prices are reasonable.
The park consists of 7 miles of easy and moderate trails. There is a section of paved trail that is wheelchair accessible. The rest of the trails are native sandy soil. At the parking lot, there are four clean pit toilets. There is a restroom with flush toilets and sinks at the visitor center. There are a small number of picnic tables near the parking lot. No food or beverages are available for purchase at the reserve and there is no camping. There is an abundance of restaurants and gas stations in Lancaster.
During most of wildflower season, the weather will be sunny. Rain is a possibility, but not all that likely in most years. The temperature can range from almost hot to rather chilly. It seems to always be windy in the spring and the wind can range from a stiff breeze to a gale. Poppy flowers close up in windy weather, but you can see from my pictures that there is still plenty of color visible.
That wildflower poster that my friend had - they sell them at the reserve. I bought one and have had it hanging up for almost 20 years. It is a reminder that no matter how remote or unlikely a place may sound, I just might have the chance of visiting it some day. You too - you never know what good things are in store for you. It might even be a trip to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve.
Pictures taken in 1991, 1998, and 2008. Pictures property of Kelli Kallenborn. | <urn:uuid:91368dce-25e1-4795-9a98-94e54f504e68> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/998/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00198-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964023 | 1,169 | 2.609375 | 3 |
I understand that 非 and 不 have negative meanings by themselves, and 得 means "must" by itself. So with a double negative, which means affirmative positive. So far so good.
But 非得 by itself is also "must". Single negative. Also positive. Why?
非得 itself is always negative. The sentence contains only 非得 could be positive when there is a 2nd negative (most likely 不可) being omitted. This omission is common in colloquial language but not as common in written language or formal speeches.
Reference #1 below is a semantic analysis for the pattern 非..不可. It mentions the fact that 不可 can be omitted.
Reference #2 contains a lot of literature/publication citations where the 2nd negative of a double negative sentence is omitted.
In reference #3 the writer thinks the omission is grammatically wrong and is due to people not treating the language seriously. | <urn:uuid:069f36f9-75d4-4e7d-8086-2d6b45f20b16> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/2754/is-there-a-logical-explanation-why-%E9%9D%9E%E5%BE%97%E4%B8%8D-and-%E9%9D%9E%E5%BE%97-means-must | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943337 | 209 | 2.609375 | 3 |
- name supposedly given by Leif Erikssson to lands he explored in northeastern North America c. 1000; it could mean either "vine-land" or "meadow-land," and either way was perhaps coined to encourage settlement (compare Greenland).
After Columbus' journeys and the European exploration of the New World, evidence in the old sagas of the earlier Norse discovery of America had been noticed from time to time by those who could read them. In early 19c. the notion was seriously debated by von Humboldt and other European scholars before winning their general acceptance by the 1830s. The case for the identification of Vinland with North America began to be laid out in English-language publications in 1840. Lowell wrote a poem about it ("Hakon's Lay," 1855). Thoreau knew of it ("Ktaadn," 1864). Physical evidence of the Norse discovery was uncovered by the excavations at L'Anse aux Meadows in 1960. | <urn:uuid:3297e187-630e-4b26-bd73-e2dcc3db5321> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=Vinland&allowed_in_frame=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00110-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973615 | 200 | 3.453125 | 3 |
A research team led by a University of Iowa investigator has generated DNA-like compounds that effectively inhibit the cells responsible for systemic lupus erythematosus -- the most common and serious form of lupus. There currently is no cure for this chronic autoimmune condition that damages the skin, joints and internal organs and affects an estimated one million Americans.
The team, which included researchers at Boston University School of Medicine, demonstrated the anti-inflammatory effects of class R inhibitory oligonucleotides in laboratory experiments. The findings, which could eventually lead to new treatments, appear May 28 in BioMed Central's open access journal Arthritis Research and Therapy.
"The increased potency of class R inhibitory oligonucleotides for certain cells involved in lupus flare-ups could help patients by providing specific inhibition, yet allowing them to generate a protective immune response when needed," said the study's lead author, Petar Lenert, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa Roy Carver College of Medicine.
During periodic flare-ups in people with lupus, the immune system overreacts and mistakenly attacks cells and tissues throughout the body, resulting in a range of symptoms including inflammation, pain and a characteristic "butterfly rash" across the cheeks.
Using human cell lines and isolated mouse cells, Lenert and his colleagues showed that the DNA-like compounds were able to selectively reduce the activity of two types of immune cells called autoreactive B cells and dendritic cells. When given to mice with lupus, the compounds delayed death and reduced kidney damage, proving their effectiveness.
"With further testing, we hope that class R inhibitory oligonucleotides may become another weapon in the fight against lupus," Lenert said.
Lupus prevalence varies by country and ethnicity. It is much more common in women than men; nine out of 10 people with lupus are female. Lupus also is three times more common in African-American women than in Caucasian women and is more prevalent in women of Latino, Asian and Native American descent. | <urn:uuid:60769115-d3d7-4c08-96fc-7549c93fe84d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-05/uoi-ttd052709.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00171-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957462 | 437 | 2.953125 | 3 |
William Laist (1866 – 1936) was in the best position to understand the old capitol and its security procedures. He had begun working in the capitol in 1893 as a young man who had recently emigrated from Germany. By 1895, he had a full time job as a janitor. Over the years he became well-known about the building and was a particular favorite of the legislators. After he died, some legislators recalled that he would lead them in singing German songs while waiting for the governor to sign bills.
Laist took his work very seriously and was honored in 1929 when the legislature passed a very unusual bill in his name. Senate Bill 128 established the job of “custodian of the capitol buildings” whose duties were to supervise the janitors, distribute supplies, and guide visitors around the building. Section 3 of the bill named William Laist as the custodian. It may not be necessary to point out that identifying a state employee by name in a legislative bill is an extremely rare event.
Laist had a military appearance in his official blue wool uniform with gold braid and buttons. He enjoyed a substantial salary set by law, but in 1932 when hard times forced other capitol employees to take a pay cut, Laist voluntarily asked for a pay cut so he would not have a position more privileged than other state employees.
When the new capitol building opened, Laist was the chief guide, leading visitors around the new building in his sharp blue uniform.
When William Laist died in 1936, his life and service to the state were honored again by the attendance of several state legislators, the current governor, and former governors at his funeral.
612 East Boulevard Ave.
Bismarck, North Dakota 58505
State Museum and Store: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. M-F; Sat. & Sun. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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State Historical Society offices: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. M-F, except state holidays. | <urn:uuid:58f9dbfd-09fd-4431-aefe-08712d10ad86> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://history.nd.gov/textbook/unit6_hardtimes/unit6_6_laist.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00154-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979236 | 486 | 2.859375 | 3 |
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Launch of Germany's Earth observation satellite TanDEM-X
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Germany's second Earth observation satellite, TanDEM-X, was launched successfully on 21 June 2010 at 04:14 Central European Summer Time (CEST, 08:14 local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
TerraSAR-X's 'twin' satellite, TanDEM-X, certified ready for space
Formation flying trials
TerraSAR-X - Germany's radar eye in space
TanDEM-X - animation composite
Copyright © 2016 German Aerospace Center (DLR). All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:99af5c6e-dded-4788-b298-bfd0cbf1cfd9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dlr.de/eo/en/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-5731/9295_read-25113/gallery-1/gallery_read-Image.1.15548/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.67987 | 151 | 2.546875 | 3 |
from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the Université de
Lausanne in Switzerland have used simple robots to study the evolution of
altruism in social animals.
Floreano, study leader and EPFL robotics professor, and Laurent Keller, a
biologist from the Université de Lausanne, have joined forces to study how
altruism came about in social creatures that were born to understand
"survival of the fittest."
is the selfless concern for the welfare of others. It is demonstrated in
animals like worker ants, which are sterile and give up the transmission of
their own genes in order to guarantee the survival of the queen's genetic
makeup. This type of altruism is known as kin selection, where the individual
makes personal sacrifices in order to insure the survival of a relative's
a biologist named W.D. Hamilton proposed that if an individual member shares
food with its family, it decreases its own survival yet increases the chance of
survival for family members that can pass along family genes. Hamilton's rule
of kin selection states that an organism is more likely to share its food with
another that is genetically close rather than those who are not.
and Keller began experimenting with this theory using robots. In previous
studies, the robots would perform simple tasks like pushing seed-like objects
across the floor to specific destinations. The robots would evolve over several
generations, and those that could not push the objects to the correct
destination were pulled from the study, unable to pass their code along. On the
other hand, robots that were able to perform the desired task were allowed to
pass their code on, and this code was mutated and recombined with other robots in
the next generation.
Floreano and Keller are testing the evolution of altruism through the use of
robots that evolve quickly. The robots are able to evolve through
the use of simulated gene and genome functions. Some robots are created as
clones, siblings, cousins, and complete strangers. The difference between this
new study and the older ones is that robots now have the option to share a seed
once it is pushed to the desired destination. Over the course of 500
generations of experiments, the researchers observed when robots would share,
when they wouldn't, and what the consequences were for both options.
results of the study showed that Hamilton's rule of kin selection was exactly
right. Groups of robots that were related shared the seed, and the family
became strong and was able to pass its code to the next generation. Hamilton's
original theory takes into account both a limited and isolated vision of gene
interaction while these gene simulations in robots "integrate effects of
one gene in multiple other genes," and Hamilton's theory was still
have been able to take this experiment and extract an algorithm that we can use
to evolve cooperation in any type of robot," said Floreano. "We are
using this altruism algorithm to improve the control system of our flying
robots and we see that it allows them to effectively collaborate and fly in swarm formation more
study was published in PLoS Biology. | <urn:uuid:e2d999b1-b14c-4511-b027-6764b3c21fb2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=21541&commentid=678192&threshhold=1&red=141 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00165-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960626 | 668 | 3.9375 | 4 |
November 9, 2005
Venus space probe searches for global warming clues
By Bernhard Winkler
DARMSTADT, Germany (Reuters) - Europe's first space probe
to Venus was launched on Wednesday on a mission that aims to
shed light on Earth's closest planetary neighbor and give
scientists clues about global warming.
Space Agency said the 1.3 ton "Venus Express" probe had taken
off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on board a Soyuz rocket at 0333
GMT on Wednesday -- after a two-week delay.
The Venus Express will travel through space for around 163
days. Once captured by Venus's gravity in April it will orbit
the planet and analyze its extreme greenhouse atmosphere and
dense cloud cover for about 500 days, scientists said.
"Naturally we're hoping for some surprises and to be in a
position to answer some of the open questions about Venus and
its atmosphere," said Ralf Jaumann, the project head.
Among the riddles the mission hopes to solve is why a
planet so similar to Earth in size, mass and composition has
evolved so differently over the last 4,600 million years.
Temperatures on Venus average 450 degrees Celsius.
There are theories that intense volcano activity could have
created an extreme greenhouse atmosphere that is responsible
for the current conditions on Venus, whose atmosphere is
largely comprised of carbon dioxide.
Some scientists have said it is possible there may once
have been life on Venus. They hope to obtain clues about
greenhouse conditions on Venus and whether any comparisons
about global warming on Earth can be drawn.
"It's a planet filled with secrets and is as old as the
Earth," said Mick Locher, a German space expert, in an
interview with N-24 television. "We're hoping to discover why
it got so hot on Venus and not Earth, its twin planet."
Atmospheric pressure is 90 times greater than on Earth and
no space probe that has gone into the planet's atmosphere has
survived for long, with a Russian device setting the record of
110 minutes before melting in the heat.
The "Venus Express" will orbit the planet's poles from a
distance of 250 to 66,000 km. Venus's days are the equivalent
of 243 Earth days, due to its slower rotation.
The planned launch on October 26 was delayed after
technicians discovered a contamination on the covering of the
probe's Russian-made Soyuz-Fregat launcher, but this proved
The Venus Express is essentially a slight variation on the
ESA's "Mars Express" probe, which has been providing
spectacular images of the red planet since the end of 2003.
A total of 25 companies from 14 European countries are
involved in the Venus Express, which cost 220 million euros | <urn:uuid:b4a96081-9b53-4d5b-bb3d-5689d363cab8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/299963/venus_space_probe_searches_for_global_warming_clues/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00135-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918104 | 591 | 3.5 | 4 |
While early educational intervention is key to improving the lives of people with ASD, some parents and professionals believe other treatment approaches play an important role in improving communication skills and reducing behavioral symptoms associated with autism. These complementary therapies might include music, art or animal therapy, among many others, and might be undertaken on an individual basis or through an educational program.
All of these therapies can help by increasing communication skills, developing social interaction and providing a sense of accomplishment. They can provide a non-threatening way for a child on the autism spectrum to develop a positive relationship with a therapist in a safe environment. They can also be productive hobbies in their own right!
Art and music are particularly useful in sensory integration, providing tactile, visual and auditory stimulation. Music therapy is good for speech development and language comprehension. Songs can be used to teach language and increase the ability to put words together. Art therapy provides a nonverbal, symbolic means of self-expression, and can develop fine motor skills.
Animal therapy might include working with dogs, horseback riding or swimming with dolphins. These animals can provide soothing sensory stimulation, a point of focus and opportunities to learn about behavior and communication. Therapeutic riding programs provide both physical and emotional benefits, improving coordination and motor development while creating a sense of well-being and increasing self-confidence. Dolphin therapy was first used in the 1970s by psychologist David Nathanson, who believed interactions with dolphins would improve a child’s attention, enhancing cognition.
Again, as with all other therapy or treatment approaches, it is important to gather information and make an informed decision to choose a reputable, effective therapy. Keep in mind, however, that little scientific research has been conducted on most complementary therapies. They must be judged by their results on a person-by-person basis.
Use Autism Source to find therapies and other services near you. | <urn:uuid:179c8e45-828e-409d-95a0-c9337530c396> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.autism-society.org/living-with-autism/treatment-options/related-approaches/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00107-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95188 | 376 | 3.578125 | 4 |
[Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 866]
The mackerel is fusiform in outline, tapering rearward to a very slim caudal peduncle and forward to a pointed nose. Its body is about four and one-half to five and one-half times as long as it is deep, oval in section, thick and firm-muscled as are all its tribe. Its head is long (one-fourth of length to caudal) and its mouth large, gaping back to the middle of the eye (the premaxillaries are not protractile), while the jaws, which are of equal length, are armed with small, sharp, slender teeth. The eye is large, and the hollows in front of and behind it are filled with the so-called "adipose eyelid," a transparent, [page 318] gelatinous mass in the form of two scales, a forward and a hinder, which cover the eye except for a perpendicular slit over the pupil.
There are two large dorsal fins: the first originating over the middle of the pectoral fins when the latter are laid back is triangular, of 10 to 14 (usually 11, 12, or 13) rather weak spines that can be laid down along the midline of the back in a deep groove; the second dorsal, separated from the first by an interspace longer than the length of the latter, is smaller (9 to 15 rays, usually 12) and is followed by several small finlets, of which there are usually 5, but sometimes 4 or 6. The anal fin is similar to the second dorsal in shape and size, originates slightly behind it, and is similarly succeeded by 5 small finlets that correspond to the dorsal finlets in size and shape. The caudal fin is broad, but short and deeply forked. The caudal peduncle bears two small longitudinal keels on either side but no median lateral keel, the absence of the latter being a distinctive character. The ventral fins stand below the origin of the first dorsal and are small, as are the pectorals. The scales of the mackerel are so small that its skin feels velvety to the touch; indeed they are hardly to be seen on the belly with the naked eye, but those about the pectoral fins and on the shoulders are somewhat larger.
The upper surface is dark steely to greenish blue, often almost blue-black on the head. The body is barred with 23 to 33 (usually 27 to 30) dark transverse bands that run down in an irregular wavy course nearly to the mid-level of the body, below which there is a narrow dark streak running along each side from pectoral to tail fin. The pectorals are black or dusky at the base, the dorsals and caudal are gray or dusky. The jaws and gill covers are silvery. The lower parts of the sides are white with silvery, coppery, or brassy reflections and iridescence; the belly silvery white. [page 319] But the iridescent colors fade so rapidly after death that a dead fish gives little idea of the brilliance of a living one.
Most of the grown fish are between 14 and 18 inches long; a few reach a length close to 22 inches. Fourteen-inch fish weigh about 1 pound in the spring and about 1¼ pounds in the fall when they are fat; 18-inch fish weigh about 2 to 2½ pounds; a 22-inch mackerel will likely weigh 4 pounds. An unusually large mackerel is taken occasionally; in 1925, for example, the schooner Henrietta brought in one weighing 7½ pounds.
Mackerel are a swift-moving fish, swimming with very short sidewise movements of the rear part of the body and of the powerful caudal fin. When caught they beat a rapid tattoo with their tails on the bottom of the boat until exhausted. And they require so much oxygen for their vital processes that when the water is warm (hence its oxygen content low) they must keep swimming constantly, to bring sufficient flow of water to their gill filaments, or else they die.
Despite their great activity, they do not leap above the surface, as various others of their tribe do, unless perhaps to escape some larger fish.
The mackerel, like the herring, has the habit of gathering in dense schools of many thousands. It is not known how long these schools hold together; it would be especially interesting to know whether they do so through the winter when our mackerel are in deep water, but the general opinion of fishermen is that they do so throughout the migrations at least. Although the mackerel may scatter and the schools mix more or less, especially when they are feeding on the larger and more active members of the free-floating fauna as is said to happen in British waters, the members of any given school usually are all of about the same size, i. e., of the same age. Fish of the year almost always school separately from the others as Sette has pointed out; he has also pointed out that this tendency of the fish to separate according to size is probably due to the fact that the larger ones swim faster than the smaller ones.
Mackerel school by themselves, as a rule. But sometimes they are found mingled with herring, alewives, or shad, as Kendall described. We have yet to learn how mackerel schools hold together, whether by sight or by some other sense. And various explanations have been proposed to account for the schooling habit, such as that it is advantageous for feeding, that it is a concomitant of spawning (this would not explain its persistence out of the spawning season, however, or the fact that any given school is apt to contain green, and spent as well as ripe fish even at spawning time), or that it affords protection from enemies. But when all is said, the instinct prompting it remains a mystery. At any rate, schooling is not a necessity, though usual. When mackerel are at all plentiful, and even when they are not, numbers of single wandering fish are often hooked by persons trolling for them, and by flounder and cunner fishermen.
Schools of mackerel are often seen at the surface. In the daytime they can be recognized by the appearance of the ripple they make, for this is less compact than that made either by herring or by menhaden. Neither do mackerel ordinarily "fin" or raise their noses above the surface, as is the common habit of the menhaden (p. 114). An observer at masthead height can perhaps see a school of mackerel as deep as 8 to 10 fathoms by day, if the water is calm, and the sun behind him. On dark nights the schools are likely to be betrayed by the "firing" of the water, caused by the luminescence of the tiny organisms that they disturb in their progress. Sette reports one case of a school recognized by its firing as deep as 25 fathoms; but the water is seldom (if ever) clear enough in the Gulf of Maine for a submerged light to be visible from above, more than 15 fathoms down. The trail of bluish light left behind by individual fish as they dart to one side or the other, while one rows or sails through a school on a moonless, overcast night when the water is firing, is the most beautiful spectacle that our coastal waters afford, and one with which every mackerel fisherman is familiar.
No one knows how greatly the movements of the mackerel, from day to day, result from involuntary drifting with the circulatory movements of the water, which are different at different depths, and how greatly they depend on the directive swimming of the mackerel themselves. Our only [page 320] contribution in this regard is that we once were able to follow on foot beside a school that was advancing along the Scituate shore at a rate of about 3 to 4 miles an hour, against a tidal current of about one-half knot, until the fish swung offshore and out of our sight.
The speed at which a school travels when it is not disturbed depends, it seems, on the size of the fish of which it is composed. It has been observed by Sette that mackerel less than one year old swim at about 6 sea miles per hour (10 ft. a second) while circling inside a live car; yearlings at a rate of about 11½ sea miles per hour (19 ft. a second), or nearly twice as fast. We find no definite observations on the normal speed of the larger fish, and no one knows how rapidly a mackerel may swim for a short distance, if it is disturbed. Mackerel seen during the warmer months of the year are always swimming, but this rule may not apply in winter, when the water holds more dissolved oxygen because it is colder, and when it is probable that their demand upon it is lower.
