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Sudden Oak Death
Sudden Oak Death
An exotic pest that we do not want in Michigan
(Information Provided By: Andrew J. Storer, Assistant Professor of Forest Insect Ecology, Michigan Technological University)
Tens of thousands | Sudden Oak Death
Sudden Oak Death
An exotic pest that we do not want in Michigan
(Information Provided By: Andrew J. Storer, Assistant Professor of Forest Insect Ecology, Michigan Technological University)
Tens of thousands of oaks have been killed by a new disease known as Sudden Oak Death (SOD). SOD was first reported in California in 1995. As of fall 2001, the disease has been confirmed in eight counties along the central California coast, and now in an isolated area in southern Oregon.
What is the Sudden Oak Death pathogen, (Phytophthora ramorum)?
This species has only recently been named following its discovery as a pathogen on rhododendrons in Germany in 1992. The pathogen, isolated in 2000 from dead and dying oaks in California, is the same species as that found in Germany on rhododendrons. This pathogen causes a canker disease in oaks referred to as Sudden Oak Death along with numerous other diseases, including leaf spot and shoot dieback in a number of other hosts.
Symptoms of Sudden Oak Death
The first symptom is bleeding, an oozing or seeping of a reddish-brown to tar black thick sap. Bleeding typically occur first in the lower bole of trees
Dark spots on bark with exuding brown to tar black thick sap.
Black "Zone Lines" are found under cut away bark.
Transmission of Phytophthora ramorum
Field observations suggest that the pathogen is transmitted through the air. Therefore leaf infections of other hosts is associated with increased likelihood of disease in neighboring oaks. Much, however, remains to be learned.
Defining the threat in the Great Lakes Region
Pin oak (Quercus palustris) and northern red oak (Quercus rubra) are equally or more susceptible to this pathogen than the three oaks affected in California suggesting that species in the Great Lakes Region are at high risk to the disease.
The pathogen favors cool, moist conditions and further research is needed to determine if environmental conditions and other factors in eastern and northern forests are suitable for establishment and spread of the pathogen |
Date: May 28, 2002 1:04 PM
Author: Michael Lambrou
Subject: RE: Angle Trisection
> Here are few examples of angles that can be triseced, but this is not
| Date: May 28, 2002 1:04 PM
Author: Michael Lambrou
Subject: RE: Angle Trisection
> Here are few examples of angles that can be triseced, but this is not
> 1. Pi/7 can be trisected since Pi/21 = Pi/3 - 2*Pi/7
Thank you for the interesting comments on angles that can be trisected.
There is, however, a problem with the statement I isolated above, and
the argument is not correct. To see why, let me give a more transparent
It is like saying, for example, that an angle of 10 degrees can be
constructed because 10 = 30 - 2.10.
On the other hand we know that an angle of 10 degrees cannot be
constructed (If it could, so would its double 20, so 60 could be
trisected. But it is well known that it cannot).
To return to the above, it only says: IF (this is a big "if" here) you
could construct Pi/7, then you could trisect it. The problem is that you
cannot construct Pi/7. If you could, then doubling it would give you the
central angle of a regular septagon. But it is well known that the
regular septagon cannot be constucted using ruler and compass.
(Incidently, for the benefit of those who like some history of maths,
this particular regular polygon was constructed by Archimedes using a
type of neusis construction. The original Greek text is lost, but there
is an Arabic translation of it. I highly recommend that you find a text
that has an English translation of it. "The Works of Archimedes" by T.
Heath is one such.)
All the best, |
For the past several years or so, there has been a particular trend in the reconstruction of ceratopsian dinosaurs. Specifically, it has become relatively commonplace to depict the horned dinosaurs with a set of quills, either on the tail or | For the past several years or so, there has been a particular trend in the reconstruction of ceratopsian dinosaurs. Specifically, it has become relatively commonplace to depict the horned dinosaurs with a set of quills, either on the tail or throughout the body. Here I wish to discuss the origin of this trend, and give my thoughts on the issue.
It all started with the description of a spectacular Psittacosaurus specimen from Liaoning, China, which included not only the outline of the animal's body, but also a series of quills sticking out from the top of its tail. Since this discovery, it has become the rule to depict this genus with quills, in keeping with the revelation of this find. Eventually, some artists began to take this even further, and began portraying other ceratopsians with a similar set of quills on the tail, or a covering of quills on the back and torso area. I don't know exactly when this began, but it seems to have been spurred on by a Triceratops specimen, nicknamed Lane, preserving some of the skin. Among the different types of scales, some are elevated and vaguely cone-like. It has been speculated that these scaled may have served as bases for quills, no doubt inspired by the Psittacosaurus specimen from China.
What do I make about all this? Let's start off with Psittacosaurus. The presence of quills on the famous specimen is indisputable. However, I can't help but wonder how widespread this feature actually was among the genus. Psittacosaurus is a diverse genus with many species. Is it possible that some species had quills while others didn't? Also, could different species have had different arrangements of quills? Maybe some species had quills throughout their bodies while others just had them on their tails. Or maybe the size of the quills varied by species. We do not even know how the quills varied within the species. Ontogeny, gender, or other factors might have influenced features of the quills, or even whether they were present at all. With only one specimen (as far as I know anyway), we cannot be certain as to how widespread these features were.
What about Lane the Triceratops? While the discovery of the fossilized skin is undoubtedly a cool find, I'm not convinced they show evidence of quills. It's quite possible the tall scales in question are just that. Maybe Triceratops was just a bumpy dinosaur. While it's not impossible that they were bases for quills, I do not think the evidence is strong enough yet to say for certain that Triceratops was a bristly dinosaur.
All this being said, however, I am not necessarily opposed to the depiction of ceratopsians other than Psittacosaurus having quills. I just think it remains a speculative issue at the moment. If you feel like giving your ceratopsians quills, feel free to do so, I will not complain. As for Psittacosaurus, I don't think it's wrong to depict them with the same quill arrangement as shown for the one fossil. However, I would also suggest maybe getting a little creative with them. There are many possibilities out there, and until more fossils turn up, I think it would be interesting to explore more of them in art. Just my two cents. |
How Fixed Are The Species?
Note: Creation Moments exists to provide Biblically sound materials to the Church in the area of Bible and science relationships. This Bible study may be reproduced for group use.
In the early to mid-1800's | How Fixed Are The Species?
Note: Creation Moments exists to provide Biblically sound materials to the Church in the area of Bible and science relationships. This Bible study may be reproduced for group use.
In the early to mid-1800's, the views of creationists included the idea that species were permanent and non-changing. This is now known as "The Fixity of the Species."
Charles Darwin believed this was a biblically based teaching, which would be wrong if there were migration and change in a specie. Or again, if one specie developed into several others, the fixity of the species would be wrong, and therefore creationism would also be wrong.
In reading Gen. 8:15-19, what can we tell about the migration of animals? Where were Noah, the Ark and animals (Gen. 8:4)? In what country would this be today? Who else survived the cataclysm besides those in the Ark (cf. Gen. 6:7; 7:8)?
Some animals have a limited placement, as to their geographic range. For example, many animals found in Australia are found nowhere else in the world. How and when did they get there?
When we consider the animals of the world, we normally draw many conclusions about those we believe are similar. In the same way, scientists have tried to put together a system (taxonomy), which shows how animals are related. The general theory of taxonomy begins with those things which are very similar, able to interbreed - the specie - and then progress through genus, family, Order, Class, Phylum to Kingdom, becoming ever more unrelated. This means that in a perfect world what Charles Darwin argued against (fixity of species) with his 13 species of finches would be unanswerable. But this is not a perfect world. Why not? What Scriptural references can you supply to support your view?
What is the classification of animals Noah took into the ark (Gen. 6:20; 7:14)? From the fact that there were to be male and female of each kind of animal, what do we know about the group "kind?" Even among taxonomists (people who study and classify plants and animals) there is not always agreement as to where a particular animal fits in the scheme. Part of this comes from the fact that even scientists cannot see things perfectly. They, too, have been affected by sin (cf. Rom. 3:23) and will fail to do things perfectly.
To better understand God's kinds, turn to Lev. 11:14-22. As God gives the Israelites directions as to animals they may and may not eat, He again refers to created kinds. Looking particularly at verses 17-19, are these separate kinds, or are they different animals that are all one kind? Consider vs.29-30. Do they shed some light on which way we ought to understand the concept of kind? What is your view of "kind" now, as far as the animals named in Lev. 11?
Is there an actual level in the taxonomy scheme that is the same as God's created kind? The domestic dog will cross with the wolf, and the horse with the ass - here created kind is genus level. Domestic goat and domestic sheep will interbreed, as will the cow and buffalo - here the family is the created kind. Also, the domestic hen can breed with the turkey, a crossing of two families - the kind then is equal to Order in this case. Will we ever be able to get this straightened out, so the kind is the same as some level in the taxonomy schedule?
Charles Darwin's argument against the fixity of the species was a battle waged against a straw man. As we have seen, species and kinds are not the same categories. If man were perfect -which we haven't been since Adam and Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden - we might be able to categorize all creatures into God's kinds.
When dealing with the created kinds, we know that they are fixed (Gen. 1-11, 21, 24); but man's divisions may never reach such perfection.
We need to carefully consider the positions we take, both as Christians and creationists, to make sure we are dealing with the same things, and not comparing apples with berries (species - kinds).
You may want to close your study with a responsive reading of Psalm 148 (either by 1/2 or whole verse), and a prayer of thanksgiving for God's wondrous creations, and His care for us in it.
Copyright © 1986 Bible Science Newsletter, Rev. Steven T. Cook. Creation Moments, Inc. PO Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 800-422-4253 www.creationmoments.com |
It was early morning on May 23, 1939. Thirty-three U.S. sailors sat trapped on the icy seafloor off the New Hampshire coast in 243
feet (74 meters) of water in a disabled, half | It was early morning on May 23, 1939. Thirty-three U.S. sailors sat trapped on the icy seafloor off the New Hampshire coast in 243
feet (74 meters) of water in a disabled, half-flooded submarine called Squalus. Wet, cold, and low on oxygen, they
were keenly aware that nobody had ever survived such a predicament, and that 26 of their shipmates were likely dead.
Squalus had performed well during its initial sea trials. Eighteen test dives went smoothly, but the
19th was calamitous. A ventilation valve that should have been shut was opened, due to either mechanical or human error. As
Squalus submerged, water gushed into the rear compartments, killing nearly half the crew and sinking the sub.
The survivors released a messenger buoy and smoke bombs and waited, hoping desperately that someone would see them. Almost
five hours later, Squaluss sister ship, Sculpin, arrived. Then the rescue ships came.
In the helpless sub, the surviving men were comfortable though cold. They were instructed to rest and conserve oxygen. The
situation became more desperate as sea water mixed with battery acid in the forward battery compartment and slowly filled
the compartment with deadly chlorine gas. While the crew was able to protect themselves by sealing off this
compartment, some of them would later have to go through it to escape.
Greatest Submarine Rescue in History
On the surface the rescue team, led by Commander Charles Swede Momsen, decided to use the new McCann Rescue Chamber, which was
designed to attach to a disabled subs hatch and ferry survivors to the surface.
A diver descended to one of Squalus escape hatches and attached a cable that would guide the bell up and down. The men banged
ecstatically on the hull upon hearing the diver.
During four trips to the sub all the survivors were evacuated, but not before rescuers dealt with a range of hair-raising and
potentially fatal setbacks, including a tangled guide cable. A fifth trip in the chamber confirmed that there were no survivors
in the flooded compartments.
The first rescue of its kind, the Squalus incident was later called the greatest submarine rescue in history by
author Peter Maas.
After the rescue an equally impressive and successful effort was launched to raise Squalus and tow it back to
port. The sub was eventually overhauled and recommissioned as Sailfish and served safely throughout World War II.
Despite being given their choice of duty, the survivors decided unanimously to continue to serve in submarines.
Next: Tragedy of Kursk >> |
Do you know what your IP address means? Are you aware that your IP address is exposed every time you visit a website? Many websites and hackers use IP address to monitor your home address and other personal information. Your IP address is your online identity | Do you know what your IP address means? Are you aware that your IP address is exposed every time you visit a website? Many websites and hackers use IP address to monitor your home address and other personal information. Your IP address is your online identity and could be used by hackers to break into your computer, steal personal information, or commit other crimes against you.
Super Hide IP allows you to surf anonymously, keep your IP address hidden, protect your personal information against hackers and provide full encryption of your online activity, all with a simple click of a button.
Kaspersky anti-virus protects you from the Phishing and Malware sites that you wouldn't otherwise know were attempting to steal from you.
At the same time, the Kaspersky Security Network allows your computer to report when it discovers a threat that hasn't been seen before. All 250 million Kaspersky users benefit from our combined knowledge!
Kaspersky features include:
- Protects from viruses, Trojans, worms, spyware, adware
- Scans files, email, and internet traffic
- Protects Instant Messengers
- Protects From Unknown Threats
- Analyzes and closes Internet Explorer vulnerabilities
- Disables links to malware sites / phishing sites
- Global Threat Monitoring (Kaspersky Security Network)
- Blocks all types of keyloggers
- Automatic Database Updates
- Free Technical Support
Nero creates software applications and platforms that help consumers simply enjoy their photos, videos and music. Its free Nero Kwik Media platform enables consumers to access, enhance and share their digital content across PCs, smart phones, tablets and online social networks. Nero also produces a top-selling multimedia software suite, which contains powerful applications for media management, video editing, video converting, file back-up, content syncing and disc burning.
Fedora formerly Fedora Core, is an RPM-based, general purpose collection of software, including anoperating system based on the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and owned by Red Hat. The Fedora Project's mission is to lead the advancement of free and open source software and content as a collaborative community.
One of Fedora's main objectives is not only to contain software distributed under a free and open source license, but also to be on the leading edge of such technologies. Fedora developers prefer to make upstream changes instead of applying fixes specifically for Fedora—this ensures that their updates are available to all Linux distributions.
A version of Fedora has a relatively short life cycle—the maintenance period is only 13 months: there are 6 months between releases, and version X is supported only until 1 month after version X+2. This promotes leading-edge software because it frees developers from some backward compatibility restraints, but it also makes Fedora a poor choice for product development (e.g., embedded systems), which usually requires long-term vendor-support, unavailable with any version of Fedora.
In 2008, Linus Torvalds, author of the Linux kernel, stated that he used Fedora because it had fairly good support for thePowerPC processor architecture, which he had favoured at the time.
According to DistroWatch, Fedora is the third most visited Linux-based operating system on their site as of May 2012, behind Mint and Ubuntu, and it is the most visited RPM-based Linux distribution. |
Betel quid with tobacco, popularly known as gutka or gutkha is mainly consumed in the Indian subcontinent – India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is a dry commercial preparation using tobacco, betel leaf, areca nut ( | Betel quid with tobacco, popularly known as gutka or gutkha is mainly consumed in the Indian subcontinent – India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is a dry commercial preparation using tobacco, betel leaf, areca nut (inaccurately known as betel nut), slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) and catechu. Spices such as saffron, cardamom, cloves, mustard, turmeric, anise seeds or sweeteners are also added for flavor. Gutka is marketed in sachets and tins.
After the introduction of tobacco in the 17th century, chewing of tobacco along with betel quid gradually became socially acceptable. In the later years, betel quids are chewed in various forms – khaini, mawa, mainpuri tobacco, and more recently, pan masala. The main reason behind the popularity of these variants is that fresh betel leaves are highly perishable.
Although all betel quid ingredients can be consumed without including tobacco, most habitual chewers prefer having tobacco in their quids. This is because tobacco is the only ingredient which causes addiction.
Studies reveal prevalence of different kind of chewing habit throughout India. For instance, in the Ernakulum district chewing of betel quid is very popular. Whereas, in the northern part of India, tobacco and lime known as ‘khaini’ is the most popular form of betel quid.
To prepare khaini, small amount of tobacco is placed in the palm along with a dash of lime; it is thoroughly mixed and rubbed using the thumb and is made ready to place inside the mouth.
There is also variance regarding the exact placement of tobacco and lime in the mouth. In Pune (India), the quid is placed in the canine region; whereas, people in Darabhanga (India) enjoy placing their quids inside their labial groove.
Betel quid with tobacco is found to be associated with a number of ill effects on health. Some of these are nicotine addiction, precancerous lesions of the oral cavity (leukoplakia and erythroplakia), squamous cells carcinomas of the mouth, tongue, lip and pharynx. |
NarcolepsyImagine listening to a funny joke, then in the middle of laughing, your legs suddenly buckle and you are unable to move for the next several minutes. Maybe you are in class, but you are incredibly drowsy and finally | NarcolepsyImagine listening to a funny joke, then in the middle of laughing, your legs suddenly buckle and you are unable to move for the next several minutes. Maybe you are in class, but you are incredibly drowsy and finally just can't stay awake even though you had plenty of sleep the night before. These are examples of what people with narcolepsy experience.
People with narcolepsy have trouble staying awake. Narcoleptic often feel drowsy and fall asleep, even in the middle of the day, sometime in the middle of activities that produce strong emotions. It is thought that narcolepsy occurs when rapid eye movement (REM) sleep occurs while people are awake. Although the cause of narcolepsy is unknown, it does occasionally run in families. If one person in a family has the disorder, another relative may be susceptible to developing it if certain environmental triggers occur.
TreatmentMedications such as stimulants (amphetamines, Ritalin) that increase alertness are often used to treat narcolepsy. However, stimulants may cause side effects including headaches, nervousness, and mood changes. Antidepressant medication is also used to treat narcolepsy. A new drug called Provigil was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in late 1998. Provigil promotes wakefulness and appears to have fewer side effects than stimulants such as amphetamines.
In the Sleep Clinic at Stanford University, Doberman dogs that have narcolepsy are bred. Work with these animals has led to the discovery of the gene for narcolepsy.
||Narcolepsy was first described in the 1880s by French physician Jean-Baptiste Edouard Gelineau.|
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By Ellen Kuwana, Neuroscience for Kids Staff Writer |
November 4, 1999
A Temple’s Pride
Adat Ari El celebrates the 50th anniversary of David Familian Chapel
When the synagogue was built in 1866, approximately 28,000 Jews lived in Berlin, | November 4, 1999
A Temple’s Pride
Adat Ari El celebrates the 50th anniversary of David Familian Chapel
When the synagogue was built in 1866, approximately 28,000 Jews lived in Berlin, making up four percent of the population. The new house of worship and study was built in the center of the Jewish community, in the then-popular Islamic style of multicolored brickwork with terra-cotta decorations. A newspaper called it a "fairy-tale building" that "leads us into the fantastic wonder of modern Alhambra with all the thousand-fold magic of the Moorish style." "The building is most gorgeous," wrote Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland after visiting the site.
The main assembly hall could accommodate 3,200 persons. It had one of Berlin's largest organs and Royal Music Director Louis Lewandowski conducted a mixed choir. Outstanding rabbis served the synagogue, including Regina Jonas, the first and only woman rabbi in Germany. (Jonas died in Auschwitz in 1944.)
Max Liebermann, the impressionist painter and president of the Berlin Academy of Art, was a member of the congregation. Albert Einstein played two violin concertos for an audience of 3,000 at a memorable synagogue concert in September of 1930.
No one at that concert could have imagined that within a few years the New Synagogue would turn from a center of Jewish intellectual and cultural life into a refuge from persecution.
On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power.
During the night of November 9, 1938-the so-called "Kristallnacht"--when synagogues and Jewish businesses throughout Ge |
| Species and Regional | Environmental
Concerns | Songs and Calls
Whole body, 3D imaging of
anatomy as a curriculum tool for high school biology classes.
Frogs!/Wisconsin Sea Grant Madison Area JASON X
| | Species and Regional | Environmental
Concerns | Songs and Calls
Whole body, 3D imaging of
anatomy as a curriculum tool for high school biology classes.
Frogs!/Wisconsin Sea Grant Madison Area JASON X
Learn all about a frog's life
cycle, learn how to draw a frog, check out interviews with scientists
of Frogs: K-12 students, educators
"... connects K-12 students, educators, families, and scientists
from Minnesota and beyond to study and celebrate frogs and their habitats.
Full of thought provoking, engaging activities that will help you
discover frogs as you've never known them before."
& Toad Forum
Lots of posted messages from people interested in frogs. Ask your
A beautiful and informative
site on these "Jewels of the Rain Forest." Descriptive with many
of Western Australia: The Frog Files
Tons of colorful photos
of frogs of Western Australia, along with copious scientific descriptions.
Frog links and references, too.
Complete Treefrog Homepage
Great sounds and pictures
of tree frogs, links, home breeding and care tips, plus your chance
to join the International Hylid Society.
Frog Information Pool
Scientific abstracts and
information about water frogs, plus lots of cool graphics and frog
voices. Contact scientists and researchers here.
Wood Frogs: Nature North Zine
Learn more about the fascinating
wood frog (Rana sylvatica). This
frogs freezes solid each winter.
Frogs of the Arabuko-Sukoke Forest
of many species with pictures. Hear the surprising variety of
the sounds they make. View a list of their predators.
Dedicated to the conservation
of Western amphibians. This site includes photos and sounds of frogs
from the American West.
Information about Deformed Frogs in Minnesota
about a recent study of the water from two wetland sites in Minnesota
where high numbers of deformed frogs have been found in the last two
Broadcasting System: Frog Mutants
Article and links from 1996:
"Mutant frogs have been found in several states, even as far as Japan.
Is it pollution, or unidentified environmental changes?"
Information on campaigns
to save the rainforest. The site includes a "kid's corner"
with information just for kids and classrooms.
Save The Frogs
Concerned about disappearing frogs? They are often thought of as a bellweather to indicate
Great quality RealAudio frog sounds. Sounds of birds, insects and
mammals are also included.
County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee
Amphibian Research Center
Every year, thousands of
frog jockeys leap at the chance to win the World Frog Jump Championship
A frog page especially for
kids. Facts, pictures, games, etc.
The Amphibian Research Centre was established as a centre dedicated to research and conservation of Australia's unique frogs."
Bogert's Wonderful World of Frogs and Croaks
A sampling of the varied ribbets
of North American frogs. |
Watchtowers of the Savannah:
Giraffes are the tallest land animals. Smaller animals will watch giraffes to figure out if predators are close by.
A giraffe’s L-O-N-G tongue (18 to 20 inches | Watchtowers of the Savannah:
Giraffes are the tallest land animals. Smaller animals will watch giraffes to figure out if predators are close by.
A giraffe’s L-O-N-G tongue (18 to 20 inches) is black. Some scientists think this helps keep the tongue from getting sunburned.
Giraffes have seven neck bones—just like you, only bigger!
At Reid Park Zoo:
Keepers feed giraffes a variety of tree leaves, hay, lettuce, carrots, scallions, and “biscuits.”
When you visit the Giraffe Encounter program, you help raise thousands of dollars for Zoo field research and conservation projects every year. Thanks!Giraffe Wish List » |
Music is a powerful part of Aboriginal culture and is part of everyday
life as well as being a vital part of sacred ceremonies. Traditional
music is still practised and performed widely - and there is also
a very strong and lively contemporary music | Music is a powerful part of Aboriginal culture and is part of everyday
life as well as being a vital part of sacred ceremonies. Traditional
music is still practised and performed widely - and there is also
a very strong and lively contemporary music scene.
Visit our separate pages on:
Music in Traditional Society
Music plays a major role in traditional Aboriginal societies and
is intimately linked with a person's ancestry and country (the animals,
plants and physical features of the landscape). It is traditionally
connected with important events such as the bringing of rain, healing,
wounding enemies and th |
This investigation of the Scopes Trial encourages students to think about historical context. Historical events are shaped by and reflect the world that surrounds them. In this module, students will learn to ask: What else was happening at that time? What was the | This investigation of the Scopes Trial encourages students to think about historical context. Historical events are shaped by and reflect the world that surrounds them. In this module, students will learn to ask: What else was happening at that time? What was the political, economic, social, and cultural climate? How was the event shaped by the personalities and interests of the people involved?
The Scopes Trial has become synonymous with the debate over evolution. It has been understood as a clash between religion and science over the origins of man. Few people recognize that the Scopes trial was a product of the 1920s, a sign of its times. The trial became a flashpoint for preexisting tensions between rural and urban culture, between agnostics and fundamentalists, between traditionalism and modernit |
From the Editors
With states of emergency proving salient to the unfolding of the “Arab Spring” and continuing to permeate the political landscape—through opposition to long-standing emergencies as well as proclamations of new ones—it is worth | From the Editors
With states of emergency proving salient to the unfolding of the “Arab Spring” and continuing to permeate the political landscape—through opposition to long-standing emergencies as well as proclamations of new ones—it is worth reflecting on the genesis and underlying essence of emergency law. The ostensible premise of the doctrine of emergency is one of a last resort mechanism to be implemented for the common good, with the temporary suspension of certain freedoms necessary to facilitate an expedient return to normalcy and the full restoration of human rights. Historical experience, however, from European colonialism to Arab dictatorship, suggests that reality is otherwise.
Colonial Emergency Law: Ireland, Kenya and Beyond
The history of conquest and conflict in Ireland reveals a reliance on emergency powers that is perhaps unparalleled in modern history. English authorities expanded the reach of martial law from its traditional wartime-only function and initiated its deployment in times of peace in sixteenth-century Ireland. In 1556, Mary I instructed the army marshal in Ireland to proceed against “vagabonds and all idle and masterless men” by martial law. Similar peacetime invocation of martial law followed in England, but its repressive nature prompted parliament to revoke such competence from the Crown through the Petition of Right in 1628. The brakes were left off in Ireland, however, where martial law continued to serve as an effective instrument of colonial control. By the nineteenth century, Ireland had—along with India—become an embryo for the development of emergency legislative codes, through which the violence of martial law was refined under the guise of statute-based special powers; its exceptionality normalised through the law-making process.
Following partition in 1922, the north of Ireland remained under British control, and has been subject to almost uninterrupted emergency rule since then, beginning immediately with enactment of the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922. In 1957, the British government lodged a formal state of emergency derogation under Article 15 of the European Convention of Human Rights to exempt its special powers of detention, search and seizure, and censorship in northern Ireland from compliance with the Convention. As the “Troubles” intensified in the 1970s, a cumulative process of emergency lawmaking grew from the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973 and the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1974. Although the illiberal measures were framed as exceptional and temporary, they were renewed and updated periodically through the subsequent two decades. Parliamentary management of the conflict thus framed and disproportionately targeted the Irish Catholic population as a suspect community through the implementation of emergency measures. The presentation of the threat to security in the northern Irish context echoed that which had underpinned Britain’s discourse of emergency in Palestine in the 1930s, Malaya in the 1940s, Kenya in the 1950s, and so on; a discourse that continues to illuminate contemporary security politics. When Britain withdrew its emergency derogation from the European Convention in northern Ireland in the 1980s, the state soon found itself censured by the European Court of Human Rights over its continuing policies of executive detention. The British response was not to revoke the special powers, but rather to immediately lodge a new derogation under Article 15. The Terrorism Act 2000 rolled back some long-standing emergency powers in northern Ireland but consolidated many of the measures as permanent features of British anti-terrorism law. Significantly, this act of normalisation came in the context of an ‘emergency’ notable primarily by its retreat. The legislation was enacted after the end of overt conflict in Ireland signalled by the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, and before the attacks of 11 September 2001 and 7 July 2005.
From this historiography, unveiling over 400 years of extraordinary powers consistently operating beyond the rubric of the prevailing ‘ordinary’ law, a picture of what may best be described as the banality of emergency comes into focus. British colonial history is particularly revealing of the use of the state of emergency not merely as a temporary and exceptional reactive mechanism to avert prevailing or imminent crises, but as a calculated pre-emptive measure infused into the ongoing governance of the colonial territories. To varying degrees, this was the case throughout the empire, even as the sun began to set on European imperialism in the 1940s and 1950s. The 1948 Panic in Whitehall—generated by increasing opposition to British rule in the colonial territories—prompted an empire-wide deployment of the emergency paradigm as a technique of containment. In Kenya, for example, contingency plans for a state of emergency were drawn up in |
Most of the oil sands refineres in the U.S. are in the Chicago and Denver metropolitan areas…The point of the Keystone XL pipeline is to [bring] oil sands to the Gulf Coast. Our refineries produce more diesel than we | Most of the oil sands refineres in the U.S. are in the Chicago and Denver metropolitan areas…The point of the Keystone XL pipeline is to [bring] oil sands to the Gulf Coast. Our refineries produce more diesel than we can use, and they have excess gasoline, so there's some trade across the Atlantic of gasoline or diesel.
The oil sands are growing pretty rapidly, so it could be conceivable in the future that Europe would import oil sands directly…But that's not currently in place.
ICN: What are some best practices that the oil sands industry c |
Sep. 15, 2011 Professor Bill Keevil, Head of the Microbiology Group and Director of the Environmental Healthcare Unit at the University of Southampton, has presented research into the mechanism by which copper exerts its antimicrobial effect on antibiotic | Sep. 15, 2011 Professor Bill Keevil, Head of the Microbiology Group and Director of the Environmental Healthcare Unit at the University of Southampton, has presented research into the mechanism by which copper exerts its antimicrobial effect on antibiotic-resistant organisms at the World Health Organization's first International Conference on Prevention and Infection Control (ICPIC).
'New Insights into the Antimicrobial Mechanisms of Copper Touch Surfaces' observes the survival of pathogens on conventional hospital touch surfaces contributes to increasing incidence and spread of antibiotic resistance and infections. Keevil proposes antimicrobial copper surfaces as one way to address this, since they achieve a rapid kill of significant bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens.
He reported studies on dry surfaces with a range of pathogens, concluding that: "Copper's rapid destruction of pathogens could prevent mutational resistance developing and also help reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance genes to receptive and potentially more virulent organisms, as well as genes responsible for virulence. Additionally, copper touch surfaces could have a key role in preventing the transmission of healthcare-associated infections. Extensive laboratory tests have demonstrated copper's antimicrobial efficacy against key organisms responsible for these infections, and clinical trials around the world are now reporting on its efficacy in busy, real-world environments."
The latest trial -- conducted in intensive care units at three facilities in the United States -- has shown that the use of antimicrobial copper surfaces in intensive care unit rooms resulted in a 40.4% reduction in the risk of acquiring a hospital infection.
The study, funded by the US Department of Defense, was designed to determine the efficacy of antimicrobial copper in reducing the level of pathogens in hospital rooms, and whether such a reduction would translate into a lower rate of infection.
Researchers at the three hospitals involved in the trial -- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, both in Charleston, South Carolina -- replaced commonly-touched items such as bed rails, overbed tray tables, nurse call buttons and IV poles with antimicrobial copper versions.
Data presented today by trial leader Dr Michael Schmidt, Professor and Vice Chairman of Microbiology and Immunology at MUSC, at ICPIC, demonstrated a 97% reduction in surface pathogens in rooms with copper surfaces, the same level achieved by "terminal" cleaning: the regimen conducted after each patient vacates a room.
Dr Schmidt said of the results: "Bacteria present on ICU room surfaces are probably responsible for 35-80% of patient infections, demonstrating how critical it is to keep hospitals clean. The copper objects used in the clinical trial supplemented cleaning protocols, lowered microbial levels, and resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the number of infections contracted by patients treated in those rooms."
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September 28, 2012 5:52 pm
In the good old days of paleontology, scientists had to get dirty in the field. These days, robots do it for them. Okay, not quite, but a new high | September 28, 2012 5:52 pm
In the good old days of paleontology, scientists had to get dirty in the field. These days, robots do it for them. Okay, not quite, but a new high tech approach to digging in the dirt is helping paleontologists dig smarter: artificial intelligence.
Normally, discovering fossils depends largely on luck. Paleontologists can take educated guesses as to where to search—trekking down dry stream beds to look for bones that might h |
You are validating a user's permissions based on some looked up record and producing a menu for that user.
The following seems to fit....
- IIS has the role of Identifying the user to the application based upon the authentication.
- IIS | You are validating a user's permissions based on some looked up record and producing a menu for that user.
The following seems to fit....
- IIS has the role of Identifying the user to the application based upon the authentication.
- IIS will either identify the user as a KNOWN user or an UNKNOWN user.
- If the IIS machine is in a domain, the KNOWN users will include both DOMAIN and LOCAL user accounts.
Technically, to your web app, there is no difference between a LOCAL and a DOMAIN user. (unless there are other details not mentioned). You could verify proper operation by defining a local user (or domain user) for each test case and testing each user. It might be easier to test against local users.
To Identify the user, forward your credentials in the url:
Please note that security updates have killed this functionality in IE as of 832894. |
Published by OECD and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada
Edited by Erika Kraemer-Mbula and Watu Wamae
Innovation drives long-term economic growth. It has a crucial role to play as global economies | Published by OECD and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada
Edited by Erika Kraemer-Mbula and Watu Wamae
Innovation drives long-term economic growth. It has a crucial role to play as global economies recover from the current financial crisis. This book examines the role of innovation in developing countries, with a focus on Africa. It investigates:
innovation systems and their application;
the key role of knowledge in innovation for development;
the importance of comparable country studies and official statistics on innovation.
It stresses the need for innovation to become part of a comprehensive development agenda, and makes recommendations for promoting activities in both the formal and informal sectors, with the aim of transforming agriculture into a knowledge-based industry capable of stimulating economic growth.
Innovation and the Development Agenda is an important component of the overall OECD Innovation Strategy, which seeks to create stronger and more sustainable growth, while addressing the key global challenges of the 21st |
The underwhelming results of the Copenhagen Accord during last month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Denmark sent me searching my mental files for examples of how art has documented changes in world climate. My mind immediately went to Chichester Canal (pictured) | The underwhelming results of the Copenhagen Accord during last month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Denmark sent me searching my mental files for examples of how art has documented changes in world climate. My mind immediately went to Chichester Canal (pictured) by J. M. W. Turner. Painted in 1828, Turner’s acidic yellow skies seem artistic license to us today, but scientists know that Turner probably accurately depicted the skies at the time, which were still altered by the climate-changing events of 1816—the “Year Without a Summer."
In that fateful summer of 1816, the world chilled beneath a volcanic winter. Between 1812 and 1814, several large volcanoes spewed debris into th |
The mythical ghoul in Arabic culture.
For a long time, the idea of the ghoul preoccupied the lives of
many people from different cultures and religions. Though the ghoul has
origins as old as the Mesopotamian | The mythical ghoul in Arabic culture.
For a long time, the idea of the ghoul preoccupied the lives of
many people from different cultures and religions. Though the ghoul has
origins as old as the Mesopotamian civilization, Arabs were largely
responsible for popularizing it. Because Islam incorporated this being
in its doctrine, the ghoul remained a source of fear and mystery in the
Peter M. Holt and Ann Katherine argue in The Cambridge History of Islam that Islam came about as a'revolt' and as a 'protest against' the old Arabs' beliefs, but that it could not change all their existing convictions. Instead, it 'integrated' some old practices like the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca (1997, 17). This study argues that Islam could not change the belief in supernatural beings such as genies and ghouls, because they were an integral part of Arab culture. This essay sheds light on the Arabic origins of the Arabian Nights and suggests possible written sources for some tales as a complement to existing arguments that certain tales were orally transmitted and later written down. In relation to the ghoul, the paper also discusses the fact that some Arabian Nights tales contain Islamic elements and motifs, and feature plots that are clearly similar to older written accounts found in various Arabic books. This work traces its evolution from the past to modern times in an attempt to give an overall understanding of the ghoul, and an idea of how and why its concept changed from one culture to another.
|Publication:||Name: Cultural Analysis Publisher: Cultural Analysis Audience: Academic Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Social sciences Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2009 Cultural Analysis ISSN: 1537-7873|
|Issue:||Date: Annual, 2009 Source Volume: 8|
The Pre-Islamic Ghoul
The earliest records of Arabs document their activities in Mesopotamia, providing evidence that the nomads of Arabia were always in direct contact with the more "advanced" people of Mesopotamia, mainly for the purpose of trade. This contact produced cultural exchange between the two peoples, mostly in terms of life style and borrowed words. In ancient Mesopotamia, there was a monster called 'Gallu' that could be regarded as one of the origins of the Arabic ghoul. (1) Gallu was an Akkadian demon of the underworld'responsible for the abduction of the vegetationgod Damuzi (Tammuz) to the realm of death' (Lindemans). Since Akkad and Sumer were very close to the Arabian deserts, Arab Bedouins in contact with Mesopotamian cultures could have borrowed the belief in the ghoul from the Akkadians.
Before discussing different ideas of the ghoul, however, I will examine the ghoul's general depiction in a pre-Islamic context to show that the Arabic ghoul is older than the religion of Islam. In some old Arabic works written before Islam, ghouls were regarded as devilish creatures. al-Mas'udi (c. 896- c. 957) referred in Muruj al-Dhahab to the older books written by Ibn 'Ishqq and Wahb Ibn al-Munabbih, who tackled the old Bedouins' myth of creation. Arabs before Islam believed that when God created genies from the gusts of fire, He made from this type of fire their female part, but one of their eggs was split in two. Hence, the Qutrub, (2) which looked like a cat, was created. As for the devils, they came from another egg and settled in the seas. Other evil creatures, such as the Marid, (3) inhabited the islands; the ghoul resided in the wilderness; the si'lwah dwelt in lavatories and waste areas; and the hamah4 lived in the air in the form of a flying snake (1986, 171).
al-Qazwini (c.1208-c.1283) mentioned a different description taken from an old Arabic source, which says that when the devils wanted to eavesdrop on Heaven, God threw meteors at them, (5) whereupon some were burnt, fell into the sea and later turned into crocodiles, while others dropped onto the ground and changed into ghouls (1980, 236). Such descriptions cannot be found in Islamic texts. For instance, Abu 'Uthman al-Jahiz (c. 775- c. 868), who compiled many popular beliefs in his book al-Haywan (The Animal), wrote that commoners thought that the devil's eyes were upright as in images taken from the Bedouins (1969, 214), whose ideas lived on for almost two thousand years.
As for popular tales, several stories dealing with the ghoul circulated before Islam. For instance, 'Umar Bin al-Khattab (c. 586-644), the second Muslim Caliph, was known as the man who killed a ghoul in the desert when he was traveling to Syria. After stopping him, the female monster |
In 2008, K. David Harrison traveled to Arunachal Pradesh, India, a northeast region so remote even Indians need permits to travel there -- and he made an incredible discovery.
The Swarthmore College linguist and his colleague | In 2008, K. David Harrison traveled to Arunachal Pradesh, India, a northeast region so remote even Indians need permits to travel there -- and he made an incredible discovery.
The Swarthmore College linguist and his colleague Greg Anderson were searching for speakers of two little-known languages -- Aka and Miji. And as they went door to door, they were surprised to find speakers of a third, hidden language: Koro.
"It hadn't previously been noticed in the Indian census or in any study of the languages of India," Harrison tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly. "It wasn't listed in any listing of the world's languages. It had basically been completely unnoticed by outsiders and by scientists."
A few hundred people speak Koro, Harrison says, and those who speak it didn't notice how distinct it was.
"They tended to think of it as merely a dialect of another local language," Harrison says. "But when we sat down to make recordings, we realized that they sounded as different from each other as English and Japanese."
So Harrison took the first known set of recordings of the language. He documents these and other dying languages -- and his attempts to revitalize them -- in his new book, The Last Speakers.
There are more than 7,000 languages in the world, and nearly half of them are in danger -- likely to die out within our lifetime. In fact, one disappears about every two weeks. When languages die, they take with them a vast amount of human knowledge, Harrison says, from how to make medicines out of plants, how to survive in harsh environments, and creation myths and personal histories. The languages aren't written down -- they're transmitted orally.
"So it's very fragile, and [the knowledge base] is being forgotten as these languages fade away," he says |
The Boston Globe, Dec. 6, 2013
Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday, Dec. 5 at 95, showed the world a remarkable vision of leadership that arises all too seldom. Patient and unrelenting in | The Boston Globe, Dec. 6, 2013
Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday, Dec. 5 at 95, showed the world a remarkable vision of leadership that arises all too seldom. Patient and unrelenting in his efforts to overturn South Africa's vicious apartheid regime, Mandela was a pillar of grace, magnanimity, and restraint in victory.
For his unwillingness to compromise with his country's white-supremacist government, Mandela spent 27 years in prison. He spoke to his resolve in the brutal years in Robben Island prison, years often marked by pointless pounding on rocks in a lime quarry, by saying, "any man or institution that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose because I will not part with it at any price or under any pressure." Mandela said his faith in humanity was "sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair." Finally, in the 1990s, the world anti-apartheid movement — and his own diplomatic acumen — helped force his release from prison, and he went on to become South Africa's first president elected in a full democracy.
The apartheid regime had long smeared Mandela as a dangerous radical, but the new president's time in office was marked by reconciliation rather than revenge. His stable hand helped maintain the nation's status as a top economic engine on the African continent. He found some common ground between the races through sport. His sense of fairness vaulted South Africa to world leadership on issues such as gay rights. The country has much work to do; much of the black populace remains gripped in township poverty, to the unfocused attention of current leaders. Yet Mandela proved that progress was possible — and that generations-old divisions could end not in score settling, but in an honest search for peaceful coexistence. When Mandela walked out of prison, he said, "To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."
The Morning Sentinel of Waterville (Maine), Nov. 30, 2013
The face of opiate addiction in Maine has long been an adult one — a woman who rifles through her grandmother's medicine cabinet, or a man who holds up a pharmacy. This is changing, though, and not for the better.
More Maine babies than ever are being born affected by or dependent on drugs — the number is on track to reach a record 800 by the end of 2013. Gov. Paul LePage, who focused on the issue in a recent radio address, sa |
Our American Indian roots come from Naomi Dickson, mother of Elizabeth Dickson, wife of William Harrison Leeper.
On the Seneca Nation Census year 1855 for Warwick, N.Y. Elizabeth Dickson, Wife of William Harrison Leeper | Our American Indian roots come from Naomi Dickson, mother of Elizabeth Dickson, wife of William Harrison Leeper.
On the Seneca Nation Census year 1855 for Warwick, N.Y. Elizabeth Dickson, Wife of William Harrison Leeper, when asked by the census taker, “Where were you born”, she said: Seneca.
Census questions for this time in column 10 were (What State were you born or what Country)
The Seneca Nation has rules for MEMBERSHIP into the Nation.
Enrollment/membership in the Seneca Nation of Indians is based on MATRILINEAL descent. In other words, the mother must be an enrolled member in order for the children to be enrolled. Keep in mind that census records list ONLY memb |
6.4 Earthquake Today: Papua New Guinea Hit By Second Quake In 7 Days
A 6.4 earthquake hit Papua New Guinea Tuesday, piggy-backing off the 6.6 quake that rocked the country just last | 6.4 Earthquake Today: Papua New Guinea Hit By Second Quake In 7 Days
A 6.4 earthquake hit Papua New Guinea Tuesday, piggy-backing off the 6.6 quake that rocked the country just last week. The 6.4 earthquake occurred about 20 miles north of Rabaul, a township located on the eastern-most tip of the Papua New Guinea island cluster.
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So far, there have been no reports of any major damage in the country, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Luckily, the 6.4 earthquake did not create a tsunami, a possibility that had residents of Hawaii on edge.
Two simultaneous big quakes near Papua New Guinea in just over a week? What's the reason for New Guinea's frequent seismic activit |
WASHINGTON - Floodwaters in New Orleans contain bacteria associated with sewage that are at least 10 times higher than acceptable safety levels, making direct contact by rescue workers and remaining residents dangerous, the first government tests confirmed Wednesday.
"Human contact with the flood | WASHINGTON - Floodwaters in New Orleans contain bacteria associated with sewage that are at least 10 times higher than acceptable safety levels, making direct contact by rescue workers and remaining residents dangerous, the first government tests confirmed Wednesday.
"Human contact with the flood water should be avoided as much as possible," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.
Also found in the first round of testing were elevated lead levels, a risk if people, particularly children, were to drink the water.
Residents have been told since Hurricane Katrina to avoid drinking the water.
But EPA's first tests - which tracked levels of E. coli and other coliform bacteria that are a marker for sewage contamination - emphasize a risk from skin contact as well. The EPA didn't test how much sewage was in the water, but quit when analyses hit the 10-fold mark.
Moreover, this was just a first test.
"We don't know what else is contained in that water," Johnson stressed, saying that daily samples from different neighborhoods were being taken.
Federal health officials stressed that rescue workers need to wear protective clothing before walking in flood waters, and that anyone who comes into contact with the dirty water should be careful not to splash it into their faces - and to find clean water and soap for handwashing.
"Always, always, always wash hands before eating," stressed Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. |
Revealing the Largest Octopus
Weighing 600 pounds (around 272kg) and having a 30 foot (around 9 meters) arm span, the largest recorded giant pacific octopus was truly enormous. Giant pac | Revealing the Largest Octopus
Weighing 600 pounds (around 272kg) and having a 30 foot (around 9 meters) arm span, the largest recorded giant pacific octopus was truly enormous. Giant pacific octopuses are powerful predators that are able to eat anything from shrimps and lobsters to birds and likely small sharks. They are also incredibly smart, and can solve mazes and imitate other species of octopus.
The giant pacific octopus uses this intellect to protect its eggs. After mating with a male, the female stays with the eggs and keeps them clean, making sure they are free from fungi, bacteria, and algae. The mother maintains her eggs health by touching them with her arms and aerating them. She stays alive until the eggs hatch, and before she dies, she will blow the eggs into the open ocean. |
A Answers (4)
Kids should never play with fireworks. Sparklers, firecrackers and rockets can all reach very hot temperatures (up to 1,800 degrees). Keep them outside and away from faces, clothing and hair. Buy only | A Answers (4)
Kids should never play with fireworks. Sparklers, firecrackers and rockets can all reach very hot temperatures (up to 1,800 degrees). Keep them outside and away from faces, clothing and hair. Buy only legal fireworks at firework stores. Never make your own homemade versions. Point fireworks away from people, trees and houses. Light one at a time and never re-light a dud. Soak fireworks with water before throwing them away. Keep pets away; they can get frightened by loud noises. If anyone is injured, call for help right away. Lastly, leave the fireworks shows to the professionals!
Amy Colgan-Niemeyer, NASM Elite Trainer, Fitness, answered
As July 4th approaches, stores start stocking fireworks, and portable fireworks stands pop up around towns and cities. This is indicative of Americans' love for private fireworks shows. Some people remember fondly their younger days when they gathered with family in the back yard of an uncle's home shooting off dozens and dozens of fireworks and eating homemade ice cream. These memories are lasting and the tradition is passed on to their children. But there are safety issues. Fireworks can be dangerous if handled improperly. Read all directions on the package and take all precautions before lighting fireworks. Keep everyone a safe distance from the launching area. Have an extinguisher handy just in of fire, or perhaps even alert the local fire department of your planned event and ask if they can provide assistance. Avoid lighting fireworks during dry conditions. Allow only adults to handle fireworks. To be safe, start a new tradition by taking in a city- or organization-sponsored event. No, it's not hands-on, but you are less likely to end up in the ER. Have fun!