The mackerel is a fish of the open sea; while numbers of them, small ones especially, often enter estuaries and harbors in search of food, they never run up into fresh water. Neither are they directly dependent either on the coastline or on the bottom in any way at any stage in their lives. They are often encountered far out over the outer part of the shelf of the continent. But they are most numerous within the inner half of the continental shelf during the fishing season, and their normal range seems not to extend oceanward beyond the upper part of the continental slope, in which they contrast with their relatives the tunas, the bonitos, and the albacores.
The depth-range of the mackerel is from the surface down to perhaps 100 fathoms at one season or another. (We recur to this in discussing the occurrence of mackerel in the Gulf of Maine, page 325.) From spring through summer and well into the autumn, the mackerel are in the upper water layers; shoaler, mostly, than some 25 to 30 fathoms, and schools of all sizes come to the surface more or less frequently then. But they frequently disappear from the surface, often for considerable periods. And it seems, from fishermen's reports, that the larger sizes tend to swim deeper than the smaller ones, on the whole, especially in mid and late summer. It is probable, also, that their vertical movements during the warmer part of the year, when they are feeding actively, are governed chiefly by the level at which food is most abundant, which for the most part is shoaler than about 50 fathoms, at least on our side of the Atlantic.
The highest temperature in which mackerel are commonly seen is about 68° F. (20° C.). At the opposite extreme they are sometimes found in abundance in water of 46°-47° (8° C.); and commercial catches are sometimes made in water as cold as 44°-45° (7° C.), but odd mackerel only have been taken in temperatures lower than that in American waters. Large catches of mackerel are made, however, by trawlers in the North Sea in winter in water as cold as 43°-45° (6°-7° C.). But as Sette has emphasized, the European mackerel differs racially from the American, and may differ in its temperature relations as well.
We may assume that the diet of the young mackerel is at first much the same in the Gulf of Maine as it is in the English Channel, namely, copepod larvae and eggs, the smaller adult copepods, various other minute pelagic Crustacea, and small fish larvae. But the young fish depend more and more upon larger prey as they grow. Our Gulf of Maine mackerel have repeatedly been seen packed full of Calanus, the "red feed" or "cayenne" of fishermen, as well as with other copepods (we have examined many in this condition). They also feed greedily, as do herring, on euphausiid shrimps (p. 89), especially in the northeastern part of the Gulf where these crustaceans come to the surface in abundance. Various other planktonic animals also enter regularly into the dietary of the mackerel. Thus, Doctor Kendall writes in his field notes that some of the fish caught on the northern part of Georges Bank in August 1896, were packed with crab larvae, others were full of Sagittae, others, again, of Sagittae and amphipods (Euthemisto), of small copepods (Temora), or of red feed (Calanus), so that even fish from the same school had selected the various members of the drifting community in varying proportion.[page 321]
Similarly, 1,000 mackerel caught near Woods Hole from June to August contained pelagic amphipods (Euthemisto), copepods, squid, and launce; others taken off No Man's Land have been found full of shelled pteropods (Limacina). And a series of small fish examined by Vinal Edwards contained copepods, shrimps, crustacean and molluscan larvae, annelid worms, appendicularians, squid, fish eggs, and fish fry such as herring, silversides, and launce. In short, practically all the floating animals, not too large or too small, regularly serve for the nourishment of mackerel except the Medusae and ctenophores, and a diet list for any given locality would include all the local pelagic Crustacea and their larvae.
Mackerel have often been seen to bite the centers out of large Medusae, but, as Nilsson suggests, they probably do this for the amphipods (Hyperia) that live commensal within the cavities of the jellyfish, not for the sake of the latter.
Mackerel also eat all kinds of small fish, to a greater or less extent according to circumstances. In the Gulf of Maine they devour large numbers of small herring, launce, and even smaller mackerel. They likewise feed on pelagic fish eggs when available, oftenest on those of their own species. And they bite greedily on almost any bait, especially if it moves, such as a bit of mackerel belly skin, a piece of clam, a piece of sea worm (Nereis), a shining jig, spoon or spinner of appropriate size, or an artificial fly, white, red, or silver-bodied. Side by side with these comparatively large objects mackerel are also known to take various microscopic organisms, chiefly the commoner peridinians and diatoms, but they never feed extensively on these as menhaden do (p. 114). And copepods are so plentiful in the Gulf of Maine, and the vegetable plankton that swarms in April has so largely disappeared over most of the Gulf before the mackerel appear later in the spring, that we doubt if they are ever reduced to a vegetable diet there or anywhere in American waters.
Mackerel are also known to feed on bottom animals to a small extent. Nilsson, for example, reports various worms and hydroids and even small stones from their stomachs, but our experience in the Gulf of Maine is to the effect that this would be exceptional there, if it happens at all.
Most authors describe the mackerel as feeding by two methods: either by filtering out the smaller pelagic organisms from the water by their gill rakers or by selecting the individual animals by sight. A good deal of discussion has centered about the relative serviceability of these two methods of feeding. Probably the truth is that when forced to subsist on the smaller objects in its dietary it must do so by sifting them out of the water, but that it selects the more desirable whenever opportunity offers to exercise its sight. It is not yet known how small objects the fish is able to pick out. It takes fish individually of course, and such large Crustacea as euphausiid shrimps and amphipods, just as the herring does, which evidently applies to the larger copepods, to judge from the fact that mackerel stomachs are often full of Calanus or of one or two other sorts in localities where indiscriminate feeding would yield them a variety. Whether they select the smaller copepods and crustacean larvae is not so clear. Captain Damant, whose experience in deep-sea diving has given him an exceptional opportunity to observe mackerel feeding under natural conditions, describes fish among which he was at work 20 to 40 feet deep in Lough Swilly (Ireland), as "feeding on plankton, not by steadily pumping the water through the gill filters but snatching gulps from different directions and making little jumps here and there."
It has been a commonplace from the earliest days of the mackerel fishery that the fish are fat when last seen in the autumn, but that most of them are thin when they reappear in spring, obviously suggesting that they feed little during the winter. This is corroborated by the fact that the mackerel taken on bottom by British and French trawlers between December and March usually are empty, and that a few mackerel taken by the Albatross II along the continental edge off Chesapeake Bay in February 1931 were very emaciated. But mackerel taken in winter sometimes have food in their stomachs; some of them even are fat.[page 322]
The immature fish feed and fatten from the time they appear in spring. And it also seems that the schools of older fish destined to spawn late in the season feed until the actual ripening of their sexual products commences, for large catches of the maturing fish were regularly made on hook and line in June in the Gulf of St. Lawrence where spawning takes place in July (until the eggs began to run, in fact). But these large mackerel would not bite after that until they had spawned out (last half of July or first part of August). And available evidence, American as well as European, is to the effect that fish destined to spawn soon after their vernal appearance inshore continue their winter fast until they have spawned, when they commence feeding greedily.
The mackerel falls easy prey to all the larger predaceous sea animals. Whales, porpoises, mackerel sharks, threshers, dogfish, tuna, bonito, bluefish, and striped bass take heavy toll in particular. Cod often eat small mackerel; squid destroy great numbers of young fish less than 4 or 5 inches long, and sea birds of various kinds follow and prey upon the schools when these are at the surface. A considerable list of parasitic worms, both round and trematode, are known to infest the digestive tract of mackerel. But they seem more immune to danger from sudden unfavorable changes in their environment than the herring are, for they are never known to be killed by cold, and they seldom strand, except when small ones are driven ashore by larger fish.
Mackerel spawn off the American coast from the latitude of Cape Hatteras to the southern side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The spawning area covers almost the entire breadth of the continental shelf southward from Cape Cod, but it is confined more closely to the vicinity of the coast thence northward. Available data point to the oceanic bight between Chesapeake Bay and southern New England as the most productive area, the Gulf of St. Lawrence as considerably less so, and the Gulf of Maine and coast of outer Nova Scotia as ranking third. Mackerel do not resort to any particular breeding grounds, but shed their eggs wherever their wandering habits have chanced to lead them when the sexual products ripen. It follows from this, and from the fact that mackerel vary so widely in abundance over periods of years that the precise localities of greatest egg production may be expected to vary from year to year, depending on the local concentrations of the fish.
The mackerel spawns in spring and early summer. As it does not commence to do so until the water has warmed to about 46° F. (8° C.), with the chief production of eggs taking place in temperatures of, say, 48° to 57°, the spawning season is progressively later, following the coast from south to north. Thus the chief production takes place as early as mid-April off Chesapeake Bay; during May off New Jersey; in June off southern Massachusetts and in the region of Massachusetts Bay; through June off outer Nova Scotia; and from late June through early July in the southern side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where eggs have been taken from early June to mid-August. Mackerel have never been found spawning in autumn, so far as we can learn, though a considerable number of eggs that we towed in Massachusetts Bay early in November of 1916 resembled mackerel eggs from the hatchery so closely that we would not have hesitated to identify them as such, had they been taken in summer. They may have been the product of a belated fish, but more likely of some other Scombroid.
The mackerel is a moderately prolific fish; females of medium size may produce as many as 400,000 to 500,000 eggs in the aggregate, according to various estimates, with 546,000 reported for one weighing 17/8 pounds. But it is seldom that as many as 50,000 are set free at any one time, and often many fewer, for the members of a given school spawn over a considerable period. And recent observations have shown that our earlier statement that they spawn chiefly at night was not correct.
The eggs are 0.97 to 1.38 mm. in diameter, with one large oil globule, and drift suspended in the water, chiefly shoaler than the 5-fathom level. The rate of development is governed by the [page 323] temperature of the water. Recent experiments by Worley (which corroborate early hatchery experience) have shown that incubation takes about 150 hours at 54°; 115-95 hours at 57°-61°; about 70 hours at 64°-65°; and about 50 hours at 70°; with normal development limited to temperatures between about 52° (11° C.) and 70° (21° C.).
Newly hatched living larvae are 3.1 to 3.3 mm. long with large yolk sac, and with numerous black pigment cells scattered over head, trunk, and oil globule which give them a characteristic appearance. The yolk is absorbed and the mouth formed, the teeth are visible, and the first traces of the caudal fin rays have formed by the time the larva is about 6 mm. long. The rays of the second dorsal and anal fins and of the ventrals appear at about 9 mm. (to end of caudal fin); the first dorsal when the total length of the larva is about 14 to 15 mm. The dorsal and anal finlets are distinguishable as such in fry of 22 mm., and the tail fin has begun to assume its lunate shape, but the head and eyes still are much larger than in the adult, the nose blunter, and the teeth longer. At 50 mm. the little mackerel resemble their parents so closely that their identity is evident.
The sizes of the mackerel fry taken during the mackerel survey carried out by the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries in 1932, added to other available evidence show that our mackerel grow to a length of about 2 inches during the first 1 to 2 months after they are hatched, a rate about the same as in British and Norwegian waters.
This size is reached earlier or later in the season, depending on the date when any particular lot of fry was hatched. Thus mackerel fry of 1¼ to 2½ inches obviously spawned that spring, have been taken at Woods Hole, both in the first half of June and in the last 10 days of July, fry of 2½ to 5 inches in the first half of August, and fish of about 6½ inches at the end of that month. Similarly, Captain Atwood found fry of 2 inches and shorter in July in the Massachusetts Bay region, i. e., about a month after the local mackerel schools had spawned out.
Fry of 3½ to 4½ inches (obviously of the same season's crop because too small for yearlings) have been taken at Gloucester in August, and Captain Atwood reports them as 6½ to 7 inches long, near Provincetown by October. Many of these little fish, up to 7 or 8 inches long (now large enough to be caught in the fish traps and known as tacks or spikes) are caught along the western shores of the Gulf of Maine and along southern New England during the fall. And measurements of thousands of young mackerel from the Gulf and from southern New England, compiled by the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, have shown that the fry of the year average 8 to 9 inches, or longer, by the end of their first autumn, before they leave the coast for the winter. But broods produced in different years may grow at different rates, probably depending on feeding conditions, as well as on the dates when they are hatched. Thus fry spawned in the spring of 1927 averaged 8¾ inches in November, but those spawned in 1928 averaged 9¾ inches then.
Our mackerel run about 10 to 11 inches long in spring and early summer of their second year of growth (they are known now as tinkers), which agrees closely with Stevens' estimate for mackerel of the English Channel, based on studies of scales and otoliths. They grow to about 12 to 13 inches by that autumn, or to 14 inches in years of especially rapid growth, and the yearlings usually are a little longer in the Gulf of Maine than at Woods Hole, and longer at Woods Hole than off Long Island, N. Y. It remains to be seen whether these differences are due to temperature, to the varying richness of the food supply, or perhaps to crowding. It is also a question for the future whether the differences persist into later life. The brood of 1923, which may perhaps be taken as typical, averaged almost 141/3 inches in their third autumn, about 151/6 inches in their fourth, about 15½ inches in their fifth, about 16 inches in their sixth, 161/3 inches in their seventh, and about 16¾ inches in their eighth years. Thus the American mackerel, like the European, grows very slowly after its third [page 324] summer, although it is long lived. The two sexes grow about equally fast.
Nilsson's studies point to a slightly slower rate of growth for the North European mackerel. But American mackerel have been found to vary so widely in this respect that the reported difference may have been only an accident of observation.
A few fish of both sexes may mature sexually in their second year; about 4/5 of the males and 2/3 of the females spawn in the third year; and practically all of them do so in their fourth year, i. e., when three full years old. This coincides with the transition from fast growth to slow, as might be expected, the ripening of the sexual products being so great a strain that the adult fish do little more than recover before winter. Once a mackerel has matured sexually, it no doubt spawns yearly throughout life, as most other sea fishes do.
In American waters males have been described as predominating largely over females. But more recent observations have shown that there are about as many of the one sex as of the other, as there are in Sweden also.
Both sides of the North Atlantic; Norway to Spain off the European coast; from the northern side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Strait of Belle Isle to Cape Lookout, N. C. off the American coast.
The occurrence of the mackerel in the Gulf of Maine is closely bound up with the seasonal movements of the species as a whole, for this is a migratory fish wherever it occurs, appearing at the surface and near our coasts in spring, to vanish thence late in the autumn. The directions and extent of the journeys which it carries out have been the subject of much discussion ever since the fishery first assumed importance, because of their intrinsic interest, because of their bearing on the prosecution of the fishery, and because this fish has been the subject of much international dispute. The point chiefly at issue has been whether the main bodies of mackerel merely sink when they leave the coast in autumn and move directly out to the nearest deep water, or whether they combine their offshore and onshore journeys with the extensive north and south migrations in which most fishermen have long believed.
The great majority of the mackerel have withdrawn from the coast by the end of December, not only from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but from the entire inshore belt as a whole, not to be seen there again until the following spring or early summer, and it is not yet known definitely where the bulk of them go, though the subject has been widely discussed. Mackerel, it is true, have been caught, and have been found in the stomachs of cod and pollock in January, February, and early March at various localities on and around the outer Nova Scotian banks westward from Sable Island Bank; on the southern and northwestern parts of Georges Bank; in the deeper water between the latter and Nantucket Shoals; on Nantucket Shoals; and along the middle and outer parts of the continental shelf off southern New England, off New York, off New Jersey, off Delaware Bay, off Virginia, and off northern North Carolina. Most of these winter records have been along the 30-70 fathom contour zone, but sometimes as shoal as 4-5 fathoms off Nova Scotia, and as shoal as about 10-20 fathoms (near Ambrose Lightship) off New York, as deep as 90 fathoms off Chesapeake Bay.
Most of these winter records have been based on odd fish only, i. e., not enough to suggest the presence of any great concentration of mackerel. But there were enough of them off New York in January, February, and March of 1949 for commercial fisheries to bring in what Gordon has [page 325] characterized as "huge amounts." He also reports "a large body of fish" off Montauk in mid-February of 1950. Schools of "mackerel" have also been reported as sighted at the surface on several occasions in winter, but none of these seem to have been brought in.
Direct evidence carries us only this far. But the indirect evidence of temperature is suggestive. Thus, the Gulf of St. Lawrence (where ice sometimes forms), outer Nova Scotian waters, and the upper 50 fathoms or so within the Gulf of Maine which chill to 35°-39° F. (2°-4° C.) or colder, are all too cold by late winter for mackerel, which are never encountered in commercial quantities in temperatures lower than about 45° F. (7° C.). In most years this applies equally to the inner part of the continental shelf as a whole, southward as far as northern Virginia, for the water usually cools there to 37°-40° F. (3°-4° C.) at the time of the winter minimum. But the mackerel need only move out to the so-called warm zone at the outer edge of the shelf to find a more suitable environment, for the bottom water there is warmer than 44°-46° F. (7°-8° C.) the year round as far north and east as the central part of Georges Bank, and about 41° F. (5° C.) along outer Nova Scotia.
Available evidence thus supports Sette's conclusion that the bulk of the American mackerel winter on the outer edge of the continental shelf from the offing of northern North Carolina to the mid-length of Georges Bank, 30 to 100 miles off shore according to location, in depths of perhaps 50 to 100 fathoms. The few that are caught closer to land and in shoaler water in winter either represent the inshore fringe of the main population, or they are strays. Perhaps some winter off Nova Scotia as far east as Sable Island Bank. And it would not be astonishing should it prove that some winter in the deep eastern trough of the Gulf of Maine, where the temperature of the bottom water, at depths greater than 75 fathoms or so, does not fall below about 41° F. (5° C.). A few mackerel have, in fact, been caught on cod lines in deep water off Grand Manan in winter, while two were found among kelp near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, on December 28, in 1878.
Sette has pointed out, however, that some other factor besides temperature must have to do with the wintering habits of the mackerel, for they disappear as completely from the surface and from inshore in the southern part of their range as they do in the northern even in very warm years such as 1932, when the water (surface to bottom) was warmer than 45°-46° F. (7°-8° C.), from New Jersey southward, even at the end of the, winter. On the other hand, the event (probably abnormally low temperature) that was so destructive to the tilefish in March, 1882 (p. 429), did not affect such of the mackerel as were wintering on the tilefish grounds, for they reappeared that summer in normal numbers, a point to which Sette has called attention already.
Two additional facts which support the view that our mackerel do not travel very far in winter are (a) no mackerel, young or old, have ever been taken outside the edge of the continent, or anywhere on the high seas far from land for that matter; (b) their reappearance in spring takes place so nearly simultaneously along some hundreds of miles of coastline that they can hardly have come from any great distance.
Thus time and increased knowledge have corroborated the view of Captain Atwood and of Perley, of more than half a century ago that mackerel winter offshore in deep water and northward from the latitude of Virginia, not in the far south nor out in the surface waters of the warm parts of the Atlantic.
The winter home of the American mackerel appears to correspond rather closely to that of the mackerel of British seas, some of which winter on the deep northern slope of the North Sea, some in the deeper parts of the English Channel, and many on the outer edge of the continental shelf southwest of Ireland, mostly deeper than 60 fathoms.
The failure of the otter trawlers to take commercial quantities of mackerel off Chesapeake Bay in winter when they fish there intensively, leads Sette to conclude that our mackerel [page 326] winter in the mid-depths, not concentrated on the bottom. This, however, would imply that the wintering mackerel manage to hold position for two or three months in some way without drifting far with the movements of the water. Another possibility is that they do keep on bottom, or near it, but somewhat deeper down the continental slope than the trawlers ordinarily fish, perhaps concentrated in the many gullies, large and small, with which the upper part of the slope is seamed all along from the offing of Chesapeake Bay to Georges Bank, much as the mackerel of the Celtic Sea and English Channel winter "on the sea floor, densely packed in places where its level is interrupted by banks and gullies."
Whichever of these alternatives is the correct one, the oft repeated assertion that the adipose eyelids of the mackerel become opaque in winter has no foundation. And they certainly do not hibernate in thousands along the coasts of Greenland and Hudson Bay, and of Newfoundland, with heads in the mud and tails protruding as a vice admiral, no less, has described them; a wholly imaginary tale, we need hardly add. They may winter in a more or less sluggish state. But the presence of food in the stomachs of some of the winter-caught fish, added to the fact that some of them are fat though others are thin, shows that they move about more or less even then, and feed more or less.
Most American students have looked on the vernal warming of the surface water to about 45° F. as the stimulus causing the mackerel to quit their winter quarters. European studies, however, have shown that the date of their reappearance in spring is not closely associated with any particular temperature. And if the mackerel winter on bottom along the edge of the continent, vernal changes in the temperature of the surface water nearer to land would be wholly outside their ken.