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital answered
Fireworks add festivity to a Fourth of July celebration, but a public fireworks display is safer and more dazzling than trying to do it yourself. Keep in mind that:
- Fireworks and sparklers should be handled by trained professionals. Sparklers can get as hot as 1,200 degrees!
- Stay at least 500 feet away from the display.
- Remind children that if they find used fireworks or sparklers—do not touch!
Tanya Remer Altmann, Pediatrics, answered
Fireworks are a July 4th favorite, but it’s very important to leave fireworks to the professionals.
Each July 4th, thousands of people, are injured while using consumer fireworks. Despite the dangers of fireworks, few people understand the risks including devastating burns, other injuries, fires and death. As a pediatrician, at a major medical center, I have seen horrible burns and injuries, often in children and teens from fireworks.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urges families NOT to buy fireworks for their own or their children's use. Please continue to enjoy public firework displays conducted by trained professionals.
Have a Happy 4th of July!Helpful? 1 person found this helpful. |
Tuesday, October 2nd 2012, 6:58 AM EDT
The Met Office is working to better understand the cumulative impacts of increasing temperatures and urban growth, and how these might affect the lives of city-dwellers today and | Tuesday, October 2nd 2012, 6:58 AM EDT
The Met Office is working to better understand the cumulative impacts of increasing temperatures and urban growth, and how these might affect the lives of city-dwellers today and in the future.
Dr Mark McCarthy, Climate Research Scientist, explains:
What are urban heat islands?
Put simply, an urban heat island is a man-made area that’s significantly warmer than the surrounding countryside — especially at night. the term stemmed from the analogy of an urban heat island as a ‘warm island’ in a ‘cool sea’ of the surrounding natural environment.
Heat islands exist because the land surface in towns and cities, which is made of materials like tarmac and stone, absorbs and stores heat. That, coupled with concentrated energy use and less ventilation than in rural areas, creates a heating effect.
Do cities automatically classify as urban heat islands? |
Photo: Big Grey MareDearest readers,
If you have yet to get a copy of the book, jump in anyway. As a quick catchup, you can listen to Bryson read the introduction here.
Growing plants for food is really a | Photo: Big Grey MareDearest readers,
If you have yet to get a copy of the book, jump in anyway. As a quick catchup, you can listen to Bryson read the introduction here.
Growing plants for food is really a very recent innovation. Early in the book, we learn that in Jericho, the “world’s first true city,” people settled but did not farm. They stopped wandering and became sedentary, yet remained hunter-gatherers.
Bryson writes, “Agriculture started 11,500 years ago in the Levant, but 8,000 years ago in China and only a little over 5,000 years ago in most of the Americas.” He writes that at least 38 theories have been presented as to why people began farming — one being that they wanted to stay in one place so they could brew and drink beer. Ha!
Given that, you might think that the cultivation of grains was a great achievement, but people’s health declined measurably upon transitioning from hunting and gathering to farming. Settled people who relied on farming “became reliant on a much smaller range of foods, which all but ensured dietary insufficiency.”
Out of the thirty thousand types of edible plants thought to exist on Earth, just eleven — corn, rice, wheat, potatoes, cassava, sorghum, millet, beans, barley, rye, and oats — account for 93 percent of all the humans eat, and every one of them was first cultivated by our Neolithic ancestors. Exactly the same is true of husbandry. The animals we raise today for food are eaten not because they are notably delectable or nutritious or a pleasure to be around, but because they were the first ones domesticated in the Stone Age.
During the early stages of agriculturalism in the Near East, people shrunk by as much as six inches. Not only were they shorter, they lived shorter lives too. Bryson quotes journalist John Lanchester, who explains, “Rice inhibits the activity of Vitamin A; wheat has a chemical that impedes the action of zinc and can lead to stunted growth; maize is deficient in essential amino acids and contains phytates, which prevent the absorption of iron.”
There’s a growing modern movement to rediscover the pre-agricultural diet of our Paleolithic ancestors. Have you been inspired to eat like a caveman (or should we say “caveperson”)? It’s been called the Flintstone Diet — although if Fred had been eating it, he probably wouldn’t be so chubby!
Has learning about the history of agriculture made you want to take a shopping basket out into the forest? Or would you rather start clearing the land to plant some wheat?
P.S. Bryson is back in his parsonage in England and was not available to join our book club conversation. Thankfully, NPR interviewed Bryson about At Home, and I encourage you to listen here. |
Full View of Vesta
Date: 11 Sep 2012
As NASA's Dawn spacecraft takes off for its next destination, this mosaic synthesizes some of the best views the spacecraft had of the giant asteroid Vesta. Dawn studied V | Full View of Vesta
Date: 11 Sep 2012
As NASA's Dawn spacecraft takes off for its next destination, this mosaic synthesizes some of the best views the spacecraft had of the giant asteroid Vesta. Dawn studied Vesta from July 2011 to September 2012. The towering mountain at the south pole - more than twice the height of Mount Everest - is visible at the bottom of the image. The set of three craters known as the "snowman" can be seen at the top left.
These images are the last in Dawn's Image of the Day series during the cruise to Dawn's second destination, Ceres. A full set of Dawn data is being archived at http://pds.nasa.gov/.
The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, for N |
Posted 2 years ago
I found this little bottle of Silvol at an estate sale last weekend. While researching this I found that it is rather scarce in this one ounce size.
“Definition: a complex prepared by the reaction of silver oxide | Posted 2 years ago
I found this little bottle of Silvol at an estate sale last weekend. While researching this I found that it is rather scarce in this one ounce size.
“Definition: a complex prepared by the reaction of silver oxide with either gelatin or serum albumin. Black shiny crystals liberate silver and it was formerly widely used as a topical anti-infective on mucous membranes. Contains 19–25% silver, only a small fraction of which is ionizable. Can produce black or brown pigmentation due to deposition of reduced silver in the tissues.”
I did find one at the Melbourne Museum in Australia, and here is what they had to say about theirs:
Reg. No: SH 850610
Bottle of Silvol (Proteid Silver Antiseptic) made by Parke, Davis & Co., used in the pharmacy of a mental health hospital in Victora Australia circa 1920. Silver solutions were used as an antiseptic-germicide.
Drug Silvol (Proteid Silver Antiseptic) is contained in a small amber bottle with a sealed cork.
Donation from Office of Psychiatric Services
10.00 cm (Height), 3.00 cm (Length)
bottles, hospitals, psychiatric services
Themes this item is part of:
Psychiatric Services Collection, Medicine in Society Collection, Public Life & Institutions Collection
MEDICINE & HEALTH
Mental Health - Pharmacy
Printed label: ONE OUNCE/SILVOL/Contains about 20% of silver in/proteid combination/ Used as a local application in 5% to 50% solution in water.
Parke, Davis & Co., Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, circa 1920
Place & Date Used:
Victoria, Australia, circa 1920
information on label
Nicholson St., Carlton, Melbourne
In the last photo, you see the bottle makers mark, here is a little information on them.
“O in a square..........Owens Bottle Company, Toledo OH (1903-1929), also Fairmont, WV; Clarksburg, WV, and other plant locations. Owens Bottle Co. merged with the Illinois Glass Company of Alton, IL in 1929 to form the Owens-Illinois Glass Company.”
This is definitely an interesting find. |
Threat and danger concentrate the mind exquisitely. They bring matters of life and death to the fore. Lesser arguments drop away.
Israel’s constitutional narrative considers through the lens of threat and danger the fledgling nation’s trek out of | Threat and danger concentrate the mind exquisitely. They bring matters of life and death to the fore. Lesser arguments drop away.
Israel’s constitutional narrative considers through the lens of threat and danger the fledgling nation’s trek out of servitude in Egypt, into the still lethal wasteland of wilderness, and then into a land of promise that was—importantly—a place possessed by others who were not eager to hand it over to a wannabe people and their peripatetic god.
Accordingly, the narrative places warfare and survival squarely within the realm of commonplace. This is no well-rested civilians’ tale.
Yahweh lives among his people not only as a terrifying force for purity that can bring low in an instant the casual offerers of ‘strange fire’. He is also Israel’s Defender against the external adversary. The Lord is Israel’s advance guard, scouting the hills ahead of them by day and returning to rest in the nation’s bosom by night.
One prays accordingly:
So they set out from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey with the ark of the covenant of the LORD going before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them, the cloud of the LORD being over them by day when they set out from the camp. Whenever the ark set out, Moses would say,
“Arise, O LORD, let your enemies be scattered, and your foes flee before you.”
And whenever it came to rest, he would say, “Return, O LORD of the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”
One leans with the combined force of longing and aspiration into a future where Yahweh will have cleansed the landscape of mortal dangers. One speaks as though the people had already expanded to fill such a good land, overlooking the paltry numbers of the day in favor of the aspirational ‘ten thousand thousands of Israel’.
Such language and the conceptual world in which it makes itself heard can be vainglorious, ethnocentric, murderous, and fantastical.
Or it can shape for untold generations the soul of a people who survive only because their Lord has been good yet again, chasing off its enemies and multiplying children who will grow up and tell their children and their children’s children how it is to traverse dangerous terrain with Yahweh out ahead in the mist. And right here, in the midst. |
Missouri Historical Review, volume XIV, nos. 3-4, pp. 299-306
But dark as it looked, there were smouldering embers of interest in the hearts of a small group of women who had either | Missouri Historical Review, volume XIV, nos. 3-4, pp. 299-306
But dark as it looked, there were smouldering embers of interest in the hearts of a small group of women who had either inherited suffrage ideas from their pioneer mothers or who had been born with ideas of their own about the principles of the cause. Suddenly there was an awakening and the embers began to glow. The fire that had broken out in England had reached America, and had spread far enough inland to fan even Missouri embers into a faint flame.
The suffragists of the second period had no information upon which to build. The first society was only a memory, and the later women required an entirely new impetus to make them attempt to form a second organization. That impetus came in 1910 when the great suffragette leader Emmelin Pankhurst was making her first tour in America. Mrs. Pankhurst's visit had one good result if no more, for out of an effort on the part of a few women to bring her to this city, the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League was organized. By chance, member of the Wednesday Club were deploring the fact that Mrs. Pankhurst had not been invited to come as far west as St. Louis. They spoke of their great desire to hear about the uprising of women in England at first hand, and decided to find out if there might be others who shared this desire and who would unite with them in trying to give the distinguished lecturer a hearing.
The word "Suffragette" was not even whispered in polite society at that time, and it was like throwing a bomb in conservative St. Louis to repeat the new slogan "Votes for Women!" Nevertheless, ten brave souls agreed to meet and make preparations for the dangerous undertaking. They were Mrs. Robert Atkinson, Miss Marie Garesche, Mrs. E. M. Grossman, Miss Lillian Hetzell, Miss Jennie A. M. Jones, Mrs. D. W. Knefler, Miss Bertha Rombauer, Mrs. Russell, Mrs. Florence Wyman Richardson and her daughter, now Mrs. Roland Usher.
The meeting place was in the parlor of Miss Marie Garesche, one of the ten, and it is amusing now to recall the solemnity of that occasion. The women felt something of the responsibility that the historic group in Seneca Falls experienced when they made their famous call for the first Woman's Rights Convention. Like conspirators, they knew that they must hang together or hang separately. They were even startled when they heard a knock at the door; at any rate they were relieved when their hostess opened it and found only a friend standing there who had come to return a borrowed book. The hostess herself could not have been very timid for she called out cheerfully "Won't you come in? Se are holding a Suffrage meeting!" The horrified visitor backed away from the door exclaiming, "A Suffrage meeting! Oh dear me, No!" After due consideration it was unanimously decided to ask Mrs. Pankhurst to give a lecture in St. Louis on a certain date, and lest their courage should fail them the venturesome women telegraphed the message before they separated. However, sad to relate, after all this bravery the whole undertaking failed. Mrs. Pankhurst accepted the invitation, but just as all the arrangements for her visit were progressing smoothly, she was called back to England and was compelled to cancel her engagement.
This was a great disappointment, but strange as it may appear, out of this seeming failure grew great results. In advertising the lecture the women who had made the attempt found that they were not alone in this wish to know more about the great woman's movement that was beginning to stir the world, nor were they alone in being friendly to the cause. Suffrage sentiment was discovered in unexpected places, and it was decided to test the strength of the feeling.
A call was sent out asking all who were interested in equal suffrage to meet on a certain day to consider the advisability of organizing a society. Fifty women responded to the call, and on April 10th, 1910, this number met and united in forming the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League, when one of the ten charter members, Mrs. Florence Wyman Richardson, was elected president. The League began at once to try to increase its membership. The new list was not made up entirely of women's names, for among the first to enroll were prominent ministers of different denominations, leading lawyers, physicians, and business men of the city. The organizers of the club felt that much of their success was due to the advice that these men friends of Suffrage had given them. The object of the League was stated in the simple article of agreement, "To bring together men and women who are willing to consider the question of Equal Suffrage and by earnest co-operation to secure its establishment." To quiet the fears of any timid souls who might be expecting "agitation," it was clearly explained that the purpose of the club was entirely educational. |
|提及的人：||Zebulon Montgomery Pike; Thomas Jefferson|
Matthew L Harris; Jay H Buckley
|描述：||x, 242 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.|
|内容：||Introduction: | |提及的人：||Zebulon Montgomery Pike; Thomas Jefferson|
Matthew L Harris; Jay H Buckley
|描述：||x, 242 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.|
|内容：||Introduction: Zebulon Montgomery Pike in American memory / Matthew L. Harris --
Pike as a forgotten and misunderstood explorer / Jay H. Buckley --
Pike and empire / James P. Ronda --
Pike and American science / John Logan Allen --
Jeffersonian explorers in the Trans-Mississippi West: Zebulon Pike in perspective / Jay H. Buckley --
An empire and ecology of liberty / Jared Orsi --
Enemies and friends: Pike and Melgares in the competition for the Great Plains / Leo E. Oliva --
James Wilkinson: Pike's mentor and Jefferson's capricious point man in the West / William E. Foley.
|责任：||edited by Matthew L. Harris and Jay H. Buckley.|
Collection of essays exploring the expeditions and writings of Zebulon Pike (1779-1813) that provided an image of the Southwest that would shape American culture for decades. Pike, an ambitious young military officer and explorer, best known for a mountain peak the he neither scaled nor named, was destined to live in the shadows of more famous contemporaries -- explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Contributors explore: Pike's contributions to science and cartography; his relationships with Native peoples and Spanish officials; the impact of his expeditions on the environment; his role in the Aaron Burr conspiracy; and his life in comparison with other Jeffersonian explorers. |
Bay Area traffic might suck, but Bay Area traffic without BART sucks a whole lot more.
It’s a fact that was made painfully clear in early July to the hundreds of thousands of Bay Area workers who were subjected to cruel and unusual commute conditions | Bay Area traffic might suck, but Bay Area traffic without BART sucks a whole lot more.
It’s a fact that was made painfully clear in early July to the hundreds of thousands of Bay Area workers who were subjected to cruel and unusual commute conditions created by a strike and system-wide shutdown of the 104-mile regional transit system.
And now, as another BART strike looms, Bay Area commuters are again faced with the prospect of horrendous traffic conditions on the horizon.
Love it or hate it, it’s hard to deny the essential role BART plays in moving the Bay Area.
So, what better time to take in some BART 101 (it’ll help pass the time while you’re waiting for your train).
(Note: Much of the following historical information is adapted from BART’s official history.)
BART transports an average of roughly 400,000 passengers each weekday. It’s the nation’s fifth-largest rail system, stretching from the far reaches of the Bay Area’s eastern suburbs to San Francisco International Airport, south of the city.
So when trains don’t run, things get messy: snarled traffic, exponentially longer travel times, and many thousands of very, very disgruntled commuters.
Which makes it all the more surprising to realize that BART has only been around for a relatively short period of time: operations started just over 40 years ago (with no transbay service until 1974). Compare that to New York City’s much larger subway system, which began running in 1904, or Boston’s even older rail network, which launched in 1897.
So what did we do before BART?
The Key System
In 1903, a privately-run mass transit network called the Key System (or Key Route) began providing bus and streetcar service in Oakland, Berkeley and a number of other East Bay cities. In the 1940s and 50s, the network also operated regular commuter rail service to San Francisco via the lower deck of the Bay Bridge. But by 1958, in the face of booming highway construction and rapidly rising car ownership rates, the transbay service was dismantled, leaving a dearth of transit options across the Bay.
Two years later, newly formed public agency AC Transit bought the Key System’s existing East Bay bus routes (the streetcars had been phased out by 1948). The Key System: San Francisco and the Eastshore Empire, by Walter Rice and Emiliano Echeverria, provides a comprehensive history.
A lengthy but very entertaining Key System promo video … with a nice little revisionist history of California, replete with descriptions like this: “Life in Spanish California was leisurely and gay. A warmhearted people in a kind and bountiful land expressed themselves in colorful fiestas. Where … lovely senoritas and dashing caballeros danced the exciting steps of old Castile.”
BART is born
In 1950, close to 2.7 million people lived in the Bay Area, about a million more than were here the previous decade. It was just the beginning of a regional population boom that would continue to grow by roughly a million people every decade for the next fifty years, a trend that guaranteed increasingly heavy congestion on local roadways.
In 1957, a commission created by the state years earlier to study the Bay Area’s long-term transportation needs, recommended the construction of a five-county rapid rail network linking major commercial centers to suburban communities.
In its final report, the commission wrote:
“If the Bay Area is to be preserved as a fine place to live and work, a regional rapid transit system is essential to prevent total dependence on automobiles and freeways.”
The original plan included San Mateo and Marin counties, both of which eventually bailed amidst cost concerns (as well as a controversy over the engineering feasibility of running a line across the Golden Gate Bridge). The final proposal included a 71.5 mile electric rail system with 33 stations in 17 cities spread across the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco. Among the largest public works projects in history, the total cost was projected at just shy of $1 billion, with the brunt of funding from a $792 million bond measure approved by voters in the 1962 general election. In the end, the final cost of the system turned out to be north of $1.6 billion.
BART construction officially commenced in June, 1964. President Lyndon Johnson presided over the ground-breaking ceremonies of the 4.4-mile Diablo Test Track between Concord and Walnut Creek. By January, 1966, construction of the Oakland subway began, and in November of that year, the first of 57 giant steel and concrete sections of the 3.8 mile transbay tube was lowered to the bottom of the Bay. The tube was completed in August,1969 and for a short period of time, people w |
Maskelyne entered Cambridge University in 1749, studying mathematics, and graduating as a wrangler in mathematics in 1754. Ordained as a minister in 1755, he became a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge in 175 | Maskelyne entered Cambridge University in 1749, studying mathematics, and graduating as a wrangler in mathematics in 1754. Ordained as a minister in 1755, he became a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1756.
Bad weather prevented any useful observations, however Maskelyne used his journey to develop a method of determining longitude using the position of the moon, the lunar distance method. He returned to England, resuming his position as curate at Chipping Barnet in 1761, and began work on a book, publishing the lunar distance method of longitude calculation in 1763 in The British Mariner's Guide, which included the suggestion that to facilitate the finding of longitude at sea, lunar distances should be calculated beforehand for each year and published in a form accessible to navigators. This proposal, the germ of the Nautical Almanac, was approved by the government, and under the care of Maskelyne the Nautical Almanac for 1767 was published in 1766. He further induced the government to print his observations annually.
Despite a possible conflict of interests, Maskelyne being a |
Mt Bischoff mine, 1900 (AOT,
Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand (Ferd) Kayser (1833–1919), Tasmania's first high-profile mining manager, was born at Clausthal, Hanover, | Mt Bischoff mine, 1900 (AOT,
Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand (Ferd) Kayser (1833–1919), Tasmania's first high-profile mining manager, was born at Clausthal, Hanover, Germany, where he graduated from the Royal Academy of Mines. A champion of mechanisation, Kayser deplored 'primitive' Cornish tin-dressing.
This imposing figure managed the famously rich Mount Bischoff tin mine from 1875 to 1907. His blunt, autocratic style, and directorial support for his methods, alienated the mine's founder, James 'Philosopher' Smith, but under Kayser's management Mount Bischoff became one of Australia's most profitable base metal mines. Launceston's grand Victorian-era buildings testify to his drive, milling expertise and deliverance of dividends, but his extraction technique was laborious and the directors''strip mine' mentality shortened Mount Bischoff's life. Kayser's vigorous rule of the company town of Waratah was praised by some and resented by others.
Further reading: N Haygarth, Baron Bischoff, Launceston, 2004. |
Support the scientists of tomorrow
We need your help now to make a difference to a child’s education.
The British Science Association is a charity that is committed to inspiring the UK’s future scientists and engineers. One of the ways we do this is | Support the scientists of tomorrow
We need your help now to make a difference to a child’s education.
The British Science Association is a charity that is committed to inspiring the UK’s future scientists and engineers. One of the ways we do this is through our CREST Star Investigators scheme.
CREST Star Investigators is a UK wide awards scheme designed to enable children aged five to eleven to solve science, technology, engineering and maths problems through practical investigation. We currently reach 10% of UK primary schools, and an estimated 60,000 young people complete a CREST Star award every year. An external evaluation demonstrated that CREST Star not only increased enthusiasm for science among children, but also improved thinking, talking and listening skills.
We are launching a major redevelopment of CREST Star Investigators to expand the reach and accessibility of the scheme and ensure its future, however we still have a £26,000 shortfall. Your contribution will help us achieve our aim to reach 500 new primary schools a year and to ensure that ALL primary school children have access to the scheme whatever their background and wherever in the UK they are.
The primary school years are crucial in developing a pupil’s long-term interest in science. It is during the primary years that children’s attitudes to science are nurtured, and later carried over into secondary school and adulthood. With your support the CREST Star Investigators scheme will reach thousands more children.
- Make a one-off donation or set up a regular donation through justgiving.
- Donate by post. Download a British Science Association donation form. |
Melissa Nobles: Taking full account of the past
“All societies periodically have to do soul-searching,” states Melissa Nobles, the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science. With research that illuminates historic episodes of racial and ethnic injustice | Melissa Nobles: Taking full account of the past
“All societies periodically have to do soul-searching,” states Melissa Nobles, the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science. With research that illuminates historic episodes of racial and ethnic injustice, Nobles has developed a deep understanding of how different nations go about the process of self-examination and attempt to right the wrongs of the past. Such efforts, believes Nobles, require rigorous honesty and “making sure all voices are heard.”
A self-described “political person,” Nobles learned early on about speaking up in the public arena. She was class president during most of her high school years in New Rochelle, NY and remembers attending forums in city hall to protest the school board “taking our school’s money away.” The daughter of parents born and raised in the South, Nobles grew up during a racially fraught era, and was riveted by news accounts of the civil rights movement, as well as profoundly interested in the political struggles and history of black Americans.
This passion to understand politics and its relation to race found an outlet during Nobles’ undergraduate years at Brown University in the early1980s. Through courses on Latin America, she became fascinated with Brazil, a slave-holding country like the U.S. well into the 19th century. The prevailing academic wisdom was that post-slavery, Brazil evolved into a racial democracy with “no sharp lines of racial demarcation,” while the U.S. saw reconstruction, Jim Crow, racial violence and socioeconomic inequities.