The European mackerel usually keep to the bottom on their spring migration until close in to the land before rising to the surface. But this generalization does not apply to the American fish, for while some may swim deep (so, only can we account for the fact that the first schools often show as early in Massachusetts Bay as on Georges Bank or off Nantucket) mackerel in great numbers are first sighted 30 to 50 miles offshore, and this all the way from the latitude of Cape Hatteras to the mouth of the Gulf of Maine. The first mackerel "show" off the Cape Hatteras region at any time between about March 20 and April 25, usually early in April, and by the middle of April off Delaware Bay. As the water warms they spread northward and shoreward, being joined, it seems, by additional contingents from offshore. They reach the offing of southern New England some time in May, and they are plentiful on Nantucket Shoals by the first week of that month, as a rule.
The date when they are first sighted off Cape Cod in the southwestern part of the Gulf of Maine varies from the last of April or first of May (April 29 in 1901, May 2, in 1898) to the first of June, with May 10 about the average. The earliest dates of commercial catches, for example, made in one particular set of traps near Provincetown have varied between May 14 and June 19. And the fish are plentiful in the western side of the Gulf of Maine as a whole by the end of the first week in June at the latest, if it is fated to be a good mackerel year. Mackerel (usually in smaller numbers) also appear on the Nova Scotian side of the Gulf about as early as they do in its western side; thus they were reported almost simultaneously off Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and off Chatham on Cape Cod in 1898; in 1922 they were sighted off Yarmouth on May 7th, and off Cape Sable on the 11th. And they may appear even earlier in the season at Cape Breton, and as early well within the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in the eastern side of our Gulf. In 1894, for example, mackerel were first reported off Cape Breton on May 5 and at Gaspé on May 12, but not until May 16 at Yarmouth on the Gulf of Maine coast of Nova Scotia. But few of them show along the coast of Maine or in the Bay of Fundy until toward the end of June.
Sette has made the very interesting discovery that two distinct populations are represented among the American mackerel, a southern and a [page 327] northern, with rather different migratory habits, and differing also in the relative success of reproduction in different years. The nature of these two contingents is not known, whether genetic or environmental.
It is probable (though not proved) that the southern contingent tend to winter in the southern part of the wintering zone. The main bodies of mackerel that appear in spring along the middle Atlantic coast belong to this contingent, also most of those taken off southern New England. They summer for the most part over Nantucket Shoals; on the western part of Georges Bank; and in the western and northwestern parts of the Gulf of Maine, which they enter in the western side around Cape Cod. And they do not journey farther east than the coast of Maine. On the other hand, it seems the mackerel that appear early in the season along the Nova Scotian shore of the Gulf, to spread later to Maine, belong to the northern contingent, and also a scattering of those that enter the western side of the Gulf. These appear to winter mostly eastward from the Hudson Gorge, and their vernal migration carries most of them past our Gulf, to pass the summer along outer Nova Scotia, and in the southern side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A few mackerel (mostly small) from the southern contingent remain all summer in the coastwise belt from Long Island to Nantucket. Apart from these, however, the whole body of American mackerel have deserted the southern grounds altogether by the early summer, to spend the later summer either in the region of our Gulf, off Nova Scotia, or in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
If the view now held is correct as to their migratory routes, some of the mackerel that summer in our Gulf may come from as far as the offing of North Carolina; others from as nearby as the offing of New York or of southern New England. The vernal journey of the Gulf of St. Lawrence mackerel may be anywhere between, say 300 to 350 miles, and 700 miles, depending on whether they have wintered off outer Nova Scotia or as far west as the western slope of Georges Bank.
It seems certain that some of the mackerel that are first sighted on Nantucket Shoals and on Georges Bank in May remain on these offshore grounds all summer, both spawning and feeding there, for they provide good fishing there any time from June to September or October, in some years. The farther advance of such of them as continue northward into the Gulf of Maine covers a period of some weeks, with the first-comers followed by other schools later. And it seems certain (as just remarked) that fish resorting to our Gulf, do so summer after summer, never visiting the outer coast of Nova Scotia, much less a region as far afield as the Gulf of St. Lawrence. But it is an interesting question for the future, whether a given school returns to the same part of the Gulf, year after year.
Many of the mackerel that summer in our Gulf have already spawned farther south (p. 322). Others, however, are still hard, but they are soon taken there with eggs or milt running. Spawning in the Gulf of Maine is at its peak in June in most years, with the proportion of spent fish increasing through July, and only an occasional ripe fish as late as the first of August. But a year comes occasionally, such as 1882, when spawning is not at its height in the Gulf until July, with ripe fish continuing plentiful until August. And our towings there have yielded a few mackerel eggs as early as May 6, as late as September 1.
The spawning season is at its height in the Gulf of St. Lawrence during the last half of June and the first half of July, continuing into August, a fact well known by the hook-and-line fishermen of half a century ago, because the ripe fish will not bite at that time, and more recently corroborated by the egg catches of the Canadian Fisheries Expedition.
It seems from the relative numbers of eggs taken from place to place, that Cape Cod Bay is the only subdivision of our Gulf that has rivaled the more southern spawning grounds in egg production during the particular years when intensive studies [page 328] have been made. Mackerel also spawn to some extent thence northward, as far as Casco Bay, but we believe very few do so farther east than that along the coast of Maine. Neither is it likely that mackerel breed successfully in the northern side of the Bay of Fundy for neither eggs nor larvae have been taken there though some production may take place on the Nova Scotian side for Huntsman reports eggs at the mouth of the Annapolis River. And while a moderate amount of spawning takes place along the outer coast of Nova Scotia, it seems that the eggs do not hatch in the low temperatures prevailing there, for no larvae have been found. But the southern side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the surface waters warm to a high temperature in summer, is an extremely productive spawning ground (p. 322).
Since the large adult mackerel tend to keep farther offshore than the small ones (p. 328), such of them as spawn in our Gulf do so at least a few miles out. Very few eggs, for example, were found in 1897 (a year of plenty) in the inshore parts of Casco Bay, though this was formerly thought to be a productive spawning ground.
Once the mackerel have entered our Gulf, schools are to be expected anywhere around its coastal belt, at any time during the summer- also on Nantucket Shoals, on the western part of Georges Bank, and on Browns Bank, as just noted (p. 327). And while adult fish seldom venture within the outer islands or headlands, good catches of them have been made well up Penobscot Bay, and young ones 6 to 10 inches long often swarm right up to the docks in various harbors in summers of plenty.
Mackerel are proverbially unpredictable in their appearances and disappearances at any particular place, hence the common saying that "mackerel are where and when you find them." This is partly because the schools are constantly on the move, but partly because it is only while they are schooling at the surface or near it that they are seen.
When they sink to lower levels in the water, as they often do, they drop out of sight entirely, unless some of them chance to be picked up by drift netters. Large mackerel are more prone to disappear in this way than small ones, especially in late summer or early autumn. In 1906, for example, the schools of large fish vanished from the Massachusetts Bay region in June, to reappear the 27th of July, on which date 28 seiners made catches ranging from 18 to 250 barrels each. And in 1892, a year of abundance, they disappeared (that is, sank) in August, not to appear again in any abundance anywhere in the Gulf of Maine until October.
The view has grown that when this happens the mackerel have deserted the Gulf for the time being. But it was common knowledge in the days before the introduction of the purse seine, when it was the regular practice to lure the fish to the surface by throwing out ground bait, that large mackerel summer as regularly in the Gulf as small, and that good hook-and-line catches of large fish could be made in one or another part of the Gulf through the season from June to October, even when none showed at the surface.
Their disappearances in summer merely mean that the fish have sought lower levels in the water; that they have wandered to some other part of the Gulf; or perhaps that the schools have dispersed more or less. When they sink in summer in our Gulf, it is not likely that they descend very deep. In the first place the water deeper than about 40 to 50 fathoms is colder than 46°-47° F. (8° C.), i. e., than they seem to prefer; in the second place the planktonic animals on which they feed are more concentrated above the 50-fathom level than deeper. And a year comes, now and then, when mackerel of all sizes school at the surface all summer long.
Sette's painstaking analysis of the relative frequency with which schools are seined in different localities has shown that mackerel are seen far the most often in the southwestern part of the Gulf and out along the western part of Georges Bank, with the chief concentrations in one part or another of Massachusetts Bay and off the outer shore of Cape Cod to Nantucket Shoals, though great numbers are also caught along the Maine coast, close inshore.[page 329]
Mackerel contrast in an interesting way with herring in this respect, the latter being caught in by far the greatest numbers in the northeastern corner of the Gulf, i. e., just where there usually are fewest mackerel. But there is much variation from year to year in their relative abundance from place to place as appears from the following table of catches, made in two successive years when the total landings from the Gulf, as a whole, did not differ greatly (landings at Boston, Gloucester, and Portland by the vessel fishery, stated in pounds).
|Off Race Point||99,250||621,751|
In some years few mackerel are seen at the surface in the Gulf eastward of the Isles of Shoals, 1926, 1927, 1933, 1934, and 1935 were examples. In other years, however (e. g., in 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, and 1932) many schools are sighted and seined along the coast of Maine as far eastward as the vicinity of Mount Desert Rock (see fig. 176, based on Sette's painstaking analysis). But the experiences of the old time hook-and-line fishermen suggest that the mackerel tend to move northward and eastward in general from the Massachusetts Bay region, for they made their best late-summer and early-fall catches between Cape Elizabeth and Mount Desert Rock in most years, notably about Monhegan Island. And the results of hook-and-line fishing are a far better clue to the presence or absence of mackerel than the seine catches are, since they draw from the fish that are deep down, as well as from those that may chance to be at the surface.
The Nova Scotian side of the Bay of Fundy has been a profitable mackerel ground, occasionally, but only for short periods and at long intervals. Thus good catches were made there for some years previous to 1876, but this fishery was abandoned a few years later for want of mackerel. There were enough fish there again in the early 1900's to yield about 7 million pounds in the 6-year period 1901 to 1906. But we have not heard of any large catches made anywhere in the Bay of Fundy since that time, so events of the sort must be out of the ordinary. And very few mackerel are ever reported along the New Brunswick side of the Bay.
In most years, mackerel are few over the central deeps of the Gulf (fig. 176), but a year comes now and then when they are plentiful there, as happened in 1882 (a year of great abundance), when great numbers were caught between Georges Bank, Browns Bank, and Cashes Ledge, and thence northward to within 40 miles or so of the Maine coast. Most of the early season catch, in fact, was made in this deep water region that year, and in the weirs along the west coast of Nova Scotia. But the fish disappeared thence later in the season. And large catches have never been reported from the eastern part of Georges Bank to our knowledge.
As a rule, the schools tend to stay nearer the coast in years when small (i. e., young) fish dominate the population. The entire Gulf of Maine catch, for example, was taken within 45 miles of [page 330] land in 1926, when the stock was dominated by fish hatched in 1923, i. e., were in their third year. In years of this sort, anglers fishing in harbors, or going out in charter boats for the day, do well, catching the smaller sizes chiefly. But in 1928, when the same year class dominated as had in 1926 (i. e., fish now in their fifth year), only about two-thirds of the catch was made that close in, with about one-third of the catch taken more than 45 miles out at sea. Nineteen twenty-nine may serve as another example, with more than one-half (57 percent) of the large fish caught more than 45 miles out, but less than 1 percent of the small ones, and a few large ones, taken as far out as 80 miles. But even the fully grown fish do sometimes come close inshore; we have ourselves caught mackerel within a few yards of the beach in the southern side of Massachusetts Bay, as large as any that we have seen taken anywhere.
Fishermen have long realized that mackerel are most likely to be found where there is a good supply of "red feed" (copepods) or other small animal life in the water. A relationship has, in fact, been found to hold in the English Channel between the catches of mackerel and the numbers of copepods present. And while no attempt has been made yet to relate the local abundance of mackerel in our Gulf, or the depths at which they swim with the supply of food on a statistical basis, the mere fact that they do fatten in our waters is evidence enough that they manage in some way to congregate where food is plentiful. But it appears that their vernal journey, from their wintering grounds to the Gulf and to Nova Scotian waters, is directed by some impulse to migration more definite than the mere search for food. Thus while a large proportion of the mackerel did travel along the zone of abundant plankton in the only year (1930) when their advance along the coast has been compared with the quantitative distribution of the animals on which they prey, they deserted the waters south of New England that year while the food still was abundant there, for regions (Gulf of Maine and eastward) where there is no reason to suppose that feeding conditions were any better at the time.
As autumn draws on, the fish that summer along the Maine coast (chiefly belonging to the southern contingent) seem to work back southwestward toward Cape Cod, for catches were made successively off Portland, near Boon Island, and off Cape Ann, in the days when mackerel were caught on hook and line. It is probable, too, that such of the fish from the northern contingent as have entered the Gulf in the eastern side join in this general autumnal movement around the coast to the westward and southward, rather than that they leave by the route along which they enter, for schools have often been reported, and actually followed, swimming southward at the surface across Massachusetts Bay. And while reports of this sort are likely to be based on misconception, they are corroborated in this instance by the fact that the latest catches are always made either in or off Massachusetts Bay, along the outer shore of Cape Cod, or on the neighboring parts of Nantucket Shoals, never either on Georges Bank, which would be on the direct route of any fish swimming westward from Nova Scotia, or in the inner parts of the Gulf of Maine.
Sette's studies indicate that the bulk, at least, of the mackerel of the southern contingent have moved out of the Gulf around Cape Cod and past Nantucket Shoals by late September or October in most years. But many of the fish of the northern contingent coming from Nova Scotia, and perhaps even from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, usually provide good fishing off Cape Ann and southward through October and late into November, with good commercial catches until mid-December in some years. In 1913, for example, 1,200 mackerel were caught off Gloucester on December 10; 3,000 off Chatham, Cape Cod, a day or two earlier; and nearly 1,000 barrels (200,000 pounds) were seined off the Massachusetts coast during the early part of that month in 1922. In mild winters schools of mackerel are sometimes reported and even caught off the outer coast of Nova Scotia as late as Christmas time; i. e., somewhat later than off Cape Cod. But the [page 331] whole body of Gulf of Maine, Nova Scotian, and Gulf of St. Lawrence mackerel have withdrawn thence by the end of December at the latest, except for odd stragglers. And when they do depart, they must sink at once to lower levels in the water, for schools are never sighted on their journey offshore and southward; they simply drop out of sight.
It has been common knowledge since early colonial days that mackerel fluctuate widely in abundance in our Gulf from year to year, perhaps more widely than any of our other important food fishes, with periods of great abundance alternating with terms of scarcity, or of almost total absence. In good years the fish may appear in almost unbelievable numbers; schools or associations of schools, miles in length, are reported; and it is common to see 50 or more separate bodies of fish from the masthead at one time. Mackerel, in short, seem to be everywhere, and a tremendous catch is made. But perhaps only an odd school will be seen here and there the next year, and the fishery will be a flat failure.
The period from 1825 to 1835 was one of abundance. In 1831, for example, more than 380 thousand barrels (76 million pounds) of salt mackerel (in those days most of them were salted) were landed in Massachusetts ports. But mackerel were scarce for the next 8 years (1837-45), only 50,000 barrels being landed in Massachusetts in 1840. The Massachusetts catch then fluctuated violently from 1851, when the landings rose once more to 348,000 barrels, down to 1879. The fleet brought in something like 294 million fish from Nova Scotian and United States waters combined in 1880. And this introduced a period of extraordinary abundance, culminating in 1885 when the catch reached the enormous total of 500,000 barrels (100,000,000 pounds). But this was followed in its turn by a decline so extreme, so widespread, so calamitous to the fishing interests, and so long continued, that the catch was only about 3,400 barrels (equivalent to 582,800 pounds of fresh fish) for the entire coast of the United States in 1910 (when the stock of mackerel fell to its lowest ebb) with almost none reported in Massachusetts Bay or along the Maine coast.
Mackerel then increased again in numbers; slowly at first, then more rapidly, as appears from the fact that the catch for the Gulf of Maine and for the banks at its mouth was about four times as great in 1911 (about 2½ million pounds) as it had been the year before, rising to about 41/3 million pounds in 1912, 5 million in 1913, 7½ million in 1914, to something more than 11 million in 1915, and 16 to 161/3 million each for 1916 and 1917. But this period of multiplication fell far short of equaling the banner years of the 1880's. And the catches fell off again so rapidly after 1917 that the Gulf of Maine yield for 1919 was only about one-quarter as great as it had been in 1917. Although 1920 saw some slight recovery, 1921 (with a local catch of only about 1 million pounds) proved the worst mackerel season for our Gulf since 1910. The stock then built up enough (following the familiar seesaw pattern) for the Gulf to yield about 25 million pounds of mackerel in 1925. Since that time down to 1946, the Gulf of Maine catch has ranged between a low of about 20 million pounds (1937) and a high of about 59 million (1932). Thus the catch of mackerel in our Gulf may be 50 to 100 times as great in a good year as in a poor. The average Gulf of Maine catch for the period 1933-1946 was about 37 million pounds, yearly.
Various far-fetched explanations have been proposed for these astounding ups and downs in the catches from year to year, such as that the fish have gone across to Europe; have sunk; or have been driven away or killed off by the use of the purse seine. Actually, these changes reflect the ups and downs in the numbers of the fish that are in existence from year to year. Mackerel, in short, were extremely plentiful in 1885, very scarce in 1910, moderately plentiful in 1916 and 1917, very scarce again in 1921, and they have been moderately plentiful since about 1925, but probably not so plentiful as they were in the 1880's.
It has long been known for the herring and for some other species that the prime factor in determining the abundance of the fish is the comparative success of reproduction from year to year, years favorable to the production and survival of larvae presaging several seasons of abundance, or vice-versa. And comparison of the relative proportions of mackerel of different sizes (that is, of different ages) in the total catches from year to year has shown that this is equally true of the [page 332] mackerel. When there is an abundant crop of young mackerel, the fishing is good during the next several years, but the catches then fall off, if another good brood does not soon appear upon the scene. The course of events since the low point in 1910 may then be reconstructed about as follows:
In 1910, when the stock of mackerel was at its lowest, most of the fish caught were large, suggesting that few young had survived for several years past. Unfortunately, no information is available as to the composition of the population from the point of view of size for the next three years, when the catch was progressively somewhat larger, but great numbers of small fish, (apparently yearlings), were reported in 1912, pointing to a good breeding season in 1910, in 1911, or in both. In 1914 fish smaller than 1½ pounds again formed nearly 60 percent, by weight, of the catch in and off the Gulf of Maine, and approximately 80 percent in 1915, with an even greater preponderance in actual numbers between small (young) fish and large (old). These little fish, hatched during the period 1910 to 1912 or 1913, were responsible, as they grew, for the fairly good catches made in the Gulf in 1916 and 1917. But the production of fry must have been very poor in 1916 and 1917, for the Gulf of Maine catch was only about one-seventh as great in 1919 as it had been in 1916. And reproduction must have practically failed in 1918 or in 1919, for the mackerel caught in 1920 ran very large, both south of New York that spring, and in our Gulf during that summer and autumn.
The population was now back again in about the same state as it had been in 1910, the cycle having run through a period of 10 years. The parallel goes further, too, for 1921 must have seen a wave of production to account for the swarms of small fish that appeared along the New England coast from Woods Hole to Mount Desert during the summer of 1922. This again presaged a great increase in the catches of mackerel for the next few years to come (more than 11 million pounds were taken in the Gulf of Maine in 1923). And Sette's studies show that 1923 was another productive year, resulting in a catch more than twice as great in 1925 as it had been in 1923, and about 3 times as great in 1926. The very large catch of about 59 million pounds in the Gulf in 1932 was preceded similarly by the presence of great numbers of yearlings in 1929, evidence of successful reproduction in 1928.
Thus, it seems that the proportion of fish of different ages in the catch in any one year may be used as a basis for predicting the success or failure of the run of mackerel for the next year; such predictions have in fact been attempted by Sette with fair success.
No record has been kept, so far as we know, of the relative numbers of mackerel of different ages, of late years. But a failure of reproduction, followed by a slump in the catch, may come at any time, for history has a way of repeating itself, especially where fishes are concerned.