But as scholars scrutinized the lives of contemporary Brazilians of color, this disparity began to crumble. According to Nobles, who eagerly absorbed these findings, “all socioeconomic indicators that make democracy meaningful didn’t look so good for them, and in a further irony, things looked better for black Americans.” She recalls thinking, “If I’d been born in Brazil, looking the way I do, I wonder what my life outcomes would have been.”
Questions about racial identity and politics in Brazil intrigued Nobles enough that she headed to Yale University to pursue a doctorate degree in political science. An internship with the Ford Foundation in Br |
In statistics and demography, a cohort is a group of subjects who have shared a particular event together during a particular time span (e.g., people born in Europe between 1918 and 1939; survivors of an aircrash | In statistics and demography, a cohort is a group of subjects who have shared a particular event together during a particular time span (e.g., people born in Europe between 1918 and 1939; survivors of an aircrash; truck drivers who smoked between age 30 and 40). Cohorts may be tracked over extended periods in a cohort study. The cohort can be modified by censoring, i.e. excluding certain individuals from statistical calculations relating to time periods (e.g. after death) when their data would contaminate the conclusions.
The term cohort can also be used where membership of a group is defi |
- The meat from the offspring of a cow infected with BSE
reached the human food chain, it has been revealed.
- The Foods Standards Agency urged the public not to panic
after it was informed of the matter by the Department for | - The meat from the offspring of a cow infected with BSE
reached the human food chain, it has been revealed.
- The Foods Standards Agency urged the public not to panic
after it was informed of the matter by the Department for the Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
- The 29-month-old animal was slaughtered in an abattoir
in Wales last November and put into the food chain and none of the meat
is now left.
- Despite the fears surrounding BSE, the risk to consumers
is low, said an FSA spokesman.
- Although the animal should never have entered the food
chain as all calves of BSE-infected animals have to be culled, measures
put in place to minimise the risk of BSE-infected meat entering the food
chain were in operation when the animal was slaughtered, it said.
- The parts of the animal most likely to contain BSE, such
as the spinal column, were removed at the abattoir.
- The FSA said the glitch occurred because a backlog had
built up in the cull of the offspring of BSE-infected animals.
- The FSA was advised by Defra, which operates the cattle
passport scheme, that the passport of this animal had not been seized due
to a backlog of visits to farms that had offspring of BSE cattle wh |
She also has been a teacher, librarian, and community activist, has presented programs on numerous television and radio shows, and has written books of poetry. Philadelphian Linda Goss is official storyteller for her city, and she also has | She also has been a teacher, librarian, and community activist, has presented programs on numerous television and radio shows, and has written books of poetry. Philadelphian Linda Goss is official storyteller for her city, and she also has performed in numerous U.S. and Canadian communities.
An award-winning recording artist and author, she is considered an expert in contemporary storytelling. During her presentations, Goss shares African-American legends she has collected over the years and retells some of the stories she learned from her grandfather, who grew up under slavery.
She also relates tales from other family members and neighbors in Alcoa, Tennessee, where she was born and reared. As part of her performance, Goss uses field hollers and praise singing to augment a story, and encourages her audiences to participate through call- and-response techniques.
As artist-in-residence at the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia, Goss has been presenting Words and Wisdom: African American Literature from Slavery to the Civil Rights Movement to hundreds of students each year since 2001.
With jazz musician Alfie Pollitt, Words and Wisdom focuses on the contributions of African-American writers of the last two centuries. |
This should be a quick review about acids and bases and some of their properties.
This covers all the information in the reading - print the notes, read the text and add your additional comments as you go.
Summary of chapter 15.
Some simple | This should be a quick review about acids and bases and some of their properties.
This covers all the information in the reading - print the notes, read the text and add your additional comments as you go.
Summary of chapter 15.
Some simple examples of how to identify conjugate acid-base pairs according the Bronstedt-Lowry acid-base definition.
Source: chemistNATE youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qBRIWSA3Yc&feature=plcp&context=C499f56aVDvjVQa1PpcFM92kwAQ7it0zGI3Xu6xX0B7K0F1LIgjL0%3D
This is an exercise comparing Arrhenius and Bronsted-Lowry definitions of acids and bases including the answer key.
This video covers the three different definitions of acids and bases. As stated in the video, if you know Arrhenius, you know an acid/base.
These pages are another text to perhaps review after you feel you have a pretty good grasp the basic aspects of acids and bases.
Complete this checkpoint document after reading the text, reviewing the power point and watching the videos. Answers are posted in the classroom. Your goal is 100% - remember, don't just change your wrong answer to right - figure out your mistakes and LEARN from them.
Sophia's online courses not only save you money, but credits are also eligible for transfer to over 2,000 colleges and universities.* |
This site is a joint effort of the NOAA
Research and the College of Education at the University
of South Alabama (USA). The goal of the site is to provide middle
school science students and teachers with research and investigation
experiences using | This site is a joint effort of the NOAA
Research and the College of Education at the University
of South Alabama (USA). The goal of the site is to provide middle
school science students and teachers with research and investigation
experiences using on-line resources.
What is NOAA Research?
NOAA Research is an organization of the United States
Government. To find out more about the important role of NOAA Research,
click on NOAA Research INTRO.
use this site as it is designed, click on TECH
INFO. From this area you can download needed software and the
Student Activity Books that complement the on-line science lessons.
What's in this site?
To view a short description of the parts of the site
and the educators who developed it, click on OVERVIEW.
Click on the Apple icon at any time to download teaching
materials for each topic. This information includes lesson objectives,
interdisciplinary uses, NSTA and AAAS standards, and teacher preparation |
The extensions in this section all modify an existing path.
Adds nodes to a path, leaving the shape of the path unchanged. The nodes are added evenly spaced. The number of nodes is either specified or by setting a minimum specified spacing. Good for | The extensions in this section all modify an existing path.
Adds nodes to a path, leaving the shape of the path unchanged. The nodes are added evenly spaced. The number of nodes is either specified or by setting a minimum specified spacing. Good for creating scissor lines.
Convert regular shapes to paths before applying.
Automates changing the Markers to match the color of the Stroke. The extension makes copies of a Markers in the <defs> section of the SVG file with the appropriate color. This extension is a temporary work-around until the SVG 1.2 standard is finalized. The new standard is expected to simplify matching Marker color with Stroke color.
Adds highlights and shadows to simulate 3D objects like buttons. The extension works by adding paths that are blurred via the Gaussian Blur filter and then clipped. The paths have partial transparency, with white for highlights and black for shadows. The extension only works on paths so regular shapes need to be converted first. You may also need to add additional nodes.
Distorts a path so that the path's original bounding box is mapped to the edges of a quadrilateral. To use the extension, select the path to transform first, then add the quadrilateral path to the selection. Regular shape objects must be converted to a path before transformation.
The extension works on a single path. The beginning point of the quadrilateral path will determine the orientation of the transformed image. If the image is inverted (like looking through a mirror), reverse the direction of the quadrilateral path with the → (Shift+R) command.
This extension could be used to produce a pseudo-perspective extension. For real perspective, use the Perspective extension.
This extension converts selected Bezier curves to an approximation composed of straight-line paths. The number of line segments used is determined by the Flatness parameter. The smaller the Flatness, the more line segments are used.
This extension turns a straight-line segment into a crooked segment. It works by finding the midpoint of the line segment, adding a node at that point, and then moving the node a random distance perpendicular to the original path direction. This division routine is called recursively depending on the setting of the Subdivisions entry in the dialog, doubling the number of resulting segments for each increase by one. The Smoothness of the path can also be specified. The magnitude of the perpendicular displacement is a random function with the limits determined by ±( |
I’m too distracted to hear the first announcement. The captain is pulling the National Geographic Explorer dangerously close to shore, and I am waiting for a metal-on-rock crunch that never comes in this ridiculously deep Norwegian fjord.
Then it registers. Did | I’m too distracted to hear the first announcement. The captain is pulling the National Geographic Explorer dangerously close to shore, and I am waiting for a metal-on-rock crunch that never comes in this ridiculously deep Norwegian fjord.
Then it registers. Did I hear “puffin dogs?”
We’re arriving in Værøy, the tail end of Norway’s Lofoten Islands – well above the Arctic Circle, yet, due to the Gulf Stream, its average temperature remains above freezing year round — the day before its annual puffin-dog convention. Sometimes, you just get lucky.
The puffin dog — the Norwegian Lundehund — has a long and noble history. The first reliable mention of the breed dates back to 1591, when a bailiff, no doubt looking for new things to tax, visited Værøy and noted that “one cannot easily retrieve the birds from the depth without having a small dog accustomed to crawling into the hole and pulling the birds out.” Which is great if you want puffin for lunch.
Offhand, I don’t know anybody who wants puffin for lunch.
The Lundehund’s size (about 15 pounds) and personality (cuddly, but playful) combine to create the ideal lap dog. “They’re a good family dog — not too attached to a single person,” Rita Daverdin says.
I scratch one behind the ear, and the dog leans into it, laying her downy head in my hand. “You’ve hit her button,” Rita says.
We all have skills. Rita’s is that tomorrow, she’ll be elected president of the Lundehund Klubb. Mine is that I scratch dogs well. I just haven’t found a way to monetize it yet.
Because the breed was made to go into narrow burrows, pull out live puffins, and come back out, they’re about as pliable as snakes.
“Please don’t show anybody pictures of this — they’ll get the wrong idea” Rita asks, as she demonstrates how the dog can bend its neck straight back until its head is laying flat against its spine. They can also splay out their legs a full 90 degrees and seal off their ears to keep the dirt out.
All of it makes perfect evolutionary sense; Lundehunds that got stuck in the tunnels didn’t live long enough to pass on many genes.
But what’s the explanation behind their six toes, all fully functional? Extra grip when running up a puffin-infested cliff? Even then, the fact that five of the front toes are triple-jointed seems…excessive.
Puffin hunting is illegal now in Norway (though you can still find the seabirds on the menu in Iceland and a few other places), but even at its peak, the season was limited and largely confined to the cliffs on the far side of Måstad, the erstwhile center of the lundehund universe.
The village has seen better days, with only a few vacation homes remaining — and, from the looks of it, it’d be hard to vacation because you’d be too busy fixing a leaky roof. I play with the dogs among ruined walls and in grass tall enough that, sometimes, only the tip of a wagging tail is visible.
Just as the village is in decline, so was the breed that made it famous. The lundehund nearly went extinct twice: the population dropped to just two dogs around World War II, then rebounded only to be hit with distemper in 1963, which knocked them down to a small handful yet again.
Now, the breed is back up to a couple thousand, most of them in Norway, which is why the Lundehund Klubb considers keeping the bloodlines from getting too close an essential task. The healthy, happy dogs I spend time with — except for the one who, finding a life jacket to curl up in, decides it’s done moving for the day — prove that the club has done its job.
Maybe the lundehund don’t have their old purpose anymore, but they are living proof that with a little love and care, the brink of extinction can turn into a pack of dogs romping in a field. And that beats a puffin lunch any day. |
Dictionary Meaning and Definition on 'Dressmaking'
n : the craft of making dresses
- Dressmaking \Dress"mak`ing\, n.
The art, process, or occupation, of making dresses.
Wikipedia Meaning and Definition | Dictionary Meaning and Definition on 'Dressmaking'
n : the craft of making dresses
- Dressmaking \Dress"mak`ing\, n.
The art, process, or occupation, of making dresses.
Wikipedia Meaning and Definition on 'Dressmaking'
A dressmaker is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Also called a mantua-maker (historically) or a modiste.
The Oxford English Dictionary first recorded 'dressmaker' in 1803. Throughout the nineteenth century and until the rise of ready-to-wear, most women who did not make their own clothes at home employed a dressmaker, who copied or adapted the latest clothing ideas from Paris, London or other fashion centres, based on printed illustrations called fashion plates.
A dressmaker is often professionally trained. Many learn in an apprentice role, under the tutelage of an established dressmaker, while some learn in formal school settings. Still others learn through years of trial and error. Dressmaking methods involve measurements, a trial garment, called a "muslin" or "toile", and several fittings.[See more about Dressmaking at Dictionary 3.0 Encyclopedia] |
The changing nature of literacy. Part 1: Textbooks
As we all know, we are living in a time of great changes in education and (in its broadest sense) information technology. In order to swim in these new seas, | The changing nature of literacy. Part 1: Textbooks
As we all know, we are living in a time of great changes in education and (in its broadest sense) information technology. In order to swim in these new seas, we and our children need to master new forms of literacy. In this and the next three posts, I want to explore some of the concepts, applications, and experiments that bear on this.
According to a blogger on the higher education blog wonkhe a Danish university is going to allow students access to the internet during exams. As you can imagine, this step arouses a certain amount of excitement from observers on both sides of the argument. But really it comes down, as always, to goals. What are students supposed to be demonstrating? Their knowledge of facts? Their understanding of principles? Their capacity to draw inferences, make connections, apply them to real-world problems?
I’m not second-guessing the answers here. It seems obvious to me that different topics and situations will have different answers. There shouldn’t be a single answer. But it’s a reminder that testing, like learning, needs to be flexible. And education could do with a lot more clear articulation of its goals.
For example, I came across an intriguing new web app called Topicmarks, that enables you to upload a text and receive an automated précis in return. On the one hand, this appalls me. How will students learn how to gather the information they need from a text if they use such tools? How can a summary constructed automatically possibly elicit the specific information you’re interested in? (You can see an example at the end of this post, where I’ve appended the summary produced of a Scientific American article.)
Even if we assume it actually does a good job, it is worrying. And yet … There is too much information in the world for anyone to keep up with — even in their own discipline. There’s a reason for the spate in recent years of articles and books on how the invention of printing brought about a technological revolution — a need for new tools, such as indices, the idea of using the alphabet to order them, meaningful titles and headings, tables of contents. Because the flood of information, as we all know, requires new tools. This one (which will assuredly get better, as translation software apparently has) may have its place. Before we get all excited about the terrible consequences of automated summaries, and internet-access during exams, we should think about the world as it is today, and not the world for which the education system was designed.
The world for which the education system was designed was a simpler one, in terms of information. You gained information from people you knew, or from a book. Literacy was about being able to access the information in books.
But that’s no longer the case. Now we have the internet. We have hyperlinked texts and powerpoint slides, multimedia and social media. Literacy is no longer simply about reading words in a linear, unchanging text. Literacy is about being able to access information from all these new sources (and the ones that will be here tomorrow!).
Even our b |
How To Aim A HandGun
Learning how to to aim a handgun is one of the most basic skills needed
for shooting and is an essential part of gun safety.
Aiming a Handgun
When aiming, focus your dominant eye on the | How To Aim A HandGun
Learning how to to aim a handgun is one of the most basic skills needed
for shooting and is an essential part of gun safety.
Aiming a Handgun
When aiming, focus your dominant eye on the front
sight of your gun. The target and the rear sight should be a little bit
blurry because your eye cannot focus on all three simultaneously.
Caution - One of the most common problems among shooters is the failure
to focus on the front sight.
Position the front sight in the notch of the rear
sight. The top of the front sight should be level with the top of the
rear sight and there should be an equal amount of space on either side.
If the front sight has a bead on it, adjust your
sight picture such that the
bead is over the center of your target.
Shooting Guns With Both Eyes Open
Most shooters squint or close one eye when aiming. It
allows them to focus on the front sight better. For defensive shooting it is
recommended that you learn to aim and shoot with both eyes open. That way
you don't restrict your field of vision and you can see more bad guys. See
Gun Aiming Accessories and Gun Sights.
What Is Your Dominant Eye?
When you look at an object your dominant eye is the one
that looks directly at it. Your other eye (or non-dominant eye) looks at the
object at a very slight angle which provides depth perception.
Test for Determining Your Dominant Eye
Make an "O" with your forefinger and thumb.
Pick an object on a wall about 20 feet away.
With both eyes open and your arm fully extended,
visually position the object in the center of the "O" of your fingers.
Close your left eye. If the object remains in the
center of the "O", you are right-eye dominant. If the object moves out
of the "O" then you are left-eye dominant.
When you aim your gun you see a snapshot or pattern of
the orientation of your sights with the target. This is your sight picture.
A correct sight picture is where your sights are properly aimed on the
target and you will hit the bulls eye (unless you
flinch, move or have poor trigger pull).
How Can I Steady My Aim?
With regard to gun sights and targets this movement is
called wobble area. Everyone has it and it varies from day to day. It is
impossible for anyone to hold a gun perfectly steady. There are things that
you can do to minimize wobble area like eating before shooting, avoiding
caffeine before shooting, avoid strenuous exercise immediately before
shooting, try to calm yourself before shooting and practice breath control
during shooting. When aiming, these wobble areas will vary in size and the
target will "float" in and out of the correct sight picture. With practice,
timing and proper trigger control you will be able to anticipate a wobble
and squeeze the trigger at the proper moment.
The Complete Illustrated Manual of Handgun Skills
How To Relax When Shooting Guns
February 15, 2012
This page had extremely useful information, however, I am still interested
in knowing tactics to relax you before qualifying in a shooting firearms
Response - Stephanie,
Sorry, I don't have any good tips for that. Good luck though.
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Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria
Arrived in Victoria in 1906 to take up the dual position of Government Botanist and Professor of Botany at the University of Melbourne. He relinquished the former position in | Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria
Arrived in Victoria in 1906 to take up the dual position of Government Botanist and Professor of Botany at the University of Melbourne. He relinquished the former position in 1921. His research interests spanned both plant physiology and taxonomy, and under his leadership the MELU herbarium was established and fostered. He is perhaps best remembered for his Flora of Victoria published in 1931, but was also the author of many papers and other books, including Handbook of Forest Trees for Victorian Foresters (1925), Weeds, Poison Plants, and Naturalised Aliens of Victoria (with J.R.Tovey, 1909) and The Flora of the Northern Territory (with O.B.Davies, 1917). His main collections are at MEL, with a few duplicates elsewhere, including B, DBN and NH.
Extracted from: A.E.Orchard (1999) A History of Systematic Botany in Australia, in Flora of Australia Vol.1, 2nd ed., ABRS. [consult for source references]
See also, full article in Historical Records of Australian Science 16(2) 139 - 167
Watch Dog over the Herbarium: Alfred Ewart, Victorian Government Botanist 1906–1921
by Helen M. Cohn
Alfred Ewart was Government Botanist in the service of the Victorian Government from February 1906 to February 1921. He was concurrently foundation Professor of Botany at the University of Melbourne, both positions being part-time. As Government Botanist he was in charge of the National Herbarium of Victoria, which had fallen into a slump after the death of the first Government Botanist, Ferdinand von Mueller, in 1896. Ewart was determined to restore the Herbarium to its former position as a leading centre of research on the Victorian and indeed the Australian flora. In doing so he enlisted the aid of the many capable botanists who were members of the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria. The Herbarium being in the Department of Agriculture, Ewart had duties in relation to the business of that Department. These had mainly to do with weeds, impure seeds and providing advice to departmental officers. Of particular importance was his taxonomic work as Government Botanist. He published a series of papers and books on the flora of Victoria and the Northern Territory, and engaged in debates with colleagues both interstate and overseas. Ewart ceased to be Government Botanist when the professorship was made a full-time appointment in response to increased teaching loads.
Source: Historical Records of Australian Science 16(2) 139 - 167 |
Quiescence (n): A 50-cent term often used when discussing how to back up virtual machines (VMs) without installing backup software into the VM itself. Quiescence is an issue because while in an image-level backup the file | Quiescence (n): A 50-cent term often used when discussing how to back up virtual machines (VMs) without installing backup software into the VM itself. Quiescence is an issue because while in an image-level backup the file system is quiesced prior to the backup, applications and databases are not quiesced, resulting in an inconsistent database restore, possible data loss and a longer total time to restore. Although not a critical issue, VMware has alleviated the problem with VMware Server 2.0, and the integration of Microsoft's Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) in VMs running Microsoft OSes.
Backup in the early days of virtualization
Since the dawn of virtualization, one of the greatest benefits it has offered IT is its ability to perform backups without installing backup software in each VM. By backing up the virtual machine from the perspective of its host, the backed-up virtual machine is effectively a single file.
This is in contrast to the tens of thousands of files that make up a typical server. By backing up VMs from the perspective of their host -- sometimes called an "image-level" backup -- the chance that a future restore will be completed quickly is greatly enhanced.
With image-level backups, the file system is traditionally quiesced (or quieted) prior to the backup. This ensures that images written to the file system during the backup period do not corrupt the backup during its processing.
The problem is that
VMware Server 2.0 and VSS
To combat this problem, VMware Server 2.0 has introduced an integration with virt |
Pair Programming Dos and Don'ts
Pair programming, or simply "pairing," is touted as a way for development teams to improve the quality of the software they produce. When pairing, two developers sit side-by-side at a single workstation and | Pair Programming Dos and Don'ts
Pair programming, or simply "pairing," is touted as a way for development teams to improve the quality of the software they produce. When pairing, two developers sit side-by-side at a single workstation and work together on specific programming tasks. The theory is that the practice of pairing promotes constant review: Two sets of eyes watch every line of code that gets added to the system.
In this article, I cover the simple mechanisms of pairing--what to do and what not to do. In a future article, I'll talk about some of the perceived benefits, costs, and challenges related to pairing. Often, teams don't achieve these benefits, and instead incur only costs, because they don't execute the practice well. If you heed the following recommendations, you should start seeing many other intangible benefits from pairing.
- Pair in an environment that comfortably accommodates two programmers sitting side by side. Programmers in a pair should be able to freely push the keyboard back and forth between each other. It should be easy and natural for programmers to get together to pair. Offices and cubes often don't support pair; open workspaces and bullpens do.
- View each person in a pair as being in one of two roles: strategic or tactical. The tactical person is the one at the keyboard, coding the current method. The strategic person is not only reviewing the code as it's being typed, but is also thinking about the bigger picture. "Where should we go next?" "What needs to be refractored as soon as we've added this code?"
- Switch roles several times during a pairing session. In a good pairing session, the keyboard should naturally flow back and forth between the two programmers. Programmers should feel comfortable with asking for the keyboard as well as with pushing it aside when they're ready to switch.
- Use pairing as an opportunity to help others learn valuable time-saving techniques, including things as simple as using the Ctrl-1 (quick fix) keystroke in Eclipse.
- Try to have someone monitor pairing as a coach, when you first attempt it, to watch for trouble spots.
- Set ground rules for pairing. Agree on what developers can work on when not pairing. Ensure that production code written when not pairing gets reviewed as appropriate, in some other manner (Fagan inspections, for example).
- Openly talk about the successes and problems with pairing as often as necessary--at least every other week. Figure out how to correct any problems that pairing presents.
- Expect a learning curve for pairing. It takes a bit of time to figure out how to work with each and every other developer on your team.
- Consider moving people around in order to create a good team mix, one that's willing to honestly try pairing.
- Be considerate about accessibility needs (such as the need for special keyboards or magnification). Often this presents a significant challenge for some pairings, but it can sometimes be overcome with a bit of technology or ingenuity.
- Switch pairs often! Not following this "do" is the most common, most fatal mistake you can make when pairing. Few people want to be stuck working with another pair all day or longer. Don't wait until you've completed a task before switching pairs. I recommend switching pairs at least once a day. Many of the true benefits of pairing come about by rotating pairs frequently.
- Force pairing on developers, but then again, don't avoid it simply because of some initial skepticism or gut reaction. Hold some honest conversations with your development team before embarking on it. Set a trial period of two to four weeks, and ask everyone to hold judgment until this period is complete. Look to discuss and correct problems on a daily basis during this trial.
- View pairing as one person watching, the other person doing. That quickly becomes boring and disengages the person watching, eliminating any real benefit from the practice.
- Force the pairs or determine them ahead of time. The best approach is to let the pairs form and swap naturally.
- Sweat the impact of pairing on estimates, or on the ability of an individual to get their work done. It all comes out in the wash.
- Overdo it. Pairing for six hours a day is plenty. Recommend core hours for the team, hours during which programmers are encouraged to pair.
- Be too overzealous about correct simple typos while in the strategic role. Give your pair an opportunity to correct their own mistakes. Most people recognize when they've made a typo.
- Get too smart with "when you don't need to pair." Learn how to pair well first before you try to figure out when not to pair.
- Let one person dominate in a pairing session. All programmers should be comfortable with grabbing the keyboard when they want to express some of their thoughts in code.
- Let the pairings stagnate. Make sure that developers are working with all other members on the team
- Give up on pairing without first giving it a fair trial. It will take a week or two for developers to start feeling comfortable with the practice and each other.
I personally resisted pairing when I first learned about the practice. I've since seen many benefits from pairing as a programmer on a team and also as an observer of many other teams. Done well, pairing is a fun practice that results in high quality s |
(Last Updated on : 23/09/2009)
Panini is described in the history as the greatest known grammarian of ancient India. His work on the Sanskrit language has up to the present day remained the standard of Sanskrit | (Last Updated on : 23/09/2009)
Panini is described in the history as the greatest known grammarian of ancient India. His work on the Sanskrit language has up to the present day remained the standard of Sanskrit grammar. His qualities are so great, that Panini was ranked among the Rishis, or inspired seers, and at a later period of Sanskrit literature, was supposed to have received the fundamental rules of his work from the Lord Shiva himself.
There is a little knowledge of the personal history of Panini. It is only known that he was a native of the village Salatura. Salatura was situated north-west of Attock, on the Indus. Thus his surname is Salaturiya. Dakshi was Panini`s mother and thus from his mother`s side he must have been a descendant of the celebrated family of Daksha.
In a story book, the Kathasaritsagara which signifies the ocean for the rivers of tales gives, indeed, some circumstantial account of the life and death of Panini. The narrative of this book is very absurd, and the work itself is of a modern date. It was written in Cashmere, at the commencement of the twelfth century that no credit whatever can be attached to the facts related by it, or to the inferences which modem scholars have drawn from them.
According to the research is probable that Panini lived before Sakyamuni. Sakyamuni was the founder of the Buddhist religion, whose death took place about 543 B.C., but that a more definite date of the great grammarian has but little chance of ascertainment in the actual condition of Sanskrit philosophy.
Panini`s grammar consists of eight Adhyayas, or books. Each book comprised of four Padas, or chapters, and each chapter a number of Sutras or aphoristically rules. The latter amount in the whole to 3996; but three, perhaps four, of them did not originally belong to the work of Panini. The arrangement of these rules differ completely from what a European would expect in a grammatical work, for it is based on the principle of tracing linguistic phenomena, and not concerned in the classification of the linguistic material as to the so-called parts of speech.
A chapter, for instance, treating of prolongation of vowels, will deal with such a fact whenever it occurs, be it in the formation of bases, or in conjugation, declension, composition and many more. The rules of conjugation and declension are, for the reason, not to be met with in same chapter or in the same order in which European grammars would teach them; nor would any single book or chapter, however apparently more systematically arranged.
In a universal way, Panini`s work may thus be called a natural history of the Sanskrit language, in the sense that it has the strict tendency of giving an accurate description of facts, instead of making such a description subservient to the theories according to which the linguistic material is usually distributed by European grammarians. As the method of Panini requires in a student the power of combining many rules scattered all over the work, and of combining, also, many inferences to be drawn from these rules, it exercises, moreover, on the mind of the student an effect analogous to that which is supposed to be the peculiar advantage of the study of mathematics.
Katyayana disapproved the grammatical rules of Panini. Many authors commented the rules of Panini. The best existing commentary on them is that called the Kasikavritti, by Vamana Jayaditya, which follows these rules in their original order. At a later stage attempts were made to arrange the rules of Panini in a manner which approaches more to the European method; the chief work of this category is the Siddhanta Kaumuti, by Bhattojidikshita. Panini mentions, in his Sutras, several grammarians who preceded him, amongst others, Sakatayana.
At present therefore, Panini`s work still remains the oldest existing grammatical work of India, and probably of the human race. Panini`s use of metarules, transformations, and recursion together make his grammar as rigorous as a modern Turing machine. Panini`s grammar can be considered to be the world`s first formal system. To design his grammar, Panini used the method of `auxiliary symbols`, in which new affixes are designated to mark syntactic classes and the control of grammatical derivations. This technique was rediscovered by the logician Emil Post and is now a standard method in the design of computer programming languages. |
BOOT(9) BSD Kernel Manual BOOT(9)
boot - halt or reboot the system
#include <sys/reboot.h> void boot(int howto);
The boot() function handles final system shutdown, and either halts or reboots | BOOT(9) BSD Kernel Manual BOOT(9)
boot - halt or reboot the system
#include <sys/reboot.h> void boot(int howto);
The boot() function handles final system shutdown, and either halts or reboots the system. The exact action to be taken is determined by the flags passed in howto and by whether or not the system has finished auto- configuration. If the system has finished autoconfiguration, boot() does the following: 1. Sets the boothowto system variable from the howto argument. 2. If this is the first invocation of boot() and the RB_NOSYNC flag is not set in howto, syncs and unmounts the system disks by calling vfs_shutdown(9) and sets the time of day clock by calling resettodr(9). 3. Disables interrupts. 4. If rebooting after a crash (i.e., if RB_DUMP is set in howto, but RB_HALT is not), saves a system crash dump. 5. Runs any shutdown hooks by calling doshutdownhooks(9). 6. Prints a message indicating that the system is about to be halted or rebooted. 7. If RB_HALT is set in howto, halts the system. Otherwise, re- boots the system. If the system has not finished autoconf |
Alicia Ostriker reads Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus"
Poetry of American Identity: A Collection of Field Recordings by Award-winning Contemporary Poets
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant | Alicia Ostriker reads Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus"
Poetry of American Identity: A Collection of Field Recordings by Award-winning Contemporary Poets
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame, “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! |
The California Halibut (Paralichthys californicus) is a species of flounder that is found from Bodega Bay, California to Magdalena Bay, Baja California. They are also found as far north as the | The California Halibut (Paralichthys californicus) is a species of flounder that is found from Bodega Bay, California to Magdalena Bay, Baja California. They are also found as far north as the Quillayute River, British Columbia and a separate population occurs in the upper Gulf of California. It is also known as the California Flounder.
This is a large-toothed fish weighs from 6 to 50 pounds. The body of the California halibut is oblong and compressed. The head is small and the mouth large. The color is dark brown to black on the eyed side and white on the blind side. Their numerous teeth, very large mouth and a high arch in the middle of the “top” side above the pectoral fin make them easily distinguishable from other flatfish.
This is an unusual fish in that one eye has to migrate around from one side to the other as it grows from an upright fry or baby fish into an adult fish that lays on its side. The adult has two eyes on the up-side as it lays on the bottom. The fish hides under sand or loose gravel and blends into the bottom. |
⎨Through the Projected Perception of Spacial Harmonics⎬
Sense and the Sensor;
The world around us: the world we design and build to experience. All around us we have created stuff. Stimuli, candy for | ⎨Through the Projected Perception of Spacial Harmonics⎬
Sense and the Sensor;
The world around us: the world we design and build to experience. All around us we have created stuff. Stimuli, candy for the modern imagination, stimulation for the conglomeration. We are amidst a trans-connected threshold, whereby everything is networked, plugged in, online, and in real-time. Computer chips now out number humans and questions of embodiment through architecture are not being questioned, ‘Digital networks are no longer separate from architecture and pervasive computing is being inscribed into the everyday social, political and environmental complexity of the existing physical environment’ (McCullough, 2005). Everyday the world is becoming increasingly clearer that it is one of individual interconnected self-expression.
Who is to be responsible for these new endeavors, designs and spaces? McCullough States, “Human life is interactive life, in which architecture has long set the stage,”(McCullough, 2005) It is architecture’s responsibility to illuminate the way. But if architecture is at all interested in creating experience in this information age then it must be rigorously responsible at incorporating this realm, its constructs, and infrastructure. In this new space ‘The Architecture becomes the information editor’ (Plottegg & Trapp).
‘The real is already virtual’ (Novak, 2001), and “The virtual connects body and perspective in new ways” (Queau, 1995). But the last thing we need is more meaningless connectivity in the vein of virtual reality. Attempting to simulate reality by symbolizing it. Rather a new capacity needs to be investigated, alternative to that which is known. “Existing notions of body and space need to be re‐programmed to stay meaningful” (Hoog, 2005). So it is through our architecture that “Alternity” originates. Alternity employs informed dimensions of space and time. Superseding virtuality by attempting to avoid symbolism, existing between the physical & metaphysical, material & immaterial, real & unreal, it exists within this current blurred threshold. The threshold, which society is beginning to get comfortable in and the threshold which architecture, is in need of a defense. Defending its necessity and responsibility in these new realms of world making.
The goal of this thesis is to explore the concept and practice of world making by designing an environment that allows for the experimentation of spatial and temporal harmonic possibilities using information as material. Geometry (numbers in space), sound (numbers in time), and sense (coherence of numbers) are constructs containing forces and velocities which are translated by their inherent relationship to frequency, and periodicity, thus creating potential harmonies. This feedback loop through projection, both spatial (geometric) and temporal (sonic) are informed by mapping perception (EEG data). This allows a unique relationship to be reprogrammed, and is experienced through the TranSection; an evolved threshold paradigm, projecting space by perceiving our sense of it. An experiment in the evolution and transformation of the visceral infinite spaceScape of possibilities.
Welcome to Alternity. ∞
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– The Basics of Building Server ControlsSecond Article
– Reusing and Creating Server Controls (Previous article)
Download the source code demonstrated in this article.
Ever wanted to merge two controls together to form one control? The need may arise in the future | – The Basics of Building Server ControlsSecond Article
– Reusing and Creating Server Controls (Previous article)
Download the source code demonstrated in this article.
Ever wanted to merge two controls together to form one control? The need may arise in the future that you will have to pull multiple controls together to form one, unified server control. These “unified” server controls are given a name – called composite server controls.
Composite server controls are a collection controls to create one unified control; however, do not confuse this term that two control's functionality and behaviour are being combined/merged under one server control. Instead, rather think that composite controls as multiple controls are working together, for each other – to create more complex functionality. But what criterion must be met before a control is declared composite? It must be able to:
Contain other server controls as children – no matter how those server controls get there (you will see the different ways on how the children controls are added to the server controls in this article).
Hook up the children controls so they provide some unique functionality. In example: a TextBox control, a Button control and a Repeater control in a user control to provide some type of search functionality. The TextBox control will contain the search query and the Button control will fire a Click event to indicate the search must begin. Then, the search results will then be relayed in the Repeater control via data binding.
To give a few examples of composite controls, take a look at the DataGrid control, user controls and the ASP.NET page. The file based controls (the user control and ASP.NET page) are composite controls because they can hold an abundance of controls to create an user interface. They also hook up each others event to provide some type of functionality or meaning to the control – that is what a composite control is about: hooking up loose functionality from other controls.
The DataGrid is a composite control because it adds other controls inside itself when it is data bounded to a data source. The DataGrid also has the ability to create functionality of the controls it can add. For example, if a DataGrid's content can be edited (enabled by the page developer), the DataGrid uses a Button control (lets call it the edit button) to listen for the edit button's Click event. When the DataGrid hears the edit button click event, it will then issue an Ok/Cancel buttons (also Button controls) and the DataGrid will then listen to those buttons for further notifications. On top of the Ok/Cancel buttons being issued, the columns are converted to editable regions such as text boxes (this is default behaviour although this can be changed).
When the DataGrid hears that the Cancel button was clicked, then the DataGrid exits out of edit mode. If the DataGrid hears that the Ok button was clicked, it would then raise an event to detect that a row has been “edited” by the user. The event will change the DataGrid's internal DataSet (which is, by default, saved to view state to be re-used for every post back for that page). Furthermore, it will alert the code watching over the DataGrid that there has been changes (from the user) and it is up to the listeners to make any additional changes – normally, to a database. |
French and German bishops celebrate 50th anniversary of Elysee Treaty
CWN - January 18, 2013
The Catholic bishops’ conferences of Germany and France released a joint declaration on January 18 marking the 50th anniversary | French and German bishops celebrate 50th anniversary of Elysee Treaty
CWN - January 18, 2013
The Catholic bishops’ conferences of Germany and France released a joint declaration on January 18 marking the 50th anniversary of the Elysee Treaty that reconciled the two World War II foes.
The Elysee Treaty, the bishops’ statement said, “was the height of the reconciliation between the two enemy nations and the starting point for the deepening of friendly relations through political and social contact at all levels.” The statement said that such friendly cooperation is “now more important than ever for overcoming the current crisis and for shaping the future of Europe."
The bishops’ declaration also observed that the Elysee Treaty was celebrated with a Mass of reconciliation at the cathedral of Rheims, attended by the two heads of state: General Charles de Gaulle of France and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of Germany. The political leaders’ participation at that Mass, the bishops said, "symbolized the awareness that politics is built upon foundations that it cannot build itself.”
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Although there were no mammalian predators in New Zealand before the advent of Homo sapiens, there were avian predators, some of which were quite extraordinary and would be considered mythical if we did not have the remains to prove their existence. One of | Although there were no mammalian predators in New Zealand before the advent of Homo sapiens, there were avian predators, some of which were quite extraordinary and would be considered mythical if we did not have the remains to prove their existence. One of these was the Haast eagle, the largest, most powerful, eagle the world has known, the females weighing as much as 13 kilograms and with wings spanning almost three metres. As herbivores, such as the Moa, evolved large body size, the eagle did too, allowing it to exploit a food source reserved in other lands for the great cats. Indeed the Haast eagle had talons comparable to a tiger’s and was capable of killing a human.
The first discovered bones of this species were found in 1871 during excavation of Moa bones at Glenmark swamp in Canterbury. They were described in 1872 by Dr Julius von Haast, first director of the Canterbury Museum, who named the bird after George Moore, owner of Glenmark Station on which so many sub fossil bird bones were found.
Haast described two species of eagle, one on the basis of small bones which are now believed to represent the male. Only three complete skeletons have been found: two found late last century are in the Otago Museum in New Zealand and the Natural History Museum in London: the third, found in a cave near Nelson in 1989, is held by the National Museum in Wellington.
The bones of this giant eagle are nowhere common but have been found widely in the South Island and southern half of the North Island, usually along with Moa bones in swamps and caves. However, Trevor Worthy asserts that the eagle has never been found in the North island and that all records are based on misidentifications.
The youngest eagle bones found may be only 500 years old indicating that eagles and humans co-existed. Charlie Douglas in the bird section of his book describes shooting something in the late 1800s that was probably two eagles.
Research by Dr. Richard Holdaway on the skeletal remains of the birds suggests that the New Zealand eagle was a forest eagle that could not soar but probably hunted like other forest eagles by perching high on a branch until a suitable prey came within range and then diving on it at speeds of up to 80 kilometers an hour. The impact, which could knock even the largest Moa off its feet, was cushioned by powerful legs. The brutal talons were then used to crush and pierce the neck and skull of the immobilised prey. The eagle and its mate could remain near the kill for several days. Like all eagles the Haast also ate carrion and preyed on trapped animals when these were available.
With a life span approaching 20 years, the eagles occupied, in pairs, territories up to several hundred square kilometers. They were found mainly in the drier eastern forest during the Holocene but were more widespread in the scattered forest and scrublands of the late Otiran Glaciations 20,000 – 14,000 years ago.
The Maori seemed to have called the bird Te Pouakai or Te Hokioi. Murdoch Riley in his book on Maori bird lore says that most authorities favour Te Hokioi. Other authorities say that the bird was a very large hawk that lived on the tops of mountains, another that it stayed always in the sky and was a descendant of the star Rehua. It was regarded as the ancestor of ceremonial kites, which generally took the form of birds. Elsdon Best records that it was a legendary bird, reputed to carry off and devour men, women and children. The birds were also depicted in rock drawings.
The Haast eagle succumbed to the environmental damage resulting from Polynesian colonisation. It became extinct probably several hundred years ago, along with the Moa, its main food source. Trevor Worthy says that Maori did kill them as their bones have been found in middens and fashioned into tools.
Phalange measured from summit to articular end to point, 2.9 inches (70 cm); circumference, 3.17 inches (85 cm).
Other common names: —
10-14 kg., wingspan almost 3 metres.
More Information: —
»»» Te Hokioi page
(in the Maori myths section)
Youtube video —
Illustration description: —
Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, 1871 and 1895.
Oliver, W.R.B., New Zealand Birds, 1955.
Stevens, Graeme, Prehistoric New Zealand, 1988
Riley, Murdoch, Maori Bird Lore, 2000.
Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, 1871.
Page date & version: —
Saturday, 30 October, 2010; ver2009v1 |
SCOTT M. DENNIS *
This paper describes recent improvements in measuring ton-miles for the air, truck, rail, water, and pipeline modes. Each modal estimate contains a discussion of the data sources used and methodology employed, presents a | SCOTT M. DENNIS *
This paper describes recent improvements in measuring ton-miles for the air, truck, rail, water, and pipeline modes. Each modal estimate contains a discussion of the data sources used and methodology employed, presents a comparison with well-known existing estimates for reference purposes, and discusses the limitations of the data. The resulting estimates provide more comprehensive coverage of transportation activity than do existing estimates, especially with respect to trucking and natural gas pipelines.
KEYWORDS: Transportation measurement, ton-miles.
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) is improving some of its basic estimates of transportation activity. This paper describes proposed ton-mile estimates for the air, truck, rail, water, and pipeline modes. Each modal estimate contains a discussion of the data sources used and methodology employed, presents a comparison with well-known existing estimates for reference purposes, and discusses the limitations of the data. This paper should be viewed as part of a continuing series of steps forward. Additional planned work will allow BTS to further improve its basic estimates of transportation activity.
Ton-miles is the primary physical measure of freight transportation output. A ton-mile is defined as one ton of freight shipped one mile, and therefore reflects both the volume shipped (tons) and the distance shipped (miles). Ton-miles provides the best single measure of the overall demand for freight transportation services, which in turn reflects the overall level of industrial activity in the economy. In addition, a ton-mile estimate is necessary in order to construct other estimates of transportation system performance, such as energy efficiency and accident, injury, and fatality rates.
Domestic ton-mile estimates are usually developed by aggregating data for individual freight transportation modes. Data for air freight, railroad, and water transportation are readily available as a result of government provision of infrastructure or residual economic regulation. Comprehensive pipeline data are difficult to obtain, because a significant percentage of pipeline traffic is "in-house" transportati |
Nitrogen Watch 2013
Abundant rain and snowfall in 2013 have created a risk that applied N fertilizer may be lost via leaching and denitrification, especially when applied before planting. Anhydrous ammonia applied | Nitrogen Watch 2013
Abundant rain and snowfall in 2013 have created a risk that applied N fertilizer may be lost via leaching and denitrification, especially when applied before planting. Anhydrous ammonia applied in March or April is at least risk, but fall-applied anhydrous ammonia and other sources applied this spring before planting are at substantial risk of loss in many corn-growing areas.
This page tracks 2013 spring rainfall and identifies ‘danger areas’ that are on track to have widespread problems with N loss and deficiency in corn. This is a serious production and environmental problem that I estimate cost Midwestern corn producers 2 billion bushels total from 2008 to 2011.
Nitrogen watch for well- and moderately well-drained soils:
Nitrogen watch for poorly- and somewhat poorly-drained soils: |
Hygiene & Handwashing
Good basic personal hygiene and handwashing are critical to help prevent the spread of illness and disease. Clean, safe running water is essential for proper hygiene and handwashing.
Hygiene is especially important in an emergency such as | Hygiene & Handwashing
Good basic personal hygiene and handwashing are critical to help prevent the spread of illness and disease. Clean, safe running water is essential for proper hygiene and handwashing.
Hygiene is especially important in an emergency such as a flood, hurricane, or earthquake, but finding clean, safe running water can sometimes be difficult. The following information will help to ensure good hygiene and handwashing in the event of an emergency.
Before an emergency, make sure you have created a Disaster Supplies Kit. The CDC and the American Red Cross have prepared a shopping list of emergency water, hygiene, and sanitation supplies that should be contained in your kit.
Keeping hands clean during an emergency helps prevent the spread of germs. If your tap water is not safe to use, wash your hands with soap and water that has been boiled or disinfected. Follow these steps to make sure you wash your hands properly:
- Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold) and apply soap.
- Rub your hands together to make a lather and scrub them well; be sure to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
- Continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the "Happy Birthday" song from beginning to end twice.
- Rinse your hands well under running water.
- Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.
A temporary Handwashing Station [PDF - 1 page] can be created by using a large water jug that contains clean water (for example, boiled or disinfected).
Keeping hands clean through improved hand hygiene is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. If clean, running water is not accessible, as is common in many parts of the world, use soap and available water. If soap and water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol to clean hands.
When to Wash Hands
Wash hands with soap and clean, running water (if available):
- Before, during, and after preparing food
- Before eating food
- Before and after caring for someone who is sick
- Before and after treating a cut or wound
- After using the toilet
- After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
- After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
- After touching an animal or animal waste
- After handling pet food or pet treats
- After touching garbage
Other Hand Hygiene Resources
Do not use contaminated water to wash dishes, brush your teeth, wash and prepare food, or make ice.
Bathing after a water-related emergency should only be done with clean, safe water. Listen to local authorities for further instructions. Sometimes water that is not safe to drink can be used for bathing.
Brushing your teeth after a water-related emergency should only be done with clean, safe water. Listen to local authorities to find out if tap water is safe to use.
Visit the Safe Drinking Water for Personal Use page for more information about making your water safe for brushing your teeth. You may visit CDC’s Oral Health page for complete dental hygiene information.
Keeping wounds clean and covered is crucial during an emergency. If you have open cuts or sores, keep them as clean as possible by washing well with soap and clean, safe water to control infection. If a wound develops redness, swelling, or drainage, seek immediate medical attention.
Healthcare professionals should visit Emergency Wound Management for Healthcare Professionals and Management of Vibrio vulnificus Wound Infections After a Disaster.
- Cleaning and Sanitizing With Bleach After a Disaster or Emergency
(Information on how to keep surfaces clean to avoid the spread of germs)
- Flood Waters or Standing Waters
(Steps to protect yourself and your family from potentially-contaminated flood water)
- Guidelines for the Management of Acute Diarrhea (for Healthcare Providers)
(Acute diarrhea may occur in post-disaster situations where access to electricity, clean water, and sanitary facilities is limited)
- Other Water-Related Emergency Information and Resources
(CDC’s website dedicated to water needs before, during, and after disasters and emergencies) |
The Queen's Guard and Queen's Life Guard (called King's Guard and King's Life Guard when the reigning monarch is male) are the names given to contingents of infantry and cavalry soldiers charged with guarding the official royal residences in London. The | The Queen's Guard and Queen's Life Guard (called King's Guard and King's Life Guard when the reigning monarch is male) are the names given to contingents of infantry and cavalry soldiers charged with guarding the official royal residences in London. The British Army has regiments of both Horse Guards and Foot Guards predating the English Restoration (1660), and since the reign of King Charles II these have been responsible for guarding the Sovereign's palaces. Contrary to popular belief, they are not purely ceremonial and are fully operational soldiers.