Nothing definite is known as to what determines the success or failure of reproduction of the mackerel in any given year. Towings by the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries make it likely that the actual production of eggs is usually sufficient. But the vitality of the eggs spawned in any given year goes back to the physiological condition of the parents. And studies of the composition of the stock of fish in periods of high production and of low suggest that there is some correlation between the number of adult mackerel existing in the sea at any time, and the success with which they breed, for it seems that years when great numbers of fry survive always fall when the parent fish are scarce, average large, and also average very fat (by general report).
One hypothesis is that the mackerel tend to grow fast when there are only a few of them and go into the winter in excellent condition, hence are able to produce eggs of high vitality and in abundance; but they do not fare so well individually when plentiful, hence, do not emerge from their winter quarters in as good physiological condition in spring, so that fertilization and incubation may be less successful, and such larvae as hatch may be less strong. On the other hand, all this may be insignificant as compared with the success or failure of the larvae in surviving the dangers and difficulties of subsistence that confront them. Onslaughts by enemies, [page 333] abundance and ready availability of food, temperature, and salinity of the sea water all act upon the young fish to make their existence precarious; a favorable environment depends on a happy combination of all these.
The mackerel is a delicious fish, but it does not keep so well as some other fishes that have less oil in their tissues. When mackerel are rather plentiful they are one of the four most valuable fishes of our Gulf commercially, surpassed in dollar value only by the haddock, cod, and rosefish, as appears from the following table of landings in New England for the years 1943-1947.
When the fishery fails, as it does periodically through periods of several years (p. 331), the value of the catch decreases accordingly, and to a point where it is only a negligible fraction of the total yield and value of the Gulf of Maine fishery.
|Haddock||$8,650,000 (1.1)||$7,550,000 (1.2)||$7,000,000 (1.4)||$8,800,000 (1.2)||$8,900,000 (1.3)|
|Cod||$4,000,000 (1.2)||$3,500,000 (1.5)||$4,280,000 (1.3)||$3,940,000 (1.4)||$2,780,000 (1.4)|
|Rosefish||$4,350,000 (1.1)||$4,300,000 (1.1)||$3,840,000 (1.3)||$4,750,000 (1.7)||$4,200,000 (1.4)|
|Mackerel||$3,180,000 (1.1)||$2,400,000 (1.3)||$3,160,000 (1.3)||$2,340,000 (1.1)||$2,000,000 (1.2)|
|Note.—The total value of the catch landed in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, including fish from grounds outside the Gulf of Maine, as well as from within the Gulf, may be obtained by multiplying the values by the figures in parentheses.|
Most of the mackerel were caught formerly with hook and line, ground bait being thrown out to lure the fish close enough to the vessel. But this way of fishing was gradually given up about 1870, when the use of the purse seine became general. And practically the entire catch of mackerel of the past 70 years has been made with purse seines, with pound nets, weirs and floating traps coming second, and gill nets a poor third. In 1943, for example, when the total Gulf of Maine catch was between 53 and 54 million pounds, about 80 percent was taken in purse seines; between 12 and 13 percent in pound nets, weirs, and floating traps; and between 3 and 4 percent (between 1 and 2 million pounds) in gill nets (anchored or drifting), but only 1,700 pounds on hand lines. Otter trawlers, too, bring in scattering mackerel from the offshore banks: 2,400 pounds, for example, in the year in question.
Many anglers, also, troll or bait-fish for mackerel all along the coast from Cape Cod to Penobscot Bay; as far as Mount Desert if mackerel are on the coast that far east. In good years it is not unusual for 3 or 4 anglers fishing from a party boat to bring in one or two hundred fish. And in summers when young tinkers are plentiful inshore many of them are caught from the wharves in various harbors. If one chooses to troll, an ordinary pickerel spinner, No. 3, serves well, especially if tipped with a small piece of pork rind or with mackerel skin; a small metal jig similarly adorned, or any small bright spoon. Mackerel will also take a bright artificial fly, and bite greedily on a white piece of clam, a piece of mackerel belly, or on a sea worm (Nereis), especially if attracted by ground bait.
Hunt (Copeia, No. 117, pp. 53-59, April, 1923) describes the variations in these stripes among young mackerel.
This interesting fact seems first to have been reported by Hall (Amer. Jour. Physiol., vol. 93, 1930, pp. 417-421), and we have observed the same thing in the aquaria at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950, p. 264.
Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 28, 1910, Pt. I, p. 287.
Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950, p. 267.
For observations on the visual transparency of the water of our Gulf, see Bigelow, Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 40, Pt. 2, 1927, p. 822.
See Sette, Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950, p. 267, for further discussion of this point.
Sette (Fish. Bull, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950, p. 257) mentions one winter record from about 40° (4.5° C.) on Georges Bank.
Lebour (Jour. Mar. Biol. Assoc. United Kingdom, vol. 12, N. Ser., No. 2, 1920, p. 305) gives diet lists for 90 larval mackerel ranging from 5 mm. to 13.5 mm. in length, taken in the English Channel.
Nilsson (Publ. de Circ., Conseil Perm. Internat. Explor. Mer, No. 69, 1914) gives a similar list for Swedish waters.
The mackerel has long rakers with spines on the foremost gill arch only, and these are not fine enough to retain the smallest organisms. See Bigelow, Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish, vol. 40, Pt. 2, 1926, fig. 42 C, D for photographs of the gill rakers.
Nature, vol. 108, 1921, pp. 12-13.
Sette (Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950, pp. 259, 262) reports some fat mackerel in winter.
See Sette (Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 50, Bull. 38, 1943, pp. 158-164, and especially fig. 3) for discussion of spawning seasons and temperatures, and the relative importance of different spawning areas.
See Sette (Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 50, Bull. 38, 1943, pp. 158-163) for a more detailed statement.
Brice, Manual of Fish Culture, 1898, p. 212; Moore, Rept. U. S. Comm. Fish. (1898) 1899, p. 5; Bigelow and Welsh, Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 40, Pt. 1, 1925, p. 208.
Sette, Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 50, Bull. 38, 1943, p. 165.
A series of Gulf of Maine eggs measured by Welsh were about 1.1-1.2 mm. in diameter, with an oil globule of 0.3 mm.
Jour. Gen. Physiol., vol. 16, 1933, pp. 841-857.
They shrink somewhat when preserved.
See Sette (Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 50, Bull. 38, 1943, pp. 173-178) for detailed statistical analysis of these.
See Ehrenbaum (Rapp. et Proces Verb., Conseil Perm. Internat. Explor. Mer. vol. 30, 1923, pp. 21, 25) for a discussion of the early growth rate of the European mackerel.
Bigelow and Welsh, Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish. vol. 40, 1925, p. 204.
Sette, Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 50, Fish. Bull. 38, 1943, p. 178, fig. 8.
Jour. Marine Biol. Assoc. United Kingdom, vol. 30, No. 3, 1952, pp. 549-568.
Fry spawned in 1927 averaged about 13¾ inches but those spawned in 1928 averaged only about 12¼ inches in their second November according to Sette.
Publ. de Circ., No. 69, Cons. Perm. Internat. Explor. Mer, 1914.
Sette, Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 50, Bull. 38, 1943, p. 156.
Smith, Report U. S. Comm. Fish (1900) 1901, p. 128.
Nilsson, Pub. de Circ. No. 69, Cons. Perm. Internat. Explor. Mer, 1914.
There is a fairly constant racial difference between American and British mackerel (Garstang, Jour. Mar. Biol. Assoc. United Kingdom, New Ser., vol. 5, No. 3, 1898, pp. 235-295), the latter showing a larger number of transverse bars, being more often spotted between them, and more often having 6 dorsal finlets instead of 5.
Jeffers (Contr. Canad. Biol., N. Ser., vol. 7, No. 16 [ser. A, General No. 13], p. 207) reports that several mackerel were caught in 1929 at Raleigh, on the Newfoundland coast of the Strait of Belle Isle, where none had been seen in recent years.
Coles, Copeia, No. 151, February 1926, pp. 105-106 records a three-quarter pound mackerel taken at Cape Lookout in February 1925.
The literature dealing with this subject is very extensive. See especially Goode, Collins, Earll, and Clark (Rept. U. S. Comm. Fish. 1894, p. 91); Tracy (37th Annual Report, Rhode Island Commissioners of Inland Fisheries, 1907, p. 43); and Sette (Fishery Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950, pp. 268-313) for the American mackerel.
Gordon, Marine Life, Occ. Pap., vol. 1, No. 8, March, 1950, p. 39.
Sette (Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 50, Bull. 49, 1950, pp. 260-261, table 1) lists several such instances besides those cited previously by Bigelow and Welsh (Bull, U. S. Bur. Fish. vol. 40, Pt. 1, 1925, p. 196).
Three hundred pounds seems to be the largest winter catch definitely reported up to 1951.
Marine Life, vol. 1, No. 8, 1950, p. 39.
Fish. Bull. 49, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Fish. Bull. 49, 1950, p. 261.
Collins, Rept. U. S. Comm. Fish (1882) 1893, p. 273.
Goode, Collins, Earll, and Clark, Rept. U. S. Comm. Fish. (1881) 1884, p. 98; cited from the Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Herald, January 2, 1879.
Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Fish. Bull. 49, 1950, p. 527.
Sette, Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950, p. 257, Footnote 3.
Ehrenbaum (Rapp. et Proc.-Verb. Cons. Perm. Internat. Explor. Mer, vol. 18, 1914) summarizes what was known of the life history of the European mackerel up to that time. And Steven (Jour. Marine Biol. Assoc. United Kingdom, vol. 27, 1948, pp. 517-539) has recently outlined the chief wintering grounds.
Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1949, p. 261.
The southern trawl fishery is mostly shoaler than 70 fathoms.
Steven, Jour. Marine Biol. Assoc. United Kingdom, vol. 27, 1948, p. 537.
Mackerel do not range that far north.
Cited from Lacépède, Hist. Nat. Poissons, vol. 3, in Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, 1802, p. 32.
Ehrenbaum (Rapp. et Proces Verbaux, Cons. Perm. Internat. Explor. Mer, vol. 18, 1914, p. 13), whose studies of the fish entitle his view to great weight, thinks that the mackerel of northern Europe probably are torpid during part of their stay on the bottom.
Huntsman, Canadian Fisherman, vol. 9, no. 5, 1922, pp. 88-89.
Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950.
This conclusion, seemingly conclusive, is based on analysis of the size (i. e. age) composition of the mackerel population at various times and places, with some evidence from tagging experiments. The data are too extensive for discussion here.
For further information as to migrations of the northern contingent, see Sette, Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950, pp. 269, 285.
We have found no positive record of mackerel taken in late summer anywhere south of Delaware Bay, although they are plentiful off this part of the coast in spring. Bell and Nichols, it is true, speak of "mackerel" as found in tiger shark stomachs off North Carolina (Copeia, No. 92, 1921, pp. 18-19), but Dr. Nichols writes us that these were "just Scombrolds and probably not Scomber scombrus."
See Bigelow and Welsh (Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 40, Pt. 1, 1925, p. 206), for details.
Dannevig, Canadian Fish. Exped. (1914-1915); 1919, p. 8.
Subsequent information, and especially the result of tow nettings on the southern grounds in 1929, 1930, 1931, and 1932 (Sette, Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 50, Bull. 38, 1943) have shown that the Gulf of Maine as a whole is much less productive than the more southern spawning grounds, not more so as Bigelow and Welsh (Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 4, Pt. 1, 1925, p. 206) believed.
Sparks, Contrib. Canadian Biol. and Fish., N. Ser., vol. 4, No. 28, 1929.
Moore, Rept. U. S. Comm. Fish. (1898) 1899, p. 16.
Sette (Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950, p. 297) discusses this point further.
1882 was an example of this.
Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950, p. 297, fig. 17.
Sette and Needler, Inv. Rept. 19, U. S. Bur. Fish., 1934, pp. 1-48.
Bullen, Jour. Marine Biol. Assoc. United Kingdom, vol. 8, 1908, pp. 269, 302.
Bigelow and Sears, Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 54, No. 4, 1939, pp. 259-261.
See Sette (Fish. Bull. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, vol. 51, Bull. 49, 1950, p. 302) for a further discussion of the influence of feeding conditions on the movements of the American mackerel.
The successive approach of one school after another to the coast often suggests a long-shore movement of the fish. Thus Kendall (Bull. U. S. Bur. Fish., vol. 28, Pt. 1, 1910, p. 287) tells of an instance when seiners reported "following" the schools continuously eastward along outer Nova Scotia, although the fish taken off Liverpool proved to be of quite different sizes from the catch made later about Cape Breton.
In 1922, for example (Gloucester Times of April 26, 1923), mackerel netters fishing near Cape Ann did well right through November, with a catch of about 1,200,000 pounds (6,000 barrels) for the month.
In 1919, 4,091,345 pounds.
See especially, Sette, U. S. Bar. Fish., Fishery Circular No. 4, 1931.
See especially Sette, U. S. Bur. Fish., Fishery Circular No. 4, 1931.
Gulf of Maine catch, 16,391,095 pounds in 1916; 16,021,619 pounds in 1917.
Gulf of Maine catch, 11,007,676 pounds in 1923; 25,475,876 pounds in 1925; 33,152,766 pounds in 1926.
U. S. Bur. Fish., Fish. Circ., No. 4, 1931; No. 10, 1932; No. 14, 1933; No. 17, 1934; Fishing Gazette, vol. 50, No. 5, 1933, pp. 9 and 21.
See Goode and Collins, Fish. Ind. U. S., Sect. 5, vol. 1, 1887, pp. 275-294, for an excellent account of the hook and line fishery. | <urn:uuid:512091f9-e46d-43bf-8085-d9c1be454250> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gma.org/fogm/Scomber_scombrus.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00127-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963571 | 17,624 | 3.109375 | 3 |
- Cattleya amethystoglossa
Cattleya amethystoglossa is one of the most robust species of bifoliate Cattleya. And although the color is quite different, we usually assume that the species is more closely related to Cattleya guttata (or C. leopoldii, without going into details here) than to any other species. The species is, or better was, quite common in the natural habitat. Even today, areas that are well preserved can attest how common the species was. Plants usually grow on the higher branches of very tall trees, where they can get good air circulation and plenty of light. Of course they also benefit from the moisture from inside the forest.
The plants of Cattleya amethystoglossa can get quite large, up to almost 3' tall, and very robust plants can produce more than 20 flowers that range in size from 3" to almost 5" on an inflorescence. Base color of the flowers is usually a light lavender, and there is a tremendous variation in the amount of spotting on the segments. Color forms are quite rare in nature, and basically very few alba and coerulea forms were ever found. | <urn:uuid:ff8ee15a-da4b-457b-9101-2a297c90727a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/aboutflowers/tropicalflowers/cattleya | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00076-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950162 | 253 | 2.890625 | 3 |
There are a few things in this world I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Plantar fasciitis is one of them. This debilitating and annoyingly persistent injury can happen to anyone, and is particularly common among runners. I've had my bouts with it, and while home remedies can provide some relief, improving your running technique is your best defense. Practicing the Chi Running Form Focuses will put you on the path to injury prevention and recovery.
Where is the Plantar tendon and what does it do?The plantar tendon runs the length of the bottom of your foot, spanning the area from the base of the toes to the front of your heel. The two ends of the tendon attach at the base of the toes and at the front of the heel bone by means of fascia, a strong fibrous membrane. The plantar tendon keeps the arch of the foot from flattening completely when the foot bears weight, thus providing cushioning and shock absorption when you're walking, running or standing. This tendon also allows you to point your toes.
What is Plantar Fasciitis and what causes it?Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar fascia caused by any motion of the legs that creates a pull on the Plantar tendon. Walking or running up or down hills, climbing stairs, walking or running on your toes (including wearing high heels), or dorsiflexing (pointing your toes up as your heel comes down with each stride) all pull the plantar tendon.
Plantar fasciitis can also be caused by heel striking, which is usually a result of over-striding. If you reach forward with your legs with each stride, you're very likely to land on your heels. Landing in this way can create a force on your heels of up to six times your body weight with each footstep.
Tight calves and an inflexible Achilles tendon can also pull the plantar tendon and weaken the attachment of the fascia to the bone. If the plantar tendon is stretched beyond what the fascia is capable of holding, the fascia forms micro-tears and begins to pull away from the bone, causing inflammation.
When the plantar tendon is consistently over-stretched, the body begins to add calcium where the attachment between the tendon and the heel bone takes place. Over time, enough calcium is added to build more bone mass in that particular spot, creating a heel spur that can be even more painful than plantar fasciitis.
Other common causes of plantar fasciitis include:
- Wearing inflexible or worn out shoes
- Very low or high arches
- Being overweight
- Spending long hours on your feet
- Tight calf muscles or tight/stiff ankle muscles
- Walking barefoot in soft sand for long distances
What does plantar fasciitis feel like?
It varies for everyone, but plantar fasciitis usually follows this progression. When it first appears, you may feel like you've got a lump in the heel of your sock. Not pain, just an uncomfortable "thick" feeling right under your heel.
In the early stages, your heel may feel tender when you first get up from sitting or when getting out of bed in the morning, but the discomfort subsides once you're up and about on your feet. As the injury advances, tenderness lingers and begins to feel like needles sticking you in the bottom of your heel with each step. In the very advanced stages, you find yourself searching the Internet for books on levitation. It aches all day, not only when you're on your feet. | <urn:uuid:27f2a6e9-a564-4320-9129-5c249e0b658c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.active.com/running/Articles/Plantar-Fasciitis-Prevention-Tips.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00044-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910907 | 754 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Carbon Sequestration Begins at Research Project in Decatur
A research project studying a method to keep carbon dioxide emissions out of the atmosphere got down to business this week. After three years of preparations, the Illinois Basin-Decatur project began injecting CO2 from an ethanol plant into the ground more than a mile deep.
Robert Finley with the Illinois Geological Survey at the University of Illinois' Prairie Research Institute said the CO2 injections will continue for another three years, until a million metric tons of the gas is embedded in the massive Mount Simon underground sandstone formation. Finley said Mount Simon offers a big potential at a place for storing CO2 emissions.
"The Mt Simon sandstone at Decatur is 1,650 feet thick, and we'll be storing only in the lower several hundred feet of this unit, and this rock unit is quite laterally extensive," Finley explained. "It covers most of Illinois, southwestern Indiana and western Kentucky."
The Illinois Basin-Decatur project is located on the Archer Daniels Midland campus in Decatur, and uses CO2 from an ADM ethanol plant. The U of I's Illinois State Geological Survey is the lead agency for the project, which is one of seven around the country funded by the U-S Department of Energy, and the second to begin actual sequestration. Finley said the carbon sequestration process has started smoothly --- and the long-term question is whether the gas can be pumped underground continuously without leaking.
He said their findings will be applied to another, larger carbon sequestration project, for which ADM is taking the lead. A training and education center for the larger project is being built at Decatur's Richland Community College.
Eventually, Finley said the experience and knowledge gained from the projects at Decatur can help other carbon sequestration projects --- like the FutureGen project which will bury CO-2 emissions from a coal plant in western Illinois. | <urn:uuid:b7426cef-a390-4460-b59e-dda7d42692a4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://will.illinois.edu/news/story/carbon-sequestration-begins-at-reserach-project-in-decatur | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00058-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945932 | 391 | 2.890625 | 3 |
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has captured a favorite observing target of amateur astronomers -- Omega Centauri. Also known as NGC 5139, this celestial cluster of stars can be found in the constellation Centaurus and can be seen by the naked eye to observers at low northern latitudes and in the southern hemisphere. Omega Centauri contains approximately 10 million stars and is about 16,000 light-years away. This image spans an area on the sky equivalent to a grid of about 3 by 2 full moons.
The ancient astronomer Ptolemy thought Omega Centauri was a star, and Edmond Halley identified it as a nebula in 1677. In the 1830s, John Herschel identified it as a globular star cluster orbiting our Milky Way galaxy. A globular cluster is a spherical group of stars that are bound together by gravity.
Omega Centauri has always been the black sheep of globular clusters, since it has several characteristics that mark it as different from the typical globular cluster. For example, Omega Centauri is ten times more massive than other globular clusters. It also includes stars of a variety of ages, whereas other globular clusters contain stars from only one generation.
Recent research based on observations using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini Observatory indicates that there is a black hole at its center. This suggests that Omega Centauri may actually be a dwarf galaxy that has been stripped of its outer stars and not a globular cluster after all.