- 1 Operating area
- 2 Queen's Guard
- 2.1 Postings
- 2.2 Windsor Castle and The Tower of London
- 2.3 Edinburgh
- 2.4 Incidents
- 2.5 Procedure Whilst at Post
- 2.6 Discipline
- 2.7 Arms plot
- 2.8 Women and the Guard
- 2.9 Other Commonwealth units to have mounted the King's/Queen's Guard
- 2.10 Queen's Guard monthly schedule
- 2.11 Changing of the Windsor Castle Guard
- 3 The Queen's Life Guard
- 4 Changing the Queen's Life Guard
- 5 See also
- 6 References
- 7 External links
The Queen's Guard and Queen's Life Guard is mounted at the royal residences that come under the operating area of the British Army's London District, which is responsible for the administration of the Household Division. This covers Buckingham Palace, St James' Palace and the Tower of London, as well as Windsor Castle. The Queen's Guard is also mounted at the sovereign's other official residence, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, but not as often as in London. In Edinburgh, the guard is the responsibility of the resident infantry battalion at Redford Barracks. It is not mounted at the Queen' |
- Historic Sites
A Measureless Peril: America In The Fight For The Atlantic, The Longest Battle Of World War II, By Richard Snow
Spring 2010 | Volume 60, Issue 1
As Richard Snow rightly suggests | - Historic Sites
A Measureless Peril: America In The Fight For The Atlantic, The Longest Battle Of World War II, By Richard Snow
Spring 2010 | Volume 60, Issue 1
As Richard Snow rightly suggests in the subtitle to his compelling book, the Battle of the Atlantic was the longest and certainly one of the most consequential campaigns of the Second World War, if not in world history. To use a definition offered by a historian in the British Ministry of Defence, it was “the German war-long attack on Allied (and neutral) shipping, principally by submarines, and the Allied response to that attack.”
It began within hours of the outbreak of war in September 1939 and ended only when the U-boats surfaced to surrender at the orders of their wholly defeated government in May 1945. The determination of both sides was astounding and, at least for those serving the democracies, deeply moving: “Morale has so far not been affected,” wrote a high official for the British merchant marine, of which perhaps 50,000 died. The stakes matched the courage and devotion. Without the Atlantic sea bridge, there would be no way of supplying Britain and, to a considerable degree, Russia, the latter double the distance and more by the Pacific route. Without access to Britain, there would be no way for the U.S. Air Forces, much less the Army, to grapple with the Third Reich.
Previous books about this desperate struggle have generally been burdened with the grim statistical tables of monthly losses, charts showing the shifting of hunting grounds, and even mathematical formulas depicting the ratios of loss to ship construction, all of which bleed the day-to-day human drama out of one of the true epics of industrial society. Not so in this readable, sometimes lyrical, history by a former editor of American Heritage.
Snow tells a story in which the central feature is not the tonnage sunk or the rate of American shipbuilding but the men and boys who manned both the surface ships struggling to get through and the submarines lurking to destroy them. Some of these characters are well known, such as the passionate German champion of U-boat warfare, Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz. Most are not, such as the author’s own father, a lieutenant on the destroyer escort USS Neunzer, whose wartime letters home drew the author to this topic.
Snow has an artist’s eye for the perfect anecdote, and he draws freely on memoirs, letters, and even wartime novels. The result is a word mural of the Atlantic war that is vivid enough to make us feel the sting of the salt spray and smell the burning oil (and flesh). In a U-boat, “everything dripped, everything stank.” When one set out on patrol, “clusters of sausages dangled the length of the boat,” which gave it “the curious combined atmosphere of a luxury grocery store doing business inside a gargantuan automobile engine.” On the American side, the brand-new destroyer escorts being built in a score of coastal sites were “cocooned in electrical cables and acetylene hoses, comic with banana-yellow priming paint, simmering in the smell of creosote rising from the dock and the coal smoke exhaled by the self-important little yard locomotives fretting their way along the tracks just ten feet inshore.” But against this quiet amusem |
Islets of Langerhans is the area in which the endocrine (i.e., hormone-producing) cells of the pancreas are grouped. Discovered in 1869 by the famous German pathological anatomist Paul Langerhans, | Islets of Langerhans is the area in which the endocrine (i.e., hormone-producing) cells of the pancreas are grouped. Discovered in 1869 by the famous German pathological anatomist Paul Langerhans, the islets of Langerhans constitute approximately 1 to 2% of the mass of the pancreas. There are about one million islets in a healthy adult human pancreas, which are distributed evenly throughout the organ; their combined mass is 1 to 1.5 grams.
Because the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans are destroyed in type I diabetes, clinicians and researchers are actively pursuing islet transplantation technology as a means of curing this disease. Rachel Harris, islet cell recipient, was transplanted at the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami, Florida. In June o |
The Basics, 2nd Edition
Routledge – 2001 – 304 pages
First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
"White Racism is a bold | The Basics, 2nd Edition
Routledge – 2001 – 304 pages
First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
"White Racism is a bold and highly recommended text that contains many important insights toward the dismantlement of white racism." -- Philadelphia Tribune
"… useful as a supplementary reading in a race relations course; it would make eye-opening reading for white students who have not thought much about racism in society or in themselves and it might stimulate dialogue between white and black students." -- Journal of American Ethnic History |
Today’s post is about some cool chemistry – very cool. About 0.01°Kelvin, as a matter of fact (that is, one hundredth of a degree above absolute zero). Physics experiments conducted at such temperatures are already old | Today’s post is about some cool chemistry – very cool. About 0.01°Kelvin, as a matter of fact (that is, one hundredth of a degree above absolute zero). Physics experiments conducted at such temperatures are already old hat, but chemistry is another story, altogether. Scientists have been attempting to produce chemical reactions at ultra-low temperatures for at least 50 years; a Weizmann research team has finally achieved that goal.
Why try to get reactions to take place in these conditions, which are wholly unfavorable to the usual lab-type chemistry? The answer is that when temperatures drop as low as they can go, quantum effects take over from the classical physics we’re used to. Particles, for instance, begin to act as waves. So any chemical reactions taking place in that range are likely to be as weird and wonderful as the laws of quantum physics, themselves. Plus, we know that chemical reactions do take place at the lowest end of the temperature range, out in the frigid expanses of interstellar space.
The coldest atoms and molecules – that is, matter in its lowest possible energy state – need some help if they are going to interact chemically. So scientists have approached the task by creating very fast, cold beams of atoms and/or molecules, and thr |
When dealing with an angry customer, which two things can a technician do to resolve the problem? (Choose two.)
#Allow the customer to explain the problem, possibly dispelling some of the anger.
#Sympathize with the customer's | When dealing with an angry customer, which two things can a technician do to resolve the problem? (Choose two.)
#Allow the customer to explain the problem, possibly dispelling some of the anger.
#Sympathize with the customer's problem.
A customer calls to complain that another technician was rude to them. In the past, the technician has received many complaints about rudeness regarding this coworker. How should the technician handle this complaint?
#Listen to the complaint, apologize for the incident, and then offer to help the customer.
A technician receives a call from a customer who is too talkative. How should the technician handle the call?
#Allow the customer to speak without interruption and then try to use closed-ended questions to gather data.
Which three items are commonly parts of a service level agreement (SLA)? (Choose three.)
Which three pieces of information should be given to the next technician when transferring a customer? (Choose three.)
Which three tasks are commonly carried out by a level-one technician? (Choose three.)
#document all information on the work order
#prioritize the problem
#gather information from the customer
The technician begins diagnosing a problem by asking an experienced customer to visit a troubleshooting Web site. The customer becomes angry because she feels this could be done without calling the technician. What should the technician do?
#Explain how the Web site can be used by both of them during the call to quickly eliminate problems.
A technician wants to apply for a job in a call center for a computer repair service. Which two characteristics are desirable for this type of position? (Choose two.)
#possess good listening skills
#display professional behavior at all times
A customer calls to report a computer problem. Which two actions can the technician use to establish a good rapport with the customer? (Choose two.)
#Allow the customer to speak without interruption.
#Refer to the customer by name whenever possible.
What are three guidelines for beginning a call with a customer? (Choose three.)
#Determine the level of knowledge that the customer possesses about computers.
#Use brief communication to establish a one-to-one connection with the customer.
#Call the customer by name.
Which three techniques should be used to successfully deal with a talkative customer? (Choose three.)
#Politely interrupt to refocus the customer.
#Gather as much information as possible while the customer is talking.
#Allow the customer to talk for one minute and then ask closed-ended question to regain control of call.
Which two approaches are recommended when dealing with customers on the telephone? (Choose two.)
#Look for alternative ways to help the customer.
While a technician is listening to a lengthy explanation of a problem, the technician identifies the solution to the problem. How should the technician proceed?
#Wait until the customer has finished speaking, and then explain the possible solution.
Which two techniques should be used when dealing with an inexperienced customer? (Choose two.)
#Use simple step-by-step instructions.
#Speak in plain terms.
What is the recommended way to place customers on hold?
#Ask and wait for permission before placing customers on hold.
Which issue is an example of an exception to an SLA that should be escalated to a manager?
#A customer wants two new computers added to the existing SLA without additional cost.
Which three relaxing techniques can help relieve the stress caused from helping customers in a call center? (Choose three.)
#Go for a quick walk.
#Listen to soothing sounds.
#Practice relaxed breathing.
Which two guidelines demonstrate proper netiquette? (Choose two.)
#Begin each e-mail with an appropriate greeting.
#Avoid replying to "flames".
A technician is trying to calm an angry customer. What is the best approach?
#Maintain a positive tone of voice and offer to help solve the problem.
A technician is talking on the telephone to an angry customer who is unhappy with previous service. How should the technician calm the customer?
#Listen carefully and attempt to solve the customer's problem. |
Jim Lacey: The Battle for Civilization... 2,500 Years Ago Last Week
Jim Lacey is professor of strategic studies at the Marine War College and the author of a new history of the Battle of Marathon.
Before dawn on Sept. | Jim Lacey: The Battle for Civilization... 2,500 Years Ago Last Week
Jim Lacey is professor of strategic studies at the Marine War College and the author of a new history of the Battle of Marathon.
Before dawn on Sept. 12, 490 b.c., 10,000 mostly Athenian hoplites formed for an assault on the Persian force assembled before them on the Marathon Plain, nearly 25 miles from Athens. At the sound of a single trumpet, the advance began. Eight men deep on the flanks and four deep in the center, the phalanx of bristling spear points and blazing shields began its slow, inexorable march toward the enemy.
Picking up the pace, first to a fast walk and then to a trot, the Athenian hoplites closed on their enemy at what must have appeared to the waiting Persians a dazzling pace. At 600 yards’ distance the mass of men began to scream their fierce and nerve-shattering battle cry: Alleeee!
Hastily, the Persian commanders aligned their troops. Men holding wicker shields went to the front as thousands of archers arrayed themselves behind them. The Persian army showed no panic. They were professional soldiers, victors of a hundred bloody battles. In another moment their archers would release, and tens of thousands of deadly bolts would fill the sky. Afterward, the waiting spearmen would advance to slaughter the shattered and decimated remnants of the Greek force.
But the Persians had never before faced an army like this one…
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- Nelson Mandela Dead: Icon of Anti-Apartheid Movement Dies at 95
- George H.W. Bush Given Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation Award
- Bruce Springsteen's 'Born To Run' manuscript could fetch $100,000 at NY auction
- Hospital Donates Records of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to JFK Library
- Australia’s Eureka Flag Finds a New Patch |
The Wise Use Resource Library
Malheureusement, il n'y a pas de version française de ce document.
Updated, 2012: Managing tourism in wetlands - some useful resources
Updated, 2012: Tourism and Wetlands
| The Wise Use Resource Library
Malheureusement, il n'y a pas de version française de ce document.
Updated, 2012: Managing tourism in wetlands - some useful resources
Updated, 2012: Tourism and Wetlands
A Short History of Waterbird Conservation, by Eckhart Kuijken; from Waterbirds around the world (2006)
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands: assessment of international designations within the United States (2007), by Royal C. Gardner and Kim Diana Connolly
The Ramsar Convention: Measuring its Effectiveness for Conserving Wetlands of International Importance, an independent report (2002), Gonzalo Castro, Kenneth Chomitz, and Timothy S. Thomas, The World Bank and World Wildlife Fund
"Wise use of wetlands", by Hollis, Holland, Maltby, and Larson, Nature and Resources (UNESCO), 1988
Australia. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. “National Guidance on Notifying Change in Ecological Character of Australian Ramsar Wetlands (Article 3.2)”. (2009) module 3 in its National Guidelines for Ramsar Wetlands series
Wetland management planning: a guide for site managers (2008). WWF, Wetlands International, IUCN, and Ramsar
Delivering the Ramsar Convention in your country: national focal points and their roles. 2007. English 1, 2. Français 1, 2. Español 1, 2. |
Question: My pup was responding well to our recall training at the park, getting reinforced with high-value treats like meatballs and behaving in a way that made us so proud. That all changed when a sweet elderly man at the park starting giving all | Question: My pup was responding well to our recall training at the park, getting reinforced with high-value treats like meatballs and behaving in a way that made us so proud. That all changed when a sweet elderly man at the park starting giving all the dogs Milk-Bones. Not only did our dog fail to come when called while he was feeding her, for the next couple of weeks, she rarely came when we called her in other contexts. My question is about how dogs learn and what makes their training seem to fall apart? What can I do to prevent such setbacks in the future, and how can I know when our dog has really “gotten it” so that I can be sure she will come, no matter what?
Answer: Most people have experienced some variant of what you describe, and these setbacks can be very disheartening. The situation at the park was not so much one in which a dog’s training fell apart as it was one in which a dog was asked to do something that she had not yet been trained to do. Responding appropriately to the cue to come to you when there is nothing particularly new or interesting to distract her is totally different than returning to you when someone else is feeding her treats.
What you learned courtesy of the treat man at the park is that your dog does not know how to come when called while she was getting treats from somebody else. Furthermore, she seems to have learned that even when called, she doesn’t have to come, which may explain why her recall got worse (let’s not say “fell apart”!) and why she did not come when called even in other situations.
The real secret to dog training is that there are 100 steps involved in teaching a dog something so that she can do it in any situation. Step one for teaching recall may be calling your dog to come from five feet away in your living room, with nothing else going on but you and your meatballs, and step 100 is calling your dog to come when she is 500 feet away, chasing a deer. Many people charge from step five to step 95 without realizing what a challenge this is for a dog. This is the equivalent of asking a student to go from addition and subtraction to reinventing calculus, figuring that the student already knows how to do math, so what’s the problem?
Teaching a dog what a cue means is often the easiest part. Proofing the dog to that cue, or getting the dog to respond to that cue in all situations, is the challenge. Just because your dog knows how to come when called when nothing else has captivated |
Crab's Metabolism May be Affected by Noise Pollution
Sitting at the dock of the bay you might hear the crash of breaking waves and squawking seagulls flying overhead. As you take in all the sites and sounds | Crab's Metabolism May be Affected by Noise Pollution
Sitting at the dock of the bay you might hear the crash of breaking waves and squawking seagulls flying overhead. As you take in all the sites and sounds, you next hear a speeding boat racing by and an oil tanker a mile away. Grinding engine noises and long, low, horn sounds can be deafening in any harbor. And while you can handle it for the hour or two you spend there, the continuous sounds of these noisy vessels are being found to have repercussions on marine life.
A study published in Biology Letters found that ship noise can affect the metabolism of certain crab species, with largest crabs faring the worst.
A team from the Universities of Bristol and Exeter found that crabs exposed to recordings of ship noise showed an increase in metabolic rate, indicating elevated stress. Consequently, this could have implications for growth and, if the metabolic cost of noise causes crabs to spend more time foraging to compensate, it could also lead to an increased risk of predation.
Researcher Matt Wale from |
Anatomy of a Catfish
Did you know?Channel Catfish are revered as one of the fiercest fighting fish. Pound-for-pound, this true heavy weight will fight longer and harder than any other fresh water fish. Flathead catfish | Anatomy of a Catfish
Did you know?Channel Catfish are revered as one of the fiercest fighting fish. Pound-for-pound, this true heavy weight will fight longer and harder than any other fresh water fish. Flathead catfish are sometimes labeled by some as bottom feeders or as preferring to live in muddy water, but actually that is not true.
Channel Cats hunt for their food much like a shark would, and prefer to live in clean water where the bottom is rocky or sandy. Their most important hunting ability is smell.
SmellCatfish have exceptional senses of smell and taste. They can detect molecules of a substance in the water. Because of their similarity, scientists tend to lump both senses together and call it "chemoreception." Chemoreception is critical when finding prey, avoiding predators, locating other channel catfish, coordinating spawning times, and homing in on residence and spawning sites. The sense of smell detects from afar, while taste determines if what is eaten is good once bitten.
Catfish can actually taste items 15 to 20 feet away without biting. They have more than 175,000 taste buds on their body. This is probably the reason many call them "The swimming tongue." Some catfish can detect concentrations of substances of one part per million. That would be like dissolving an ounce of liver in 100,000 railroad tank cars. The keen sense of smell can guide cats to catfishing bait lying hundreds of yards upstream in a river in the middle of the night. Catfish decide which direction to swim by comparing how strong the taste receptors on either side of the body are stimulated. |
Zulu Time Watch
The most famous war of the British history named the Anglo-Zulu War was fought from 1879 to 1882. A series of invasions of the British forces on the Zululand took place during this | Zulu Time Watch
The most famous war of the British history named the Anglo-Zulu War was fought from 1879 to 1882. A series of invasions of the British forces on the Zululand took place during this war. The first invasion took place between January and April in 1879 followed by a second invasion from 27th May in the same year. On 4th July, the final battle was fought. |
The purpose of this guide is to provide designers with the basic information necessary to implement a roundabout in a community. It contains the essential principles for the needs analysis, geometric design and planning of a roundabout, particularly regarding traffic control devices, lighting | The purpose of this guide is to provide designers with the basic information necessary to implement a roundabout in a community. It contains the essential principles for the needs analysis, geometric design and planning of a roundabout, particularly regarding traffic control devices, lighting and the environment.
Its content has been taken from foreign reference works and adapted to Québec realities by a team of MTQ road design and safety professionals. Each chapter deals with a specific topic. It is recommended that the basic principles described in this document be applied at each stage of development of a roundabout.
This first edition of the guide will be improved and updated in a few years based on the experience acquired and the comments received. |
The Ferguson TE20 is an agricultural tractor designed by Harry Ferguson. By far his most successful design, it was manufactured from 1946 until 1956, and was commonly known as the Little Grey Fergie. It is light-weight but | The Ferguson TE20 is an agricultural tractor designed by Harry Ferguson. By far his most successful design, it was manufactured from 1946 until 1956, and was commonly known as the Little Grey Fergie. It is light-weight but effective, and a popular collector's item for enthusiasts today.
The TE range of Ferguson tractors was introduced in England in 1946, following 30 years of continuous development of 'The Ferguson System' from 1916. The first work was to design a plough and linkage to integrate the tractor with its work in a manner that was an engineering whole. The automatic control system is now employed by almost all tractor manufacturers worldwide. A British patent was applied for by Harry Ferguson in 1925 and granted the following year.
By the early 1930s the linkage design was finalised and is now adopted as international standard category I. Just one prototype Ferguson System tractor, known as the Ferguson Black, was built to further technical development and for demonstrating to potential manufacturers. During 1936 the first production Ferguson tractors were built in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, by the David Brown Company. This tractor, the Ferguson Model 'A', incorporated Harry Ferguson's'suction side' hydraulic control system, the key to solving sensitive automatic control of three point mounted implements and patented on 5 February 1936 (patent no 470069). The combination of Ferguson's converging three point hitch, patented on 3 July 1928 (patent no 320084) with his'suction side control' valve is the key to the success of all subsequent Ferguson and later Massey Ferguson 'Ferguson System' tractors, the most important of which are the TE and TO 20 models. (It was the production of the Model 'A' that led in 1939 to the David Brown line of tractors).
In order to get volume production with lower costs, following a demonstration of his tractor before Henry Ford Senior in October 1938, Ferguson made a gentlemen's agreement with Ford to produce the Ferguson tractor in Detroit starting in mid-1939. About 300,000 of these tractors, known as 'Ford Fergusons', were produced up to 30 June 1947.
During the war years the Ferguson design team developed many improvements to both tractor and implements and started to make arrangements to manufacture in the United Kingdom. The agreement with Ford in 1938 was to include production at the Ford plant at Dagenham, Essex, but the UK Ford company would not do it. By 1945 Ferguson had made a manufacturing agreement with the Standard Motor Company of Coventry to produce a Ferguson tractor incorporating all their latest improvements and to be known as the TE20. As well as allowing Ferguson to get his tractor into full production, the deal was of great benefit to Standard as the tractor would be built in its huge'shadow factory' which had been an aero engine plant during WWII but was now standing empty and was of no use to what was a relatively small car company. Standard developed a new wet-liner engine for the tractor, which would in turn be used in Standard's road cars, such as the Vanguard.
Production started in the late summer of 1946, nearly a year before the last Ford Ferguson came off the line in Detroit in June 1947. The break with Ford left Harry Ferguson and his US company with implements to sell but no tractors. To make up the gap until the new Ferguson factory in Detroit started in October 1948, more than 25,000 Coventry-built TE20s were shipped to the USA and Canada. The TO (Tractor Overseas) 20 was virtually the same as the TE20.
Coventry production up to 1956 was 517,651 units, with about 66% being exported, mainly to Continental Europe and the British Empire but to many other countries as well. To the above figure must be added TO production at Ferguson Park, Detroit. Including all 'Ferguson System' tractors from May 1936 to July 1956 brings the figure to approximately 1 million.
Harry Ferguson merged his worldwide companies with Massey-Harris of Toronto in July 1953, three years before TE and TO20 production ended, hence the change of name on the serial plate to 'Massey-Harris-Ferguson'. The Ferguson 35 replaced the old line in the US in 1955 and the TE20 in the UK in 1956, production in the UK starting in September of that year following re-tooling of the factory.
The first TE20s ran on petrol. There were later versions that ran on tractor vapourising oil (TVO), sometimes called petrol/paraffin or power kerosene. Some were converted in the UK to use a 3-cylinder Perkins diesel engine.
- TE stood for Tractor England.
- TO stood for Tractor Overseas.
Between 1948 and 1951, the TO20 w |
Better Students Ask More Questions.
What is the relevant background that I need to know to understand the story "Marriage...
1 Answer | add yours
High School Teacher
This is a very important question concerning the African literature that authors such as Chin | Better Students Ask More Questions.
What is the relevant background that I need to know to understand the story "Marriage...
1 Answer | add yours
High School Teacher
This is a very important question concerning the African literature that authors such as Chinua Achebe and Ben Okri produce. For us to be able to understand the context out of which a particular story has emerged enriches our comprehension of what the author is trying to convey, however, often, especially for Western readers, we are unaware of the contextual background which is used as the arena for the conflicts described in such tales as this one.
Chinua Achebe, himself a Nigerian, chooses to set this story in Nigeria, a land marked by ethnic diversity. Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups and these groups are distinct in terms of their culture and language as well as religion, customs and traditions. The two tribes mentioned in this story, the Ibo and the Ibibio, come from southeastern Nigeria, but traditionally did not marry. This story tells the tale of a young Ibo man and a young Ibibio woman who have moved from their native regions to Lagos, a large, modern city in southwestern Nigeria.
Thus when these two individuals fall in love and want to marry it causes great problems with the boy's father, who wishes traditions to be maintained and his son to marry an Ibo woman. The story thus focuses on entrenched cultural traditions about marriage and family, and most importantly, in the figure of the father who relents in order to get to know his grandson, the cost of maintaining those traditions even at the expense of losing your son and never knowing your grandchildren. Consider the final paragraph of the story, told looking at the father:
That night he hardly slept, from remorse - and a vague fear that he might die without making it up t |
Upsalite Created By Uppsala University Researchers
A novel material with world record breaking surface area and water adsorption abilities has been synthesized by researchers from Uppsala University, Sweden. The results are published today in PLOS ONE.
The | Upsalite Created By Uppsala University Researchers
A novel material with world record breaking surface area and water adsorption abilities has been synthesized by researchers from Uppsala University, Sweden. The results are published today in PLOS ONE.
The magnesium carbonate material that has been given the name Upsalite is foreseen to reduce the amount of energy needed to control environmental moisture in the electronics and drug formulation industry as well as in hockey rinks and ware houses. It can also be used for collection of toxic waste, chemicals or oil spill and in drug delivery systems, for odor control and sanitation after fire.
In contrast to what has been claimed for more than 100 years in the scientific literature, we have found that amorphous magnesium carbonate can be made in a very simple, low-temperature process, says Johan Gomez de la Torre, researcher at the Nanotechnology and Functional Materials Division.
While ordered forms of magnesium carbonate, both with and without water in the structure, are abundant in nature, water-free disordered forms have been proven extremely difficult to make. In 1908, German researchers claimed that the material could indeed not be made in the same way as other disordered carbonates, by bubbling CO2 through an alcoholic suspension. Subsequent studies in 1926 and 1961 came to the same conclusion.
A Thursday afternoon in 2011, we slightly changed the synthesis parameters of the earlier employed unsuccessful attempts, and by mistake left the material in the reaction chamber over the weekend. Back at work on Monday morning we discovered that a rigid gel had formed and after drying this gel we started to get excited, says Johan Gomez de la Torre.
A year of detailed materials analysis and fine tuning of the experiment followed. One of the researchers got to take advantage of his Russian skill since some of the chemistry details necessary for understanding the reaction mechanism was only available in an old Russian PhD thesis.
After having gone through a number of state of the art materials characterization techniques it became clear that we had indeed synthesized the material that previously had been claimed impossible to make, says Maria Stromme, professor of nanotechnology and head of the nanotechnology and functional materials division.
The most striking discovery was, however, not that they had produced a new material but it was instead the striking properties they found that this novel material possessed. It turned out that Upsalite had the highest surface area measured for an alkali earth metal carbonate; 800 square meters per gram.
This places the new material in the exclusive class of porous, high surface area materials including mesoporous silica, zeolites, metal organic frameworks, and carbon nanotubes, says Stromme.
In addition we found that the material was filled with empty pores all having a diameter smaller than 10 nano meters. This pore structure gives the material a totally unique way of interacting with the environment leading to a number of properties important for application of the material. Upsalite is for example found to absorb more water at low relative humidities than the best materials presently available; the hydroscopic zeolites, a property that can be regenerated with less energy consumption than is used in similar processes today.
This, together with other unique properties of the discovered impossible material is expected to pave the way for new sustainable products in a number of industrial applications, says Maria Stromme.
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One of the bible’s names for the God is “El Shaddai” or “God of the Mountains.”And from the very beginning of salvation history, we see that mountains are a special place to communicate with Heaven.Abraham ascends | One of the bible’s names for the God is “El Shaddai” or “God of the Mountains.”And from the very beginning of salvation history, we see that mountains are a special place to communicate with Heaven.Abraham ascends MountMoriah to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22).God reveals his name and to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 3).Moses later receives the 10 Commandments on that very spot (Ex 31:18).Elijah returns to the same mountain, also known as Horeb, to hear what God’s “still, small voice” has to say (I Kings 19:8).
So it is no surprise that Jesus brings His “pillars” (Galatians 2:9) with Him up a high mountain to experience a special moment of communion with the Most High.
It is this event that is commemorated by the Church each year on August 6.The gospel of the day tells the story.As tradition has it, MountTabor is the place.Rising from the plain of Jezreel, its summit provides a spectacular view of all of Galilee.But, what Jesus intends for Peter, James, and John to see is not the countryside.He wishes to provide them a glimpse of who He really is.
Jesus is a carpenter from Nazareth, true.He must have looked much like any other Jewish craftsman of that time and place.That much could be seen by the naked eye.But this exterior appearance of His ordinary humanity was a veil hiding something more extraordinary–His glorious divinity.So on Tabor, God pulls back the veil.Moses and Elijah appear.These heroes of old had long since passed out of this world and gone to God.So what does it say about Jesus’ identity that they appear on His right and His left?
Jesus’ clothes suddenly appear dazzlingly white, “whiter,” notes Mark, “than the work of any bleacher could make them.”The first reading tells us the significance of this.In a vision, Daniel sees a vision of the “Ancient One.”How does He appear?With clothing that is snow bright.Then one like “a Son of Man” comes on the clouds to receive dominion, glory and kingship from the Ancient One.
On Tabor, a cloud comes and overshadows Jesus and a Voice from the Cloud proclaims that this particular Son of Man happens to be the beloved Son.
What we have here is what is called a “theophany,” a manifestation of God.It is revelation, first of all, of the divinity of Christ.What The Creed says about Him could be viewed as a commentary on this very episode: “God from God, light from light, true God from true God.”But it is also a manifestation of the entire Trinity.The cloud that overshadows the apostles is the same one that overshadowed Mary.It is the glorious cloud of the Holy Spirit out of which the Father’s voice resounds.Father, Son, Holy Spirit, one God in three persons, prefigured in Daniel’s vision, revealed in the Transfiguration.
Suddenly, after a brief prostration, they get up and see only Jesus, looking the way He had always looked.The veil was now back in place.
The five senses are wonderful gifts from God.But they are limited nonetheless.Often we make the mistake of thinking that reality is nothing more than what our senses perceive it to be.So God gives us occasional mountaintop experiences, glimpses into realities that our senses can’t normally detect.Jesus is always divine, regardless of His everyday human appearance.Jesus is always accompanied by saints and angels even when He appears to be alone.It was the entire Trinity who opened the eyes of the man born blind, even though it was only Jesus’ hand we could see touching the man’s eyes.
Even though it’s much easier to forget such things and live according to what everybody can see, faith is remembering such moments of revelation and building our lives upon them.
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This was originally published in Our Sunday Visitor as a reflection upon the readings for the Feast of the Transfiguration, liturgical cycle B (Dn 7:9-10, 13-14; Ps 97; 2 Pt 1:16-19; Mk 9:2-10).It is reproduced here with the permission of the author.
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Great Adventure Bible Time Line Catholic Bible Study by Jeff Cavins -- DVD The Bible Timeline provides a clear understanding of the underlying Scriptural narrative, which is essential to all Bible reading and study. The 24-part Bible Timeline Bible Study dives deep into the Biblical sto |
Evaluating Development Cooperation/Elements Of An Evaluation Action/Planning The M&E Action/Determine What Information The Evaluation Must Provide
An organization aiming at programme program quality should establish a system of Monitoring and Evaluation. In fact in order to ensure program | Evaluating Development Cooperation/Elements Of An Evaluation Action/Planning The M&E Action/Determine What Information The Evaluation Must Provide
An organization aiming at programme program quality should establish a system of Monitoring and Evaluation. In fact in order to ensure program quality programme managers need to use the feed back of monitoring and evaluation in order to: check whether the programme or project is being implemented according to plans and assess whether the programme of project is resulting in the anticipated changes or impacts (thereby fulfilling the basic requirement for a projectized organization); identify key learning points to feed back in improved programme design and management (thereby fulfilling the basic requirement for a learning organization); identify the need and the scope to raise the capacity of the human resources of the organization to manage successfully their task and contribute to the generation of a healthy communication climate within the organization and with external stakeholders. (thereby fulfilling the basic requirement for an employee empowering organization). Building professional reputation and standards in organizational activities and image. There is transparency and accountability in all the aspects of organizational culture and managerial style. |
By Leah Ferentinos
A Harpur College associate professor is close to finding the cure for a deadly strain of drug-resistant bacteria.
Jeffrey Schertzer, a Canadian biochemist and recent hire in the Biological Sciences Department, is researching bacteria | By Leah Ferentinos
A Harpur College associate professor is close to finding the cure for a deadly strain of drug-resistant bacteria.
Jeffrey Schertzer, a Canadian biochemist and recent hire in the Biological Sciences Department, is researching bacteria communication in order to develop a medication and vaccine that could treat a variety of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, such as pseudomonas aeruginosa, the leading cause of death in people with cystic fibrosis. It is also often contracted by patients in hospital settings.
"We used to have this primitive idea about bacteria," says Schertzer, who received his 2007 PhD in biochemistry from McMaster University in Ontario. "We thought they were solitary, and not nearly as complex as large [eukaryotic-celled] organisms like us. But it's now come to light.... This is simply not the case."
Scientists have recently discovered that bacteria can function somewhat like our human tissues, where multi-cellular communities (of bacteria) have different properties as a group than their cells have individually. When bacteria clump together, they can attach to a surface and cover themselves in a protective slime coat called a biofilm. That's when they become even more difficult to kill by antibiotics.
"Non-genetically resistant bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics by joining together with medically resistant species of bacteria in these biofilms," Schertzer says.
Certain strains of bacteria, like pseudomonas aeruginosa, secrete a molecule called PQS, which is crucial to bacteria communication in building biofilms. If we can control what they secrete or make them deaf to it (shut off their receptors), Schertzer says, we can stop the bacteria from working together.
"In war, you knock out the enemy's communication so they can't coordinate with each other," he says. "It's the same concept with targeting bacteria cells."
By breaking up the group into individuals, or simply preventing the formation of biofilms entirely, the human immune system has a better chance at fighting infection.
"When one organism enters your body," Schertzer says, "it's unlikely to make you sick because your immune system detects and fights it immediately."
But if a bacterium can enter the body, hide and multiply (using a communication process called Quorum Sensing), the chance of it causing an infection is much greater.
Increased bacterial resistance to antibiotics is just a natural consequence of evolution, but Quorum Sensing is not essential to bacteria survival like the processes our traditional antibiotics target (such as cell wall biosynthesis, protein synthesis, DNA replication). The benefit of developing strategies to reduce disease-targeting communication is that it's a nonessential process; thus bacteria have much less evolutionary pressure to develop resistance. This type of epidemiological strategy is termed "virulence targeting."
"We take the prevalence of antibiotics for granted these days," Schertzer says. "But it wasn't too long ago when a kid could scrape their knee and die from an infection. We don't want to go back to a world like that."
Yet the number of new antibiotics produced is constantly decreasing, while the pharmaceutical industry is less motivated to cure infectious diseases than ever b |
Workout in the Prefrontal Gym
Last time I asserted that, contrary to some interpretations of certain neurological experiments, we do have free will. But in fact lots of times it seems that we don’t. Most of our choices are not | Workout in the Prefrontal Gym
Last time I asserted that, contrary to some interpretations of certain neurological experiments, we do have free will. But in fact lots of times it seems that we don’t. Most of our choices are not the results of careful deliberation; so when we make them are we doing so freely? When I walk past the plate of cupcakes and impulsively grab one, am I acting freely? You could say that I am not, that I am moved by my impulse.
There are lots of ways our behavior is determined by forces that seem alien to us. I do not mean physical coercion; I mean a spectrum of neurological conditions, at one end of which are disorders such as cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s Disease, Tourette’s syndrome and obsessive compulsions. At the other end are impulses such as the craving for a cupcake.
Take Tourette’s syndrome. People with this condition exhibit facial tics and verbal outbursts over which they have no control. They twitch or say things, sometimes rude and obscene things, but they do not have any sense that they are doing so voluntarily. Nor, for the most part, can they stop them from happening.(1) We do not call such activities freely chosen. Researcher David Eagleman says,
We immediately learn two things from the Tourette’s patient. First, actions can occur in the absence of free will. Second, the Tourette’s patient has no free won’t. He cannot use free will to override or control what subconscious parts of his brain have decided to do. What the lack of free will and the lack of free won’t have in common is the lack of “free.” Tourette’s syndrome provides a case in which the underlying neural machinery does its thing, and we all agree that the person is not responsible.(2)
If somehow the twitches or outbursts of such a person caused some calamity, we would not hold that person accountable.
Sleepwalking is another such syndrome. There is a recorded case of a person who killed someone else while sleepwalking. The killer was acquitted of murder charges on the grounds that he did not do the killing voluntarily.(3)
In each of these cases and many more we lack a sense of agency, the implicit sense that it is we ourselves who are initiating, executing and controlling our actions.(4)
On the other end of the spectrum, when we do things in our daily life without thinking we also lack a sense of agency, but more because the issue simply does not arise than because we feel the force of something alien to us. By far the majority of our perceptions and actions happen automatically, without conscious thought. If someone (a philosopher, perhaps) asked you if you tie your shoes of your own free will, you would say “Yes, of course,” but you have that sense only because there is nothing to oppose your action.
Suppose you are trying to lose weight, however, and you have resolved to cut sweets out of your diet. When you impulsively grab the cupcake, you are clearly not acting of your own free will; you are, as it were, enslaved by your craving. If you think about it you get the distinct sense that your will is not free.
The craving for a cupcake is a first-order desire, a desire simply to do or to have something. Most of our desires are first-order, and most of our actions and activities as we unreflectively go through life are aimed at satisfying them. So in most of our life we are determined, not free.
But we humans also have the capacity for second-order thinking, thinking about ourselves, and that enables us to have second-order desires, desires to have certain desires. Wanting the cupcake is a first-order desire. So is wanting to lose weight, but it is in conflict with wanting the cupcake. When you reflect on the situation and decide that what you really want is to stick to your diet and lose weight, you are wanting to want self-control more than the cupcake. That is a second-order desire. The second-order aspect of yourself wants the first-order aspect to want something, typically something different from what the first-order aspect actually wants.
Even stronger is second-order volition, where you want a certain desire to be your will, i.e. what actually impels you to action. Not only do you want to want to eat something healthy and want not to want the cupcake, but you also want the desire to eat healthily to overrule the craving, to be the desire that actually results in action so that you end up eating the healthy food. As I have written before, second-order volition is an aspect of the second-order thinking that is uniquely human. Freedom of the will consists in being able to make second-order volitions effective; that is, to have the second-order volition actually govern the first-order volition such that the preferred first-order desire is what results in action. When that happens, we judge that our will is free. Philosopher Harry Frankfurt says “It is in securing the conformity of his will to his second-order volitions … that a person exercises freedom of the will. … The unwilling addict’s will is not free.”(5)
Robert Kane, who has written extensively on the subject, defines free will in a similar way:
Free will … is the power of agents to be the ultimate creators (or originators) and sustainers of their own ends or purposes. … To will freely … is to be the ultimate creator (prime mover, so to speak) of your own purposes.(6)
To be the prime mover of our own purposes is to exert second-order control over our desires and volitions. First-order desires are, by and large, determined by our genetic heritage and our upbringing. Only when we notice them and think about whether we really want them do we exert free will and exercise our second-order volit |
Create a Culinary Herb Bed
Herbs are easy to grow in the desert because they do not require heavily amended soil or as much water as most vegetables do. Many of our favorite herbs are native to the Mediterranean region, which features similar soil | Create a Culinary Herb Bed
Herbs are easy to grow in the desert because they do not require heavily amended soil or as much water as most vegetables do. Many of our favorite herbs are native to the Mediterranean region, which features similar soil, sun, aridity, and heat. The most important condition for success with herbs is excellent drainage to prevent root rot. If you have clay soil, amend it with plentiful organic matter and small amounts of sand and gypsum to improve drainage. Another option is to grow herbs in pots or raised beds. Herbs as landscape shrubs (such as lavender and rosemary) benefit from being planted on slight mounds, which give their roots better drainage.
Enhance Compacted Garden Soil
Turn over soil to a depth of 18 inches to promote drainage. Layer 4 to 6 inches of compost on top of the soil and dig it in thoroughly to a depth of 10 to 12 inches. The root systems of most annual plants reach no more than 1 foot deep. Rake the soil smooth and water it to allow weed seeds to germinate. Then yank them before planting!
Prevent Magnesium Deficiency in Roses
Roses may suffer from magnesium deficiency. It appears first as yellowing between the veins (similar to iron chlorosis) on foliage and eventually becomes purple or brown spots that cover the leaf. Prevent it by adding one-quarter cup of Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) per bush. Scratch it into the soil around the edge of the bush and water immediately after. Water should soak 18 to 24 inches deep to reach through the root zone.
Water Wildflowers as Needed
It's unlikely wildflowers growing in your yard will need water more than once every week or two, as they are adapted to survive with infrequent rains. However, because we've had such a dry winter, make sure they aren't stressed for water so they can perform their best and prolong the bloom season. If wildflowers appear wilted or leaves are yellowing, slowly apply water to the soil with drip irrigation or a trickle from the hose. Don't sprinkle overhead. Water should soak to a depth of 10 to 12 inches.
Clean Bird Feeders
Clean and disinfect feeders with a 10 percent bleach solution (1 part bleach to 9 parts water). Hummingbird feeders in particular need regular cleaning because the sugar water and warm temperatures promote the growth of bacteria that can hurt |
|How did the agricultural labourers of the 1830s try to protect their jobs?
In the eighteenth century, one of the main autumn and winter jobs for farm workers was threshing. This meant separating the grain from the stalks | |How did the agricultural labourers of the 1830s try to protect their jobs?
In the eighteenth century, one of the main autumn and winter jobs for farm workers was threshing. This meant separating the grain from the stalks by beating it. In the late 1820s and early 1830s, farmers began to introduce threshing machines to do this work. This put large numbers of labourers out of a job and without the money to buy food, clothes and other goods for the winter months.
Low wages and unemployment, plus poor harvests in 1829 and 1830, resulted in hunger, protests and disturbances in many country areas, especially in the east and south of England. Farmers were sent threatening letters demanding that wages increase or at least stay the same. These letters often told farmers not to use threshing machines. Farmers and landowners also had their hayricks and farm buildings set alight. |
With the Madrid bombing, continued turmoil in Iraq and constant apprehension of further terrorism, knowing
the nature of this conflict is crucial. To begin with, civilization was advanced with The Reconquista (Spanish and Portuguese for reconquest). Expelling | With the Madrid bombing, continued turmoil in Iraq and constant apprehension of further terrorism, knowing
the nature of this conflict is crucial. To begin with, civilization was advanced with The Reconquista (Spanish and Portuguese for reconquest). Expelling the Moorish kingdoms from Spain by the Christian rulers, Ferdinand
and Isabella, allowed for the Iberian peninsula to assimilate into Renaissance Europe. With the naval Battle of Lepanto, the Christian fleet destroyed the Ottoman ships off the shore of Greece. When the Battle of Kosovo Polje was fought in 1389, a Turk victory marked the start of the centuries-long occupation of the Balkans. But with
the Battle of Vienna, in 1683 the final turning point in a 250-year struggle between the forces of Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire,
the inroads of Islam were halted.
Is there any serious observer of power politics that sees a modern day incursion by a Moslem military? Today
a feared mythical invasion comes from a real influx of Islamic immigrates. Since the territory integrity of Europe is defined
and ramparts of protection for local soil is assured, why allow the infiltration and sanctuary of foreign cultures to penetrate
and compromise your society?
The same holds true and needs to be said about America. If terrorism is the poor man’s warfare, it seems
to have been more effective than divisions of deployed troops. Despite, historic differences, is it plausible to conclude
that the West is engaged in a war to the death with cultures that bow and pray to the East? What exactly is the discord, that
drives men to kill, women to blow themselves up and children to mimic their parents?
From the World Islamic Front Statement - Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders - 23 February 1998, Osama Bin Laden's fatwa mission statement is clear:
1) For over seven years the United States has been occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places,
the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbors,
and turning its bases in the Peninsula into a spearhead through which to fight the neighboring Muslim peoples. If some people
have in the past argued about the fact of the occupation, all the people of the Peninsula have now acknowledged it. The best
proof of this is the Americans' continuing aggression against the Iraqi people using the Peninsula as a staging post, even
though all its rulers are against their territories being used to that end, but they are helpless.
2) Despite the great devastation inflicted on the Iraqi people by the crusader-Zionist alliance, and
despite the huge number of those killed, which has exceeded 1 million... despite all this, the Americans are once against
trying to repeat the horrific massacres, as though they are not content with the protracted blockade imposed after the ferocious
war or the fragmentation and devastation. So here they come to annihilate what is left of this people and to humiliate their
3) If the Americans' aims behind these wars are religious and economic, the aim is also to serve the Jews'
petty state and divert attention from its occupation of Jerusalem and murder of Muslims there. The best proof of this is their
eagerness to destroy Iraq, the strongest neighboring Arab state, and their endeavor to fragment all the states of the region
such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Sudan into paper statelets and through their disunion and weakness to guarantee Israel's
survival and the continuation of the brutal crusade occupation of the Peninsula.
It would also be wise to re-evaluate the significance of the Al-Qaeda announcement reported on the BBC-London - Sunday, 14 October, 2001. The following positions identify the motivational mindset that are the root causes
for the conflict.
"The Al-Qaeda organization declares that Bush Senior, Bush Junior, Clinton, Blair and Sharon are the arch-criminals
from among the Zionists and Crusaders who committed the most heinous actions and atrocities against the Muslim nation”.
"Those who supported this Crusader campaign should realise after things have been clarified that it is
a Crusader campaign against Islam and the Muslims”.
"In this regard, we support the religious rulings issued by senior clerics in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
led by His Eminence Shaykh Humud Bin-Uqlah al-Shu'aybi, who said that it is impermissible to co-operate with Jews and Christians
and that he who co-operates with them and gives them his opinion or take actions in supporting them becomes apostate and revokes
his faith in God and his Prophet, may God's peace and blessings be upon him”.
"Al-Qaeda organisation orders the Americans and the infidels in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly the
Americans and the British, to leave the Arabian peninsula”.
"This truth shows that Bush is an agent of Israel and sacrifices his people and his country's economy
for those and helps them occupy the Muslims' land and persecute their sons”.
“These storms will not calm until you retreat in defeated in Afghanistan, stop your assistance to
the Jews in Palestine, end the siege imposed on the Iraqi people, leave the Arabian Peninsula, and stop your support for the
Hindus against the Muslims in Kashmir”.
Finally, from Bin Laden's sole post-September 11 TV interview, aired on CNN: "I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed," bin Laden said as the U.S. war
on terrorism raged in Afghanistan. "The U.S. government will lead the American people in -- and the West in general
-- into an unbearable hel |
Arctostaphylos is a genus of plants in the family Ericaceae. This group of 109 shrubs and small trees has a center of biological diversity in the California Floristic Province, although a few of the bearberries are circ | Arctostaphylos is a genus of plants in the family Ericaceae. This group of 109 shrubs and small trees has a center of biological diversity in the California Floristic Province, although a few of the bearberries are circumboreal and widespread. There are significant conservation issues for the genus, since many species have highly restricted distribution,and many are classified as rare or endange |
12 Steps: the cascading maths
The maths starts with the US consumption of 118 billion gallons of oil a year for travel in cars and light trucks.