All four infrared detectors aboard WISE were used to create this mosaic image of Omega Centauri. The colors blue and cyan represent light emitted from stars at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns. The green halo surrounding the center represents light at 12 microns, emitted by warm dust. | <urn:uuid:f1850a3a-caab-4c39-ba18-4ad59e9cef34> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA13125 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00112-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930441 | 362 | 3.96875 | 4 |
Silicon Valley was born in an era of applied experimentation driven by scientists and engineers. It wasn't pure research, but rather a culture of taking sufficient risks to get products to market through learning, discovery, iteration and execution.This approach would shape Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial ethos:In startups, failure was treated as experience(until you ran out of money).
The combination of Venture Capital and technology entrepreneurship is one of the great business inventions of the last 50 years. It provides private funds for untested and unproven technology and entrepreneurs. While most of these investments fail, the returns for the ones that win are so great they make up for the failures. The cultural tolerance for failure and experimentation, and a financial structure which balanced risk, return and obscene returns, allowed this system flourish in technology clusters in United States, particularly in Silicon Valley.
Yet this system isn't perfect. Fromt he point of view of scientists and engineers in a university lab, too often entrepreneurship in all its VC-driven glory — income statements, balance sheets, business plans, revenue models, 5-year forecasts, etc. — seems like another planet.There didn't seem to be much in common between the Scientific Method and starting a company. And this has been a barrier to commercializing the best of our science research.
Today, the National Science Foundation (NSF) — the $6.8-billion U.S. government agency that supports research in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering -is changing the startup landscape for scientists and engineers. The NSF has announced theInnovation Corps — a program to take the most promising research projects in American university laboratories and turn them into startups. It will train them with a process that embracesexperimentation,learning, and discovery.
To commercialize these university innovations NSF will be putting the Innovation Corps (I-Corps) teams through a class that teaches scientists and engineers to treat starting a company as another research project that can be solved by an iterative process of hypotheses testingand experimentation. The class will be aversion of the Lean LaunchPad class we developed in the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, (the entrepreneurship center at Stanford's School of Engineering).
This is a big deal. Not just for scientists and engineers, not just for every science university in the U.S., but in the way we think about bringing discoveries ripe for innovation out of the university lab. If this program works it will change how we connect basic research to the business world. And it will lead to more startups and job creation.
Introducing the Innovation-Corps
The NSF Innovation-Corps program (I-Corps) is designed to help bridge the gap between the many scientists and engineers with innovative research and technologies, but little knowledge of the first steps to take in starting a company.
I-Corps will help scientists take the first steps from the research lab to commercialization.
Over a period of six months, each I-Corps team, guided by experienced mentors (entrepreneurs and VC's) will build their productand get out of their labs (and comfort zone) to discover who are their potential customers, and how those customers might best use the new technology/invention. They'll explore the best way to deliver the product to customers, the resources required, as well as competing technologies. They will answer the question, "What value will this innovation add to the marketplace? And they'll do this using the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack.
At the end of the program each team will understand what it will takes to turn their research into a commercial success. They may decide to license their intellectual property based on their research. Or they may decide to cross the Rubicon and try to get funded as a startup (with strategic partners, investors, or NSF programs for small businesses). At the end of the class there will be a Demo Day when investors get to see the best this country's researchers have to offer.
What Took You So Long
A first reaction to the NSF I-Corps program might be, "You mean we haven't already been doing this?"But on reflection it's clear why. The common wisdom was that for scientists and engineers to succeed in the entrepreneurial world you'd have to teach them all about business. But it's only now that we realize that's wrong. The insight the NSF had is that we just need to teach scientists and engineers to treat business models as another research project that can be solved with learning, discovery and experimentation.
And Stanford's Lean LaunchPad class could do just that.
Join the I-Corps
Today at 2pm the National Science Foundation is publishing the application for admission (what they call the "solicitation for proposals") to the program. See the NSF web page here.
The syllabus for NSF I-Corps version of the Lean LaunchPad class can be seen here.
Along with a great teaching team at Stanford, world-class VC's who get it, and foundation partners,I'm proud to be a part of it.
This is a potential game changer for science and innovation in the United States.
Reprinted from SteveBlank.com
Steve Blank is a prolific educator, thought leader and writer on Customer Development for Startups, the retired serial entrepreneur teaches, refines, writes and blogs on "Customer Development," a rigorous methodology he developed to bring the "scientific method" to the typically chaotic, seemingly disorganized startup process. Now teaching Entrepreneurship at three major Universities, Blank is the author of Four Steps to the Epiphany. Follow him on Twitter @sgblank. | <urn:uuid:03196841-ea22-4048-a264-81bcb381d51a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fastcompany.com/1770137/eureka-new-era-scientists-and-engineers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949436 | 1,155 | 2.90625 | 3 |
May 11, 2009
Visual Training Can Teach the Brain to See Again after Stroke
Medical Center study gives new hope to those who suffer blindness after a stroke.
Richard Farrands, of Fulton, undergoes rigorous visual testing as part of a study that aims to improve the vision of patients who have had a stroke. Researcher Krystel Huxlin, (left) developed the computer system which exercises the brain, forcing it to develop to compensate for the damage caused by stroke. Patients who completed the study regained at least some of their vision, and some even were able to drive again.
By doing a set of vigorous visual exercises on a computer every day for several months, patients who had gone partially blind as a result of suffering a stroke were able to regain some vision, according to Medical Center scientists.
The results of the study were published in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
Rehabilitation is common and successful for other effects of stroke, such as speech or movement difficulties, but visual retraining is not common.
“We were very surprised when we saw the results from our first patients,” said Krystel Huxlin, the neuroscientist and associate professor who led the study of seven patients at the University’s Eye Institute. “This is a type of brain damage that clinicians and scientists have long believed you simply can’t recover from. It’s devastating, and patients are usually sent home to somehow deal with it the best they can.”
The results are a cause for hope for patients with vision damage from stroke or other causes, says Huxlin. The work also shows that the brain can change a great deal in older adults and that some brain regions are capable of covering for other areas that have been damaged.
Huxlin studied seven people who have severely impaired vision after suffering a stroke that damaged an area of the brain known as the primary visual cortex. Depending on where in the brain the stroke occurred, most patients will be blind in one-quarter to one-half of their normal field of view.
Huxlin’s team sought to build on this “blindsight”—visual information, of which the patient is unaware, that still reaches the brain. A few past studies have shown promise for the idea of building on blindsight to improve a person’s vision.
The team focused on motion perception, since it’s an aspect of vision critical for most everyday tasks. The team’s aim was to see if the brain’s middle temporal region, which was healthy in the participants, could be stimulated so extensively that it could take on some of the tasks normally handled by the visual cortex.
The five participants who performed the training and completed the experiment had significantly improved vision. They were able to see in ways they weren’t able to before the experiment began. A few found the experiment life-changing—a couple of participants are driving again, for instance, or have gained the confidence to go shopping and exercise frequently.
To do the experiment, participants fix their gaze on a small black square in the middle of a computer screen; scientists use a sensitive eye tracker to make sure patients keep staring at the square.
Every few seconds, a group of about 100 small dots appears within a circle on the screen, somewhere in the person’s damaged visual field. The dots twinkle into existence, appear to move as a group either to the left or the right, then disappear after about one-half second. Then the patient has to choose whether the dots are moving left or right. A chime indicates whether he or she chose correctly, providing feedback that lets the brain know whether it made the right choice and speeding up learning.
“The patients can’t see the dots, but they’re aware that there is something happening that they can’t quite see. They might say, ‘I know that there’s something there, but I can’t make any sense of it,’” says Huxlin, who is also a faculty member in the Departments of Ophthalmology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and in the Center for Visual Science.
But the brain is able to make some sense of it all. When forced to make a choice, patients typically start out with a success rate of around 50 percent by guessing. Over a period of days, weeks or months, that number goes to 80 or 90 percent, as the brain learns to “see” a new area. Patients eventually become aware of the dots and their movement.
As patients improve, researchers move the dots further and further into what was the patient’s blind area, as a way to challenge the brain, to coax it to see a new area.
“Basically, it’s exercising the visual part of the brain every day,” said Huxlin. “It’s very hard work, very grueling. By forcing patients to choose, you’re helping the brain re-develop.”
Working with Huxlin on the work were Tim Martin, a post doctoral research associate; Kristin Kelly, formerly a technical associate and now a medical student; former graduate student Meghan Riley; neuro-ophthalmologist Deborah Friedman; neurologist W. Scott Burgin; and Mary Hayhoe, formerly of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester, and now at the University of Texas at Austin. Rochester has filed a patent on the technology.
The funding to support the work came from Research to Prevent Blindness, the Pfeiffer Foundation, the Schmitt Foundation, and the National Eye Institute. | <urn:uuid:a97219ad-1f9b-4236-a19c-32d145b0b988> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rochester.edu/currents/V37/V37N03/story11.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00068-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957637 | 1,183 | 2.984375 | 3 |
A major advance in molecular machine fabrication allows the construction of rotaxane molecular shuttles in which organic and inorganic components are mechanically linked in the same molecular structure. The varied electronic configurations of inorganic elements can therefore contribute a variety of electronic, magnetic, and catalytic properties to these molecular machines, opening the way, for example, to developing faster nanotech computers. From the University of Manchester “Scientists make quantum leap in developing faster computers“:
Scientists have created a molecular device which could act as a building block for future generations of superfast computers.
The researchers have created components that could one day be used to develop quantum computers — devices based on molecular scale technology instead of silicon chips and which would be much faster than conventional computers.
The study, by scientists at the Universities of Manchester and Edinburgh and published in the journal Nature [abstract], was funded by the European Commission.
Scientists have achieved the breakthrough by combining tiny magnets with molecular machines that can shuttle between two locations without the use of external force. These manoeuvrable magnets could one day be used as the basic component in quantum computers.
Conventional computers work by storing information in the form of bits, which can represent information in binary code — either as zero or one.
Quantum computers will use quantum binary digits, or qubits, which are far more sophisticated — they are capable of representing not only zero and one, but a range of values simultaneously. Their complexity will enable quantum computers to perform intricate calculations much more quickly than conventional computers.
Professor David Leigh [winner of the 2007 Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in the Theory category], of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry, said: “This development brings super-fast, non-silicon based computing a step closer.
“The magnetic molecules involved have potential to be used as qubits, and combining them with molecular machines enables them to move, which could be useful for building quantum computers. The major challenges we face now are to bring many of these qubits together to build a device that could perform calculations, and to discover how to communicate between them.”
Professor Richard Winpenny, of the University of Manchester’s School of Chemistry, said: “To perform computation we have to have states where the qubits speak to each other and others where they don’t — rather like having light switches on and off.
“Here we have shown we can bring the qubits together, control how far apart they are, and potentially switch the device between two or more states. The remaining challenge is to learn how to do the switching, and that’s what we’re trying to do now.” | <urn:uuid:3903ecc7-f8e4-4b1b-aa5f-83e7c7d468a0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=2996 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393093.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00114-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930657 | 554 | 3.953125 | 4 |
A clinical study led by Northwestern Medicine scientist Tanya Simuni, MD, has crossed a promising compound off the list of potential agents that may slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
Previous preclinical work showed that the compound, an FDA-approved drug called pioglitazone currently used to treat diabetes, has neuroprotective effects in animal models of Parkinson’s disease. But the phase two clinical study, published in Lancet Neurology, found that those disease-modifying effects do not translate to patients.
“It’s not enough to demonstrate that the drug is neuroprotective in animal models,” said Dr. Simuni, director of the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center. “You need to demonstrate that the effect can be achieved in humans at doses that are safe to be administered to patients.”
In the study, conducted by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Neuroprotection Exploratory Trials of Parkinson’s Disease program, 210 patients recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease were randomly assigned to take one of two different doses of pioglitazone or a placebo for 44 weeks. Progression of their disease was measured using the most common Parkinson’s assessment, the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale. Neither dose of pioglitazone slowed progression of disability compared to the placebo.
The study was designed not to definitively prove the effectiveness of the drug for Parkinson’s disease, but rather to determine whether additional trials should continue to test the compound.
“Asking this reverse question – is this molecule considered futile? – is more efficient than recruiting a large sample to answer the efficacy question in the phase two study,” Dr. Simuni said.
Indeed, the investigators do not recommend that scientists continue to pursue pioglitazone as a Parkinson’s disease treatment.
Why Preclinical Findings Didn’t Translate
Pioglitazone is not the first molecule to fail in a Parkinson’s disease clinical study despite rigorous tests showing promise in preclinical trials. Multiple reasons explain this, said Dr. Simuni. First, animal models are not ideal reflections of real Parkinson’s disease in human patients.
“Animal models are created to represent the clinical picture as best as we can,” she said. “We need better models.”
Second, patients may not have been exposed to a sufficient dose of the drug to experience its potential benefits.
“Within the safety parameters, we went as high as we could have gone,” Dr. Simuni said.
Third, the drug intervention may be coming too late in the disease process to help. By the time patients present symptoms and are diagnosed with Parkinson’s, they have already lost 70 percent of the brain cells that produce dopamine.
“The silver lining is that while the results are quite disappointing, this study is an example of an efficient phase two study that gave us a definitive answer about this molecule. We’re not left with a ‘maybe,’” Dr. Simuni said.
Though pioglitazone is off the list, there’s evidence that other molecules in the glitazone family of diabetes drugs may still help patients with Parkinson’s disease.
“The only way we will find efficacious molecules is to continue testing the drugs that have been best characterized in preclinical trials,” Dr. Simuni said. “The odds are against us statistically, but we as a scientific community are determined to win this battle.”
Dr. Simuni is the Arthur C. Nielsen, Jr. Research Professor in Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders in the Ken and Ruth Davee Department of Neurology.
This study was funded by the NINDS. | <urn:uuid:7b1d9806-ab9f-4ff4-917f-34382bcb9d19> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.feinberg.northwestern.edu/2015/08/slowing-parkinsons-disease-progression/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00188-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942531 | 799 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Getting to the Core of the “Core”Posted by Howard County Library System on Dec 30, 2013 in Fitness | 0 comments
We hear about “core training” so often in the fitness world, yet few people understand what this means. Sometimes people say it in reference to wanting to reduce their waist size, other times it’s used in conjunction with a sport. Most people equate the word “core” with the “abs”, but the core is more than creating a six pack and doing crunches.
Do you remember that song, “Dem Bones,” from childhood? The lyrics go something like, “ the thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone, the hip bone’s connected to the back bone,” etc. Little did you know you were getting a simple anatomy lesson at such a young age. The hips, low back, and abdominal area connect the upper body to the lower body. All these bones connect and impact each other. The upper and lower bodies work in together during all movement. Pay attention to how you walk. As your right leg comes forward, your left arm swings forward and vice versa.
The core muscles of the trunk work to help us maintain posture, relieve some chronic pain, minimize risk of injury, and control movements. Core exercises generally work the muscles that stabilize the spine, pelvic area, and shoulders. In order to move efficiently, the muscles in these areas need to be able to work by themselves in isolation, but also learn to work together to transfer movement to the legs and arms. Think of these muscles running from the shoulder through the hip and into the legs as a chain where each link connects the other. If one link is missing or impaired, it affects how the rest of the chain moves. The arms and legs really don’t want to lift heavy things and move by themselves! They need the trunk muscles to help.
Most core exercises can be done with little to no equipment. To design your program, first consult your physician and consider meeting with a professional trainer. It’s important to take past injuries or accidents into consideration. Create a program that provides exercises specific to your activity, whether it is for sport or everyday life. To list all the exercises to train these muscles would make for a small novel. These two exercises tend to fit many peoples’ needs and help to reconnect the body.
To train the abdominal muscles more effectively, begin to work on a basic plank. The most basic form of the plank starts lying on the stomach then propping your body up on your elbows and toes or knees. The body should form a straight line from the head down to the feet or knees. Hold this position for a certain amount of time; start with 20 – 30 seconds.
To get the feeling for good form with the plank, use a broom handle and place it on your back. It should touch your body on the back of your head, between your shoulder blades and at your tail bone. This exercise takes some mental focus as you need to consciously focus on holding your abdominals in tight. Variations of the plank include holding on your hands instead of elbows, holding on your side, alternating lifting a leg or arm and hold for longer. Increase time and/or intensity as your body feels comfortable.
In order to work the hips and get those buns of steel, lie flat on your back with your knees bent at about 90 degrees and feet flat on the floor. Lift up your toes so your heels stay in contact with the ground. With your toes up in the air, lift and lower your hips slowly by squeezing your butt cheeks. You should feel your butt tighten. Hold the position at the top for a few seconds to get the feel in the right muscle group. Play around with this one. Be sure you feel it in your butt and not the back of your thighs. Hold at the top for longer to get the right feeling.
Once you feel comfortable with isolation movements, begin using multi-directional exercises such as lunges with rotation into your program. Progress the exercises as you build strength. Incorporate core training on a regular basis throughout your workout program. Continue to find the exercises specific to your body and your needs. | <urn:uuid:a38bc6ff-e7d4-43e8-a10b-ce71f01115d3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://hocowellandwise.org/2013/12/getting-core-core/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00006-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944663 | 870 | 3.609375 | 4 |
Breadcrumbs NavigationHome > News & Publications > News and Communications > News > Monkey's Thoughts Make Robot Walk from Across the Globe
Monkey's Thoughts Make Robot Walk from Across the Globe
DURHAM, N.C. – In a first-of-its-kind experiment, the brain activity of a monkey has been used to control the real-time walking patterns of a robot halfway around the world, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center.
The Duke team is working with the Computational Brain Project of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) on technology they hope will one day help those with paralysis regain the ability to walk.
"We believe this research could have significant implications for severely paralyzed patients," said senior study investigator Miguel Nicolelis, M.D., Ph.D., the Anne W. Deane Professor of Neuroscience at Duke. "This is a breakthrough in our understanding of how the brain controls the movement of our legs, which is vital information needed to ultimately develop robotic prosthesis."
Researchers used some of the most sophisticated methods available to capture activity from hundreds of brain cells located in multiple areas of the brain. To collect this information, two rhesus monkeys were implanted with electrodes that gathered feedback from cells in the brain's motor and sensory cortex. This technology recorded how the cells responded as the monkey walked on a treadmill at a variety of speeds and while walking forward and backward. At the same time, sensors on the monkey's legs tracked the actual walking patterns of the legs while moving.
Using mathematical models, the researchers were able to analyze the relationship between the leg movement and brain cell activity to determine how well the information gathered from the brain cells was able to predict the exact speed of movement and stride length of the legs.
"We found that certain neurons in multiple areas of the brain fire at different phases and at varying frequency, depending on their role in controlling the complex, multi-muscle process of motion. Each neuron provides us with a small piece of the puzzle that we compile to predict the walking pattern of the monkeys with high accuracy," Nicolelis explained.
"In this experiment, we were able to record brain activity, predict what the pattern of locomotion will be and send the signal from the motor commands of the animal to the robot," Nicolelis said. "We also created a real-time transmission of information that allowed the brain activity of the monkey in North Carolina to control the commands of a robot in Japan. As a result, they can walk in complete synchronization."
"We are delighted with the remarkable outcome of this collaboration between Duke University and JST, as now we can further advance our research to better understand how the brain processes information," said Mitsuo Kawato, M.E., Ph.D., director of ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories and research director of the Computational Brain Project of JST.
The experiment built on earlier work conducted by Nicolelis' laboratory in which monkeys were able to control the reaching and grasping movements of a robotic arm with only their brain signals.
"We are also exploring how the brain processes feedback sensations – both visual and electrical – from the robot. This feedback plays a critical role in completing the act of walking. In essence, we are seeking to capture the information that the foot sends to your brain when it touches the ground as you walk," Nicolelis said.
He added, "The most stunning finding is that when we stopped the treadmill and the monkey ceased to move its legs, it was able to sustain the locomotion of the robot for a few minutes – just by thinking – using only the visual feedback of the robot in Japan."
The researchers are estimating that work will begin within the next year to develop prototypes of the robotic leg braces for potential use with humans.
This research was supported by the Anne W. Deane Endowed Chair Fund.
About This Article
Published: Jan. 15, 2008
Updated: Jan. 16, 2008
Reporters & producers can visit Duke Medicine News and Communications for contact information. | <urn:uuid:cbf3255d-5521-485d-b29e-0b40b46ef9bd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://corporate.dukemedicine.org/news_and_publications/news_office/news/10218/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938442 | 820 | 3.453125 | 3 |
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Birdlife
1. avifauna [n BIRDLIFE] - See also: avifauna
Click the following link to bring up a new window with an automated collection of images related to the term: Birdlife Images
Lexicographical Neighbors of Birdlife
Literary usage of Birdlife
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Virgin Islands by Lynne Sullivan (2000)
"... and playful dolphins are known to swim alongside ferries as they shuttle between the islands. birdlife Dozens of species of tropical birds ..."
2. Adventure Guide Virgin Islands by Lynne M. Sullivan (2006)
"... sometimes spot the whales on boat trips, and playful dolphins are known to swim alongside ferries as they shuttle between the islands. birdlife ..."
3. Puerto Rico by Don Philpott (2003)
"birdlife There is a hugely rich bird life with more than 160 species, either resident or visitors on migration. There is one native species of green parrot. ..."
4. Life After Logging: Reconciling Wildlife Conservation and Production by Erik Maijaard (2005)
"... and on the latter evidence it seems likely to be polygynous (BirdLife International 2001). Nests are depressions in litter between buttresses of forest ..."
5. Environmental Indicators for Agriculture by Oecd (1999)
"333-353, Academic Press, London, United Kingdom. Tucker, GM and MFHeath (19941, Birds in Europe: their conservation status, BirdLife Conservation Series No ..."
6. Canada's Atlantic Provinces by Barbara Radcliffe Rogers, Stillman Rogers (2002)
"Another area rich in birdlife is Miscou Island, beyond Lameque at the easternmost end of the region. The bogs and hundreds of lakes on the island were left ..."
7. Organic Agriculture: Sustainability, Markets and Policies by Oecd, OECD Staff, Darryl Jones, (Paris) Organisation for Economic Co-ope (2003)
"Hannah Bartram is with BirdLife International, United Kingdom; Allan Perkins is with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, United Kingdom. 2. ..." | <urn:uuid:a374e7b3-0b6f-4ae9-a6d0-4fe39bb8dab0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lexic.us/definition-of/birdlife | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00193-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.878303 | 471 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Columbia-area children flocked to Rock Bridge High School on Saturday afternoon.
The department of pathology and anatomical sciences and the Columbia Public Schools Planetarium hosted its Dinosaurs and Cavemen Science Expo at Rock Bridge High School. It was the second year the event has been held.
The expo provided students and families of Columbia Public Schools the chance to learn more about Earth’s history, including interactive stations and displays of current university research projects.
In addition, a movie, “Earth’s Wild Ride,” which explains the natural history of the Earth, played in the planetarium at Rock Bridge High School.
“We thought it'd be a really good idea to integrate the outside, kid-friendly aspects of our science with actual science that we're doing in our labs, so that people can actually get a feel for the research that underlies a lot of the activities we have set up,” said Casey Holliday, assistant professor in the department of pathology and anatomical sciences.
Set up like a children’s museum, elementary school students made their way around stations run by MU faculty and students. Stations ranged from fossil displays to natural history-related games.
New this year was the “Paleo-Passport,” a booklet students had stamped at each station.
Libby Cowgill, assistant professor in the department of anthropology, said they tried to make the event as fun as possible for kids.
“I don't think your average 6 year old is going to get a whole lot of concrete information that they're going to remember,” Cowgill said. “But they might remember this cool experience they had when they were a kid where they learned how to map stone tools, or they walked like a dinosaur.”
Aside from the natural sciences, Holliday also said he sees the possibility of encouraging technical sciences such as computer science through the annual expo.
This year, a station featured 3-D printers, focusing on how technology influences research in all fields.
The expo was funded through both departments’ research accounts. Holliday hopes to get government funding in the future to allow the expo to expand and possibly occur more often. He said he knows how valuable subjects like anthropology, paleontology and archeology can be to all age groups.
“Regardless of if people lose their passion for archaeology or paleo when they're kids, it always seems to interest adults, even as they grow up and have their own kids,” Holliday said. “It's the first early inspiration into science that often comes from dinosaurs and cavemen. I think the subject material is really for all ages.”
For Sarah Swartz, a senior anthropology major, the dream of studying archaeology began in the second grade after meeting a geologist. Today, she’s living her dream of studying fossils.
Swartz hopes to instill that same love in children, avoiding the major conflict between creationism and evolution theory.
“Human evolution can be a contentious subject, but I think people that bring their children to these events have already kind of crossed that hurdle of acceptance,” Swartz said. “They may have some questions. Often times I find myself addressing adults as much as I do the kids. If children are going to be scientifically literate, it's going to take their parents to get them there.”
The simplicity of anthropology and archaeology is what makes the natural sciences so accessible to the public, Cowgill said, because humanity has a natural desire to learn about subjects regarding the past.
“Maybe you can't get a grasp on genomics, but you can understand Lucy because you're looking at a human fossil,” Cowgill said. “This is the type of science that shows up on the Discovery Channel that is fascinating and immediate and accessible for the vast majority of the thinking public. It's a gateway science.” | <urn:uuid:60d4daf1-3b3c-4930-94cc-c6c3fa3ea275> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2014/2/12/department-pathology-and-anatomical-sciences-hosts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968793 | 822 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Last week on Google Maps Developers Live Paul Saxman talked about how he designs a few of his favorite map styles, and shared a few of his tools and techniques for designing maps for visualisations. The video of the talk is a good introduction of how and when you should use the Google Maps Styled Map feature.
The video includes a number of examples of interesting map styles with some particularly good examples of how to style a map to emphasise colours in heat maps. These ideas were used recently in this excellent visualisation of ship movements during WWI.
The Navy of WWI
animates 12 years of location data, starting before the outbreak of war
and ending when trade routes resume after the war's end. As the
animation plays the ships' tracks are displayed on the map and stand out because of the choice of colours in the map style and the tracking polylines.
Diehl Group Architects also created a neat style for their contact page. Being architects DAG used a map style that really emphasises the buildings on the map.
But styled maps don't always have to be in black and white. Designer Peter Smart travelled 2517 miles to try and use design to Solve 50 Problems in 50 Days.
Peter used Google Maps to document his journey and the work he completed
along the way. As you might expect from a designer his map
The Global Transition to a New Economy is a Google Map designed to showcase projects around the world that are part of a new developing economy. The map is a nice example of how map styles can be used to create a map that complements the colour scheme used on a website.
If you want to play around with Google Map Styles yourself then the Google Maps API Styled Map Wizard is a great place to start. | <urn:uuid:d1dcc97f-4d5c-4a7c-a42d-6e3b7ecd71b1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2012/11/designing-google-maps-with-style.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00164-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929196 | 360 | 2.53125 | 3 |
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Aphasia is a medical condition in which a person’s ability to use and understand language is impaired. It can affect their use of language in the form of words, numbers, hand signals (particularly in deaf patients) or symbols of any type, and can range from barely noticeable to quite severe, both in inability to express and understand language.
Aphasia occurs after an abnormality in the dominant hemisphere of the brain takes place. In most patients, the dominant portion of the brain is in the left cerebral hemisphere, or left side.
Almost all right-handed and 50 percent of left-handed people have their language centers on this side.
The injury that leads to aphasia can be caused acutely by head trauma, or stroke, or can develop slowly, secondary to brain tumor, infections or Alzheimer’s type of dementia.
A COMPLICATED ORGAN
The brain is, of course, a very complicated organ. There is a portion that deals with the production of speech, called Broca’s area.
When this is affected, a person will have problems expressing speech, i.e. the ability to speak fluently. This occurs in the frontal region of the brain, which is very near the motor control area.
The left cerebral hemisphere controls the right side of the body. Therefore, people with expressive or Broca’s aphasia often will have weakness on the right side.
Wernicke’s area is the portion of the brain that deals with the understanding of language. Abnormalities in this area can make a patient appear confused and is often very difficult to diagnose.
When both Broca’s and Wernicke’s area are involved it is called global aphasia. Both language production and understanding are involved.
The symptoms of aphasia include an inability to comprehend language, pronounce words, speak spontaneously, form words, and name objects. People will often make what is called paraphasic errors. Wrong letters or words are substituted for one another, making the speech and content of the sentence difficult to understand.
An inability to read and write is also part of aphasia. People with Alzheimer’s disease often have problems comprehending language, which is a type of progressive aphasia. The most common cause of an acute aphasia is head trauma and stroke. In stroke patients, blood supply is cut off to the portion of the brain that controls language.
The treatment for aphasia first includes recognition of a language problem. It may sound simple, however, many times people are thought of as confused rather than aphasic. This can delay the diagnosis and treatment of many neurological conditions.
The brain is very adaptable and has a significant amount of plasticity to repair itself. It adapts to compensate for the abnormality by re-circuiting in order to re-establish function. Patients who have a stroke often realize improvement of the language function over time. Treatment includes time where the brain will, to some extent, heal itself.
Treating the underlying cause of the aphasia is also crucial. If the patient has a stroke, preventing further strokes will give the brain time to repair and improve itself. If the patient has a tumor, the removal of the tumor may reduce pressure and help the language deficit.
A multi-disciplinary team, including a speech therapist and rehabilitative therapist (physical and occupational therapy), is crucial to help the patient regain language function. Language function, as we all know, is crucial to functioning and enjoying life.
Interestingly, in the acute hospital setting, if someone has a stroke, we often emphasize their visual and motor skills more than their language skills. At home, language abnormalities clearly may cause significant disability. New technologies, including the use of computers, mental and speech exercises and intensive rehabilitation for at least two to three hours per week, have produced positive results in patients with aphasia.
Again, aphasia can range from a mild problem of language to a devastating disorder. Some of the most common causes include stroke, head trauma, and dementia. Prompt diagnosis as to the cause of the person’s language problem is crucial to starting rehabilitative therapy and preventing the condition from getting worse. Recognizing the patient’s strengths, rather than weaknesses, with regard to language is crucial in therapy for improvement in patients with aphasia.
This column is provided by the Richmond County Medical Society. The author, Dr. Allan Perel, is the medical director of the Staten Island Multiple Sclerosis Center and chief of Neurology at Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton. Dr. Perel maintains a practice in New Dorp and is a past president of the Richmond County Medical Society. | <urn:uuid:ea3db9af-c376-40bb-ba46-020a78eb299b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.silive.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2011/08/recognizing_signs_of_aphasia_early_on_is_crucial_to_treating_language_disorder.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00010-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945861 | 980 | 4.0625 | 4 |
1 Linguistics (Of a syllable) without accent or stress.
- In Portuguese, vowels have stressed (tonic) and unstressed (atonic) forms.
- In this kind of metric versification, neither the actual number of the syllables nor the difference between tonic and atonic syllables had much importance.
2 Physiology Lacking muscular tone.
- The highest levels of intoxication can be life-threatening, producing delirium, coma, atonic bladder and cardiac arrhythmias.
- Atonic and tonic seizures are characterized by a sudden change in muscle tone.
- In Poliomyelitis the greatest possible care must be taken to prevent bruising atonic muscle fibers.
- Example sentences
- Following the birth of the neonate, the placenta was delivered and the patient began to experience severe hemorrhage, which was clinically attributed to uterine atony.
- Postpartum uterine atony and hemorrhage can be effectively prevented with the use of oxytocin, but the optimal dosage and route of administration have not been established.
- This in turn leads to gastric atony, floating kidney, hernia, rectal prolapse, uterine prolapse and other forms of prolapse.
For editors and proofreaders
Definition of atonic in:
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed. | <urn:uuid:7b3fc6b7-726e-4e2e-93b0-026bce76be5b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/atonic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00104-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.878527 | 305 | 3.171875 | 3 |
You've seen the headlines: "Code Red Attacks Windows Servers." "Slapper Worm Targets Linux Systems Running Apache." But a headline you may not have seen is the one about popular routers, firewall appliances, or other hardware devices having equally egregious holes in their armor. Technically, most of these bugs are the result of software flaws, but it's the embedded software that runs a given device. Fixing that device requires you to replace the code in the device's read-only or flash memory. Sometimes, this is a do-it-yourself operation; in other cases, the device must be returned to the factory for repair.
Ironically, such problems sometimes occur in devices that are intended to provide security. For example, vulnerabilities in certain home- or small-office routers manufactured by Linksys Groupincluding some DSL and wireless productscan lead to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks or a complete takeover of the hardware. To find the models with unpatched bugs, see Core Security Technologies' detailed advisory. And to make sure you have the latest patch, go to www.linksys.com/download, select your router's model number, press the button labeled Downloads for this Product, and click the Firmware button on the page that appears.
Some Cisco DSL routers have flaws that cause them to crash when their built-in Web servers, which are used to configure the routers, are presented with an improper URL. Unfortunately, the infamous Code Red worm, which was typically thought to affect Microsoft systems only, transmitted exactly this sort of URL, causing many customers' DSL routers to lock up.
The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) reports that in some cases an Alcatel network switch has a telnet back door that lets anyone take over the switch or the network to which it is connected. The bug affects all models in the Alcatel OmniSwitch 7000 series of modular network switches. The bug is present because Alcatel developers left an operating-systemdebugging interface turned on when the product was shipped. A firmware upgrade solves the problem and is available now from Alcatel customer support.
What can you do to avoid security problems in embedded systems? Unfortunately, relying on a vendor's reputation isn't any help; history has shown that the big names (such as Cisco) are every bit as likely to have careless programmers as lesser-known companies.
The best protection is to do your homework before buying. Use an Internet search engine to look for words and phrases such as buffer overflow, vulnerability, and security hole on the same page as the name of the product or vendor. You'll want to continue monitoring the Internet even after you buy a product, because problems may not appear until later.
If you're a bit more technically savvy, you can also evaluate the product's security yourself after buying it. Use a port-scanning utility such as Nmap to see which IP ports the device leaves open. Does the device allow itself to be administered via the primitive and insecure telnet protocol, rather than Secure Shell (SSH)? Is it designed to be configured via an unencrypted Web interface? (You can tell whether the device is using encryption by watching for the lock icon that appears in most Web browsers when they make an encrypted connection.)
The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is sometimes used to manage Wi-Fi access points and similar hardware, but it sends passwords across the network without encryption. If the protocol used for administration of a network device isn't encrypted (and that's the case on most older devices), you absolutely must block access to the device from the outside world. Even then, if any machine on your network is infected by a worm or virus, an intruder might be able to "sniff" its password from your network. Thus, you should look for products with encrypted management interfaces.
Finally, since you can never be sure, turn on every access control mechanism your device has available, shut down any protocols or special features that aren't necessary, and firewall it (if it's not a firewall device itself) to block access from the Internet at large. This won't guarantee security but will greatly decrease the chances that your network will be abused if vulnerabilities exist.
Brett Glass is a freelance consultant, author, and programmer. | <urn:uuid:acea52d1-ad3d-4126-b936-230818f51421> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,989996,00.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937863 | 866 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Stewardship is defined in Webster's Dictionary as the "management of something of value entrusted into one's care." Where did stewardship begin? Stewardship began in Genesis (which means "in the beginning").
"The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it." Genesis 2:15. Man was to care for and protect the Garden entrusted to him by God. This command by God is man's first call to stewardship.
After making the heaves and the earth and all the creatures God saw how good it ws. "Then god said, Let us make man in our image, after our own likeness. Let him have dominion over the fish of the sea the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground." Genesis 1:26. These passages call for man to be in chare of the world and of the garden entrusted to him by God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Man was made in their image and after their likeness. Consequently, the Trinity existed in the beginning and man's call to stewardship was established from the beginning of time.
The Garden was precious because God was present in the Garden. Jesus Christ has allowed us to re-enter the Garden through Him. So many people care deeply for this Parish and our schools for it is a place where Christ resides. we are the stewards of our parish garden. Our Lady of Lourdes parishioners, our ministries, our facilities, and our schools. We are stewards of the Garden and it will grow and produce fruit and a great harvest if we care for our Garden as God has asked us.
"Love one another. As I have loved you, so you should love one another. This is how all will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 14:34-35.
Our Lady of Lourdes Parish has been bestowed with an abundance of gifts. These gifts from God demonstrate his unending mercy and love. Love begets love. Our love for God is expressed through our obedience to God's command to love Him with all of our heart, mind and soul and to love one another.
Our Lady of Lourdes is a stewardship parish. We believe we are a blessed people and that we have a responsibility to answer God's call to discipleship. By sharing of our time, talent and treasure we are responding to Christ's call for complete and perfect love.
We accept the precept of God's love, we acknowledge we are a blessed people, we recognize that as individuals we have unique gifts. So where do we go from here?
Through the annual Stewardship Renewal process we are asked to take an inventory of our life, and then to make a conscientious decision to share our time, talents and treasure with the church, our community and our family.
Under the Stewardship link you will find a complete list of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Ministries. | <urn:uuid:1ed799c0-aba7-454d-9a06-d09dbb8d9441> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ollsmc.com/stewardship/overview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967468 | 623 | 2.703125 | 3 |
We call earth the blue planet with reason — water covers 71% of our world’s surface, a fact that sets the third rock from the sun apart. But humans are land creatures, and we have lived and thrived on earth because of the vegetation our planet supports. We depend on the green.
Now recent footage gathered by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite shows in detail just how that green changes over the course of the seasons — and how we’re altering it with man-made activity. The video above is distilled from footage collected from April 2012 to April 2013 by the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite. The satellite can detect pixel-by-pixel changes in the earth’s vegetation over the course of a week or several decades. The areas of darkest green show dense vegetative growth — think rain forests — while lighter areas represent land with less plant cover, like deserts and mountains. Oceans and fresh water in the video are left white.
In North America, the video shows how greenery changes over the course of the year, as fall turns to winter and vegetation shrinks thanks to snowfall and dropping temperatures. Wildfires — like the deadly fires blasting through Arizona now — torch forests but over the long term can help promote revitalized plant growth. In South America, the video shows how deep green land surrounding the wide Amazon River has changed thanks to deforestation. The land has been scarred as forests have been cut down or burned to make room for agriculture and settlements. In China, the most populous country on the planet, unprecedented urban sprawl has left pockets of white amid the dense green along the coasts. Shanghai — a city with a metro population of over 23 million people — is seen as a blank white spot.
The detail NOAA’s satellite imagery can offer is especially valuable in the Horn of Africa, where minute changes of vegetative growth can offer advance warning for oncoming droughts. At the same time, a sudden flourishing of green could signal an uptick in malaria — a disease that kills more than 3,000 African children a day — as the Anopheles mosquito that hosts the malaria parasite thrives on dense, wet vegetation.
The Suomi NPP satellite allows us to see how our planet is changing in near real time. And given how fast we’re changing it — thanks to man-made greenhouse gases and sprawling development — it’s an eye in the sky we need more than ever. | <urn:uuid:53a8f101-0d87-4d12-96e6-d2f39a8a2e68> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://science.time.com/2013/07/03/how-green-is-my-valley-new-satellite-imagery-shows-changes-in-earths-vegetation/?iid=tsmodule | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00085-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922124 | 507 | 3.578125 | 4 |
I have this habit of letting my Southernese get out of hand every now and then and it overflows into the classroom where I will shorten words and change them in order to relax things and have a little fun with the kids.
Once we embark on our unit of exploration I begin to refer to the large group of men my students must sort through and know as ‘splorers instead of explorers, and later in the year we ‘splore the American Revolution and the War of 1812, and so on. The kids enjoy correcting me when I use the wrong words.
At any rate….I’ve been ‘splorin through the maze we call the Internet and have found some more interesting resources. I’ll be adding these to the resource blogroll I have sometime today.
I’m really excited about sharing the Gilder Lehrman Institute of History site. It is a place I could spend hours at. At the site you can find history in the news, content, lesson ideas, and over 60,000 primary sources detailing the political and social history of the United States and North America from 1493 to modern times. Today’s featured document is the view of one Northerner regarding slavery in the South. There are also podcasts of various published historians speaking about their books, and you can comment!
AIM Your Projects With Flash….AIM being animation, interaction, and multimedia. This site provides numerous links to various flash media sites around the web. Keep scrolling for various Social Studies examples. There are also links for information if you want to try you hand at a flash project.
National Atlas….I can’t wait to play here. This site allows you to add all types of layers to the maps being viewed as well as including maps to download and print for classroom use. There’s a blue box that appears on the mainpage that tells you everything the site can help educators and “fun-seekers” with.