Step 1: Stay Home 5 percent. Fuel reduction = 5 percent.
| 12 Steps: the cascading maths
The maths starts with the US consumption of 118 billion gallons of oil a year for travel in cars and light trucks.
Step 1: Stay Home 5 percent. Fuel reduction = 5 percent.
Step 2: Walking 5 percent. Cumulative fuel reduction = 10 percent.
Step 3. Cycling 15 percent. Cumulative fuel reduction = 25 percent.
Step 4. Ride-Sharing 5 percent. Cumulative fuel reduction = 30 percent.
Step 5. Transit, LRT, Trains, 20 percent. Cumulative fuel reduction = 50 percent.
Step 6. Shift to car sharing for 50 percent of vehicle owners. No fuel impact, since this is an ownership method change, not a fuel change.
Step 7. Electric Vehicles (EV) for 50 percent of the remaining trips. Cumulative liquid fuel reduction = 75 percent.
Step 8. Hybrid EV cars for half the remaining trips (12.5 percent of the total), with 85 percent improved efficiency. Cumulative liquid fuel reduction (75 + 10.625) = 85.625 percent |
poster, From a private collectionprinted paper announcement or advertisement that is exhibited publicly. Whether promoting a product, an event, or a sentiment (such as patriotism), a poster must immediately catch the attention of the passerby. There is no set way | poster, From a private collectionprinted paper announcement or advertisement that is exhibited publicly. Whether promoting a product, an event, or a sentiment (such as patriotism), a poster must immediately catch the attention of the passerby. There is no set way to accomplish this; success can stem, for example, from the instantaneous impact of a concise, striking design or from the sumptuous appeal of an ornate work of art. By extension, the term poster is used to denote a paper panel printed for display as a novelty or as a work of art.
Although printed public advertisements can be traced to the 15th century, the poster as it is understood today did not emerge until around 1860, given impetus by the invention of lithography, which allowed brilliantly coloured posters to be produced cheaply and easily. The first of the great modern poster artists, Jules Chéret, began his career in 1867 with a theatrical poster announcing a performance by Sarah Bernhardt. His captivating depictions of the entertainers of Parisian night life, rendered in clear, radiant colours, dominated Paris displays for the last 30 years of the 19th century and also attracted others to the medium. The result was |
Errors In Protein Structure Sparked Evolution Of Biological Complexity
Packing flaws create ‘sticky,’ interactive proteins that spread in small populations
Over four billion years of evolution, plants and animals grew far more complex than their single-celled ancestors. But a | Errors In Protein Structure Sparked Evolution Of Biological Complexity
Packing flaws create ‘sticky,’ interactive proteins that spread in small populations
Over four billion years of evolution, plants and animals grew far more complex than their single-celled ancestors. But a new comparison of proteins shared across species finds that complex organisms, including humans, have accumulated structural weaknesses that may have actually launched the long journey from microbe to man.
The study, published in Nature, suggests that the random introduction of errors into proteins, rather than traditional natural selection, may have boosted the evolution of biological complexity. Flaws in the “packing” of proteins that make them more unstable in water could have promoted protein interactions and intracellular teamwork, expanding the possibilities of life.
“Everybody wants to say that evolution is equivalent to natural selection and that things that are sophisticated and complex have been absolutely selected for,” said study co-author Ariel Fernández, PhD, a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago and senior researcher at the Mathematics Institute of Argentina (IAM) in Buenos Aires. “What we are claiming here is that inefficient selection creates a niche or an opportunity to evolve complexity.”
“This is a novel bridge between protein chemistry and evolutionary biology,” said co-author Michael Lynch, PhD, professor of biology at Indiana University. “I hope that it causes us to pause and think about how evolution operates in new ways that we haven’t thought about before.”
When mildly negative mutations arise in a species with a large population, such as the trillions of bacterial organisms that can fill a small area, they are quickly cleared out by selective forces. But when a new mutation appears in a species with a relatively small population, as in large mammals and humans, selection against the error is slower and less efficient, allowing the mutation to spread through the population.
To look at whether these mild defects accumulate in species with small populations, Fernández and Lynch compared over 100 proteins shared by 36 species of varying population size. Though these shared, “orthologous” proteins are identical in shape and function, genetic differences alter them in more subtle ways.
Fernández and Lynch focused on design flaws called “dehydrons,” sites where the protein structure is vulnerable to chemical reactions with water. Proteins with more dehydrons are more “unwrapped” – unstable in an aqueous environment, and therefore prone to bind with another protein to protect their vulnerable regions.
A computational analysis of 106 orthologous proteins confirmed their hypothesis that proteins from species with smaller populations were more vulnerable in water. The result suggests that structural errors accumulate in large organisms such as humans due to random genetic drift.
“We hate to hear that our structures are actually lousier,” Fernández said. “But that has a good side to it. Because they are lousier, they are more likely to participate in complexes, and we have a much better chance of achieving more sophisticated function through teamwork. Instead of being a loner, the protein is a team player.”
On their own, these unstable proteins might be expected to perform their cellular duties more poorly, possibly causing harm to the organism. But unstable proteins are also “stickier,” more likely to form associations with other proteins that could introduce more flexibility and complexity into the cell. If these complexes create a survival advantage for the organism, forces of natural selection should take over and spread the new protein complex through the population.
“It’s not an argument against selection, it’s an argument for non-adaptive mechanis |
Red Planet Mars Life
Lawrence M. Krauss’s “Rethinking the Dream” [Forum] rightly points out that the benefits of flying humans in space have not been commensurate with the cost, especially when human flight is compared | Red Planet Mars Life
Lawrence M. Krauss’s “Rethinking the Dream” [Forum] rightly points out that the benefits of flying humans in space have not been commensurate with the cost, especially when human flight is compared with advanced robotic or automatic systems that can do many of the same tasks at one tenth of the cost and with no risk to humans. I think this is a result of nasa’s focus on dramatic, exciting exploration and failure to create an economical, durable infrastructure. I disagree with Krauss only where he advocates one-way missions to Mars. I believe that keeping humans alive on the planet for more than a few weeks will be extremely costly.
The Martian atmosphere is very thin and contains essentially no oxygen. The average surface temperature is about –60 degrees Celsius. Humans must always be in a pressurized enclosure, with a suitable atmosphere and adequate temperature and humidity control. Unlike Earth, Mars does not have a protective magnetic field, and the thin atmosphere provides little shielding from cosmic rays. I suspect some rather heavy shielding will have to be included in any habitats, rovers, and so on. Living off the land is, I think, absolutely ruled out on Mars, where there is no free water and what water ice there is seems to lie below the surface. To be of use, it would have to be collected, thawed and purified.
NASA has learned that an average human will require about five kilograms of food, water and oxygen each day and will produce an equal amount of waste. Of course, water can be recycled, oxygen can be extracted from CO2 and solid waste can be treated, but all that requires power and equipment. Solar arrays on Mars must be twice the size of Earth arrays because solar radiation is weaker (the planet is farther away from the sun). And the arrays will likely require cleaning from Martian dust. For safety reasons, there must also be redundant equipment, plus tools and spare parts for repair. Solid food cannot be recycled, and growing food would require a large, totally enclosed “hothouse.”
The habitat must have air locks to enable humans and their rovers to get in and out without depressurizing the entire living environment. Surface excursions must not go so far from the habitat that participants will not be able to walk back in case their rover breaks down. Furthermore, if a sortie lasts longer than a few hours, the rover must provide food, water and toilet facilities.
Finally, there are human considerations that do not factor directly into costs but that I think make the whole idea unfeasible. Will the colonial-nauts include a doctor? Will the habitat include clinical/hospital facilities? What about recreation? What about normal family life? What happens when the colonial-nauts age and die?
Most of all, why would anyone go?
Retired U.S. Air Force pilot and NASA astronaut
El Lago, Tex.
COCKTAIL PARTY CHATTER
I am deaf in one ear, and even though my hearing is much better than most, I experience the issues described in Graham P. Collins’s “Solving the Cocktail Party Problem” every day. For me, it is only when a room is very noisy and I am struggling to comprehend the conversation that I notice the process I use to solve the cocktail party problem. My technique seems to be a combination of those mentioned in the article. As in spread-spectrum signal processing, once I know what a person sounds like, I listen for the sounds he or she is making. Second, I take in the sounds and try to reconstruct the words based on the expected probability of sounds surrounding each one. Finally, I use the probability of words surrounding each one based on the context to fill in the sentence. I knit the sounds into words and the words into a sentence. |
by Neil Godfrey
Continuing from Part 2 of this series....
In the previous post we followed the way theologians accommodated themselves to the challenges the natural sciences presented the belief in the infallibility of the Bible. | by Neil Godfrey
Continuing from Part 2 of this series....
In the previous post we followed the way theologians accommodated themselves to the challenges the natural sciences presented the belief in the infallibility of the Bible. They didn’t find it too difficult. After all, the Bible has very little to say about the structure of the solar system, the age of the earth and biological mutations.
A far more serious threat came from the historians:
When doubts began to be case on the historical statements of the Bible, theologians reacted with great seriousness. (p. 67)
Historical statements are central to the Bible. They are not confined to the opening chapters of Genesis.
Many of these [historical statements] were given great prominence in the Bible, and it was felt that they form the heart of the matter inasmuch as it is in and through the events they report that God principally revealed himself and established his redemptive relationship with the world.
Consequently... when the historical statements of the Bible came under fire, theologians reacted with great seriousness, and a great deal of attention was concentrated on them. (p. 67)
Historical studies as we understand them are a very modern development. There have been evolutionary changes in the way history has been approached and I will need to follow up this series with further discussions of the influence of postmodernism in New Testament historiography. For now, however, we need to follow Nineham’s concern that we should understand the character of history in the nineteenth century when it first raised challenges to the Bible.
Nineham does not explain Niebuhr’s contribution but it is important so I include this from Wikipedia:
More than all, perhaps, since his conception of ancient Roman story made laws and manners of more account than shadowy lawgivers, he undesignedly influenced history by popularizing that conception of it which lays stress on institutions, tendencies and social traits to the neglect of individuals.
He does encapsulate Leopold von Ranke’s significance:
von Ranke’s aim [was] to uncover the past... ‘as it actually happened‘, in distinction, that is, from the embroideries and tacit interpretations of it in the later sources. In historiography as he and his like understood it, there was a high premium on the discovery and identification of the earliest sources and the discounting so far as possible even in them of all elements of elaboration and Tendenz. (p. 68)
(That famous von Rankean phrase wie es eigenltich gewesen here translated “as it actually happened” has been very often tendentiously misinterpreted quite contrary to its evident meaning in the way von Ranke used it; we see this so often as Tim has been pointing out in his posts: New Testament scholars all too regularly appear to rely upon what they hear others say about the concepts they address without any understanding of what their originators meant. Happily in this passage Nineham is focusing instead on von Ranke’s contribution of a discriminating approach to the sources.) (more…) |
Google’s Project Loon explores balloon-powered Internet accessPUBLISHED: 16 Jun 2013 11:12:00 | UPDATED: 17 Jun 2013 07:46:59PRINT EDITION: 16 Jun | Google’s Project Loon explores balloon-powered Internet accessPUBLISHED: 16 Jun 2013 11:12:00 | UPDATED: 17 Jun 2013 07:46:59PRINT EDITION: 16 Jun 2013
A Google balloon sails through the air with the Southern Alps mountains in the background, in Tekapo, New Zealand. Google is testing the balloons which sail in the stratosphere and beam the Internet to Earth Photo: AP
Google has launched a small network of balloons over the Southern Hemisphere in an experiment it hopes could bring reliable internet access to the world’s most remote regions, the company said late on Friday.
The pilot program, Project Loon, took off this month from New Zealand’s South Island, using solar-powered, high-altitude balloons that rode the wind about 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) – twice as high as planes – above the ground, Google said.
Like the internet search engine for which Google was best known, Project Loon used algorithms to determine where the balloons needed to go, then moved them into winds blowing in the desired direction, the company said.
By moving with the wind, the balloons formed a network of airborne hot spots that could deliver internet access over a broad area at speeds comparable to 3G using open radio frequency bands, Google said.
Special internet antenna
To connect to the balloon network, a special internet antenna is attached to buildings below. The Mountain View, California-based company announced the project on its official blog and its website.
The 30 balloons deployed in New Zealand this month would beam the internet to a small group of pilot testers and be used to refine the technology and shape the next phase of Project Loon, Google said.
Google did not say what it was spending on the pilot project or how much a global network of balloons might cost.
Google has also developed self-driving vehicles, which the company says could significantly increase driving safety. Those vehicles are beginning to gain support from lawmakers in places like California, where a bill legalising their operation on state roads has been signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. |
I ran into an old post of mine from 2004 wondering how 64-bit types (like __int64 on Windows) are implemented on 32-bit CPUs. I don’t really know why I was so lazy and "wondered | I ran into an old post of mine from 2004 wondering how 64-bit types (like __int64 on Windows) are implemented on 32-bit CPUs. I don’t really know why I was so lazy and "wondered" instead of actually trying. So here is the answer.
Consider the following code (compiled with Visual C++, __int64 is a Microsoft-specific extension type).
__int64 foo = 0x200; __int64 bar = 0x223344556677U; __int64 and = foo & bar; __int64 sum = foo + bar; __int64 shift = foo << 33;
A 32-bit CPU has no idea how to handle 64-bit integer types – its general-purpose registers are all 32-bit. So to make this work, the compiler emulates 64-bit types and operations on them, meaning that it translates the C code dealing with them into series of 32-bit operations. Let’s examine this code’s disassembly listing to understand what’s happening under the hood.
__int64 foo = 0x200; 004114FE mov dword ptr [foo],200h 00411505 mov dword ptr [ebp-8],0 __int64 bar = 0x2233445566 |
Bart Rypma, Ph.D. School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Dr. Rypma’s research is aimed at exploring the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of human memory and how those mechanisms are affected by aging and disease. He | Bart Rypma, Ph.D. School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Dr. Rypma’s research is aimed at exploring the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of human memory and how those mechanisms are affected by aging and disease. He uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe the activity of younger and older adults as they perform cognitive t |
Kansas Archeology Basics
What is Archeology?
Archeology is the scientific study of cultures and people of the past. By examining the things those people left behind, archeologists attempt to determine what happened in the past. They | Kansas Archeology Basics
What is Archeology?
Archeology is the scientific study of cultures and people of the past. By examining the things those people left behind, archeologists attempt to determine what happened in the past. They do this by finding sites of past human activity, systematically excavating them, and carefully studying the recovered materials.
The Kansas Past
In the remote past, Kansas was covered by seas, and much of its present landscape derives from the rock formations that developed at that time. The area eventually evolved into a plains or prairie region, with forests confined mainly to stream courses. People first came to Kansas some 11,000 to 12,000 years ago, during the last of the Ice Age. Although the state was not glaciated at that time, the climate was cooler and less seasonal than today. Huge animals such as mammoth and mastodon roamed the area until a gradual warming trend brought an end to the Ice Age, and mass extinctions occurred around 10,000 years ago.
The Paleoindian Period
11,000 to 7,000 B.C.
The earliest inhabitants of Kansas were descended from Asian immigrants who entered North America by crossing into Alaska. No one knows the exact date of their arrival in Kansas, but it is certain that they were here some 11,000 years ago. These early groups are known as Paleoindians. Nomadic hunter-gathers, they hunted big game animals and supplemented their diet with berries, seeds, roots, small animals, clams, and other such foods. Paleoindians used spears tipped with large chipped stone projectile points. Points of this kind have been found in all parts of Kansas, indicating that Paleoindians were no strangers to the area.
The Archaic Period
7,000 B.C. to A.D. 1
During the early part of the Archaic, Kansas experienced a continuation of the warming trend that ended the Ice Age. The warming peaked around 7,000 years ago and greatl |
The study of mummified animals from ancient Egypt has often been perceived as being of lesser importance than the study of the human dead; however, this project aims to promote the study of faunal material of this kind by uncovering information relating to | The study of mummified animals from ancient Egypt has often been perceived as being of lesser importance than the study of the human dead; however, this project aims to promote the study of faunal material of this kind by uncovering information relating to these creatures and the ancient culture that preserved them.
Established in June 2010, the Ancient Egyptian Animal Bio Bank Project is a centralised database and image bank for mummified animal material from museums in the UK and overseas. The concept, developed to contribute to the existing International Ancient Egyptian Mummy Tissue Bank, will combine known records with new research to broaden current knowledge and increase understanding.
Research carried out at the KNH Centre has focused on the application of non-invasive techniques to obtain the maximum amount of information without compromising the integrity of the mummies. However, in some cases we have been able to obtain small samples from damaged areas, which have been subjected to preliminary non-invasive microscopic imaging. These samples are stored in the Tissue Bank facility under environmentally controlled conditions.
See the full List of Open Access Journals in Ancient Studies |
National Parks are generally large natural places having a wide variety of attributes, at times including significant historic assets. Hunting, mining and consumptive activities are not authorized. At present, there are 58 national parks in the National Park System.
Acadia | National Parks are generally large natural places having a wide variety of attributes, at times including significant historic assets. Hunting, mining and consumptive activities are not authorized. At present, there are 58 national parks in the National Park System.
Acadia National Park
The first national park established east of the Mississippi features the rugged coastal area of Mount Desert Island, the cliffs of Isle au Haut, and the Schoodic Peninsula.
Arches National Park
Outstanding geological features include giant arches, pinnacles, pedestals, and windows, the products of erosion.
Badlands National Park
Carved by erosion, this scenic landscape contains fossils from 23 to 35 million years ago and includes the largest, protected mixed grass prairie in the U.S.
Big Bend National Park
Situated on border with Mexico, where the Rio Grande makes a sharp turn, park's desert and mountainous environment features a diversity of plant and animal life.
Biscayne National Park
Protects interrelated marine ecosystems including mangrove shoreline, bay community, subtropical keys, and the northernmost coral reef in the U.S.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
No other canyon in North America combines the narrow opening, sheer walls, and startling depths visible here.
Bryce Canyon National Park
Erosion has carved colorful and unusual formations of limestone, mudstone, and sandstone from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah.
Canyonlands National Park
Rocks, spires, and mesas dominate the heart of the Colorado Plateau cut by canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers.
Capitol Reef National Park
Features the Waterpocket Fold, a 70-mile uplift of sandstone cliffs with highly colored sedimentary rock formations.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Preserves more than 80 caves in the Guadalupe Mountains of southern New Mexico, including the nation's deepest limestone cave.
Channel Islands National Park
Comprising five islands off the Southern California coast, park includes nesting sea birds, sea lion rookeries, and a variety of plants found nowhere else in the world.
Congaree National Park
Designated an International Biosphere Reserve, it preserves the largest expanse of old-growth floodplain forest in America.
Crater Lake National Park
Information included here will help you plan a visit to the park, which features incredible scenery, severe weather, and the deepest lake in the United States.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Links the urban centers of Cleveland and Akron, preserving the rural character of the Cuyahoga River Valley.
Death Valley National Park
This large desert, nearly surrounded by high mountains, includes the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere.
Denali National Park and Preserve
This Biosphere Reserve features 20,320-foot Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America, as well as a number of other mountains and large glaciers.
Dry Tortugas National Park
Park's cluster of seven islands includes Fort Jefferson, the largest all-masonry fortification in the Western Hemisphere, a bird refuge, and abundant marine life.
Everglades National Park
The largest subtropical wilderness in the continental U.S. includes extensive fresh- and saltwater areas, Everglades prairies, and mangrove forests.
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
Second largest unit of the NPS lies entirely above Arctic Circle and preserves part of Central Brooks Range, the northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountains.
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
Includes Mount Fairweather, the highest peak in southeast Alaska, the U.S. portion of the Alsek River, and a variety of plants and animals.
Glacier National Park
Ruggedly beautiful terrain features numerous glaciers, lakes and streams, and a wide variety of wildlife and wildflowers.
Grand Canyon National Park
Focusing on the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, park illustrates one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world.
Grand Teton National Park
Features the most impressive part of the Teton Range, part of Jackson Hole, and more than 200 miles of trails.
Great Basin National Park
Includes an ancient bristlecone pine forest, 13,000-foot Wheeler Peak, numerous limestone caverns, streams, lakes, and abundant wildlife.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
Large sand dunes in the U.S. were deposited over thousands of years by southwesterly winds blowing through the passes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Encompassing portions of NC and TN, park features a diversified plant and animal life, and preserves structures representing southern Appalachian mountain culture. Here you'll find all the information you need to plan your trip to the park or surrounding area.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Features portions of the world's most extensive and significant Permian limestone fossil reef; includes Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at 8,749 feet.
Haleakala National Park
Prese |
Where would we be without our safe and comfortable court shoes? Although athletic footwear has evolved throughout the past century, comfort remains the primary goal. With the advent of tennis shoes sporting vivid colors to please both genders, athletic footwear is more aesthetically | Where would we be without our safe and comfortable court shoes? Although athletic footwear has evolved throughout the past century, comfort remains the primary goal. With the advent of tennis shoes sporting vivid colors to please both genders, athletic footwear is more aesthetically appealing. Sneakers, along with the game of tennis share a colorful history.
In the 1830s, the first athletic shoes were developed with a canvas upper and upper sole. By the early part of the 20th Century, rubber companies in the U.S. were manufacturing sneakers. Keds and the Converse All-Star made their way into the athletic gear market. But tennis shoes became a household name after World War 1 when Americans focused on sporting activities to demonstrate more national pride. By the 1930s and 1940s, companies such as Converse added traction and produced different footwear for different sports.
During the 1950s, as Christian Dior was transforming dress shoes from the almond shape to the newer wedge shape, the Olympic Games were revived and gaining popularity in the U.S and sports fans were rapidly increasing. As jogging picked up steam as a sport and daily activity, so did sneakers. By 1957, six hundred million pairs of sneakers were selling annually in this country. In the 1970s, every sport had its own unique brand of shoes, thanks to podiatrists developing the athletic shoe technology.
Today, sports shoe designers and manufacturers face the challenge of design needs for all types of athletes. Age is also a factor. As seasoned players enter their 40s, joint stiffness and soreness gain ground so selecting the right pair of shoes is priority. With a wide variety of athletic shoes available on the current market, it is crucial to first run or walk some steps before purchasing to be certain of the comfort level.
“For court shoes, lateral stability, torsional flexibility, cushioning and traction control appear to be important design strategies to decrease the risk of injury,” according to a study from Human Performance Laboratory, University of Calgary in Canada.
Court sports like tennis, basketball and volleyball require shoes that assist the body to move forward, sideways and backwards. Here, a superior quality sole is necessary. Other sports such as golf, soccer and baseball require specialty shoes. But in many sports, the foot and the ankle are exposed to great stress. For instance, basketball players need shoes with ample ankle support and shock absorption like some high-topped footwear. Volleyball-specific shoes are usually light-weight with less midsole support.
But performance, injury prevention and comfort still supersede for consumers. Consumer reports often emphasize stability and flexibility as factors for shoe selection. For injury prevention, the cushioning of each shoe type is a factor. For avid runners, the cushion may impact fatigue and skeletal motion. When selecting sneakers for children, it is important to purchase ones that support the arch and have shoelaces. Let’s face it; every parent wants shoes to have stain removal ability in addition to comfort and support.
Celia Taghdiri is a freelance writer with numerous publishings. With an education background in English/Journalism, her articles have been featured in the San Diego Union Tribune and various magazines. As a tennis writer, she emphasizes the sport’s multiculturalism and international recognition. |
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