Go ‘splore…er, explore….you’ll never know what you will find. | <urn:uuid:55dd059f-68f5-4802-a467-97de9a797b5c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com/2007/07/ive-been-splorin-again.html?showComment=1185362940000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944804 | 432 | 3 | 3 |
Conservation groups today filed a notice of intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to reduce global warming pollution from aircraft engines. The notice, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth, notes that EPA has failed to reduce this pollution even though a federal judge ruled nearly three years ago that it must address aviation’s fast-growing carbon emissions. Earthjustice is representing Friends of the Earth in the suit.
“The airline industry’s massive and fast-growing greenhouse gas pollution poses a dangerous threat to our climate,” said Vera Pardee, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “The EPA has to stop dragging its feet and start pushing airlines to curb their damaging carbon emissions.”
Aviation accounts for about 11 percent of carbon dioxide pollution from the U.S. transportation sector and is one of the fastest-growing sources of carbon pollution, rising three to five percent a year. Carbon emissions from global aviation will quadruple by mid-century without action.
In 2010, the Center, Friends of the Earth, and other environmental organizations represented by Earthjustice sued to force EPA to set standards on greenhouse gas pollution from aircraft. A judge quickly ruled that the EPA is required to address aircraft emissions under the Clean Air Act. EPA has still not finished the first step in its rulemaking process.
“There is a real opportunity to curb global warming pollution from the airline industry,” said Martin Wagner, an Earthjustice managing attorney. “But the industry won’t do it on its own. EPA must act now to ensure that the airline industry operates more efficiently to play its part in protecting our families, our communities and the environment from the devastating effects of climate change.”
Dramatic aviation emission reductions are readily achievable, a recent International Council on Clean Transportation report shows. Despite the airline industry’s claim that fuel costs already force them to operate as efficiently as possible, the report found a 26 percent gap between the most and least fuel-efficient airlines serving America’s domestic market.
“As time runs out to head off global warming’s worst effects, President Obama has to push the aviation industry to cut carbon pollution,” asserted Friends of the Earth analyst John Kaltenstein. “Airlines can clearly operate much more efficiently, but federal rules are critical to reducing their dangerous emissions.”
Martin Wagner, (415) 217-2000, ext. 2050
Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer. | <urn:uuid:ef2d877f-f8f8-4f59-a6ea-ea19257e5382> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2014/conservation-groups-launch-legal-challenge-to-cut-carbon-pollution-from-aircraft | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93778 | 572 | 2.671875 | 3 |
There will be no surprise that in Grand Canyon affairs, political weight is derived, in part, from our narratives of how long we have been here, where we came from, who was first, who we are related to. Origin-stories, creation-myths, are potent psychological knowledge easily transformable into fierce political weapons, whether rooted in millennia-old passed-on-then-fossilized oral narratives, the hanging sign claiming “serving our community since 2003!!”, or even concocted to suit imperatives of the moment. So it is with the Havasupai in their century-long striving to gain sovereignty (to use the whitefolk term) over some of the lands that they used and lived on from “time immemorial” into the XXth century.Havasupai narratives deal with multiple origin-stories. Hirst mentions Havasupai agreement with the Hopi in thinking of humans originating from a canyon south of the Grand Canyon. He speaks, too, of Havasupai tradition recounting migration northeast from the Colorado River (to the west on the map below, where it heads south) into the Grand Canyon area, spending time in Matawidita, then moving on into Havasu Canyon, as well as reaching Indian Gardens in the early XIXth century. That tradition is echoed in one of the archeological narratives, a migration perhaps of Yuman-speaking bands that migrate from along the lower Colorado, to constitute the Hualapai and Havasupai.
A story with several episodes has a more general migration traced back tens of millennia, with later arrivals from the north animating a journey down California, then into southern Arizona to become the Hohokam. Some of the latter were affected by expansion out of Mexico to move into central Arizona and above the Mogollon rim. These people, the Cohonina, disappeared from their settlement area arounnd 1300, a time of drought, moving north into the better watered places below the Grand Canyon’s rim, evolving more or less seamlessly into the Havasupai.
Each narrative joins the never-ending debate over human global spread, and was offered during the now-resolved struggle for repatriation (of Havasupai land). Writing about these narratives here is not an attempt to write history; they come into political prominence after the mid-XXth century. However, since they offer descriptions of Havasupai relationship to Grand Canyon lands before the 1880’s, they provide an essential setting for the repatriation effort, trailheads from which to start exploring the documented history.
In one political sense, they do not matter now since no debate any longer exists about Havasupai extent as of the mid-XIXth century. Various whitefolk expeditions of the time remarked on Havasupai presence in places like Coconino Basin and Moenkopi Wash, when the Diné(Navajo) were still east of the Hopi. The Diné(Navajo)’s continued expansion apparently made the Havasupai unwelcome in the area east of the San Francisco mountains. Even with that much of a dynamic, there is no apparent argument with the idea that the Havasupai lived on a vast swath of land south of the Canyon, mingling with Hualapai bands on the west (National Canyon), the Hopi on the east (Moenkopi Wash)—more recently the Diné(Navajo)--, and south toward the Mogollon Rim where they bumped into or against the Yavapai. However they arrived there, they were the primary settlers and occupiers of southeastern Grand Canyon lands in the second millennium.
The following map shows, somewhat roughly, some key elements in this discussion. The green line encloses a version of the lands the Havasupai used and occupied during the centuries before whitefolk pressures of the XIXth century. On the west were bands of the Hualapai. On the east, the Navajo were applying pressures of their own.
The several green arrows suggest some of the proposed migration routes that brought the Havasupai to Havasu-Cataract Canyon, shown in blue. Two significant places in the century-long debate over repatriation are Indian Gardens & Pasture Wash. The reservation established by the 1975 Enlargement Act is the gray area pointed out in red.
Human occupation of the Grand Canyon began some millennia before the Havasupai. There is the split-twig evidence, then from much more recent occupation, sites show up for farming, storage, and living at spots along the river, trails and storage places along them, and up above. Rock art from across the centuries is abundant; it has long been a trafficked place. One can thus populate the Grand Canyon and its environs with fluctuating populations over four and more millennia, asking where they came from and what happened to them? Did they die off in place, move on to other areas? Were the lands north and south of the Canyon ever left with little or even no population? Did these earlier peoples (4-5000 ybp? – 1000 ybp?) become the Hopi, the various bands of the Pai? When the Paiute on the north, Hualapai on the south, Havasupai easternmost) show up, is it all migration or was it a development from existing settlers, or a mixture? How related are the H-Pai--contention, co-existence, cousinage in various bands? The Paiutes of the Canyon’s northern plateaus came south across the Colorado River; the Hualapai crossed back. Some Havasupai lived among some Hualapai? As part of a larger bands or self-defined as distinct? Without property boundaries, what did territory and ancestry mean? Was there ownership or community of springs, winter & other seasonal housing, growing, foraging & hunting areas? Would there have been a sense of ancestors, pre-cursors, those who had lived here and gone? In the original migrations from the northwest, what sort of information, communication, sharing of culture, isolation/connection, was there? What is the role of the great number of different languages in explaining origins and longevity in place? And supposing whitefolk never came into America; what were, would have been, the movement patterns for migration, hunting, trade? Would the Grand Canyon Pai have told oral histories or myths about other peoples?
Humans spread. So, to what degree was the notion of settlement indigenous and necessary to these very mobile (Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in a few centuries, and again & again, and back and forth) groups of humans, coming from Asia (at least), moving on as humans, the traveling primates, did, will do? Did contact with others mean conquest? Or something with little violence? Did the Canyon (other natural features, too, of course) influence any of the choices they made? Could it have been conceptualized, or was it landscape to be used and traversed as any other? The Pai were, even as whites showed up, being intruded upon by the Navajo, a people used to migrating (though they settled, too). Were there in the vicinity of the Canyon, several periods of migration, of testing for territory, buffer country, & limits (can we even call them boundaries?), of checking for the means of living (springs & winter sites), and then a period of more stable, settled patterns? We know that even the great rock houses were not necessarily “built for the ages”. Do we humans explore, bump about, settle, then use trade/conflict as substitutes for migration? We do not migrate only because of need; we like to move, to wander, (today more than ever, if with less adventure and uncertainty.) The Havasupai and Hualapai, after all, are human just like the rest of us, and the history of homo sapiens humans is to move, spread, either physically or by information/artifacts. Our gene pool seems more acquisitional than territorial. In some fashion, the Havasupai migrated to their current region. Did they then respond to the desire to settle and establish? Given enough time and changing circumstances, would they have moved again, or dug in, as in fact they have done over the past 130 years? In the largest context the Havasupai’s different origin stories contribute to the great debate about human nature: the balance of migration-spread and settlement, restlessness and permanence.
The details, too, fascinate. Testifying as Havasupai allies (before the Indian Claims Commission, a later post), Euler and Dobyns made their case for the Hualapai and Havasupai as a single Yuman-speaking grouping, composed then, one supposes, as now of several bands. In ICC testimony, Euler specifies 1150-1300 a.d. for their time of arrival in what became their homelands south of the Canyon, with little voluntary change since, reservation establishment being a hugely distorted contraction of those lands. What sort of arrival was it? A family-by-family wandering; a concerted rush or drift away from unpleasantness to the northwest, or even just around the lower Colorado?
Schwartz argued the Havasupai story of continuity from Cohonina into Havasupai, and offered a description of population & cultural patterns. Service, reporting on current land tenure matters, suggests speculations are not out of order. In his view, ownership is fluid and part of the social argument structure. Everybody can get into the discussion. Land went to newlyweds and lineage was not stressed. Pressures over use & need lead toward rough distribution that avoids concentrated ownership. Yet there certainly were, and are, fixed abodes. Should we therefore posit that the Havasupai did not understand any of the ramifications of whitefolk property establishment, including the idea of a reservation? Could they have thought it was a matter of continuing discussion? As they continued to use the plateau lands, were they only expressing physically their idea of land tenure, either in dispute with or in concert with whitefolk ideas?
Euler and Dobyns, writing of the 1600 to mid-1800’s, describe an intensified trade with Spaniards, with some deterioration in handicrafts. All mention the Garces’ report of Spanish goods in 1776, cattle & trades goods. Clashes between (Huala)pai & travelers did not apparently involve the Havasupai. Perhaps they were farther enough to the north to feel undisturbed at first. The explorers (Beale, e.g.) certainly trekked more south along the great transport route now containing our various roads. Or the Havasupai might have been in the canyons. Perhaps they were just a more pacific, less irritable, band. On the other hand, could a bunch of whitefolk intruders tell the difference? Perhaps the relative documentary silence on the Havasupai is not surprising.
Certainly, by the 1870’s, the Havasupai way of life was long established. There were springs and garden sites, e.g. Havasu, Pasture Wash, Indian Gardens. Hirst says places on the plateau with dwellings used from one year to next were recognized as belonging to a family or person. He lists deer and other meat targets, pinyon, beans & corn as constituting a good diet. The plateau was a cold-weather source for wood (heat, cooking, shelter), food & water; trade, socializing, marriage; maybe even the view. And the history of this way of life seems not greatly different from the Hualapai & Paiute: hunters & gatherers, wanderers, settling down, picking up gardening.
If this is the accepted view, lets ask if it is all necessarily accurate? Why wouldn’t there have been changes, evolution? Trade and travel, visitation and extra-band marriage existed. What are the analogues to Havasupai life in other parts of the world? Australians? Age-old peasant life patterns? What do we mean by change, rate-of-change, here? How often was something new invented, discovered, traded for, learned? We are inescapably arrogant about all this, no matter what we conclude. Perhaps without more evidence, we are left speculating about what is a “mature” American Southwest hunting and gathering society? Certainly there were no "primitive hominid" societies left; these peoples were all us. Was there a variable pattern of sophistication about what could be utilized and how? Information lost and gained? And again, can we offer anything but word-spinning about the place of the Canyon in Havasupai lives? How can we not engage in the activity, not necessarily only guilt-ridden, of putting together pieces to make the picture of that moment when the whitefolk pattern of political activity, of conquest and dividing up began to be imposed.
No question but that whitefolk disrupted whatever the Havasupai pattern of movement or settlement was. The Europeans (the great migrator/conqueror/imposer of the XVth-XIXth centuries) brought the ideas that laid upon the land the lines, including the need to lay claim on a basis of long-established use. As time passed, these claims & reservations became targets for whites to aim at. This happened very swiftly with the Havasupai.
Their experience did differ from that of the Hualapai, who were pushed and reacted, ending in the Hualapai War of the 1870's. The peacefulness of the Havasupai could have been a matter of distance, disguise, or even policy based on news. What did the Havasupai know about the Hualapai fighting, and when did they know it? What did it do to their ideas and behavior? Conversely, what formed the ideas whitefolk had of the Havasupai, given the scantiness of the explorers' record?
Then in the 1870’s, the troubles started. Miners came into Havasu; above, drivers were directing great herds of grass-chomping animals. The Havasupai were up on the plateau in the colder season; surely whitefolk had seen them there. The army was a major governing presence; again, what did they know, and why didn’t they act on it? The unanswered question is this: Why were Hualapai and Havasupai treated differently in the matter of reservation establishment? Dobyns and Euler carry this to the point of saying it was the whitefolk treatment of the westernmost Pai band that caused the separate identity of the Havasupai to be permanently established. Whether this is a comfortable conclusion to adopt, given the army’s influence at the time, something has to be said about the same army officers making two different dispositions for similar folk.
Hirst, Stephen, Life in a Narrow Place, The Havasupai of the Grand Canyon, 1976
I am the Grand Canyon; the Story of the Havasupai People, 2007
Digests of exhibits for Havasupai and USA before ICC, n.d., 1950's
Dobyns & Euler, “A Brief History of the NorthEastern Pai”
Schwartz, Douglas, W. , “Havasupai 600 AD – 1955 AD, A short cultural history”
Service, Elman, 1947, “Recent Observations on Hav Land Tenure” in SWAnthropology, 3-4-360 | <urn:uuid:e42dd9e1-20c0-4925-8ee0-f811ae5bfe9e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://gcfutures.blogspot.com/2011/06/havasupai-to-1880-from-book-draft.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960733 | 3,262 | 2.875 | 3 |
Click the green button to start and enter the correct answers below
Use the clues to identify two three-letter words that, when combined, create a five-letter word. The third letter of the first word overlaps with the first letter of the second. Enter either the five-letter word or the two three-letter words. EXAMPLE: CUT + TIE = CUTIE. | <urn:uuid:173ff436-4ab4-4cfa-ae70-8288e2548f07> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sporcle.com/games/Purple_Parrot/word-equations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00154-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.881445 | 81 | 3 | 3 |
The BBC unleashed several ‘spy’ cameras to get video of polar bears going about their business without humans to distract them. There was only one problem – the cameras didn’t go as unnoticed as they hoped!
In a partial settlement in an ongoing lawsuit of the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Greenpeace against the U.S. Department of the Interior, more than 187,000 square miles (120 million acres) were designated as “critical habitat” for the polar bear. This designation marks the areas crucial to polar bears’ survival. Federal agencies are prohibited to adversely modify the lands and coastal waters in these areas. This may deter future oil drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off Alaska, which are part of the critical habitat.
The lawsuit challenges the Department of the Interior’s 2008 decision to classify polar bears as a “threatened” species rather than the more protective “endangered” status and further disputes their special ruling that greenhouse gases could not be regulated as a result of the “threatened” status.
Greenhouse gases make up the primary threat to polar bears. An increase of carbon emissions leads to rising temperatures, which are causing the Arctic ice masses to melt away at a rapid rate. A reduction of large masses of ice limits polar bears’ access to seals, their main food source. Not only does this adversely affect the health of adult polar bears, it also hinders the successful reproduction and nourishment of new bear cubs. Rising temperatures also result in unstable maternity dens, as snowdrifts melt and collapse. If greenhouse gases are not curbed, the polar bear could become extinct in 40 years or less.
For more information about the court decision, see the Center for Biological Diversity’s press release.
To learn more about polar bears and what you can do to help them, see Animal Fact Guide’s article: Polar Bear.
Zoo sauvage de Saint-Félicien in Canada has welcomed two polar bear cubs. The cubs were born on November 30 of this year to Aisaqvaq, a resident of the zoo.
Aisaqvaq has been acting very maternal, caring for her newborns in a birthing den created by the zoo. This comes as a relief to zoo workers because Aisaqvaq ate her previous cub, born last December.
To read more and watch videos of Aisaqvaq and her cubs visit the Zoo Sauvage website.
To learn more about polar bears, see Animal Fact Guide’s article: Polar Bear.
At the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Anoki, a 12-year-old polar bear had a dental infection that had the potential to spread to her organs. So veterinary dental surgeon Dr. Ira R. Luskin donated his time to perform a root canal on the 500-pound patient.
For more info: Baltimore Sun
Steven Kazlowski is a wildlife photographer who has spent 9 years capturing images of polar bears in their native Arctic environment. His book, The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World, features 200 full-color photographs of polar bears and their diminishing habitat as well a collection of essays by biologists and Alaska-based writers.
For more information on the book, visit:
CBC News: Will we see The Last Polar Bear in our lifetime?
Left Eye Productions
Buy it from Amazon.com >
For more information about polar bears, visit Animal Fact Guide’s polar bear article. | <urn:uuid:e3e0bae3-3c8f-4ff7-90d2-e7c5efde6b14> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.animalfactguide.com/tag/polar-bears/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00116-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939719 | 740 | 3.671875 | 4 |
First it was the kids of Flint found to have been tainted by lead, attributed by many to the area's toxic water. Now two dogs who live in the vicinity of the Michigan city have tested positive for lead toxicity—the first two pups to be confirmed with this in state records in five years, the Detroit Free Press reports.
"Here in Michigan, specifically in [Genesee] County, we've had two cases of high-lead levels reported to us in dogs in the last six months," state vet Dr.
James Averill tells CBS Detroit. "One was last fall and one was here in January." He says that one of the affected dogs was a stray, while the other was a pet.
Both dogs are alive, Averill notes, but the state report doesn't specify how high their lead levels were, or what symptoms they had. And indeed, it's challenging to diagnose dogs with lead toxicity, as symptoms such as "mental dullness," arthritis, and lethargy can mimic those of other illnesses, Averill says.
Instead, he mentions keeping an eye on variations in a pet's routine to help pinpoint if something's wrong. He does note to CBS, however, that the "vast majority" of lead tests on area dogs have come back negative, and he says they're relying on local veterinarians with "boots on the ground" to look out for suspicious cases.
In the meantime, while Averill gives the OK to bathe pets in Flint-area tap water, he says they should be drinking filtered or bottled water or, as a last resort, melted snow.
"It would be safer, if your only other choice is feeding them straight Flint water," he notes. (The FBI's now on Flint's case.)
This article originally appeared on Newser: Lead Toxicity Showing Up in Flint Area's Dogs
More From Newser
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- 1st-Ever Endemic Malaria Found in US Mammals | <urn:uuid:6bb99fb0-d346-4195-954b-9b71fae5560c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/02/08/lead-toxicity-turning-up-in-flint-areas-dogs.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00121-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969341 | 432 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Published: Jan 1963
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The preceding papers of this symposium have shown how much of our knowledge on surfaces has been derived from the interpretation of molecular processes at the gas-solid interface. Most of these experiments are of a rather macroscopic nature. With the field emission microscope and particularly with its more recent version, the field ion microscope, we now have research tools that permit direct visual observations of molecular adsorption films and of the atomic structure of metal surfaces. In this paper the field emission microscope will be discussed only briefly to outline its range of application and to show the progress made possible by the introduction of an imaging process with positive ions. The results of field ion microscopy of atomic surface structures of metals will then be represented in more detail.
The field emission microscope (1) displays on a fluorescent screen the surface of a specimen shaped as a fine needle tip. The image is formed by radial projection of field-emitted electrons, which results in a magnification equal to the ratio of screen distance to tip radius. Magnifications of 105 to 106 are typical. The fine tips can be prepared by chemical etching of wires, and the finishing of the tip to an almost perfect hemisphere is done by annealing the tip.
The crystallographic emission patterns of a number of high-melting metals have been studied, either in the clean state or with adsorption films of various gases (2). Established techniques are: rate measurements of surface migration (3), the utilization of the wide temperature range by immersing the entire microscope into a cryogenic bath (2), the evaluation of work functions of specific crystal planes by using Fowler-Nordheim plots (2), and the measurements of binding energies of physisorbed or chemisorbed gases by gradual thermal or field desorption (4). Progress in recent years was made by applying pulsed fields (5) for the elimination of the field effect on surface migration, the use of an a-c field desorption technique (6), the in situ growth of whisker tips (7) to study non-refractory metals, and more quantitative studies of gas adsorption, mostly on tungsten. A number of comprehensive review articles are available (2,8). Merely as an illustration some field emission patterns are shown in Figs. 1 to 3.
Müller, E. W.
Research Professor of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa. | <urn:uuid:cdf36958-3b39-4820-8de3-0525d5e9573c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.astm.org/DIGITAL_LIBRARY/STP/PAGES/STP45680S.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00078-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.881741 | 556 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Predicting gene expression using artificial neural networks
Today one of the greatest aims within the area of bioinformatics is to gain a complete understanding of the functionality of genes and the systems behind gene regulation. Regulatory relationships among genes seem to be of a complex nature since transcriptional control is the result of complex networks interpreting a variety of inputs. It is therefore essential to develop analytical tools detecting complex genetic relationships.This project examines the possibility of the data mining technique artificial neural network (ANN) detecting regulatory relationships between genes. As an initial step for finding regulatory relationships with the help of ANN the goal of this project is to train an ANN to predict the expression of an individual gene. The genes predicted are the nuclear receptor PPAR-g and the insulin receptor. Predictions of the two target genes respectively were made using different datasets of gene expression data as input for the ANN. The results of the predictions of PPAR-g indicate that it is not possible to predict the expression of PPAR-g under the circumstances for this experiment. The results of the predictions of the insulin receptor indicate that it is not possible to discard using ANN for predicting the gene expression of an individual gene.
School:Högskolan i Skövde
Source Type:Master's Thesis
Keywords:artificial neural networks gene expression
Date of Publication:02/04/2008 | <urn:uuid:fcff28e5-f8cc-4af6-b134-ba5d26e6c92f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.openthesis.org/documents/Predicting-gene-expression-using-artificial-431857.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.863613 | 277 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Rhino Poaching to be Stopped by Surveillance From the Sky
Rhino conservation in Kenya is getting a high-tech makeover—emphasis on high.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy, a 90,000-acre park that's home to four of the seven remaining wild Northern White Rhinoceroses, has partnered with Unmanned Innovation to develop an aerial ranger to help protect the treasured creatures from being rhino poaching victims. The drone will fly over the park—covering about 50 miles of land per hour and a half flight—and livestream HD video feed to park rangers.
Each rhino will also be outfitted with radio frequency ID tags. These unique tags will allow the drone to locate each animal using GPS technology.
Knowing a drone is guarding the park should act as a big deterrent to potential poachers. Richard Ruggiero, Chief of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Africa Program, told TakePart he believes the drone will be a boon to conservation efforts: “[drones] are relatively inexpensive, have a long flight duration and can carry cameras that can help with surveillance.”
Ruggiero stressed that the drone will be especially helpful at nighttime, when most rhino poaching occurs. “At night you have trouble monitoring [the animals] but a drone is able to use thermal imaging, while flying very quietly, to identify the rhinos and identify poachers.”
While there are countless benefits to using drones to stop rhino poaching, Ruggiero does not think human guards will be abandoned altogether: “It’s not realistic to say it will be all drones. It’s going to be a hybrid system.”
To raise money for the drone, Ol Pejeta is relying on the aforementioned Indiegogo campaign—their goal is to raise $35,000—which ends on January 20.
In 2010 and 2011 more than 300 rhinos were killed annually in South Africa alone. Last year, 455 rhinos had already been killed in South Africa by October. Rhino poaching is exceptionally attractive; the average wage in Kenya is $1 a day, while a rhino horn can fetch $12,000 on the black market.
This makes protecting Ol Pejeta’s rhinos all the more important. The creatures play an integral role in ecosystem maintenance. Rhinos are valued for their role as seed dispersers, in turn helping native plants grow. Ruggiero also praised the white rhinos for their grazing capabilities: “white rhinos are grazers, like cattle. They’re slower, they’re bigger and they’re designed to eat grass. They eat very coarse grass and in the process it makes smaller, more palatable grasses—things that other animals like Thompson’s Gazelles eat—grow.”
Not only will the drone be important in guarding against rhino poaching, it will also be a valuable educational tool. The drone will allow students, educators and everyday people alike to take “virtual tours” of the Conservancy. It will also allow rangers to amass valuable data on animal behavior and movement. Ol Pejeta also believes that the drone’s virtual tours will increase interest in tourism, benefitting the local economy.
Conservationists always have to try to stay one step ahead of the poachers. Technology has become an important tool for protecting endangered species. But as Ruggiero points out, “just as it makes it easier for the good guys, it also makes it easier for the bad guys.”
As poachers become more creative in their tactics, it is imperative that the conservation world catches up. Ol Pejeta’s drone embraces new conservation technology, while allowing the world to learn more about the rare Northern White Rhinoceros.
Do you think drones will be effective in deterring rhino poaching ? Let us know in the COMMENTS below.
Related Stories on TakePart: | <urn:uuid:ae7cd9f1-a44f-4ebf-9872-1138ac8ed981> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/01/08/rhinos-woes-fight-rise-poaching-conservationists-turn-drones | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00057-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930946 | 831 | 2.796875 | 3 |
One of the most common questions I get asked is “How many calories can I burn with walking?” And, the best (yet unsatisfying) answer is “It depends.” There are no precise formulas for burning calories with walking. Metabolism is a complex and individual process, so definitive answers about it require exact measurements you can only obtain in a lab. And, if you repeat the tests in a few months, odds are you’ll get different answers because your body is a living, always changing organism.
However, you can use averages that will give you a guideline to balancing your caloric intake and physical activity so that you can maintain your desired weight. These formulas are based on average calorie burning rates, plus your own weight, walking speed and time spent walking.
These formulas start with a walking speed of 2 miles per hour and increase to a walking speed of 5 miles per hour. To determine how many calories you burn walking, find your walking speed and then use the formula below it to determine how many calories you burned.
2.0 or Two miles per hour (thirty minute mile)
1 X your weight X 1 for one hour (use .25 for 15 minutes, .50 for thirty minutes and .75 for 45 minutes.)
2.5 or Two and a half miles per hour (24 minute mile)
1.3 X your weight X 1 for one hour (use .25 for 15 minutes, .50 for thirty minutes and .75 for 45 minutes.)
3.0 or Three miles per hour (20 minutes per mile)
1.5 X your weight X 1 for one hour (use .25 for 15 minutes, .50 for thirty minutes and .75 for 45 minutes.)
3.5 or Three and a half miles per hour (17 minute mile)
1.8 X your weight X 1 for one hour (use .25 for 15 minutes, .50 for thirty minutes and .75 for 45 minutes)
4.0 or Four miles per hour (15 minutes per mile)
2.3 X your weight X 1 for one hour (use .25 for 15 minutes, .50 for thirty minutes and .75 for 45 minutes.)
4.5 or Five and a half miles per hour (13 minute pace)
3.0 X your weight X 1 for one hour (use .25 for 15 minutes, .50 for thirty minutes and .75 for 45 minutes)
5.0 or Five miles per hour (12 minute mile)
3.6 X your weight X 1 for one hour (use .25 for 15 minutes, .50 for thirty minutes and .75 for 45 minutes.) (At this speed, your body is working very hard and you are burning as much or more calories than you would by running.)
To illustrate an example, let’s use the 150 pound woman and have her walk one hour at 3.0 miles per hour.
So, 1.5 X 150 X 1 hour gives us 225 calories burned. If that woman is normally inactive, she needs 1500 calories per day to maintain her current weight. If she walks one hour three times a week, she burns an additional 675 calories per week. So, she will lose a pound in about five weeks. (A pound is 3500 calories.)
With the thermal effect and muscle building and water loss, she will probably lose it in about a month, again, keeping her food intake exactly the same. Plus, after exercising for about 45 minutes in one session, you begin to burn more fat for energy. She will build more muscle tissue, too, which will burn more calories even at rest.
So, adding this three times a week walk will, over time, help her to lose more than a pound a month, which is a very safe and effective rate of weight loss. Of course, reducing caloric intake will help lose weight more quickly, but don’t go lower than 1,200 calories a day or you could actually decrease your metabolism.
Remember, this is all very much a “guesstimate”, based on averages. So many factors affect metabolism that no formula is exact. Things such as menopause, medications, genetic makeup, thyroid issues, hormone issues, and more can increase or decrease your metabolic rate. But, unless you want to pay for and endure a bunch of very expensive metabolic tests, these estimates will give you a good guideline to go by.
To keep up with your distance and time walking, I recommend the Omron HJ-112 Digital Premium Pedometer.
Accurate portion control is also important, and this EatSmart Digital Nutrition Scale - Professional Food and Nutrient Calculator will help you measure and make better food choices. | <urn:uuid:2edad740-ad3a-4196-a89f-a76b519dbe2d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bellaonline.com/ArticlesP/art47236.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911891 | 971 | 2.703125 | 3 |
KarlskogaMunicipality, in Örebro County, in central Sweden. It is located within the historical province of Wermelandia.
For centuries, Karlskoga was a small forest and mining community, not even a parish of its own. In the 17th century fourteen small iron works and eight waterdriven hammers for bar iron were established. Most of these were still operating in the 1860s, but the dominating iron works was the one in nearby Bofors. In 1871, Bofors produced 6,124 metric tons of iron, more than any other plant in Sweden. Karlskoga is also known as the home town to Alfred Nobel (born in 1833), inventor of dynamite and founder of the Nobel Prize. Not far from the town is a Nobel Museum. In 1882, Karlskoga parish/municipality (socken) had 11,184 inhabitants.
Bofors was incorporated in 1873 and has since the 1880s been specializing in the lucrative manufacture of cannon. Karlskoga has spent most of the 20th century as a growing company town to this cannon maker. Only with the demilitarization of the most recent decades has this started to be a problem for the town. In 2001, the municipality had 31,293 inhabitants living on 471 km², of which 8,500 worked for Bofors in 1980 and 2,600 in 1998.
|Askersund | Degerfors | Hallsberg | Hällefors | Karlskoga | Kumla | Laxå | Lekeberg | Lindesberg | Ljusnarsberg | Nora | Örebro|
|Counties of Sweden | Sweden| | <urn:uuid:74666ca6-2010-4d14-9bfe-2acba0e3db4f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://fixedreference.org/en/20040424/wikipedia/Karlskoga | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00067-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970757 | 352 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Because of their importance, many theories try to explain attitude formation, change, and the interlocking relationship among cognitions, attitudes, affect, and behavioral tendencies. Many psychologists assert that the most influential approaches to attitudes derive from cognitive consistency theories.
Consistency theories in general posit that the mind operates as an intermediary between stimulus and response. The theories assert that when people receive information (a stimulus); their minds organize it into a pattern with other previously encountered stimuli. If the new stimulus does not fit the pattern, or is inconsistent, then people feel discomfort.
For example, if you believe that authority figures deserve respect and usually work in a moral, upright fashion, you would have found the publicity in 2002 about corporate accounting scandals such as Enron and insider trading allegations against Martha Stewart to be inconsistent with your beliefs. In these cases, consistency theorists note that there is a lack of balance among cognitions, or ways of knowing or beliefs, judgments, and so forth. (You have an image, ideal, or expectation you believe to be correct, and you suddenly find yourself facing a situation that contradicts what you believe.)
This feeling of imbalance is called cognitive dissonance; this is the feeling people have when they find themselves doing things that don’t fit with what they know, or having opinions that do not fit with other opinions they hold. This concept forms the core of Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT), a theory that argues that dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling that motivates people to take steps to reduce it.
The basics of the theory follow rather simple principles: A state of cognitive dissonance is said to be a state of psychological discomfort or tension which motivates efforts to achieve consonance. Dissonance is the name for a disequilibrium and consonance the name for an equilibrium. (Consonance occurs when what you experience is in balance with what you believe; dissonance occurs when what you experience differs from what you believe.) The theory allows for two elements to have three different relationships with each other: They may be consonant, dissonant, or irrelevant.
A consonant relationship exists between two elements when they are in equilibrium with one another. (For example, a person who believes in fitness decides to work out three times a week or a person who believe in sharing with those less fortunate who volunteers at charitable events or donates money and materials.)
A dissonant relationship means that elements are in disequilibrium with one another. (For example, a dissonant relationship between elements would be you are a part of a religion that discourages the use of alcohol, yet you lobby for a person’s right to drink or your religion tells you that abortion is wrong, but you support a woman’s right to choose.)
An irrelevant relationship exists when elements imply nothing about one another; two elements that have no meaningful relation to one another. (For example, you think cats make great pets and women should be able to wear whatever clothing makes them feel comfortable. These two ideas have nothing to do with each other, so no contradiction is possible; there is no imbalance.)
When beliefs are consonant or irrelevant, there is no psychological discomfort. However, if beliefs are dissonant, discomfort results. The importance of cognitive dissonance for communication researchers is the assertion that the discomfort caused by dissonance motivates change. This is the point at which persuasion can occur. The theory suggests that to be persuasive, strategies should focus on the inconsistencies while providing new behaviors that allow for consistency or balance.
Further, cognitive dissonance may motivate communication behavior as people seek to persuade others and as people strive to reduce their dissonant cognitions. (In other words, you may find yourself in a situation that contradicts what you believe, but you are required to make a choice. You may seek the advice of people you trust to determine what the best course of action is to reduce the discomfort you feel with the situation; this is an example of communication used to reduce dissonance.)
Part 2 covers the assumptions of Cognitive Dissonance Theory.
West, R. & Turner, L. (2004). Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application. Boston: McGraw-Hill | <urn:uuid:0803a71f-59ad-4be1-8d68-cb5a90835134> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ign.com/blogs/militaryveterangamer/2012/02/23/cognitive-dissonance-theory/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00199-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933295 | 850 | 4.0625 | 4 |
Table of Contents:
- Does farm size matter in bottom line profits?
- <strong>Minnesota corn and soybean production costs</strong>
Ask many farmers or ag professionals, and probably anyone with any knowledge of crop farming, whether larger farm operations have a lower cost of production, and they would probably say YES.
However, the farm management data from Minnesota and other states does not support the assumption that average costs of production per acre get lower as crop farm sizes gets larger. Interestingly, in some cases it is just the opposite, and in most situations there is very little correlation to farm size.
The University of Illinois conducted a research-based study that compared costs of production for crop farm operations of various sizes during 2011. The study was based on 641grain farms, with similar characteristics, in central and northern Illinois that are enrolled in the Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) program, and data was based on actual farm management records. The data from the farm operations was screened and analyzed by University of Illinois Farm Management Specialists.
The University of Illinois study found that total non-land farm operation costs on Illinois grain farms did not vary much, regardless of the operation size. The average non-land costs were $484 per acre for farms of less than 500 acres, $481 per acre for farms between 501 and 750 acres, $487 per acre for farms of 751-1,000 acres, $485 per acre for farms between 1,001 and 1,500 acres, $480 per acre for farms of 1,501-2,000 acres, $486 per acre for farms between 2,001 and 3,000 acres, $477 per acre for farms of 3,001-4,000 acres, and $525 per acre for farms over 4,000 acres.
Much of the higher non-land costs of $525 per acre for the crop farms over 4,000 acres can be explained by the higher percentage of crop acres planted to corn. The farms over 4,000 acres had an average of 76% of their crop acres planted to corn, while farm operations between 500 and 2,000 acres only had 59-63% of their crop acres planted to corn. Non-land costs associated with corn production tend to be significantly higher than similar costs for soybean production.
Land costs include the financial cost of owning land (interest and property tax) and cash rent paid, or cash-rent equivalent on share-rent acres. Just as with the total non-land costs, land costs per acre tended to increase as the farm size groups increased. Average land costs are $119 per acre for farms with less than 500 acres, $157 per acre for farms of 501-750 acres, $186 per acre for farms between 751 and 1,000 acres, $195 per acre for farms of 1,001-1,500 acres, $199 per acre for farms between 1,501 and 2,000 acres, $200 per acre for farms of 2,001-3,000 acres, $191 per acre for farms between 3,001 and 4,000 acres and $234 per acre for farms over 4,000 acres.
The farms of under 1,000 acres had land costs of under $200 per acre, which is explained by the fact that more operated farm land is owned, much of it likely at fairy low debt levels per acre. Farms of this size tended to own 20-30% of their crop acres, while the farm group sizes above 1,000 acres only owned 12-16% of their crop acres. Average land cost per acre tends to increase as the percentage of cash rental acres increases. Average cash rental rates were $206-224 per acre for farms from 501 to 1,000 acres, compared to $236-276 per acre for the farm group sizes over 1,500 acres. | <urn:uuid:afd513a7-894f-414e-9ed2-58fbd211e978> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/blog/does-farm-size-matter-bottom-line-profits?intlink=rceoc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955215 | 783 | 2.59375 | 3 |
See the Wikipedia article on Dos at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSDOS
MS-DOS stands for MicroSoft DiskOperatingSystem
. It was a very early text-based operating system and also known as PC-DOS when purchased (retail) from IBM. Windows 3.1, 95, 98, and ME were all programs that were built around DOS (Note 1). Windows XP and 2000 are completely free-standing programs and do not use DOS at all, though a DOS-like command prompt is still available (Note 2) (and some hope will always be available).
By modern standards, DOS wasn't much of an operating system. It offered no memory protection or multi-tasking. Basically, it was a command interpreter, a program loader and a file system. MS-DOS 1.0 was modeled heavily on CP/M (though not as directly as CP/M-86 from Digital Research). MS-DOS 2.0 added some concepts borrowed from Unix, such as subdirectories, I/O redirection and (clumsy) pipes.
You could almost get a real OS by adding DesqView.
The question remains: Is the Tao in the MsDos
Certainly DOS wasn't revolutionary, even in its time. At least I can't think of anything that was not implemented (even better) in other systems when DOS originally came out. The Macintosh opened the door to Windows, Minix opened the door to Linux.
- True. Those of us programming in CP/M and MP/M and who had seen the VIC-64 and BBC Computer could not believe how lame the original DOS (and associated hardware) was. DOS did not pave the way for Linux, that was Minix and other Unices. The fusion of DOS and Unix (Microsoft OS/2) was ditched by MS (making it IBM OS/2) in favor of what would become Windows 3.0 and 3.1 sitting on top of DOS. Windows is not a descendant of DOS. It simply absorbed DOS. Current Windows (NT-derived) versions embody bits of VMS, Unix, PARC/MAC stuff, and quite a lot of other "just stuff" but no DOS, other than the virtualized "Command Prompt" environment.
Who is the DOS curator nowadays?
Surely Microsoft still owns MS-DOS (though IBM must have rights to PC-DOS as variants are still used in some of their cash registers). They've recently begun asserting intellectual property rights for the FAT file system.
DR-DOS (Digital Research's MS-DOS-compatible product after the marketing failure of CP/M-86) was sold via Novell to Caldera, who made it freely available to end users and cheaply licensable to manufacturers. Caldera spun off this business as Lineo which retained DR-DOS. (Caldera subsequently purchased the Santa Cruz Operation, renamed itself SCO and is now attacking Linux.) DR-DOS is now owned by Device
- This appears to be in error. Win95 and later were developed as different core operating systems according to Microsoft. They retained a certain amount of MS-DOS compatibility for legacy reasons, but used new file systems and internal conventions.
This is strange, since Win98SE has an MS-DOS mode - when you go onto the Windows Shutdown window, it has an option to restart in MS-DOS mode (doing the first stages of Windows startup). When in it, the command 'win' would do the final stages of startup and loads Windows. Maybe they 'think' differently, but Win98SE will always be a DOS program, not written to run on a convertor just above machine language. --SimonMould
- On XP, this does not work to do anything but run .com and DOS format .exe files. Attempting a batch file, or a command interface reliant application, will NOT work. On 2000, it is either non existent, or deliberately hidden. --SimonMould
- In Win95 and Win98 and also, I think, WinXP, if you run a DOS shell ("Command Prompt"), and press Alt+Enter while selected in that window, it would immediately go full-screen and exhibit old DOS behaviors. I will have to test that on a WinXP box to be sure. --GarryHamilton | <urn:uuid:8457bb17-48a2-49d7-b1f6-1cbdf91c2ea8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?MsDos | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00133-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944178 | 891 | 3.046875 | 3 |
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